So much to blog about!

Okay. This kid continues to amaze me everyday! I hope I can remember it all. I need to keep a little tape recorder with me to tape reminders of the events for myself. Let's see....

1. I am hearing TONS of comparing things like "Mom, this is the Buzz Lightyear ride (a playset at the park) just like the Buzz Lightyear ride at Disney World." Or, "Mom, we flew on an airplane to Disney World just like when we flew on an airplane to North Carolina." Or, "That dog (in Toy Story) is named Buster just like the dog in Tigger and Pooh (tv show)." Is that what we are looking for in the "comparing memories" objective?

2. We had the following conversation last night as we were driving home from the grandparents':
Jake: I see lots of lights shining at me. (headlights)
Me: I do too. They are really bright.
Jake: Yep, they kind of hurt my eyes.
Me: Yes. But the drivers need them to see.
Jake: Yep. The drivers are driving fast.
Me: Yes but not too fast.
Jake: I see stop lights and go lights too.
Me: I do too. Red means stop and green means go.
Jake: And yellow means slow down. I see two stop lights and one go light.
Me: Now I see two stop lights and one slow down light.
Jake: Now I see three stop lights.
Me: Now ours turned green so we can go.

3. Yesterday when Jake and Lydia awoke from their naps Craig mentioned that we had to get ready to go see "Grandma and Pa-pa." Well, he made a mistake because we were going to see "Grandma and Grandpa." The kids call my dad Pa-pa and Craig's dad Grandpa. So, Jake got the impression that we were going to my parents last night (which is where he wanted to go). He was very upset about going to Craig's parents and kept insisting that "Dad said it wrong so we need to go to Grandma and Pa-pa's!" This went back and forth and back and forth until Susan's most recent tape review popped in my head and I explained that Grandma and Grandpa think in their brains that we are coming over. They are excited and are talking to each other saying "Jake and Lydia are going to be here in 5 mins and we want to play with them." And that Grandma and Pa-pa do NOT think in their brains that we are coming over so they are planning on having dinner just the two of them. So, since Grandma and Grandpa are expecting us in their brains and think in their brains that we are coming over then we need to go there. If we showed up at Grandma and Pa-pa's that they would be surprised to see us. But, when we show up at Grandma and Grandpa's they will say that they are excited that we finally got there. He TOTALLY GOT THAT and immediately understood why we were going to Grandma and Grandpa Grider's!!! It was so cool!

4. We were listening to his vacation Bible school CD in the car this morning and he was singing his favorite song and then he told Lydia to sing "her song" (which he deemed was her song but she is okay with). Then, he told me to sing "my song" (which he deemed my song.) Then it got to my favorite song and I had told him last time that this particular song was my favorite. He remembered that and said "Mom, is this song your very favorite?" I said yes. So, he told Lydia to be quiet b/c it was my favorite song and they sat back their silently with smiles on their faces while I sang along with it. Then when I was done he told me I did a good job.

5. This morning I was getting ready to throw together a beef stew in the crockpot. I got the meat out and the cutting board and set it in front of the kids on the breakfast bar while they were eating breakfast. Suddenly Jake stops eating and says, "Mom, can I help you?" I about fell over. I just looked at him with this big smile on my face and paused to spotlight the moment. He looked at me and smiled back. After a moment I said, "Sure. I *love* helpers." So, he climbed up there and helped me. He wanted to use the potato peeler to peel the carrots so I helped him and we did one together. Midway through he asked if he could do it all by himself. I told him we'd do one together and then he could try to do one by himself. He said, "ok" and continued to be the BEST little apprentice EVER!! He watched and listened carefully and then went on to peel 3 more carrots by himself pretty well. He totally helped me build that stew. It is so cool because when M/A is PERFECT you can just feel it all through your body! When it isn't there you just know that too.

Then, at lunch I was telling Craig about it when Jake chimed in "We put carrots, and water, and potatoes, and onions in it. That's how we made a soup called stew!" (he forgot that we added meat and stew seasoning but oh well.) Then, later at lunch he offered Craig a bite of his chocolate pudding. Craig declined b/c Craig is sick with a cold and didn't want to get Jake sick. Jake said, "Oh you've got a cold? We made a soup called stew to make you feel better."