Mardi Gras

The dink, as usual, continues to amuse, amaze, and ambush me with his limitless enthusiasm, joy, and insatiability for the smallest details of his little life. His daycare teacher left me a note the other day that when she announced to the class that it was time to read a book and sing songs (everyday occurrence), the dink yelled "Oh boy!" and shrieked with excitement. That's just classic dink for ya.

He's also known to reach peak excitement over things like eating strawberries, going to the grocery store, watching Toy Story 3, and hearing Daddy come home. I wonder if this is simply a personality trait of the dink that he's inherited from his dad (I could see J acting like this as a kid--me, I haven't reached peak excitement since I got my hands on the Babysitter's Club Super Special #5 Winter Vacation book in the fourth grade), or if this is how all kids act when their worlds are so small that getting a pirate sticker for teeteeing on the potty is somewhat equivalent to me getting a 20% pay raise. I guess only time will tell.

I remember when the dink was a baby, only cooing and crying for communication, and I would think that I couldn't wait until he was talking because I was so curious to know what he'd say. Now we're definitely at that stage where he says cute and funny things all the time, but we're only just now getting a peek at how his little brain works. Sometimes I think he's genius, and sometimes that he hasn't got a clue, but I'm never in doubt of his charm, his sensitivity, or his humor. Again, traits from his dad. I'm pretty sure all he inherited from me is fat cheeks, short legs, and long eyelashes.

Some of the dink's recent highlights:

• Getting really good at using possessives, and assigning ownership to everything he sees. "That's daddy's tools, not mommy's", etc. But when it belongs to him: "That's my's!" I don't know how he hasn't figured out such a classic 2-year-old expression, but I enjoy it too much to correct him.

• I asked him to throw away a grocery bag full of trash into the big trashcan in the kitchen. Turns out the big trashcan was already full. So D pulls out the milk carton on the top of the trash to make room for his bag, smashes down the trash in the can, presses his bag down into it, and replaces the milk carton--end result was that the trash can was less full than when he had begun. This is something his Papa would be so proud of.

• Saying "Mommy, hold you" and "Mommy, help you" when he needs hugs and help.

• Showing affection for the strangest objects, like drawings of cats in his books, or 3-inch figurines of Elmo and a trashman. He makes sort of a pouty face, draws his eyebrows together, and pulls the book/inanimate object to his shoulder, with his head pressed down, and gives it a "hug." He's very serious about it to, this hugging of books.

• Taking Mardi Gras by storm. I mean, this kid was scooping those beads off the ground and throwing them around his neck like he'd been doing it for years. Every time another float came, he'd say, "Mommy, it's a [insert color] one!" Total sensory overload. And of course he could never get enough, even after we took him to the Bogalusa parade in the pouring rain. He's still asking me for more beads, and more parades.

• Skipping that whole "Mommy, I want..." phase and going straight to "Mommy, I need..." And the list never ends. In an afternoon, he'll typically declare that at the very least he needs juice, milk, a kite, a dog, a treat, to watch Toy Story, and cake.

• Getting good at telling stories. Really cute ones. Today I asked him what he did at school today, and he told me that he played on the playground, he jumped, and he bumped heads with the sky. Does it get any better than that???