Our funny child

Summer has had some serious spunk the last few days. She's kept us laughing constantly, and I thought I'd share some light-hearted stories with you, since most everything else I post is of a much heavier nature. Hopefully it will make you laugh too, and give those of you who have never met Summer an idea of what she's like.

The little thief
Jason brought Summer outside with him while he was working in the yard the other day. After a too-quiet minute or so, he turned around to look for her. During his search - a very brief one, since our yard is fully fenced and not exactly huge - he noticed that his very large can of Arnold Palmer, which he'd left open on the front porch, was also missing. He walked in the house to find Summer sitting on the couch, sipping his drink, like it was the most natural thing in the world. Upon seeing him, she exclaimed "mmm...it's delicious!"

I wish I could have seen that tiny girl climb up on our couch with an opened can of iced tea/lemonade, without spilling a drop!

Renaming things
Summer has decided, now that she's nearing two, that she's simply too mature to call Jason and me 'Daddy' and 'Mommy.' Out of nowhere, she started referring to us as 'Mom' and 'Dad.' There's no way she could be growing up that fast! We weren't expecting such formal titles for at least a couple more years.

I sat her down for a serious conversation, and set out to explain that our names are 'Mommy' and 'Daddy,' at least for now. Those of you who have (or have had) kids this age know how quickly these conversation can turn into negotiation. Now I'm 'Mama.' She never reverts - from that point on, it's been 'Mama' with not a single slip back to 'Mommy.'

We're still working on 'Dad.'

Among other things she's recently renamed are:

• 'Bankley,' her favorite blanket which has been 'blanky' until recently
• 'Meece' for Miso - or Sophie, for that matter. She often calls them both 'Meece'

Ready for a pedicure?
Driving back from the mall the other day, I passed some goldfish crackers back to Summer to snack on in her car seat. She's normally quite chatty in the car, so after a moment of silence I tilted down my rear-view mirror to sneak a peek at her. In that short time, she'd managed to pull off her shoes and socks, and was busy wedging goldfish in between her toes. Once one foot was done, it looked like she was wearing the foam toe separaters used during a pedicure. I asked what she was doing and just got a huge, goldfish-crumb filled smile back in response.

Playground etiquette
Summer has been very interested in the other kids at the park lately, and she's beginning to learn playground etiquette. For a while, we had a bossy little thing on our hands. She was constantly trying to direct the other kids, saying "come on! I'll show you!" or "follow me!" all the time. After a few rounds of getting frustrated that the five-year-old kids weren't listening and obeying the every command of a not quite two-year-old, she gave up on the bossiness and now will just join in whatever activity the other kids are doing.

Last night, she was in a loop with a pair of three-year-old twins - up the ladder, down the slide, up the ladder, down the slide - and was having a great time. The twins were getting ready to lap her, but Summer was quick to stand up for herself, telling the girl who tried to pass her on the ladder, in a perfect scolding tone, "wait your turn!" I think maybe she's heard me say that just a few times... :)

No! Monsters!!!
Jason, Summer and I sat down on the couch to watch a movie together last night. She tends to latch on to one thing at a time, and her most recent favorite is Monsters, Inc. We thought we'd try Toy Story 2 to see if Summer might be interested in branching out a little.

The second the movie started playing, and she realized it wasn't Monsters, Inc., she burst out yelling "No! Monsters!!!" We tried talking to her about what was going on in the movie - "Oooh, look! A puppy! Do you remember that puppy? You saw him at Target..." - to distract her and see if we could keep going with Toy Story. We tried hard - Jason's sanity was at stake after seeing Monsters, Inc. many, many times - but it was to no avail. After a few minutes, she started a chant: "Monsters! Monsters! Monsters!" until we finally gave in and swapped out the DVDs. Some battles just aren't worth it!