Dee Likes:
- Jam. Having jam on bread is getting to be a standard dessert at our house...kind of fun for a mommy who likes to pick fruit and preserve it.
- Dr. Suess. He's finally gotten old enough that he loves the bigger, longer stories which makes Story Hour a pretty fun occurance these days. He's requesting The Butter Battle Book a lot right now.
- Waking up slowly, and alone. Ever the introvert, he's really a bit slow to start but he'll be much more cheerful if he's allowed to rouse himself and totter into company with the world once he's had a slow alone period to get his feet under him.
- Yellow! Still his personal favorite color, all things yellow are private messages of affirmation from Providence direct to him. :)
- Silly Rhymes. He loves to play with words and the sounds of their rhymes, one of his current favorite jokes is to ask me for "fred" or the even funnier "kled" when he really wants bread. I think this is part of the appeal of Suess. I'd say he ripe for introduction to limericks, wouldn't you?
- Being the big brother. He's really starting to grow into the role of older sibling and super enjoys helping, guiding and comforting Nib. Fun to see him stretch those big boy "muscles."
- Helping out in the garden. I can get him out of most any funk by suggesting a wander out to the veggie patch with a basket between us.
- Beets. A recent romance. He begs for a bunch at the Farmer's Market and then slurps down about a third of the serving bowl when I cook them up. We just bought another cluster of them today!
- Letters. He's very curious about the world of words right now and often asks me, "What does that spell?" or wants to know "How do you spell ________?" and "What does that sign say, Mommy?" I love seeing the gears turn as he toys with the non-tangible world of written language. I sometimes notice him indentifying letters by their name but he's not the point where he knows all 26 by sight yet, still just fooling with them and trying to understand what the big deal is with all these shapes and words.
- Outing Night With Daddy. He's really excited about his rotating special night out with A and his current favorite activity is a private trip the local ice cream parlor or Dairy Queen. He'll talk for a whole week about what flavor he had.
- Storytelling. He's a private story-man unlike his brother Ru who started storytelling to his brothers or to me. If you want to catch Dee story-telling...wander by an empty room with the sun streaming in the window onto his own patch of the floor. Pretty delicious stuff. One day this month I overheard a story he was telling about taking two kites outside and letting them "be frwee, all the way up to wherever they want!"
Dee Dislikes:
- Loud Machine Noises: Wanna freak Dee right out? Set off a siren nearby, or a bleeping, honking machinery sound of some other kind. He'll be very concerned and he will need a lot of hugging.
- Having his hair washed: I keep thinking he'll grow out of this one but we still have tears at every bath when it comes to time to soap his locks.
- Being the center of attention: He hates to have people ask him questions, request performance in front of a group or have someone point out his error. He will melt down, he will scream, there may be some name calling and he will be pretty hard to calm. The world can take all kinds of things but a stranger telling him hello can send the boy into a tailspin.
- Specks in his food. Herbs are suspect, stray crumbs are frown upon, and all little dots require inspection. If something is deemed a contaminant it has to scooped out or carved off before anything can be eaten. Purity is a great good.
- Going down stairs: It's not like we're carrying him down every flight of stairs or anything he just doesn't go bouncing up and down steps like his brother. Stairs are concerning, stressful things. They require slow sidways stepping, tightly gripping the handrail and nobody touching lest they make you slip.
- Having his hair cut. All that personal space invading, physical touch stuff is not his bag. He sobs through every trim.
- Seaweed: It's all well and good at the beach but on the dinner table he has to trim it out and see it gone. He unwraps all his sushi rolls, picks the flakes out of miso soup and won't have any of the sea veg salt I like to use sometimes. Contamination!
- Being hurried: There is no faster way to ruin a morning than to rush Dee to the car after breakfast. He will scream and rail and stomp his feet and he still won't hurry so you might as well save your breath or just carry him. He wants to go at his own darn pace through life.
- Soup: Not sure why, it's just not to be trusted. Nary a spoonful will pass his lips...no matter the variety.
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