My Favorite

We have been though countless phases with Greyson over the last year and a half.  And each time we enter a new one, I think "THIS is definitely my favorite!  This is the best!"  Every single time.  Well, there were a few exceptions.  Like the first 4 months of colic.  But I digress.  Anyway, my point is that this stage, where Greyson is right now, does not disappoint.  DEFINITELY, this is my favorite stage.  :)  Here are a few of the things he is doing right now that make me say this:

*He says "thank you" and "you're welcome" at appropriate times.  Nearly every time.  It definitely comes out like "tay-too" and "elcom" but he totally know what he's saying.  And I don't remind him.  He just knows when to say them and says them.  Now "please" always needs a reminder.  We'll keep working.  :)

*He can tell us why he's upset.  Thank you, Jesus!  They told me this day would come!!  It takes a little coaxing, especially if he's really mad, but if we ask him what he wants, he will usually tell us or point or something.  Its a beautiful thing.

*He is constantly making connections and loves that he is learning things.  He recognizes sounds he hears even that are outside the house: dog barking, bird singing, airplane, truck, etc and can identify them.  He understands that he isn't the only one with a nose, mouth, eyes, etc and points to matching body parts on others and himself.  I read the other day that from birth to age 3, babies develop 1000 trillion nerve connections in the brain.  Amazing, and I can totally see it happening! (I know, I know, nerdy science factoid)


*He recognizes himself in photos and says "shay-shan" (his name for himself, no laughing!) and gets excited and points to himself.

*He can recognize and name all of our extended family members when looking at photos.  I am so proud of this and so happy he loves doing this just because we don't get to see our family as much as we (or they) would like.  It doesn't seem to stop those connections :)

*The other day he was playing games with my parents through the computer.  He was trying to feed grapes to my mom and playing peek-a-boo with my dad.  It was so sweet.  And then he gave them kisses through the screen (don't tell Dan!).  So the other night we were looking at a picture book with our family's photos in it and he stopped on Grandma's page, got really excited, and gave her picture kisses.  It was so so sweet.  :)

*He LOVES reading books.  This has been a slow one coming because he is just a busy boy.  But now he gets so excited to read them and identify what he sees.  This morning I was getting ready for work and he kept bringing me books and showing me the pictures he was excited about.  He is getting to be such a big boy!

*Dan has started having logical conversations with Greyson, and it cracks me up.  But, he totally gets it. Here is their going-to-bed routine conversation.
Dan: "Ok, Buddy, its time for night-night.  Are you ready to go in your bed?"
Greyson:  "Yeah"
Dan:  "Ok, lets get in your bed.  Do you have your blankies?"
Greyson:  "Yeah."
Dan puts him in bed.  Greyson starts fussing.
Dan:  "Now remember, its bedtime, and we don't cry.  How about I leave the door open for you?  Will that make it better?"
Greyson:  "Yeah. Doh (door).  Doh."
Dan:  "Ok, I will leave it open.  Good night."
Greyson (nodding): "Yeah."
Its seriously the best part of my night.

*One more:  Greyson is starting to pretend play.  I LOVE this!  I really didn't think this would happen so early, but it totally cracks me up.  Its just little things, but they totally make my day.  Like yesterday I was doing something in the kitchen and Greyson got into the pantry and started pulling out soup cans and pretending to drink them.  He was making slurping sounds while "drinking" and then would pull the can down and say "ahhh" like he does after a drink of water.  Or the other day he saw a picture of grapes on the iPod and made chomping noises and pretended to eat them.  Hilarious, I tell you.  He also pushes his cars around while making engine noises and then crashes them and makes crashing noises!  I love it so much.  And he knows he's being funny, because he laughs at himself too.

Ok, so I know that was a long, wordy list.  And I know that this stuff is probably all pretty normal for any other mom out there, but I am just having so much fun with him right now that I had to write it down.  Seriously, this is THE BEST stage ever (so far)!