He frequently tries to usurp my authority by using my rebukes to him, against me. At least I know it's not going in one ear and out the other.
"Mummy you do not talk back to me!"
"Mummies and daddies do not put little boys in timeouts!"
"Mummy I am in charge, and you need to listen to my words!"
Or uses many grown up sounding phrases...sometimes incorrectly
"This is the best place I've never been!"
"Oh I didn't notice that!"
"Mia are you going to come out of the room at some point?"
Or steps in as Mia's third parent
They share a room and sometimes will cuddle and fall asleep with each other in the same bed. One night she was having quite the tantrum about going to bed. Isaac tried to explain the situation to like I might have done.
"Mia you can sleep with me and cuddle, or you can sleep in your own bed and keep crying. Those are your two choices."
And then when she was crying and banging on the door to come out...
"OK Mia it's time for bed. Don't bang on the door. The door doesn't understand you crying."
Sometimes I get a kick out of the way he takes care of the things he says to her. And other times I have to remind him that he is not in charge of her discipline.
He does love "friends" (mostly boys his age or older) and has really improved in his social skills and ability to share and cooperate with other kids in a group.
Mia is pretty much his best friend though. Granted there are times when they fight like the proverbial cat and dog, but no one can keep him quite as entertained as she can. He sings her a song and gives her a hug and kiss before her nap, and then can't wait until she wakes up to play with him. If she's happy doing her own thing, he'll say "mummy, I want Mia to be my friend!"
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| Having some music time |
If he's allowed a small treat after a meal, he immediately says that he needs to get one for Mia too, and doesn't even try and steal part of it during the delivery. Even I will sneak a bite of something as my tax for being the treat deliverer.
He defends her against every person that he perceives as "mean" to her, including us when we tell her off.
"Mummy do not talk to my sister like that!"
"She's my sister!" (to any other kid who competes for her attention- there have been arguments between him and other kids about who gets to play with her.)
He asks me difficult questions that are either way too philosophical or way too academic for me to be able to answer right away. He's not satisfied by oversimplification and small words. He loves to repeat big words, like he's trying them on for size, and then proceeds to randomly whip them out in conversation weeks later. Unless it's related to the human body in some way, google has been my best friend when my understanding of physics, chemistry and astronomy are a little too underdeveloped. Magic school bus has been a new favourite of his curious mind lately! He asks me almost daily to go to the science center.
"How do birds feathers' help them fly?" (thanks google)
"How do fish float?" (passed this one to a smug looking daddy)
"How does the moon go around the Earth?" (I actually knew the answer to this one!)
He has responsibilities like getting himself dressed, loading his dishes in the dishwasher, and cleaning up his toys. He usually needs several reminders and tactics to get these things done, but he is pretty quick at reminding me when I have not immediately completed my chores to his satisfaction.
Me (after failing to safely navigate the minefield of toys in our living room) "Ouch I just stepped on that toy."
Isaac "Well mummy when you're done with your toys you need to clean them up."
Or after I cut my finger with a knife...
"That's why you need to just be careful when you're using a knife mummy."
He loves minecraft and superheroes (Batman and Spiderman especially). He obsessively practiced the correct fingering for "web shooting" every day for a week until he his technique matched Spiderman's.
He loves to sing, but mostly insert incorrect lyrics or mix around lines in songs.
He loves to play hide and seek.
He loves the swimming pool and really excelled at his last set of swimming lessons.
He has become quite opinionated about my fashion and hair choices as of late. Ponytails are not acceptable for starters. Anything with stripes is.
One day when I got ready for church and asked Gordon how a dress looked (I've never worn it while pregnant before) Isaac pipes up completely unprompted and says "You look great mummy! You look beautiful!"
He helped his Auntie pick her dress for the sweetheart's dance, which according to him was "perfect" (probably because it had stripes). Funnily enough it was also my favourite of all the options. The best part was when she came out in one he didn't like and he says "Hmmm. Not as perfect as mummy!" Best son ever!
He doesn't like getting his hands dirty or wet, so he keeps them pretty clean normally, and has to have a napkin with pretty much every meal.
He comes up with some pretty good one liners, lots of them from movies, but they're inserted at the perfect time and always make me laugh.
Over Christmas he loved watching the animated Grinch. On Christmas when turkey dinner was on the table he says "Is it time for the roast feast?" (although I'm pretty sure they have a roast beast...) Every roast bird from then on has been dubbed "roast feast".
And as you can see he has no shortage of funny things to say. And I wish I could follow him around with a little tape recorder to catch every little bit. Here's one of my recent chuckles...
After going to the bathroom "Mum, poo is like Woody's hat."
"How is it like Woody's hat."
In his most matter of fact voice, like nothing is more obvious in the world "They're brown."
Strong-willed though he is, and that's mildly put, he is the life and energy of our house. He makes us laugh, shake our heads in awe, and tear up with his affection and love for his family.
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