Theo says {3 years, 1 month}

Theo has been cracking us up lately with the things he is doing and saying. I have a running list in my iPhone Notes to keep up with it, but here are a few of my favorites.

Singing "Happy Birthday" with two homemade cakes

1. For as often as 3-year-olds say, "No!", he will often surprise us with cheerful compliance. E.g., "Theo, can you please give that to Emi?" "'Course!"

2. When we got back into the car after an errand, he once said, "Mama, remember to turn your codpast [podcast] back on."

3. He often adds an extra syllable to the end of words. (I think he is entering the stage of self-correcting this stage so I've gotta record it here.) E.g., "I have an idea-da!" He used to call Emilyn "Baby Gerda" because we sometimes call her Baby Girl. It evolved to "baby-girlda" at one point as well.

4. "I'm going to do my demonstration."

5. "Can I see my Frango mint chocolate?" We had a season of difficulty with him crying after we put him to bed, or crying in the middle of the night, or crying at 5 a.m. So after Christmas, I started putting out a quarter of a Frango chocolate outside his door so if he makes it to wake time with no issues, he gets a tiny treat. If we have to attend to him, we eat it.

6. He often volunteers to say grace at dinner. Usually he says "Thank you for the day and for this food. Thank you for..." and proceeds to say everyone's name around the table (e.g., umma, appa, Emilyn, Kathy nunu, and sometimes family that's not at the table). When he was probably 2.5 he used to say "Thank you for umma feel better, thank you for appa feel better, thank you for Kathy nunu feel better, etc." because one time David gave thanks for someone's recovery.

One time when he had overheard us (hours before dinner) saying that my sis- and bro-in-law were going to stop by, he prayed for them to arrive safely.

7. When you make a suggestion he likes, he has been known to say, "That's what I'm talkin' 'bout."

8. The biggest parenting tool I use is choices (ala Love & Logic). I'm usually quick about coming up with two alternatives where I'm fine with either outcome. But one day I was pretty weak. My parents were in town and my dad overheard me asking Theo, "Do you want to go potty and then have coconut juice (from a real coconut that David cut open) or go to the potty and not have any coconut juice?" 

My dad observed that this was a case of Hobson's choice (i.e., not really a choice at all). Though it was spoken to me, Theo apparently heard it, too, because this is what happened after the potty. My pathetic lameness continued and I asked Theo if he wanted coconut water or just regular water, Theo exclaimed, "Hobson's choice!" and dissolved into giggles on the couch. 

9. This one was so amazing I even wrote down the date so that I can remember it forever, in case he never says it again. "You're perfect, Mama." (1/11/17)

10. One time when I couldn't figure out how to tie a string to the tire of his monster truck, he said, "No, you do it. It's your job." Wow, Theo.

11. When Theo heard David coming home from work one day, he came down the stairs with his pointer fingers sticking out of his head like antennae and said, "Is Appa home?"

12. For a couple of weeks he would sometimes tell me, "I watch a show in my nap" when we would wake him up for nap or nighttime. Then I realized that maybe he is saying he is dreaming! I wouldn't be surprised because one time he described the "show" and it was so random that it really did sound like it could be a dream.

13. If when Kathy asks if she can give Theo a treat I say, "Sure, just one, though," and she gives him a big one or a one-and-a-half sized portion, she says, "Extra love from Kathy nunu." Theo has adapted the phrase, but he calls it "peshul (special) love." He served me broccoli the other day, and gave me an extra big serving, calling it "peshul love for umma." For him, there was no irony (just iron!) because he actually loves broccoli. ^__^

14. Some other Theo pronunciations:

• "Chiple A" which sounds to us like "Triple A" = Chipotle
• "yester age" = yesterday
• "orangen" = orange
• "popsicle course" = obstacle course (as in, "I drew this red crayon track on my floor because I am making a popsicle course!")

Theo at Chiple-A

15. And this is my favorite, the one that just had me dying. I had no idea he had learned the word "unfortunately" but he used it this past week. True story: "Theo, do you have to go potty?" "Uh, unfortunately, I do not." Like the ham that he is, he put the emphasis on the new word all by himself because he knew it would make me crack up.

Later that evening during dinner, he looked up from his food and said, "I don't eat food anymore, unfortunately."

Kathy smartly retorted, "Well then, unfortunately, you can't eat dessert."