And there is cute

Somewhere between all the crazy, long weekend and nights of design, shopkeeping, packaging–and now photo-editing–there is J.

It seems like he’s been neglected around here, doesn’t it?  Well, maybe I haven’t talked much about him, but he’s there, front and center, every morning and evening, and he’s been developing some interesting habits.

Like the bug thing.  I can’t tell you how terrified he sounds after he peers at something on the floor–maybe a bit of a leaf fallen from someone’s clothes after a round in the leaf pile or a real ladybug taking shelter from the soon-to-be-cold–and decides that it IS a bug.  

He screams a high-pitched, loud scream and freezes.  Sometimes after the freezing is done, he’ll run for me or T, shouting “Bug!”  If I’m not so lucky, I’ll be really near right before the freeze stage and he’ll grab me.  Those pinching little fists are painful, and they’re hard to dislodge in the middle of his fear.

It’s not like he’s always screaming in fear or pinching us, of course.  Yesterday, he decided he liked washing clothes in the sink or dog’s water bowl.  Both at daycare and home, he took an article of clothing (at daycare, his jacket), found a water source (at daycare, the sink), and started rinsing away at the offensive article.  T found him at the playground yesterday wearing a pink jacket with faux fur and pom poms at the ends of the ties.  I suppose he’ll learn sooner or later when the kids start picking on him that he can’t be washing his jacket during daycare.

He loves books, and every day he has a favorite that we’ll read and re-read.  For a while it was Fergus. Then, it was Click, Clack Moo.  Now, it’s Jolly Barnyard. You’d think we’d get tired of it, but it’s fun to watch him notice something new every time we read the book.

Oh, and this is cute.  This weekend when we were giving T a break from the long 2-day run of childcare, I took J outside to play in the leaves. After a while, J said, “Hand!” and took my hand to lead me around the yard.  We stopped at the Obama yard sign, and he ordered me to “Sit down!.” Then, he sat down and grabbed my finger to press the logo on the sign–and every time my finger touched the logo, he exclaimed, “BEEP!”

What a grasp of political issues my child has.