Braggin' on Gus

Gus likes to wear hats-- that's what I meant about accessorizing.  But he is so different from my kids in other ways, too, that it was fascinating spending time with him.  He's super verbal and bookish-- he loves to sit for long periods and look at books, color, or be read to. I think Eric & Rebekah have a little intellectual on their hands!  Neither of my children are that patient or still.  He also is not big on doing things himself, which was a revelation to me.  One morning I heard him say to Rebekah, "Hair, mouth," which meant, "I have a hair in my mouth; would you please remove it for me?"  My children would probably just stick their hand in and throw a small fit till they got it out.  The presence of mind it took to calmly announce the problem and then wait for mommy to solve it-- I was amazed!  He says single words extremely clearly, one at a time, like: "Baby Aggie, book.  Gave."  He always uses the correct verb tense.  He also likes to "order" his food that way: "Nini [his word for banana], bowl, cut."  Unlike Agatha, who will toss a mandarin orange to the floor in anger if you try to break it apart for her to eat (you must peel it and hand it to her WHOLE), Gus waits calmly while his food is prepared to his liking.  Large chunks of banana are pointed at and requested to be "cut" again.  

Mom told me yesterday that she heard him count to ten on the playground yesterday-- at age 21 months!  He also knows many of his colors.  He and Eric have a bedtime ritual where they say good-night to the characters on the covers of his science fiction books on display in the hallway.  He says, "Good night, robot.  Good night, man.  Good night, orange man." 

He is also charmingly theatrical.  He does a "strongman" face, with his little jaw tense, like he's flexing, that makes me flashback immediately to Eric as a little boy, clowning around. He does funny walks and dances, and when we go outside to take a walk he pumps his arms exaggeratedly.  A doll!