I do not love that they are so delighted to be together that Annabella goes to the bathroom with the door open and Redding can’t wait to spend time with her, so I find him camped out on the floor with his snack, waiting for her to be done, so they can play some more.

Goofy little bastards.

“Redding, my man, what’s the good word?”

“Please?!?!”

Indeed. That is a good word, man.

Last night at bed time Redding was a little amped up. We went upstairs to get everyone kisses and hugs and settled into bed. As I tried to tuck Red in he exclaimed, animatedly, “I have to get a drink of water!” And with that, he was out of bed and off to the bathroom.

I called after him, “Then you need to go potty again, buddy.” So Andrew and I congregated outside the bathroom to wait for him. Red had closed the door most of the way when he went in to get a drink, as he finished his drink and headed to the potty, he closed the door the rest of the way shouting (a quote from Annabella), “I need some privacy!.”

Andrew and I smiled at each other. What a funny guy that Redding is. Andrew chimed in, “Just wanted to tell you again that I love you Redding, do a good job tonight.”

To which Redding replied as straight as can be (quoting me), “Daddy, we’ve already discussed this.”

We exchanged another look in the hallways. Andrew shook his head and went down the stairs, saying a slightly put out, “Good night, Redding.” over his shoulder.

As Andrew disappeared down the stairs, I heard a faint (quoting Andrew), “You need to get over it Daddy.” issue forth from the bathroom.

When he came out, I got down eye-to-eye with him and we talked about being rude, talking nicely to people, etc. Then he went down and hugged his dad and told him he was sorry.

Then he giggled and wiggled his way through tucking in, hugs and kisses from mom, and lights out. The boy was seriously squirrelly last night.

Not long after arriving Annabella announced that she needed to go to the ladie’s room, Red was hot on her heels yelling out his need to join us. No problem.

A while later, Redding looked up from his burger in a panic and yelled out, “Mom! I need to go potty again, NOW!”

OK, OK, so off we trotted.

He gazes up at the wall in the restroom and says, “Mom, are these bricks?”

“Nope, buddy, they are rectangles, like bricks. But these are tiles. When tiles are shaped like this they are called subway tiles.”

To which my tiny boy replied in utter self-assurance, “You are entitled to your opinion. These are bricks.”

For a few weeks now I’ve been working on getting Red to sleep in underpants. He wants nothing to do with them. Hasn’t wet a pull-up in a long, long time now. But he’d rather wear the same ratty pull-up every night than walk that tightrope without a net.

But he hears what is going on with his sister. He knows if she fulfills her obligation, she gets a fish tank.

So the other morning he came to me and said, “Mom, if I wear my underpants, every day and every night for 5 days… Then. Can I have. A baby?”

When we were leaving school today he noticed a trophy case near the front door, for the first time. He oohed and awed at all the various trophies, then he pointed at one smallish golden chalice shaped trophy and said, “When I get big, I want to win one just like that!”

It was a trophy from a local Lincoln-Douglas Debate tournament. I smiled about a mile wide and said, “Absolutely, buddy. You could win that for sure. You know what that trophy is for?”

“No, Mama, what is it for?”

“Arguing. Believe me, nobody argues like you. Plus, I think I might know a person or two who could help you along, if that’s what you want to do.”

“Are you kidding me, Mama? They really give trophies for arguing?”

“Yes, but only if you’re actually good at it.”

So far, he would like:
- Toy Robot
- Game Pad (I think that is an iPad)
- Candy (as if he didn’t get enough last night)
- Drink Toy (a toy that makes drinks, he says)
- Trunk in Master (he found the game Drunken Master on andcon.com and wants to be allowed to play it more)
- Toy Potty
- Boy Make-Up (really, that is what it says. What is that? Black eyeliner?)
- Orange (I asked, yes, he wants an orange for Christmas)
- iPod

My son is four years old. Four.

We were leaving his preschool, on our way to run an errand and he asks, “Mama, are we on Main St.?”

“We were just on Main St. but then we turned onto Coon Rapids Blvd.”

Incredulous, he quickly throws out, “Mama, did you just say that we are on Coon Rapids granilla (how he says granola) bar?”

I fear that either he has cotton in his ears or we might be headed toward an ear infection.

Then, just now, we were talking about his costume. He’s going to be Luigi, from Mario Brothers. I asked, “Do you have any brothers?”

“Well, Mama, I would really like to have a new baby brother and name him Mario.” He said this all quickly then he crossed the room, throwing over his shoulder, “And my baby brother Mario’s favorite food will be cabbage.”