Silly Boy

Linus is all about silliness these days. I've noticed this with the other three-year-olds we know. What is even more enjoyable from my perspective is the proud, excited look they get on their faces as they demonstrate the silliness. In the picture Linus is showing off the big marshmallow he has in his mouth. We got 18 inches of snow last week and after playing in it the morning of the second day, we came in for hot chocolate. The only marshmallows we had were the big ones left over from camping. (Culinary note: they don't get all melty like the miniature ones do.)

Linus is always saying very silly things or very smart things and I obviously can't write everything down. Here are a few:

One day at the end of summer, in a tired and whiney voice, he said, "I want caterpillars. They're my favorite bug. Can I have caterpillars today?" I told him I had no control over what bugs came along with our produce from the CSA.

He asked me, "Are you happy?" I said, "Yes, I'm just tired." He said, "You aren't smiling so I think you aren't happy."

He was pretending he was a howler monkey and came into the kitchen to tell me, "Howler monkeys scare kids sometimes. I think because they want privacy and not hear the loud sounds. And they howl when they feel shy."

Before we planted our bulbs, I showed Linus pictures of the flowers in the catalog. I explained to him that crocuses are very special to me because not only are they pretty, but they remind me of bringing him home from the hospital after he was born. He said, "Awww. Thank you for telling me that."

We were playing out in the yard and Linus wanted to ride his trike to the park. I said no, because he always gets too tired to ride it back and I don't like carrying it home. He insisted he could ride it both ways and I said no, I don't think so. He came back at me with, "I'm sad you don't trust me." In all honesty, I wanted to laugh really hard at this, but instead said, "The reason I don't trust you on this is based on past experience. Let's just walk there." So we did.

He has been pretty good about his Halloween candy. He usually accepts our limits regarding how much he can eat in a sitting. This year I have really noticed more parents taking the candy away in exchange for a toy, or letting the kid keep a few pieces and then throwing the rest out. I want Linus to have a healthy diet and a healthy relationship with food, but I don't think his Halloween candy will ruin him. I turned out just fine and I ate all of my Halloween candy as a kid (except for those icky Almond Joys). We let him have three pieces for dessert. Just like last year, he has been generous with us and shares some out of the packs that have multiple pieces. He was very happy when he opened the little box of Milk Duds and found three of them in it. He handed me one and said, "There were three of these. Good for our whole family." It made me smile.