One afternoon a few weeks ago I was in my room conquering the to-do list and thinking about Father's Day (and amazed at myself for putting thought into it that early) when Payton came in. I said to him, "hey, Payton! Remember a few weeks ago when it was Mother's Day and you guys got me a fun present and made cards for me?" It took a few seconds & additional descriptions to jog his memory. "Well, in a few weeks it's going to be Father's Day so we need to think about what kind of presents we want to get for Father's Day." After a very short pause, Payton, with his squishy, matter-of-fact, somewhat disappointed face and outstretched/questioning arms says to me, "Mom . . . but I don't have a father!" I guess he has never heard the term "father" before and obviously had no idea that it meant dad. Gotta love this kid.
One night this week I put the kids in bed and jetted off to the grocery store. Back home an hour later they are still awake and begging to go potty. So I stood in the hallway while Payton was on the pot with both the bathroom & bedroom doors open. I looked into their room and noticed a big box covered with a blanket sitting in the middle of their room. I checked it out and it was a bucket/bin full of toys. The boys then excitedly tell me that it's all the stuff they've collected to build their pirate ship the next day. Here's the rest of the conversation.
Conner, holding up his blanket: "ya, and we're going to use this as the sail"
Payton: "We put a blanket on top because we don't want the other pirates to get our stuff."
Mom, listening intently and amused by it all: "ahhh"
Payton, with the squishy face: "Mom, you can be the guy who steers the ship. The Admiral. Yep, you can be the Admiral."
Mom: "Wow, thanks Payton!"
Payton, still sitting on the potty: "Ya, and I'm going to be the guy with just one eye."
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Payton is really into making silly/funny faces lately. Much of it is at my encouraging, because I think he just looks so cute when he tries to entertain me. He'll stand in front of the mirror, practicing his faces. But 90% of the time, this (below) is the one he comes up with.