Squiggie

Our littlest guy has been extra cute lately. There's something about this age that I love. While his face is slimming down and he's losing that baby look (wah!), he's still little enough to be full of funny anecdotes. Here are a few of the cutest things he's done lately that I just had to write down before I forget them:

- He's noticing letters, mainly those in his name. Any time he finds an M, A, or X, be it on a sign, box, or my shirt, he points to it and shouts, "Me! There's me!"
- He mimics other people's emotions, even when he has no idea why they're feeling what they're feeling. He's full of awkward laughs, delayed-response whines echoing those of his brothers, and excitement over things that don't even apply to him. Until now, Reed-and-Calvin were always a separate unit and he was the baby. Now, he's starting to lump himself in with the big boys. They (well, at least one of them) have to explain things to him all the time, and he answers in his I'm-trying-to-act-big, "Oh" followed by the cutest self-depracating laugh.
- He names his poops. It started when he noticed a two-fer and declared, "Friends! I got friends, Mom!" Since then, he's added "big chunks," a banana, crab, several snakes, and a kangaroo to his repertoire. You would think a mother would discourage such behavior, but I say if it keeps "friends" from getting  smashed in a diaper, you roll with it.
- The other day he was deciding if I had brown or blonde hair. We settled on blonde, but "some of your hair is dead." I was about to call the beauty shop, when he pointed to a darker section of hair and explained, "Somebody got it brown."
- He's always excited. Everything from the arrival of Grandma and Grandpa to it's time to put on your jammies, to an "I gotta poop!" announcement elicits yells, skips, and bounces.

- He's taken to being called "Squiggie," Ryan's latest name for him. For a long time he resisted all nicknames, insisting he was "Max Daniel Layton!" Then, he started adding on any recently coined names, "Yeah. I'm Max Daniel Layton Goober Sweet Swartzendroodle." Now, he asks to be called simply Squiggie. Squiggs is ok, too, but not Squiglet, unless Daddy is the one saying it.
- He wants to be my little hero. Twice now we've gone through a charade where he dons a cape and grabs a sword, then tells me, "Mom! Say you need me!" He waits expectantly, until I "need" him, then comes running, asks me where the bad guy is, then shoots his sword/rifle in the offending direction and trots off into the sunset. It's adorable! The first 42 times.

I sure do love that Squig!