Super Scotty

"I can't fly mama--I don't have wings or pixie dust."

This kid continues to alternately crack me up and drive me nuts (in a normal, kid way). There is not an off button, no volume button, and definitely no mute button on this one. I timed him on Monday to see how long he could go without talking. Care to guess? 20 seconds. From the time he woke up until early afternoon "quiet time" he literally only stopped to breathe. In the past few months he has grown a lot, as evidenced by the high-water church pants and tiny pajamas he can barely squeeze over his head. And he weighs 30 pounds! Not exactly a heavy weight, but at 3.75 years he's finally out of the 20s.

I found this self-portrait on my camera. Now I know where the phrase "getting off Scott-free" comes from ;o)

He continues to say hilarious things but is also pretty bossy. A month ago, as I was putting him to bed, he asked for a drink of milk instead of water. When I explained that we only drink milk at the table, he replied: "Mama, you're all done being in charge. I think I'm the mama now, and I want a drink of water."  Since then, I have tried to relinquish mom duties to him in exasperation. Scotty does the cooking and cleaning while I get to take a nap? Yes please! But then he panics because "he's not big enough to use to real hot stove, only the pretend one." Very true, but unfortunate. I could really use that nap!

Sometimes he outsmarts me. Last week I told him I had a lot we needed to get done and was very tired, so I needed him to be my good helper. He looked at me skeptically and asked: "Is it still Mother's Day?" Instead of laughing I replied that every day was Mother's Day! "What about Easter-day?" He asked under furrowed brows. Touche, little man, you caught me.

And two nights ago, while Eric was reading scriptures with him before bed, he related this gem of a conversation. "Why did God put angels and a fire sword in Eden's Garden? Is it because those people stole the snake's apples?"

he created this look all on his own.

Scotty gets himself dressed everyday but still struggles with shoes--and yes, they are VELCRO. It's not that he lacks the dexterity or even the know-how, he just doesn't see the point in struggling to learn something hard when he can ask someone to do it for him. So it's a work in progress. Fortunately, we live in AZ where he can wear flip flops pretty much everywhere but church, and he can handle those just fine. As for clothes, occasionally the pants end up backward or the shirt inside out, but most of the time he gets it right, and most of the time they even match. There have been a few awesome days where he proudly wore a navy blue shirt, black basketball shorts, red socks with brown shoes, and a green hat...

His vocabulary is enormous and he's starting to show some interest in letters. He recognizes S, C, O, T, Y, A, and E. He also knows 1, 3, 8, and 2/5. He makes a very valid point that S, 2, and 5 all look like snakes.... If I write his name on a piece of paper, he can write it below my example with decent clarity, all on his own. I never appreciated how hard it is to learn the correct grip on a pencil and how to push hard enough to make marks but not hard enough to puncture the paper! Skills, I'm telling you :o)