Copycat

Over the last few weeks, Liam has been showing off his newfound personality. Sometimes I wish he would keep it to himself, but that’s probably just me letting him stay up late too many nights in a row and then calling his lack of sleep a “personality.”

One day last week I got out a few cookbooks to help make a grocery list. Liam wanted to read one of the cookbooks, and he had a fit when I wouldn’t give him one. Finally I succumbed, even though I knew it would probably come back with one or two pages missing.

Instead, Liam climbed up in the chair next to me, opened the cookbook, and started turning pages. The best part, however, was that before every page he turned he stuck all of his fingers in his mouth and made a “tsk” noise.

Apparently I had been doing that thing that all elementary school teachers do, where they lick their fingers before they turn the pages. And Liam was copying me like it was some kind of fun game.

Why Do I Love Banjo Jokes So Much?

The Onion posted this sweet article on Saturday about a banjo player who caused all kinds of commotion by starting hootenanies all over Boston.


My favorite part is a quote from some made-up dude about how the banjo player totally messed up his schedule:

"I was already late for work last Monday morning when that smiling fellow started that hootenanny on [Boston Common]," stockbroker Sid Daley said. "It's one thing when infectious banjo music compels you to grab the nearest washboard or empty jug and join along on a Friday night or a Saturday afternoon, but on a Monday morning, when I have meetings? There's a time and a place for letting this kind of deal go down, is all I'm saying."

Honestly, who comes up with this stuff?

1½ Going On 13

We took Liam to the movie theatre for the first time last weekend to see Shrek the Third. I was 99% sure I would have to take him out after five minutes because he would be scared or bored or crying loudly. Instead, the first preview came on and he stared at the screen with very wide eyes, not blinking, and stayed that way for the entire movie. He was expressionless—no smiles, no laughs, no frowns or cries—and perfectly still for the entire two hours. It was incredible. I’ve never seen anyone so entranced by a movie before.

Even when I held my hands over his ears for the loud parts and the kid in the back (who obviously had hands covering his ears, too) yelled, “Stop covering my ears!” Liam was perfectly still.

Just before the credits started rolling, baby ogres appeared and started doing gross things like burping fire. Liam came to life for the first time in two hours and started cracking up laughing.

Did he really think that was the only funny part of the movie? Baby ogres burping fire? And if he already has a junior high sense of humor, what’s he going to be like in 12 years?