What Does the Ace Say?

Dear Ace,

Here are some of your most recent sayings, which make us grin or laugh because they prove how much you are learning and growing. We love you!

* During the NFC Championship game against the Niners, you entered the office where Daddy was about to watch the game, observed for a few moments, looked at Daddy's jersey and exclaimed, "Ohhhh! Seahawks!" Later, as the game was about to begin, you saw an aerial view of the stadium and said, "That's the Clink!" without any prompting whatsoever. Daddy was so proud.

* You adored the commercial with Miles and Blitz which aired leading up to the Superbowl. You wanted to re-enact it over and over again, pretending to be one of the characters. You also loved watching the video of the Seahawks on their trip from Seattle to New York.

* Since March 9, you have been shouting, "I'll get you for that!" in retaliation for being tickled or thrown on the cushions.

* You made your first simile on March 11: Ate was making a smoothie and Daddy asked you, "What's that?" You said, "A blender." (pause) "Like an engine!" Daddy said, "Vroom vroom!" You smiled.

* We realized that you must have learned this song at preschool because you started singing it one evening before dinner: "God is great, God is good, and we thank Him for our food."

* You are a sociable little guy. You constantly initiate conversations with people and say things like "What's your name? Want to play with me?" One day, as you and Daddy were heading to your medical appointment for your immigrant visa, you initiated a conversation with the cab driver, then told him, all matter of factly, "I'm Aiston and this is my Dad, Cory."

* You have gotten much better about sharing in recent weeks. You will often say, "You're sharing with me? And I'm sharing with you!" You are also getting keen on negotiating turn-taking. As you play with your buddies, we overhear you saying things like, "It's my turn now? No? Okay, two minutes, okay?"

* You get very excited about performing in concerts (usually pretend ones) and you love to sing. Your favorite song at the moment is "Let It Go" by Idina Menzel for Disney's Frozen. You love when Mommy sings with you, but you plug your ears when Daddy sings.

* You have reverted to baby mode lately. You'll pretend you are Baby Angel and you'll start talking in gibberish, just as a baby would. You continue to pretend that one of us is the birthmother and we love to talk through how you came to be adopted. 

* Other things you will act out and talk in context about include: being a pilot on an airplane, being a firefighter and putting out a fire, building a train track and being an engineer, giving voices to your animals and washing yourself in the tub or shower, just as Mom and Dad do.

* For a few weeks, we were worried you had developed a stutter. You have always had a tiny one, but we thought this was very normal for young children who often have so much to say and can't get it all out. This is the age where your vocabulary is expanding like crazy, so we didn't want to stress until we noticed you saying things like, "Mommy, Mommy, I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-no-I-I-I-can do it!" There are times when we'd wait for at least a full minute before you could articulate what you were trying to say. Thankfully, I think this was just a phase. 

* I was cleaning up a water spill that I incorrectly accused you of creating by shuffling my feet on a towel. You looked over and said, "Ahh, what's that, Mom? You're a robot?"

* You were in bed, trying to fall asleep and Daddy walked into the bathroom across from your room. In the dark, he crashed into the shower door with a BAM! Daddy went to your room to apologize and make sure you were not scared and you scolded Daddy by saying, "Be more careful, Dad. Don't make so much noise. Did you break the door?" (That is often something Daddy says to you when you bump into a wall or table)

* Dad's influence...

"Pull my finger, Daddy!"

"That's a Daddy drink?"

"You got goat's nilk (milk) in my cow's nilk!"
"Daddy, I can't waaaalllllkkk, my legs are broken!"

* In the bath recently, you were naming your two turtles. You called one "Cunnun Dunnon Sunnun" and the other one "Ason Mason Cason." Each time you would say their names, you would give them different ones, but they would always include a first, a middle and a last name, and they would always rhyme. Made me giggle.

* After a unit in preschool about human growth, you often asked questions like: "I'm growing every day? I exercise and get bigger and bigger and stronger and stronger? I eat healthy food for my body so I'm bigger and stronger? I eat and then my food breaks down and then I go poo poo?" 

* You can say your ABCs and count to 12. After 12, you often mix up your teens. Sometimes, at random, we'll ask you a "how many" question and you'll say, "300."

* You continue to devour books and look forward to three stories a night. You can sit through long ones and still have your favorite shorter ones. You have started to ask great questions as we read: "What's that? What he's doing, Mom? She's crying? What will happen? Go back to the other page, see, look here! I know what happens now!"   

We're so proud of all you can say, Ace. It's really hard to keep up with. There will often be words or phrases we won't know that you know until you pull them out in conversation one day. Keep on learning, bud! 

xoxo

Mom and Dad