Conversations from Today

Sarah says, "I'm six!"
"Really, because yesterday you were five." I say.
"Oh! ... um...."  short pause, "that's cause it was my birthday yesterday."
"We didn't celebrate it though," I say, which was stupid because she's not slow.
"Oh, I have an idea!  We could celebrate it today!"
I persuaded her we should wait until her mother was here.  This conversation will probably be revisited by her some time in the future.

I was making dinner and not making it fast enough for the absolutely starving, dying of hunger Sarah.
"Aunt Miranda, do you have a brain?"
"Who doesn't have a brain?" I ask.  Just so I know who I'm competing against.
"I don't know."
"Well, what are brains for?" I wonder.  And then I wonder why I'm wondering what  five-year-old thinks.
"Oh, you need your brain for thinking."  Hmmm, well, I guess that shows me.

I don't really have effective conversations with Steven (he's only two and a half).  All discussions pretty much all go like this.
Steven:  I want milk.
Me:  We don't have any more.
Steven:  I want milk.
Me:  How about some water?
Steven:  I want milk.
Me: Oh, well, those are your only choices.  Water or nothing.
Steven:  I want milk.
Steven:  I want milk.
Steven:  Aunt Miranda, I want milk.
Steven: Aunt Miranda, Aunt Miranda, Aunt Miranda, I want milk
Me, thinking:  I want earplugs.  Or a muzzle.

Steven is a quite possessive.  We have a box of blocks that he always wants to play with, but all he does is take all of the blocks out and then put them back in.  However, he is completely infuriated if anyone else takes  out a block or tries to play with one that is awaiting a turn in the box.  Doesn't matter if it's his drooly sister borrowing one to chew or Sarah wanting to build.  So eventually, everyone ends up upset and the blocks get put away until I think I have discovered a way to avert this inevitable double-bind.  But I'm always overly optimistic.  Or a sucker.

Steven is the same with his food.  He wants it, he just doesn't want to eat it.  And he will get very angry if you feed it to Samantha because it has been sitting on his plate, untouched, for 45 minutes.

I am beginning to understand why people say that infants are so much easier.