Date Night

Tristan and I spent the evening together alone. The other boys were out having meetings at the fire department, going to a chili supper and a high school basketball game. Party animals!

So, the Toddler and I ate leftovers standing at the kitchen sink. It's what he wanted to do. He likes standing on a chair by the kitchen sink because it's near the faucet and he just hangs out there hoping I will eventually turn the water on and he can sneak his hand in there.

I set up the cutting board propped across the sink and laid out ham, pizza, sliced some carrots and cucumbers. He started by sinking carrot pieces to the bottom of the dish of ranch dressing we were supposed to be dipping in. He refused to eat the ham.

"Here, take a bite of this ham."

"No."

"Come on, it's good," I coax.

"Dirty."

"It is not dirty!" I am outraged at the implication that I would feed him dirty ham.

"Hot." He grasps at straws trying to come up with an excuse I will accept so he doesn't have to eat.

"It is not hot. Just eat it."

"No."

So, instead of eating he stacked carrot slices on top of little candles we had set out on the counter for our emergency lighting a few days ago. One little orange circle per little white candle.

Since starting in speech therapy Tristan seems like he really wants to talk but still doesn't have the words. He has a great receptive vocabulary, but isn't good at putting the words together himself. And yet... he can count! So, this new thing he is doing is to say numbers and pretend he's talking.

As I'm standing there eating, he starts moving candles from his side of the counter to my side. "Two... three... four... five..."

"Very nice, Tristan."

"Two. Feefohfive. KICKS!"

"Mmhmm."

"Twofee. Foh. FIIIIIIIVE!"

"What else?" I say, wondering how long he can keep it up.

"Fourfive. Kicks. Twofweefoh. Five."

"Hmm."

"Nandos. (Candles.) Here."

"Thank you, Tristan."

"Kay."

We later lit the candles and had fun blowing them out a few times. He practiced blowing on them gently so they would nearly blow out and then light back up brightly. Eventually all were out, dinner was over and then he negotiated me up from one cookie to two. I have trouble saying no.

Candle lit date night is over and now it's time for SOMEONE to go to bed! Three four five!