potty antics

This is the funniest thing that has happened here in a while.

Gus likes to go potty by himself. He "needs his privacy." For the most part I try to leave him alone since he is most successful this way, but with enough supervision to ensure that he does not make a huge mess or drown.

Tonight I heard him climb up on the step stool to wash his hands and I went in to check on him. He was brushing his teeth with Jonathan's toothbrush. I said, "Gus, that is Daddy's toothbrush." He said "I know. I brush my teeth with Daddy's toothbrush every time I go potty!"

This made me so happy. What does that say about me? And for the record, Jonathan, I have never seen him use your toothbrush before so this may have actually been the first time. Though I suggest you might want to move your toothbrush. Mine is headed to the medicine cabinet.

overheard at 2042 . . .

Greeting Danielle, Alex and Eli when they came for dinner one Sunday night.
G: Hi! We have a delicious supper for you.

Looking at our new print of a boy and a dog looking out a window on Commonwealth Ave.
G: It is Gus and Theo!


G (at the top of his lungs): Dr. Hill-ie, where are you?
Following the nurse down the corridor to the exam room. Gus is like George Bush in that he likes to give out nicknames. Gus's are even more simplistic. If he really likes you he will add an 'ie' to the end of your name.
T: Bla, bla, da, da (or something like that)
G: Mamma, Dr. Hill come in the room and Theo will use his crazy words.
Gus seemed embarrassed by the prospect of this happening.


Gus's favorite phrase for the month of July.
G: Theo, he doesn't know any better.
Often followed by,
G: We need to teach him. We need to teach him how to use a fork.


Gus, brutally honest, but always polite, saying good-bye to his babysitter.
G: Good-bye, Katie. I did not enjoy you today. Thanks for coming.


Gus popping out of his room after "trying" to nap for about 20 minutes.
G: It worked, Mumma! I got my energy back.


Gus after bumping Jonathan's arm at dinner and knocking a forkful of food on the ground.
G: You drop that on the floor. I have seen Theo do that too.

After watching a video of Lara on forty-two roads, oh 15 times in a row.
A: You can watch Lara dancing one more time and that is it.
G: Lara is getting tired.

Theo pulling at Gus's ear.
G: What Theo doing with my ear?
A: I don't know.
G: He is doing tricks with it.

And my favorite,


Eating seedless watermelon at breakfast.
G: Take the seeds out! Please! Out, out, out!
A: Look, Theo eats the seeds.
G: He doesn't know any better.

that is until Gus asked very good-natured-ly,
G: Mumma, can I use this broom to whack the hummus off Theo's face?
Sure. Why not?

overheard at 2042 . . .

G: Theo, No! No touch my piles. Theo go in the playroom and have a time-out!
Gus attempting to put Theo in a time-out for touching his piles of train tracks.

Saturday morning, out of the blue
G: Daddy, what begins with edamame?
J: Huh?
A: He means what letter does edamame begin with.
J: Oh. Edamame begins with the letter E.
No further discussion of edamame, until . . .

Saturday afternoon
G: Grandma, what letter is this? (Looking down at the 'Thunder Football' tee he was wearing)
L: That's the letter 'E.'
G: E is for edamame!

Conversation snuggling before bedtime.
G: I love you best of all.
A: I love you soooooo much.
G: I don't love you sooo much. I love you best of all.
J: How about me?
G: How about not you.
We think Gus's "love you best of all" comes from 'Where the Wild Things Are.' Max wanted to be where "someone loved him best of all."

overheard at 2042 . . .

"Look, Mumma. I'm cutting Theo."
"Gus, do not cut Theo."
"I am cutting him gently."
Gus pretending to cut Theo with the thermometer from his doctor's kit.

"Daddy, shake your body. Now!"
Gus "asking" Jonathan to dance when a song came on the radio that he liked while we were eating dinner. He sure has mastered that bossy two-year-old thing.

"I want some sushi. I want some sushi, NOW! I want Uncle Michael take me for sushi."
Gus cried this all the way home from our walk last night after I pointed out some people eating sushi. Since neither Jonathan nor I like sushi, I told Gus that Uncle Michael would take him out for sushi. Don't let us down, Michael.

and my absolute favorite,

"Gus, put that hatchet back where you found it."
Don't worry. It was not a real hatchet, but the one from the Fischer Price camping set. It was up on the kitchen counter because Gus had been "chopping" things that he should not chop. I laughed so hard when I heard Jonathan say this. A few months back I read an article in a parents' magazine about things you never imagined you would ever say (like "do not lick the bottom of your shoes"), and this struck me as fitting that bill.

Water back in the fountain

Today, like most days when we are out and about doing errands, we stopped to play at Rittenhouse Square. When we entered the square I pulled Gus out of the "tunnel" and he picked a tennis ball and his bat out of the stroller basket to play with. After showing me where people were break dancing when he was there with Jonathan on Saturday (Gus REALLY liked the break dancers), we headed to the fountain to find someone to play ball with. But horrors of horrors, the fountain was full of water! What??? I guess Gus does not remember the water from last summer. I was disappointed, too. Most squares have fountains, but Rittenhouse's fountain/playpen full of toddlers is quiet unique. And Gus cannot climb out of it yet, which it makes watching him at this busy park a lot easier.

We were looking into the fountain, longing for the good old days, when Gus said, "Mumma, what those pennies doing?" There were a dozen or so pennies visible on the bottom (I don't know how long the water has been back but the surface is already covered with leaves--looks horrible. Better empty and with children.) Oh! Introduction to the concept of wishing. I was excited and Theo was sleeping so we sat down on the edge and I explained what a wish is, how to make one, and pulled out some pennies. Gus tossed in his penny, then my penny and then his ball and bat.

M: (very, very frustrated but trying to remain reasonable) Oh, Gus! No! Why did you do that?
G: I make a wish.
M: (And Gus has quite the arm. They were both out of reach though the bat was floating back to us.) Oh. Oh. Oh. (Wants to scream, Why? Why? Why? Just works with pennies, but breathes and asks) What did you wish for?
G: I wish somebody give Gus a new bat.

I fished out the bat, but not the ball. Gus was not impressed by my save. He was still talking about a new bat. "I go to store and get a new bat." He definitely thinks that whatever his little heart desires is just waiting for him at Wholefoods or Target. Looking back, wish-making may still be a little abstract for Gus. And , as Jonathan pointed out, encouraging him to throw anything into a fountain is probably not a good idea. Oh well. We are down another ball.

That's so funny

Gus likes to pick out fruits and vegetables while we are grocery shopping. If he picks something that is not on our list, I will usually get one (unless it is an artichoke) in hopes that he will eat it. Lately he has not been big on fruits and veggies. Yesterday he picked out a cucumber and a green apple and was holding then in the grocery cart. While I was picking out some watermelon he turned to a lady near us and said, "This [apple] is like a ball and this [cucumber] is like a bat and I whack it!"