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December 13, 2006
three three three
I have three levels of BOY in my house, according to Gus: 'baby' -- 'big boy' -- 'Papa'
It would seem that these levels are progressions, from one to another... perhaps something to strive for, but that's not always the case. See, Gus is pretty certain he is at the pinnacle of his little life. His self-proclaimed 'big boy' status affords him certain benefits, maybe even certain rights.
For one, Eli should think twice before touching any toys, as he'll soon be schooled by Gus about the dangers of said toy ('It's VERY dangerous,' he's taken to saying). John, who could physically be considered the biggest boy of the bunch, is often schooled by Gus about how he should not sing, not talk, not 'make' Gus do anything. Even I am excluded and diminished, because I am, as Gus explained to me yesterday, a girl. "Girls can't play with Lightning McQueen (his beloved car character from the Cars movie)," he said as I was driving home yesterday. "Why not?" I naturally asked, only to be answered back with the biggest BECAUSE YOU'RE A GIRL answer. I asked, "Who told you that?" and he said, "Me." I felt like I was in seventh grade again, with my dear friend Joseph egging me on with statements regarding the 'place' of women. Then Gus tried to lighten the blow of his news to me by saying, "Mama, someday you'll GROW GROW GROW and then you'll be a big boy just like me! THEN you can watch Lightning McQueen."
I love Gustav's matter-of-factness these days.
I swear, ever since three hit last week, the boy's brain has kicked up juice in the language area. Gus takes known songs and now changes the lyrics to make them funny. He woke up the other day from a nap, screaming and looking under his pillow for a crab. When I asked him what he was doing, he said he was looking for the crab, then he paused for a minute and said, "That was pretend." He went on to explain about his dream with the crab. He makes up stories and loves to play pretend with dinosaurs and cars.
Even though he is wrestling more and more with Eli (and Eli is starting to get to the size where he can fight back a bit), the empathy Gustav feels for Eli could fill buckets. Gus often asks, "What's wrong with Eli?" when he cries, is quick to give gentle, soothing touches to Eli's head, often holds Eli's hand in the car, and has been heard on occasion to say things like, "It's okay, Eli, I'm here." It's heartmelting stuff, folks.
Gus is hard at work on the potty training front, but often I feel it's really a training of US, since it does change many aspects of our daily routine. He can identify most of the letters of the alphabet, and is even starting to see the connection between upper and lower case letters. What's next? reading??
Posted by janna at December 13, 2006 11:13 PM