Loopholes

As an almost-3-year-old, Liam is doing his darndest to test the limits. We're finding that he's great at finding the loopholes in our rules. A few examples....

One of our rules is that drinks need to stay in the kitchen. Of course, Liam will walk right up to the edge of the tile with his toes just barely hanging over the threshold. He then looks over his shoulder at us with a sly grin and says, "I'm still in the kitchen!"

The other night at dinner, Liam's table manners were particularly atrocious. At one point I looked over at him and he had plopped a roasted potato in his milk. We reminded him that food stays on the plate or in his mouth, not in his milk. To remedy the situation, he proceeded to stick his whole hand in his cup, slopping the milk on the table, to fish out the potato. We then asked him to not put food in his milk. A few minutes later, I saw him put another potato in his cup. Here's the conversation that followed...

me: "Liam, did you just put another potato in your milk?!"
L: "no"
me: "I just saw you Liam!"
L: Peering into his cup and then turning it toward me. "No, no milk, I drank it all!"

So, technically, he's right, we told him not to put the potato in his milk, we did not specify the cup. As one of my coworkers said, we may have a lawyer in the making.

"I help you"

Last week I picked Liam up from school and noticed a new art project on the wall. The kids had made butterflies by painting coffee filters. I asked Liam which one was his. I walked over the bulletin board and start looking at the names on the butterflies, telling Liam which friend had made that one. He interrupted me and said, "Mommy, let me help you, it starts with L." Duh.

Circus

Last month we took Liam to his first circus. He really enjoyed all the animals, especially the tigers. He even tolerated the clowns well. On the way home I asked Liam what his favorite part of the circus was. "My favorite is the tigers and the elephants, oh yea, and the doggies and horses." He then asked, "What you favorite, Mommy?" So sweet!

Inquiring Minds

We're getting lots and lots of questions these days. Liam has to know about everything! The other day we were driving behind a car with sporty dual exhaust pipes. Liam said, "That car is loud, Mommy. What are those things?" "They're exhaust pipes Liam." "Oh, yeah, exhaust pipes. What do they do, Mommy?" Uh.

Dinner Conversations

Liam has inherited a sweet tooth and loves to have "special treats" after dinner. Recently, he asked Daddy for a special treat. Daddy offered him a choice, "Liam you may have cookies or cookies." Liam looked at him for a minute and said, "No, not 2 cookies, just 1 cookie." Smarty-pants, Daddy won't be able to outwit him for much longer!

A few weeks ago I made a beef stew for dinner. Liam is suspicious of new foods although he's good at trying at least a bite. That evening, he put a bit in his mouth, made a terrible face and said, "Disgusting!"