one more minute, big girl.

I've eagerly awaited the day that I could fill my blog with funny things Josiah says. That day is quickly approaching, but sometimes I wish that I could just clip an excerpt of our conversations and insert it here for your listening pleasure. For now, the funny things he says aren't necessarily funny in and of themselves...it's more the tiny baby voice with jumbled pronunciation or the surprise of an unexpected phrase--with all new words and impressively appropriate context that make me laugh all day. I REALLY enjoy just talking to this little guy all the time.

This afternoon Jonathan arrived home after a week out traveling. He was unloading his car and I was potting some plants. Josiah came over to me and said, "I like Daddy." I giggled and replied, "I really like Daddy, too." The unexpectedness of the statement is what made it so funny to me.

Josiah can now decipher gender differences, but he doesn't understand "man" versus "boy." He just calls them all "that big boy" or "that little girl." It is pretty funny (and potentially socially dangerous) to hear him reference a grown man as "that big boy" or a grandmother as "that big girl." He calls an 8 year old "big" and a 5 year old "little," so I'm not sure where his cut-off is exactly. I think it is right around school age. At some point, though, he decides that they merit the larger title. He is also really into time references, but he doesn't have a concept of their significance. For instance, he will tell me he wants to "go to the park again next week" when really he means later in the day or the following day. The other day he asked me, "Mama, go park and playground to play for just ten minutes?" I said, "well, how about we go for 45 minutes?" He started crying and saying, "no 45 minutes!" as if I had just delivered the most devastating news that his time would be cut short. I of course anticipated he wouldn't get it, but I burst out laughing and told him we would spend 10 minutes as requested. Josiah often asked to do something, "just one minute, Mommy" with a charming bat to his eyes, and this one he does understand as a ploy to get a little more time.

I have a couple more "You know you're a mom when...'s" to add to my list.

You know you're a mom when...you have to be diligent about scrubbing the back of your neck because of all the grime sticky fingers have left there.

You know you're a mom when..."I need a napkin" is declared concurrently with little hands reaching for your clothes.