Things you don't want to hear from your 3-year-old

"I like naughty girls!"

Yes, that was Isaac. Of course some context might help. He wanted to read a PowerPuff Girls book that I don't much care for. I told him, "I don't like it. They are naughty girls." That's when he got a big mischievous grin and made his declaration. He is a bit of a tease and is continually adding new grammar and phrases to his vocabulary. He recently started say things like "I am..." instead of just "I" and seems to understand a lot of the nuances. He can spell his name very well too, though often adds or subtracts and A.

He is also quite the boss of Ethan. One time when my sweater ended up on the floor being played with, Isaac "turned in" Ethan as the culprit. Literally - he dragged him to me, saying "Say sorry to Mama". Another time when Ethan had dropped the remote and broke a piece off it, he couldn't wait until daddy got home to tell him because "Daddy be angry". He was quite disappointed when daddy did not get angry. Of course when he is the one being naughty, he's not quite so receptive to discipline...

Ethan meanwhile continues to be the silly one who can't sit still and concentrate, unless it's a project he's really into like a puzzle, which Isaac doesn't have the patience for. When asked to spell his name, he just starts goofing off and making things up. He is my cuddly bear and very affectionate and more interested in the baby (though Isaac is more careful of not hurting the baby and letting me rest!). Ethan is more into it, but they are both also really good at spotting matches - like which picture in the book matches the cover picture and so on. Must be something that comes with having a matching brother. One time they brought out two matching teddy bears and declared "Twins!"

The other day I was paying our State Farm bill online and Isaac went running out of the room and came back a minute later with his "Good Neigh Bear" they gave him when we moved here a few years ago. He pointed to the logo on the screen and to the one on his bear, very excited to point out that they were the same! He loves the bear and sleeps with it, so we decided it was time to pick up a new (clean!) one. I told the ladies at the office he would be a good salesman for them!

They are both entering the "Why?" phase too, clearly something they picked up at school since it's usually "Why, Mommy?" instead of Mama. They don't usually wait for an answer though and just seem to think it's funny.