The Dish Snob

Ok, so I'm getting the kid his plastic plate and he asks for "poyits pawyyery." He is now insisting on using Polish pottery at every meal. The kid has maybe 50 words, but two of them are "poyits pawyyery," I guess. At least he hasn't figured out how to ask for the catalogue so he can pick his own set of dishes as some other boys have. The unhappy face, as near as I can figure, is from his back teeth bothering him. He is getting some four-year molars and tells me it hurts. I'm very grateful that he can show me where his owies are. That was one of my big fears, that he would be hurt and not be able to tell us what is bothering him. We at least can get "hurt" and a location. :)

"I Not Wau-ra."

Dad really needs to quit teasing the kid and calling her Laura Ingalls. Not pictured? The pink flowered prairie skirt. No bonnet. :)

Please. Just Charge Me More!

It seems that companies are whittling down their package contents little by little, but leaving the boxes and packaging almost identical. I understand prices are going up. I don't like paying more for the same stuff, but looks like I have no choice about doing it. What isn't right is decreasing the number of ounces in a jar, but allowing the jar to look the same on the outside. The jars are frequently hollowed out weird on inside, making it harder for me to get the measly portions inside. Come on, people. Jelly is the worst in this regard.

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I can't say that it's exactly dishonest in the legal sense as it IS clearly labelled; there are only 129 diapers in the more recently-purchased box as opposed to 144. But still. Just charge more and be done with it. I don't want to be running to the store constantly to pick up a 2-pack of diapers in a mega box...

All About Woodjie

Something has happened to Woodjie. I would no longer classify him as non-verbal at all. SURE, he calls a skunk a "padda-bear," (why, I do not know) but he can get across what he needs to for the most part. Unfortunately not the "I need to go potty now" idea. But hey.

Now mind you, he's still autistic and doesn't get some of those obvious social cues. Sometimes this is an absolute riot. One day, we were waiting at the doctor's office and Woodjie was bouncing around and trying to tap the window where the office workers were manning the front desk. One of the ladies slid the window over and ask, "Can I help you?"

"Hep!" he said, boucing about and squeeeealing. And here he did that huge arms out and hand flapping thing he does when he's reallly happy.

"Ok," she asked. "HOW can I help you?"

"Ries?" he asked. She looked quizzical. "I eat a RIES? Crabby Patty? 'Leese?"

"Oh, you want FRIES?"

UH- HUH! (jump jump) "Ries! I have it ries!"

"Well, I don't have any fries."

"Ries?" No, no fries.

"App-ol?" Finally, the ladies gave the little children fruit snacks. Very sweet.

Today there was an older fellow Woodjie was bugging. He had a penguin squeeze toy and told the man it was a duck that said "quack quack" and "Here. You have it. See. Ee a duck. Wook." And of course Woodjie was jumping and flapping.

The old guy didn't seem to notice. He told me this was the most social and kind child he'd come across in a long time. And hey little fellow, want to come home with me? Uh-huh, and Woodjie was following him for a bit before we all laughed at how cute he was.

"Well," he said, "I can take you home for a little bit but when you become a teenager, you'll have to go home to your mom. My wife says no more teens in the house." He gave Woodjie a pet on the head and went on his way.

Elfie's Birthday

We went out to lunch and looked for tadpoles in the local creek. And look! Elf has a new shirt. :)

Fancy Plates...

Emperor chose the Blue Horizon plate set and is enjoying hot dogs on bread, fancy-style. Yep, I let him use his stuff early because why not. :)

Happy Birthday, Elf!

It's coming up soon, and together with the check Nana and Grandpa sent, we were able to buy him two four-piece sets of Polish pottery from Blue Rose Pottery! Not pictured are the dessert plates, which are simply smaller than the large plates. Elf will now be able to eat every meal on his very own Polish Pottery. It is what *every boy wants* for his birthday and Christmas. Elf picked this out himself; it is his favourite design. Emperor has picked out a very intricate ($$!) set for his birthday, so he will get only one set. D says when the boys are older and leave the house, they can take their dishes with them. OK. So I need to get them interested in towels and flatware next? And can you believe the tiny Elf will be 11 this weekend? And that he doesn't want to be called Elfie McMelfie any more in public? He even says he is *not an elf at all.* I know. It's shocking.

Going Out With Woodjie

Sad to say, he'd never been to a restaurant before. Ever. I might have taken him along when he was in the baby carrier, but that doesn't count. So last night, I got brave.

Well, not TOO brave. I took him to a buffet and paid first so I could scoot if I needed to. No sooner had we gotten in the door when Woodjie asked, "Ot dah MELL?" (What's that SMELL?) He's a polite one, he is. I guess Chinese food smells funny to him.

Brought him over to get a plate but he took off running. "ISH!!" he hollered. "Wook A ISH!!" Had to have the waiter move our table so that Woodjie and I would be near the fish. He spent most of the meal stimming and commenting on the behaviour of the various fish in the tank, what they were eating and what their names were.

Woodjie loved serving himself fries and other foods from the buffet. Just this once, I didn't worry about his allergies, though I knew better than to outright give him pudding or ice cream. He kept asking to try all these really outlandish foods, I think one of each. Of course he didn't believe me when I told him he wouldn't like it. (And, he didn't. But he ate plenty of fries and tiny donut holes.)

I just thought I would tell you that Jell-O? Is great. It's awesome. It's fun. But put it near Woodjie's MOUTH, and it becomes frightening! Surely I don't really mean for him to eat it. It's for playing!

Well, he was pretty cute and didn't cause too much of a commotion, and at this age, people still humour his saying HIIIII to them or asking "what doing?" Though at one point he DID try to figure out how the fish tank worked so that he could get in there with his fork for dinner. Okayy, he won't eat Jell-O, but he seemed pretty willing to go fishing with his silverware. Sorry, dude.

Eventually, it was time to go. But first, off to the potty.

"No," he said. "Not yet." Not yet? Never heard that before. Waited around a while several times and asked again. I kept getting "not yet." Finally it was one more minute, then done. He cried on the way to the bathroom, but nothing too awful. He calmed in the hallway before we got to the potty. Here we go into the stall.

"Eew," he told me. "Ee-yucky."

Woodjie, it's just a potty. Sure, it's really grubby in here and the place needs a remodel, but you are a BOY. Boys do not care about things like "cleanliness," especially when they're peeing. So let's go potty.

"No," he told me. "You on't do at." You don't do that, or... in other words... do NOT even try it.

Well. I learned something. This child doesn't say THANKS for the clean bathroom each day, but at least I know he appreciates it AND that he has some standards. Odd that he would classify the bathroom at the Chinese place as too dirty to pee in, but there you go.