So Julian (or Juji, as he calls himself) is having another developmental burst. Just yesterday he said at least ten new words that he had never used before, started singing "E-I-E-I-O" full-bore with the verses in the right places, and even pointed out the number three to me.

Don't ask me what the new words were, because I've forgotten already. That's the whole *point* of this journal, because I most likely won't remember details of any of this stuff next month unless I write it down. I have a brain like a sieve, people. Sharp as a tack, but still a sieve.

I'm very proud of him, not just because he's smart, but because Juji is a very good friend. We were at the park last week with Finn (3 months older) and his mama Laura. Julian wanted a snack, so I brought out some sliced apples. Julian started to take one, then he thought about it and said to me "Finn apple". Finn was currently in a time-out for poking Juji pretty hard with his shovel, but I told Juji he could go offer Finn an apple slice, which he did. Every time after that when J took an apple slice for himself, he also offered one to Finn. I just about burst with pride.

Juji is also thoughtful towards Bugs. He was sitting in his highchair the other morning, eating some Trader Joe's Os. Suddenly he called to me, "Mommy! MOOOOOMMMMYYYYYY!"

"Yes, what is it?" said I, slightly rattled by the ear-piercing shriek.

"Puppy and-a DRINK!" with wild gesticulating to the dog water bowl on the floor near his high chair. And indeed, Bugs' water bowl was almost empty.
"Oh, Puppy needs a drink?"
"YES!"

Last night he informed me that Puppy wanted to go outside to pee.
"MOMMY! Door UP and-a doggie peepee!"
which translates as "Open the door, the dog wants to go outside and go pee".

Nailed it again. Bugs was waiting by the door to go out. Juji only asked me to help after he had been mightily struggling to open the door himself for a minute or two.

I opened the door for Bugs and told Julian, "Thank you for telling me about Puppy!" and he busted right back with "Welcome!"

There, see? I DID remember one of the new words from yesterday! Sigh...everything's still in my head, but retrieval on command can be a problem. It all comes out if triggered properly though. ;-)

I've started a new strategy, which is to put away any toy that Julian hasn't played with for a week or more. Then when I take it out a month or so later, it's as good as new and he's all over it. I'm trying to only have less than ten toys out at any given time, so right now he has his train set, several balls, a bat, a wooden puzzle, his tricycle, a wooden flute, a drum, and several trucks. That's pretty much it. Then there's a small woven basket in the corner where I keep the little tiny toys like plastic dinosaurs and pencils and magnets.

He gets overwhelmed when too many toys are out and just throws them around instead of playing with them. Plus it's a nightmare to try to keep picked up. So my new strategy works great on all counts. He gets "new" toys every week, and keeping the living room de-cluttered is a breeze.

So last week I was picking up Julian's toys and putting them away. He came out and saw me picking up his toys. I put the last ball back in the woven basket and said, "There, now your play corner is all clean!" He looked around carefully, then looked back at me, smiled, and flashed me the sign language for "Thank you!" That one was so sweet it brought tears to my eyes.

I'm not one of those moms who INSISTS on nonstop pleases and thanks yous. I remind him when I remember, but it's not 100%, and if he doesn't do it within a minute or so, I don't insist. I mostly try to just model polite behavior and treat *him* courteously, saying "please" and "thank you" when I interact with him.

Dan and I are working on saying "please" and thank you" to each other more consistently too, which is a good thing. We had fallen into the habit of saying, "Hey, turn that off" or "Give me that plate" to one another. No frills. But now we're more aware, and it does make a difference when you speak to one other courteously. Manners are the grease that makes the wheel of society turn smoothly.

With all this sweet behavior going on, I have stopped worrying that Julian can't read off his letters and numbers like Leta already. But then again, I guess she is still having walking issues and J's been not only running, but skipping and dancing and galloping for ages now, so all kids move at their own pace and have different abilities, and it's all OK.

I actually had two different moms at the park this morning comment on Julian's ability to string words together in proto-sentences already, when their same-age kids aren't saying much of anything at all. I usually respond to that stuff by saying that Einstein didn't speak until age three, and look how he turned out. But I just read that Einstein's supposed learning disability is just a fable, so I guess I won't be saying that anymore.

I suppose something like, "All kids move at their own pace and have different abilities" would be fine. That sounds better than "Yeah my boy totally ROCKS! He's a freakin GENIUS! And NICE too!"