**** Blog post from 6/30/09. Today's post will be up later tonight*****
Today, we went with sister-in-law Julie and good friend (and one-time guest blogger) Sherri to the Oklahoma Aquarium in Jenks. Outside the aquarium is a large bronze statue of an alligator. “Look, Robbie,” I said, pointing to the statue, “see the alligator?”
Now, Robbie is a huge fan of elevators, but he learned the word “alligator” at a very young age thanks to one of his picture books, so he tends to say “alligator” when he means “elevator.” So when I said, “see the alligator,” Robbie’s eyes grew quite wide, and he replied “Robbie push the button! Robbie push the button!”
The poor child spent the next fifteen minutes trying to find the button for that alligator so he could ride it up a floor.
*****
A couple of days ago, Kim and her sisters took Robbie with them on a shopping trip while I slept in. At Target (I think it was Target), they say a clip from the film Spider-Man 3 on the television. According to reports, Robbie stood and watched the scene where the crane smashes into a building and huge chunks of concrete crash toward the street below as our friendly neighborhood Spider-Man slings his way through the debris to try to save Gwen Stacy. (Comics continuity shiver) Robbie watched this scene, and then said, “Spider-Man make a mess!”
A few hours later, Julie wanted Robbie to repeat this phrase, as it was just about the cutest thing she’d ever heard. “Robbie,” she asked sweetly, “what did Spider-Man do?”
Completely out of the blue, as this had not even been the subject of any recent conversation, Robbie stated plainly, “Spider-Man go to church on Sunday.”
*****
On the way back from the Aquarium today, we stopped at Sonic for some soft drinks. I asked what Julie and Kim wanted and then ordered. (We all ordered some variation of Dr. Pepper, for the record. Tarvis would be proud)
About fifteen minutes later while we’re still on the road, after a period of about forty-five seconds or so when nobody’s been talking, Robbie loudly proclaims “Robbie need Dr. Pepper!”
No, we didn’t give him any, but we did laugh pretty hard, so he repeated it several times.
*****
While walking around Kim’s grandmother’s little country house, Robbie noticed that the cats’ food bowl was empty. “Kitties need O’s,” he told me. “Kitties need O’s!” He calls the cat food “O’s” because it looks to him a lot like his Cheerio knock-off cereal that he eats for a snack throughout the day. I told him that we should tell Mema (his name for Kim’s grandmother) that the kitties want O’s next time we see her. At this point, Mema was not at home; she was out shopping for groceries so we would have something for dinner.
When Mema arrived a little over an hour later, no sooner is she in the front door when suddenly, from the other side of the house, a little voice shouts “Kitties want O’s! Kitties want O’s! Kitties want O’s!”
I laughed pretty hard, because I was the only one who had a clue what he was talking about.
*****
Robbie and I walked by two of the cats lounging near one another in the shade. (It’s very, very hot outside, so the cats stay glued to shady spots whenever they can) Robbie points them out and we walk over to watch them. “Kitties!” he observes. “Kitties are hot!” “Kitties are sleeping!” And other such narration. At one point, one of the cats reaches its paw toward the other, and the second cat licks the first one’s paw. “Kitties don’t bite! That’s a no-no!” Robbie scolds, shaking one finger vehemently at the cats, who blink up at him in nonchalant surprise.
*****
And, just in case you were wondering if your child really does pay attention:
Yesterday, Julie and Robbie were playing with a toy phone. Robbie said, “Ring, ring!” and then answered it. Julie asked who was on the other side of the line. “Is it Mommy?” Robbie said that it was. “What does Mommy say?” Julie asked.
“She say, ‘Mommy on the phone! No, no!’”
