The Games We Play

Oh, the complicated games we have to play.....
All invented by Toby, of course.
There's the game where he is a barista (coffee maker) in a cafe, and I have to come in as a robber and steal all the coffee and cakes and Toby arrests me and throws me in jail.
And the game where he is a famous motorbike rider who keeps on crashing, and I am the TV commentator.
And the game where he is a contestant on "It's a knockout" and he keeps falling over and losing all his clothes.
And one of his favourites, when he is a stone statue busker, and Gaw-Gaw and I have to drop money in his hat.
He's still fanatical about Michael Jackson, and we spend many an evening re-creating the video for 'Beat It', complete with fight scene. I've noticed that Toby even pretends to smoke a cigarette and then throw it on the floor. That surely isn't a good thing for a three year old to be doing....

Last week we went to a playground we haven't been to before. It's in Albert Park and is all wooden and resembles a huge castle. I took with us his knight's cloak so we could play together. Each time we play knights I give him a different knight's name, Sir StinkySocks or Sir Sleep-a-Not or something silly like that. I started saying to him, "OK Toby, so today you can be Sir..." and I couldn't think of a name, my mind was tired and fuzzy and not a single name could come to me. Then Toby turned to me and said, "Mummy, just call me Lami, I want to be Sir Lami" and then he killed himself laughing at his own joke. 
 

He's just so funny, this delicious, crazy boy of mine.

little Mr. Wordsmith

He has always loved words. He used really long ones even when he could still barely talk. He asks about words and phrases all the time, what they mean and why.
He finds it funny when one word has two meanings. He made a joke just the other day when I asked him if he was going to eat the rest of his pancakes. 'No Mummy. I'm going to have a rest on my pancakes instead. I'm going to go to sleep on them!' It makes me laugh, and it amazes me the way he has worked this stuff out for himself.
For a while now he has been curious about sarcasm, and I knew it was only a matter of time before he tried it himself. I use it on him when I'm tired and cross, and he'll always pick up on it. He'll do something annoying and I'll mutter, "Thanks Toby, that's really nice of you" and then he'll ask, " Why did you say thanks? Why did you say that?" "I'm being sarcastic" is my only reply.
And now he's used it on me while we were decorating the gingerbread house just before Christmas. He was stirring the icing, I had to sieve the sugar. I was getting bored as it was taking sooo long, and ended up sieving the icing sugar all over Toby's hand. And he said, "Mummy, I really love it when you snow on my hand" in a serious, slightly annoyed tone. "Do you?" I said. "Not really, I was being sarcastic" he laughed. And I killed myself laughing too, amazed at him and how much he absorbs from all around him.

Christmas Day

All the signs that father Christmas had been....

Christmas morning

 

Opening his stocking

His favourite toys - Fireman hat (complete with visor) and his Lego, of course...