Jalenisms

*I saw this sweater at Target in the fall, and I LOVED it. I knew Jalen Andrew would look so handsome in it, but I just couldn't warrant paying full price for it. So I just imagined him in it all winter long, and then to my extreme pleasure I found it on clearance about a month ago - for a VERY good price. And I was right! He looks SO HANDSOME in it!!!* To say that Jalen Andrew is attached to his blankie is a bit of an understatement. He LOVES his blankie, and carries it with him whenever possible; it also must be in his possession and slung just right over my right shoulder (never my left!) whenever he is hurt, sad, or tired. He used to have a few blankets that he would switch off with, but now it has to be "the green one blankie." (as he affectionately calls it).*Instead of answering "yes" to a question, Jalen Andrew's response is always "Sure!"

*Most kids ask, "What's that?" when they hear a new noise, but Jalen Andrew asks,

"What's that for?"

*He asks me all the time where everyone is. "Where's Dad? Where's Joseph? etc." After he's figured out every one's whereabouts, he goes over and over it again, "Dad's at work. Christine's at the play. Rebekah's at basketball. Joseph's at Scouts. James is outside. Mom is home. And Jalen's home." and he always points to his cheek when he says where he is. Then, after he repeats all of that about 5 times, he starts saying the wrong places for everyone, as a joke. "Joseph's at work?" he says, and then laughs behind his hand. He's so funny! I love his sense of humor.

*He is becoming very independent, and likes to do many things for himself. He tries to buckle his own seat belt, wants to pour his own milk, and dish out the food on the table himself, if I'm clipping limbs in the yard he insists on using the small pruning scissors to help me trim, he has learned to cut with scissors and spends a long time cutting paper, and he folds his own paper airplanes - so maybe they don't look like his brothers' planes, but they still move through the air when he throws them, and he folds them so meticulously. He is constantly informing us, "My turn! My turn!"

*He is really big on lining up cars and trains, and then waiting for me to praise the beautiful job that he did. It used to just be the cars in the playroom, but he has begun parking all the skateboards, and other vehicles in a line outside too.

* He really is doing a great job with potty training, but we were a little worried about his honesty when he first began. One day I asked him if he had poop in his underwear, and he answered quite naturally, "No - James." Sorry kid that doesn't work, James is at school.