Latest John-isms

Thought this would be a good time to document some of the cute things John is saying these days.

• "Green Eggs and Sam" -- his take on the classic Dr. Seuss
  
• "The Die Book" -- better known as I Know an Old Lady Who Swallowed A Fly. Yeah, we don't read this one much any more.
• "pretzel i's" -- John's name for pretzel sticks
• "Lillian's flowers" -- what John thinks lilies are called. He's still pining for Little Miss Hall.

One of my favorite things is that when he wakes up in the morning, or from a nap, the first thing he says is "Mama." Not calling for me, exactly -- more of just a statement. And when I go in his room, he asks me to lay down with him and then he gives me a big hug.

His other "cute" trick is to use a quiet, high voice when he's asking for something special -- a sip of my drink, or a treat, or to drive the car. I dare anyone to tell this kid no when he asks like that.

He has a completely different voice that he uses sometimes -- it seems to come out when he's unsure of what he's saying, like he doesn't know if he's got it right. We call it his "smoker's voice". If he's saying words to a new song-- not singing, because he still prefers to hum or perform songs in spoken-word style -- or speaking to someone that he just met, he'll use this gruff, scratchy voice.

And speaking of speaking, he also picked up a very distinct Texas twang in the last few weeks. We know we sound like we're from Texas, but even to us, this is pronounced. He'll say "go up stay-ers" or "over they-er".

I'll try to get some of these on video this week. And more pictures, too!