June 8, 2004 — our comedian -
Everett is just funny. Yeah, ask him. He'll tell you.
The first time he told me that was a few days ago. He was hiding under the blanket, and when I looked underneath he would say "kick-a-boo!" and giggle and then say, "I funny!"
By yesterday he was saying the "m" firmly. "I'm funny!" he announced to his daddy, tumbling over his shoulder. "I'm funny!" Who am I to argue? There's nothing as funny as an almost-two-year-old who tells you so.
The little exchanges we have sometimes make me want to roll on the floor doubled up in laughter. The best was Friday, when we went on a mega-walk, ending up in the triple-jump pit at the Cleveland track. He insisted that we both take our shoes and socks off to "walkin" in the sand. By the time I was past ready to go, he had decided that he was never leaving. He laid down in the sand, carefully, and said, "I nap!" Firmly.
So, like any reasonable toddler's mom, I decided to use bribery. We had just bought some tortilla chips at Wild Oats. "Do you want to go home and have some chips?" I asked. "No, I nwanna chips!" he said firmly, shaking his head in the sand.
Hmmm. "Do you want to have some milk?" I tried. "No, I nwanna milk!"
Desperate now. "Do you want to go home and have some candy?" "No, I nwanna canny!"
Realizing this is just a game, I start asking all kinds of other things that he likes. Chicken. Hamburgers. Carrots. Apples. Oranges. Toast. "No, I nwanna!" he says, repeating the name of everything.
I'm giggling now, and can't think of anything else. "Wenk Ies?" asks Everett. (that's french fries for the uninitiated in Everettese) "Do you want to go home and have some french fries?" I ask. "No, I nwanna wenk ies!" he says, clearly very pleased that I took the bait.
That's just cute. That's beyond cute. It earned him a few more minutes lying in the sand, me giggling over his undying cuteness. And I'm sure that's all he wanted...
