Day 913 - Name or No?

When a child reaches adolescence, I hear there are a couple of things that are really important for them to know. Number one is that you need to know who your real friends are. Don't get caught trying to fit in with the popular crowd and lose the important people to you in the process. Number two is knowing when to say no. Lucky for Bethany and me, Ethan is already working hard on figuring out both of these things.

Ethan has reached that stage of life where he is rapidly learning new things each and every day. Nowhere is that more evident than in the case of his vocabulary. Not a day goes by where he doesn't learn a new word. Some recent new words for Ethan include favorites such as "cookie", "block", and "baby". However, rather than focusing exclusively on new words all of the time, Ethan still takes time to remind himself who his true friends are. For an example, look no further than our times around the dinner table as a family.

Imagine the four of us, if you will, sitting around our dinner table together. It may be lunch time but I would prefer if you would think of it as dinner time. Also, can you imagine us eating fajitas too? I think that will help. Anyway, one of the first things that happens each night when we sit down for dinner is that Ethan will begin looking from one side of the table to the other. Then, he will begin to point at each of us individually and excitedly proclaim our name.

**point** "Ellie!"  

**point** "Mommy!"

**point** "Daddy!"

Of course, that's not the only time Ethan does that little trick during the day. It happens at random intervals throughout the day. My favorite though has to be at bedtime. As I'm tucking in, he'll inevitably spring up in bed saying "Mama?", "Ellie?", or "Baby". In case you're confused why he's saying "Baby", it's a fun story. You see, Ethan has decided that Ellie's baby doll is in fact a real member of our family. As a result, if he doesn't tell it good night, then he gets pretty upset and displays his unhappiness through a increasingly louder "No!".  It's both cute and a little insane.

Speaking of that "No!", it doesn't just come out at nights. It is now a constant part of our lives. Any moment when Bethany or I might ask Ethan to do something is generally met by a resounding "No!". It first will begin as a sad/depressed little "No." From there, it will grow in intensity until he is actually screaming it at the top of his lungs. Don't worry though, it really never reaches that point unless it is bedtime.

So, as you can see, it's just like I said in my cold open. Despite his young age, Ethan is in fact striving to remember who his friends are each and every day. Not only that, but he is already learning to say "No" to what he believes is the appropriate time. Truthfully though, I'm not entirely certain it is the appropriate time. However, that's probably a discussion for another time. #DaddyWrite