Easton: cuter than ever

Today, after Danny walked out the door to go to an appointment, Easton (age 3) realized it was just the two of us. "Mom, are you gonna babysit me??!!" After my initial surprise, I realized that he must have meant we'd get to play together. Sometimes his sisters "babysit" him, which means he gets their full attention.

Upon hearing that we were going on a family bike ride to the playground, he nearly jumped with excitement and asked, "Can I wear underwear to the park?!" How could we say no? He's had dry pull-ups for weeks. We've now had 3 happy days of being diaper-free!

We had about a week of poopy diapers a few weeks ago, while we searched for something that would motivate him to do his business on the potty. Then we found it! Now, we'll be playing or reading happily when suddenly Easton jumps up and announces, "I need to go poop and then I get to play computer!!!"

This kid is thankful. I mean really. At church on Sunday the character quality of the month was unveiled: gratitude. Though he had a hard time saying the word, Easton has got this one down pat.

"Dear Jesus, Thank you that we could have dinner. Thank you for the mac 'n cheese that I'm gonna eat, and the grapes that I'm gonna eat. And thank you for Mommy's burrito. And thank you for Eliana's spaghetti. And thank you for Emma's pancakes. And thank you for Daddy's salad. And thank you that we could play baseball today. And thank you that we could ride bikes. …"

He regularly thanks us for things that most kids cry about, like cutting his finger nails, putting on or taking off a band-aid, even making him eat foods he doesn't like. "Thanks, Mom" is something I hear a lot.

Speaking of moms, he talked with mine on the phone yesterday. I overheard him suggest, "How about we play 'I spy,' Grandma?" She's a good sport, and so they did. It was hilarious watching him walk around outside pointing to things. "Is it this tree, Grandma?" "Is it this car?"

Easton: "We carved pumpkins at preschool today!"

Mom: "Really? With a knife?"

Easton: "No, I carved mine with glue."

He pointed to two squares on his paper pumpkin. "These are his cheeks. He's a happy pumpkin!" Easton's own cheeks are still quite a prominent facial feature, so apparently he was carving in his own image. Which is cute, even on a pumpkin.