the strong silent type - sort of

Breakfast is over, and Jordan is heading down the hall to pick out clothes. I free Tennyson from his high chair and he runs after her yelling “Jojo wait! Jojo wait!.” We get to his room where I help him put his clothes on. Jordan grabs another shirt from Tennyson's drawer and throws it on the floor. “Jordan, put that back,” I scold. Tennyson looks at her and leans forward for emphasis as he demands “Back. Now! Back. Now!”

He actually has a huge vocabulary. Not that he says everything properly. Noodles are neenees, banana is nana, bath is bass, Cinderella is WellaWella. At this point, every Disney princess is WellaWella. I suppose if you have a favorite you may as well work with it!

The other night we were at a family function. Steven's Oma and Opa's 56th wedding anniversary to be exact. Happy Anniversary!

As usual, the kids were playing under the table and the baby was being passed around. Mitchell was cooing like crazy and endearing himself to the masses. Someone said to Mitchell “you'll be talking before Tennyson is!” It wasn't intended in an offensive way. To most people outside of this home, you'd think Tennyson didn't speak. It's anomalous. He's not shy in a way that he won't leave my lap, he will. He runs around stealing chocolates from the plate settings and sips out of cups. He'll follow Jordan around and play with what she's playing with. But around others, especially in a group setting, he says nothing. He just stares. He makes a little strange if spoken to. At Christmas, at the biggest family gathering he was fine to run around and watch the kids play until an adult would speak to him, then he'd run away in search of Mommy, and spend the next few minutes in my lap. He wouldn't say two words the entire night. At home he chatters all day, out of the house, nothing.

Of course, as his mom, when people think he doesn't say anything, I almost feel the need to defend him, to mention that he can almost count to five, that he knows a few colours, that he says dozens of words, he knows all his body parts, that he knows his animals and some of the sounds they make. It's not that anybody thinks he's a dummy, it's just my mother's pride, and the desire for my kid to show his stuff – which he won't.

He's also incredibly goofy. He has little ways to tease people. He thinks everything is funny. He goads Jordan into reactions. She actually gets quite upset at him when he says “no” at her, or when he gets on his “why” kick. I'm not even sure that he knows what “why” means, but he knows it gets her heated, and he loves that.

“Tennyson,” says Jordan, “don't touch that, that's mommy's cup.”
“Why?”
“Because It's Mommy's!”
“Why?”
“I DON'T KNOW!”
“Why?”

This is usually when I step in and tell her just to leave him alone. He looks all innocent, but he's got this gleam in his eye and you know that he's enjoying every second of it. Don't let his little grin and pretty blue eyes fool you, he's an imp.

Until he's out in the world. Silly boy.

Comments

Candice said…
Your little cutie reminds me so much of my cousin Nicholas when he was young. They even look the same!

Nick was always so sweet and 'innocent' but managed to harass his older brother passive aggressively all through childhood. Smart kid!
Tiffany said…
I know! Younger brothers are horrible! They figure that because they're all cute and "little" that they can get away with everything!
Lora said…
I hate to hear "why?" after I tell Jake to do something. But the worst is, when I tell him not to touch my cup he says "because there's booze in there?"

aaaarrrggghh? I seriously must be the world's worst mother.

I swear I might have told him that once. Maybe twice.

I found your blog because someone clicked over to my blog from yours, and I'm glad they did! The kids are adorable and your posts make me laugh, which I love to do!

I'm hooked and I've got you on my google reader!
Tiffany said…
Welcome Lori! I clicked over to your blog. I'm not even sure how I found it, but it's very entertaining!

I laughed at the thought of Jake asking if there was booze in your cup. We have to be so stinkin' careful what we say to them!

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