Brady's Bits....

my boy is so funny. I need to write down the funny things he does cuz he cracks us up (he cracks himself up too - but hey - that's a given.....) For a little boy who isn't conversational just yet - he is dang hilarious - and it gives me hope that he will be one day :)

We are in the midst of potty training. Yes, I know - he is eight years old. Yes, I know - he should already be potty trained. Yes, I did spend the ENTIRE summer last year working with him, and NO I was not successful. Well - this naked thing is going okay for the most part - he is making gains. But his latest thing - he sits on the potty for maybe, MAYBE, 1/2 a second, and he says - ummm Mom, I'm all done - and then he laughs hilariously. Apparently that is the funniest joke in the universe :) I can't wait until he learns knock, knock jokes..... So - for potty training we have this chart, and a prize box, and a bell that he gets to ring when he "goes" - it's quite the production (I'm pretty sure they won't be duplicating it at school - definitely not the naked part - for sure - please oh please NOT the naked part.....) On the potty chart, Brady gets to put a check mark in the box and choose a little something every time he successfully "produces" on the potty, and then every 10 times, he gets to choose something from the BIGGER prize box, then every 30 times he gets to go to McDonalds, and at the end of the chart (a hundred and something times) he gets this Spongebob movie that he saw in a Target ad that he thinks he absolutely HAS to have. So - the Target ad is right behind the prize box, and Brady gets it out at least once a day and points out the movie to me. I show him his chart and tell him how many more times he has to go potty, and he just looks at me with his big blue eyes and darling smile and says - Please Mom???? Seriously - the kid has it down. But, as strong willed as he is - I'm stronger........ right???

Today I'm cooking dinner. He walks into the kitchen and says "What are you cooking" No joke - seriously - he asked me that question - I was floored. I told him I was cooking spaghetti for dinner. He stands on his tip toes, looks in over the top of the pot, takes in the broccoli and sauce. He then proceeds into the pantry, grabs some Ramen and says, I want Ramen...... Seriously? A full sentence question that makes me so happy, and then he criticizes my cooking by asking for Ramen??? I'm crushed!

The other day we were swimming at our friend's pool and Brady went to go jump in the hot tub, but he slipped and fell in. When he came up he was TICKED, spouting off something that could have been swear words - if he knew any. He climbed out of the hot tub and was so mad. He looked around, saw some goggles lying on the edge of the pool and kicked them so hard they went half-way across the pool. Then he jumped in properly to the pool WITHOUT tripping. Yes, my friends, people with down syndrome do get ticked ;) p.s. he went the entire 2 hours we swam swimming (aka dog paddling) without a life jacket - he also swam horizontally across the pool, in the deep end (with big brother swimming behind, just in case) all by himself. Some of the time he even swam with his head in the water - his swimming teacher would be so proud (well - except for the big arms part - he just can't get that down yet - maybe by next summer???)

And, last but not least - I overheard him yesterday talking to the dog. They kind of have a love/hate relationship. Our dog is soooo patient with Brady, but, she is getting up there in years - she is 10 this fall, so she's starting to put up with a little less crap than she used to. But, at dinner she always sits under Brady's chair, because, usually there is more fall-out there than from anyone else in the family (although J might be a close second???) Sometimes Brady loves this and he feeds her (there he goes again, criticizing my cooking.....) and sometimes he hates it, cause he'll accidently drop something and she'll quick grab it and eat it before he can (yes - the dog does have faster reflexes than my cute boy). So - when that happens he'll usually give her crap - not that we totally understand what he's saying most of the time, but you can just tell.... So - he was talking to her and apparently she wasn't behaving properly and I heard him say - clear as a bell - "Shame on you L, Shame on you........" Where does he get this stuff????