Mischief and more...

Before I give any updates of the past few months (since I've been out of it!), I'd like to share a little about Otto. I'm pretty sure since birth he's inherited his mother's twisted organizational affinity and his daddy's (and mommy's in different ways) obsession with having clean hands (or being clean in general). I remember one time he was playing with cars, lining them up in a neat row and his Uncle Andrew came up and picked up a car to play with him... Otto yelled at him (this was before he said a lot of actual words). I'm not kidding. Another time, we were outside and Otto accidentally stepped into a mud puddle. Any other kid would have started jumping in it and covering themselves in mud. Instead, instant tears were shed and we had to go home immediately, rinse out every item of clothing, wash every inch of him, and change everything. So obviously it's been pretty distressing to him to have things out of order or dirty sometimes.

As a result, he hasn't always enjoyed making and playing in messes. In fact, it has caused him major distress. Well, that phase is definitely changing. He still doesn't really always want it, but he's learning that there can be times to "dig in" (sometimes literally)! And he now realizes he can clean up afterward, which I think brings him comfort in getting messy in the first place.

Well, one day I decided I'd had enough of being a nasty non-showering wife and mom (I won't tell you how long it'd been... long enough). I decided Otto seemed content to play and hopped in the shower. When I walked out, this is what I saw...
Otto has a habit of helping himself to the items in the refrigerator, one of his favorite things to get being his cup of milk. Obviously, his cup was emptied and he thought he could help himself to the gallon of milk. He probably would have succeeded in getting the gallon out just fine if it hadn't been wedged onto the shelf with 2 other gallons that day because he can actually carry a gallon of milk himself. I was wide-eyed as I walked out, that was for sure!

The thing that saved him was the fact that I walked in and he was on his hands and knees slurping (I can't even type it without laughing to myself) up the milk and he said, "mommy, I'm drinking the milk!" as if he was doing the best possible thing (which he probably was since I laughed). I couldn't help but laugh out loud!

So, Otto is obviously growing into a more messy phase. Within reason, of course. :)

Other things he's been up to;

• Talking more and more - and making us laugh in the process! The other day we were singing "Bob the Builder" and instead of saying "Can we fix it? Yes, we can!" he said, "I thought I fixed it."
• Asking daddy, "how was work?" at the dinner table. I love this. :)
  
• Enjoying all aspects of playgrounds more - he's been kind of afraid of heights and one day he just got over it
• Enjoying mud/dirt & reveling in the fact that he enjoys it
• Reading books - we can never read enough of them & he absolutely loves the library - it's like Christmas every time we bring home new books.
  
• Watching a movie ANY time mom will let him... he can watch a full-length film and then say, "again?" (mom says, "Nooooo!!!!!!" in her mind to this...sigh)
• Deferring sleep- he's starting to get pretty good at coming up with just another thing he needs to do before going to bed
• Being more mischievous... he loves getting his partners in crime to do things with him, too.
• Creating things - the other day he got out a cotton swab & a cotton ball. He then placed the ball on top of the swab and walked around balancing the ball. He thought he was pretty awesome. Have NO idea where that came from.
• Marriage - he's very interested in the concept and the other day said, "[girl I babysit] and I are married" while holding her hand. I insisted he (and she) was too young and said, "you need to graduate from HS first and go on a mission" to which he replied "I missionary already." Not exactly what I want to rush!
• His family, especially extended family. We've visited a lot lately and he just loves it. He loves his cousins, his grandpas and grandmas, aunts, and uncles. SO MUCH!
• Calling people. He's becoming quite the conversationalist.
  

There are more things he loves & such, but my brain isn't working properly and this post is already too filled with words and not enough pictures. Soon there will be more pictures (highlights).