Scuba Diving!

I think the most exciting hoopla recently has been Cameron participating in this program at The Monterey Bay Aquarium: http://specialkidsscuba.org/faq.html.  He had his first scuba diving experience, used up a full tank of air and let me know first thing upon coming out that he was awesome :)

And doesn't his expression say it!

I think someone was feeling proud of overcoming sensory challenges… like breathing through a regulator that nearly stopped him at the start.  I love the look! The sensory issues can be so heartbreaking to see and so limiting; breakthroughs mean so much. That look, that self-evaluation is real fuel for future effort and it made me just teary happy!

Cute antics:


• after I'd made some comment about his dad mis-planning sometimes too, "Even Dad?  Dad is one of the most prestigious people I know! (It turned out he defined prestigious as someone who does things well and doesn't procrastinate :) )

• "Mom sure does know how to insult.  My that's sure not true!" (I commented that Andrew was frustrating during some playful teasing and this was Cameron's attempt at joining the banter.)

• pausing his playing of the musical "Jekyll and Hyde" to comment, "There's nothing good about being a prostitute." I asked why and he replied, "You don't get an iPad."  Not wishing to insult, I didn't laugh, but when I mentioned that they might actually have an iPad now a days, he said, "Well, you don't have a house."  When I mentioned that they might have that too, he put on the full melodramatic voice and told me "Well, they might get sick and… die!"
(Okee dokee, he's got me there!  I'm always in for surprises.  Never did I expect that line of reasoning?!?!?)



• commenting, "Dad is more of a king than I am and I am more of an intrepid explorer."

• "I can't believe that I forgot!"
(Me: Forgot what?)
"That I am magnificent!"
(Once he noticed I was making a note for a cute antic he added, "Be sure to add an exclamation point.)

• after I noticed the finger eating and gave a friendly point at his fork he informed me, "I don't mind eating like a brute." 

• describing what his occupational therapist's exercises were doing, "You were waking my pieces up, my lovely Ms. Mary!"

• Conversation:
Cameron: You're young for an adult.
Me: Oh? What's old?
Cameron: 50
(Very matter of fact, as if I should know these things.)


• "Don't just yank off my pants!" (Ah the days when I could notice a pair of pants needed to go to Goodwill and just give a playful tug seem to be gone.  Apparently, he's opposed to exposing legs to Mom anymore.)

• informing me, "I have enough money to buy a ring for my fiancé in a few years." (Oh?  It was a hypothetical fiancé and the focus was on the ability!)

• describing how he conquered a challenge in an iPhone game… he really really wanted to tell me every detail and when he paused for breath he added with flare, "So I simply used my brilliant mind and…" (I'm afraid my Mommy brain didn't follow the details of his conquest, but he sounds a bit like The Great Brain in his confidence!")

• Cute antic when my child wants the computer:

Cameron: Lovely mommy of sweetness, will you have mercy on your poor son?

Me: Poor son?

Cameron: "I'm trying to make you laugh so that you'll let me use the computer and have fun."

Well… it worked, but he had to wait for me to type up this cute antic.

• describing a story, "One time he managed to escape and one time he managed to die."

• getting well trained by the neighborhood dog who came to visit while he was doing his chores, "Well, I had to do something. So, I went over and got my frisbee."

• Story:
Last weekend, he had decided to make a cursive p in a way that added a second loop and was refusing to acknowledge a reminder.  He looked at the youtube video I pulled up and insisted that that was just one way to make a cursive p and he could do it differently. He got very upset, but I chose not to fight the battle at that time.
This weekend, at breakfast, he was just quietly contemplating and said:
"I should have just listened to you and I would have been done much better."
"I spent a lot of time arguing with you about things that you turned out to be right."
"Why didn't I just agree with you? I know that you're much smarter than I am and you're usually right."

There are times when staying quiet for a bit can be quite shocking!  We had a nice, meaty family chat after he came out with that triple punch of musings!

• My Facebook post:

One of his speech therapists told me years ago that I should write a book entitled "My quotable son." Here is the latest of his wisdom, now that he's reached the ripe old age of nine, "I'm very fastidious about my dirty feet."

Note: I think the idea was that he should be allowed to keep the layer of dirt atop his feet as an expression of his explorer spirit.  Well, I pick my battles. I don't fight over backwards clothing, but inside out is too much. General dustiness is expected, but a dark layer means  Mom will point him to the tub before sharing close proximity... or proximity to her things like the ever tempting computer!  Only having a sister, perhaps I suffer from inexperience with little boys who sometimes seem like a slightly different species :)

• And a cute antic for the parents of this child… My Facebook status:

Mommy win.

I didn't lose it when my kiddo scraped the coffee table across the floor for the third time in a row!

After taking a deep breath...

I could see it was clear he was upset with himself and really just forgetting as he listened to music class.

I flipped over the table.

Andrew Miner You can readily imagine a wrathful Rachel overturning furniture in a hulk-like rage, can't you?

Rachel Miner Hey, hey, hey! You know I was calm when I flipped the table... the losing it after the third repetition though was a near miss!

Ireland

Andrew and I have enjoyed our first couple vacation that lasted two weeks since... I was pregnant with Cameron!  That's almost ten years and boy did we enjoy ourselves thoroughly :)
Here are Cameron's latest cute antics and some pictures of our vacation too!


• while thinking about a math problem, "Processing…. processing…"

• explaining why I was not hearing tooth brushing, "I've just finished tending to a blood wound." (Allow me translate… he's ripped off another scab.)

• perhaps listening to The Hobbit a bit too much? He gave me a hug saying "My moomykins of preciouskins.  May your memory never fade." And, then proceeded to eagerly explain that he was thinking of " Bilbo and how he said good bye to Thorin and the Lonely Mountain and Fili and Kili who died in the end."  
(He was just going downstairs to do the dishes while I finished up some computer work?!?!?  Well, the dramatic flare does keep life interesting!)

• when I pulled out the conversation cube for breakfast fun:
"How are you different from everyone else."
Cameron: I cuddle you the best!

• hurtling insults at the ocean as the waves kept splashing him. (He had a blast with this play-arguing… he even threatened to drink it up.)

• telling me his pimples were turning white (um, that was nipples and he was indicating he was cold).

• informing me, "I know full hearted sarcasm when I hear it."

• hitting himself on the head and saying, "Ow, that was extra hard."

• a few bizarre statements out of the blue that deserve a Spock eye-brow-raise!

 "My hand searches for a giant armadillo to rest on."

 "I feel like eating a billion ants."

 "I'm more or less a humbug."

• and one that was the  most unusual response to discussing how he could benefit from learning about Japanese history.  We'd been talking about xenophobia and he said, "I wouldn't like to have kids.  It's a big bother to have sex."  I wasn't quite following, but asked why.  He said, "It's a lot of pushing.  Pushing and pushing. I couldn't stand it."  (Well, there you have a nine year old who has clearly not started feeling adolescent hormones and has translated the idea of not wanting to be around other people into not wanting to have sex, ever.  Hearing his thoughts is never dull!) 

Cameron in his Titanic captain hat!

Lots of antics!

I'm so overdue for a cute antics update here!  So, if you don't get my email updates, this should give lots of smiles... thanks to my kiddo :)

• informing me, "You can't sumo-wrestle with an avalanche." (He's been flipping through a book about Mt. Everest.)

Imagining sumo-wrestling that avalanche!

• "I'm lovely.  I'm the only joy in life for you two [pause, looking at us] I'm certain that's not true."

• to make sure he didn't forget his glasses, he ignored the idea of putting them with his morning clothes.  Instead, he grabbed them and headed downstairs declaring he knew just the place to put them to make sure they came with him to school… he went into the garage (in only pajama bottoms, without slippers), opened the refrigerator, and put his glasses on top of the jerky trays. (That was his plan for breakfast, but perhaps he extended a wee bit more effort than required.  I just smiled.)

• informing me, "You're the national cooker of food for our family." (Oh, didn't know our family counted as a nation.)

• "Daddy worked for Amazon when I was a little kid and didn't have my memories." (Interesting and I guess nine doesn't count as a little kid anymore.)

• requesting I "coldenize the heat" (= cool off the hot car)

• "Why are you giving me blue lemons!" (His teasing description of tart blue berries.)

• exclaiming, "Ow I stepped on your toe!" (It was true.  He stepped on his therapist's toe, but… ow?)

• responding to my summary of his plan with, "Precisely. Once in a world of events my mom gets something right." (The tone on this one was a clear joke, but he does get body language mixed up sometimes and will smile when he's done something wrong or sees someone angry.  I think it's an embarrassment thing, but it doesn't look / feel like it at the time!  He'll get frustrated because he's adamant that he doesn't think he's smiling and he doesn't understand how he can be smiling unintentionally.  Obviously, smiling when he's damaged something or someone is saying they're angry / frustrated does not serve him well.)

• One that I posted to Facebook after he yet again "forgot" to cover his mouth when coughing:
My priceless child... the more I bite my tongue, the more his introspective skills seem to improve!
This is what I've been listening to since I've declined sharing my computer after the latest spray of germs. (The distress gradually decreased as I let him process.)

"I don't have any ideas.  I want you to give an idea and then I'll give my own. It's not my fault I coughed on your computer.  Well, it actually is but I forgot and I wasn't thinking about it.  Just give me an idea and then I'll try to think of my own.   Fine.  So, what should I do?  Maybe a reward so I'd have some encouragement?"
[Me] "You can reward yourself."
"Ya, that should be good, but I don't think I'll need it because I think I'll remember and stop.   I might need a reminder to think about it."
[Me] Mmm? Not a job that I'd like.
"No, I don't think I'll need a reminder.  On the whole, I think I'll manage to remember because I usually think about the consequence and don't care, but now I do care.  So, if I do care, I work on it and eventually achieve it.  Since I didn't care before, I didn't achieve it.  Since I'm going to start working on it, I'll achieve it in no time.

• yelling out numbers for a coordination exercise (There are different movements for each number and the goal is to help him process and move more smoothly.  He's so energetic about it that you'll hear him scream "9, 4, 2, 1, 3"!  Then there's silence as he processes and does the movement before we hear another series of random numbers shouted at top volume… he just doesn't do anything gently.)

• making a suicide pit in Minecraft "just in case anyone wanted to use it". (Considering he's not playing multi-player and doesn't want to destroy his own video-game character, it seems like an odd way to improve his online environment!)

• OVERHEARD (a laugh out loud moment)
Husband: You have a way of pushing buttons that I don't think you even realize.
Cameron: What buttons?
(Cameron stayed baffled too, "Could you ever so nicely tell me what is going on?"  It was one of those situations where the tone of voice was perfect.  Bemused exasperation on one side and innocent curiosity on the other.)

• examining a sweet, "I won't eat it in two bites… I'll eat it gradually and slowly."

• describing being hungry as "hunger baiting"

• conversation after Cameron had been chattering at Andrew about Minecraft for thirty minutes:
Andrew: You never do get tired of talking, do you?
Cameron: No.  I'm a talkative boy. So, the talkative boy continues….

• Two stories:

Ahhhh, my child is growing!  He hurt his hand.  I offered to kiss his boo boo.  "They're not boo boos, they're wounds!" I mentioned that when he was little he liked me to kiss his wounds.  He was smiling, but informed me "Not anymore." (And off he went to get a lego game for us... growing!)

Another cute antic, I looked out to see what was keeping my child from bringing in the mail and saw him on his bottom on the drive way with mail dispersed around him.  I commented, "That looks like a splat." He remarked that it was a very neat splat because his legs were equally apart and faced the opposite direction he'd been going. We chatted as he meticulously handed me each piece of mail before getting up and continuing on.  I really, really love my kid!

• old one that I just wrote up...
I was answering a parenting question elsewhere and thought my note about video games might be fun to share:

"The video game "trick" is something we've chatted about before.  He knows games are designed to give lots of positive feedback for easy efforts originally and then require more and more effort, where as real life often requires lots of hard work before any positive feedback.  We were noticing the hint that he didn't want to work hard to achieve values in real life and was preferring the easy "fix" feeling of video games.  It was just a hint.  As soon as we told him the trick, he was bound and determined not to be fooled :)"

• licking an envelope that was a sticker… twice. (Talk about adherence to routine!  I thought it was an accident with the first envelope and mentioned that it was a sticker.  He licked the second one too though and just said he wanted to.) 

• Overheard:
A: (muttered while playing Minecraft) Damn Kreepers.
C: (cheerfully) I can see why you're frustrated.
(Ya, don't you love hearing those parenting phrases echoed back!)

• describing the recess soccer games as the "kids condense and expand"

• giving us a nice list of what he defined as folktales and finishing off with "Hansel and Griddle" (That picked our bedtime reading! :) )

• reporting that he had two new girls at his table and he tried to act funny in school (?, it wouldn't the first time he's sought attention in a clumsy manner because it's just so NOT intuitive for him to understand how to be friendly.)

• responding to my comment that we had failed as parents by missing The Velveteen Rabbit with "Moooooom, I am not amused!" (Yep, that was another bed time reading.)

• while waiting for his speech therapist he commented on his arms that show the signs of his constant picking at scrapes, "It's good to have them scarred, now I'm a martyr!"
(Um, ya, the lady in the waiting room laughed and told him that's when someone hurts you, not when you do it to yourself!")

• leaving a downloaded Scooby Doo episode on my computer desk top… it was in Russian.

• hugging me and saying, "My mommykins is so sweet; she needs to be cuddled." (After a long week of parenting challenges, I'm going to sleep with a smile.  I love my quirky kid!)

• contemplating a halloween costume that was his favorite color (red-orange), I said it would be bright and he corrected me, "Flamboyant!"

• mis-recalling the name The Battle of Laketown (Tolkein's Lord of the Rings) as The Battle of Yorktown :)

• responding when asked by someone "How's your brain doing?" with "It's a good looking brain!"

• going through four rounds of thank-you-you're-welcome when the therapist said she liked his rain boots (which he wore on a bright sunny day)

• placing these lego items on the first place lego, chess trophy and explaining the reasons... 
Gun- to defend yourself
Crown and epaulettes and throne- to show you're the head of your life
Key- to seek your knowledge
Telescope- to see ahead
Wheel- to steer your life
Pirate above- you can conquer your opponents
Riches

• Facebook status:
Kid quotes from our discussion tonight regarding my kiddo's lack of effort in occupational therapy (which is resulting in the therapist needing to repeat herself a lot and he makes less progress) ... I just love that he verbalizes his thinking! 

"No one wants an insubordinate student, Calvin [from Calvin and Hobbes] is a great example!  He's just such a piece of work… but, I'm not that much of a pill...
"Mmmm hmmm, what you say makes sense, but what I say is almost always a whim so you always win.  I just realized that what I'm saying is a whim!  I do think you'll eventually win even though the whim is very persuasive.  But, I think that when I think about it your long range ideas will knock the whim out."

Functional MRI... cool brain mapping!

My kiddo started participating in the first of likely several studies at Stanford where they are trying to understand  more about the autistic brain.  The only cost to us it time and Cameron thoroughly enjoys earning money and being the center of attention, so it's a pretty easy choice.  I think his brain is pretty cool just the way it is :)

(There is no radiation and no contrast involved, he just looks at things and is still and they get to see the changes in blood flow in his brain.)  

Cute antics:

 • responding to a potential internet loss with another instance of his unusual vocabulary... he mentioned "It would hinder me!"

• walking into the office and informing us the limit on screen time after nine pm had been nullified. (Andrew turned to me and asked if we really wanted to teach him all this history :)  Cameron knows the word because of the South Carolina Nullification Crisis.)

• commenting, "Dads a computer engineer and you're a loafer." (OUCH!  I didn't respond to that immediately though and got his definition that a loafer meant "someone who didn't work for money".  I clarified the usual meaning of the term and he decided he wasn't a loafer and neither was I!)

• greeting a friend with a hard to pronounce name and being so pleased with himself he loudly told me, "At least I got his name right!" (The effort is endearing, but I'm hoping he'll have just a wee bit of social suavity… some day.)

• mirroring my cheery singing as I folded laundry and he played legos (Top of the World, Sunny Side of the Street,  Beautiful Morning… it was fun!)

• responding to my summary of his plan with, "Precisely. Once in a world of events my mom gets something right." (The tone on this one was a clear joke, but he does get body language mixed up sometimes and will smile when he's done something wrong or sees someone angry.  I think it's an embarrassment thing, but it doesn't look / feel like it at the time!  He'll get frustrated because he's adamant that he doesn't think he's smiling and he doesn't understand how he can be smiling unintentionally.  Obviously, smiling when he's damaged something or someone is saying they're angry / frustrated does not serve him well.)

• One that I posted to Facebook after he yet again "forgot" to cover his mouth when coughing:
My priceless child... the more I bite my tongue, the more his introspective skills seem to improve!
This is what I've been listening to since I've declined sharing my computer after the latest spray of germs. (The distress gradually decreased as I let him process.)

"I don't have any ideas.  I want you to give an idea and then I'll give my own. It's not my fault I coughed on your computer.  Well, it actually is but I forgot and I wasn't thinking about it.  Just give me an idea and then I'll try to think of my own.   Fine.  So, what should I do?  Maybe a reward so I'd have some encouragement?"
[Me] "You can reward yourself."
"Ya, that should be good, but I don't think I'll need it because I think I'll remember and stop.   I might need a reminder to think about it."
[Me] Mmm? Not a job that I'd like.
"No, I don't think I'll need a reminder.  On the whole, I think I'll manage to remember because I usually think about the consequence and don't care, but now I do care.  So, if I do care, I work on it and eventually achieve it.  Since I didn't care before, I didn't achieve it.  Since I'm going to start working on it, I'll achieve it in no time.

BONUS!  The researchers just sent these pictures!

Loving my delightfully quirky kid...

... as I look at this list of cute antics from the last month :)

• when playing hot and cold with his friends to indicate where a ball was hidden, he suddenly announced "thermometer power outage".  (And refused to give more hints)


• When I was so tired and just not up for a fourth round of his big hugs, he came up and nuzzled my hand with his nose :)

• listening to the Cats musical but getting the words a bit wrong, "Magical Mr. Aristophanes"

• making it clear he's enjoying my reading with yet another non-funny joke (humor is a challenge, but he doesn't do this kind of thing as often as he used to and I can translate it into that he's thrilled), "Read until your life spouts out of your ears and then you can probably stop."

• changing a rare occurrence in which this was the actual answer into something common, "Why do adults always use that excuse! [Because I asked you to.]" (I will keep an eye out though; he's highly capable of understanding reasons. We've also had the chats about a pleasant relationship.)

• doing fencing exercises with Daddy, he was highly focal about working his muscles, "Eeee, aaaaah, ooof… squeak, squeak!"

• (only cute because he didn't hurt himself), trying to wash his hands under our friends' insta-hot faucet (He pulled away from the boiling water fast enough to avoid burns.)

• being the eager retriever fetching the motorized plane that kept crashing and declaring, "That last glorious flight was a disaster for the plane."

• coming into the office and informing us, "I was thinking of helping pay the family taxes as long as I get back what I put it."  (Ya… well, sorta out of his ballpark, but very sweet :))

• declaring his favorite color to be red orange

• being about as sport's illiterate as his parents, he heard someone talking about a baseball dugout and asked incredulously, "a dug out for balls?!?"

• locking all the house doors to "keep the wolves out". (He did get back from exploring for 15 minutes in the dark, but he wasn't a bit frightened.  He just let us know his plan with a smile.)

• answering a playful "why should I love you" with, "Because I'm a loving son who can give you hardships but can give you laughing matters."

• describing his explores along the stream below our house to some of my friends, he said he came to place in the woods where the water falls and forms a pit like the "Black Hole of Calcutta".  (He then told them the whole story from the Nawab of Bengal to Amir Jafar and the British response… ya, I'll admit I encouraged him this time to see how far the memory would go beyond the gory betrayal.)

• while leaving to go explore (just after Andrew got home and was giving me kisses), "Have fun with your kissing party!"

• hearing my happy moan while enjoying an epsom salt bath he opened the bathroom door and asked, "Are you enjoying your oasis?" (I just laughed, but, oh yes! Don't you just love how air bubbles gently rub your cheek bones and eye lids when you breath out under water.  Simply sublime!)

• commenting, "No one wants to poke another person's eye on purpose these days." (It's actually more of a serious issue with him having challenges both making better choices around peers and then listening to adults who are trying to redirect him.  We're working on it, but at least it's not intentional.)

• deprecating my song choice with a wrinkled nose and saying it was too "nice and non-action-y". (Hmph, I guess Disney is out for awhile.)

• bringing down a lego creation that looked like a tower and declaring that he'd made "la joyeuse" (Charlemagne's sword)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joyeuse

• asking his occupational therapist, "Do I get a reward for that?" (He explained that asking worked for the Great Brain character so he thought he'd try it on us. Didn't work.)

• STORY
He was trying to avoid using a new pencil grip to address his habit of gripping the pencil incorrectly.  He'd tried it and decided he didn't care if his arm got more tired and writing was more difficult; he didn't want to change!  I pointed out some of the results of that choice and he said, "What's wrong with being Metternich for a time?"
Oh, I love my child!  We talked about how it worked out for Metternich and Europe and how ignoring facts to avoid change works out for anybody… he decided to use the pencil grip.
Yay for being historically minded!

Practicing Smiles

We're having fun finding a natural smile :)

Chess Champ

Cameron has really been enjoying his chess club and is now getting into tournaments!  He won his group in the third tournament and was properly proud of himself :)

Cute antics:
• offering hugs with wide open arms and a declaration, "Huggins!?!?"  (That's been going on for at least a month and it's cute as long as it's not too often and not knocking you off balance.  "No thanks" is often not an answer he waits to hear.)

• asking Daddy, "What are you doing?"

Daddy: "Standing."

"Daaaaaaaaad!  Why do you give the vaguest answers!"

• tip toeing around the house one morning!!!!  That is huge that he remembered to close his door quietly and step quietly when his dad was still sleeping, WOW!  I gave him a high five and mentioned that I noticed.  He informed me, "It's good to tell people you notice."

• taking the initiative to properly pronounce the th sound and being quite pleased with himself as he emphasizes it, for example, he'll say he is going to the bath-room.  He's making it a new habit though and referred to paper clips as "thin things" without any extra emphasis.  (It's been nagging at every speech therapist that interacts with him since it's well beyond normal for that mispronunciation.)

• playing lego Creationary and guessing buildings, he yelled, "Chateau D'if"!  (I don't think they'd try for something that specific in a Pictionary-type game, but we all laughed at the Count of Monte Cristo reference!)

Happy New Year

Time for another set of cute antics and they're quite a fun batch :)
I hope you all had a happy New Year!

Cute antics:

• responding to my query if he was well enough to do his chores with a matter of fact, "Yes." and then proceeding to set himself a timer and fill the dishwasher!  (He was definitely not well enough when he had the tummy bug!)

• counting up big numbers and inventing "Taratulatillions"

• when I'd explained my reasons for not listening to Enders Game at his grandparents' house, Cameron pondered, "I couldn't get around your very strong reasons with my whims.  I'd been trying and trying to win, but I couldn't."

• regarding comments on his lengthening hair, "I like being shaggy."

• tentatively putting his fingers onto his dad's hand during some playful rough-housing with a meek, "Negotiations?"

• announcing, "So, we all need to have proper excuses if Emma says anything Santa-ish." (His five year old cousin was expecting Santa.)

• flopping down next to me and then seeming to fly upwards!  My bandaged child just announced ruefully, "Don't sit on a cat without expecting some claws!"

• as he helped his cousin open a string cheese part way, "When I was younger I used to ask for the same thing!"

• during our family meeting, "My compliment for Mom and Dad is, you always handle things the right way." (After thanks and smiles and some light laughter, I pointed out the next part of the family meeting was "mistakes". http://theplayfulspiritrachel.blogspot.com/2012/10/family-meetings.html.  He ammended it to add, "when someone's sick".)

• going through the conversation cube at breakfast, the prompt was "Can you tell if someone is telling the truth or lying and if so how" to which Cameron answered immediately, "I don't know.  No one has ever lied to me."  (Ya, we had a chat about white lies and character and all sorts of other stuff :) )

… and these conversations:

Me: I'm cold.

Cameron: Is that a complaint?!? 

Me (musing to myself): Where does this kid come from.  I'm a mammal.  I know were he comes from.

Cameron: Right. Mars!

Cameron (being bugged by his 5 yo cousin): Meow!

Me (noticing that she's still bugging him and he's about to push her away, I said quietly): Use your words

Cameron (looking her right in the eye): Roar.

My kiddo playing Candyland with his cousin

Family Photo

Taking family pictures is always a challenge.  Cameron particularly dislikes the posing and smiling repetitively which leads to lots of photos of him looking miserable.  We've had lots of discussions about this too and things are getting smoother... we even got a decent photo this year!

Aside from a photo, I have the latest cute antics to share:


• referring to the way he's catching up to me in Chess as similar to the way India's faster growth rate sets it up to catch up with America in wealth (This kid definitely thinks in historical terms all the time!)

• helping me bake cookies, adding the teaspoon of salt, and then dropping the spoon right into the bowl of the spinning mixer without any pause.  (He was surprised at my yelp, but I got the mixer off and the snapped, plastic spoon removed before our cookie dough was filled with little plastic bits!)

• informing me there were four quarts in a galleon (um, that would be gallon, but what a hysterical visual)!

• not liking the results of a request, he asked "Can I change it to opposite day?"

• coming home saying that his teacher was better at everything and the substitute was like a "dictator of the classroom"!  (We had a chat comparing different teaching methods that lasted a good half hour, but it's cool that he thinks his teacher is the best!)

• spurring a delightful exchange when I posted to Facebook, "How does my child cross the road? Guesses? I'll give you a couple hours and I promise a chocolate bar if anyone guesses!"
The list of guesses was hysterical and then I finished off the story:
Rachel Miner During our latest trip to the coast, I saw my child walk back on the opposite side of the street. I was curious; the rocks he likes to climb on are, of course, next to the ocean. He told me he crossed the road in an usual way. How does my child cross the road?
Underneath! Through the storm drain!

• walking into our downstairs bathroom and exclaiming, "Wait a second, this is a half-bath!"  (Um, we've lived here 9 months?!?!)

• giving a high five by clapping his two hands around the person's held up hand

• telling the tester who had the answer key on the desk, "Don't let me see that!  I know it's the answers!"

• correcting our good bye of "have a nice day" after looking outside and seeing it was dark, "Have a nice rest of the day, because the day has practically passed."

• listening to The Hobbit on his iPad (keeping it near his ear walking to and from the car and carrying it around the house too!)

• while we were rough-housing, "Pardon me, I'm escaping."

• also while we were rough-housing, "But you can't do it that long!" (Win at rough-housing.)

• groaning, "Daaaaaad! You exaggerate me!"  (Um, he meant exasperate.)

• when I added that there was no meowing while I was reading out loud to him, he responded with, "Moo!"

• spelling dwarves "duvres"… um, that's one problem with so many audio books!

• after I was thoroughly exasperated post multiple episodes of whining, melt downs, and rudeness, I pointed out some of the facts and asked Cameron what he thought might help someone feel better in such a situation.  He sighed, "All right.  You can take ten dollars from my bank account."
(I couldn't help laughing at the unexpected response!  I didn't think I had a laugh in me at that moment, but he found one. It's not like he's ever been charged for immaturity, but he must have thought ten dollars would make me smile.  I went for a hug.)

and...
His major chore is to load the dishwasher.  I did it on Andrew's birthday so they'd have more father-son time together.  I asked Cameron what he heard and, when he noticed the dishwasher was going, he said, "My mother's kindness warming my heart."  

and another…
Cameron loading the dishwasher going from singing Pirates of Penzance to the Can Can! http://youtu.be/JBXsGAeP0vw
(This kid needs so many constructive outlets!  We decided a long time ago the home furniture was not a battle worth fighting (obviously different rules in others' homes.)  I was surprised when he even tried the items at the end, but it's impressive how "no words" can work as a tool if the kid already knows!  He really has made huge developmental strides and he's getting there, but regulating is hard for him!)