Some Lists of Ten

10 things I like to eat:

• peanut butter, as you have already seen
• bananas. I take very big bites, and sometimes squish them back out of my mouth. Then the banana gets taken away.
  
• cheese. Dad tries to give me cheese on crackers, which is fun, but I don't eat them together. I like crackers too, but mostly I use them as shovels for other food. If my cheese falls off my cracker I will diligently pick it up & put it back on the cracker, and then I'll "pour" the cheese off the cracker into my mouth so I can use it as a shovel again.
  
• goat milk & goat yogurt from Martha & Aaron's goats (friends of my parents)
  
• sweet potatoes, especially when they're blended up with goat milk or goat yogurt
• whatever everyone else is eating at church in the fellowship hour
• Honey Nut O's from the Co-op
• pears
• cheese sticks from Papa John's. Mom is always very reluctant to let me have any, but I insist. In fact, she's embarrassed that I'm telling you about that one.
• whatever is out for a sample at the Co-op when I'm there helping mom shop

*Incidentally, with the exception of the cheese sticks from Papa John's and the church snacks, (depending on who brought them) all of my favorite treats are organic!*

10 things I like to read:

• Goodnight Moon, which I tend to call "ma ma money." When I want it read again I say "more money."
• I'll Love You Forever, which I refer to with a song & dance. In that book there's a little song that the mom sings to her son while she rocks him "back & forth, back & forth, back & forth" and so that's what MY mom does when she reads it to me. So when I want to read that book, I hold it up & sing a little "la la la" while I rock back & forth. Smart, huh?
  
• Bugs Are Vegetables Too, the book about Tadbit the frog. I call the book "yuck" because Tadbit eats bugs and then when the bunnies watch him eat they all say "yuck! That's not a treat!" So now all bunnies are "yuck," accented with the shake of my head.
• Oh, The Places You'll Go! but only with dad. It's the longest book that anyone can read to me & still keep my attention the whole time. Dad is very active when he reads it - he reads some parts really fast, and some really loud, and I think he gets really tired when it's over. Mom always chokes up & gets teary when she reads it. I don't know why.
  
• Kiss Good Night because I get so many kisses!
  
• Is Your Mama A Llama? I do kind of say "llama." It's kind of just "mama" but with my tongue out, so it sounds like "lala."
• the hymnals & the Bible from the pew in church. I'm not a very quiet reader, though, so I don't usually get to read those for long.
• The Belly Button Book, which dad reads in a crazy way. He always yells "bee-bo!" really super loudly, even though it's supposed to be quiet. My godfather Tyler read it to me once and whispered "bee-bo" like you're supposed to, and sang the belly button song in a very silly way. I liked that a lot.
  
• magazines! I really love mom's Mothering magazine b/c there are so many pictures of moms & babies & num-nums in there.
  
• my newest book, Caps For Sale, because the man and the monkeys get very crazy, swinging their arms, pointing their fingers, and yelling at each other. Tsz tsz tsz!
  

10 things I like to say:

• "wing! Wing! More wing!" when I want to swing.
• all sorts of animal noises. Animals are named by the sound of their noises or what they do. A cow is actually a "moo," a kitty is actually a "meow," a kangaroo is a "bah bah" (bounce bounce.) Oddly, a duck is actually a "duck," although if mom asks what the duck says I will say "kak kak." Bunnies are all "yuck," however. Blame Tadbit for that.
• "bye," although not usually when people are leaving.
  
• "no!" especially when I either have just done or am about to do something I shouldn't.
• "yuck" instead of "yes." Dad will ask me to say "yes" and he'll say it really slowly & emphasis the "s" at the end. I'll say, also very slowly, "ye-" but then I'll end with "uk" and laugh. It's great fun.
  
• "mama" & "dada," but I refuse to say "Simon." I just say mom & dad's names back to them instead.
• "book" whenever I hand over something I want read to me.
• "Ah la la" in the same vocal inflection as my parents when they say "I love you" to me. Gimme a break, it's all I can manage right now. They know I love them!
• "nigh-nigh" when I'm talking about my green silkie blanket that I must have before going night-night.
  
• "bowl" when I'm hungry - and I point at my tray where the bowl is to go.
  

10 things I like to do:

• blow the kitties' noses with my tissue.
• toast my toast, and anything else. Daddy taught me to click my sippy cup of water or juice or milk up to his beer and say "cheers!" But now I like to toast everything I eat or drink with whatever mom or dad are holding.
• sputter bubbles on the floor & then wipe it up with my tissue. I get a lot of mileage out of tissues.
• hand a ball to mom and insist that she throw it to dad. Then I walk over to dad, take the ball from him, and bring it back to mom. Then I insist that she throw it to dad again. We play this game over & over & over...
• identify at least 10 body & face parts.
• walk and run all over the place. We even went to a park a few days ago where the ground was really uneven and full of woodchips, and I was very stable.
• turn around in the pew at church and effectively distract whoever is sitting behind me by smiling at them, waving, and sometimes handing them my bulletin.
  
• go down slides. I'm always a little nervous at first, but then dad will push me down & mom will catch me and as soon as I realize again how fun it was, I say "more!"
  
• beckon with a finger just like mom & dad do to me when they say "come here."
  
• swing my arms alternately when I'm trying to get dad to juggle balls. I also do the same gesture when I'm dancing, or saying "yeah yeah yeah!"
  

10 things I do NOT like:

• meat in any form, really. Although one time I had a little bit of turkey loaf and that was okay.
• my toys to be stacked unless I am the one stacking them.
• mom or dad to leave the room or drive away from me, especially when I'm tired.
  
• my balloons to pop.
• raindrops on my head. I like them on my hands & feet though.
  
• when a kitty jumps down from furniture right next to me. I love the kitties, but that scares me a little.
  
• to be picked up & told I can't go in a certain room. I really don't like it when I'm busy & running around and mom or dad puts up the gate & closes off extra rooms. I don't like closed doors, or being stopped from running everywhere I want to go.
  
• having my teeth brushed
  
• to be fed anything I can feed myself
  
• the ceiling fans being turned off. I like to watch them.
  

*PS. Mom wanted me to tell you that she helped me make these lists, and even SHE had a hard time coming up with ten things I didn't like.*