The M & O, the Wash, and the Sheeps

While stalling for naptime, Blake always tells us the exact same stories from his keen memory. He tells us about events that have made a significant impact in his life. The stories always include genuine concern and fear of events that were chaotic in his limited two-year-old mind. He mentions every detail relating to the events until he is completely satisfied that he has recounted the stories successfully. He will not lay down until this daily process is complete. The first story that he recalls is related to an event that happened well over a month ago.

He was throwing a little fit about something and started kicking the wall in his bedroom. A couple of the alphabet letters that were hung on the wall fell off due to the kicking. One of the letters hit his head. It hurt. This tragic event has remained dominant in his mind ever since that fateful day. What is hilarious to me is that he remembers exactly which two letters fell off the wall, and has mentioned them every day since the incident. I think he may associate the letters "m" and "o" with this event for the rest of his life. I can just imagine him recounting the entire incident to his kindergarten teacher on the "letter m" day.

Here is Blake's account, on several different occasions:

The second story that is always shared relates to a car wash experience gone wrong. My mom took Blake to the car wash while I was home with the baby, which happens to be one of his favorite activities. However, the credit card machine wasn't working properly. Grandma fixed it by using a different card. Then, upon entrance to the wash, the lights indicated "pull forward." Upon pulling forward, the lights indicated "back up." Blake was in the backseat shouting "green light," "red light." This process occurred several times until my mom got the car into the correct position. This disorderly event has also remained dominant in Blake's mind. In fact, not only do we hear this story before every naptime, but since we live around the corner from the car wash, we are also privileged to hear every detail recounted as we daily pass the scene of the crime.

Blake's account:

Blake also adds a third story to his repertoire of chaotic events. Most young children are worried that there might be monsters in their beds. Blake's concern, however, is that there might be throw up under his blanket. This is due to the fact that for about a week straight (conveniently just after we brought our newborn home), he threw up in his crib almost every night. Now, he checks under his pillow and blanket daily to make sure that there isn't any throw up on his "sheeps" (sheets). Isn't it sad that a two-year-old is so aware of and concerned about the presence of throw up?

Yet again, this event has made a deep impact on Blake's orderly routine:

Is it at all surprising that Blake's first word was "uh-oh?" He continues to be one very concerned little boy.