Loaded Words

For so long, we worried and stressed about Elijah's speech. He has made great strides and his speech, while still a little delayed,  isn't far from normal for his age. Which is a good thing, because his speech is certainly a weapon that he knows how to use to manipulate me.

Yesterday he was being a pill. I'd had all the "pilliness", (don't know if it is a word, but it should be), that I could take. I took him and started to put him in "time out" in the bathroom. He looked at me and quickly blurted out, "Mommy, you're pretty!" Smart fellow, huh? And for a moment, it almost worked! I had to stifle the instinctive, "Aww, thank you, honey!", and curtly reply, "Thank you, Elijah, but you still need to go to time out."

He's even tried his wily ways with Abbey. The other day she had had enough of little brother interference in her things  and she told him to vacate her room. I heard him say, "But, Abbey, I love you!" If she was phased by this heartfelt declaration, she didn't show it. She just escorted him to the threshold and shut the door in his face!

I've got to watch this little one, his words are loaded and he certainly knows how to use them!