Our Little Litigator & Muddy Fun

Reid has learned the art of the argument. Granted, his "art" is on a 2-year-old level. Some people might call it negotiation. Whatever the request, the answer these days is frequently.... "no." Maybe he's holding out for a better deal, or maybe he's trying to see if he can wear me down. Sometimes he does, which is a foreign concept to me because I am very used to winning in a battle of wills. (Those of you who know me know that much is true.)

I would be unfair of me not to note that he is also using his polite words with increased frequency. Please and Thank You, and even I'm Sorry are sometimes offered without prompting, which is the cutest thing ever. However, when he decides that he does not want to do whatever you are asking he is persistent. His "no" repertoire has expanded recently to include oldies but goodies such as, That's not fair (accompanied by crossed arms and a squinched up face) or I don't have to. Likewise, my retorts have been leveled to things like "Yeah, well tough" and "Too bad, so sad." I know, seriously, it's no wonder he sometimes wins these arguments.

Of course, having a two-year-old has its fun points, too. We managed to have some outside fun a few days ago in the midst of our recent rain, courtesy of Tropical Storm Fay. It has been raining in some form almost nonstop for three days. Fortunately we just got some new rain boots - still a little too big - so we got to play in the rain with Reid's best buddy, Joshua. Not much to say, other than it was very fun, very messy, and required an immediate bath afterward - South Carolina red mud stains the skin on contact for those of you that don't know. The pictures will tell the story... good times!

Reid, sitting in the muddy puddle, sans boots.

Why walk in it, when you can sit in it. Right?

Joshua, showing off his mad mud-stomping skills.

Ah, yes. Reid, who always manages to fall down or run into something. In his defense, the rain boots are WAY too big. So glad I got this pic in mid-air. :)

The grand finale. They played in the red mud for about half an hour after the puddle jumping. I had intended just to hose Reid down in the front yard (hey, you can take the girl out of Bama...), but the red mud had stained the majority of his body. So dinner was put on hold while he had an emergency bath.

We are off to Alabama this weekend for a spur of the moment trip. The bonus is that I get to to be in Bama for the kickoff game against Clemson... seeing as how I live surrounded by Clemson fans, I'm glad to come home to my people. Roll Tide!