Ali

Ali, my funny little guy, is walking all over the place. He still has these sudden sit downs, though. Barbara called the "dropsy". His smile can really only be described with cliches- it's contagious, it lights up the room, ____ (insert your favorite one here.) Actually, it cracks me up because it's so mischevious and it shows all his funny little teeth. The problem is, he smiles and laughs when he's doing something really naughty- like biting, or pulling his sister's hair, or hitting. He gives me the same joyful "look what I've done" grin as he gives when he really does something wonderful.
And he's a kisser. He's really good at kissing his hand at people, and he'll make great smacking noises when I kiss his sister. I tell him "give me a kiss" and he doesn't, though.
When he wants something he gives a "come here" hand gesture where he opens and closes his fingers into a fist. He does this to the ball. He can also say "ball." And his other favorite word is "ku-ku" for bird. We all say that a lot because he has such a great vowel tone with it.
One day I heard him screaming and I went into the living room to find him stuck inside a plastic bin for toys. He sat down in it and then couldn't get out. He needs to learn his lesson, though, because he's already done it again. He cries most when he gets stuck or can't reach the toy (usually a ball) that he wants.
Last night Benny and his family came to dinner. We were sitting around talking and I started wondering where the 3 year olds were. Ali was sitting in a kid chair in the middle of the hallway looking into our bedroom, where Benny and Leila were in bed under the covers, side by side. I told them to go play in Leila's room and I turned on the light for them, but they turned it off and got into her bed to cuddle. It was all very innocent, but a little disturbing none the less. Phyllis said maybe they knew each other in another life.