Kids these days

"Gus-pick up your shoes and take them inside" "GASH! Do I have to do everything around here?" Yes son, you have to cook and clean and maintain this household.
There are days when you want to talk to your child like they are adults, but you gotta catch yourself and hold it in! He seems to be an adult most days. Gus has always been mature. Sometimes that's a good thing and sometimes, it bites us in the rear:) I'll tell him to keep his hands to himself and I get- But I gotta give you a hug with my hands Mamma. True, and I do love hugs.
He's very independent too. Always has been. He wants to do everything himself, which is normally fine, unless you are wanting to accomplish anything else that day. Pulling him out of the bed takes about 10 minutes. Getting dressed in the mornings is a 30 minute process. Brushing his teeth takes about 5 minutes. Eating breakfast is another 10-15 minutes. Putting shoes on is about 3 minutes. Then comes the rituals. Get a hug, kiss, noggin, Eskimo kiss, pirate kiss and then another hug. Grab his blanket and fight to get his chocolate milk out of his hand and then out the door. So, he needs to be up at 4am really. If you don't do these things in order, you're destined for a bad day. Or should I say, Pre-school is destined for a bad day. Which we try to avoid for teachers and other kids sake.
Simon seems to be maturing equally as fast. He now says "mama, guh, no, ball" He points and plays ball and peep-eye. When he plays peep-eye, sometimes only one eye gets covered all the way...but the pride he has when he pulls his hands away just melts my heart:) He's been walking for 2 1/2 months already and is fixing to turn 1 on 9/7. Where did the past year go? It doesn't matter how hard you try on a daily basis, you never can quite soak it all in. My memories of him being an infant are already fading. Gus being Simon's age is a distant memory.
Uncle and Abbey just brought Gus a "knife" back from Montana. Complete with a leather/fringed Indian pouch for it to be stored in. Last night he came into my room and said "If you see any alligators, you call me, and I'll come chop em up with my knife" Will do buddy! He slept all night with his knife in his bed. I felt safer.