25 Things About Marek

I know this is an old picture (he's certainly not 3 1/2 here!) and I think I've even posted it on this blog before, but as it's also one of my favorite photos of him, here it is again! I recently read a Father's Day idea of capturing your child's favorite things on paper, then framing it as a keepsake. Here is my version:

1. Marek's favorite color is purple.
2. He loves riding his red tricycle.
3. He loves hot chocolate - but not too hot! And not too much whipped cream!
4. He loves to sing, listen to music, and dance. I don't think he ever tires of singing the ABC song.
5. He has a great sense of humor. He definitely inherited the Ashby side of the family's fits of laughter.
6. He has a dimple in the same place on his face as his Grandpa Ed. Similarly, he loves popcorn, chocolate, oranges, reading, and Johnny Cash just like Grandpa did. They would have been the best of friends!
7. He loves to water things. Give him a hose and he'd be happy all day!
8. He has always achieved the various milestones of weaning, sleeping through the night and potty-training a year later than I expected, but at just the perfect time for him.
9. He loves giving kisses. Good morning kisses, boredom kisses, happy-to-see-you kisses, tired kisses, mad kisses!
10. He pretends he works at the library with me. He often says, "I need to go to work!" When I ask him what he does there he says, "I need to get books to bring home. What book does Grandma need?"
11. He wants to know exactly what he should eat to grow up.
12. He says that when he grows up he's going to drive the car with Mommy riding in the passenger seat and Grandma and Daddy in the back.
13. He wants to know how everything works. He often asks us, "Why you don't know why you don't know?" How does one answer that?!!
14. He loves to rhyme. The sillier the rhyme, the better.
15. He doesn't have many fears, fortunately. But the few he has are: getting haircuts, going too high in a swing, and loud noises (this includes noisy restaurants, hairdryers, and toilets flushing!).
16. He has a pretend friend named "France." She lives in a white house and doesn't have a car.
17. He doesn't like a lot of change. For example, he's not a big fan of the idea of caterpillars turning into butterflies, the idea of the moon waxing and waning, etc.
18. He's never been attached to just one teddy bear, stuffed animal, blanket or toy.
19. He never really used a pacifier as a baby. Unless you count me, the human pacifier. :)
20. When he first went to daycare as a baby, he refused to take a bottle for 3 days. He's always had a strong will.
21. In fact, he was kicked out of his daycare for refusing to nap as a baby.
22. During lunch last week he told a story: Once upon a time there was a boy and a girl and they went into the woods. They saw a witch and got scared and ran out! The end."
23. He's very concerned about turning off all of the lights in the house to help conserve energy.
24. He loves broccoli!
25. He loves uninterrupted, stay-at-home-all-day-and-play kind of days.