A, E, I, O, U, N, Y

My son is the MOST literal person I have ever met. He will do anything I ask as long as I specify exactly what I expect. And once he has something in his little head, that's it. He's not going to change his mind...can't imagine where he got that trait from...

When I was in 1st grade, my teacher was going over vowels...A, E, I, O, U (N...and sounded like N), Y. I refused to believe either my teacher, my mother or anyone else when they tried to tell me N was not a vowel. I'm told it took a year and a whole new teacher to get me on board with the idea that N was not a vowel.

But back to the boy. In many ways, having a son who is so much of a "little soldier" ...who follows orders and isn't overly emotional is awesome. It's exactly what I wanted because as I've always said, I can deal with broken bones, but not so much broken hearts. Don't get me wrong, he's a very loving boy, he's just extremely cooperative and logical.

Here's the downside of having such a literal child...my child, who is almost THREE years old, won't leave his bedroom in the morning or after naptime until I turn on his light. Ever. His room is a loft bedroom with a light switch upstairs and a light switch downstairs. When he was still in a crib, he'd wake up and play for a little bit before I went to get him. I would always flip the light on from downstairs, let the dog out back (the door is just a couple feet from the stairs) and then go get the boy. It's a ritual the boy has very much embraced and now no matter how many times I tell him, you can come down and wake me up...you can go potty without me "releasing" you...you can even come down and turn on a movie or play with your toys. Nada.

I've recently discovered another little quirk of his slightly OCD/totally literal personality...when he looks in a mirror or at a picture of himself and you say, "who is that?" He doesn't answer with his name. He says "You!" Because we have said, apparently too many times, "there YOU are."

I have a feeling that this is just the beginning.