Clayton--These Days

I look at this picture and only one thought comes to my mind: I. LOVE. HIM! He is so precious and he is growing and changing these days just about as fast as Jackson is! Such a little boy!! Let me just tell you about Clayton these days . . .

**He doesn't miss anything that goes on around him--he soaks up every detail and then as soon as the coast is clear of strangers, he regurgitates it all back to us over and over and over and over . . . and just when you thought he had forgotten about that particular event or detail, he brings it up again! One example: I bought a red purse. As soon as he saw me carrying it for the first time he said "it's like Gail's." Gail is my aunt and 90% of the time, she does carry a red purse. Who knew he had even paid attention to that?

**He is quite the comedian. He does things on purpose because he knows it will get a laugh. And once you laugh the first time, you might as well get settled in, because he'll keep on with the same thing over and over!

**He's very obessive about routine and order. (Wonder who he gets that from???) To the point of getting bothered when we go a different route to a common destination. Church, for instance. There's two ways we can go and it's about the same distance. BUT, you can only go one certain way with Clayton in the car because going on the other street means the questions start flowing on "where are we going?" "where are we going?" And he'll even laugh if he thinks you've gone the wrong way. Again, he's so observant, he knows the route to almost all our destinations and deviating can't be tolerated!

**Most people know he's never been a TV watcher except for just a few select things: Little People, Big World (the dad has crutches); any Scooter Store commercial (wheelchairs galore!); and any live concert or music video (parent approved, of course!); and Gaither Homecoming Music on Saturday nights. BUT, he's suddenly discovered you don't have to wait until Saturday to watch the Gaithers. You can buy a DVD and watch them on demand! Brian found one we forgot we had on Christmas Day--Clayton was glued to the TV, playing his drums along with the music. And now, he wants to watch them ALL. THE. TIME. I had to go buy more so we didn't have to watch the same one over and over! The other thing he's discovered on TV is home movies. I had to watch several the other day to get them labeled correctly. I was just going to pop them in and out, but he wanted to watch every single minute and had more fun reliving the moments than he did during the actual live event!

**For a while now, he has been on this "tell _____ that." It doesn't matter what happens or what I say or what he says. It's always followed by "tell Jackson that" or "tell Daddy that" or "tell Granny that" or . . . well, you get the picture. I spend most of my time saying "why don't you tell Jackson?" or "he's right there, he saw it" or "I'll tell them when I see them." Man, I'm a sucker--always following his orders!

**He still loves riding in Daddy's truck and loves looking out the window to wait for whoever's coming next. If it was warm enough, he'd be on his bike every day.

**He craves independence. If I'm busy taking a shower, folding clothes, etc., he wants to do his own thing. And for him now that means watching out the window and listening to music, watching the Gaither videos, or kicking his legs while laying on the bed and looking out the window (he still gets great exercise doing this!). And if I don't leave him alone, he reminds me to--"Momma go in there." "Momma go take a shower." He wants me OUTTA THERE! Independence. It's a very good sign!