Three stories

We are in a bit of a nightmare haze of sickness and busy-ness and lack of sleep at the moment ... rest assured, the big 1 year birthday has been, is now, and will be celebrated and documented!  Meantime, three stories.

First story:
This morning, Walter was running about being brilliant.  He's always brilliant in the morning (if you sang the line from the Jewel song, you are 31 years old.)  He's extra talkative and active and wants to practice all the new skills he's been dreaming about and working on in his sleep.  He was getting into a bit of mischief in the bathroom, so I said, "Walter, can you pick up your moisturizer and take it to your room?"  I didn't gesture or anything, just asked the question.  He stopped what he was doing, walked over to where, sometime yesterday, he'd dropped a tube of his Aveeno anti-eczema moisturizer, picked it up and headed for the bathroom door.  I opened it.  "Can you take that to your room?" He turned and walked straight to his room and knocked on the closed door.  I opened that door.  He walked into the room, turned and looked at me, still holding the moisturizer.  "Where should we put it?" He walked over to the single bed, which is kind of our default spot for piling things that we should be putting away. He reached up and very deliberately placed the moisturizer on the bed, and then was off and on to his next adventure.

Second story:
We went to a Chinese restaurant for dinner tonight.  At one point during the meal, Walter stole Sean's chopsticks. First he said, "Daddy!" and then started to imitate Sean using chopsticks.  He made a serious face and stabbed at the table very assertively.   A little bit later, he said "Mommy!' and then imitated me using chopsticks: evidently I do a lot of dancing in my chair and singing while I swoop the chopsticks around on the table like I'm painting with them.

Third story:
Did you know it takes three cups of tea (at least) for me to make it through the day?  We are so sick.  So tired. This isn't really a story, but it's true.  In the midst of it all, Walter brings us beauty, joy, coughing, the occasional tantrum, ear pus, and surprising, amazing moments.  More about all of those ... later.