Bursting with Confidence

It’s difficult to imagine that Ethan was once a quiet boy, unable to express himself … but now, he’s all words and active as ever.  He speaks like an adult, possibly because we have never used baby talk with him before.

I’m not allowed to call him “darling” or “sweetie” or “baby” anymore, because Ethan says he is not a small baby anymore.  Now he is a “medium boy”.

He picks up after us like a sponge; whatever we say or do is repeated in a similar fashion, often in an endearing manner:

One morning, when his Daddy gave him a kiss on the forehead before he left for work, Ethan responded with, “Awwwww…” , maybe because he heard me say that before.

He’s also learning the “Copy me” game now, where he would cheekily follow what we say or do.  And then when I start speaking to him in Hokkien, he would retort, “Mommy, why are you speaking in Spanish?”

Sometimes Ethan says logical things like:

“Mommy, I drink chocolate milk and fresh milk.  I don’t drink low fat milk, because I’m not fat!”

We’ve had embarassing moments too, like last week in church during the sermon, Ethan proclaimed loudly, “Daddy, why is he taking so long?”

…and his questions just keep getting harder and harder:

Ethan: Mommy, where is God?
Mommy: God is everywhere, Ethan.  He’s all around us, He is in our home, He is in school with you, and most importantly, He is in our hearts. 

Ethan: Where is heaven?
Mommy: Heaven is where God lives.  It’s a really beautiful place and someday we will all go and stay there together with God.

Ethan: Why doesn’t everybody know God?
Mommy: Well, maybe because not everyone has gotten the chance to know God yet, Ethan.

Ethan: Why doesn’t *** pray to God? (he makes this remark because he noticed that some homes do not have the cross hung outside the door)
Mommy: Oh, maybe *** DOES pray to God…it doesn’t mean he/she doesn’t pray to God if they don’t have a cross outside their house.

Some questions are simply too *HARD* to answer…

Ethan: Daddy, why are we parking on the 6th floor, Daddy…why why why?

He’s even got a plan for the future:

Ethan: Mommy, when I grow bigger, I’ll go to office with Daddy; and when Hannah grows bigger she will go to market with you, Mommy. 🙂

And he keeps surprising us every day…especially with his reading skills.  A few nights ago, as we were tucking the kids in to bed, Hannah brought their goodnight story book, and Daddy said it’s Mommy’s turn to read.  But Ethan interjected and said, “NO!  I wanna read tonight!”

And he did.

The whole story…all by himself, save for a word or two, which he paused and asked us how to pronounce.

He did such a good job, really.  And even ended the story with a dramatic “THE END”.

How can we not be beaming with pride? 🙂