Smarter Than Me

I knew that it would happen.  Eventually.  But I thought I'd at least get the kids into elementary school first.  Check out just some of what has gone on in our house in the last few days...

1. Yesterday Travis took Caden to the grocery store while I stayed home to rearrange cabinets (again!) with Addison.  (You'd think we'd have a good arrangement figured out by now, but as soon as you find one your needs change with these two.)  She was fine, but was momentarily upset at hearing the car leave the garage with her two favorite boys.  When I explained, "Daddy and Caden are going to the grocery store" she looked me square in the eye and said, "shopping?"...  Um, yes Addison.  I guess she'll soon be putting it together that those trips happen when Mom forgot a few things last time we were out.  Possibly because she was constantly counting shoes and socks, so that grocery employees don't have to track her down again from a few aisles over...
2. Caden can open doors.  I've known that for weeks.  So we keep a close eye on the door and make sure it's fully shut when we step out for any reason.  Today I needed Travis to help me bring a piece of furniture I'm painting back into the garage... and I kept one eye on the door for the whole two minutes it took to get the job done, and was pleasantly surprised that I didn't hear tinkering with the doorknob.  That is, until I tried to get back in and realized someone-who-shall-remain-nameless had locked his Mama out!  And by locked I mean dead-bolted.  Thank goodness Travis had left the backdoor open and could rescue us...  I suppose I'll be taking my keys now when I empty the diaper trash.
3. Tonight as it neared dinner time, Addison looked out our big picture window intently and started saying "dawgk" which I thought was "dog".  I searched, no dogs.  But she repeated herself several times.  Then I started wondering if she had seen a deer (which they saw for the very first time yesterday and called "horsies").  More searching, no deer.  At this point I start saying things like, "Do you hear a dog Addison?  Mommy sure doesn't..." or "What is making you think of a dog right now?"...  Seriously, about five minutes of this go by with her still saying "dawgk" while looking and pointing out the window.  Then it hit me like a ton of bricks..  "DARK".  Duh Mommy.  I said, "Oh!!  Addison has noticed that it's getting DARK outside!"...  and instead of the giant whiffle bat to the head that I should have gotten from her, she gave me a big smile and said "Dawgk out siyeed!"
4. Caden, our man of few words, has a much smaller vocabulary than Addison.  But has a keen ability to use the same few nonsense words in varying ways to suit the situation.  He says things like "gok", "babish", "ack", etc. to name things, get things, express himself, and so on.  Sort of like when I say, "fantastic".  Sometimes I mean "that's great".  Sometimes I mean "that's terrible".  Sometimes I'm describing, other times I'm just talking to myself.  Yep, the boy gets it from me.  So anyway, Caden started saying "gok" today while gesturing with increasing emphasis at the running dishwasher.  (Side note:  the kid lock on this appliance no longer helps us, as Caden has figured out how to pull the trigger and open the door, so that everything comes to a halt as he opens the door to a steamy, rain-filled pile of dishes.)  Usually he doesn't help me at all, he just points with more emphasis and just repeats himself louder and louder until he gives up and moves on.  But this time, I caught on just in time.  "Gok" meant "clock", which is what he thought of when he saw the timer counting down on the wash cycle.  

SERIOUSLY?!?!  I feel like their brain cells are exploding while mine are imploding.  Note to self, next time you're at the grocery store, stop counting shoes and socks long enough to pick up a crossword puzzle book.  And when you can't figure out a five letter word for an organization of people with high IQs... the kids will tell you.