Things Atticus has been saying or doing recently:

• "I need to find out." "I got to find out." "I have to find out."
• "Look at this, guys." "Look at me, guys." (Or when we were exiting the elevator at Disney World, he said to the two older women getting on it after us, "It's your turn, guys.")
• He mimics my parenting, saying things like "Are you going to eat those carrots? They're really good. You should try them" and "That's not nice, mommy."
• When I pick him up from school, he tells me he looked for me and that he missed me, but that he had a good day nonetheless.
• He practices words and grammar aloud repeatedly. The other day I corrected his grammar when he said "I are" and tried to explain (and miserably failed probably) when to use "are" and when "am." He then practiced it aloud as he played trains: "I am going around.... I am..." Or if I tell him a new word he asks me to repeat it many times; then he repeats it.
• He's often telling me "That's enough" or "That's too much" (rarely, "not enough").
• When I've turned down chocolate lately, he's asked if I'm sick.

On a whim, I went to the nursery the other day to bring some life back to the sad, dead garden. I planted a bunch of flowers and vegetables--a mixture of transplants and seeds--while he was napping, and when he woke and came out to see what I was up to, the smile on his face was magic. He took my hand to walk me around the garden and ask me what everything was. Then he helped plant more seeds and transplants and water everything. He's excited that we're going to be eating stuff that we grow.