late night surprise

I managed to convince Dennis to get dressed this morning, and had just tied his sneakers when he took 2 steps and then sat down to remove his shoes and socks. The shorts and shirt quickly followed, and he said "I just want to stay here today, Mommy" and so he spent the day hanging around the house in his underwear. He insisted he was too hot to even wear a shirt.

He put puzzles together and lined up cars all day after a quiet morning of reading and watching his PBS shows. I don't think he felt very good, and he took his nap a bit earlier than usual. David read to him and played with him for a couple of hours after supper, and we put him to bed before 10 to much protesting. Then we sat around and talked about how hungry we were, and David went in to get Dennis back up around 10:30 with the news that we were going to Waffle House. Dennis ran/danced through the house, yelling for me to come quick because we were going to Waffle House. Funny that he had no problem getting (and staying) dressed.

Dennis was so happy at the restaurant. He ordered his meal himself and asked if they could make him a pancake instead if a waffle. They did, just for him. He told me "I am making friends with the girl cooks here at the Waffle House". He danced when the jukebox played and announced "I love dancing to the music at Waffle House". The wait staff brought him a paper hat, which delighted him, and he did something that delighted me as well. I don't know if Waffle House waitresses everywhere call the patrons 'baby', 'sweetheart', or 'sugar', but they do here. So when ours told Dennis "here you go, baby" he said "no, call me Dennis". He told her the same thing when she called him 'sir'. He was exceedingly charming, ate half his meal, and said yes when they offered him a box (which he's not seen before). He transferred the leftover food from his plate to the box when it arrived with no prompting from us. He chattered all the way home, telling us that we'd have to go through the scary dark woods again (turns out he was referring to our driveway!). It's so fun to break the rules every once in a while, and he was so thrilled by the unexpectedness of the whole experience. I hope he remembers the fun of spontaneity. I hope we remember to keep it up.