the boy who saved dinner

We were hard at work at the 'job house' today, and Dennis was right there with us, watching me paint. He really has been wonderful about letting us get work done while he watches from his play pen. He has toys in there with him and is content to watch us or an Elmo video. He learned how to say "movie" yesterday and now asks when he wants to watch one. This is probably a hallmark of my bad parenting, but at least his videos are for the most part educational ones. Granted, we did watch The Incredibles, which is not educational but happens to be my very favorite superhero movie.

As long as we kept him fed and 'juiced' and freshly diapered, he was a happy work buddy. He accompanied David to go and get supper tonight, and they arrived at the Winn Dixie deli just as they were closing up shop. I think the deli lady went ahead and gave them food because Dennis is just so cute, even though she'd already put the things away. When she had wrapped up the food and passed it to David, Dennis looked at her and said "thank you" (which, in Dennis speak, sounds like "dake-yuuuuuuu") and she said that made it worth it right there. We never know when he's going to say thank you because it's not always associated with you giving him something. It is maybe 50% of the time, but many times he'll just be walking around the room and saying it to himself. It's one of his more adorable tricks, for sure. And tonight he happened to say it at just the right moment.

When we got home tonight, he grabbed my keys from me and tried to insert the Blazer key into the house doorknob. We'd already unlocked the house, so he didn't get too far in this attempt. He did keep my keys though, all through his diaper change and getting his pajamas on. I had to take them away just before we put him in the crib, but I substituted Froggy and he was just fine about it. He went to sleep instantly, as it was so late when we got home. He'd already been sleeping for nearly 3 hours when we left the job site. We are aiming to finish up the job tomorrow, and because Dennis has been so wonderful, I plan to take him somewhere special on Friday. He deserves a chance to run around and do something really fun.