The Slip and Slide

M's language has erupted and he now speaks in solid sentences, albeit his grasp of proper grammar is still quite slim. Some words are in Serbian but the vast majority are in the dominant tongue, English (just like L, M will understand Serbian and reply in English). Every day brings new phrases and the formation of new words. L has been "lala" for a while, but yesterday M perfected the negotiation of his brother's consonants and L was most pleased. M's new lexical grasp has resulted in his parroting our phrases, including L's so he has gone around and labelled everyone an excrement which he finds royally hilarious. Having kids has really curbed my previous potty mouth. 

M's a rather gregarious fellow. He loves to make friends on the playground by proffering his toys, he loves to sing stentoriously, he loves pretty much anything with a motor (planes, train, trucks, you name it), playing ball (kicking it, throwing it, the works), attacking the slide (perfecting going down headfirst) and somewhat more incongruously, cleaning. M loves to take a broom and clean away, shouting "clean, clean" and adores composting. I had been teaching L how to compost and recycle items, but M has really taken this on. When he finishes his dinner and proclaims "done" he makes a big show of picking up his leftovers, the majority which falls to on the floor trailing his path to the compost where he dumps his remains with a glorious grin (concluding with applause- M loves to clap for himself). While M makes more of a mess cleaning, it is grand to watch how satisfied he is to clean and compost so I encourage it with vigour.

M's sliding endeavours have caused a little more concern. The other week I let M go on the biggest slide in the park alone  - after all, he's got to learn some day and the only way he'll learn how to properly go down is to do it without his mama holding him. The bumps did not deter his interest. He was back at the top in no time and after a few bumpy goes, he perfected his technique and applauded himself. Now he goes down head first, launching on his bum and preferring to flip en route down. Not satisfied with the temporal period allowing for slippery dips, M has made it his mission to fashion slides at home. M's makeshift slides have included tunnels, blankets and cushions and some have been more useful than others. L has championed this idea and now they are both on a mission to find what they could make the best and fastest slide in our house. I've had to temper their ambitions somewhat. Both boys asked "why?" without listening to my explanation as they continued to unsuccessfully attempt to dissuade me from imposing parameters on their adventure. I persisted in my explanation because I wanted them to understand the dangers in some situations they were fashioning to which L responded casually with his usual "don't worry ma". M then proceeded to parrot this phrase and I discarded my explanation until some other time when they could focus, added my structural changes to their design while they grunted out their protest and they were backing to their slip and slide in no time, having forgotten about their mother's incursion.