“Rotten Boy”

We frequently refer to Alex as “rotten” or “rotten boy” because … well … I think I’ve mentioned before he’s a rotten little imp. He knows it, too. Well, apparently Ethan knows it now as well.

Last night I was in the kitchen making a cake for a co-workers birthday. Ethan told me he wanted to help (which is often the case) but I told him I really needed him to stay in the front room and play with his brother so I could get it done faster since it was almost bedtime. No more coaxing needed – I gave him a really enjoyable alternative as he loves playing with his brother so he said “OK!” in a very excited tone. I put the gate up between kitchen and living room and let them play.

I’m mixing the cake (really all I do is open the box, add what is says and put it in the pan so it’s not a very time consuming task) and hear from the front room the following…E: “Come here rotten boy.” A: giggle…E: “Come here rotten boy” … the sound of scurrying followed by A: giggle….one last “Come here rotten boy” followed by fits of giggles from both boys. Ethan finally caught the rotten boy. He was chasing Alex around and they were playing with a blanket and hiding in the blanket. Some of the “come here rotten boy” comments were Alex getting away from him under the blanket. Some of it was Alex getting free entirely. The fits of mutual laughter were generally when Ethan caught Alex but Alex turned and “caught” Ethan by falling over on him or something so they’d both get tangled up. I know this because this process continued for about 15 minutes so I had time to watch the action when I got the cake in the oven before they were aware.

The giggling continued until they got a little too close to the end table and one of them bonked his head and in doing so, head butted the other…laughter stopped by wasn’t really replaced by crying. It just made them look around and they noticed me so decided it was time for a new game…see who can reach Mama the fastest. I think it would have been a tie but I sidetracked Ethan by asking him to get me his sippy cup so I could get his drink ready for bed since it was that time.

Such fun they have when they play together – just them, not with toys as no sharing is necessary this way. Oh the fun of having a brother…