Imagination and Creativity Rule in our house

Well, most of the time these days. Over the last month or so, Derick's imagination and story telling has really developed. He just LOVES to tell you a story. And his favorite topic? You guessed it: Trucks! If he's in the mood, and you sit down next to him, he'll tell you how he, "just got my truck back from the shop. And they fixed it. But it was broke. But the front tires are working. The back tires are not working. I gotta take it to the shop to fix it. It got stuck in the mud. I just picked it up......" It really could go on and on. And he loves to talk to anyone on the phone. That's when the stories get really long and repetitive. He just doesn't want to give up the phone! I love to listen to his mind and how it works. Jumping from one idea to the next without alot of filler yet. It's very sweet. And he'll repeat stories that he's overheard too, so we really have to remember he's always listening, even if you think he's not. At the dinner table, he likes to ask Daddy how his day was. "How was your Day, Daddy?" Then, he'll ask, "How was my day?" Prompting us to make sure he's included in the asking. And, he'll usually answer with a, "Well, my day's pretty good." Such a sweet boy!

Recently, we took a trip to the dollar store to pick up some craft supplies. He was being good, so I let him pick out a couple of monster trucks to take home with us. The next day, after his 30 mins of morning TV, we were hanging out in the living room. He brought the trucks up to me, held the purple one in front of my face (quite close, actually I was a little worried for my eyes) and said, "Say hello to Valerie!" So, I did. Then, he held up the yellow monster truck and said, "Say hello to Valerie's Dad!" I couldn't keep a straight face! And, to this day, if you ask him their names, they remain Valerie and Valerie's Dad. I'm not sure where he got the idea for these names, but it makes me smile every time I think of it.