Games, Letters, and Birthdays (well, just the one)

Tonight, Ariella decided we should play Chutes & Ladders. Now, if there is a more pointless, long-winded, mind-numbingly endless child's game out there, I would love to know what it is so I can stay far, far away from it. Chutes & Ladders, along with CandyLand, form the bane of my game-playing existence. Occasionally, Ariella breaks out Monopoly, but usually by the time the properties are purchased and the game is starting to get interesting, she declares she's bored and she's had enough. Also, she cries when she lands on "Income Tax." Then again, so do most of us. Anyway, I am devoting a chapter in my book on child-rearing (for you newbies, that would be "Leave Me Alone So I Can Read the Paper") entitled, "When You Feel Like Wringing Mr. Mint's Neck With His Own Candy Cane." Luckily, during Chutes, Ariella counted incorrectly (you know it's bad news when you're thankful that your child is demonstrating poor counting skills) so she won pretty quickly.

Yaakov, in the meantime, was playing with his Yaakov letters. For some reason, all we can find are the A, A, O, and V. We're not sure what happened to the Y and K. I guess we'll find out during Pesach Cleaning 2010. However, according to conversation I had with Yaakov, it didn't seem to matter that some were missing. I pointed to the A. "What's this letter, Yaakov?"
"Shay."
Now to the other A.
"That's shay."
The O.
"Shay."
And the V.
You guessed it - "Shay."
Well, it sure makes learning the alphabet easier! Sing the new ABC's - I mean ShayShayShays - with me! "Shay, shay, shay, shay, shay, shay, shay...." See what I mean?

Yes, this is my little boy who is turning three tomorrow. Doesn't know his "A" from his "Shay" (but, he does know his "Shay" from his "Shay"), sees absolutely no reason to give up the convenience (for him) of his disposable, portable toilet, and still believes with absolute conviction that he can fly. (Like Buzz).
But we'll keep him. Because he gives the best kisses, because he frequently declares his love for "Daddy Mommy and Lala," because he is absolutely adorable when he gives emphatic, long-winded explanations for everything under the sun ("because at gan [garble garble garble] shnitzel [garble garble garble], then we go to the park [garble garble garble] because I need to do it. Okay, Mommy?"), because he cracks me up when he finds something and says, in a sing-song voice, "M-o-o-m-m-m-y! Look I f-i-i-i-i-nd!" And because he believes, with absolute conviction, that he can fly.