"You want to go outside."

Timeline: MM was not yet 2-1/2 years old at this time.

I was showing MM a small wound on my hand.

He asked, "You see doctor?"

How did he know to see doctor for wounds and stuff?

Yeah, that he knows is probably ordinary, but I can't help but be in awe.

* * *

It was the day after we showed MM our friend J's son, B. J and her family lived in Canada, so we chatted through Facetime via the iPhone for a short while, as I was running out of battery.

I was sort of testing his memory, so I asked, "Do you remember B?"

MM nodded. "Is baby."

(Funny moment: B and MM are about the same age, but according to MM, B is baby while he is not a baby anymore. Cute!)

Me: Where did you see B?

MM: Ah-ko's (aunt) tel-e-phone.

* * *

Timeline: MM is 2-1/2 years old now.

Late May, MM was sick. I took leave from office one day to play with him, as he couldn't go to school. We had fun, playing choo-choo train and going to the bank, airport, police station, and especially McDonald's. When I told MM that the train was stopping at McDonald's and asked who's going down, he raised his hand and said with a shy smile, "Me."

Then, around six plus, his Ah-pe (H) came. The moment MM saw him, he had this big, big smile on his face, and as he was sitting down, he thrashed his legs happily. (If he'd been standing, he'd have done his happy dance.)

Wow. I spent one whole day with him, and Ah-pe is still his favorite person.

* * *

One night, some friends and I were at their place. After dinner, C, K and I were in MM's room with MM. Suddenly, MM was pushing at K, saying, "Go out."

According to C, MM even said, "Go out...stand in the corner."

K was playing it up, saying, "Can I stay inside? I want to say inside."

MM said, "You want to go outside."

Here's how I interpret it: Originally, MM wants K to go outside ("Go out"). In the end, MM's affirming that it's K who wants to go outside ("You want to go outside.") MM probably didn't realize what he did/said, but it's funny from the adult perspective.

* * *

His Grandma A came to visit, and she was telling us how "guwai" (good) MM is.

Apparently, they were at Toys R'Us. MM as usual went for a ball. But he has lots of balls, and they try to reason with him on this. Then apparently, MM told his grandma that he'll only play with the ball at the store, and when they're at the counter, he'll return it.

And true enough, he did.

* * *

MM is now back in the Philippines for 3 weeks. According to his dad, he wants to go to school, so they let him attend one.

On the first day, a (bad) classmate spanked him. MM cried.

On the second day, the parents weren't allowed to be in the classroom anymore. The (bad) classmate cried. MM approached him and said, "Don't cry."

That's compassion from the little boy who got spanked by the same boy. Is this what is called "turning the other cheek"? I think it's even better. "Turning the other cheek" is passive. You just let who slapped you once, slap you again. What MM did was to offer comfort to the boy who did him wrong.

And we know MM couldn't have forgotten the "trauma" of being hit, as evidenced by his remembering B in one of the anecdotes above.

I think we can learn a lot from MM in this regard. I hope he grows up into the fine young man he is showing himself to be at this very young age.