Jokes and Serious Fun

Elias has started telling jokes. They're very much insider jokes, consisting of a question then affirmation of something blatantly untrue. Now that I think of it, that's very much akin to some of my jokes ("How much was the offer? But Aova is worth a kaJILLion dollars!") His first was:

• Elias: "I go outside?" while one of us was still in PJ's--obviously NOT going to happen.
• Me: "Nooo, you're not going outside now." Smiling, but with you-should-know-better tone.
• Elias: "I go outside!" followed by lots of laughter.
  

He still uses that one to good effect. Sometimes the initial question is serious, and sometimes it's just a lead-in to his punchline. Last week he came up with another when he was eating an apple at Ski Hi orchard with Nanna and I:

• Elias, holding up his apple: "Applesauce?"
• Me: "Nooo, that's not applesauce; it's an apple!" (He knows very well the difference.)
• Elias: "Applesauce!" HaHaHaaHaHaaHa!
  
  

Now he'll just come up to you randomly with that spark in his eye and either ask or yell "applesauce" and crack up laughing. I used this to good effect at the photographers' last week, when I just said "applesauce!" whenever I wanted him to laugh. Here's one of the resulting photos.

Although now he is quite expressive and even giggly, Elias seemed rather stoic until he was about a year and a half old. Especially as an infant, he was very reserved, giving the impression that he was just observing everything, to be thoroughly processed and mulled over, and brought to bear at some appropriate time in the future. This came through again last week at the zoo, when for the first time we rode the train. He loves trains, and was so excited, the waiting made worse by the fact that we didn't quite make it on the first train ride, so had to wait the entire cycle first in line for the next round. He fluctuated between eager pointing and frustrated whining. However, once we got on it his face went blank, eyes wide and mouth drooped open, despite any encouragement from the conductor or us. It was like he was so intent on taking it all in, there was no energy to reflect back out--a little black hole of experiential pleasure. Someone else would probably misjudge that he was bored or clueless, but I knew it was just the opposite--Oh, how he loved that train. Right after that he rode the carousel, and had some of that look too, but not like the train. I'll have to make it a point of riding that each time we get the chance.