Funny guy

One of the many endearing things that Jack does is try to replicate any situation that he finds funny.  His sister is a constant source of merriment for him, and he tries to get her to repeat the off-the-cuff comments that he originally found so hilarious.  Sometimes Violet doesn't quite understand what he's trying to do, which in and of itself can be pretty funny.

I can't remember what we were talking about, but for some reason, Jack was talking about me and said, "That's Janis!"

"No, that's Mom-mom!" Violet said in response.

I don't know why Jack found this so amusing, but he keeps trying to get Violet to repeat this little dialog, with varying degrees of success.

"Violet," Jack will say, "I'm going to say, 'That's Janis!'  You say, 'No, that's Mom-mom!' Ok?  That's Janis!"

"Janis!" Violet will often say in return.

"No! You say, 'That's Mom-mom!'"

"Mom-mom?"

"Yes," Jack will say.  "That's Janis!"

"Janis!" Violet answers.

"No! Say, 'That's Mom-mom!'"

I am not kidding, I have sat through this conversation about 20 different times.

Another thing that's had an unexpectedly long lifespan happened when Violet was wearing a pair of pajamas with saggy pants.  She was going up the stairs, and her pants were slipping down.  I just happened to sing the "Up Down" song from Winnie the Pooh, but added my own little line:

Up down, touch the ground
Your pants are falling down

Jack just dissolved into giggles.  He has since sung this song several times and elaborated upon it so that not only are the pants falling down, but they walk out the door and out of the universe.  Every now and then an eyeball is thrown in there as well.

(Quick aside about "eyeballs": Jack is usually pretty good about not engaging in "potty talk" or bathroom humor.  But the one thing that he always drops in when he wants to be a little naughty is the word "eyeball."  I vaguely remembering that "underwear" had a similar cachet for my classmates when we were in fifth grade. The eyeball talk has been going on for the past several months.  I can't even remember when it started.  It stopped for awhile, but it pops up every now and then, especially when he is feeling rambunctious or is with certain friends.  The sheer frequency of it is annoying, but I suppose it could be a lot worse.)

The current "routine" that we have been endlessly reenacting involves a book called "Christmas Mice."  Why my children ever wanted to start reading a Christmas book in the middle of summer eludes me, but this has been a favorite for the past few weeks.  One feature of this book is that every other page ends with a repetitive phrase.

A few nights ago, this is what happened when I read the book:

Me: Christmas mice deck the house. Wreath the door. Pound, pound, pound!

Violet: What's a "pound, pound, pound"?

M: Christmas mice wrap lots of presents. Shiny ribbons, round and round!

V: What's a "round and round"?

M: Christmas mice trim the tree. Put a star on the top, top, top!

V: What's a "top, top, top"?

And on and on, throughout the whole book.

Again, I don't know why this tickled Jack so much, but he has had Violet and me replay this little back and forth the past three nights.  He laughs every time.

He still has the best laugh of anyone I know.