leveling up

A few times lately, I've been asking J questions to guide him to acknowledging some contradiction in his view of the world: for example, one day he started watching what I was doing on the iPad, and said "Oh, you're just reading again. Reading is boring." He proceeded to walk away and become absorbed in a book.

"Wait, you're going away because I'm reading on the iPad?"
"Yes."
"And reading is boring?"
"Yes."
"So you're gonna go read instead?"

He enjoys this as much as anyone does, which is to say only grudgingly, if at all. I do it anyway, because hey, it's fun for me.

This week, though, we've moved into new territory, as I'm able to remind him of claims he made only a half hour previously.

"Are you sure? Because you just said X like a half hour ago."
"Chris, having you in the room is more annoying than... [trails off]"
"Aw, I love you too."
"Chris, that doesn't make any sense."

His teenage years are gonna be awesome.

(Last night during the tucking-in I told him, "I love you no matter what you do, even if you think I'm annoying." He said, "I didn't really mean that you're annoying." I know what he meant.)