Batman and My Bologna

We had a ton of rain last week.  Our basement got water and poor My Bologna spent one whole night awake and shaking because of the storms. 

But it also got really warm so Dexter was able to wear his Batman raincoat that Grandmama and Grampy got him a few years ago (it finally fits!) and explore the yard with My Bologna.

Balloon Dog on a Balloon Leash

We ran into a man making balloon animals outside of a restaurant last weekend.  For a "donation" of two dollars, he would make a balloon weapon or animal.  Dexter wanted a dog.  He let Dexy pick out the balloon colors and made him a balloon dog on a balloon leash. 

Dexy loved it - he named him Lolly and proceeded to "walk" him to the car...

...and in the backyard when we got home.  It was $2 well spent!

Conscientiousness

Conscientiousness is another of the "Big Five" personality traits that I've been learning about.  While I'm skeptical about the impact of each of these individual traits on life outcomes (I tend to think it's more about the combination of them and how we enact those combinations in our social worlds), there is some decent research showing that those who are high in conscientiousness have better life outcomes in work, health, and relationships. Dexy does seem to employ context-specific conscientiousness - when faced with a task, say a new type of puzzle on a kid's menu, he is very thoughtful, inquisitive, and planful.  In this way, he is very much like his Mom and Dad!

Those Curls!

Dexter can't leave the house without some stranger commenting on how beautiful he is.  Most people comment on his "beautiful hair" or "those curls". I keep suggesting we trim it but Dexy doesn't want to (with this kind of reaction from the world, who would?!).

Extroversion

Last weekend, Ben took Dex to the nearby park. There were a bunch of other kids there and Dexter immediately went up to one and asked if he wanted to play tag. The kid agreed but thought Dexy wanted to play hide and seek. They got it straightened out and played tag together. Dexy didn't stop at one kid, though. He approached many kids to engage in different activities with him.

It's nice to know that Dexter is more extroverted than either of his parents! I just did an extroversion battery in my adult development class and my score was more than one standard deviation below average for extroversion (I have to say, the test seemed very dated so I'm not convinced of its validity). God only knows how Ben would score on it!