"The garage door is open."

Have I mentioned how often I hear this phrase...every day? Or, better yet, how many times I hear just the words, "garage door" (which actually comes out as, "garagey door")?

No? Well, let me tell you.

Two days ago, I decided to count how many times those words (that is, "garagey door") escaped Owen's lips for the duration of an entire day. My guess was 100.

I gave up at about 10:30 a.m., mid-way through grocery shopping, because I could no longer simultaneously concentrate on my grocery list, keep track of what count I left off on, and remember to pick out all the random occurrences of "garage door" smattered throughout O's constant yammering. I decided to just call it right then and there.

Any guesses?

The correct answer is — wait for it — 80. Eighty! That's in only three waking hours. Mind you, when he says one of his beloved phrases, such as, "the garagey door is open," he typically repeats it no fewer than 10 times, presumably waiting for me (or anyone, really) to acknowledge that "yes, in fact, the garage door is open. Great observation, buddy!" Only after you've affirmatively repeated it back to him will he stop his repetitive declaration.

Here he is watching from our back door as the neighbor's garage door opens...and then closes. Fascinating stuff!

It's cute. Don't get me wrong. He's a smart boy and he can identify which garage doors are open and which ones are closed as you pass them by (either on foot or in the car). And, if asked, he will tell you what color a given garage door is. However, outside of those two things (and possibly the shapes — i.e., square vs. rectangle), I just can't think of anything else to say about garage doors. In the meantime, he doesn't seem to mind. Garage doors are fascinating...simply fascinating to this 2-year-old.