Ivo's alter-egos

Spiderman (top left) Curious George (top right)


Superman, Clark Kent, Spiderman, Peter Parker, Mr. Incredible, Dash, Syndrome, the Iron Giant, Bender, Curious George, Nemo, Woody, Buzz Lightyear, Stewie...

I'm sure I'm forgetting a few. Ivo spends most of his time pretending to be someone else. He says/shows off the fantasy accoutrement; boots (of various colors depending on the character), masks, suits... Only once, that I noticed/realized, has he blamed some malfeasance of his own on one of his alter-egos; ie, "Ivo don't touch Burl's eye." "I no do it. Curious George do it."

On the 2 occasions (so far - knock wood) that someone bit Burl (just over the last 3 weeks), rather than denying culpability, Ivo quibbles over whether the round set of teeth marks is, in fact, a bite. "Ivo what happened to Baby Burl?" He takes a look and announces,"it just an owie." "How'd Burl get the owie?" "I poke him. Yep, I did it." When told it doesn't look like a poke, he offers, "I hit him. Yep, I did it." When told that's probably not right, he says, "I punch him." When told it looks like a bite, Ivo merrily chimes, "I bite him. Yep, I did it!"
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Ivo is super smart and picking new things up everyday. Today we went to Sun Moon Lake where he figured he'd buy toys. On the way home we stopped at a rest stop to snack and play. When it was time to go, Ivo said, "dammit!" I asked him if he had said dammit and he told me, "yep, I told dammit a papa." When he's mad he also says, "dumbass" and, I think, "son of bitch!"

While neither Ryan nor I are without sin in this regard, these expressions are not among our standard swears. I, for one, use much more biblical terms. I asked Ivo where he heard "dumbass." He said "Stewie." I later saw an episode of Family Guy where Meg called Peter a dumbass - so I think Ivo's right. I've been trying to get him to say "imbecile" and "what the deuce!" instead when he's angry. Work in progress.

I can't remember if I noted; now when an adult/group of adults descends upon Ivo, he holds his hands out, arms stretched, in front of him, wrists cocked and says, "shoot the web!" This has mostly replaced the short-lived but hanging-in-there, finger-pointing "go away!" which took over from the cutest, turning-his-head-away "owl turn da head!"

But I guess if he keeps swearing, his cute little magnetic veneer may shatter and shock. If I'm bored of the same-(exact!)-same-old, "he looks like a doll!" "his hair is golden/curly!" "he's so cute!" "he doesn't look like a boy..." - it must be exhausting for him.