I Love You Forty-Two and a Half

Dante's favorite number is nine. Always has been. When someone asks him how old he is, he says, "Nine!" (To much laughter.) Isabella is currently in the "half" stage, as in it is vitally important whether someone is "only" an age or an age "and a half." She is five and half. Her best friend Kirstin in "only six." She will even refer to when she was "zero and a half."

A couple of days ago I lay Dante on the changing table to change his diaper and he announced, "Mommy, I two and a half!"

I said, "You are! You're two and a half!"

He smiled and said, "I love you two and a half."

I said, "Aww... you love me two and a half?"

He said, "I love you nine!"

Taking that to mean that he loves me a lot, I said, "I love you nine, too."

He scrunched up his face at me in derision and said, "You not nine!"

I laughed and said, "No, I love you forty-two and a half."