Innocent Until Proven Guilty

Sometimes I feel like Alex is unfairly judged before there is sufficient evidence to prove he's guilty. For example, when I leave him alone in a room, and moments later hear a suspicious noise, I often find myself automatically jumping to the conclusion that he's into something he shouldn't be.

Maybe it's because he's my little wild man.

Maybe it's because he's (almost) two years old.

Or maybe it's because of his track record...

Like when I've found him rummaging through the trash can, spilling coffee grounds all over the floor and himself,


chewing a discarded piece of gum,

or playing in chocolate pudding.


Or when he climbs up (and now jumps off) places he shouldn't.


Or when he smacks his brother just to enjoy Jacob's yelling.

Or the times he steals one of Mommy's decorative sticks to try and hit the chandelier. (A game which I totally blame Jacob for since he started it.)


And how about all of his food bandit escapades? Like when he steals my drink after I've gotten up to fetch him his own. Guess he couldn't wait.


Or the time he devised a way to reach the donuts I was so sure were out of his reach.


And the times he gets caught sneaking in the candy drawer.


Or the times when I'm not looking, and he takes off his clothes.

Especially when he pees on the floor after he's done, like he did this morning.

Or, worst of all, when he does this.

Etc.
Etc.
Etc.

So while I'll continue to check on him, I'm going to try not to assume I'm about to walk in on some mischievous behavior. I guess I should give him the benefit of the doubt.

Because sometimes he's just reading.


Or watching TV.



Or playing cars.



Or deep in thought.


Or, like on Friday, engaged in a too-cute-and-not-at-all-staged (I swear!) act all by himself in the dining room.
After hearing what I was convinced would be our china cabinet's junk drawer being emptied out, I walked in to find that actually, only one item had been removed. And this is exactly how I found him when I walked in. I had to tiptoe away and quickly grab the camera.

He pulled this photo out of the drawer all by himself. Just so he could gaze at it.



And point to the people in it, while saying their names (Da, Ma, Tee, Maa, Nan, Pa, Ti- aka Daddy, Mommy, Kerri, Matt, Nan, Pop, and Chris).


And smile at it.


And kiss it.


My heart melted. Sure, he's wild. Sure, he gets into practically everything.

But what a sweetheart.

P.S. What picture is he looking at, you ask? Oh, a picture from a family beach vacation taken in 2004. Excuse me for a moment as I play Captain Obvious, and point out my horrendous sunburn. How creepy do I look with the red skin and light eyes? Yikes. I look like some kind of red monster, tightly gripping Jeff's arm in a not so stealthy attempt to take him as my prisoner.
"One picture, buddy...then you're coming with me."


And the picture above is edited. The original was so disturbing, I had to use Photoshop to make myself look a little less frightening. Below is pre-Photoshop. I give you- the original: