Clever Boys

Bartering seems to be a huge thing with both our boys. We're not sure if it's a Kaz thing or they learned this in the orphanage but either way they have been pretty clever with the whole bartering thing. The first time we saw this was with Alex. He wanted to have the camera from Dave and when Dave said no he, quick as lighting, snatched Dave's sunglasses off his face and then offered them back in exchange for the camera. Amazing!
We've seen this bartering thing with both Alex and Ethan but the funniest was this past Friday. Ethan was playing with a toy and Alex decided he wanted to play with it and started trying to get it from Ethan. Well Ethan didn't want to give it to Alex but couldn't get him to stop asking for it. So, what did he do? Well, he very cleverly decided to buy off his younger brother with a 1 tenge coin (worth less than a penny) and it worked! Alex was so thrilled to have the money that he forgot all about the other toy.
Later on I needed to get the coin back from Alex because he kept putting it in his mouth and I didn't want him to choke on it. So, I put my hand out and asked for the money and he started to put it in my hand but at the last second changed his mind. I figured he needed a little incentive and went to grab an animal cracker to trade for the coin. I showed him the cracker and then asked for the coin again. Well, low and behold the little smarty-pants looked me dead in the eye and held up two fingers! I was blown away! Alex is no dummy and clearly saw an opportunity to get not one cracker but two and he wasn't going to settle for anything less. Needless to say I bought back the 1 tenge coin that is worth less than a penny for two animal crackers. What can I say, I'm a sucker and I figured if he was smart enough to figure that out, then he deserves two crackers.