Jack at 23 months

I scolded Arden yesterday for disobeying me.  She was in tears afterward.  Jack went to her, laid his head on her shoulder and wrapped his chubby arm around her to give her a sympathetic hug.  THE CUTEST THING EVER!

Since I'm on the subject of Jack I'll go ahead and list some stuff that he does at 23 months.  I've mentioned before that he is extremely observant.  I'm wondering if it's because he's the third child and just does what everyone else does.... or he's just that meticulous.

He puts his empty food plate in the sink without being told.
He throws away his trash without being told.
The trash can was out of place in the bathroom.  He moved it back to its usual spot.
He thinks my phone has to be with me at all times.  If I leave it on the couch and I'm in another room then he'll bring it to me.
He took off his socks last night and put them in the clothes hamper without being told.
Nothing can be in his crib with him at night except Bear and his blanket.  He'll chunk any other toys out of the crib.
He has to sit in his high chair with the tray covering him in order to eat his food.  He'll throw a fit if you try to deviate.

He's such a messy boy that spills stuff constantly, leaves Legos on the floor for me to twist my ankle on, and slathers himself with dish soap......yet is quirky about certain stuff.

His communication right now is transitioning.  He understands what we say, but still speaks a lot of Jackanese.  He's added some new words to his vocabulary: boot, shoe, teeth... but mostly is caveman-ish by pointing and grunting.  Or he just points and says "Mama, mama, mama, mama" repeatedly until I figure out what he's wanting.  I can tell that he gets frustrated when he's not getting his idea across. The other day he wanted more chocolate milk (he'd had a lot already) so he brought his sippy cup to me, shoved it at me, "mama, mama, mama."  He wanted me to get up from the couch and refill his cup.  Partly because I was being lazy and partly because he'd had enough milk to drink, I avoided getting up to get him more.  I tried to distract him from his cup by getting a book that was next to me.  "Jack, do you want to read your book?  Come sit with me and let's read!"   He took the book from my hands.  I thought I had been successful in my redirection attempt, and that he was going to sit next to me with his book.  Nope.  Not kidding, looking me in the eye with determination and a perturbed expression, book in hand, he turned and marched to his room.  I heard his dresser door open and close (this is where we keep his books.)  As if he were saying, "I'll fix this little situation."  He then marched back to the living room empty handed, picked his sippy up and shoved it at me again, "mama, mama, mama!"
I just shook my head, got up and gave him some water.