Waterlogged

Imagine a kid actually wanting to wash his hands! That's every mother's dream. I actually have the opposite problem to most parents: how do I get him to stop washing his hands.

"Wash-a hands? Wash-a hands?" he says over and over again. But it's really all just a ploy to play in the sink. Once he's on the step stool with the water running, it's almost impossible to pull him away. Any time I try he yells, "No!!!! Wash-a hands! Wash-a hands!"

We do let him play in the sink for extended periods of time. It's a great way to clean the floors! That's where most of the water goes. And if you throw in a couple of dirty dishes for him, they come out sparkling clean. Just as he can't get enough of the water, he also can't get enough of the dish soap!

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There was a dead wasp on our windowsill one morning as he sat eating a piece of toast. Baby boy noticed it, and gave me a very concerned look.

"Fly?" he asked, pointing at it.

"No that's a wasp."

"He sleepy," he informed me.

"Yes," I replied.

"Give wasp toast?" he asked.

Later that day, he noticed that the wasp was still "sleeping" on the windowsill. "Wasp sleepy," he told me. "I give him more toast."

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Generosity abounds! Baby boy enjoys trying to "share" his castoff food with others. He's always wanting to give empty banana peels and grapes that he's dropped in the mud to his buddy at the park.

"Give grape Motsumi?" he asks. I have to tell him that it's very nice to want to share but Motsumi probably has his own bananas and grapes.

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At the dinner table hubby and I get demand after demand. "I want grapefruit," "More ott (milk)," "More mushrooms" and so on. He almost never wants to eat what's on the menu. One night, hubby was about to go into the kitchen to fill one of the demands.

"Don't bring him anything," I said. "He's just asking for the sake of asking. He just wants control. If we cave in all the time he's never going to eat what's in front of him."

Baby boy was listening.

"I want control!" he yelled. Was I right or what?

Just for fun

How was your day?

Normally when I ask the little guy how his day was, I might get him to reply with a few intermittent words. Here is how the conversation usually goes:

Me: Did you have a good day?
Baby boy: Ava.
Me: Did you get to play with Ava today?
Baby boy: Yah!
Me: What else did you do?
Baby boy: Ball
Me: Did you throw a ball in the back yard?
Baby Boy: Bus
Me: Did you play with a toy bus?
Baby boy: Yah!

Now he's starting to use full sentences. Not all the time, but often. Here are a couple of examples:

Daddy: Do you get to ride horses at playgroup?
Baby boy: Mmmm...No. Slide on the slide. Sing some songs.

Me: Let's go wash your hands
Baby boy: Wash my hands with soap.

Me: Can you say goodbye to your friends?
Baby boy: Bye-bye everyone. See you soon.

Daddy: It's time to get in the car.
Baby boy: I'll drive home.

Language development is so cool to watch!

Am I just a big "ween"er?

I need sleep. The last week has been terrible. Up and down throughout the night responding to loud demands for milk (and I mean loud!).

What's changed? He was sleeping through the night and now he's back to this again -- getting up often and wanting to nurse. When he wants milk it means none of us sleep. Is this just a phase that will come and go like the rest of them?

Last night I tried to ween him off the nursing in the night routine. When he started yelling "Ott!" (his word for milk) I explained to him that mommy was sleeping and that when the radio came on in the morning he could have some ott. Given how groggy he was I thought he'd just roll over and fall back to sleep. Wrong!

He started howling "Mommy, Mommy, Mommy!" and clung to me like crazy glue. I tried other strategies to get him to fall asleep, knowing that that's the only reason he was asking to nurse. I dished out back rubs, sang songs, offered sips of water. "No, no, no!" was his reply. You see, breast milk is like Nytol -- it helps you get your ZZZZs. He figured that out on day 1, so my attempts to introduce new back to sleep techniques come across as quite lame. Exhausted and defeated, I caved in. Baby boy soon drifted off to sleep, but I tossed and turned with guilt. I've always been an advocate for nursing on demand (although he normally only chooses to nurse twice a day now, before bed and first thing in the morning).

Part of me feels like a terrible mom. The other part of me feels as though something has got to give. I can't live in a constant state of sleep deprivation plus work full time. Do any moms out there have some words of wisdom for me?

In general

Toddlers generalize virtually everything. Here is a list of the little guys top 10 generalizations:

1. Any letter that comes in the mail must be from Pinky Pig
2. Airplanes have one destination: Amma's house
3. All cats are named Nabi (similarly, all dogs are named Scooby)
4. All flowers (even the nastiest of weeds)are pretty
5. Everything adds up to the number 2
6. Any photograph that features a man holding a guitar must be Daddy
7. Caterpillars are all sad
8. Anything round is a ball and should, therefore, be thrown
9. All kids that are younger than him (even by a few days) are babies
10. If it's not water or milk, he calls it "wine"

If I put my mind to it, I could probably think of a million more. :)

Last blast of summer

Getting into the "swing" of things







Wearing my super cool shades



Playing a little ball



Making a big splash at the park

Happy Daddy!

On Daddy's birthday I told baby boy to say "Happy birthday Daddy!" to which he replied, "Happy Daddy!"

Less than a week later, my birthday rolled around. Daddy told him to say "Happy birthday Mommy!"to which he replied "Happy Daddy!" once again.

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We were eating Chinese food last weekend, when the little guy came across a piece of baby corn, which he'd never seen before. Intrigued, he picked up a piece, and proceed to gingerly nibble his way along it like a piece of corn on the cob. We nearly died laughing!

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Topping the reading list this week are two caterpillar books - Caterpillar Hides Away and The Very Hungry Caterpillar. As a result, he's invented two new words. "Faterpillar" to describe the fattened up caterpillar that gorged himself for a week. And "caterberries" instead of strawberries.

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Today we were walking down the street and passed a pretty young lady. The little guy pointed at her and said, "Nice!"

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He's sworn off clothes. One rather frigid morning this past week, I said "Come on, we have to put your pants on." He completely rejected the idea and ran away shouting "No pants! No pants!" Later that same day he did the same thing with his shoes. "No shoes! No shoes!"

The only way he'll wear a shirt these days is if there is a "cool" picture on it of an animal or vehicle of some sort. Forget trying to dress him in a plain shirt -- it's just not going to happen.

Sauce?

Sorry it has been so long. Life has been pretty busy lately. Here is the latest...

Baby boy likes to cook. He's got his toy wooden sauce set, miniature pots and pans, and an active imagination. Often, if I'm sitting on the couch he'll come over to me, leans close into my face with a questioning expression and says "Sauce?"

"Oh yes, I'd like some sauce," I always reply. If I forget to use my good manners he quickly reminds me with a "Please?"

"Oh, where are my manners! Yes please, I'd like some sauce." After he hears that magic word, he races off to make me a saucy creation. From time he shouts "rice?" "jam?" "toast?"

"Yes please!" I shout back.

Sometime he makes me imaginary pancakes, with coasters off of the coffee table. With a real spatula he lifts up the coasters and flips them over in his pan. Of course lately we've been letting him help make real pancakes. Daddy pulls up the step stool to the kitchen counter and lets him pour in the ingredients and do some stirring. How fun is that?

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NEWS FLASH: I am now officially called "mommy." No more "baby" or "weebee."

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If you come within five feet of the little guy's crayons, expect to be asked to draw Amma's cat, Nabi. To him, all cats are Nabi (even lions and tigers). It makes him insanely happy when anyone sits down and draws him a picture of Nabi the Cat.

If you won't draw Nabi, he'll settle for a picture of a horse. Ever since we got back from holidays where we saw horses along a country road, he's been big on horses. Instead of asking to ride the bus, he says "ride the horse?" It's pretty ironic because any time we get near a horses he totally freaks out. To a little guy like him they look pretty big and scary up close.

Speaking of scary things....horses don't freak him out nearly as much as the car wash. When he knows we are about to drive into one he shouts "All done!" The only part of the car wash he likes is the colourful soap that gets squirted all over the car. He calls it "rabow shapoo" (translation: rainbow shampoo). When he gets scared we tell him that cars need to get shampooed too -- just like people.

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His missing sandal has finally resurfaced, along with dozens of other objects that have been tossed over the side of the deck into our caregiver's lush garden. Is it too late to return those expensive crocs that I bought to replace them? I was forced to buy those ones because there wasn't a single pair of sandals left in his size in this entire city. No joke!

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Whenever baby boy feels like violently whacking the furniture, plants, appliances etc...he yells "fly!" I guess he thinks that as long as he says he's swatting flies, it's okay. Think again, my dear!

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Sky gazing is a popular sport these days. And not just because of the frequent airplanes passing overhead.

There was a hot air balloon festival recently, and dozens of balloons floated above our house. I took the little guyf up to the rooftop deck to watch the amazing parade of balloons of every colour, shape and size. Since that day, he frequently climbs up to the third floor to check for balloons. When he can't find any, he's so disappointed!

On a recent early morning walk to the market, we saw the moon in the sky. Although he had heard a lot about the moon, the little guy had never actually seen it before because of his early bedtime hour. When he saw the moon he just about jumped out of the stroller in glee. "Look! There's the moon!" "Moon! Moon! Moon!" He told every person we passed about it.

When we saw a star in the sky last weekend, he was doubly excited.

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"Paul Paul Paul" (translation Uncle Paul) is talked about almost as often as Nabi the Cat since he came to the cottage for a visit a few weeks ago. We have a little photo album that contains some old pictures of Uncle Paul. He likes to flip through the "Paul" book several times a day.

More vacation pics

Here I am hanging out with my big cousin.



And here I am checking out a very hungry caterpillar with one of my favourite people!



Lucky me! My best buddy came up for the day to the visit. We did all sorts of things together such as throwing rocks in the water, visiting the horses, playing on the play structure and on the deck.



Here I am sharing my toys with my eight month old baby cousin. I also liked giving her lots of hugs and pishes!



Here I am feeling sorry for myself because I missed the boat (well the canoe, actually). I did get to go on a couple of canoe rides though and they were fun and just a little bit scared.