Somewhere along the way, the little guy has developed a concept of Santa. Where it came from, I'm not sure. But I guess I'm not too surprised with all of the hype that surrounds us at this time of year.
We have a cardboard book that is shaped like a Christmas tree. In it there is a picture of Santa loading up his sleigh with presents for all of the good boys and girls. But baby boy doesn't call it a sleigh -- rather it's Santa "rue-doo-doo" (his word for stroller from when he was really little. It is one of those nonsense words that has stuck).
After reading that book about a billion times, he seemed very interested in the whole gift opening part (again, not surprised. His birthday wasn't that long ago).
On Christmas eve, we put all of the presents under the tree. When he got up on Christmas morning we told him that Santa had come. When he came downstairs and saw all of the gifts, he couldn't contain his excitement. He grabbed a present and ran and put it on the coffee table. Then he ran back and grabbed another and put it on the coffee table. Back and forth he went with sheer delight.
Then he started opening them. All of them. Even the ones for Mommy and Daddy and Amma. None of us minded because he was having so much fun. And besides he was just "helping."
Later in the morning we went to the stables to visit the horses, and then to the park for a play. It was a beautiful sunny day -- just a perfect Christmas Day. And even more special than usual because Amma was there.
Monday, December 31, 2007
Saturday, December 22, 2007
Friday, December 21, 2007
The birds and the bees start early
The other day, Baby Boy came out and asked me a question that was obviously on his mind.
"Mommy have penis?"
I carefully crafted a response.
"No Mommy doesn't have a penis. Only boys have penises. Mommy is a girl. Girls have vaginas."
"Daddy has penis?" he then asked.
"Yes, daddy has a penis. He's a boy."
Since then, he keeps on broaching the topic with me. He's really trying to get his facts straight. Now, when he asks if I have a penis, I say "What do you think?" Usually (not always) he replies, "Mommy has gina."
At first I wondered if it was odd for a 2-year old to ask such a question. I soon discovered that this is a common theme for this age group. I think it coincides with all the potty training books that we've been reading. He's suddenly become very aware of certain body parts. I guess it was only a matter of time before he noticed that there were "mechanical differences" between the genders.
Tonight I was relaying this story to a friend over dinner in a restaurant. Bad idea! When the little guy caught on to what we were talking about he yelled quite loudly, "Mommy penis! Mommy has gina!" Then he started running through the restaurant yelling "penis!" and "gina!" Luckily her annunciation wasn't clear enough for the other diners to decipher. Or if they did, they quietly laughed behind their napkins. I'm sure my face was bright red!
Now that he's old enough to learn about these body parts, I wonder if he's old enough to know learn about when NOT to talk about them....
"Mommy have penis?"
I carefully crafted a response.
"No Mommy doesn't have a penis. Only boys have penises. Mommy is a girl. Girls have vaginas."
"Daddy has penis?" he then asked.
"Yes, daddy has a penis. He's a boy."
Since then, he keeps on broaching the topic with me. He's really trying to get his facts straight. Now, when he asks if I have a penis, I say "What do you think?" Usually (not always) he replies, "Mommy has gina."
At first I wondered if it was odd for a 2-year old to ask such a question. I soon discovered that this is a common theme for this age group. I think it coincides with all the potty training books that we've been reading. He's suddenly become very aware of certain body parts. I guess it was only a matter of time before he noticed that there were "mechanical differences" between the genders.
Tonight I was relaying this story to a friend over dinner in a restaurant. Bad idea! When the little guy caught on to what we were talking about he yelled quite loudly, "Mommy penis! Mommy has gina!" Then he started running through the restaurant yelling "penis!" and "gina!" Luckily her annunciation wasn't clear enough for the other diners to decipher. Or if they did, they quietly laughed behind their napkins. I'm sure my face was bright red!
Now that he's old enough to learn about these body parts, I wonder if he's old enough to know learn about when NOT to talk about them....
Monday, December 17, 2007
My rant as a concerned parent
He knows the names of all of the Thomas the Tank Engine characters, and talks about them like they are close, personal friends.
I receive frequent requests to watch DVDs or read books about Manna-the-pooh (whinnie-the-pooh).
He's been able to rattle off the songs from Dora the Explorer since very early on in his language development.
It's hard to believe that at the age of 2 (with extremely limited exposure to television) he's become so enamored with these popular childhood figures. It's actually kind of disturbing. The toy industry is already sucking us in. After a great deal of hesitation, I bought baby boy a wooden Thomas toy for Christmas. He plays with Thomas toys all the time at his caregiver's house and I know he'll be overjoyed when he opens his gift.
As soon as I got it home I checked the serial number to make sure it wasn't among the Thomas toys that were recently recalled due to high levels of lead in the paint. Even though it came up clean, I still feel a bit hesitant to give it to him. I feel the same way about toys made by Matel (speaking of massive recalls!) or any other toy company for that matter.
Can we really be confident that the toys we buy are safe? How can I be sure that our toy box isn't a toxic waste pile? It certainly contains a lot of plastic -- another thing that I'm not overly happy about these days. It's bad enough that many sippy cups and baby bottles contain bisphenol-A and who knows what other sorts of nastiness in them. Kids (and adults for that matter) live in a plastic universe. Just read this blog, if you are interested in knowing just how much plastic we are exposed to each and every day. Are we slowly poisoning our children (and ourselves) without even knowing it?
Then there are the child car seat recalls.
Medications full of dye.
Salt and sugar laden, pre-packaged food (crap) that advertisers try to make us feel good about feeding our families.
Products that are STILL on the shelves that should have been removed years ago (i.e. bumper pads and bathing rings). What company, in good conscience, still sells these items?
When I took prenatal classes, I was told to throw away any baby powder or baby oil found in the medicine cabinet. The oil is hazardous to ingest, and powder dangerous to inhale. Apparently the baby industry hasn't caught onto this yet, because these products are still lining store shelves. And there are a lot of parents out there who, like me, had no idea that any of these items were unsafe.
So you see why I'm holding my nose about putting a Thomas toy under the tree this year? Maybe it's not too late to get a refund....
I receive frequent requests to watch DVDs or read books about Manna-the-pooh (whinnie-the-pooh).
He's been able to rattle off the songs from Dora the Explorer since very early on in his language development.
It's hard to believe that at the age of 2 (with extremely limited exposure to television) he's become so enamored with these popular childhood figures. It's actually kind of disturbing. The toy industry is already sucking us in. After a great deal of hesitation, I bought baby boy a wooden Thomas toy for Christmas. He plays with Thomas toys all the time at his caregiver's house and I know he'll be overjoyed when he opens his gift.
As soon as I got it home I checked the serial number to make sure it wasn't among the Thomas toys that were recently recalled due to high levels of lead in the paint. Even though it came up clean, I still feel a bit hesitant to give it to him. I feel the same way about toys made by Matel (speaking of massive recalls!) or any other toy company for that matter.
Can we really be confident that the toys we buy are safe? How can I be sure that our toy box isn't a toxic waste pile? It certainly contains a lot of plastic -- another thing that I'm not overly happy about these days. It's bad enough that many sippy cups and baby bottles contain bisphenol-A and who knows what other sorts of nastiness in them. Kids (and adults for that matter) live in a plastic universe. Just read this blog, if you are interested in knowing just how much plastic we are exposed to each and every day. Are we slowly poisoning our children (and ourselves) without even knowing it?
Then there are the child car seat recalls.
Medications full of dye.
Salt and sugar laden, pre-packaged food (crap) that advertisers try to make us feel good about feeding our families.
Products that are STILL on the shelves that should have been removed years ago (i.e. bumper pads and bathing rings). What company, in good conscience, still sells these items?
When I took prenatal classes, I was told to throw away any baby powder or baby oil found in the medicine cabinet. The oil is hazardous to ingest, and powder dangerous to inhale. Apparently the baby industry hasn't caught onto this yet, because these products are still lining store shelves. And there are a lot of parents out there who, like me, had no idea that any of these items were unsafe.
So you see why I'm holding my nose about putting a Thomas toy under the tree this year? Maybe it's not too late to get a refund....
Friday, December 14, 2007
2 never looked so good!
On the big day!
The life of the party.
Aaaahhh! My cake is on fire!
Mmmm cake....Soooo doog!!
This cake has obviously gone to my head!
A helping hand.
OMG! Did you see this present? It's the BEST thing ever.
It's KSH's saw!!! How did he know that was what I wanted for my birthday?
Bonus!! My saw came with a matching drill!
Saturday, December 08, 2007
Here come the terrible 2s!
The terrible twos are officially here! Baby boy has figured out a couple of things about birthday.
1. Cake is soooo yummmy! (to quote)
2. Presents are good
He scored all sorts of loot this year, including a SAW just like KSH's (his eyes were as big as saucers when he opened it up), a guitar (for jamming with dad), a dump truck, and a toy sushi bento box. KM always teases me about having an "urban baby." When I told her about the sushi set she said, "Urban babies eat sushi." If you've ever seen the book "Urban Babies Wear Black" you'll understand why that's so funny :-)
KM and KSH hosted the big birthday brunch. Lots of good food, and good company!
On his actual birthday, we took him out for avocado rolls, noodle soup and a "bubble shake." Actually, it was a coconut shake, but he calls it a bubble shake because he once saw me drink bubble tea. He later described his bubble shake as "freezy and juicy" and sooooo yummy.
As you can see, he's off to a good year.
******************************
We have a pest problem. Little caterpillars. They must hatch out of one of our plants -- we have no clue where they are coming from. Every three or four weeks, I'll catch a few of them trekking across the house. Baby boy calls them "wooses," his word for worms.
I was getting breakfast ready last week and he came running into the kitchen yelling "look!!!!" He handed me something. I looked down and just about jumped out of my skin. It was a dead woose! He was so proud of himself. "I find a woose," he repeated over and over again.
********************************
I've created a monster. When I was a kid, I loved the movie/musical Annie. So I ordered the DVD, figuring it would be nice to have in our collection. Apparently my enthusiasm for Annie has rubbed off on the little guy.
He talks about Daddy Warbucks, Miss Hannigan and Sandy the dog all the time. He knows all of the songs by heart, and sings them with great enthusiasm. He requests to watch "Hard knock life song" 50 times a day. Or, he'll say, "I want to watch sad song." He's referring to the song Maybe, where the orphans daydream about their parents coming to pick them up at the orphanage. It really is a sad song.....
And, perhaps the most humourous side effect of his love of all things "Annie" -- the tap dancing. There is a scene in the movie where Annie and Miss Farrell are getting ready to go to the movies and they do a little tap dance. Baby boy does a great imitation. Just last week, when we were at his two year check up with the doctor, he did the dance across the examination room. It was especially funny because he was only wearing a diaper and a pair of slippers.
********************************
Now that the little guy has a guitar, he can jam with daddy.
They are so funny to watch! As daddy strums a tune on the guitar, they make up lyrics. The other day, I over heard baby boy singing a little refrain that went something like this:
"Scooby....Saw...Scooby and icicles fall."
**************************************
Here are some of our favourite little guy quotes:
"It's sooooo yummy!"
"Look! It's shoaning!" (snowing)
"I want ninin toast" (raisin toast)
"whatcha do-ning?"
"I can check" (he likes to check for firetrucks on the way home from daycare. He also likes to check to see if daddy's home from work.)
1. Cake is soooo yummmy! (to quote)
2. Presents are good
He scored all sorts of loot this year, including a SAW just like KSH's (his eyes were as big as saucers when he opened it up), a guitar (for jamming with dad), a dump truck, and a toy sushi bento box. KM always teases me about having an "urban baby." When I told her about the sushi set she said, "Urban babies eat sushi." If you've ever seen the book "Urban Babies Wear Black" you'll understand why that's so funny :-)
KM and KSH hosted the big birthday brunch. Lots of good food, and good company!
On his actual birthday, we took him out for avocado rolls, noodle soup and a "bubble shake." Actually, it was a coconut shake, but he calls it a bubble shake because he once saw me drink bubble tea. He later described his bubble shake as "freezy and juicy" and sooooo yummy.
As you can see, he's off to a good year.
******************************
We have a pest problem. Little caterpillars. They must hatch out of one of our plants -- we have no clue where they are coming from. Every three or four weeks, I'll catch a few of them trekking across the house. Baby boy calls them "wooses," his word for worms.
I was getting breakfast ready last week and he came running into the kitchen yelling "look!!!!" He handed me something. I looked down and just about jumped out of my skin. It was a dead woose! He was so proud of himself. "I find a woose," he repeated over and over again.
********************************
I've created a monster. When I was a kid, I loved the movie/musical Annie. So I ordered the DVD, figuring it would be nice to have in our collection. Apparently my enthusiasm for Annie has rubbed off on the little guy.
He talks about Daddy Warbucks, Miss Hannigan and Sandy the dog all the time. He knows all of the songs by heart, and sings them with great enthusiasm. He requests to watch "Hard knock life song" 50 times a day. Or, he'll say, "I want to watch sad song." He's referring to the song Maybe, where the orphans daydream about their parents coming to pick them up at the orphanage. It really is a sad song.....
And, perhaps the most humourous side effect of his love of all things "Annie" -- the tap dancing. There is a scene in the movie where Annie and Miss Farrell are getting ready to go to the movies and they do a little tap dance. Baby boy does a great imitation. Just last week, when we were at his two year check up with the doctor, he did the dance across the examination room. It was especially funny because he was only wearing a diaper and a pair of slippers.
********************************
Now that the little guy has a guitar, he can jam with daddy.
They are so funny to watch! As daddy strums a tune on the guitar, they make up lyrics. The other day, I over heard baby boy singing a little refrain that went something like this:
"Scooby....Saw...Scooby and icicles fall."
**************************************
Here are some of our favourite little guy quotes:
"It's sooooo yummy!"
"Look! It's shoaning!" (snowing)
"I want ninin toast" (raisin toast)
"whatcha do-ning?"
"I can check" (he likes to check for firetrucks on the way home from daycare. He also likes to check to see if daddy's home from work.)
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