The smell of moonlight

I was putting on hand cream tonight and the little guy said, "Mom, you smell like moonlight." I'm not sure what moonlight smells like, but I'll take it as a compliment.

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Baby boy hollered down to us from bed tonight. Daddy went up to find out what was the matter. Here is a transcipt of their conversation:

Dad: What's going on?

Baby boy: I have a beaver (translation: fever) in my tummy.

Dad: You have a fever in your tummy?

Baby boy: Yah, my tummy kind of hurts.

Dad: Oh...

Baby boy: Becuase I'm not feeling very well.

Dad: You're not?

Baby boy: No, because I'm feeling kind of sad.

Dad: Why?

Baby boy: Because I want to watch a movie.

Dad: A movie?

Baby boy: Yah, I want to watch Dora.

The conversation then turned into an argument about Dora vs sleeping. Daddy eventually won and left the room.

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Daddy brought home a great big pumpkin for us to carve for Halloween. The little guy was beside himself with excitement.

"Are we going to carve the dunkin?" he asked.

Our "dunkin" turned out great and looks really spooky when lit up.

Afterwards we roasted the dunkin seeds and had a very tasty snack.

Nuts to that!

Trying to reason with a toddler can sometimes be frustrating. Very, very frustrating. Sometimes I say things when I'm frustrated that come back to bite me in the butt. Things like, "You're driving me nuts!"

This morning the little guy threw the line back at me when I wouldn't cave in to a whiny request. Or, at least he tried to throw it back at me. He threw down his hand and yelled, "You're feeding me nuts!"

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We thought that the little guy would enjoy watching the classic children's movie, Mary Poppins. Right before we played it for him, he asked, "Are we going to watch Lolly Poppins?"

The security blanket

"Teetee" is the little guy's beloved security blanket. It follows him wherever he goes. To him, it is a member of the family.

Lately we've been trying (not very successfully) to break his dependence on teetee. When we go out, teetee stays in the knapsack for the most part. He is comforted just knowing that it is near by, just in case. Most of the time he does just fine without it.

At nursery school, teetee stays in the knapsack in the coat room. When Daddy drops him off in the morning, he always reassures him that teetee is in the bag, safe and sound. Yesterday, as daddy was getting set to leave the classroom, baby boy ran over and stopped him.

"You leave the zipper open just a bit, Daddy?"

I guess a security blanket that's too securely out of reach can't really do its job.

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I smile about this every single night. After the little guy gets out of the bathtub he streaks across the bedroom, opens the door and yells down the stairs, "You come upstairs please mommy?" or "You come upstairs please daddy?"

When we get the call, it means we're on goodnight hug and kiss duty.

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While goofing around one day, daddy called the little guy a "Poohba." The little guy replied, "I'm not a poohba, I'm a goof-a-man."

:-)

Ten second update

Things have been pretty busy lately around here lately so here is a very quick update:

- Baby boy did two poohs on the potty this weekend. Voluntarily, with no prompting whatsoever!

- He's starting using expressions, like "That's not the only one in the world," and "I'm going to keep my eyes open." He also starts lots of his sentences with, "Actually, I would like to...."


- We went up to KM and KSH's cottage on the weekend and had a great day. The little guy did a lot of rock throwing into the lake and collecting branches for the campfire. While we were there he also befriended KM's parents and managed to keep them very busy with all of his goings on. Hubby and I could sat back and did absolutely nothing all day. Boy is it ever nice to do nothing sometimes!

- His preferred drink these days are either chocolate milk or orange juice "tinis." We shake up the milk or juice with ice cubes in our martini shaker. Then we serve the chilled beverage in a fancy glass with a piece of lime and a decorative stir stick.

Being a toddler can be tough

Like for instance, today when we were walking to the butterfly exhibit. On the long trek from the parking lot to the building he came to a dead stop.

"I want picked up Daddy," he said.

We explained to him that he was getting too big to get carried. He shot us the saddest look I've ever seen. With a quivering lip and big sad eyes he said, "No, I'm not too big!!!" The look was enough to break anyone's heart.

Lately we've been having a lot of these sorts of conversations. One the one hand, he's proud of all of his big boy accomplishments (i.e. pulling himself up onto the play structure by himself, peeing into the toilet, taking off his own shoes, pulling his pants up and down, drinking juice out of a martini glass etc...).

On the other hand, being a baby has its advantages too (i.e. total lack of responsibility). Often he'll pretend he's a baby and ask to be carried, rocked and wrapped up in a blanket. And then he'll proclaim, "I'm not a big boy, I'm a baby."

I guess when it comes down to it, he'll always be my baby.

I am a repository for gross stuff

In the last couple of weeks, baby boy has had a non-stop runny nose. And each time that he sloppily blows his nose, I somehow end up being the recipient of his moist kleenex. The same goes for half eaten food hunks and slimy banana peels. Sometimes he places his cast-offs directly into my hands. Sometimes they are thrown into my lap, as though being tossed into a waste bin. I'm constantly trying to redirect him to the garbage can.

I'm also a human rag sometimes. Apparently baby boy thinks I enjoy it when he smears sticky peanut butter hands all over my jeans. Or when he wipes snot all over my sleeve just as I'm about to leave for the office. Or when he takes his greasy fingers to the lenses of my glasses.

Some days I feel like I have a sign on my face that says, "Gross stuff goes here."

Positive reinforcement

Using positive reinforcement is helping a lot with the potty training. Baby boy absolutely glows when we say, "good job" or "I'm so proud of you" after he's made a successful trip to the potty.

The words of encouragement seemed to have rubbed off on him. The other day I took him into a public bathroom with me. I just about died of embarrassment when he exclaimed loudly, "Good job, mummy. You did a big pee pee!"