As usual, my Reshen news mostly involves language. This probably is not the most riveting of blog posts to read, but as a mommy I feel great need to capture all of the amusing things he is saying. So here they are, in no particular order...
Reshen: Where the North Pole, Mommy? (while we were driving)
Me: It's far away.
Reshen: North Pole is behind us, Mommy.
I have no idea what suddenly made him think of the North Pole and then decide it was behind us, but he was quite certain about that.
If our boy doesn't become a musician, I believe he might end up in the police force someday. He enjoys telling Alan and I what to do. The other day we were driving when a fire truck came screaming by us. Reshen loves firerucks, so it was no surprise when he exclaimed,
"There goes a firetruck!"
"Yes, a firetruck" we replied. "It was going fast, wasn't it?"
"Watch out for firetruck, Daddy" Reshen suddenly advised. "Be careful."
"Be Careful" seems to be his motto now, although it's usually more directed at us than himself.
Every evening he has to instruct me to be careful with the rocking chair. As soon as I start rocking he will pop up from my shoulder, look me directly in the eye and say
"Be careful, mommy. No hit wall." He will even point at me with toddler authority.
"Ok, I won't hit the wall." I assure him and he will lie back down. Once I start rocking, he will pop up again and look at me very seriously.
"Careful." he advises again. "Go slowly, Mommy. No rock faster."
I have to tell him "OK" one more time, and usually that is enough to satisfy him. Of course, this new concern of his stems from a time when I had to tell *him* not to rock so hard because he was hitting the wall. Obviously he has taken the warning very seriously. What a little goober.
We recently had our first successful evening babysitting (with someone outside of family or close friends). I won tickets to a Seattle Sonics/Sacramento Kings basketball game from my work and so we decided to give it a try. A young woman from Reshen's daycare came over on Sunday evening. We had talked about it for 2 days and Reshen knew she would be putting him to bed. He seemed excited about it, but I was wondering how it would really go over when the time came. We gave her detailed instructions, left her many sheets of paper loaded with emergency contacts and more instructions and eventually left, me turning my cell phone ringer volume to high and vibrate to make sure I wouldn't miss any calls. Around 8p.m. I was half-expecting a call to tell us Reshen was hysterical... but it never came. The game ended and we had actually seen the whole thing, uninterrupted. When we got home it was quiet, our wonderful sitter was calm and the house was still standing and even tidy. She said Reshen didn't cry at all and went right to sleep. Yahoo!! I"m so proud of him for being a brave boy and allowing someone else to put him to sleep for once. When he woke up the next morning and I walked in, he greeted me with an especially enthusiastic "Mommy!" and then said "Mommy be back soon. Mommy watch game." What a smart, sweet boy he is.
Seattle is having an especially snowy cold winter. It hasn't been good for morning commutes, but has been really fun for Reshen. On Monday Reshen's day care was closed because of the weather, so we had some fun snow play outside (his third already this year). He walked around making tracks in the snow. He touched it and tried to walk up a hill. Then he asked to make a snowman. I made one (it was quite pitiful and I actually didn't take a photo), and he declared it needed a nose and a mouth. So we used a carrot for the nose, and found rocks for his eyes. We used sticks for his arms and his mouth. When we were finished, Reshen stood and stared at him for a moment. I could tell he was thinking about something. "Snowman talk." he finally said, looking expectantly at the pile of decorated snow. It was so cute, but I felt bad breaking the news that he wasn't going to come to life like he saw on TV. I tried speaking for the snowman, but it wasn't convincing enough. I'm just not a great voice actor I guess.
As per usual in Seattle, the snow didn't last long and was melted by the next morning. Reshen seemed confused when we walked out the next day and the only thing left was the carrot and sticks. "Carrot nose!" he exclaimed "Where snowman go?"
One of Reshen's favorite restaurants is Red Robin. They have balloons, crayons and french fries.. what's not to like? Last time we went there, they boy was introduced to another attraction of the establishment. A huge "real" Red Robin. I guess on Thursdays some lucky individual dresses up in a Red Robin costume and walks around the restaurant, handing out balloons. I spotted him coming at the same time Reshen did. Suddenly the little man's eyes grew huge and lhe ocked into one of his intense stares as the Robin handed a balloon to a nearby child. I watched Reshen carefully, wondering which direction this was going to go- excitement or horror. The Robin noticed Reshen and came over, holding out his red gloved hand to him. This was the moment of truth. I held my breath. Reshen smiled (just a little) and gave the Robin a high-five. I was impressed. Our boy then announced he wanted a yellow balloon. Who knew. He's scared of a cartoon snowman, but not a "real" huge red bird. Go figure.
His understanding of language continues to grow, including the concept of missing people and things. I guess because sometimes when I pick him up from daycare I say "I missed you today" or sometimes we talk about missing family. Today when we were driving, Reshen was looking for the moon. I told him it was hiding in the clouds. "I miss moon, Mommy." he said. So sweet.
He is also understanding more about other emotions, such as excitement. We went to the Post Office to pick up a package today and I told him it was a present for him. When I went to get him out of the car he patted his chest and said "Getting MY present. I 'cited (excited), Mommy!"
He is such the goof-ball lately, making up his own silly games and cracking himself up. He has a new funny laugh. I call it his Frenchman laugh, as it's a forced "Huh Huh Huh." He uses it when he purposely does something mischievous or silly in his mind. I love watching his humor become more and more refined. Today when I was rocking him at bedtime he sat up, pretended he was holding something and then touched my nose and kind of twisted it.
"Want a big nose, Mommy?" he asked.
"You're giving me a big nose?" I laughed.
"Yeah!" he said. "Want different nose, Mommy?"
How could I resist seeing where this was going?
"Yes," I answered, "Give me a little nose, please." and I acted like I was taking my nose off.
He pretended he was looking for one and then "put" another nose on my nose and acted like he was screwing it on.
"That better, Mommy?" he asked.
We then pretended we were trading noses, which he got a huge kick out of. He was getting a bit riled up so I tried to calm him back down for bedtime. I pretended I was putting eyes on him and said they were his sleepy eyes and he needed them to go to bed. He pretended he was taking them off and putting them in my pocket.
"There go, Mommy" he said, patting my pocket "Reshen no need sleepy eyes. I not tired." Little stinker.
