Planes, Trains and Automobiles

Well, technically Trains and Ferry Boats. Like a lot of toddlers, our boy is fascinated with transportation. Firetrucks, airplanes, boats, buses, construction trucks, and of course trains thrill him to no end. And like most parents, we like to please our transportation fanatic.. which is part of the reason the past two weekends have involved a large form of transportation.

Last weekend we took a Ferry boat over to Whidbey Island. Yes, we could have driven there, as there is a bridge.. but our boy loves boats. So we waited in the line, paid the fee, and setteled in for the short 20 minute ride. It was an ideyllic day in the Northwest. Warm, clear blue skies, no wind... just perfect. Really a great day for a ride on the ferry. I was hoping we would see a sea lion, porpoise, or orca, but no such luck this day. That didn't matter. Reshen was enarmored. We even saw the "driver" (the captian) up at his post while we were on the deck. The man saw me pointing up at him and waved back down to Reshen. That made our kiddo's day for sure.



The ride was over way too soon for our guy, and we had to practically bribe him to get off the boat by promising he could ride it again on the way back. Our afternoon on the Island was fun, filled with parks, beaches and playgrounds. But Reshen could only think of the Ferry boat and kept reminding us that we still needed to ride it again. Poor kid was heartbroken when the ride home was over and we had to get off it for good. But we did promise we would ride it again this summer. I'm sure he won't let us forget.

Today we did another fun transportation- just for Reshen. We rode the Monorail. The Seattle Monorail, for those who don't know, is really more for tourists than locals. It spans about a 2 mile stretch of downtown and costs $2 for a one-way trip. I've only ridden the Monorail once... as a tourist before I moved here. Normally we walk or ride the bus (which are free I might add). But... our little man loves trains and talks about the Monrail all the time, since we saw it speed past on the elevated track a few months ago. And it just happened that today was an event called Folklife that happens at Seattle Center (near the Space Needle, and also the Monorail's destination). So, we purposely parked at one end of the Monroail and rode it to the Space Needle... just so the little man could have his train adventure. It was hot and crowded and not exactly cheap... but our little guy sat in wide-eyed fascination and we didn't regret the decision at all.

Folklife, on the other hand, was an annoying disappointment this year. It's a 4 day free festival celebrating music, dance and storytelling. We used to go every year pre-Reshen and I had always enjoyed it in years past. But this year was incredibly crowded. There was barely room to walk, no places to sit, long lines for everything... and people were just so annoying! We did stop at some informal roadside performances, and Reshen enjoyed hearing and watching the live music.. but that's really all we got out of it.. oh and the strawberry shortcake that a local strawberry vendor always sells there was delicious as usual. But I doubt we will be going back again. Fighting through the crowds just isn't enjoyable anymore. And all Reshen could think about, of course, was the monorail and wanting to ride it back home.

Oh and a side note. We saw a lobster at the grocery store today and Reshen said it was Buggy and had to stop and talk to it. We really need to find the kid a toy lobster.

Tidbits

Some random things my boy has said lately:

"Bless you, Mommy." after I sneezed today (no coaxing at all, btw)

"I love you too, Mommy. Have a good night!" He called this to me as I was closing his door at bedtime. How sweet is that?

"Buggy is at the aquarium. I miss my lobster!" What can I say.. he's Buggy obsessed lately. And the silly thing doesn't even exist!

"What you talking about?" to Alan and I when we were talking in the car. When we told him he said. "No. I want to talk about trucks." So of course we did.

"Moooommmmyyy. Where aaarrrreee yoooouuu?" He calls this to me from his crib sometimes.

He has been nodding his head "yes" and shaking his head "no" instead of verbally saying "yes" and "no" lately. It's really cute- they are very deep and deliberate motions.

Oh, and Reshen hasn't been interested in the potty since our success last weekend. Figures. But I know it will happen when he's ready.

Some Potty Success!

We finally had some potty success tonight! Yes, it's true that Reshen has pottied on his chair a few times before already, but this time it was definitely intentional, not just a coincidence that I suspect the other times have been. We were doing our normal before bedtime potty-sit and as usual nothing happened. But as I was giving him a sticker to put on his potty-chart (for sitting on the potty), he suddenly declared that he had to go pee-pee again. I suspected it was just stalling tactic, as he already told me he didn't want to go to bed. But I never want to deter using the potty, so I let him run back into the bathroom. To my surprise, as soon as he sat down a little pee-pee trickled into the bowl! I was ecstatic and praised him up and down. He grinned from ear to ear. He got to have a "potty treat" (chocolate chip) and put a special big sticker on the potty chart. I figured that was it for the evening, but not more than 2 minutes later he said he had to go again, and this time a big stream of pee-pee went into the bowl. He was even more excited about it this time. Of course this meant another chocolate chip and another sticker. He also announced that now he wants to wear pull-ups! I told him that we'll get some at the store tomorrow :-)

Of course, I have no idea if he's going to be as excited about using the potty tomorrow as he was today, but at least it's a real start and now I know he understands the sensation of needing to go and he possibly has a little more control over it than he used to. That's a big step for us! Yay- I'm so proud of my boy :-)

Big Boy Bubby

Reshen asked "why" for the first time last week. He was upset because we weren't driving in the "black car" (the Camry) and finally after telling him what seemed like 100 times that we couldn't drive in the Black car right now he asked "Why?" It stunned me for a second.. just seemed like such an "older" kid thing to say. Really a huge developmental leap in my book. He also used it yesterday when we were talking about the oven being hot. "Why oven hot?" he asked. I have a feeling this is just the beginning of the "Why" questions. I wonder exactly what happens that it finally occurs to them to ask "why". I'm sure he's thought it before, but he is just now vocalizing it. I ask *him* "why" all the time and he's been able to answer me now for a few months (i.e. mostly "why did you do that? why are you crying? etc.). I suppose it finally dawned on him that he could use it too :-) His language development intrigues me to no end.

We had another first recently- the first attempt to climb out of the crib. He had been whining in his crib one evening at bedtime and when I finally went in there, I was shocked to see one leg up and over the crib. Luckily he hadn't hoisted his whole body up yet (his other leg was still on the mattress), but it worries me that he is even thinking about climbing out. I asked him what he was doing and he answered, "Trying get out of crib." At least he's honest. I suppose if he keeps it up we'll have to try a "big boy bed," but it worries me what he'll do to his room if not confined. I'll have to do some *major* toddler proofing for sure.

He's obsessed again with "A Mighty Wind"- the concert at the end of the movie. He gave it a break for several months, but he's back at it again... asking to watch it all the time and singing and playing his guitar along with it.

He's also uber-obsessed with "Choo Choo Soul," and would watch it non-stop on the computer if we let him. He has a specific rotation of video clips he watches- Steam Train, then Bullet Train then Do Your Own Dance. He never wants to watch the Be Polite video though.. he has totally shunned that one.

Reshen has invented a silly word that he knows is funny and uses it whenever he wants to be silly. It's "buggy" or sometimes it sounds more like "boogie"... but whatever he says, it goes for everything. Mommy is "buggy", the cars are "buggy", the food tastes "buggy". You get the drift. He always says it with a silly, expectant grin, knowing that he is funny. I guess his lobster is "Buggy" too. Gotta love this early humor.

And the potty humor is beginning too. A boy all the way, he was trying to make himself pass gas the other day.. and when he did, he would bust out laughing. Nice. Sometimes he also says in his "silly" voice, "I pee pee out my bottom". *sigh* I know this is only the beginning. And I also know maybe I shouldn't laugh. But it's just so bizarre to hear my baby boy saying these things! Wasn't he just learning to coo and blow raspberries yesterday?? And now he's talking about pee and bottoms with delight. It sure doesn't take long to catch on, does it?

He's been talking a lot about monsters lately and having to hide from them. At first I thought maybe he was scared and trying to work through it, so I asked him if monsters were scary. He said "No. They are silly." Well that's good. So we've been chased by lots of silly monsters lately and are constantly having to hide from them- at the park, under the covers, etc.. I taught him to then pretend to jump out at the "monsters" and yell "Boo Monsters!" and scare them away. Figured that if he really was afraid for any reason, it might help to pretend to turn the tables on them :-)

Reshen's feet are finally slimming down. We took him to Stride Rite to get him some new shoes a couple of weeks ago, as he was wearing through the toes of his old pair. I expected him to go up maybe 1 size. He was currently in size 6.5 extra wides, so I thought we'd be getting him 7.5s (with lots of room to grow). Nope. He actually needed 8s! I felt bad that he had been wearing shoes that were too small for him for so long, but honestly he never complained and he was still running and jumping in them just fine. But the good news is that he only needs wides now, not extra wides.. which means we aren't limited to Stride Rite anymore- yay! Don't get me wrong, they have really cute and very well constructed shoes... but they are just so expensive! So we left and went to Payless and got him a cute pair of Champion sneakers- size 8 wide :-) He loves his new shoes and we loved the price- only $15 ;-) I still have to buy him a pair of rain boots, though, and also a pair of sandals for the summer, as I just realized both of his old pairs are only in the 5-6 range. My baby boy is growing!

I'm loving his pretend play lately. He's been doing it for months, but it's becoming more elaborate and abstract lately. Yesterday at the playground we were pretending that Reshen was going to work and Mommy was staying at Pam's house. He would bring me to a spot that was Pam's house and then he would run in this wide circle to "work" and then back towards me and give me a big hug. And then we would talk about our days, like we do in real life. He loved hearing what I "did" at Pam's house and even interjected stuff that he usually does there. Anyways, we did this at least 10 times in a row. And every time I saw him running back towards me, my heart just swelled with love. He just looked so big all of a sudden, and independent... but yet still had those baby cheeks and hugged me so sweet and tight when he finally made it back to my arms. I found myself not wanting to let go each time and trying to get in as many kisses as I could. I almost hated to let him go each time to go back to "work," but then it was so much fun to watch him run in that wide circle and back into my arms. I suppose that is what raising children is about... letting them go to run the world, and hoping that your bond will lure them back for a hug every now and then. I can only hope he will always come back to me with the joy he did at 2 years old.

Buggy the Lobster

Today at preschool they were talking about pets and the teacher asked each of the children what pet they would choose if they could have *any* animal and then what would they name it. She said that most kids wanted the typical pet animals, like cats, dogs, horses etc. Then they got to Reshen.

My boy said he wanted a lobster.

Yes. A lobster.

And he would name it “Buggy.”

My kid is so weird.

But I wouldn't have him any other way ;-)