Bubby Bliss

Conversation about the Future

2009-04-22T20:16:00.000-07:00

Me: What do you want to be when you grow up?

Reshen: I want to live with Batman.

Me: You do? You're going to live in his house?

Reshen: Yes. (pause, I can see that he's thinking about something) But I'm not going to push any of the buttons. (he says this very seriously)

*I'm trying to suppress my laughter*

Me: Not going to push the buttons? Why no?

Reshen: I don't want to break anything.

Me: Ok. Will anyone else live in the house with you?

Reshen: Probably Robin. But nobody else. I don't want the Super Friends there. Just Batman and Robin.

Me: Will you eat lunches with them?

Reshen: Oh yeah. Will you bring me food?

Me: Sure! What should I bring?

Reshen: How about pickles. And spinach.

Me: Pickles and spinach. Ok then. And should I cook something for you and Batman?

Reshen: Sure!

Me: If Batman leaves to fight bad guys, will you go help?

Reshen: No. I don't want bad guys to get me.

Me: So will you stay at the house and work the computer for them?

Reshen: No. That's very important.

Me: So, you're just going to play at Batman's house while they work?

Reshen: Oh, sure!

Growing Up

2009-04-11T20:10:00.000-07:00

Just an update on our Reshen. He is SO 3, and it’s been a bumpy ride recently. He’s just super-intense. I mean, he’s always been an intense kid in many respects (was one of those super alert, wakeful babies that had very strong opinions, even from birth). But man, oh man, has he been testing us and exerting his will lately. He loves to dig his feet in about things and loudly protest if we say otherwise. Sometimes I feel like he disagress simply to disagree. His tantrums have certainly reached a new level as well. Luckily he is great at daycare and all the kids and teachers love him (which I’m very grateful for), but he really tests his mommy and daddy to no end and it’s becoming so exhausting.

On the good end, he’s such a funny, creative and smart little guy… and very affectionate as he has always been. We still snuggle while he drinks his milk in the morning and we still rock and read books before bed each night. There’s never a shortage of hugs and kisses when he is around. And when I’m feeling sick or tired, he puts a blanket on me and then brings his guitar over to play and sing me a song to make me feel better. How sweet is that? :-)

He still has a huge interest in music and instruments… the guitar is still his favorite, but he also likes to create makeshift violins or drums. He loves to watch people play music on TV. We still watch a lot of Laurie Berkner, A Mighty Wind, and Raffi. I’ve also gotten him interested in musicals and he likes parts of Sound of Music, Pete’s Dragon and Mary Poppins so far. He also likes to listen to classical music (or “pretty music” as he calls it) while we’re driving. We always try to dissect the music and figure out which instruments we are hearing. He’s pretty good at it! He also enjoys listening to Choo Choo Soul and even some of Mommy’s old cds, like Jimmy Buffet and The Monkees. But his favorite songs are still the tried-and-true Wheels on the Bus, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star and the other nursery songs that we’ve sung since he was a baby. He adds more soul and flair to them nowadays though :-)

One of his new interests is Super Heros. He’s fascinated by them. Grandma made him his own cape and he loves to “fly” around the house and save people and animals. And he likes to fight bad guys by “powering” them (by holding one arm out straight while making a very dramatic “swooshing” noise). His very favorite superhero is Batman. Not sure why, other than Reshen says that he likes Batman’s cape and all the vehicles he has (motorcycle, helicopter, etc.). He’s really fascinated with superheros that can fly as well. One day he saw a drawing of a super-hero kid and wondered outloud “How can he fly?” I quickly told him it was because he was a superhero and that real kids can NOT fly (worrying about what he might try). He responded. “Oh, well, when I get to be bigger, then I can be a superhero and then I can fly!” Very simple. As much as it kind of saddens me that this is a step away from his blissful toddler-innocence, it’s also a good thing, I suppose, as it’s something he and his daddy can bond with. They watch Super Friends cartoons together and play with their “guys” together. It’s just a step of growing up and entering into boyhood I suppose.

He never ceases to entertain us with what entertains him. occasionally he enjoys watching documentaries on PBS or shows on the food network. One day he was intently watching something on TV when I came in the room. I sat down beside him and asked what he was watching. "Oh," he answered, "They're just feeding the abalones." And he was right! He was watching a TV show about how people grow and harvest Abalones (which are a type of clam I think). A few days ago he was watching a documentary on amphibians and now he says he would like to look for frogs at night in the jungle, just like the people on TV.

Not only does he enjoy watching TV, he also likes watching the sky. He likes to find pictures in clouds. The other day while we were driving he told me one cloud looked like an astronaut and another cloud looked like a clam that had it's mouth open. Pretty clever!

Reshen had his first dentist appointment in March. He went with daddy and he did really well. He totally cooperated with the dentist and even enjoyed the cleaning. Now if we could only make his teeth brushing at home go that smoothly!

Reshen also saw his first movie in the Theater. It was for Monsters Vs. Aliens which was shown in 3D at the Imax. He refused to wear the 3D glasses, but still enjoyed it immensely. He really soaked in the entire theater expereince. He was wide-eyed the entire time. I think he also got a kick out of being out so late. On the way home he kept telling us "I'm not tired"... but he was sound asleep by the time we were home. What a big boy he is.

Superhero Reshen

2009-04-11T20:05:00.000-07:00

Superhero Reshen (and a song at the end):

Catch Up- Early February Note

2009-02-28T21:45:00.000-08:00

Ugh.. I'm so behind on this! Ok, here's a note I found on my computer that I started writing in early February. It will have to suffice for now. I'll catch up on the rest of the month later. Enjoy :-)

Feb 2, 2009:

Reshen is doing great with potty training. I don't know what clicked for him, as he has been flirting with the potty off and on for over a year now, but hasn't been consistent about it and he even declared a month ago that he only wanted diapers. We haven't pushed, hoping he would warm up to the idea in his own time. And he did. On Jan 18th (a Saturday morning), he wanted to read books in the bathroom while I took my shower. About 5 minutes into it, he declared he needed to go "pee-pee" and proceeded to push his stool up to the toilet, put the potty insert onto the seat, pulled down his pants, took off his diaper and went- all by himself! I was shocked. I was even more shocked when he said he wanted to wear underwear afterwards. Of course we let him and he did great. He didn't have any accidents that day until later in the evening. He even went potty at restaurants and at the museum when we were out and about that day. He's been "training" for a couple of weeks now and is still doing great. He has been wearing those disposable "pull-ups" at daycare, but we like to use underwear at home when he agrees to them. We find he has less accidents in them... he tends to treat "pull-ups" like a diaper. Tomorrow we're bringing underwear to daycare and are hoping he can keep them dry. He's so proud of himself :-) ***Update, as of Feb 28th, he's now in underwear all the time (except for when he's sleeping). He's doing so great! ***

Reshen loves to order his own meals at restaurants, using kid's menus that have pictures of the food choices. This weekend at Red Robin, he proudly ordered "Chicken Nuggets" and "Salad". We were shocked that he ordered salad, as he's normally very against eating "leaves". But we didn't discourage and he actually did eat some of it. Wow. That (veggies) has been another thing we haven't pushed, yet gently encouraged. ***Update as of Feb 28, he voluntarily ate a raw tomato during dinner. Yay!***

Reshen asked for his first "big boy" toy this weekend. Well, at least it's big boy toy in my book. He wanted a Matchbox cars race track. He got some money from his Auntie and Uncle for Chinese New Year and that's what he picked at the toy store. He loves it. But I'm still happy to see him playing with his Thomas Trains as well :-) **Update, as of Feb 28th he's now lost all interest in the race track. In fact, it's in pieces at the moment because he decided to climb in the middle of it and pretend it was a bullet train. That didn't work out very well...*

He's very much into independence and helping. He can put on his shoes, zip up his jacket, and get almost completely dressed by himself (except for his shirts which he hasn't quite mastered yet). He likes to help push grocery carts and put the groceries onto the belt at the check out. The other day I accidentally dropped his sippy cup and it rolled under the car. He pleaded with me to let him out of his car seat so he could help me retrieve it. So I let him (we used the long ice scraper to drag it back towards us). His constant refrain these days is either "Oh, I'll help you!" or "I want to do it myself!", followed with "I don't need any help".

He may be fiercely independent at times, but is still a Mommy's boy. We still snuggle while he drinks his sippy cup of warm milk in the morning and sometimes in the evening too. He's very affectionate and generous with his hugs and kisses, although sometimes when I kiss him too much he laughs and says "That's enough, mommy!" He says "I love you" often, though. He's such a sweet little guy.

Stay tuned for more!

Random Reshen-isms

2009-01-26T21:15:00.000-08:00

Just writing down some amusing things Reshen has said lately before I forget them:

Me: I'm going to Walgreens, but I'll be back soon. Can you stay here with Daddy?
Reshen: Oh yes. I will take very good care of him while you are gone.

---

Grandpa: I saw the video of you singing and playing guitar, Reshen. You are a very good singer.
Reshen: Oh yes. I am. I am a very good singer.

---

Reshen (commenting on a motocycle in front of us as we are driving): Where is that girl on the motorcycle going?
Me: She's probably going to work.
Reshen: Where is she going to park?
Me: Probably in the parking lot at her work.
Reshen: But how is the motorcycle going to stay up?
** Shocked that he even realized that something with two wheels would need support, this lead to a very in depth discussion of kick-stands.

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Reshen watching daddy leave the bathroom: Good job pee-peeing daddy. Now you can put a sticker on your potty chart!

---

Me: What do you want to be when you grow up?
Reshen: Oh, I want to drive a bullet train. And what kind of train could you drive, Mommy?
Me: I think I'll drive a steam train.
Reshen: Oh, OK. And daddy can drive a monorail.
Me: That sounds good. He would like that.
Reshen: Yeah. And what kind of train could Chancey drive?
Me: Hmmmm... I'm not sure.
Reshen: I think he will drive a freight train.
Me: Oh, Ok.
Reshen: But he would have an engineer in the freight train to take care of him.
Me: That's a very good idea.
Reshen: Yes, it is a good idea. Chancey will miss us though.
Me: Yes he would. And we would miss him too.
Reshen: Yeah, I would miss Chancey. But if he goes bye-bye on a freight train, we could just get a new cat.
Me: Oh, but I love our Chancey!
Reshen: Oh, yeah. But when he goes bye-bye on a freight train can we get a new cat?

---

More to come later :-)

Our Pooh Bear

2009-01-22T20:53:00.000-08:00

Today when Reshen was putting on his pajamas he totally made me laugh. As he was putting on his shirt, it got rolled up, only covering half of his belly. He looked down, studied his half-shirt and protruding belly for a moment and then declared

“Hey! I look like Winnie the Pooh!”

He's such a funny, perceptive little guy :-)

Future Rockstar?

2009-01-13T21:11:00.000-08:00

Encore!

2008-12-02T21:01:00.000-08:00

You asked for more, so you got it... the pint-sized performer singing "Baa Baa Black Sheep"

Our Little Singer

2008-11-30T21:30:00.001-08:00

Reshen singing "Take Me Out to the Ball Game"

Happy 3rd Birthday Reshen!

2008-11-30T20:32:00.000-08:00

Reshen's 3rd Birthday was November 19! Boy, how our bubby has grown this year:

Make photo slide shows at www.OneTrueMedia.com

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Games

2008-10-02T20:51:00.000-07:00

This morning on our way to daycare, Reshen suddenly said “Do you see a clue, Mommy?” At first I was wondering what the heck he was talking about, but when I looked in the mirror, I saw him holding his magna doodle, his right hand poised for drawing. I knew exactly what he was doing. “Like Blue’s Clues?” I asked him? “Yeah” he answered with a huge grin. For those who haven’t been inducted into the world of Noggin on TV, Blue’s Clues is a show where the main character (Steve or Joe, depending on what season you’re watching) and the viewer have to find clues (objects with Blue’s (the dog’s) paw prints on them). When a clue is found, Steve/Joe will draw a picture of it in his “handy-dandy” notebook. At the end of the show we piece together the clues and try to figure out what Blue was trying to say.

So we spent the drive looking for clues… really just me shouting out object we passed and Reshen drawing it on his magna doodle. When we got to Pam’s house, we tried to figure out what it all meant… I think I came up with something lame like, “Blue wants us to drive carefully and read all the traffic signs and stop at red lights”. But Reshen was happy with it.

His favorite game at home has been playing with his train station airport… yeah you read that correctly.. it’s an airport that has train tracks passing through it.. what more could a 2-year-old transportation junkie want? So I am always instructed to play with the “guy and the girl” and Reshen controls the airplane and the train. My job is simply to take the people on and off their transportation and make them say things, when I am instructed to. He is very bossy, though, and doesn’t like me to stray too much from his inward script. I hear a lot of “No mommy, they don’t say that.” And heaven forbid I try to bring in another “guy” into the game, or introduce a truck or car instead of the train… It has to be just so… I guess there’s only room for one imagination in Reshen’s play world ;-)

So as you may have read in an earlier post, we’ve had sleeping success, but now we’re at a potty training standstill. I thought we were moving forward a few months ago, as he seemed interested in underwear and went in the potty a handful of times. But he is totally against the potty now. He freaks out if I try to get him to wear underwear, or even those disposable pull-ups. He only wants diapers. Most of the time he won’t even sit on the potty when it’s suggested, and when he does, he doesn’t produce anything and will pee minutes after getting off of it. The other day we were talking about it and Reshen volunteered “Remember when I pooped on the potty one time?” I acted all excited and said “Yes- I am so proud of you for pooping on the potty. Are you going to do it again sometime?” “Nope.” He answered very matter-of-factly. “That’s it.” **Sigh** So we’re laying off of it for awhile. I still question whether he’s even physically ready yet. Perhaps when his body is ready, it will click and he will actually want to do it without all the bribing. We can only hope!

Tales of the Big Boy Bed

2008-09-30T20:51:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the long absence from blogging. We had quite a busy summer…I’m sure you’re all wondering what happened with the little man these past few months. Please bear with me while I try to update this blog with all the milestones and memories that we created over the summer. Things might be a bit out of order for the next few posts, as I remember random bits and pieces from the summer… hopefully you wont’ mind that too much.

I’ll start with the biggest milestone first- the Bubby Boo is now sleeping in a big-boy bed! It happened quickly too… one night he has having a rough time going to sleep (meaning not settling down and crying every time I left the room). Finally I left his room out of frustration, which, of course, caused a huge tantrum. Alan and I were listening to his crying from the baby monitor downstairs. I was just about to go back up when the screaming suddenly stopped. We heard some rustling and then a door opened and closed upstairs. We exchanged knowing glances. “He’s out.” Alan said. I waited a moment, expecting to see him coming down the stairs, but nothing… Perhaps it wasn’t the door we heard… maybe just him bumping around in his crib? I went upstairs to investigate and found Reshen standing in the hallway wearing a total guilty expression. I couldn’t help but laugh. It was just so odd to see him out there. “Did you climb out of your crib?” I asked. “Yeah,” he answered, still looking guilty. “Remember what mommy said?” I asked him. “If you climb out of your crib, then you need to use a big boy bed. You can’t sleep in your crib anymore.” It was a rule we had established a month or so before when he began acting like he might climb out. Now I had to follow through. I halfway expected him to start crying, but he actually smiled and said “Yeah. I want to sleep in a big boy bed.”

So for the night we took his crib mattress out of his bed and put it on the floor, surrounded by blankets. I lied down with him and he was out in less than 10 minutes. That night I searched for toddler beds on Craigslist and found one that was selling for only $15. We bought it the very next day. It’s very simple.. just a white, metal bed.. but it works well with the new white nightstand and bookshelves we snagged from Freecycle recently, and it’s the perfect size for him. He was excited at first, but seemed a little nervous to actually fall asleep in it. So for the first couple of weeks I ended up sitting in his room for moral support, I guess, while he fell asleep. At first, this seemed to work fine, and he would fall asleep without a fuss and within 30 minutes, but after awhile the novelty wore off and our new bedtime battles began. I would sometimes be in there all evening making him get back in bed and telling him to settle down and close his eyes. Eventually I decided it was time that he begin to fall asleep by himself again (after all, I knew he could do it as he had been doing just this in his crib before the climbing-out episode). Nice idea, but it didn’t go over well.

I knew it would be difficult to keep him in his bed, but figured if he at least stayed in his room, he would eventually fall asleep. Boy was I wrong. The first few nights he would not even stay in his room. He would creep downstairs repeatedly, with us taking him right back into his room each time. This would go one for a couple hours and then when it was our bedtime, he would keep coming into our room. Eventually (around midnight) I would finally convince him to lie in his bed where he would pass out from exhaustion.

After a handful of nights of this, he actually began staying in his room, BUT he would play until around midnight and then he would be so overtired that he would begin crying inconsolably until I came and helped him into bed. And oh the things he would do in those hours of unsupervised play. Clothes out of drawers, toys everywhere, lights on and off. Alan found him one time completely naked from the waist down but he had three layers on the top (one shirt on correctly, another shirt on halfway, and then a pair of shorts with an arm through one of the legs). We even tried moving his bed into our room one night (after many hours of him not going to sleep), but he just wanted to be in our bed. It felt like we tried everything- night light (but he would keep turning his overhead light on and playing instead), taking away toys (he would just calmly ask if they were going on the “night-night shelf”- didn’t phase him a bit), thought about using a gate on his doorway or rigging his doorknob so that he couldn’t open the door, but decided it would be a fire hazard, and I even tried giving him three cards and every time he got out of bed he had to give me one of them. I told him when he didn’t have any cards left he wouldn’t be able to get out of bed anymore. That only resulted in a tantrum when the last card ran out.. and he still got out of bed. I was really at my wit’s end. You simply can’t make a kid sleep. And short of putting a cage over his bed, I couldn’t make him stay in it either.

But then I had an idea. Perhaps I was going about it all wrong. I was so worried about forcing him to sleep and punishing him for not doing so. What if I instead rewarded him for doing it (or at least trying to do it) instead? I decided to give him a goal to work towards, instead of setting up rules for him to break. First of all, I needed to make staying in his bed a fun and attractive prospect, not something I simply wanted him to do. So we picked up a $20 bed tent from Ikea. It’s great- it has three sides and a top, but is open on one side so that he can still easily get in and out and it’s not too dark (which he was worried about). It just makes a nice, cozy canopy. He’s very happy with it. But we made a rule. If he gets out of his bed at nighttime, then his tent goes back to the store (because the tent is only for big boys who stay in their beds, of course). I thought for sure he would test me and make me keep my word… but the second he acted like he was getting out of bed, all I had to do was remind him of the warning and he hopped back in it as quick as could be. So we conquered problem one. At least he was in his room and in his bed.

Next came solving problem two.. him wanting me in the room. Cry-it-out simply does not work with Reshen. This kid can cry for hours and hours and the longer he goes the more hysterical he gets. It’s simply too stressful and counterproductive. So I had think of another option. I decided that I would propose checking on him often until he fell asleep. So I gave him a pile of books and said I would check on him and explained that I could hear him when he talked and that if he needed me, he could just call me, and that I would come back and give him a hug and a kiss and pat his back a lot of times before he went to sleep. I told him that Mommy had to get ready for bed to, so I couldn’t stay in there a long time. Surprisingly he accepted this. Maybe it was the novelty of the tent? The first night, I only waited 2 minutes before I checked on him, so that he knew I really was going to. Then I waited 5 minutes, then 7, and so on. I was shocked when he eventually fell asleep that all by himself without any crying or getting out of bed! Each night I would stretch out the time between “check-ins” Now I go in there after 10 minutes or so, and the next time 20 minutes, etc. Sometimes he calls me in sooner and I always go… I don’t want to loose the trust and most of the time it’s because he needs water or a diaper change or something.

So the bed tent and check-ins were keeping him in bed and helping him fall asleep for the time being, but I worried that he would soon get bored and revert back to his old ways, so I needed a long-term goal for him to work towards. I made a chart and told him that every morning he could put a sticker on it if he had fallen asleep by himself and stayed asleep all night. When every box had a sticker in it, he would earn a special trip somewhere. He picked the aquarium. It totally worked. Whenever he would start crying or complaining about going to sleep by himself I would just remind him of the aquarium trip and he would agree that he needed to sleep by himself. He was so proud the morning that he put the last sticker on and was so excited the day that we went. He even told the ticket lady “I sleep all by myself!”

I know our system isn’t perfect, and I also know that Reshen might decide one day soon that he’s had enough and put up a fuss, but for now I’m happy and he’s happy. We have our bedtime routine, he hops into bed with lots of books and then we have a few more hugs/kisses with the check-ins… and he falls asleep without the crying and frustration that we were having. It’s been going smoothly for a few weeks now. And he’s also sleeping through the night most nights, so we’re both also more rested. Yay!

Planes, Trains and Automobiles

2008-05-24T21:15:00.000-07:00

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

2008-05-15T20:51:00.000-07:00

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!

2008-05-10T20:19:00.000-07:00

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

2008-05-09T21:49:00.000-07:00

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

2008-05-07T20:32:00.000-07:00

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 ;-)

Reshen Update

2008-04-26T07:02:00.000-07:00

Ok, I know it's been a very long time since my last post. What can I say- I just have a difficult time keeping up with all my projects these days. But I have been e-mailing myself little stories and tidbits about Reshen while I work as I think of them, and have finally complied more than enough for a blog post and have put them all together to give you an idea of what the boy has been up to the past couple of months. Warning- this is long, but what do you expect... the little man has been busy growing :-)

Reshen has an interest in reading and writing- meaning he realizes that letters make words. When we're reading he'll point to words and ask "What that say, mommy?" To help him connect the written word to the spoken word, I've been trailing my finger along the words when I read to him and now he does the same. He also "writes" names when he draws, which are up-and-down squiggles, but are very different than his other drawings. He helped me with his valentines this year, by writing his friends' names with very deliberate squiggles in the same spot on every card.

Another leap has been he now draws people with extra components. He makes a big circle for the head/body and little circles inside it for eyes (and sometimes even a nose) and sometimes adds a line for a mouth and circles on the bottom for feet. I was amazed the first time he did this. I assumed this was something that would come later. He also floored me by drawing "big tall trees and wind" once, with lines and circles for the tree and squiggles for the wind.

His medium of choice is the marker- preferably black...although he was banned from them for a short while because he bit the tip off one of them when we weren't looking. "I bite it!" he told Alan, handing him the chewed off tip and smiling at him with black marker all over his face. Good thing it was non-toxic!

For awhile, Reshen had formed an attachment to a small, plastic Minnie Mouse character. I'm not sure why, other than she's in his favorite TV Show, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. The funniest thing about his attachment, was that he wanted Minnie to sleep in his crib with him. He even requested that I make her a bed, so she had a small blanket set up beside his pillow. When I put him in his crib to go to sleep, he would turn her over on her belly, just like he sleeps and would pat her back like I pat his. Sometimes she would fall out of his crib through the slats in the middle of the night, and if he noticed, he would begin yelling "Oh no, my Minnie fall out! Mommy help you!" Our boy is fickle, though, and no longer loves her like he used to, only a month ago. It was cute while it lasted.

He's been fascinated by the going to sleep process and likes to pretend to put mommy and daddy to sleep. If I yawn or rub my eyes he runs over to me and asks "Mommy tired? I put you to bed." He pretends to pick me up and then pulls me towards a pillow, saying "C'mon Mommy. Lay down." He then goes through all the motions of giving me milk, putting a blanket on me, patting my back, giving me a kiss and then even pretends to close a door. It's really cute. Too bad my pretend nights are short, though, and I can't sneak in a real nap :-)

Reshen has been so affectionate. He still runs up to me with spontaneous hugs and kisses and says "I wuv you" or "You're my best friend." Sometimes if I leave the room and then come back he will come up and hug me and say "I miss you." or "I'm glad you're back!" He is also very good at blowing kisses and we do this when I drop him off at daycare and as I'm leaving his room at bedtime. It's really sweet and makes up for all the times he's not so "soft" with mommy.

He loves to pretend to spray people or pretend get people wet or dirty.
Some things he pretends to do are spraying people with hoses, dumping water on people, throwing salt on people (long story where this came from- I know, it's weird)). He uses funny sound effects and then cackles with delight when you pretend to be surprised and brush yourself off. He understands now that firetrucks have hoses and often pretends to be a firefighter. The other evening after dinner he was in the living room by himself and I heard him making his hose spraying noise. We peeked in there to see him wearing his fire hat and holding a small cord (from the computer) "spraying" all the furniture. Too cute. Alan had to find him his own "hose" to use, though so that he wouldn't destroy our electronics in his hose-spraying-frenzy.

Funny things he says:

- "I be right back" while he holds up one finger and looks at you intently

- "That is turk-noise (turquoise)?" I love it when he says this. He's obsessed with "turk-noise" right now and is always identifying it.

- "I have a good idea" when he thinks of something else he wants to do or play

- "Hmmmm... Let's see." or "Hmmm... Let's think." with a finger on his chin and a thoughtful expression.

- "I don't know." He says this *so* sweetly. I love it.

-"Dat (that) mines (mine)!" I just love how he puts an S on the end of mine. It's really cute :-)

-"I driving Mommy crazy!" What can I say.. he's very observant.

We think Reshen is going through a growth spurt. He can eat *so* much all of a sudden. He ate an entire cheeseburger by himself a couple of weekends ago. It was a small, simple burger but I was shocked that he ate the whole thing. He will also eat a meal and then 30 minutes later comes up to me saying "I hungy (hungry) Mommy. I want food!" It's been a challenge to continue to give him healthy things to snack on, when he asks for food so often. He also goes through spurts where he will sleep a bit later in the mornings (till 7 some days) and is said to be taking really solid, long naps at daycare....although this past week he's been awake before 6 a.m. every day, so I guess he's not consistent about it. Perhaps he will be able to fit into all of his 2T pants soon! Just as long as he grows *up* and not *out* :-)

Reshen is really into Dr. Seuss books- his favorite being Wocket in my Pocket, but he also likes Fox in Socks and Green Eggs and Ham. For a good few weeks we read Wocket in my Pocket almost every night before bed and he can now "read" the entire book outloud himself (ok, so he just memorized it.. but still impressive, right?). It's so cute to hear him say "And I feel quite certain there's a Jertain in my Curtain." Of course, no one else would probably understand him as it's out of context, but I sure do :-) We have discovered the books-on-video at the library... basically they are DVDs that show the pages of the book and have a voice actor reading them. Reshen loves the Dr. Seuss series of these.

Not only can he read books to himself, but he likes to read them to us. He will read a page and then turn it outward and ask "You see that, Mommy?" He must be picking this up from daycare when they have story time :-) He gets into reading frenzies sometimes where he will sit and read every single book that he has (which is *a lot*). It's so cute to see him intently reading surrounded by a huge pile of books.

Speaking of daycare, I'm so happy we found our ours. Pam is just wonderful with him, as are the other young ladies that work there. It warms my heart to see him give his caregivers big hugs in the morning and to see them genuinely love him back. He brings home art projects almost every day and very often when I go to pick him up, they are all sitting and listening to stories, dancing to music, reading their own books or playing outside. His days seems very full and engaging there. We also now have a pool of qualified babysitters that we know and trust, which is a wonderful side benefit.

A few things Reshen has gained from pre-school:

1. How to spell his name. Ask him how you spell "Reshen" and he'll say "R E S H E N" and acts like he's pointing at the letters. He can also pick out his name from other words, and exclaims "Dat (that) my name!"
2. The days of the week. I don't think he gets the concept really, but can recite the days of the week in order and can sing "The days of the week song" in its entirety.
3. He can count to at least 20.
4. He learns songs and stories that aren't from me- like BINGO, The bear went over the mountain and more... it's funny to hear him sing them and reference them and I'm out of the loop!
5. How to play and socialize with other kids- both younger than him and older than him.
6. Manners. OK, I teach this too, but they really push them in daycare.
Yesterday when he was done with dinner he asked "Can I please be excused please?" I about melted it was so sweet. Thank you Pam!
7. He has learned trust and that other people can take care of him- not just mommy and daddy. This is important, especially since we don't live near family and he hasn't had many other people take care of him in his life.

Reshen is still obsessed with trains, but also now likes tractors as well. We got a book about farm machines from the library and for awhile they were the only trucks he cared about. I asked him the other day if he likes dump trucks. He said "no" so then I asked if he liked crane trucks. Again he answered "no." Then he added. "I not like any trucks, Mommy. Just tractors." How silly of me.

He's also really into buses right now, as we went on a bus adventure to downtown Seattle recently. We took the bus from north Seattle and Reshen was wide-eyed the entire trip, taking it all in. We went to see Daddy's work and then to the downtown library, but what he wanted to do most was ride the bus. At the end of the day when the bus ride was over and he was back in the car in his car seat, he began crying to "Ride on bus, see downtown library again!" He still talks about it. Who knew the metro bus full of stinky downtown inhabitants could be so exciting?

But his love of trains still trumps everything else. He now has 5 train sets. Not kidding. They aren't all set up at the same time, but he likes to alternate between them. We often pretend that our car is a Bullet Train and that we are driving on tracks. He sees notices them everywhere- signs, books, commercials... he's got an eye for them, that's for sure. During our Indiana trip, he saw a real steam train at the Children's Museum and got to sit on it. He really thought it was moving and was so excited. They also had a large model display and I really think he could have stayed there all day watching them. Then later that week we went to the train tracks and he got to see a large freight train.. which we are still talking about. We are planning on taking him for a real steam train ride this summer. I just hope he doesn't get scared of the loud whistle and decide he's afraid of them!

Airplanes have also struck his fancy lately.. mostly due to the fact he rode on 4 of them last week for our Indiana trip. He did so well and was excited to sit on his own in his special airplane car seat. He had his "own window" and "own tray" and he kept entertained with new books, DVDs, and special snacks for the most part. He even napped a bit. It was so much easier flying with him in his own sit rather than holding him the entire time like we had done in the past. Anyway, he was interested in the plane. We could see the wing from our seat, but he then asked where the tail was and looked thoughtful when I told him it was behind us and we couldn't see it from our seat. He also enjoyed watching the "crane trucks" as he called them, as they de-iced our airplane in Minneapolis. Big trucks spraying solution all over the planes does make for riveting entertainment I guess. He also asked where the engineer was LOL. I said the driver of the plane is called the pilot. So then he asked where the pilot was and I told him he was up front, driving the plane and maybe we would see him when we got off. He was lucky enough that the pilot actually came down the aisle and gave him a little airplane card and then helped me carry the carseat off the plane. He's still talking about that :-)

We are making some small head-way with potty learning. I made a potty chart where he can put a sticker on everytime he sits on the potty, whether or not he actually does anything on it. If he does actually "potty" then he also gets a chocolate chip and gets to put a special big sticker on the chart. It is more of a form of encouragement and also a visual reminder that there is a potty, as he had totally lost interest for awhile. He usually sits on it now before bedtime. He went pee-pee in it a few weeks ago and we made much fan-fare about it. The next day he wanted that chocolate chip again, or "potty treat" as we call it, and jumped up from the potty announcing that he was ready for it. I asked him if there was pee or poo in the potty and he looked in there and said "no." I explained the terms of the potty treat and he sat back down to try again. He looked like he was concentrating very hard and even strained a bit. He then looked between his legs and exclaimed "It's not working!" LOL I then explained that sometimes you just don't have to go... I did feel kind of bad for the kid, but I have to stick to the rules with this. I still think he doesn't know how to physically control his bowels yet, but I figure maybe he'll at least have the concept down by the time he's physically ready. We're still doing the no-pressure, fun approach. Just keeping the idea going ;-)

Our big boy was recently a ring-bearer in his Aunt Carly and Uncle Chris' wedding. He was utterly *adorable* in his suit. He was such a good boy and walked down the aisle by himself and cooperated for photos and even stole the dance floor during the reception. I'm so proud of my little man.

Well I suppose this is long enough for now. I'll probably think of some more tidbits later and put them in another post.

Goofy Kid

2008-02-01T19:51:00.000-08:00

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.

Haircuts and Hot Chocolate

2008-01-22T20:25:00.000-08:00

Our little man is looking like a big boy now with a new haircut. It's his second haircut (his first was in August), and we actually sprung for a professional job this time. We took him to Supercuts and were pleased with the results. The stylist was great with him and he sat so still and quiet. He did look just a little worried, but was brave and enjoyed a complimentary sucker afterwards (his first, by the way). I'm always a little sad to see the long hair go, but it was in his eyes and also people were beginning to call him a girl again, so we said "bye-bye" to the long locks...although, I did have her keep the sides and the back a little longer than is traditional... he has kind of a 60s or 70s shaggy look going on now, and I think it's adorable :-)

Not only is he looking like a big boy, he's really talking like one even more. He's using the word "I" a lot more often than he used to, so his sentences are sounding more complete. Yesterday I called him a "goober" and he said "No. I not a goober. I'm Reshen!" I know he's used "I" before, but he was still referring to himself in the third person a lot, often saying"Reshen do it,"etc. It just struck me this weekend how often he now talks in the first person and just how "together" his sentences are suddenly sounding.

I realized the other day that I need to be more accurate with my words, as Reshen takes everything literally. I noticed that his diaper seemed a bit full this weekend, so said outloud "Hmmm... I think you need another diaper." Meaning, he needed a clean diaper. "No, mommy. " He said. "Need just one." Too funny. He was right, though. He only needs one diaper at a time. :-)

The boy has been melting mommy's heart lately with exceptionally sweet displays of affection. Out of the blue he will throw his arms around me and announce "I love you, mommy" in his sugary voice. When we rock before bedtime he will suddenly sit up, cup my cheeks with both of his pudgy toddler hands, stare intently into my eyes, smile, say "Hi Mommy" and then kiss me square on the lips. I suppose these "mommy and Reshen love sessions" make up for all those screaming fits in the grocery store and 5 a.m. wakings.

As a child I recall my parents wondering how my sister and I could swim happily swim in the frigid Lake Michigan waters. We somehow just didn't feel, or perhaps simply didn't mind, the cold... and I wondered back then what the big deal was... why didn't my parents want to swim too? Now I understand. No, Reshen and I weren't swimming in January. But we were playing outside in the unusually cold Seattle winter weather. It was probably in the 30s and a bit breezy. I know, it could be worse, but I'm not used to these temperatures and I was freezing. Reshen, on the other hand, was happy as a clam. We walked completely around the block. We pushed the cross-walk button and went over to Walgreens. We walked home and then went next door to the park. We looked at bugs, stirred puddles with sticks and collected pine cones. He had such a great time. But did I mention I was freezing? I tolerated it, of course, because I love my little boy and it's not often we see a clear, sunny *weekend* day in January. So I shivered and indulged him and eventually coaxed him back inside with the promise of hot chocolate. Mommy knows how to make the boy happy :-)

Words

2008-01-14T21:05:00.000-08:00

This Sunday we took advantage of the winter sunshine and went downtown. I'm not sure which Reshen enjoyed more- the tasty hot donuts we got at Pike's Place or the Monorail train he saw speeding above us. "Train up there!" he exclaimed about the Monorail and stretched his little arms up as high as he could, "Can't reach it!" He also seemed to enjoy the bustle of Pike's Place, the plethora of vegetables, flowers, seafood and souvenirs lining the hallway, the variety of people, the occasional street performer and the hidden nooks and crannies of the market. We brought his stroller, but he wanted to walk the entire way- even up a huge hill. He had so much fun, we had a bit of trouble getting him back into the car when we were finished.

Reshen continues to have adventures with his "guys." He has two that are named "Michael" and "Sonia Lee" (no he didn't name them, they came that way). The other day he gave me "Michael" and went to search for "Sonia Lee" for himself. He was having trouble finding her and came over to me, knelt down and looked directly at the guy in my hand. "Where Sonia Lee, Michael?" he asked the plastic figure in a very serious voice. Trying to contain my laughter I spoke for Michael, suggesting that we all go look for her together. Sometimes I wonder how much of Reshen's interaction with his "guys" is pretend and how much he really believes they are real.

Reshen has discovered one of my favorite children's shows, Little Bear. The artwork is by Maurice Sendak (you know, artist of Where the Wild Things Are), and the stories are simple and slow paced.. unlike some of the flashy, hyperactive children's shows of today. I've liked it for years and even bought a Little Bear plush animal when it was on clearance probably 5 years ago, long before Reshen was thought of.. hoping to share it with my child someday. How sweet it is to snuggle with him on the couch as he clutches his stuffed Little Bear and we enjoy our show together.

Reshen loves to talk with me as we drive to and from daycare. He's intensely aware of his surroundings and likes to tell me what he sees. The other day a huge flock of birds engulfed the sky. "Look at that!" he exclaimed "Lots of birds! Birds on house! Birds in tree!" Eventually we passed them and I asked him if he could see anymore birds "Just one, Mommy." he answered. I looked in the mirror and he was holding up a finger on one hand and pointing out the window at one lone bird with the other. What a smarty-pants. :-)

He also likes to pass the time by playing a game where you ask a question, such as "What has wheels?" and then go through the objects that have them or don't have them. Example:

Me: Does a bus have wheels?
Reshen: Yes, bus have wheels!
Me: Does a tree have wheels?
Reshen: Noooo. Tree no have wheels. That silly. (pause) What else have wheels?

This game can go on and on.

"Mama talk." he often requests, as if he can't get enough of my words. He likes me to read to him, to make the "guys" talk, to just chat with him about our day. It's very sweet. I'm sure someday it will be "Mom be quiet" or something to that effect, so for now I'll talk to my little man for as long as he likes. :-)

Busy Times

2008-01-02T20:55:00.000-08:00

We've had a busy month! Reshen has been doing great, growing and learning. He's talking so much and saying funny "grown-up" things. Some that caught me off-guard just recently are:

- "I think so" when I asked him a question

- "Oh yeah" when I remind him of something

- "Remember that?" when he's recalling a past event

- "Hmmm, let's see." When he's thinking about something

- "Oh, so cute!" about babies.

- "That (was/is) so funny!" Followed by a forced hearty laugh

He seems able to express almost anything he needs to now. I think he talks fairly clearly for his age (as I understand almost everything he says), but find myself having to sometimes translate for him to others- so maybe he is still a bit "dutchy."

He knows a lot of colors now- blue, green, orange, yellow, red, pink, black, purple and his new favorite- turquoise (or "turk-noise" as he calls it :-)

He is really into trains and loves to read about them, watch them on TV, and play with them. He's into both Geotrax and Thomas the Tank Engine. He has two Geotrax episodes on DVD and has watched them so often he now recites lines from the show and acts out scenes on his train set. "Slow down, Eric!" he says and makes the train fall off the track. He makes his "guys"
wait at the station and has the train stop and makes the guys get on and off. Yesterday the train was running out of batteries and he told me it was "going slowly." He also loves the music of Choo Choo Soul and enjoys getting on the computer (with our help of course) and watching their music videos. In fact, he has now begun singing their theme song when he pretends that *he* is a train. Yesterday he decided that a pattern on the floor at Macy's looked like a train track and immediately he became a train and had to "chugga-chugga-choo-choo" around it.

Speaking of pretending, he pretends to be many things these days. The newest is a water hose. He makes a funny sound-effect (sounds like "ppssshhhhh") and waves his hand around. Then he laughs and exclaims that whatever he was aiming at is now all wet. If he sprays me I have to pretend to dry off (yes, I said *have* to- he orders me to if I don't automatically). Other animals/objects he pretends to be:

-chicken popping out of an egg
-cat (he has the cutest meow)
-dog
-lion
-monster
-monkey
-fire truck
-airplane

His other favorite thing to play besides trains his with his "guys". He has a variety of them- from Fisher Price Little People, to GeoTrax figures, to toddler-friendly Superhero action figures. He makes them "live" in a toy house that Santa brought him for Christmas and acts out day-to-day life. They eat food in the kitchen, wash their hands, go potty, take showers (funny, because he actually takes baths, not showers), play with toys, read books, play outside, etc.. Of course, he enjoys it most if mommy or daddy play along and we have the same scenario everytime:

Reshen: "Want come inside?"

Me: "Sure, I'd love to come inside"

Reshen: "Hungry. Want, ummmm, applesauce!"

Me: "You want some applesauce? Sure I'll make you some."

(pretend my "guy" is making applesauce.) "Here you go, guy."

Reshen: "Thank you." (pretends his guy is eating it). "Bleh!" (pretends his guy is spitting it out) Laughs hysterically.

Then we move our guys into the "living room," then into the "bathroom,"etc.. and play out the normal scenarios there. It's very cute, but can also get a little monotonous for an adult- when you've already played it 10 times that day. ;-)

He also pretends with his Fisher Price animals that came with a zoo set. He has designated the seal as the mommy, the lion as the daddy and the x-ray fish as the kid (himself probably). He is always the fish and then he makes me be "mommy seal" or "daddy lion" or sometimes both :-) They "walk" around the room and go on adventures to the library, zoo, restaurant and Costco :-)

He's still a big music fan. Still loves the traditional nursery rhymes songs and action songs, Raffi, and songs from A Mighty Wind. He got a little guitar from his Gramma for Christmas and likes to play it while daddy plays the Guitar Hero video game. He also likes to play drums and is also a
very enthusiastic dancer (his moves mostly involve spinning and jumping).

Health-wise he's doing pretty great too. At his 2-year check-up in November he was 29.5 lbs and close to 34" tall. That put him around the 50% percentile for both height and weight. He's in 24 months to 2T clothes for shirts and mostly 24 months for pants (although he can wear some 2T pants if they are on the shorter side). He seems to be long waisted/short legged, like his daddy. ;-) He is also in size 6.5 extra wide shoes.

Illness-wise, we've still been pretty lucky to avoid anything too terrible. He's had a number of colds and one long ear infection so far this fall/winter, but other than that nothing too bad. That was the same last year too- just colds and ear infections, but none of that nasty flu, bronchitis and other viruses that went around. Wish us luck that we'll avoid all that again this year! Knocking on wood so hard my knuckles are bleeding!

He's still the early riser- 6:30 seeming refreshingly late for him. He normally is asleep around 8, although I do try to get him down earlier, seeing that he wakes up early no matter what time he goes to bed. So on average he sleeps from 8pm-6am (although this week it has been like 5:30
a.m.). He takes one nap at daycare, and I think he sleeps around 1.5 hours. At home on the weekends, he always seems tired and crabby in the morning, so sometimes he'll take a 30 minute morning nap and then another 1 hour or 1.5 hour nap in the afternoon. He resists sleeping on and off (although that is not really new), but now is tricky about it. Sometimes he'll tell me his mouth hurts. If I say he's fine, then he says his ears hurt. If I again say he's fine, he then tells me he has a poopy diaper. He's such the little stinker, because he knows those are all things that have previously gotten him out of his crib.

He is becoming increasingly a "2-year-old" in the behavioral sense. We've had some issues with him running away while in public. He now gets a warning when we're in a store and if he continues he gets strapped into the cart or stroller (which he hates). He's become more defiant at home, yelling "No!" if he objects to something and/or collapsing on the floor crying. We do warnings and then time-outs at home. It seems our discipline is going to have to get a little stricter than it has been... he is getting older and able to handle more rules and consequences now I suppose. All-in-all, though, he is still a fairly compliant kid for the most part. The bad behavior is mostly triggered when he's tired, bored, hungry or overwhelmed, so I try to keep ahead of those!

The potty is still an on-again/off-again interest. 2 days ago he announced out of the blue that he wanted to sit on it and read books. We did just that and he actually peed in it. That was the third time he's successfully used it since July. He didn't seem too impressed, though, nor did he the other times. He hasn't even sat on it since. We're still taking it slow.. just letting him use it when he wants. I still don't think he's really ready for any real "training" yet. I don't think he has the physical control and doesn't usually tell us before he has to go. I honestly don't mind the diapers too much so it's really no big deal for me to wait until he's ready.

He's beginning to become afraid of things. Some things we now know he is scared of:

- The crow in the Fox in Socks book

- Halloween gorilla masks

- Jim Carey as The Grinch

- A scene in the movie "The Snowman"

He is only mildly afraid of the crow.. in fact sometimes he actually wantsto see it. But he is very afraid of the rest of them (cries and clings to me). Poor little man.

We had a fun Holiday season. Reshen enjoyed Christmas- he got the idea of Santa and giving and getting presents. Between his birthday and Christmas, he got to open a lot of presents and knew exactly what to do when he saw a wrapped gift. It was fun to share the Holiday with him this year and watch his wonder at the lights, music, snow and general atmosphere of the season.

So in summary, our guy is doing great! A happy, healthy and very active 2-year-old. We are truly blessed :-)

Reshen's 2nd Year Slide Show

2007-11-21T20:37:00.000-08:00

Go here to see Reshen's 2nd Year Photo Slide-Show- and make sure your speakers are on!

Also, it may take a little bit to load.. don't get discouraged!

Enjoy :-)

Happy Birthday, Reeshy-Roo!

2007-11-21T20:20:00.000-08:00

Happy 2nd Birthday my Reeshy-Roo!!

Your birthday was on Monday (the 19th), but I feel like we've been celebrating it all week. On Friday we all stayed home together (because you had a bad cold and we felt like you should stay home) and we gave you your birthday present from mommy and daddy (a geo-trax train set). You love it an played with it all day long. You call them your "new choo-choos" and love to control the train with the remote, or "hammer" as you call it, because it resembles a hammer, I guess.

On Saturday, you got a present from your great-aunt-Nancy- a fun magnetic farm book, which you played with enthusiastically.

On Sunday we made you a birthday cake, which you helped mommy decorate with sprinkles of your choice. You delighted in us singing you Happy Birthday and even tried to blow out the candles all by yourself. You thought your yellow cake with chocolate frosting was very yummy and asked for more after you devoured your first piece. That was not a shock to us.

Monday was your actual birthday, and although mommy hated taking you to daycare, I knew you would have fun celebrating it there with your friends. Before we left, you got to open a present from Grandma- some books. I sent cookies with you to share with all your buddies, and I knew Pam would make it a special day for you. I sang Happy Birthday to you again and gave you extra hugs and kisses before dropping you off. You came home that day with a Diego safari set and cookies on your face, so I know you had fun.

Birthday cards and well wishes have been arriving all week. When asked how old you are now, you say "Be Two!" and try to hold two fingers up (you can get one, but can't quite control the others- it seems to be either all or nothing for the rest of them). You love the Happy Birthday song and like to sing it now to other people and toys. You even sang it to mommy :-)

Little man, how can you be two years old already? You are officially not a baby anymore... it just doesn't seem possible. It's really hit me this week, how much you are maturing recently. You want to do almost everything yourself...the other day you were listening to music on the computer and I was hovering above you. "Mommy go over there," you said and pointed across the room. My bubby boo wanted to be left alone! Talk about bruising my mommy ego!

You want to help do everything. You like to read by yourself. You have very definite preferences for food, tv shows and music. You seem to have a greater understanding of the world every day and always amaze me with what you pick up from casual conversation and observation. You're also becoming increasingly stubborn and are testing your limits with mommy and daddy. I still think you are basically compliant and easy-going for your age, but you do have your moments- we've had our share of public embarrassments the past few months. Most of your "misbehaving" have been related to running away from us. You have such a mind of your own- you want to go where you want to go and when you want to go there- no matter if it's at home and you want to go upstairs or downstairs of if it's at the store and you want to go down a different aisle. You don't listen to mommy when she tells you to stop or wait- you just go faster! *sigh*

You seem to have a better understanding of time now. You use the word "after" often in relation to when you can do something. Such as "watch show after daddy game." Meaning you can watch your show after daddy watches his game. If I say you can't do something, you immediately say "after..." and then whatever is going on, such as "after nap" or "after eat". You always have hope, don't you? :-) You also are using the word "remember" and telling me you remember things that have happened in the past. Today you pointed at the decorating sprinkles and said "member (remember) making cakes?" I love that you are making memories now that might last a long time- into adulthood even. The more you verbalize your memories, the greater the chance they will survive in that intricate mind of yours... so I encourage your reminiscing.

You're finally starting to correctly identify colors. You can usually point out blue, green, yellow and black. You can also identify some shapes- circles, triangles, squares, stars and hearts, and often tells me that is what you're drawing (although all your drawings are actually large, loose circles).

The Typical 2-Year Old, you have many favorites, so I'll take the time now to share of them:

TV:
- Mickey Mouse Clubhouse
- Jo-Jo's Circus
- The Wiggles
- Thomas the Tank Engine
- Jungle Book Movie
- Care Bears Movie
- Little People
- Finding Nemo
- Happy Feet

Toys:

-Trains
-Cars and Trucks
- Books
- Paints
- Ride-On Toys
- Anything that has buttons to push and parts to manipulate
- "pretend" toys such as his microwave and play food, phones, and keys- you like those that look and feel real

Food:
- Crackers, cereal and carby things
- Mac and Cheese
- Noodles
- Baby Corn
- Carrots with ranch dip
- Sweets of any kind (cake, ice cream, candy, etc.)
- Pickles
- Yogurt
- Meatballs
-Potstickers
Strange mixture of food, isn't it? Of course, just because these are your favorites, doesn't mean you get them often. We do the sweets and pickles sparingly. Luckily you will also eat other food- these are just the ones you especially love and are sure to gobble up.

Songs:
-Wheels on the Bus
-Twinkle Twinkle Little Star
-Itsy Bitsy Spider
- Teapot
- Octopus' Garden
- Down on Grandpa's Farm

Animals:

-Lion
-Monkey
-Penguin
-Elephant
-Giraffe

Games You Play:

-Pretending to drive vehicles, such as trains, buses and trucks. You sit and steer pretend steering wheels and "buckle" your seat belt. You also always have a destination in mind (library, store, restaurant, or home).
- Cooking food in your microwave for mommy, daddy or your stuffed animals
- Pretending to be a lion- roaring and all
- Pushing around your school bus with "guys" in it
- Dancing in crazy circles to music
- "I'm gonna get you"- basically me chasing you and you running away laughing hysterically
- Making your stuffed animals drive your big car
- Reading books in your tunnel tent
- Pretending to go to the library and brining me back pretend books to read, each on a different subject that you make up (cows, buses, monkeys, etc.) I then have to make up a story about the subject.

Reshen, you are such an delight. I couldn't have asked for a sweeter, more snuggly little guy. I love that you still want me to hold you before bed. I love that you still like to snuggle in the morning. Your hugs and kisses are the highlight of my day. You are such an amazing little person. I celebrate your achievements, marvel at your sharp mind and applaud your independence... but there is always a small speck of wistfulness for the baby you are leaving behind. But even though you are growing up, you will always be my baby boy. Always.

Love You To The Moon and Back,

Mommy

Imagination

2007-11-05T20:47:00.000-08:00

One of my favorite recent developments about our boy is his budding imagination. Lately some of his favorite games are pretend-based. He pushes cars around the room and pretends they are going to the beach, library, store or park. When they arrive at their destination he acts out what they are doing (throwing rocks in the water, eating food, or reading books). He'll even point into the distance and announce that he's watching birds or looking for whales. He loves to look at books and pretends that he's picking up whatever is in the picture and uses it (like he'll "pick" up a ball and then "throw" it, or "pick" up food and "eat" it). When he's done he'll pretend to put it back in the picture :-) I love watching his imagination flourish and hope that he never looses this gift. Although I'm really enjoying this age, I also look forward to when he is a bit older and can play with more advanced playsets, like Playmobil and Legos. How fun that will be :-)

Speaking of playing and toys, we bought Reshen's birthday present this weekend. Something I've had my eyes on was being sold at Costco for a reasonable price so we snatched it up. It's a Geo Trax electric train set. It's *so* cool! Here's a link to it: http://www.fisher-price.com/fp.aspx?st=10&e=geotrax
You can control the trains by a lever and it has "guys" that you can take in and out of the train and move around the train station and other features to manipulate. It's an interactive and imaginative toy that hopefully will grow with him (there are additional sets you can buy to add on to it). Anyways, I'm very excited to give it to him, but have to hold off for a couple more weeks.

Catching Up

2007-11-02T20:52:00.000-07:00

As you may have noticed I have fallen *very* behind in this blog! Life has been full and I've been so tired in the evenings it's been difficult to take the time to write down all that the little man has been up to. But no more excuses- today I will try to catch up. Mind you, because I'm trying to capture a month's worth of Reshen antidotes, it may be jumbled and not very poetic ;-)

Most recently (and note-worthy) was Halloween. Reshen still didn't totally "get" it this year, but at least he was a little more aware than last year. To kick off the festivities, we went to a pumpkin patch at Craven Farms in Snohomish (out in the country) on the weekend before Halloween. I dressed him in a clown costume that my great-grandmother Crowe made for my mom. Three generations (including my sister and I) have now worn it :-) Reshen was actually almost too big for it, but I managed to stuff him in it long enough for him to walk around the pumpkin patch and attract a lot of attention :-) He had a great time playing on a tractor, and "pushing" a huge wheelbarrow. Most of the pumpkins out in the field were already rotten (we have had a lot of rain and cold temperatures), so he began saying "yucky pumpkins!" We picked out a nice healthy one up at the front and Reshen decided he wanted his own tiny pumpkin too. Later that day I let him paint it at home (he chose to paint it mostly black for some reason). He also decided to paint his cheeks and nose telling me "clown on face." He was re-creating his clown costume.

That Sunday I wanted to carve the pumpkin we picked and thought he might like to help me take the "guts" out. He watched with interest as I pulled out the first handful and then wrinkled his nose. I asked if he wanted to try and he shook his head and declared "No Reshen put hands in there. Yucky pumpkin!" He's been particular about his hands lately and so I didn't push it. He just sat and watched me for awhile, supervising and telling me to throw the pumpkin guts in the trash. I thought having kids meant I got to delegate these tasks, but I think Reshen enjoys pumpkin carving as much as Alan (which means not at all). Maybe next year...

On Halloween Reshen had a party at his day care. Of course I wasn't there, but it looks like they had fun as he came home with a pumpkin painted on his face, a bag full of goodies and real pumpkin. I picked him up early that day and took him to Bothell Country Village for their early trick-or-treating. It was perfect. It's a quaint, village-like setting of local shops. There are chickens, ducks, a pond and streams and fountains, and cobblestone streets- a great place for kids. At first Reshen didn't want to put on his lion outfit, but I told him he had to wear it if he wanted to get candy. He finally agreed and actually kept it on (including the hood) the whole time. He was a little overwhelmed and unsure at first- I suppose it was a combination of all the people and all the costumes. He didn't want to go up to the doors to get the candy and would plant his heels and say "no." After I gave him a piece of candy, though, he decided it was OK to go get some more :-) He took everything in with those wide, dark eyes. I asked him a few times if he wanted to go home, but he quickly told me "No. Reshen go trick treat." So we stayed awhile longer. I let him have a few pieces of candy, but we didn't go overboard. He has enough trouble sleeping as it is and I wasn't about to get him on a sugar high before bedtime! All in all it was a fun Halloween. It's so nice to have a kid of my own to share it with now :-)

Our little man is quite a voracious book reader lately. Yesterday evening he pulled out every single book he has in our living room one-by-one. He would take one out, flip through it quietly, and when he was done, he would put it down and grab another one. He was so serious and focused. He read books like that for a good 30 minutes without a peep, except for the occasional comment about what he was reading. We've also started reading a book before bedtime (The Going to Bed Book, by Sandra Bonton) and he's formed an attachment to it- taking it to bed and even brining it downstairs in the morning. The past few nights I've put him to bed with two books and his star light on so he can see and he reads until he falls asleep without any complaining. How wonderful is that? :-)

I scored Reshen a wooden train and track set from Freecycle. I was going to save it for his birthday and add a bunch of accessories to it, but couldn't wait that long and gave it to him last week. He played with it every chance he got for a few days, but now he's more interested in the one battery-powered engine that it came it. He's so much like his daddy sometimes- all about the electronics. I had these visions of him making long trains with the many pieces it came with and pushing them around the track and over the bridge... but he just likes to turn on that one engine and watch it drive. He does like the set, though, and it was free so it's not like I wasted any money. Also, I think this is a toy he can grow into and we can add new pieces to it as he gets older.

Reshen's "Gamma" and "Gampa" (my parents) visited in early October and had so much fun with him. He totally ate up all the attention and really enjoyed spending his days with them. He still talks about them and says goodnight to their photo now. It's really sweet and I'm glad he's at an age where he'll remember his relatives even though they all live out of state.

Reshen went pee in his potty for the 2nd time at the beginning of October. Like the first time, I think we were just lucky, as he hasn't done it again since. We're not pushing it yet, though. If he wants to sit on it, that's great, but if not, that's OK too. He really has shown no sign that he can really control it yet and is only mildly interested in the whole process, so we're not too worried at this point.

He's such a talker and has taken to saying "mommy" after almost every sentence that he says to me. Example: "Mommy sit by you read book Mommy." "Chancey eat food Mommy." "I want Mommy hold you Mommy." It's like he has to confirm that he's talking to me and that I'm listening. It's really cute :-) He also says "please" a lot. One morning I came into his room to get him out and he greeted me with "I want mommy change biper (diaper) please mommy." :-)

As usual, he is really into music and singing. He sings "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" so well- he even has the melody and cadence down. He still really likes "wheels on the bus," and also likes "baa baa black sheep" and "Bingo." I check out music tapes for him every couple of weeks from the library and we listen to them on our commutes to and from daycare. His favorite tape so far has been Raffi.

He has discovered his belly button. He noticed it before bath the other nigh and asked Alan "What's that?" Alan told him it was his belly button. The rest of the night he would look down and say "Where button go?" Funny kid, though, he won't touch it. I told him to show me where it was and he looked confused so then I told him to pat it and show mommy where it was and he said, "No Reshen touch button." I have no idea why he won't touch his belly button- just one of his little quirks I guess.

Reshen and Chancey (our cat) are becoming better friends these days. Chancey hangs around him more and even rubs against him. Reshen is softer with him and pets and hugs him. For the most part they get along well, although we still have to make sure he doesn't run his cars and trucks into the cat and sometimes we have to tell him that Chancey is not a pillow. He thinks the cat is hilarious and it's so funny to watch Reshen get a laugh out of him. Chancey often hangs out around his toys and Reshen will crack up and say "Chancey playing with trains!" or "Chancey read book!"

Well, it's getting late here and we never know how early our little man will wake so I'll end this here for now. More later (and hopefully sooner rather than later) :-)

From the Mouths of Babes (or Bubbies)

2007-09-13T20:01:00.000-07:00

Thought I'd share a few funny quips from my guy:

1. Yesterday he kept telling me "Bee in ear," "Bee in there," and patting/pulling at his ear. He had also told me the night before that his ear hurt. Thinking it might be an ear infection I took him to the doctor today. Verdict? No bees in his ear... and no ear infection either. It could be teething or perhaps allergies causing pressure (his nasal passages are swollen). But the "bee in ear" cracked me up and left me scratching my head.

2. Reshen was in his carseat reading a Winnie the Pooh book quite intently. Stopped at a red light, I turned around to look at him and he was holding the book up to his chest. "What are you doing?" I asked him. "Tigger hold you!" he exclaimed and grinned. LOL He was pretending that Tigger was holding him :-)

3. We've been listening to a Raffi tape in the car during our commute and Reshen really likes a song called "Octopus' Garden" Funny thing is though, every time he listens to it, he has to ask "Where Addson (Addison) go?" Addison is a baby at his daycare who recently moved away. I have no idea why he associates that song with Addison, but he says it *every* time.

Oh, and for those who were reading "My Kids Plate," I finally got that blog rolling again too :-) You can check it out here: www.mykidsplate.blogspot.com

Growing Pains

2007-09-09T20:09:00.000-07:00

Our little boy is both looking and acting like such a "big boy" lately. First off, I finally broke down and let his long baby locks get cut. It was just getting so long and out-of-control and I know Alan was getting tired of the "What a pretty girl" comments. Because we're cheap, we decided to cut it ourselves. Actually, Alan cut it while I held a wiggling Reshen. The result wasn't the best haircut- it's a little short for mommy's taste and a bit uneven. I suppose we'll spring for a professional cut next time. He's still pretty darn cute though :-)

He has been saying the funniest things. It's so much fun to hear what's going on in that remarkable mind and to watch his personality develop .

Here are some examples:

1. We were reading a "Bob the Builder" book and were looking at page showing Bob standing beside an empty truck. Reshen pointed at the truck and said "Go in there." Then he pointed to Bob and said "Go!" and then back to the truck and said "In there." He waited a moment and then pointed at Bob again and made a pushing motion towards the truck and ordered "Go, Go, Go!" "Go in there." Alan and I were extremely amused. He really thought he could boss Bob the Builder into the truck.

2. The other day he was eating steamed veggies and decided he didn't want them anymore, so he dramatically spit them out of his mouth and then shook his head solemnly. "No," he said, "I don't like it." It was all I could do not to laugh out loud. It was the first time he has actually used the words "don't like it." He's also started saying that he loves things, like "I love strawberries," and my favorite, "I love mama." :-)

3. Reshen counted to 12 *in correct order* last week. Alan and I were floored. What a smart boy he is :-)

We've had lots of fun adventures recently. We went to the zoo with his daycare a couple of weeks ago. He had a great time and it was fun to see him interact with the other kids. He even has a little curly-haired "girl friend." :-) That day he rode a carousel for the first time and loved it. Now he often asks to go to the zoo when we get in the car. Too bad it's so expensive!

Another of his favorite places these days is the library. We have a nice one just down the street and he loves to go and read books in the children's section. They also have lots of puppets there and a small toddler area to play in. We usually check out a couple of board books and a music tape. He's always asking to go to the "Liberry" now and actually cried the other day because he was heartbroken that it was closed. Perhaps we have a little reader on our hands :-)

Today we went to the Cedar River Watershed and took a walk down to Rattlesnake Lake. Reshen had a wonderful time watching butterflies, eating blackberries and throwing rocks in the water. We also went the their nature center and he had a blast playing with their interactive water cycle game (sticking balls into vaccum tubes and watching them travel to a location across the room). He was also amazed by their really cool "water drums," (water drops randomly spill from above and hit various drums, making a really neat, constant rythmn created by nature). He exclamied "Water play drums!" as he watched wide-eyed.

We can really tell that Reshen is nearing age 2. Along with a heightened understanding and vocabulary he is developing a ferocious sense of indendpence. Most of the time he's still my sweet boy and *usually* cooperates, but more and more often he'll go into meltdown mode when we won't let him do something that he wants. He has begun to scream "No!" and will also run away screaming and crying if I'm trying to change his diaper when he doesn't want to, or put him to bed. He also seems to anticipate trouble, and will tell me "I want Mama walk away," and points the other direction when I approach him to change his diaper or put on his shoes. He is just so bossy. We've begun to introduce "time-outs," although luckily we've only had to give a few so far. Most of the time, tantrums result from him being tired or when we are out in public, so time-outs aren't appropriate in every situation. He's also been teething lately (those 2 year molars I think) and can be so crabby, especially in the evening. I'm seeing shades of our developing 2-year-old and I'm not sure I'm ready for it!

He likes to watch the end of the movie "A Mighty Wind," as it's a folk concert. He sits attentively and claps with the audience at the end of each song. He calls the movie "Guitar Show." I love how he is so into music.

I suppose you've noticed the new look of this blog. I was tired of seeing my old template on other people's blogs, so Alan created me a totally original one. Isn't he talented? :-)

About a Little Man

2007-08-21T19:51:00.000-07:00

What a busy few weeks it has been…. We are now all in our work/day care routines and have settled into our roles. Reshen still enjoys preschool, or as he calls it “Pam’s House.” He is learning so much there… he can recite days of the week, can sort of say his ABC’s and can count randomly to 20 (not always in the right order). Really he is just a mimicking machine and has memorized most everything. He might not fully grasp the concepts, although he does know that the ABCs are letters and will point them out, and he knows that numbers are for counting. He is such a smart little guy!

He loves to dance and is lately enjoying the Spanish mode of his Learn and Groove Music Table. He turns it onto the Spanish Alphabet song and dances away- preferably with me and in a circle. Mommy can’t do this for long or she gets dizzy. If I change the song to English he says “No” and turns it back to Spanish. It must sound more festive to him ;-) He also tries to sing along with it, which is quite funny to hear as he has no idea what he’s saying.

Reshen went to his first parade this weekend. It was the Celebrate Shoreline parade; just a block away from our house. Reshen had a fun time, except for the noisy firetrucks which scared him and made him cry. He normally loves firetrucks, but these ones were just too loud and close to him. There are really only two things he doesn’t like- water over his head and getting startled by loud noises. He really liked the marching bands, though, and the decorated buses and tractors. He sat there on the curb so sweetly and would crane his neck to look down the street and ask: “What coming, Mama?”

Reshen is *really* into cars and trucks right now. He has so many toy cars at home and plays with them *all*. His favorites are construction trucks, but his bus and little cars get a lot of use too. He’s always pushing them around on the floor and making them go down ramps and slides. He’s a boy through and through.

He’s also very into balls, and man can he throw! He has a drawer stocked with different sizes and types of balls and he will empty it one-by-one, giving each ball a good throw. He also likes to get fancy by bending over and throwing the balls between his legs. Unfortunately, throwing does not end at balls and we’ve had many talks about what you can throw and what you can’t. I know it is hard for a 1-year old to grasp, but we’re trying to get the point across that it’s *not* OK to throw a heavy, hard toy at mommy or daddy (or Chancey).

Our boy has an incredible memory for his age. My parents visited almost 2 months ago, and he still mentions it and pulls stuff seemingly out of the blue. He says things like “Gamma hold you,” “Gamma bath,” and “Gamma, Gampa, sit by you car,” and even today he said “Gamma shower,” when we were in the downstairs bathroom. These are phrases I haven’t prompted him to say at all. Something in the situation will just suddenly jog his memory and he’ll have to tell me about it. He also still talks about Luke and Lucy and even the “sleepy rides” we used to take with them in the stroller. When he sees a car that resembles Rik’s (Lucy’s dad), he’ll exclaim “Rik car!” Sometimes he asks “Where Lucy go?” That’s always a sad one for me, as I know he doesn’t really understand why we don’t see them anymore. He also wants to go and see “Gamma” sometimes. It will be easier when he’s old enough to understand time and distance a bit better.

One of my favorite times of day with Reshen has always been our bedtime routine. I still hold him and rock while he drinks his before-bed milk and we listen to his bedtime music. It’s such a sweet and comforting time of day for us both. He snuggles next to me and I give him kisses while he drinks. It’s just a nice quiet time for us to reconnect at the end of the day. After his music is done playing I sing him a lullaby that goes like this:

La La Lu
La La Lu
Oh my little star sweeper
I’ll sweep the stardust for you
La La Lu
La La Lu
Little soft fluffy dreamer
Here comes a pink cloud for you
La La Lu
La La Lu
Little wandering angel
Fold up your wings
Close your eyes
La Lu Lu
La La Lu
And my love be your keeper
La La Lu
La La Lu
La La Lu

Anyone recognize it? It’s the song Mrs. Darling sings to her new baby in Disney’s Lady and the Tramp. I’ve always thought it was such a sweet tune and am happy to sing it to my own boy. He loves it too. In fact, depending on how tired he is, he often sings along now, in his sweet little voice. Occasionally he even asks for more, which I happily oblige.

Sometimes after we’re done singing, he will initiate conversation and we’ll talk for a little while about his day, etc.. I always love to hear what he has to say, especially when there are no other distractions. He loves it and so do I.

After he is finished with his milk and we have sang and rocked and talked a bit, I lay him in his crib (he’s almost always still awake now), and make sure all the proper stuffed animals and blankets are in there. He’s become a pack rat and likes to have a variety of “friends” in his bed. He is often happy to go to bed now (versus the bedtime troubles we used to have) and will often play or talk in there for 15 minutes before falling asleep on his own. Of course, we still have evenings where he will begin crying for me and I have to go back up there, but for the most part bedtime is so much easier than it used to be. He is also still sleeping through the night most of the time. Teething or illness or a change in daytime routine will always throw this off, but for the most part he is doing great. He is still an early riser, though… although it has been a tad better lately- 6-6:30 a.m. instead of 5-5:30 a.m.. Actually I don’t want him sleeping much later than 6:30 on the weekdays anyways, because we need to leave for daycare at 7:15 a.m.. I just wish he understood weekends and let us sleep late on those days. Oh well, I’m sure I’ll be wishing I *could* wake him up in another 12 years ;-)

As usual, his language is doing great. Now that he’s at daycare, he picks words up there and talks about events that happened there and I have no idea what he’s saying because it’s out of context for me. When I can’t understand him, his forehead wrinkles as he searches for another way to tell me. He’s pretty good about finally getting me to understand. For awhile he kept telling me “Hair cut, Pam’s house.” I was really confused by this one, as it was obvious that his hair hadn’t been cut, but he kept insisting and pulling at his hair. I asked Pam the next day and she said the kids play a game where they pretend to “cut” each other’s hair…. One little girl especially likes to pretend to “cut” Reshen’s. It must have made quite an impression on him as he still talks about it.

Some other funny phrases he says often:

“What (insert animal or object here) say?” He’s so into knowing the sounds things make. If it’s something that doesn’t really make noise (or I can’t think of what it is) I’ll tell him it’s quiet.

An example:

Reshen: “What dillo (armadillo) say, Mama?”

Me: “Mommy doesn’t know, bubby.”

Reshen: “Dillo quiet!”

He asks what *everything* says- even apples! Funny kid.

He calls all people “guys” if he doesn’t know their name. Even women. He told me “Guy help you downstairs TumbleBus.” “Guy hold you Tumblebus.” I thought it was cute that he was telling me about his day on the Tumblebus, assuming there was really a man working with them. I find out later that there are no men working on the Tumblebus though… he was referring to the women as “guys." We’re working on that one!

He’s really into cleaning up, which is nice. I have no problem usually getting him to clean up his toys, if I help. We sing the clean-up song and he happily plays along. He likes to put things away in their correct spots too. He’s always asking “where dis go?” He will even go into another room to put it in the right spot- such as a sippy cup going on the kitchen counter. I wonder how long this enthusiasm for cleaning will last? Oh little man, you always keep your mama guessing...

Slow Down!

2007-08-01T20:47:00.000-07:00

Now I know why my mom always told me to "slow down" in the growing-up department. I don't think I would have totally understood it until I became a mother myself. It's such an interesting balance... one moment I am so excited about Reshen's accomplishments and amazed at the *person* he's becoming, and the next I'm getting teary-eyed and hugging him tight, my cheek against his soft baby hair, willing him to stay my little one forever. I know I will most likely feel this way the rest of our lives. Someday I'm going to be hugging a 40-year-old version of Reshen and wishing he was still my baby (even though he always will be) :-)

Childhood is quite an incredible journey, and I so enjoy being a part of Reshen's adventure. He's changed so much already and yet it feels like we've only recently left the station. He just soaks up *everything.* His day care provider has told me a couple of times that he is just *so* smart and understands everything. She said he's far beyond what he should be at his age. Of course, a mommy always loves to hear something like that :-)

His newest quirk is saying "Wha'sat Mama?" (What's that, Mama?) *all* the time. It reminds me of when he was 10 months and always asked "uh zat?" My guess is that he's going through another noun collecting phase, although he often asks about objects that he already knows the names of.

He also says "Look, Mama!" often. He's always pointing out objects around the house and outdoors, and showing me things that he's done. He lined up all the magnets on the fridge today and came running to me shouting "Look, Mama! Look, Mama!" He was so proud of what he did :-)

Other new phrases are "this one" and "that one." When we feed him bites of food from our plates, he is very particular and points to the exact piece of food he wants, declaring "This One!" And he can't be fooled.... don't try or you may experience the wrath of Bubby ;-)

He loves to push buttons. Any buttons will do, but the best ones are those that create a large effect... like the garage door remote button. Oh how he loves that one. Every morning and every evening he shouts "Push button!" as we go by the door and into the house. I always let him do it. He pushes it and then turns around expectantly to watch the door open or close. Of course he then has to announce "Garage door open!" (or close). It's really cute :-) Although not so much when it's our cell phones, the dvd player, our computers, etc..

As I mentioned before, my Reshen is now going to day care because I'm working full-time. He's doing great, but it feels like another step towards him becoming a "big boy." It's the first time in his life that he doesn't *need* me. He takes naps there on a mat, eats at the little kid table, sits with the "big" kids during pre-school, and does gymnastics on the Tumblebus on Thursdays. I love that he is confident and not too afraid of new situations and people- I think that is what made the transition relatively easy. We both had our moments, but overall it's been great for him. Of course, I would rather still have my days with him, but I know that he will be enriched from this experience as well.

Reshen is obsessed with Chancey (our cat). He chases him, searches for him (calling "Chancey, where are you?"), and gives him very enthusiastic pats. Chancey is not so hip on this, though, and Reshen has been scratched a couple of times. I thought that might teach him to leave the cat alone.... but no. We have to be vigilant about where the cat is and where Reshen is at all times. I wish Chance would hang out in harder-to-reach places, but he insists on hovering around our feet all the time. I hope they will have a better relationship once Reshen has more control over his actions ... until then we just encourage "soft" pats and only when mommy and daddy are around.

More later... it's getting late and I should be headed to bed.

Chatting with Reshen

2007-07-13T13:23:00.000-07:00

While I was posting here yesterday, I mentioned how much Reshen is talking, yet I was having trouble coming up with "exciting" things that he is saying- I suppose I just take it for granted now.

But today he has been his normal chatty self, and I've listened closely and have collected some funny/impressive (at least in my book) phrases he said:

1. "I un (want) money in nair (there). " He wanted me to put more money into the truck he was riding at the store (so that it would "go" again).

2. "Car driving down nair (there). " We were watching the traffic from an upstairs window.

3. "I un (want) Mama see dark too. " He wanted me to go in my room with him so I would notice how dark it was.

4. "I un (want) Mama sit nair (there)." He wanted me to sit in a very specific spot while he played. He's getting very bossy.

5. "Shen (Reshen) have water too." I was drinking coffee and he had a sippy cup of water.

6. "I help." He was "helping" me put dishes away by stuffing sliverware in various kitchen drawers.

7. "Wha do-in (what are you doing) Mama?" He always asks me what I'm doing.

8. "I put guy away." We were cleaning up his toys before nap. He calls all his little figures "guys."

I could go on and on. He does still say plenty of one and two word sentences, but his long sentences are becoming more common. Out of all his development milestones, I think talking has been the most fun (and the most helpful for that matter). Every evening we do a re cap of what happened that day- he loves to talk about it and sometimes even mentions things I forgot about. It's so much fun to get a glimpse into his mind.

Ok, enough gushing about my boy today :-)

We're Back!

2007-07-12T20:21:00.000-07:00

*** Huge Sigh***

We're back! We made our big move on July 2nd, and even with the wonderful help of my parents and moving men on both sides, it was a looonnnng day. I don't know what we would have done without my mom and dad (thanks so much!!). But we're here, mostly unpacked (although not as organized as I would like), and getting settled.

Alan started his job last Friday and likes it so far. I found a great day care for Reshen and we will begin transitioning him to it next week (the 16th). It's a privately owned day care that offers preschool and gymnastics. Hopefully Reshen will love it and we will be happy with it. I begin my new job on the 23rd. Our goal is to have the bubby adjusted to his new day care before then. Wish us luck!

Reshen is doing so great. He's really very easy-going when it comes to changes in environment and routine. He seems to relish new experiences. The only part of him it screws with is his sleep. He had some horrible nights while my parents were here. He just got so jazzed up during the day I suppose his mind had troubles turning off at night. That has always seemed to be his problem. He is doing better sleeping now, so let's hope it lasts for awhile.

As usual, his language is rolling right along. Something I hear all the time now is "I un (want) Mama hold you," with the appropriate hint of whine to it. Even though he says it *all* the time now, while clinging to my leg, it still gets me. How can I not pick him up when he says that? :-) Of course when he says it at the grocery store or when I'm in the middle of cooking dinner, it can be a little annoying. He has been very affectionate (i.e. clingy) this past week. Perhaps due to the move... I guess I can't really blame him.

His vocabulary is *huge* now. He knows so many nouns, it amazes me. He also understands (and verbalizes) concepts such as "turn around," "unlock," "under," "in there," "on there," etc.. He can pretty much verbalize anything he really needs to these days. They aren't always perfect sentences and sometimes you need to do a little guesswork, but he usually gets the point across. He is still calling himself "shen" which I just love. It's so cute. The other day he said "Shen wuv (love) Mama." Can you ask for any more than that? He also uses "I" and "You" too. What a smart little guy he is :-)

He went pee-pee in his potty chair for the first time when my parents were here. He told my mom he wanted to go potty, so she took him there and we were shocked to see he actually *used* it! I don't know if he actually went intentionally or if it was just an accident, but it was still exciting. We praised him, and then I let him help flush it down the toilet. It hasn't happened again though. In fact, he doesn't really even want to sit on it now. I'm not pushing, just offering when we are in there. I don't think he is actually ready (I don't think he has the physical capability to control it yet, or the burning desire to use the potty all of the time), so it will still be awhile I'm sure before we will be done with diapers.

We've had a lot of fun since we've moved here. I've been trying to spend as much time as a I just simply having fun with Reshen before we're doing the work/day care routine. We've done the zoo, beach, numerous playgrounds, toy stores (just for playing/browsing), and the library. The weather has been simply gorgeous this past week... hot, but beautiful. There is nothing quite like a cloudless summer day in the Pacific Northwest.

Today we went to Carkeek Park, which has a great mix of beach, forested hiking trails, and an awesome playground. Last time Reshen was there he was 7 months old and was confined to the front pack and the baby swings. It was a whole different experience today. He owned that playground :-) When he was finally done with it he decided he needed to go for a hike and took off onto a trail! It was a little scary how he didn't even look back to see if I was following. But of course, I was close behind and let him lead the way. He climbed up this pretty steep hill, using the built-in steps, and stopped every-so-often to check out a rock or flower. He was really interested in the twisted root of one tree and insisted that it was a monkey! It did kind of resemble the face of one, I guess. I just love seeing the world through his eyes. He really is a little nature boy. I think we're going to have to take him on some hikes this summer!

On the teeth front, he now has 13. He has just cut his first incisor (I think). They are the pointy ones. He still has 3 more of those to go, which I'm not looking forward to. He was *very* drooly and cranky while cutting this one. He even told me a few time that his mouth hurt and that he needed Tylenol- not kidding!

He seems like he is getting so big- both weight and height. He legs are looking so long these days, although some of his 24 month stuff is still a little big length-wise. He still has his crazy long hair. I was going to have my mom cut it when she was here, but we never got around to it- or maybe I just wasn't ready for it :-) I suppose it does need some attention in the front. It's often in his eyes or it makes a funny point on his forehead (reminiscent of Eddy Muenster). And people think he's a girl *all* the time. It's just going to make him *really* look like a kid (not a baby) when it is cut.

Well, there is so much more to tell, but it's getting late. I'll blog again soon-- promise :-) And I have *tons* of photos to upload to his website and also to my flickr site. If you want to see them, check after this weekend and they should be up by then.

Thanks again for all the well wishes people. This all has been a huge change in our lives and it is a bit overwhelming... but will it be good for us. It's the dawn of a new era for our family :-)

News

2007-07-01T09:54:00.000-07:00

Things are beginning to fall into place. First off, I have a job. Yay! I was hired as a content writer for Allied Trade Group (an e-commerce company that sells lighting fixtures). I'll be inputing product information and writing descriptions for the website and maybe doing some image processing as well. I'm actually excited about going back to work now. :-) I begin on July 16 (assuming I have child care secured by then).

We also have a place to live now. We're renting a 3 bedroom townhouse in Shoreline (just north of Seattle). It's a nice place... not our ideal location, but at least it's in a safe part of town. After our exhaustive search for rentals we finally realized we just can't afford to live in the desirable parts of Seattle (which was why we had to rent in Shoreline instead). The only thing we can afford in Seattle right now is a tiny apartment, a piece of crap house or something in the sketchy parts of town (none of which were exciting options for us). So we settled for Shoreline (again), but we do like the place and at least we'll have the space we really wanted. I'll send out a mass e-mail soon with our new address in it.

We're moving tomorrow (July 2) and I'm not sure when we'll have internet access again. Hopefully I won't be offline too long, so check back to hear more :-)

Thanks for all of your well wishes!! Knowing I have support (even virtually) in this stressful (yet excited) time in our lives means the world to us. I'll get back to you all soon.

Brooke

Changes....

2007-06-24T21:15:00.001-07:00

There are some big changes in store for us...

First off, Alan landed a new job working as a web developer in downtown Seattle. Yay! :-) Needless to say, he is very excited and we are happy to be moving back to Seattle.

Now comes the stressful part.... it begins on July 5th and we're trying to move on July 1st. Yikes. We were in Seattle today (Sunday) to look at some rentals and can't get over how expense housing is.... I swear it's gone up even since we last lived there a year ago. We only saw one home that would work for us and are crossing our fingers that we get it (there were other applicants). *sigh* We might be going up again on Tuesday to look at some more (further away from Seattle).

Anyway, to all of our Seattle friends, we'll be in touch with you soon! I've been *so* behind in e-mail, photo editing, blog posting... anything "recreational" related has been put on hold for awhile. Not only are we trying to get housing, selling stuff, and packing, I am also still applying for jobs (yeah, I still don't have one lined up). Oh yeah, and there's still a certain little man that needs my attention most of the day.

So stay tuned... I'll update this blog as soon as I can. Reshen has been doing some amazing things lately (well, at least they are amazing in my eyes) :-)

"Talk" with you all soon!

Links

2007-06-13T20:45:00.000-07:00

Just a couple of things.

First off, we've figured out how to upload videos fairly easily to Reshen's Webpage, so we're putting them there again. So if you want to check videos of our little man, they will be at www.baby2.memanproductions.com, in the Movies section.

Secondly, I've started a blog about the adventures in feeding a toddler at www.mykidsplate.blogspot.com. Mostly I talk about what I feed Reshen from day to day and share recipies, ideas, etc., but I'm hoping that others will come and comment and give their own ideas and advice as well. Feeding a picky toddler well-rounded meals can be tricky and I'm always looking for new things to feed him and ways to get veggies past his picky palate.

That's all for now :-)

A Little Man with Big Ideas...

2007-06-11T19:25:00.000-07:00

Our little man has many ideas these days. Now don't get me wrong, Reshen has *always* had ideas and opinions about things, even as a newborn and has always been good at expressing them. But lately it seems he has strong opinions about anything and everything. I will share some examples:

1. His clothes- I put overalls on him the other day and he began crying and pulling at the "bib" part and saying "off!" This was quite sad for mommy as he is *so* cute in overalls. I put khaki pants on him this morning and, again, he started crying and pulled at the legs. Not sure why he didn't want to wear them, but I put him in some softer pants and he was fine. He also cried when I changed him into jeans later today, but I was able to distract him this time. Who knew he would get so picky about what he wears?! He also prefers to wear his sandals or boots rather than his tennis shoes, and we have gone to the store with him dressed in froggy boots and shorts.

2. His bibs- He won't wear them anymore. Pulls at them and screams until they come off. *sighs* It's either deal with a tantrum or put a new shirt on him when he's done eating. I've chosen the changing shirt route. We have enough tantrums as it is. Pick your battles is my motto.

3. His highchair- He really does think he's 4 years old sometimes. He wants so badly to eat at the table with Luke and Lucy, so at their house he is now allowed to sit on the bench with them, as long as he actually *sits* there and doesn't climb onto the top of the table (which I've caught him doing when I left the room for 10 seconds). He is *so* proud of himself and it's really adorable to see him sitting there like a big boy with his friends. Only problem is now he doesn't want to sit in his high chair at home either. I began letting him use his booster seat and that was OK for awhile, but today he threw a fit because he wanted to sit in daddy's *real* chair and eat at the table that way. The chair is too low and not sturdy enough for him to sit in and eat, so I told him he needed to use his booster seat and even pushed it up to the table (without the tray), but he knows the difference. This was something I couldn't give in on, so the crying ensued. Funny thing was he still ate, only between cries for the "chair." He would take a bite, say "um" (yum) and then point to the chair and start crying again. *sigh*

4. His Food- He always has very definite ideas of what he wants to eat during the day. I can't count how many times he asks for milk, juice, crackers and cake... all of which are restricted to a certain degree. By the way, cake really means any type of "cakey" thing, like banana bread or muffins. Of course, if he doesn't get it the crying begins, but this is something I for which I stick to my guns. He has to eat fruit and veggies *sometimes*.

5. What he wants to play- He will think of a game or toy and announce it to me. He then runs to find whatever it is, or takes my hands to prompt me for a game. It's really adorable and I love to get a glimpse of those little wheels turning. It's especially funny when he's looking for a toy and holds his hands up and says "go?" like "where did it go?" Then he says "hmmmm.." like he's thinking about it. He also looks for specific books and objects in the kitchen cabinets.

6. His Cup- Milk has to go in the milk sippies, water and juice in the other sippies, and then sometimes it can't be a sippy at all... He sometimes wants only a cup with a straw, or like today a big kid cup. I was reluctant to let him drink out of a big kid cup, but he actually did very well. He's really growing up, isn't he?

He is just so independent suddenly and is trying so hard to have some control over his world. He is becoming self-aware and has been referring to himself as "shen" (for Reshen). He is also really into other people and talks about our friends and his family constantly. He has started saying "Hi" to everyone and everything for that matter. With this I have seen some separation anxiety again, especially at nap times and in the middle of the night. He also calls for me when I leave the room and sometimes is like another appendage (the way he clings to my leg).

He loves to imitate and repeats nearly all our words and actions. He especially enjoys mimicking Luke (one of his 3 year old friends). I love watching him run after the kids and join in their games (as much as an 18 month old can). He soaks up everything we say and do. Perhaps this is part of the reason his vocabulary is constantly expanding.

He talks *so* much now. I can't possibly list all that he says, but here are a few examples of things that have shocked me:

1. "I want find a car" (sounded like "I un fine uh car). He was looking for a car in a book.

2. "Cold. I want shirt on."

3. " I want see truck." He wanted to go over and see a large truck more closely.

4. "Hear Choo Choo. " He heard a train.

5. "I want two dog." He had one stuffed dog and wanted another.

6. "More guitar!" This shocked me because he heard guitar in some music and wanted to hear more when it was over.

Actually most of his sentences involve "I want" He can say pretty much any noun, and if he doesn't know the name of what he wants he says "I want this" and points to it.

He also says a lot of "sentences" (if you can call them that) that involve a string of nouns. Such as "Rik Car Neigh-Neigh." Which means he rode in Rik's car and saw a horse while he was in it. Or another one we hear a lot of recently "Ye Ye Boat Water." Which means Ye Ye (his grandpa) was on the boat in the water."

Other phrases he says are "in there" and "on there," and he uses them correctly. He also likes to assign people to objects (Mama Shoes, Dada Cup, Tookie (Luke) Potty, Shen (Reshen) Sock.)

He counts... sort of. He usually says "three four, three four" over and over again. Sometimes he makes it to five, and sometimes he'll start at two, but three and four are his favorite right now.

Anyways, he's *so* communicative. He really has those words down and is working on the sentence structure and picking up some more verbs. I wonder how far along he will be in one month from now! I can only hope his increasing vocabulary will gradually ease his toddler frustrations.

Our Cruise- Day 5 (going home)

2007-06-06T20:38:00.000-07:00

Day 5- May 25

This was a long day of traveling. We were up early with Reshen and were already packed and eating breakfast by 7:30 a.m.. We had to check out of our rooms by 8 a.m. but couldn’t get off of the ship until our color was called (they disembarked the ship by groups, each assigned a color). Reshen was so tired that he fell asleep in my arms while we were waiting in the ship’s theater. We hung out there for over an hour... at least the seats were comfortable and they had a large TV.

The disembarking process was long… we had to wait to be called, then we had to wait in a line to get off the ship, then we had to wait in another line to go through customs. I think it took close to 2 hours. Reshen had some antsy moments, as can be expected, but overall he did great.

We still had a long time until our flight left Los Angeles, so we all went to Long Beach and let Reshen stand in the water. He loved it!

Then we had some tasty dim sum for lunch at a Chinese restaurant. Reshen had fallen asleep in the car and got maybe a 30 minute nap. He woke up on our way into the restaurant and was happy to sit in his high chair and eat. It was really the first good amount of food he ate on the trip.

We then went to the airport and found we had a small delay, due to some air traffic control issue. It wasn’t a big problem, though, and went got to Seattle around 7 p.m. with little problem. Reshen was awake the whole time on the plane and it took a lot of distraction to keep him happy… exhausting! He fell asleep in the car on the way home and stayed asleep all night. It was a fun trip, but we are happy to be back in our own beds.

Our Cruise- Day Four

2007-06-03T07:40:00.000-07:00

Day 4, May 24-

Reshen woke crabby this morning- not a great precursor for the rest of the day. We made the mistake of not having milk in the room for him this morning, so we had to rush through our morning routine to get some from the cafeteria. After eating we did our walking and then nap routine and then met Alan’s family to go into Ensenada.

We took a private tour bus out to La Bufadora (an ocean blowhole). The ride was interesting, as it gave us a look at the local area beyond the tourist front of Ensenada. Reshen was very quiet on the bus, but every time it stopped or paused he would say “done.” “fun.”

Once we arrived at La Bufadora, we had to walk though a long strip of people peddling their wares. The blowhole itself was neat, but we happened to be there at low tide… it would have been much more impressive if we had seen it at high tide. Reshen liked it- kept saying “water.” After we were done, we had to walk back through the “street” of shops and ended up buying some churros to eat. This was almost the only thing Reshen ate today.

Next the bus took us to downtown Ensenada. Reshen fell asleep on the ride and took about a 30 minute nap in my arms. We went to the fish market area and had some authentic fish tacos. We also walked around the general downtown area and looked through some stores. I bought a carved bear to add to my collection. We looked for something for Reshen, but it was all kind of cheap and not good for toddlers.

We then went back to the ship and had a late lunch. Then we walked around some more and let Reshen play. He was crabby and we tried a nap, but he wouldn’t take another one.

Before dinner we had some photos taken of the whole family. Dinner itself was short for us, as Reshen was too tired. We were back at the room by 6:30 and had Reshen asleep. Tomorrow is our trip home.

New Reshen Video

2007-06-03T07:36:00.001-07:00

I had to interrupt the cruise story to share a video of Reshen I took the other day. He's showing off his body part knowledge as well as singing a bit. Enjoy :-)

Our Cruise- Day Three

2007-06-02T20:50:00.000-07:00

Day 3, May 23.

Reshen slept *all* night (12 hours) without waking. I can’t believe he fell asleep at dinner the previous night and actually stayed asleep until 5:30 this morning. He really surprises me sometimes. He woke up in a great mood, although he did need some extra tending too (considering he hadn’t had dinner or his diaper changed before bed last night). We played in the room for a little bit and then had breakfast at the buffet (once again, he didn’t eat anything).

He then had a little playtime with Ye-Ye and Nai-Nai and then went back to mommy for a short morning nap. After his nap and a bran muffin that he ate (under the guise that it was cake) we thought he would like to go to the toddler playgroup. Turns out he was the only kid there and he wasn’t interested in the toys. She set out this neat boat toy with people and animals to go along, but he just sat there with his little hands in his lap and stared at her and at the toy. He then pointed outside the window and said “Boat.” He was too interested in what was going on around him to play with toys, I guess. So we left and got ready to take the tender (small boat) to Catalina Island with Alan’s family.

It was actually sunny and warm today so we changed into our shorts, packed the backpack and got in line for the tender. The boat ride was short and soon we were on the island. Reshen had a fun time walking around and climbing up and down stairs. He walked through the sand and watched the waves. He stood and stared at the ocean for a very long time with a very thoughtful look on his face. “Water” he would say every once and awhile. Then he said “Fun.”

We couldn’t find much to do in Avalon with a 1-year-old, so we ate a blueberry smoothie and let him play on the playground (he *loved* the curly slide). Then we caught the next tender back to the ship. We decided to sit on the very top this time and as the boat was pulling away thick, black smoke began pouring out of one of the pipes. We thought it was unpleasant but normal, but soon found ourselves back at the dock. One of the engines was having problems and we had to get off and wait for another boat to pick us up. Inconvenient , it was, but at least we didn’t have any plans or schedule to worry about. Reshen was surprisingly patient and didn’t make too much of a fuss. Soon we were all on another tender and headed back to our ship. Reshen actually fell asleep in my arms and I was able to transfer him to his stroller when we arrived on the ship. Alan and I had some lunch while he napped beside us. Of course, he wanted nothing to do with food when he woke up, so we took him back to the room and let him really wake and adjust a bit.

When he was up, we walked around the ship a little bit and then let him have some more Nai-Nai and Ye-Ye time while Alan and I walked around together. Then it was time for dinner. Food tonight was so-so, but Reshen was in great spirits for most of it. Still not eating much of all…. We think it’s just a combo of constipation and excitement. Instead of eating, he drew on his magna doodle and entertained his family. He also really liked the dancing waiters tonight.

He stayed awake through dinner tonight and went to bed around 8:15.

Our Cruise- Day Two

2007-06-01T19:22:00.001-07:00

Day Two- May 22, 2007

Reshen slept OK last night- not wonderful, but good considering, I guess. He woke briefly at 1 a.m. and then again at 3:30 a.m.. This last waking was when our troubles began. He was doing his fidgety half asleep/half awake thing that he does sometimes at home. *So* frustrating, especially here where I can’t put him back in his room and let him be for awhile. I think he was up for an hour and then slept till 6:30 a.m..

There is no bathtub in our room, so I held him in the shower this morning. He didn’t like the water hitting him, so we did an improvised sponge bath using a washcloth. After we were cleaned, we had breakfast at the buffet. Again, Reshen didn’t really want to eat and only had some juice and a little bit of yogurt. He also had some milk before we went down, so maybe he still a little full from that. He wasn’t great at breakfast- fussy and a little temperamental.

We then packed our backpack and walked to downtown San Diego. We met up with Alan’s family down there and took the tram to Old Town. We thought Reshen would fall asleep in the stroller, but the energizer bunny was still puttering along, so we let him out of the stroller and he walked around the historic area holding his Nai-Nai and Ye-Ye’s hands. He still seemed very tired, just trudging along, but he made it clear that he still wanted to walk.

After Old Town we parted ways with Alan’s family and walked about 6 blocks to In-N-Out Burger. Reshen finally fell asleep along the way and napped in the stroller for about an hour. We ate our yummy food outside and then walked back to the tram. He woke up just as we were getting on the tram and was in good spirits. He said “Choo Choo. Fun.” We gave him some leftover fries and he drank some water.

We then went back to the ship to regroup. We got the boy some lunch and let him run around for a little while… climbing stairs and “driving” cars in the arcade. We also hung out in the room for a bit, relaxing and catching our breath and letting Reshen have some quiet play with his books and drawing.

At around 2:30 we decided to head over to the ship museum which was very near our own ship. We had been there before, but it was mommy’s birthday and she requested it J Foolishly thinking the distance was shorter than it was and that the boy was lighter than he is, we left the stroller in the room and decided to carry him and/or let him walk. It was exhausting and it didn’t help that he was getting tired and crabby and defiant. We still managed to have a good time, and he really enjoyed walking around on the tall sail boats. We only went on a couple of the 5 boats, though, as he was beginning to show signs of tantrums, so we headed back to our ship.

We did some more walking around on our ship and then some more quiet time in the room. Reshen was really tired, but I was at a loss on how to get him to sleep. He just wouldn’t settle down. At 5:30 we went to dinner and Reshen actually fell asleep in Ye-Ye’s lap. He was so sound asleep we actually laid him down in the booth between us and he stayed asleep- through the entire dinner!! Alan and I tried Escargot for the first time… and it was actually very tasty! We also both had some wonderful beef fillet and I had some yummy Birthday cake. We left promptly after dessert and he even survived the journey from the dining room to the stateroom- through hordes of noisy fellow cruisers. I was shocked. He is *still* sleeping now at 9 p.m.. He is still in his day clothes and hasn’t had a diaper change in ages, so I wonder how long he’ll go before he wakes and needs tending too. This could be an interesting night…

Our Cruise- Day One

2007-05-31T20:48:00.000-07:00

Many of you have asked to hear about our cruise- so here it goes... more than you ever wanted to know. This will be done in separate installments for each day of our trip.

Day One- May 21, 2007

Our day began early. Alan and I woke at 4:30 a.m. got showered, did some last minute packing, and fed Chancey. Reshen was still snoozing away at 5:30 (unusual), so I had to wake him. I felt so bad rousing his cozy little body from his warm bed, but we had to leave the house at 5:45, so it had to be done. He was a bit groggy, but didn’t complain, and after he was dressed and had his sippy of milk in hand, we loaded up everyone and everything into the car and were on the road (on time!). We drove to the airport and didn’t hit traffic until Federal Way (about 20 miles from the airport). It was the Monday morning commute, so we were expecting *some* amount of traffic. It was pretty slow for awhile, even in the car pool lane, but we still made it to the park-n-ride a little after 7 a.m.. Reshen did pretty great in the car, only crying towards the end of the drive. He really seemed impressed with the “bus” (the airport shuttle) that we took to the airport.

The airport experience was thankfully non-eventful. It is a little stressful juggling all the luggage and getting us all through security, but we didn’t get stuck anywhere or loose anything, so it was good. Reshen did great in his new stroller, and didn’t make too much of a fuss. He seemed to understand that he needed to stay in there while we were waiting in line and pushing him through the airport. We let him run around at the gate to stretch his legs. He liked looking out of the large window at the runway and would exclaim “Plane Bye Bye!” when he saw them taking off. He also liked the airport trucks.

Time went really fast at the gate and before we knew it, we were boarding! It actually caught us off guard and we were scrambling to pack our carry-ons back up and get a tag for the stroller. It wasn’t until we were already on the plane that we realized we hadn’t changed Reshen’s diaper. Oops!! Bad mommy! Luckily he didn’t have a poo, and it was a short flight and also he had his overnights on (super absorbent), so decided to let it go. I changed his diaper right after the flight and it was fine (not *too* full).

He was good on the plane as well. I am *so* happy I had Alan with me this time, though. We didn’t buy a separate seat for Reshen (although next time we will), so it really did take two of us to hold him, juggle the carry-ons, and take things in and out of the bags. He is just so much to handle physically. I had a very hard time when I traveled alone with him last December, and really appreciated Alan’s help this time J

I don’t think he really understood that we were on a plane. He watched in the window at take-off and as soon as we flew into the clouds he got this confused look on his face and said “Go?” Like “where did the ground go?” I explained that we were up in the sky in a plane. I wonder how much he really grasped of that.

We did have a few moments where he began to get “iffy”, but I had packed a bunch of toys he had never seen (from his Grandma and also the Dollar Store). He really liked this travel-sized Magna-Doodle we bought at Walmart. It was perfect. He could write “S’s and “B’s” to his heart’s content and “got” how to erase them with the lever. He also played with stickers, cars, read books, and played with cards. He looked really tired around 10:30 a.m. and was getting crabby, so we broke out the laptop and let him watch some Baby Einstein. He totally zoned out in front of it and before we knew it he was asleep on my lap. He took about a 30 minute nap and woke just as we were landing. I think he had some ear/sinus discomfort on the landing as he suddenly began crying (he wouldn’t drink his juice, so didn’t pop his ears), but then when I pointed out the window he calmed down. He watched the approaching ground with wide eyes. After we landed he looked up at me and said “Again! More!” I said “Was that fun?” He looked back out the window and said “More! Fun!” I wonder what he thought was happening??

We collected our luggage in Los Angeles (everything made it- yay!) and waited for Alan’s family to arrive. They picked us up outside of baggage claim shortly and we all drove to the cruise terminal. Reshen seemed to remember them a bit. He pointed at Alan’s dad while we were driving and said “Ye Ye.” Very cute. He totally zoned out in the van. I think he was becoming a little overwhelmed with all the new experiences and the people. He just stared and stared at everything with those huge, beautiful eyes. He didn’t want any toy I gave him or anything to eat or drink. Just wanted to sit and watch.

The cruise boarding had a lot of “steps” to go through, but it was all pretty painless. It was kind of a whirl-wind. We didn’t really know what we were doing, but we just shuttled from one station to the next. . It probably would have helped if we actually had read our Cruise Handbook (or brought it with us, which we didn’t). Everyone was very friendly and welcoming and loved Reshen (of course). Most people thought he was a girl, but he gets that all the time. He was even wearing blue today.

Once we were on the ship we checked out our rooms and were shocked at how *tiny* they were. I mean really really tiny. Alan was worried that would wouldn’t be able to fit the play pen in it, it was so small. After some creative unpacking, though, everything fit (even the play pen). It’s cozy ;-) The coolest thing about our room is that we have an ocean view. Pretty amazing to look out your window and see the open ocean.

We next went to the main dining room and had a late lunch at the buffet. There was a nice selection and the food is good (not excellent, but pretty good). Reshen wasn’t eating still, but was doing OK just watching us and playing with a spoon and his cup.

After lunch I tried to get him to take a nap, but he wouldn’t have it. He at least drank his milk, but after he was finished he just wanted to play. *I* was tired, so was hoping he would lie down with me, but I finally gave up. So instead, we walked around the ship with Alan and his parents. Reshen was very cute, holding May and Ben’s hands. He *really* likes stairs and wanted to walk up and down them all. After touring some of the ship, Alan and I came to the conclusion that it reminded us of the boat version of Reno (which is the “cheap” version of Las Vegas). Reno on the water ;-)

It was now 3:30 and Reshen was so tired he was loosing coordination, so Alan and I took him back to the room and tried for another nap. No go. He was in quite a state. Frantic, crazy, and only wanting one thing- to get *out* of the room. We kept trying, but finally it was time for our safety drill. We all had to put on life jackets and report to our muster station. We found out one thing today… it is *very* difficult to carry a toddler when you are both wearing life vests!! We ended up making him walk, holding our hands. He did look really cute in it J

So we all stood in a grouping of lines, clad in orange life jackets, waiting for the drill to begin. Forever! Shocking part is, Reshen stood, as still and quiet as he could be, holding our hands. Never cried, never tried to walk away. Just stood and stared. I don’t know if it was because he was exhausted or if he just knew that he needed to be good, but it was truly amazing. He’s only 18 months old!

*Finally* the drill began, and all the knowledge I gained from it was how to put on my life vest and that I needed to meet there in case of an emergency. Duh!! I needed to stand there for 15 minutes to figure that out? I thought we were going to learn how to get on the boat or the evacuation procedure or something. We were a little peeved, but at least they let the people with children leave first.

At that time we went back to the room and let the little man play while we dressed for dinner. I was a little worried about sitting through a formal dinner with the no-nap king, but we thought we would at least try. He did some more stair-walking and then we went to the dining room with Alan’s family. He sat on my lap for awhile, until the food came out. He was *very* tired (you could see it in his eyes), but he behaved wonderfully. He didn’t eat much (some bread, *loved* the strawberry bisque, and some cake), but at least he was content to sit and graze and watch the people around him. I did have to sing “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star,” and “Ram Sam Sam” quite a few times, but he was happy. He lasted there for almost 1.5 hours! We had a good dinner too- I had Antipasti, Lamb Shanks and Chocolate Cake. Really great food. At around 7 we left and picked him up some milk and looked out at the water, as we were now out to sea. We saw dolphins leaping through the water towards the front of the boat. Really cool.

We finally went back to our room and put Reshen to bed. He went down pretty easily and is now sleeping peacefully in his playpen beside us. I hope he sleeps well tonight and I look forward to another full day tomorrow.

Tune in tomorrow for Day 2 of our trip!

Happy Mother's Day!

2007-05-13T20:12:00.000-07:00

Happy Mother's Day to all you Moms out there! Of course, I've always enjoyed Mother's Day, but as a daughter appreciating her own wonderful mother. It's so amazing to now experience this special day as a Mother myself. I received two very sweet cards today, one from Reshen, complete with his scribbles and handprints, and one from Alan. We went out to ice cream (my choice) and spent some time playing at the park. It was a nice, relaxed day and I got to spend it with my two favorite guys. Could I ask for anything more? :-)

I guess what I *could* ask for is for Reshen to start sleeping later in the morning. The little guy has been such an early bird lately. He woke up *before* 5:30 a.m. both mornings this weekend, and this has been the trend for the past few weeks now. We've tried putting him to bed later, but that doesn't make any difference- he'll still wake up early and then be extra crabby because he didn't get enough sleep. We've tried making him stay in his crib, but he never goes back to sleep. We do keep him in there for awhile, but he usually just plays for awhile and then begins crying and calling for us. Occasionally I can rock him back to sleep, but more often than not he is awake for the morning. On top of that, I think he has dropped the morning nap for the most part. During the week, I am able to keep him awake and happy until we come home from work at 1 p.m.. Although, on the weekends he sometimes will take a 30 minute morning nap. I suppose because we are not as exciting as Luke and Lucy and he doesn't fight it as much here ;-)

Reshen now loves to dig with his little shovel and then push around the dirt piles with a broom. It keeps him busy for a long time. He also figured out how to turn on the hose and had a good, messy time the other evening. He was so proud of himself, I couldn't make him turn it off until he made a nice muddy puddle to play in. It was close to bathtime anyway :-)

He's been getting very frustrated lately when something doesn't happen just like he thinks it should. The other night, for example, he was trying to fit himself into a small box. He was just too big for it, but he didn't know this. He tried to fit in every-which-way, but it wasn't working and he began crying and saying "in, in, in." I couldn't do anything to please him and he didn't understand that he couldn't fit in it. I tried redirecting him, but he didn't want that either. He just kept getting increasing frustrated and crying harder. Poor kid. But I guess you can't shield them from everything. Frustration is a part of life, and I guess we are supposed to learn from it. I know it's harder for little ones who also can't communicate exactly what they want/need. He was coloring yesterday and kept crying and getting mad about something, but I couldn't figure out what was wrong. I do think some of his irritability has to do with tiredness and teething, as he is not always like this. But I also think he has such a clear idea now of what he wants that he expects things to happen just so, and when they don't he sometimes gets upset about it.

I swear our kid is going to have an affinity for music someday. Not only does he sing all the time, but now he imitates instruments. He was playing with his Leapfrog Music Table and would imitate the trumpet, violin, etc. when he played those sounds. Really neat! I have a video of him singing that I need to put up on You Tube. I'll let you all know when it is there.

He can say pretty much anything now. He doesn't speak in sentences or anything, but repeats pretty much every noun and verb we say. He also uses *a lot* of them. He touched my hair today after I got out of the shower and then shook his hand and said "wet!" I hadn't realized I even taught him that one, but he must have picked it up. He loves to run outside and exclaim "running!" and when we're out at the store he always tells us he wants to "walk." He listens closely to what Alan and I say to eachother. We stopped at the store to pick up some diaper doublers and as Alan got out of the car, I told Reshen that daddy was going into the store to buy something for him. Reshen said "bi-per" (diaper). I"m like "yeah!" We didn't tell him anything, I just mentioned it to Alan as he was getting out of the car. It's so neat how he listens and learns when we're not watching :-) He has said a couple of things we're not proud of though, so will have to be more careful of the occasional swearing around him. We don't curse like sailors, but when I drop something, get hurt, etc., I sometimes utter some phrases the little man should not be saying. Alan too. We need to be more careful.

Reshen still loves his panda bear. He asks for it out of nowhere sometimes and we have to go looking for it. It is so cute when they are reunited. He gets all giddy and hugs it and says "ahhh" in a cute, sweet little voice. I guess he finally has a lovey!

Reshen *really* loves trucks. He is mesmerized by big machinery. I was carrying him to the car the other day and he saw some construction trucks working across the parking lot. He began shouting "Truck! Truck!" I held him for awhile, letting him watch them, but eventually I grew tired of it, as were my arms, so I told him to tell the trucks bye-bye and that we had to get in the car. He said "no!" More Trucks!" and then braced his hands against the door so that I couldn't get him in! I tried to get him in anyways and he started crying and calling for the trucks in a pathetic little voice. I felt bad, so explained that I would drive over to the trucks and let him watch them some more, but that we had to *drive* over there and that he needed to get in his car seat. To my surprise he actually stopped crying and said "kay." So I buckled him in, all the while telling him that we would drive to the trucks. He looked worried, but kept saying "truck" "kay." So we drove over there, I let him watch them a little while longer from his car seat, then we told the trucks "bye-bye" and drove home. He is *such* the little boy. :-)

Never a Dull Moment

2007-05-06T14:36:00.000-07:00

Our little daredevil, energizer bunny of a toddler never ceases to amaze me... he really does have a new trick every day, if not every hour. This week he has been focusing on what he can make his tiny, but quite capable, body do. He stands on his trike, tries to do somersaults, spins in circles until he's dizzy, climbs on anything and everything, "sits" on chairs (if you can call standing up and looking backwards "sitting," and "jumps" (his feet haven't left the floor yet, but his knees and arms sure do a lot of work). We spend a lot of time at the park and outdoors trying to satisfy his desire for physical challenges.

Not only is he working on gross motor skills, but his fine motor skills as well. He will sit for 20 minutes at a time playing with stickers. He points to the one he wants, wants patiently for mommy or daddy to peel it off for him, then he transfers it carefully from his own fingers to the paper. He is extremely dexterous! He also scribbles with crayons (even the thin ones), turns pages of books, and plays with cards (taking them in and out of their box). Those little fingers are always working.

He is talking *so* much these days and is refining some of his "older" words that weren't so understandable before. He is very good at telling us what he does and doesn't want. He also remembers events that happen during the day, and sometimes even several days ago and will mention them if his memory is jogged. We went to the doctor last week (to see if he had an ear infection, which he did *not* have. yay!), and when I told him we were going he said, "Ish!" (fish) "Achtor!" (doctor). "Yeah!" and ran to the door. He remember that the doctor's office has fish tanks and wanted to go. Later that night I was brushing his teeth and he touched his mouth and said "Mowff" (mouth) "Achtor." I was confused at first until I remembered that the doctor had looked in his mouth to see if he was teething. Then he went on to tell me that the doctor looked in his ears as well. I'm really surprised at his language development. He was kind of quiet as a baby, didn't really babble that much until maybe 9 or 10 months... but he was *so* observant. I think he must have been absorbing and processing and now is putting it to use.

Reshen has formed a strong attachment to one of his stuffed animals- a panda bear. Totally out of the blue! I have been trying to get him to become attached to a baby blanket and teddy bear since he was 6 months old, but he still doesn't really care about them. Then Friday he picked up his panda bear and didn't want to put it down- even for a bath! He has slept with it two nights in a row now and carries it downstairs with him in the morning. I have no idea why he has chosen this particular stuffed animal. Although he is also forming funny attachments to other objects too. He has been carrying around a piece of his blocks set all day (it has a butterfly on it and he keeps calling it "dye" (meaning "fly" I think). Toddlers are so funny like that- becoming obsessed with certain things for short periods of time. I wonder if his panda will become a permanent "lovey" or if it will pass as well.

We have had a rough couple of nights. After a really sleeping streak for a couple of months, he has woken up around 10 the past couple of nights just screaming and will not go back to sleep. Friday night he was up and down for about an hour. I thought that was bad until last night... 3 hours!!! No kidding. From 10 pm- 1 a.m. we were all awake. We tried everything- rocking, Tyelnol, milk, diaper change, pj change, sleeping in our bed, letting him cry a bit, turning on his night light, etc.. He didn't really act like he was in pain or sick, just that he couldn't sleep an didn't want to separated from us. He kept telling me "Mama. Rock." in a whiny tone. He just wanted me to hold and rock him. I was OK doing this for awhile, but not 3 hours! If he was with us, he was OK, but the second I laid him in his crib he would scream and thrash about. I'm wondering if he woke from a bad dream and was maybe in some kind of weird sleep state- like between sleep and awake and couldn't get back to sleep.. Like I said, he's not sick, no ear infection, he's fine and happy today. Teething maybe? He finally fell asleep after some more rocking around 1 a.m.. And then he tried to get up at 5:30 this morning!! I was able to rock him back to sleep then too and he slept until 7:15. *sigh* needless to say, we are all tired today. I really hope this doesn't happen again tonight.

He has become very adventurous with his food this past week. He will try almost anything now, he even ate a small piece of raw green pepper today! Meals have become a bit easier, as he will usually eat whatever Alan and I eat (as long as it is not too spicy or difficult to chew). Today he had a meatball sandwich (cut up, of course) and a veggie casserole containing eggplant, zucchini and tomatoes. He still prefers dairy products and carbs over anything, but it is nice that he is eating a better variety of veggies and meats these days. He loves going to Costco because of all the food samples they have. He points at them and says "Um!" (yum) even before he knows exactly what food it is. Perhaps he's becoming a foodie just like his daddy and mommy :-)

Mommy Madness

2007-04-28T21:23:00.000-07:00

Reshen has developed a case of "Mommy (and Daddy) Madness." He has to know where both mommy and daddy are at all times. He calls for us, runs after us, hugs and kisses us, and announces our presence in the room with glee. He likes to touch our personal objects (purse, coats, shoes, mugs, etc.) and delcare who it belongs to. He is so in love with us, his parents, it is really sweet. Today he sat on my lap facing me, looked deep into my eyes and said "Mama!" then he leaned in and kissed me square on the lips, gave me a huge bear hug and squealed with delight. How much more does a parent need? :-) The only downside is that he doesn't want to go to sleep- he'd rather be up playing with us. And now instead of just crying, he calls for us..."Mama, Mama, Dada, Dada..." in this pathetic, pleading little voice. Oh, little man....

We took Reshen to Chuck E Cheese's on Saturday for the first time. They had a toddler slide, so needless to say, he was in love :-) He paused long enough to eat some pizza and then was right back to playing. He was entranced by Chuck E Cheese, himself... a large robotic mouse. It would appear from behind a curtain, sing a song or two, and then disappear again. Reshen would watch slient and wide-eyed, but then would call for it as soon as it left. "Mouse! Mouse!" he would yell, "Go?" It made such an impression he talked about it for the rest of the day, "Mouse Bye-Bye," he kept saying.

Reshen is really showing just how much he comprehends these days. It's becoming increasingly easier to communicate with him. Today he became frantic because he wanted to watch Alan mow the lawn. I had to put his shoes on him first. A couple of weeks ago this might have progressed into a tantrum, as he would want to go outside that very second. Today, though, I told him that we needed to put his shoes on first and then we could see the mower. He paused and thought about it a second and then said "Kay" and sat down on the stairs for me to put his shoes on! How cool is that? :-) He still looked a little worried, saying "Mower." and looking at the door. I would respond, "Yes, we'll see the mower after we get your shoes on, OK?" "Kay." he would answer. What a good communicator he is becoming :-)

He is really into repetition lately. Everything we do, we have to do 100 times in a row it seems. After every song, book, action, etc., we do he shouts "more!" "again!" If we don't oblige he will shout it over and over. How many times in a row can you really listen to "Wheels on the Bus?!" I found that 5 is my limit... I'm really trying to get him attached to some different CDs, but those action songs are still his favorite and he asks to hear it the moment he's in his car seat. His singing is really improving, though, and he will "sing" an entire song now! I suppose I could listen to "Wheels on the Bus," a few more times just to hear that funny, sweet little voice sing along :-)

Yeah!

2007-04-22T14:17:00.000-07:00

"Yeah" is officially Reshen's new favorite word. And as most of his words, he usually voices it as an exclamation. Me: "Do you want more milk?" Reshen: "Yeah!" Me: "Do you see the bird?" Reshen: "Yeah! " Me: "Let's go bye-bye." Reshen: "Yeah!" It sure beats the constant "no" we were hearing before!

Reshen has collected a new obsession, almost rivaling his intense love of slides. Doors. He has to open them. He has to close them. He shouts "Door!" when he sees one. If there is something or someone he wants on the other side of a door, he gets frantic, calling out "(Name of object) Door!" over and over again. He still can't turn a doorknob (thank God!), but sure tries. I see those annoying childproof doorknob covers in our future.

Our big excitement this week was the evening that Reshen got half of a plastic Easter Egg stuck in his mouth. I don't know *how* he got it in there, but I freaked! The worst part, was that it was wedged so tight in there that the rim of it cut into his little gums :-( He was screaming and sobbing after I got it out and his mouth was bloody. :-( I felt like crying right along with him. It took awhile to calm him down, but after gnawing on some frozen yogurt he was OK. I also dabbed some oragel on his gums and gave him some Tylenol to help with any pain. Don't worry- he is fine now. I'm sure it hurt him in the moment, but it did no real damage. It was just scary for us. So if any of you have little ones, and some plastic Easter eggs lying around, you might want to put them out of reach.
The Easter Egg is not the only thing he tried to stick somewhere... I caught him trying to push a cracker crumb up his nose while he was eating. What is it with this kid and sticking objects into his nose and mouth? I'm know it has something to do with his intense curiosity, but it's wearing me out! I've already had to fish a pea out of his nose a month or so ago.

He's getting really good at stringing words together to get his point across. Today I was rocking him with his sippy of milk before naptime. When he finished it he sat up in my lap and announced "Gone!" I said "Yes, your milk is gone. Now we go to sleep." He pointed at his sippy and said "Milk (gilk)" then pointed at the door and said "Stairs" "Mama." I said "You want Mama to go downstairs and give you more milk?" "Yeah!" was his excited reply. How could I deny him after he put together that amazing "sentence?" :-)

Reshen is still working on his molars. I think the top two have come in, but the bottom too still have a ways to go I think. Some of the points are through, but you can tell much of each tooth is still buried. He's been a bit manic the past few days and fighting going to sleep again. Once he's asleep he's sleeping well (through the night) and taking adequate naps, but just getting him to sleep has been a challenge. He's taken to talking and squealing in his crib. He's never done this before- he was one of those babies that would either cry or sleep in the crib... never was the type to play by himself in there. But lately he's been having a good ol' time after I lay him down. I didn't mind at first because he was actually putting himself to sleep after playing for a bit. I was shocked the first day that happened. He had been squealing in delight about something up there and then there was *nothing.* Concerned I peeked into his room and there he was, sound asleep in his crib, all his blankets and animals on the floor below that he had apparently tossed out. But the past few days the playing ends in crying and screaming and then he *won't* go to sleep. Yesterday I went in during one of his crying spells and found that he had taken off his pants and socks! I had to laugh at that one. I'm sure if he wasn't wearing his onezie undershirt he would have had his diaper off too. But he spent an hour, yesterday, cycling between the playing and the crying (with me coming in and laying him back down) before I finally rocked him. He needed that nap *so* badly and was showing all of his tired signs, but he just didn't want to give in I guess. As most of his sleep issues have gone, I'm sure this one will change in a week. He's consistent about one thing- being inconsistent.

His singing skills are evolving still. Now he'll "sing" songs out of the blue. The other day he was playing and began saying "Baby GaGa, Baby GaGa," over and over again in a sing-song voice and doing some hand motions. I wasn't sure at first what he was talking about and then realized he was singing "Baby Beluga." I started singing it and he grinned really big and began grooving and singing with me. I love how he just thinks of these songs while he's going about his business and starts to sing them. So cool! I wonder if he'll be into music when he grows older. Whatever he decides to do, I'm sure he'll do it with determination and gusto :-)

The Little Man

2007-04-16T20:28:00.000-07:00

When did my little baby become a little man? He's been such a funny, cheeky, expressive little fellow this past week. Even the mommies of my nanny charges have commented on how much older he seems lately. He's such a *kid* all of a sudden!

Today he ran up to me an said "Juice!" I was reading a book to Luke, so told Reshen I would get him some in a minute, after I was finished with the page I was reading. Being only 16 months, he didn't want to wait a minute and said "Juice!" again, touching my arm and leaning into my face. I again told him just a minute. He then proceeded to tug at my arm and tried to physically pull me into the kitchen! He *really* knew what he wanted and that was for me to pour him some juice. We need to work on that patience. At least he gave me a very sweet "thank you" when I finally gave it to him.

He is very into slides and sees them everywhere. The other day he noticed the couch cushion at an angle and told us it was a slide. He then spent close to 20 minutes "sliding" down it (it was a short ride, but he didn't care). He does excellent at the park now and can go down the toddler slides all by himself. All I have to say is "Let's go to the slide," and he practically climbs into the stroller himself. He saw a *huge* slide at Costco yesterday and was extremely excited about it- too bad it was only a display model and out of reach.

He still loves vacuuming and will grab his own little vacuum every time I use mine. Today he had such a fun time of it, he kept announcing "more!" every time I turned mine off. I ended up vacuuming one more room than I had planned just because he was enjoying it so much.

One of the funniest developments has been his singing. Yes, our boy now sings :-) I play his British Action Songs CD in the car and he will pick out a word and "sing" it at the right moment. For Wheels on the Bus it is the word "All" in the chorus. It's *so* cute and hilarious. He's loud and very off-key, but his timing is perfect! Even though I am so sick of that CD, I play it anyways just to hear him sing.

He has really begun to show beginnings of make-believe. He plays with his doll, feeding it a bottle while making little eating motions with his own mouth. He also likes to take the doll's diaper on and off, and sometimes we wrap it in a blanket and pretend it is asleep. He also likes to load up his little school bus with "guys" (as he calls them) and push it around saying "bye-bye."

He has shown more interest in potty-related ideas. The other day we were at a store and he suddenly grabbed his diaper and said "diaper!" "pee pee!" He did it again when we got home, so I changed him and he was wet. He also will poo and tell me "diaper!" Now this doesn't happen all the time, just every once in awhile, but it's a start. There have also been some times he wants his diaper changed and it's not even wet, so I don't know what's up with that. I think we are going to buy a potty chair this weekend so he can get a little familiar with it. I don't expect him to actually use it yet (I don't even know if he can physically control it yet), but I figure there is no harm in introducing it.

He is saying *so* many words these days. I've actually stopped keeping track because he really tries to say almost everything. I love how he'll pick a word out of a sentence I say and repeat it. He's also saying more two word phrases. This is just a *small* sample of what new things he has been saying lately:

carrot (ker-tit)
whale
mine
blanket (un-ket)
basket (as-ket)
egg
guys
tractor (truh-ter)

His phrases lately have to do with people or objects leaving: "cat go?" "dada bye-bye" "kaka (one of our friends) car" and of course there is still the "no mine!"

I'm always excited to see what the little man is going to do next :-)

Easter Fun

2007-04-09T20:39:00.000-07:00

Happy Easter! We had a fun Easter Holiday. On Friday, I held an Easter Egg Hunt for Reshen and the kiddos I nanny for (Luke and Lucy). It involved much instruction from me (Pick up the egg! Put it in you basket! Yay!), but it was still fun and cute to watch. Perhaps he'll "get" the idea a bit better next year.

On Sunday morning he got a special basket from the Easter Bunny (mommy and daddy). He didn't get one last year (he was only 4 months old), so this was a first for us. I had a lot of fun putting it together. It contained some Color Wonders Markers (the kind that only work on special paper) and a Color Wonders Finding Nemo coloring book, a book about spring, some Bunny links that snap together, a box of Animal Cookies, and a few plastic eggs with fruit snacks inside of them. He really got excited about it and played with all of it (including the basket) all morning :-)

Later I dressed him in a cute little Easter outfit (nothing special, but a little nicer than he usually wears) and took some photos outside while it was still sunny.

We had lots of good eats on Easter too. Reshen inhaled some carrot cake and also enjoyed the ham, pineapple, deviled eggs, and green bean casserole that we had for dinner. Yummy!

Pure Love

2007-04-02T19:29:00.000-07:00

How wonderful it is to be a mother and have a child to love. I truly don't think a greater love exists in this world. It is the purest form. No baggage. No expectations. No disappointments. Just pure, deep, intense, uncomplicated love.

How lucky I am to receive the sweetest unsolicited hugs and kisses from a little person whose heart holds only adoration for me. How lucky I am to be called "mama" and clung to when he needs comfort and reassurance. When he was born I didn't think I could possibly love him any more, but every day a miraculous thing happens- I wake up, hold his snuggly little body against mine, and my heart swells. I have been overflowing with love for him lately... rocking him at bedtime and crying because I love him so much. I am crying right now because I'm writing about it.

I can't kiss him enough, can't hug him enough. I am amazed, elated, entertained, and proud of each and every one of his accomplishments every day. I can't believe he was not in this world 2 years ago. I can't believe I played a part in making him. I can't believe I'm his mommy.

He is perfect. He is pure joy. He is mine. :-).

More!

2007-03-31T20:57:00.000-07:00

More! That is the word of the week. Reshen uses it with gusto all day- "more" food, "more" of his tv show, "more" of that story, "more" of that song, "more" of that game, "more" of that dog that just ran away... he even says it to himself when he wants to do something over again. It's so funny how he's *really* grasped that concept now and uses it!

He's also begun saying "Thank You," although it sounds more like "tee too" when you give him something or he gives something to you :-) I'm so happy that he's picked this up. I've never even prompted him to say it- he must just hear it from me and from the kids I nanny for. It's *so* cute to hear in his little sweet voice. I hope he keeps it up!

He is also beginning to use more 2 word phrases. What I've heard him say:

No Mine!
More Cheese
Bye DaDa
Bur (bird) Go?

He doesn't use them consistently yet, but every now and then he'll utter 2 words close together enough that they seem like a phrase. Cool!

He's also tackling some more "difficult" words these days. Some new words he's saying:

Broccoli (gawk-i)
Tiger
Motorcycle (ki-kyle)
Helicopter (cop-ker)
Beep Beep (for a bus)
Eat
Poopy
Hand

On Friday we played "Ring Around the Rosie" with Luke and Lucy. Reshen thought that was hilarious. Luke, Lucy, and I would "fall" down at the appropriate time and Reshen would watch us with glee and then say "oun! (down)" and do a slow, dramatic fall to the floor. Then he would pop up and say "more, more, ash, ash (ashes, as in part of the song)."

He also tells me to do certain songs and games with him. He is getting better at communicating excatly which ones he wants, through words and hand motions, but I'm still at a loss sometimes. I feel bad when I can't figure out excatly which one he wants. If I get it wrong he'll say "No, No," and shake his head, like "come on, mom, that's not right!"

He's been using "MaMa" *a lot* lately. I can't be out of the room a second that he's not calling for me. He also uses it to get my attention when I'm right there. He'll climb into my lap saying "Mama, Mama!" and then will tell me what he wants (well sort of).

I've realized I really need to watch what I say and do in front of him now. I was talking to Alan in the car today and Reshen was reading in the back in his car seat. I said something about the LoneStar Steakhouse and Reshen shouts "Star! Star!" He had no idea what we were really talking about but really likes stars at the moment, so was excited that we said that word, I guess. I thought it was funny that he was actually listening to our conversation, though, as we weren't talking to him at all :-)

Oh, and he showed me how he picks up things I do... Sometimes Chancey, our cat, tries to get out the door when I open it, and I push him out of the way with my foot (not roughly, mind you), and I say "No Chancey." The other day Chancey was hanging out by the garage door and Reshen walked up to him, stuck out his little foot at him and said "No!" It made me laugh, but also made me realize I need to make it a point to be nicer to Chancey around the little man!

Reshen is really into drawing right now. Ok, so it's actually scribbling, but he thinks he's drawing :-) One of our favorite activities is to draw with sidewalk chalk outside. He plops himself down in the driveway and we both scribble away. I draw something, like an elephant or a dog and he shouts out the name and does the appropriate sound and then scribbles over it. We draw animals, shapes and letters. He could do that all afternoon I think. He thinks all letters are either an S, B, or M right now, and all shapes are Triangles, and every color is Blue ;-) But at least he's getting the concept! He pretends he's writing and will say "eh-s (S)," "B," eh-m (M)"! I'm really amazed at how much he's been absorbing lately.

I love to watch him play these days. He gets so focused sometimes. He likes to take out all his cards (flash cards and uno cards) and sticks them, one-by-one through the slats in his Crawl-n-Cruise toy. When he begins to run out, I push them back through for him and he'll start all over again. He will play with those cards for a long time... he also likes to move them in and out of containers and boxes. He is so serious and quiet when he plays with them.

He has also been playing with his Weebles toys a lot lately. He likes to make them go down the slide (and makes a great sound effect for it) and announcing "up, oun (down) before and after they make their descent. He also likes to put his Weebles into other objects (like the ball chutes in his crawl-n-cruise and in mommy's backpack). I had to laugh when I found my laptop bag full of Weebles today :-)

I just love my little man. :-)

Wide Feet Blues

2007-03-25T20:20:00.000-07:00

Turns out our little man's feet are not so little. Noticing that his current shoes were a bit too snug, we went shoe shopping this weekend. We knew his feet were on the wide side, but were surprised when even the wides were not fitting him. After two days of searching (selection for wide toddler shoes is horrible, by the way), we finally broke down and drove all the way to the North Bend Outlet mall (60 miles away) to visit the Stride Rite store. He was fitted there in extra wide shoes! So currently our bubby is wearing a 5 1/2 xw. It's sad for mommy because it severely restricts our shoe choices... there are SO many cute boy shoes out there (and cheap too), but now we don't have much to pick from.. and they are not cheap. :-( But what is important is that our little guy has comfortable, healthy feet.

Reshen has been *such* a toddler lately. First of all, he has begun throwing more defiant tantrums. He will scream "No, no no!" and then launch himself into the screaming and crying when he gets upset now. We had an episode at the Nordstroam Rack today when I wouldn't let him climb on the shoe racks. He *was* tired, so I understand where it came from, but it still is embarrassing. We are just not giving into the fits, but also try to divert his attention and make him forget why he is throwing them.

He has also begun to stick objects in his nose. Yesterday I had to fish a pea out of it! I have to say, even with all my experience with toddlers, I was not ready for this one! Now I watch him more carefully if he is eating anything small and round.

I have been so amazed with his language development. Today at the shoe store he started standing and then squatting and announcing "up!" "oun (down)!" over and over again. He was so proud :-) He has also started saying "on" ("off" used to mean both on and off). He was playing with his socks in the car and kept saying "on, off, on, off" and then would chuckle to himself. What a funny guy.

He is such the helper lately. He puts everything away (except for his toys of course). If he sees something on the floor that goes on a table or in a drawer he picks it up and puts it away as best he can. Today he picked up a paper towel from the floor, threw it in the trash can and then tried to pull the trash can into the broom closet, where it usually is. I was impressed! He also LOVES the broom and will "sweep" for a long time. I just hope he is always this helpful :-)

Words he has added to his vocabulary:

Rice
On
Down (oun)
Stick
Store
Juice
Grandpa (gan pa)
Book
Monkey (meh key)
Baby
Diaper (deh per)
Cheese
Peas

He's begun playing "games" with us. Yesterday I was in the kitchen and Reshen was playing in his hat drawer nearby. I heard his cute little voice say "bye bye" and looked up to see him standing there with his sun hat on his head. He then waved and grined at me and took off running towards the door, stopping every so often to say "bye bye" again and wave with that silly grin on his face. When he got to the door he started giggling and then ran back to me. It's so neat to watch his sense of humor developing.

Last Monday we took Reshen to the doctor because of goopy, swollen eyes. It turns out he had a common upper respiratory virus that causes goopy eyes and other cold symptoms. She gave us some eye drops and said it should go away. He did run a fever for a few days and didn't sleep well, but he seems to be healthy now. Let's hope it lasts!

Sunny Days

2007-03-17T20:38:00.000-07:00

We've had some really nice warm weather here lately. Yesterday was 65 and simply goregous! It was so nice to open all the windows and let the wonderful spring breeze refresh the house. Reshen and I spent the afternoon outside. It's no secret that he loves the outdoors, but he especially seemed to enjoy himself in the warm sunshine. I taught him how to pick dandelions and smell them. He thought that was really neat and would toddle over to one, pick it, and then hold it up to his mouth while breathing in and out really hard through his nose (trying to smell it). He would then hold it up to me and say "mell!" He calls flowers "oweh" Hey, it's close :-)

He really loves the park and scares mommy to death with his confidence. He likes the slide (which he calls "ide" and also makes a sound effect for it. Sorry I can't replicate the sound effect, you just have to hear it). He goes down the slide on his belly, feet first thankfully. What scares me is how he likes to walk around on the play structures, which are not always fully enclosed. I'm so afraid he's going to fall over the edge of one. He's also really into steps and will walk down them without even hesitating, whether I'm there or not! To his credit, he does do really well on them- even uses the hand rails- but he's not 100% steady yet and also tries to tackle big steps (way too steep for his little legs). He also loves big kids and wants to do what they are doing.. which means he's always trying to play on the big kid play area, which I'm not ready for yet, and also thinks he can use a big kid swing, as opposed to the baby swing. He's not even 16 months yet and thinks he's 4 years old!

One of his new developments has been the concept of "stuck." He now pushes trucks and other objects around and when they run into anything else he announces "stuck!" and then backs it up and goes around it. It's really cute.

More words he is saying:

Flower (oweh)
Smell (mell)
Stuck
Nemo (mo)
Giraffe (ahf)
Splash (ash)
Turtle (tuh-tuh)
Slide (ide)
Dog
Frog(agh)
Jack (ack)
Luke (uhk)

He really likes music and singing and dancing. Sometimes he'll pick up his Elmo and start swaying back and forth with it saying "la la la" and then I have to sing the Elmo song for him. Or he'll pick up his Baby Einstein Dragon and dance with it and then hold it out to me so I can push the button and make it play the music. This morning he was watching Little Einsteins and one of the characters was singing a funny nonsense song and shaking his head. Reshen grinned and started doing the same thing. Now if I sing that song to him he shakes his head crazily. He also still adores the British Action Songs CD from Lucy and dances around the room and does the motions for Wheels on the Bus, I'm a Little Teapot, Head Shoulders Knees and Toes, etc..

He is becoming very interested in TV. He's always enjoyed bits of it from time to time, but now gets *really* into certain programs. His very favorite thing to watch right now is the movie "Finding Nemo." He says "ish ish! (fish)" and pushes buttons on the DVD player when he wants to see it. I limit it to evenings when I'm getting dinner ready and he is over tired (from those mini naps he's been taking). He sits right down and grins in anticipation. He doesn't watch the whole thing (nor do I want him to), but mostly just the middle (as I begin it a bit into the movie). He now recognizes Nemo on his blanket and poster in his room and likes his Nemo bath toy. He mostly calls it "ish" but also says "mo" for Nemo."

He's also taken a shine to Mickey Mouse Clubhouse on the Disney Channel and Big Big World on PBS. He actually got upset last night because he only saw the last 2 minutes of Big Big World. He kept saying "more, more!" but it was over. I don't mind him watching TV a little bit, but am seeing that I might have to actually put a *real* limit on it soon.

Reshen's eyes have been a little "goopy" the past couple of days. He's also been really resisting sleep. *sigh* I'm really hoping this is not another ear infection. I'm giving it till Monday and if it's not better I guess we will have to go to the doctor again. It's really been going around at my nanny gig. All the kids have been sick with something and they keep giving it to each other. But that is life I guess.

15-Month Well Baby Check

2007-03-12T21:02:00.000-07:00

We had our 15-month well-baby check last Thursday. Reshen is doing great. He weighed 23lbs 8oz and was 31.5 inches tall. That puts him in the 32nd percentile for weight and 57th percentile for height. He's actually jumped up in percentiles for height and is being pretty consistent with his weight gain.

The doctor was impressed with his development skills. She said he seemed like a 2-year old stuck in a 15 month-old's body :-) She also kept saying what a sweetheart he was. I already knew that though :-) She also checked his ears and they are all clear- yea!

One thing I talked with her about was starting him on a multi-vitamin, since veggies are still touch and go. He used to eat everything, but lately has gotten so picky. I know it is normal for his age, so am hoping it is only a phase, but it is driving me crazy! The only veggies he will eat right now are potatoes, carrots (but only if they are baby carrots that are baked in the oven and seasoned AND they cannot be cut up), cauliflower if it is smother in cheese, and he actually had a few beets yesterday which was shocking. But right now he won't eat peas, green beans, corn, asparagus, or broccoli. I have tried them in all kinds of forms. He even separates them out of casseroles and omelets. Today I snuck some baby food vegetables into his spaghetti sauce and he didn't notice, so I will try that way more often. But still I am afraid he is not getting enough vitamins, so have started him on a toddler multi-vitamin just to be sure.

So what *does* he eat, you may ask. He LOVES dairy... milk, yogurt, and cheese are his favorite foods for sure. He will also eat pretty much any fruit- fresh or canned. Bananas are his favorite. He also likes apples, strawberries, mandarin oranges (canned), peaches, pears, kiwi, and pineapple. Those are what we have been eating lately, but I am sure he would love any other fruit too. He also likes carbs- bread, crackers, noodles. Protein can be hard to get in him sometimes, other than dairy. He will eat eggs and peanut butter, and humus, so that is good, but I am trying to get him to like chicken and beans too. It's amazing toddlers can still grow with their picky eating habits!

Another frustrating development in the past couple weeks has been his 30-minute napping streak. I think he's transitioning from two naps to one, but it's not going smoothly! He resists the morning nap, but then when he *does* go to sleep around noon he only sleeps for 30 minutes and then wakes up crying. I try to get him back to sleep, but it doesn't usually work. I then have to keep him up for the rest of the day (usually) because if he naps too late it messes up his bedtime. It's driving me CRAZY! He and I both need him to sleep more than 30 minutes during the day. I'm hoping it will work itself out. He did take a good 1.5 hour nap on Sunday, but today was back to a half-hour. Maybe in time he'll get it figured out.

He is still collecting those words. Here are some more he has added:

Cracker
Moon
Car
Bus
Tree (tee)
Blue (boo)
Purple (puh-puh)

He has started pretending to write. It is so cute. He scribbles and says very deliberately "Eh-s, Eh-s" Like he's saying that he's writing the letter "S." I think he picked this up from Luke and Lucy who I am teaching letters to. He also says "M" (Eh-M). I don't think he recognizes the unique letters, but knows that they have a connection to writing. Cool!

He also knows that colors have something to do with crayons. He heard the word "purple" on TV and said "Puh-puh!" and ran to the crayons. Of course I had to let him play with them then :-) He doesn't seem to know which one *is* purple, but knows that one of them is :-)

What a cool little guy he is becoming :-)

Developmental Leaps

2007-03-03T19:47:00.000-08:00

I'm so amazed at the little "person" our bubs is becoming. This week he has astounded me with his rapidly-increasing vocabulary, as well as the new ways he is enganing in and trying to control his world.

Words he said this week for the first time:

Done
More (mah)
Bubble (buh-ba)
Snow (no)
Banana (na)
Milk (ilchk)
Ball (bah)
Truck (uhck)
Bus (us)
Water (wah-uh)
Yuck (eh-uck!)
Bye (ba)
Eye
Nose (nus)

He's really into ducks these days and thinks all birds are ducks. He especially gets excited by Big Bird (from Sesame Street) for some reason and shouts "d-uck!" We don't bother to tell him that Big Bird is not a duck, as we're not really sure just what kind of bird he is anyways. He doesn't even watch Sesame Street, so I'm not sure why he loves him so much, but it is funny. We have cereal/fruit bars with Big Bird on the label and he likes to get into the cabinet and pull them out and bring them to me, shouting "d-uck! d-uck! qwak qwak!" He then has to eat one. :-)

Today he surprised us by showing that he makes a connection between pooping and getting his diaper changed. He made a poo and then ran over to where we keep his changing pad downstairs. He got it out of the drawer, laid it on the floor and then laid ontop of it without ANY prompting from us at all. Maybe a good sign for potty training in the future? :-)

He really follows direction pretty well for his age I think. Today at WalMart he wanted out of the cart, so daddy obliged. Against my warnings, Alan put him down and let him walk. I thought for sure he would be ALL over the place and taking things off shelves, etc., but instead he held Alan's hand and walked beside him for the most part. Eventually, he did decide to act like a toddler and wouldn't leave things alone, but he lasted a lot longer than I thought he would. He also is beginning to follow alongisde us when we are walking outside. He used to have no sense of distance or direction, but I can see it's developing now.

He is still really into action songs and finger plays. We go to Book Babies at the library on Thursdays and he just absorbs it all. Every time we sing a hello song while the leader holds a dog puppet and has it greet the kids. I sang that same song to Reshen yesterday and he said "uff! uff!" He made the connection to Book Babies and thought of the dog! So cute!

He really likes "Two Little Blackbirds" right now and always wants me to do it with him, especially when he's in the bathtub for some reason. He holds his hands behind his back and says "uh uh!" and stares at me until I do it (the blackbrids (your fingers )fly away and hide behind your back in the song).

He likes to mimic counting on fingers. I count and raise each finger as I go until I get to 5. He then looks at his own fingers and wiggles them around and says "do, do do!" in the same tone and cadence I use. He also points to objects in books and does the same thing, like he's counting them. I think he picks up a lot of what I do with Luke and Lucy (the 2 and 3 year olds I nanny for).

He likes to put objects away... like when he's done eating he "helps" me clean up by putting all his unwanted food back on his plate. He puts his toys back in their containers sometimes, and today put his changing pad back in the drawer. Of course, you'd never know he could do this by the looks of his play area... but I guess it's a start :-)

Tooth #8 has finally pushed through. It's his lower second right tooth if you want to know specifics. He also is getting his first molar. His upper right molar is just beginning to poke through (the front end is through the gum, but it looks like the rest still has a ways to go). Fun, fun. I'm blaming that on his screwy napping this week. I thought maybe he was finally transitioning to one nap per day, as he sometimes doesn't seem to want the morning one. So this week I didn't push the morning nap and sometimes waited until 12 to put him down. But then he would only sleep 30 minutes and wake crying and crabby! Let me tell you- 30 minutes is NOT long enough for either of us. He's also been waking a little bit at night and also waking early in the morning.... I'm hoping it's just teething and not his ears again/still. We just finished our last of the 2nd round of antibiotics. I'm SO hoping that killed it. We have his 15 month check-up on Thursday, so I will know for sure then. *crossing fingers*

This week he pointed out body parts- he pointed to the eye of Nemo (on his blankie) and said "eye!" He also points to mine if I ask him where it is. He also pointed to his own nose and said "nus." He's so obsessed with my hair, but doesn't say anything for it yet. He's always playing with it and pulling it (not so much fun) and messing it up. I'm trying to teach him to be soft. He's always been like that with my hair- I thought he would have grown out of it by now... he's kind of weird... :-)

He really likes to say "neh" (no) and shake his head these days. You can ask him about anything and he will shake his head no. One exceptionally tiring day this week I asked him, "Reshen, are you driving mama crazy?" He shook his head and said very matter-of-factly "neh, neh, na" Made me laugh. Now he knows it's funny and grins while he's doing it, even if you ask him "do you want to eat?" (which he always does). We're working on nodding the head and saying "yes" (which he did do today- yea!).

He's been so cute at bedtime lately. When I lay him down he scoots over to his baby bear and his ellie elephant and tucks one under each arm. I then cover him up with his fleece teddy blanket and he snuggles down. He's so sweet that it's almost hard to leave him in there :-) I said ALMOST... I do look very forward to 7pm when I can exist outside of being "mommy" for a few hours :-) That said, here I am at 8:30 typing away about my boy. I guess you never really do take a complete break from being mommy :-)

Dancing Leaves

2007-02-24T20:35:00.000-08:00

Today Reshen was fascinated by leaves blowing in the wind. A huge gust would roll into the culdesac and kick the leaves up into the air, sending them dancing in twists and twirls along the ground. He would stand transfixed for a moment and then burst out in laughter. The gust would leave as suddenly as it came and everything would be still again. Reshen would stare at the leaves, expecting them to keep moving. When nothing happened after a few seconds he would smile and stomp over to a leaf and then do his "funny feet dance" around it, as if he was showing it how to dance again. Every leaf got this show until the wind visited again and sent the leaves upwards once more. We stayed outside until our hands were icicles and our cheeks red.

What a magical afternoon...

Update on the ears and some new words

2007-02-23T20:26:00.000-08:00

What a week it has been...

I took Reshen back to the doctor on Tuesday and found out that his ears are still infected. His left ear was really bad still, and the right was borderline. Poor guy. He's now on a new round of antibiotics. Hopefully they will do the trick this time.

On top of that, he is also teething. I can see tooth #8 just below the surface. The combination has made for some very *interesting* days and long nights. Between the ear drops, antibiotics, baby tylenol, and teething gel, this kid is getting way too familiar with medicines. Now when he sees any of his medications he points to his ear or to his mouth and says "dat?" Problem is, then he wants them and this usually leads to a small tantrum.

He is learning so many new words. Since I last wrote, he now says "off," "done," "neh" (no), "meh" (more) and roars for a lion. "Off" means a lot of things (out, down, off, on) and is usually an exclamation. Now every morning the first thing he says to me is "off!" as he's lifting his leg up and trying to climb out of his crib. He also likes to take his shoes, socks, and bibs off while shouting "off!"

His favorite book right now is "10 Minutes Till Bedtime." He gets excited about each page and waves, kisses the pictures, and does other actions along with the story. So cute!

Reshen loves to be outside and doesn't need anything to entertain him other than nature itself. He loves to carry around rocks, sticks, leaves, etc., and marvels at birds in the sky, squirrels on the fence, and the neighbor dog. Sometimes I'll bring out sidewalk chalk and let him scribble on our driveway. He also has a ride-in car, and likes to climb in and out of it. I brought out some other toys the other day, but he only wanted *me* to carry them. Funny kid.

Fun, Chatty Valentine's Day

2007-02-14T20:31:00.000-08:00

How wonderful it is to have two special "men" in my life now. Sure, one of them is just barely 2 feet tall and has a pot belly (yes, I mean Bubby), but he is mommy's little man just the same.

My "big" man gave me the sweetest card. It's really all he has to do, as long as he puts effort into it (and he does). We don't go all out for these "holidays"- we're so romantic, aren't we? :-)

He's such a great guy and wonderful husband and father- gentle, caring, helpful, intelligent. I really lucked out with him.

My "little" man was such a sweetheart today. I just wanted to shower him with endless hug and kisses, and he obliged for the most part. He reciprocated with many of his own sloppy kisses and would roll around in my lap loving on me. I was in Bubby Bliss today :-)

This afternoon I picked up a couple bags brimming with free toys and toddler clothes from our local Freecycle group. It's such a great thing- people post items they want to give away and others reply if they want them. I've gotten Bubs a bag of toy trucks, a large ride-in car, and now these bags of toys and clothes. The little guy had a great time inspecting his new toys after he woke from his nap. I think I had more fun than he did, just watching him.

Bubby is really chatty these days. Yesterday he began saying "kchh"- like the K sound at the end of "duck," - only exaggerated. He was quite pleased with himself. Today he actually said "clock" and "duck" using that sound. No one else would have understood him, of course, but I totally knew what he was saying. He has also started saying "um" for "yum" when we are eating or even looking at pictures of food. Today he said "um" at a picture of vegetables and then planted his mouth on the book pretending he was eating it. Funny- he won't eat real veggies but swoons over pictures of them :-)

I love hearing his language develop. These are "words" he says currently:

aht- hot (with waving of the hands)

uht- open, close, in, out, down, on, off

dat, dhat, uh-zat - that, what's that, look at that

uff- woof (dog)

mmm- moo (cow)

duht, duh-kcht - duck

gat- quack

zzz- buzz (bee)

vmmm- vroom (car)

ump- chomp (with hand motions) alligator

ba- bye

mama - mommy and as a whine

dada- daddy

ca-kch - clock

shhh- shoe

ahd- head

tsh- teeth

uh-oh

I'm sure there are others that he says- perhaps those that I don't understand or ones that come and go. It's so fun to be able to interact with him more each day.

I just love my little man :-)

Ups and Downs

2007-02-10T21:12:00.000-08:00

Bubs was such a cutie today. Things he did today to make me smile:

1. Danced his crazy "funny feet" jig to banjo music
2. Squealed with delight when "I'm a Little Teapot" began and did the tipping motion at the appropriate time
3. Kissed me full on the mouth (many times today)
4. Hugged me throughout WalMart
5. Vacuumed alongside me with his new little vacuum
6. Pointed at every fish he could see at Tacos Del Mar and said "daht? ish! ish!"
7. Flashed me his huge cheesy grin

Bubs was such a terror today. Things he did today to make me frown:

1. Ran to the front door when we were leaving and then screamed and threw a tantrum when we had to leave through the garage door instead
2. Got into every cabinet he's not allowed into and screamed and stomped his feet every time we had to tell him "no" (baby proofing, honey? please!!)
3. Screamed and arched his back when I tried to put him in his car seat
4. Wouldn't play with any of his toys- only wanted to run around the house as a "bubby tornado"
5. Did not want to sit in the carts at any of the stores we went to (although I did get a nice, long hug out of it.... but still, he's heavy!!)
6. Screamed and put up a struggle when I had to put his shoes and coat on him

Talk about Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde. That was our bubby today. I do think his ears are better, so I'm blaming teething today.

At least I recalled more things that made me smile, than things that made me frown. Perhaps that's the key to staying sane while parenting a toddler :-)

Not So Blissful Today

2007-02-07T21:09:00.000-08:00

My blog title may be Bubby Bliss, but ironically my first post finds us far from that. We are in the midst of ear infections- in BOTH ears, mind you- combined with a nasty upper respiratory cold and teething. Who wouldn't be crabby?

He really is quite the trooper- trying so hard to be his happy, funny little self. He plays, giggles, dances, and spins himself silly, but then bursts out in tears with his next breath and reaches for me pathetically. "Edgy" describes his demeanor today. Constantly on the verge of a meltdown. He is not sleeping well- hit or miss during the day and wakes often at night. I'm sure his ears bother him when he's lying down. My poor guy. He hasn't been sick much in his first 14 months- I'm simply not used to it.

He's sleeping right now- has beens since 7pm and it's 9:30pm right now. Here's hoping we all get a good rest tonight.