Planes, Trains and Automobiles

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

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



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

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

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

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

Tidbits

Some random things my boy has said lately:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Some Potty Success!

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

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

Big Boy Bubby

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Buggy the Lobster

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

My boy said he wanted a lobster.

Yes. A lobster.

And he would name it “Buggy.”

My kid is so weird.

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

Reshen Update

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

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.