Tide Pools

This afternoon, B and I went and checked out one of our favorite beaches. We needed some more sand for his sand box and it was nice, though a bit chilly, to get out of the house. We were surprised that the tide was out further than it had been the other times we had visited and there were plenty of tide pools to explore. We saw tons of hermit crabs and some anemones.



After exploring the tide pools for a few minutes and showing B all the hermit crabs, I went back up to the beach and collected just a few shells. B joined me and noticed that there were quite a few broken pieces of the type of shell that the hermit crabs live in. So he started collecting those.



Then we went back to the tide pools to look around some more and I took a few pictures with my phone. Meanwhile, a few feet away, B was busy collecting more hermit crab shells in his little cup- only these still had the crabs! When I went over and noticed what he was doing, I explained to him that we couldn't take the crabs home with us because their home was the ocean; they needed it and they wouldn't be happy at our home because we don't have the ocean.



He argued only a tiny bit and then immediately seemed to grasp what I was saying. I was a little surprised at how quickly he agreed and began helping me gently return them to the water. It was a proud moment.

All in all, a good day.

Slow Down, Mommy! Slow Down!

This week, my 27, almost 28 month old has begun correcting my driving. He (fairly randomly although sometimes perhaps accurately) has been shouting out "Slow Down, Mommy! Slow Down!" as we make our way through our day.
He certainly comes by his backseat driving naturally and as amusing as is it now it may not continue to be so as time goes by...

Today, driving home from the aquarium, in between his commentary regarding my driving skills, with his little brown stuffed horse in hand, he told me "Get bigger, ride a horse." Meaning, when he gets bigger he wants to ride a horse. I told him I thought that was a great idea and he said "Yeah!" in this tone of voice like "Duh!". It was too sweet. I can't wait to see him up on a horse.

On another subject, he went through a period the last 2 months or so where he would only watch a certain show during dinner and finally the last two days he let us watch a different show...hallelujah!

Once again, I am just sharing little tidbits from the week. I feel sure there is more I'm forgetting- I guess if I think of something I will post again!

Stealing Kisses and Making a Fast Exit

A few brief stories from this past week:

At the aquarium this afternoon, I was sitting about 20 feet away and B went up to a little girl about a year younger than him and planted several kisses on her! I thought it was just too cute. Of course when I realized what was going on I walked over and said "Have you found a new friend?" Her parents did not seem that pleased about it. Oh well.

Interestingly, for the past few days, he has been suddenly fascinated with "EXIT" signs, like the lit-up emergency exits inside stores. Every time he sees one he points it out and yells "Exit" and then he usually talks about the color of the letters. I am most bewildered about the origin of this sudden interest. We don't remember pointing one out to him. But they are apparently his new favorite thing.
In other news, he has a "doodle-pro" magnetic drawing tablet that we've been keeping in the car and the other day as GH was driving, I sat in the back with him and I was making letters with him. I showed him that "W" upside down looks like "M" and "Z" sideways looks like "N". He thought that was hilarious. Sometimes he draws a letter and tells us what it is - it doesn't always look correct, but I love that he tries. He did a "C" this afternoon that was pretty good!

Last night, GH asked B to pick up some of his toys, and he immediately responded "Papi, stop messing [with] [B]'s life!" We burst out laughing and made him repeat it because we couldn't believe what we'd just heard. Sure enough, the second time was more of the same! We were especially amused because neither of us say this kind of thing, so we have no idea where he came up with that.

I need to go get him in bed. I just wanted to catch up a little with the latest happenings before I forget it all!

Dinosaurs at the Aquarium

So, GH was desperate for some "alone time" this afternoon so he could get some work done at home...and B really needed some quality time outside our home. He just has so - much - energy!!! It is amazing really.

Anyway, we headed once again to the Aquarium. Our yearly membership runs out at the end of this month and we aren't planning to renew, so we are trying to pack in the visits.

We enjoyed a walk along the shoreline before we headed inside. The weather was just so lovely it was impossible to resist. Then we had to move our car because we were at a 2 hour meter- which also meant we had to find change - which in turn meant we had to find cash, something that rarely makes an appearance in my wallet.

This meant a lot of walking back and forth and back again. Advantage- used a lot of B's excess energy. Disadvantage- required a lot of energy that I was rapidly running out of.

Eventually, we made it to our original goal, with only one tear-shedding incident- that was me, when B mercilessly yanked my hair in both hands as he was "helping" feed the meter. Yeah.

Anyway, we made it, and I was mercifully not bald (I double-checked in the bathroom).

I asked what he wanted to see first and he immediately said "otters," so we headed that direction, with a slight detour at one of the large tanks that has several sharks, rays, tuna, etc. Very cool.

When we got over to the otter area, it was the end of their feeding/play time, so we watched for a few minutes. As we walked back downstairs, B said "Dinosaur!". Huh? I turned around and spotted this whale skeleton.




So I explained that although it resembled a dinosaur skeleton, it was actually a whale skeleton, all the while going over in my mind how he had even drawn that conclusion. He has never been to a museum with a dinosaur skeleton that I remember, certainly not in any recent months. The only dinosaurs he's ever seen that I am aware of have been either on "Curious George" - who does often go to museums with dinosaur skeletons - cartoon dinosaur skeletons, and on "Dinosaur Train," another PBS cartoon, but it does have a paleontologist at the end, and perhaps shows skeleton photos sometimes?

In conclusion, my mind was pretty much blown away by this little incident. It was without a doubt the highlight of the past 2 days for me.

Adjectives and prepositions

B has been using adjectives much more the past couple of weeks. He says things like "Big red fire truck!" and "Little trashy truck" "Big yellow bullzaturner".

He's also started saying "and" sometimes, like when we are reading he will say "the cat -and- the dog -and- the chicken" It is just really cute to me the way he pauses before and after the "and's".

He has also started saying things like "under the table." I think this is his favorite preposition so far. He also likes "behind" alot. He said last night at dinner for example, "Quiche behind my mangi." Mangi = macaroni and cheese.

This afternoon he said "[B] has 2 cats sleeping in pappasan." Which was true, he was sitting in the pappasan with the two cats.

I just wanted to record these before I forget.

Mashed 'Tatoes!!

We made homemade mashed potatoes while my parents were here for the holidays.

Ever since then, every morning if I ask B what he dreamed about he says "Mashed 'tatoes!" And laughs. When I then ask if he wants to eat mashed potatoes, he quickly says "no."

So I don't get the joke or why he always claims to dream of them, but I love it. I think it's too cute!!

The things they say

Lately many interesting things have come out of B's mouth. Some super cute, some that make us want to hide...Here is a sampling:

"Have a good day!"
And its newest variation : "Have a good day, stupid!"
And lots of "stupid" in general. ugh!
"Damn it!" *cringe*
"What [are] you doing Papi/Mommy?" spoken in a high sweet voice. love this one.
"No!" also "Nope!" and "buh-BYE!"- same meaning...
"Get up, Papi/Mommy/bullzaturners (bulldozers)!"
"Ow! Ow Ow!"- not when he's actually hurt but when we are doing something he doesn't want to do- get in the car seat, put on his shoes/jacket/hat, etc.
He refuses to hold my hand, yelling (in public) "Dry skin!". *cringe* again.
When I ask him my name, he knows it (not perfect pronunciation, but we understand). However when I ask him what Papi's name is, he usually responds with my nickname for my husband. Very sweet.
He has known his middle name for at least 4 months now and if you ask him his other name he tells you.
He started saying "yucky!" a few months ago and I told him to say "No, thank you" instead. He actually does most of the time now.
Today, we were eating mongolian bbq at the mall and I was encouraging him to eat other things besides just noodles. So I asked if he would eat an onion and he said "No, thank you!" So I made a big deal out of eating it and said it was yummy and a few seconds later he said "Mommy eat onion. [His name] eats noodles!" Super cute.

A couple of months ago we were all driving along one evening and we saw a personalized license plate that said "A J Bug". So my husband and I were conversing about what it might mean and B just started cracking up. saying "Itchy Bug". So now Itchy Bug has been an inside joke for our family, and he cracks up whenever we say it.

"Up high, Papi/Mommy!" when he wants to be picked up.

"Big Bobba Boom" could mean that something scares him or that he got hurt.

"Poor [B]." This one also cracks us up and he says it appropriately, like when he falls down or something.

"Love Papi/Mommy...although usually he only says spontaneously "Love Scotty/Mocha"- our cats...

Calls McDonalds "Pancakes" because for the past few months for a treat sometimes we go there for breakfast.

"I need ball!!"

So, this morning, B was playing with a bouncy blue ball and it kept going under tables, etc. When he couldn't reach it, he yelled out "I need ball! I need ball!" A couple of times it even sounded like "I need a ball!"

[he also says "I got it!" and "I'll be back." (he was born in California under Schwarzenegger's governorship...)]

I am fairly impressed with this, even through my sleep deprived state...the first night in his big boy bed, B slept 9 hours straight in his new bed. After that, it has been pretty much a nightmare. He's been up 2-3 times every night. Last night was the worst yet. We tried to put him to bed at his regular time and he demanded more food. So we brought him back downstairs and he ate half a ham and cheese sandwich. He finally went to sleep close to 10 pm. Then at 2 am, he was up - demanding more food! GH took him downstairs and gave him some milk, then he fell asleep at almost 3 am. Then he was up again at 5:30ish, fell back asleep after a little milk and then up again at 7 am.

Needless to say, none of us were in the cheeriest moods at the breakfast table... ;)

UGH. I am so tired and it is only Wednesday.

Big Boy Bed!!

So, we solved the bed issue. GH removed the front of B's crib tonight before bed and B loved it!! He was SO PROUD of his "big boy" bed. He said "big! big!"
He spent half an hour or so jumping on and off the bed. All in all, it was a great success. I hope he sleeps well tonight!

New Baby Monitor and Toddler Bed Issues

Well, the baby monitor that we inherited from GH's sister has officially "retired."

That is to say, it decided to quit last night. It was clear that something was wrong with the switch that changes the channels. The signal indicator light was lit up no matter which channel the switch was on (it should only come on when it matches the channel on the receiver in B's room). And it just felt "loose."

GH and I took the whole thing apart in a last ditch attempt to salvage it but to no avail.

I have a feeling this untimely demise is due directly to B "playing" with the monitor, in particular when he dropped it at least once on the bathroom floor yesterday.

This means a trip to Walmart today to look for a new one. We must have one because for the time being, B is still sleeping in his crib (at the lowest level). But almost every night when trying to put him to sleep, he attempts to climb over the side, and we are obviously afraid he will fall out and get hurt.

What I need to do until we decide on a toddler bed is put some pillows/quilts on the floor next to the crib. I will do that tonight- somehow I just keep forgetting.

So I didn't sleep that well last night, keeping "aware" for the slightest noise. The other issue is that we have 2 cats that we don't want in the bedrooms, so both doors must stay closed, which further inhibits our hearing ability without the monitor.

What to do about a "big boy" bed? GH wants to convert his crib to a toddler bed, which should be possible. I would be ok with either a mattress on the floor or a little bed from IKEA children. I will post what we decide to do about this issue.

*Hopefully* the monitor we buy today will get a lot more good use.

Potty Training

In the last week, B has made amazing progress with using his potty.

This was all self-initiated by him.

One day last week he just asked me after his bath if he could use his potty (not in so many words). And he did. Since then he has asked at least once a day to go on the potty and the record so far is 3 times in one day I think, although it may have been 4. He already used it once this morning.

It's cute the way he "has" to have 2 of his stuffed animals with him- Mickey and Tigger. I have no idea why these two got stuck with potty duty, but such is life right?

Vocabulary

B has added so many words to his vocabulary in the past 6 weeks. It is truly amazing. The best part- aside from how cute he sounds- is the vast improvement in communication! Finally he is able to tell us a little more about what he wants instead of just crying.

This is a great relief.

Another cool part is that about half his words are in Spanish (my husband's native language) and half in English. He chooses what to say in each language on his own. He also says a couple of words in both - "Hi/Hola" and "mas/more." This is fascinating and sweet.

In exciting news on this subject, just this week he started saying 2 word phrases! He said "Bye bye 'name'" as well as "mas apple". (he calls pineapple 'apple' and it is one of his favorite treats)

On a side note, he drew a picture this week and told me what he was drawing without me asking. He drew a lot of spirally lines and said it was "manga", which is his word for "manguera," the Spanish word for "garden hose."