Memory

Turns out M has a pretty long memory. He knows when we go to the big box grocery store that Daddy's work is right there too. We pull in to the parking lot and he starts to yell for Daddy. We have a very short trip to the store because he's melting down about Daddy for the duration of the shopping trip. Unless I bribe him with granola bars or smarties. In a real pinch we get the free cookie from the bakery. This is a normal trip to the grocery store for me.

Today we went for a quick trip. He held true to form and hollered Daddy as soon as we entered the parking lot. We ran in, grabbed diapers and milk, and ran back out in to the rain. I got him in to the car and we played the car seat game. This is the ever so familiar game...How straight can I make myself so mommy can't get me in the seat. He's pretty darn good at this game and he can go straight as a board, with no chance of me getting those little hips down in the seat. I bribed. I pointed out Daddy's work. I said we'd go see Daddy if he just sat in his seat. He sat. I strapped him in quickly, got in the car and headed for the other side of the parking lot.

We wandered in and Daddy was right at the front of the store. M was oh so happy to see him but he refused to let Daddy hold him. I couldn't figure out why since he's normally really eager to go to Daddy. And then it hit me. I had left him with his Daddy last week while I had some maintenance done on my car. I walked him in, gave him to Daddy and walked away while he screamed. He remembered. And he would not go to Daddy no matter what we suggested to him. No bribe was going to make this little monkey boy let go of his mommy. He was not having a repeat of the last time.

Have we permanently traumatized him? Is this a foreshadowing of what is to come? He starts full time day care on Monday. Do I need to start praying to the toddler gods for an easy transition or do I just wing it like everything else.

I suppose this is a time will tell situation. Unless something interesting happens this weekend, I'll let you all know Monday how it went.

Discoveries

In case my pictures haven't made it clear, my child appears to be a nudist at heart. He is constantly stripping off clothing. After listening to many of my friends, who have boys, I'm beginning to think this is simply normal boy behavior. They have protruding parts and clothing does not allow them to view said parts therefore all clothing must be removed. This penchant for nudity became very clear on Friday. M was down for his nap, he'd been sleeping for 2 hours, so I decided to go wake him up. I walked in to his room, opened the blinds, turned around, and saw my sweet little boy, bum in the air. Naked as a jaybird, diaper around his ankles, face down, sound asleep with his knees curled up under him which caused the protruding behind.

I ran for the camera and took pictures before he woke up. You never know when those pictures might come in handy. I have visions of me holding hard copies of those pictures, waving them at his future 16 year old self, threatening to show them to the world. Social embarrassment can be very motivating and I intend to have a stash of hugely embarrassing photos.

Words are becoming very important around here. Mainly because we're tired of hearing "MORE" "Uh" and the favorite "COOKIE" which could actually mean water, cracker, or any other kind of sustenance. So in the land of parental wishful thinking, I continue to ask him to use his words. Oh, I know, I live in a dream land and I'm destined to hear the same words, over and over again, with escalating volume each time I get the answer wrong but I keep hoping one day he'll say "milk please" or something similarly specific.

He's actually picking up on words quickly. Which means that he is starting to parrot what we say. We've entered the stage that has terrified me. I'm constantly watching what I say. Except in the dollar store while shopping for his birthday. I wasn't so careful there. We were wandering up the aisle, I found some cute Sesame Street items so I was digging through looking for a specific character. A character that wasn't there. I said "well that sucks" Oops, big boo boo. I heard "Suuucks"? Then I heard " Suckie!" This was my response "That's right, socks, just like the socks on your feet" Could I be a bigger dork? Whatever, dorky mom or not, it worked, he started playing with his boots and his socks. Moment managed and moving on with the knowledge that my baby isn't such a baby and really does listen to what I say.

Two lessons learned by me last week. Watch what I say and put him in lots of layers before nap time.

One hard little head

New game. Sit or stand in the middle of the living room. Throw yourself backwards until you hit the floor, likely with your head, then say Ow! with a big grin. Stand up and do it all over again. You can do this in any room in the house but the favored spots around here seem to be the living room and the kitchen. I don't quite understand the kitchen. It has a linoleum floor and it must hurt. At least the living room floor has a carpet and occasionally he lands on his little couch which gives him a cushion.

I don't pretend to understand the game. I really don't see the fun in it but M seems to love it. Sometimes he'll spin in a circle until he's dizzy and then throw himself to the floor with a big "ow" It's just a variation on the same game. He laughs like a loon over it. Yeah, I still don't get it but I'm pretty sure it's normal. Weird but normal.

Firemen and babies

M discovered the fireman coat that he inherited from his Grandma's house. The odds are pretty good it belonged to his older cousin and was forgotten one day long ago. After finding the coat he would not take it off. He insisted that he had to wear it to bed for nap time. I had to change him with the coat on, he ate dinner with the coat on, and when bath time came.....it wasn't pretty. We had a battle of wills over a coat. Apparently he did not like bath time as much as he liked the coat. He could not understand why he couldn't have both. After all, it is a rain coat and that means he should be able to wear it in water. I eventually won the battle but I had to live with his obvious disappointment over the lack of his coat. He has moved on a bit in the last 2 days but he does like to go back to the coat and play with the buckles. I think the buckles are the most fascinating part of the coat.

His new favorite toy this week is his baby. Last night
we were out shopping and he saw the doll. He yelled loudly at the top of his lungs "Baby!!" while pointing wildly at the baby dolls. He was pretty specific about which one he wanted. Thankfully he chose one that was designed for the bath, is pretty sturdy and it was on sale. What more can a mom ask for. Once we got home and I had baby out of the box he wandered around talking to his baby and putting baby in every seat in the house. Thank heavens for the waterproof part since he was determined that baby was going to have a bath with him. Today he has been dragging his poor baby everywhere. Baby has been sitting in the high chair with him, on his little couch, in daddy's chair and has even played in the ball tent. Once again baby was his bath buddie. I'm hoping this lasts for a while. There is something really wonderful about watching my little boy take care of his baby. It brings out a sweet little side of him I wish I saw more often. Let's face it, at this age most things are frustrating and he tends to spend his days trying to do things he's just not big enough to do which leads to temper tantrums. He's just that age.

So to all the little boys out there who have their baby dolls.... enjoy it while it lasts. I know I will.

Bum Mom

It's time to seriously start the potty training.

M was playing in the dining room, opening the cupboards and hiding his toys which is a normal activity. I could hear him happily chatting to his toys and then it got quiet. I could see him so I wasn't too worried. A few minutes later I heard him saying "mommy" and then I saw him wandering out of the kitchen. Diaper around his ankles. Big grin on his face. Proudly proclaiming "BUM" That's all he wanted to say. "Bum, bum bum bum bum" He was obviously aware that he had made a bit of a mess and just as obviously pleased with himself for pulling his diaper down to show me the mess.

I moved the potty into a corner of the kitchen. After I cleaned him up. I was having visions of him pulling his diaper down and peeing on the living room floor or worse. Tomorrow we are going to watch Elmo's Potty Time. Probably a few jillion times but that's ok if it works. Here's hoping I don't screw this up and I manage to stay consistent. Like everything so far I'm sure we'll be entertained.

Ernie needs a bath

M's favorite toys are his Bert and Ernie Gund dolls. He likes all his Sesame Street Gunds but Bert and Ernie are the clear winners. They are the ones who get carried to bed every night. They are the ones he talks to at nap time and they are the ones dragged around the house by the arms or legs and put on the couch or his chair or wherever he deems appropriate at the moment. Some days, like today, he decides that they need a bath. Since he doesn't have access to the bathtub he substitutes the dogs water dish. It's always interesting to find him dunking Ernie, bottom first, into the dish, giggling away as water drips all over the kitchen floor. It's an entire process which always ends with me wringing out Ernie's bottom end over the sink, trying to get as much water as possible out of him.

What I can't understand is why he insists on putting this particular toy in the dish. He has a perfectly good rubber Ernie toy that's waterproof. Why doesn't the waterproof Ernie want a bath? Why is it always the soak it up like a sponge Ernie who wants a bath. Is this some kind of twisted toddler logic which we, as adults, will never understand? I'm sure he has no idea that he may be damaging his favorite toy. I'm pretty sure that all he sees is the moment and what fun that dripping water is. I think it's kind of like standing in the bath, peeing on his hand (which he does) It's that new sensation or maybe he thinks he's discovered gravity which, lets face it, to his two year old mind would be a whole new concept.

I don't think I'll ever understand his thinking but I do know that when it's quiet and I can't see him....Ernie's probably taking a bath.

King of Drama

M has been given the above title today. He is very dramatic but he really topped himself today.

He likes to play with remotes, phones and the computer mouse. I'm sure this is standard for all toddlers. Today he decided to take Daddy's mouse off the table and try to run with it. When told to put it back, he did, with force. He held his hand up, tightly gripping the mouse, Glenn said "M do not throw it", I said "M, gently" and M threw the mouse at the laptop. Of course he did. He's an almost 2 year old boy. He throws everything. (we are working on it but it's taking time) Glenn grabbed his hand and slapped it (not hard but enough for shock value) with a big firm "No, we do not throw" M threw himself to the ground, covered his eyes and started to cry. Very loudly, occasionally peeking between his fingers. Then he got up, went to the table, grabbed the mouse and repeated the entire thing with the identical results. He did this about 4 times until he finally grabbed a flyer and threw that. We ignored him because it's a flyer and we don't really care about it. (I know we should be consistent but we were a bit tired by then) The second the flyer hit the ground so did M. Eyes covered, wailing away. He did this another 3 times. I think he was waiting for one of us to give his hand a slap. Instead he ended up just crying for no reason on the floor. While we laughed. Probably not the most appropriate or responsible response but it was too funny to ignore.

He did finally give up and go off to play and he left us with the knowledge that we are really in for it with this child. Thank goodness he's got so many hugs and kisses to go around because I think that if he didn't have that lovely sweet side we would have to consider selling him to the gypsy's :-) Well, maybe just lending him to someone until he's made it through the terrible two's. That's allowed isn't it?

Here's hoping that he wakes up from his nap with a little less drama for the remainder of the day. I'm afraid if I laugh too much more he's going to take offense and heaven knows what that would lead him to do.

Shoes

M is trying ever so hard to do things himself. This means a lot of frustration, a lot of tears and a lot of angry "Mommy" yells. I try and let him figure things out on his own until he decides he wants to accept help. Usually when he is asked if he wants help he shakes his head or turns away with a stubborn little noise. He is quite independent and very determined. This also means he is extremely stubborn or maybe tenacious is a nicer way of saying that. Whatever word you use, that boy can dig in his heels until things are just the way he wants them. This applies to everything from his lunch to how he's playing with a toy.

We actually had a stare down today over a toy. I felt it was inappropriate to smash his toy on the coffee table. He felt this was the only way to play with it. I explained where and how he may play with the toy, he stood with the toy hovering over the table waiting to drop it when I wasn't looking. After 5 minutes of this I won simply because he finally tried to bang the toy on the table and I took it away. This led to a flop on the floor, kick his feet, cry like his heart was breaking, temper tantrum. Which I ignored. I figured since he kept checking to see if I was looking that he probably wasn't that heart broken.

After the toy meltdown he moved on to Daddy's shoes. M is quite fascinated with trying to put things on his feet or my feet or any feet he can find. This was evident a few weeks ago when he started trying to put on his socks. He has not successfully done this yet but every time he sees a pair of socks he tries to get them on his feet. Friday he stayed with his Grandma for a couple of hours and apparently he was putting her slippers on and off her feet. This great game has come home and morphed into where can M put Daddy's Croc's. Sometimes they are on his feet, sometimes they are on Daddy's feet. Sometimes his stuffed buddies are in the Croc's. Today it was my turn. I spent a lot of my day baking and as I was standing in the kitchen M came in with one Croc. He proceeded to babble to me until I lifted my foot so he could put it on. Then he left so I took the shoe off. You know what's coming.... he came back. He was very upset with me for taking the shoe off and put it back on my foot. I spent a large part of my afternoon walking around with Glenn's size 13 shoe on my right foot. I was not allowed to have one on each foot as the left shoe was occupied by Cookie Monster. When I sat down on the couch and took the shoe off, he came to em with the left shoe and put it on my left foot. (He took away the right shoe and put his stuffed dog in it) He then came back with another of daddy's shoes, another left foot which was going on my right foot. I was very glad for Glenn's big feet in that moment.

M sat at my feet for a very long time taking the shoes off and putting them back on. Periodically he would take a water break and then come back to my feet. I am amazed at how single minded he can be when he is learning something. I will be interested to see if he tries to wear the shoes himself tomorrow or if he goes back to our feet instead. Who knew shoes could create such magic.