Thanksgiving Pool Time!

Peanut's first Thanksgiving has been as laid back as they get. We decided with heavy hearts not to go to my Family Thanksgiving Extravaganza in Delaware. It was the first one I have missed since I was 12 and it would have been the 10th Thanksgiving that Papa Bear has attended. But with a 2 1/2 year old and an 8 month old, the traffic, the 65 people at the Thanksgiving event on top of Peanut's first ear infection and Little Man's cough - we opted for staying put. Not to mention that last year's Thanksgiving saw Little Man running bare naked through my cousin's house after an escape from a diaper change.

So Thanksgiving saw us all in our pajamas all day, already prepared food from the grocery store and tons of low key time at home. It was great - although we really did miss all of the family (not to mention great food) that we normally see.

Since we were actually in town for the holiday weekend we had to come up with some fun family time that didn't involve going anywhere near anything even slightly retail related on Black Friday. So after Peanut napped (while Little Man and Papa Bear rode bikes) we all headed out to the local recreation center for some swimming. This was Peanut's first time in a real pool (if you remember he had a brief foray in the pool on our porch at the end of the summer). He loved it. He splashed and played and tried to use his new weightlessness in the pool to aid in his crawling technique. He loved this pool floaty and we rode in it with gusto. We knew when he had enough when he laid his head down on the side of the float and tried to go to sleep. Which didn't put a damper on Little Man's fun as he continued to try and swim like a dolphin and run through the water.

The house is a mess, meals have not been well balanced, projects are half way done and tons of family fun has been had. Next up - decorating for Christmas!!!

What That Name?

The why's and the what's are prevalent in this home, but more than (almost) anything Little Man wants to know What's that name? Recently I was reading him a book and there was a picture of a little boy on the page and he said "What's that name, Mama?". I replied honestly and told him that I didn't know. He jumped right back with "Maybe his name is Jubawaba." The next day we were at a store shopping as each and every person walked by us Little Man would (loudly) inquire "What's that name, Mama?" Some very nice people would simply say their names, which thrilled Little Man and if he saw them again in the store he would call them by name. Other people simply ignored him or didn't hear him (which was quite possibly impossible given he only has one volume..REALLY LOUD). If they didn't answer (for whatever reason) he would make their name up. Saying "Maybe that Bob" or "Maybe that Tree". Then if he saw them in the store later in the trip he would call them by the name he made up for them. "Hi Tree, Hi Bob, Hi TreeBob" he would yell. And I will tell you, I wasn't embarressed in the least, well maybe when he yelled "Hi Poop" I turned a slight shade of red and pushed the cart a little faster but really they could have avoided being called Poop and TreeBob if they had just shared a second time to give him their name.

Note: It was suggested that some people didn't share their name because Little Man called them a "that" in his request of "What that name" - We are working on his pronouns but if a 2 year old calls you a "that" don't take offense. :)

Movin' and Groovin'...Sort of

Peanut wants to move. He loves riding on his bus and Little Man loves pushing him on the bus ... REALLY REALLY fast and then run into a wall ... so we have to be careful.

He has also started the first steps toward crawling. He lungs into a crawling position then falls on his tummy and reaches his little arms out to get whatever toy happened to be just out of his reach. If he is being really industrious he pulls his little legs under him and pretend for a second that he is going to crawl. There has even been some rocking going on while on his knees!

School Friends

It has been over a month since I was the helping parent in Little Man's 2 day a week Preschool program and boy have things changed. Little Man doesn't really care when I leave him because he is so excited to play with his friends and was a little disappointed that I stayed because that meant that he didn't get his 2 skittle treat in the car after school. But I loved watching him interact with his friends and the teacher. He loves singing and playing the instruments during music time. His art project consisted of dumping as much glue as he could on the cut out Gingerbread man and burying all of the buttons in large mounds of glue. He played and sang and ran around and was very well behaved. He passes the hearing and speech screening with flying colors and we were told that he was very cheerful and cooperative. We took a rain walk and splashed in puddles and went to the meeting hall to play with a big parachute. The day flew by and boy was I exhausted after that!! The following school day when I dropped him off he said "Don't stay today Mama, I want my treats for you going bye-byes". My kid will do just about anything to get a skittle, especially the blue ones!

Look Ma...Teeth

Peanut opened his mouth to take a bite of yummy mashed peas and carrots yesterday and low and behold there was a new tooth poking through. That makes 6! He got the top 2 teeth about 2 weeks ago and then the tooth next to the big tooth (Aunt Suzi, does that have a name?) started poking through and I was so concentrated on watching the progress of the top teeth ( I know riviting stuff people) that I totally missed the bottom ones progress and SURPRISE another tooth. Now for all of you parents out there you know that 4 teeth in two weeks equates to snotty, fussy, restless babes which then equals a tired, worn out Mama Bear. I am really hoping for a week or two of teeth free, snot free easy sleeping time. But I am not counting on it.

Other news in the Peanut department. He was caught red-handed pulling up in his crib and trying to take a nose dive onto the floor. So his crib was lowered to keep him from doing a superman out of it. He is still not rolling over, crawling or showing any signs of forward movement, but he is all about the vertical movement, pulling up where ever he can. I think I might be in for some trouble :)

At 7.5 months, Peanut is getting more interested in different toys, has a tendency to want the ONE toy that is just out of his reach and will scream for it, loves his brother more than anything in the world and has the most adorable (slightly Bevis like) giggle. Oh and he is probably weighing in at about 24 or 25 pounds and is in 18-24 months clothes. The next size up in clothes is 2T which is what Little Man wears, I am hoping he doesn't catch him because then we will be in real trouble!

Holiday Pics Gone Wrong

The weather is warm, the leaves are falling and it is a perfect time for holiday pictures. If both kids were happy about the warm weather, falling leaves and picture taking. Peanut was just not into it. Little Man tried tickling him, playing with him. We tried taking his pant off (he didn't look comfortable because he is just that fat). We tried putting him on a blanket, on the grass, in the leaves but there was just no making him happy on this warm, leaf falling fall day that could have been perfect for pictures. BUT we got some great crying pics??

Look Who's Talking!

Peanut is talking and it show stopping, heart meltingly adorable. He said both "Mama" and "Papa" at the same time. Let me back up a little to get the whole story straight because which one came first is still up in the air.

We have heard the rumblings of "Mama" via the monitor. It seems that is a favorite sound to make when he is in his crib and wanting to get out. But I had always chalked it up to babbling with no real intention of calling for me.

Just the other day Peanut was fussing and Papa Bear walked over and I handed the fussy baby off and he stopped fussing. Papa Bear says, "Where you just fussin' for Papa" and Peanut immediately followed up with "Papa". We thought he was just repeating a sound he heard without any real understanding of what he was saying.

But today, it became official. On November 1st (7 months and 8 days old) he said both Mama and Papa with true intention and it was witnessed by my Mom (Mee-Mom) and Grandmother (Mommom). Peanut was laying on the floor at Mee-Mom's house in Delaware. I was standing over him and he looked up and said "Mama". Oh I got so excited. So I told him to say it again. AND HE DID. (he is so clever). SO then I started yelling at everyone to come over and see it. Well of course my mom was ordering lunch and then handed the phone off to Papa Bear so he could order what he wanted and Little Man was chasing the dog and really no one was coming fast enough in my opinion BECAUSE PEOPLE MY BABY WAS TALKING and SOMEONE HAD TO TELL ME I WASN'T CRAZY. So finally Mee-Mom came over after rescuing the dog from Little Man and Peanut says it again. We all squeal in delight and at this point Peanut realizes that he is the center of attention as long as he keeps saying "ma ma". So in between squealing (ours and his) he keeps saying "Ma Ma" and FINALLY Papa Bear comes over and I try to get Peanut to say it. So I say "Show Papa how you can say Mama" and he looks at Papa Bear and says "Papa" and the squealing just grew and grew. He said Papa a few more times and then at my insistence gave me one more Mama and I picked him up with a twirl and all the fan fair that first word(s) deserve. Seriously people, did I mention how adorable it is and how special it is as a mother to hear your son say his first word and have it be Mama (or Papa depending on who is telling this story) AND to have it witnessed by Mee-Mom and Mommom. Ahh, music to my ears!