Meeting Mrs. H

Today we had a classroom visit with Little Man’s teacher for next school year.  I told him that he was going to school again and he was so excited he literally started running around in circles.  Before we left he needed a diaper change, which is something that he usually runs from.  I told him that before we could go to school he needed his shoes on and his diaper changed.  When I next looked down he was laying on the floor with his diaper in this hand trying to tug on his shoes.  I knew then that he was over the top excited.  I put him in the car and he immediately looked next to him and said “Where is Baby LJ?”  I explained that this was a special Mama/Little Man time.  I thought that he would be as excited about that as I was but instead he told me that he missed Baby LJ and wanted him to come to school too.  I thought it was so sweet that he wanted “baby brother” to come too even when he was going to get some alone time. 

We worked on his teachers name all the way to school and by the time we got there he was totally ready to say hi to Mrs. H.  We jumped out of the car and as we walked into school he said “Mrs. H. hug me”.  I knew he was going to have a good time.  As he entered the classroom he said “Hi Mrs. Teacher H.”  Well close enough, right?  For 20 minutes he got to explore the classroom, interact with some of his classmates, feed the goldfish (this was the highlight), play at the water table and talk to his teacher.  He had such a good time it was tough to drag him out of there.  I love his teacher.  Mrs. H was so good with the kids and he immediately was comfortable interacting with her and even showing off his knowledge of sea creatures.   He impressed her with his correct identification of sea horses, seals and whales.  I found out that he will get to do things like hatch chicks, grow a garden, paint with fish (I think dead fish) and other cool stuff.  Papa Bear and I feel that we made a great decision enrolling him for this next school year!

Baxter the Mouse Returns

Before we left for our trip to DE, Papa Bear and I saw a mouse running through our living room.  After screaming like a little girl (me, not Papa Bear – although he did do a fancy dance when it ran right at him) Papa Bear set out the no kill trap baited with peanut butter.

I would like to note at this point that I am all for the kill trap because I think it is the same mouse coming back over and over again.  But Papa Bear is in charge or removing live animals from the house so although I have voiced my opinion, I am overruled.

The next morning a mouse was in the trap. Little Man was more than excited that Baxter, his mouse friend had returned.  But he was concerned that the mouse missed his mama and papa and wanted to make sure that he got home.  I was equally concerned that the mouse be returned to his home.  So he and Papa Bear went off to take Baxter, the pizza eating mouse friend, back to his home in the woods near the frog pond.  They walked all the way there and let Baxter(II) go (again).  After saying bye to his friend, Little Man discovered that the frogs were croaking in the pond.  He and Papa Bear “poked the frogs with sticks and made them CROAKY CROAKY” according to Little Man’s recap of the trip.  I had to discuss the pros and cons of letting Little Man poke a frog with a stick, but since I am not the player with of live animals as that is Papa Bear’s role, again I was overruled.

Fun was had, the mouse is gone in his home (for now) and no actual frogs were hurt in the poking during this story.

Little Manese

Little Man talks non-stop these days and most (or at least a lot) of it is understandable. But some needs some interpretation so in an attempt to help interpret, but really to capture the adorable translation necessary for understanding Little Man I made this list. It is not all inclusive and I will probably add to it over time.

Up Moon Mama = I love you up to the moon, Mama

Applejuice = Octopus (this is one of my favorites)

True Ray = Fly Away (as in the birds fly away)

Beet = Feet

Box = Fox

Dup = Cup

Nardinal = Cardinal

Ditty = Cookie

Vity Vity = Very Very

Nane = Crane

Mys = Mine (as in yours and mys)

Toe Wuzzies – Toe Fuzzies

Tank Ewe – Thank You

Nummy – Tummy

Outelle - Outside

Des = Yes (although more and more it is sounding correct, which is a little sad because I love how he says it)

Boo = Blue

Bed = Red

Neen = Green

Lello = Yellow

Monies - Coins needed to operate ride on toys and candy machines

Papa up Baby LJ, Mama up me = this is self explanatory, but it is what he says most often now when I have been holding Logan for a while.

Ornithology or ABC's??

I try not to be the mom that compares her children with other children, at least not in the oh my son is better than yours kind of way.  And what helps me achieve this (other than God's grace) is the fact that Little Man follows the beat of his own drum.  My friends kid's are starting to count to ten and identify their letters.  And while I work with him on his numbers and letters, his interests lie elsewhere.  Ornithology is his thing.  Yes, that is right, I did say that my 2 year old is a amateur ornithologist.  He can currently identify a cardinal, sparrow, mourning dove, tufted titmouse, woodpecker, robin, owl, and chickadee.  In addition to being able to identify these birds when he sees them in our backyard he can also tell you what some of their calls are.  (Robin's say Tut Tut Tut).  And not to continue with my bragging, but I will - he is also an expert squirrel chaser awayer. (yes, I know that is not a word but I am talking about a 2 year old after all)  So this saves me from having to say at the playground, "How many birds can your child identify" and be that awful comparison bragging mom that I don't want to be because let's face it, they would just look at me like I am crazy.  So they tell me about how high their child counts (although, I should mention Little Man can count to 5 in Spanish, wait am I bragging?) or how many letters they know and I quietly smile and tell them how great that is and know that my Little Man has his own interests and loves to watch the birds and learn all of their names and calls.  He follows his own drum and it is so wonderful to be a spectator and participant in his awesome and amazing world.

Confident in Your Self Worth

I love that Little Man doesn't have any confusion about how important he is to me, especially as we have Peanut taking some of my time and attention.  Last night as I was reading him his books before bed, he looked at me and said "Mama happy because of me!"  Just simply stated this as a fact as confident as can be.  I gave him a big hug and told him he was absolutely right and that I am happy because of him.  Then I asked him if he knew how much I love him and he said "Up moon Mama, love up moon".  I laughed because I obviously didn't need to convince him of anything he already knew that I loved him all the way to the moon.  It is nice to know that even with our new family addition, Little Man is supremely confident in his self worth and his place in this family!

The Big Salami!

Today we went to BJ’s to get diapers for the boys. The trip was immediately preceded by dinner and dessert for Papa Bear’s birthday so needless to say Little Man was on sugar overload. We let him run through the large aisles in an attempt to burn it all off before bedtime. In his explorations he came across a large log of salami and picked it up to proudly display it to his Papa. Papa Bear immediately responded to his young son with “wow, what a big salami you have”. Little Man thought that was a great response and took it upon himself to run up to a total stranger and announce “ I have a big salami” while clutching his giant piece of meat. With both parents practically on the floor laughing he was spurred on to chase that stranger down the aisle running after her, meat in hand, yelling “ I have a big salami, I have a big salami”. I know we don’t need to encourage our precocious two year old to be chasing strangers, meat in hand and yelling anything at them….but it was just too priceless to stop. The stranger was very gracious as we apologized to her and rerouted Little Man to instead trying to carry large packs of diapers for us. Anything to burn off that sugar!!!