Boo!

Last week, cousin Ricky spent his spring break with us and thus got to see a lot of you.  Since you like to get 'puh-rised' (surprised), he started doing so by saying "Boo!", which cracked you up and you have now taken happily to saying as well.
Mommy has been working a ton, so there isn't always much for me to report, sadly.  Today I got the most time with you in the evening when I got home from working.  We did laundry and housework--fun, huh?  Actually, you really like it--wish it were going to stay that way lol (mommy can dream, right?)  As usual, you caught us off guard for a moment and started the washer load again (you do this far, far too often) when it had finished.  When I came to stop it (thankfully before you opened the door, for a change), I turned it off and went to run the rinse/spin cycle, as I never had figured out how to make it run just a spin cycle.  Well, guess what? You pushed a button and voilà, there it was--and a simple little thing, too.  So thank you for discovering what we need to use because of you lol.
At bedtime, we read some books as per usual.  I took out one that we don't normally read called "Hop!"  You seemed to like it ok--your favorite part was the "What's that sound?" page where a bee is flying over the bunnies.  I made a bzzzzzzz sound and you giggled.  I sure do love that giggle of yours.  When we read "Flip, Flap, Fly", you were very attentive--I just know you were working on memorizing it like you have the other books.  You cracked both me and daddy up, though, when you confused the words "flip, flap, fly" with the part from "Are You My Mother?" where it says "Down, down, down, plop!"  So, this version tonight had the mama helping the baby bird 'plop, plop, down' :D

Dad Turns 40 Tomorrow!

Hey, buddy!  It's Dad.  I know I don't write here often, but some days seem to offer prime examples of life with you that are worthy of documentation.  Today was worth mentioning partly because of you being you, but also because it's the very last day of my thirties.  Yep, your old Daddy turns 40 tomorrow!

So how did we spend the last day of my (30 <= x < 40) decade?  We had a lot of fun!  When you woke up this morning, I was just about to take a shower.  I asked you if you wanted to join me, and you said "take a shower!" and then immediately stepped into the bathtub and stood there waiting for me.  I insisted that you sit on the potty first to see if you needed to pee.  You happily cooperated and sat down, but as usual there was no pee to be had.  We'll just have to keep working on that.

As we were drying off after our shower, I asked you if you were hungry and what you thought we should have for breakfast.  Without hesitation, you simply said, "peanut butter toast".  (Actually, in your pronunciation, it was "pay bay toast" but we've discovered that I am especially proficient in translating Avery-speak.)

When we got downstairs, the first thing you did was grab the toaster from the cabinet and take it into the living room.  Then you grabbed and handed me the bag of bread, saying, "Bread.  Open bread."  So I did, and handed you a slice.  Then you brought me the peanut butter jar.  "Pay bay...open," you said, and I did.  Then you ran in other room and put the bread and peanut butter jar on the floor near the toaster.

This is progress.  Three days ago you
mangled the bread while doing this.

Then you sat down and looked at it, seemingly confused as if you realized something was missing but wasn't sure what.  I let you ponder it for a while before I asked, "Do you need a knife?"

"Mife!" you exclaimed in your "a-ha!" moment.  I handed you one and you went straight to work spreading peanut butter on the bread all by yourself.  You only needed help folding it in half.  The rest was your work entirely.

You ate your "pay bay" sandwich while you watched Bubble Guppies, PAW Patrol, and Wallykazam -- your three very favorite shows.  In the meantime, I sat with my laptop doing some work for my job.  After your shows were over, you were hungry again, so all by yourself, you got the popcorn popper out of the cabinet (all three parts of it), the bag of popcorn kernels from the counter, and the large popcorn bowl.  It took four trips between the kitchen and living room, but you successfully gathered everything needed to make popcorn with the air popper.  You handed me the bag of popcorn and said, "Open".  It was obvious what you wanted, so I helped you measure out the right amount.  Then you took over and put it in the popper, put the popper together, and moved the bowl in place to catch it.  All that was left was to plug in the popper, so I did that for you.

When the mail came, we went out to get it like we always do.  (You get mad if we get the mail without you.)  It was a gorgeous spring day -- sunny and around 60F.  After we got back inside, I sat down to get some more work done, but you kept looking out the window and saying "mackinside".  After repeating this a few times, you were getting frustrated that I wasn't doing anything about it.

So I tried to figure out what you were saying.  "Mackinside?  You mean 'back inside'?  We are back inside."

You repeated more slowly, "Maggin...side."

"Maggin?  You mean wagon?  Wagon ride?"

You were glad I finally got it.  "Yeah, wagon side, yeah!"  You ran into the living room and pointed at your jacket ("green coat" you call it) on the coat rack.  So we put on our jackets, got the wagon out of the garage, and I took you on the loop around the neighborhood.  When we passed the schoolyard where all the kids were playing, you wanted to get out and join them.  I made you stay in the wagon and told you we could go to the park instead.  So you sat back down and enjoyed the ride around the rest of the subdivision.

When we reached the intersection where we had to decide on a direction, I asked you, "Do you want to go home or to the park?"

You thought hard about this decision, repeating, "Home or park...home or park..."  Then you pointed in the direction of the park and said, "Park, OK?"  I was extremely impressed that you knew where we were, because neither home nor the park are visible from the intersection, and I had given no indication of which of four directions home and the park were in.

So I pulled the wagon to the park.  The sky had clouded up by this point, but since we were only a few blocks from home, I didn't worry much about it.  We ran, climbed, swung, and slid non-stop for over an hour.  The video shows about two minutes of that.

You actually asked to swing today.  I guess
you've gotten over your dislike of swings.

It's probably worth mentioning that this trip to the park was significant in a couple of ways.  First, you went down the "big slide" (the tallest slide in the bigger-kids' area) all by yourself several times.  You also enjoyed swinging in the baby swings, which is something that you weren't crazy about last year.

We also had a minor disagreement over the springy-rocking things.  I said the one on the left looks like a dinosaur.  You insisted that it's a dragon.  We agreed, however, that the one on the right is a silly-looking horse.  But silly or not, you enjoyed riding both of them.

We invite the reader to weigh in on the
debate: is this a dinosaur or a dragon?

Eventually, the clouds grew darker and it started to sprinkle.  Even though you were still having a blast, you didn't put up a fight this time when I said that it was going to rain so we had to hurry home -- fast, fast, fast!

Finally, the last thing I'll mention before posting this is what just happened right now as I was writing it.  Some fire truck sirens rang out in the distance, and you ran to the window, spread the curtains, and shouted "fire truck!" as you tried to see if you could spot it.

I said, "Yeah, that's a fire truck, but it's too far away for us to see it."

You were quiet for a moment, and then you softly said, "Rescue."  You probably learned that from watching PAW Patrol.

So tomorrow I venture forth into my forties.  By the time I'm out of them, you'll be twelve!  Crazy!  But man, we're going to have a great time getting there!

Playdate with Chelsea 2

This morning, I got you up slightly early so that we could go on a playdate once again with Chelsea (and her mom, Jessica).  The last time we did this was in November--oh how time has flown since then!  We met at the same place as last time, the play area of the Woodfield Mall.  You LOVED it there--tons of kids around and fun stuff to play on.  Chelsea explored quite a few more things than you; you preferred mainly to go down the slide over and over again.  I was so proud of you for playing nice with the other kids, taking turns and such :D  Unfortunately, Chelsea was on the tired side, so we stopped playing long before you were ready and headed to the Rainforest Café to have lunch together.  You enjoyed this, though you didn't eat very much (think your runny nose is still affecting your appetite, plus you started to show signs of being sleepy while there in the somewhat dim lighting).  You two didn't really interact a whole lot, but more than last time.  You actually gave Chelsea a hug while you were both on the slide together (so sweet!)  We were going to take our picture all together, but you were getting fussy and Chelsea was tired, so we called it done just shortly after leaving the Café.  Then I took you to daddy, whom we met up with at his work so that I wouldn't haven't to go out of my way before heading to a lesson.
When I came home after that lesson, we played for a bit, then I had to leave again.  When I returned from that, you were getting fussy and obviously needing a nap big time, so we put you down for one, despite your loud objections.  I'm glad you gave in, because daddy wasn't feeling super energetic (thus needed a break) and mommy went to lie down and have a nap as well.  I got up long before you did and went back out once again for my last two lessons. Upon my return, daddy reported that you had been quite the handful once you got up from nap.  You decided to fling rice all over the living room, which really made daddy upset and had to clean up, of course.  You were still full of energy for the rest of the time we let you remain awake--and you ate a bunch of mac n cheese with us for a dinner, too.  At bedtime, you read your stories/books very well.  Mommy seems to be coming down with what you have, so she's gonna head to bed now.  Love you lots, little guy :)

Ride!

Today was the first day we've hit 50 degrees this year--it was sunny and rather nice.  I went to the gym solo today because, although you are doing better, I don't want you to be hanging out around the other kiddos while your nose is still so runny (it's getting better, just not all the way yet). After I got back, had some soup together for lunch, and then we worked on cleaning up the living room, which always makes you excited because there is extra room to run around in circles lol.  Still can't seem to make you understand that your blankies really need to be not on the floor while we 'ca-poom' and esepcially when we run the carpet cleaner.  And, of course, right after we got it all cleaned up, you brought down a toy from your room to help fill some of the newly open space (this time it was the Team Umizoomi shapes puzzle).
Then it was time for me to go out for lessons; you and dad ended up going for a short wagon ride up and down the street, then out to dinner with one of his friends that was going to be in the area (Lisa).  He reported that you were very good during dinner and ate well (yay :))  When I got back home, I was lucky enough to have some leftover wings from that dinner :D You played in the floor a lot with dad, which is pretty usual, but tonight you also decided to go for rides on his back horsey-style.  We've tried this a couple of times but not very successfully.  This time, you liked it so much that you could have worn dad out if he'd let you lol.  You and I sang ABC's a couple of times--you are getting better at remembering more of the letters, and the latest trend is to over-emphasize "S" when we get to it lol.

Under the weather

Today I wasn't here much (very, very busy day of tutoring and a home visit for a hosting family); you woke up with a very stuffy head and your nose was runny all day.  Still, you did have some bouts of energy (according to dad) and were in a good mood mostly.  You spent a while on his lap just relaxing and watching cartoons and you "helped" with laundry (read: unloaded the washer and left the basket of damp clothes in the floor, which I discovered when I came home).  You enjoyed some mac n cheese with daddy and I for dinner, then made him very happy when you took interest in naming and playing with the Star Wars figures in a box that has been in the living room toy tote for quite some time.

I have it?

Mommy's a bit tired tonight, so this will be an abbreviated one :)
Tonight we went out to dinner at Bulldog Ale House, a place that is near us and we've passed many times, but never tried before.  The meal was not super, you only ate a few fries, and the server was a bit odd (gave you a full sized, full glass of soda and charged as much for it).  Still, you were a good boy overall and we had a nice time anyway.  On the way home, we stopped by Walgreens to pick up some diapers; I went in, you and daddy waited in the car.  When I returned, I had not only the diapers, but a couple of items for dad as well.  I got him two little plush Muppet figures: Gonzo and Fozzie.  As he looked at them, you asked, "I have it?"  You've not asked this before--very proud of you putting this together!  Of course he let you see them and you held them the rest of the way back to the house, and wanted them again for a minute after we returned, too lol.

Choose a category

This morning, when I came to get you out of your crib, you decided you needed to count the trees on my pyjamas first (one, two, eight, two, two, three, ten, 'leven, ten!).  After that, I was allowed to take you out so that we could descend to the living room and enjoy some Price Is Right, where you were happy to tell all the numbers you saw (as usual).  I worked on cleaning up the kitchen and then it was already time to head out for my first lesson.  When I came back, it was then time to be joined by Andrea; today you left us alone for the most part, though you did insist on getting out the toaster at one point (daddy helped you with this project).  After that, you shared a bit of lunch with me, held the back door open for a while to let in some cold air and stare outside for a few minutes until I made you stop (brrr!), then we played a little before I had to leave again.  Today your thing was to stand at the window, saying, "Race!  Ready, set, go!" and run across the living room to me and daddy.  You also decided you needed to help me rubbing dad's shoulders/neck, which was too cute.
When I came back, you and daddy were in the basement.  He reported that you were a good boy and at one point decided to simply nap on the floor in the living room for a while.  He wanted you to be undisturbed, so he went back to the basement.  He knew you were awake when he heard you loudly repeat, "Nnnnnick!" (you love to say this every time you see the Nickelodeon commercials/logo).
You were playing in the floor as I was doing a few emails; lately you like to attempt playing with your V-Tech laptop quite often.  You don't really get how it works, so you just press buttons and giggle when it makes certain sounds.  You also repeat it when it tells you to 'choose a category', which cracks us up.  Sometimes you do say what appears on the screen, so I think you are starting to get the idea a little at least :)

Oops.

Well, that happened fast.  Sorry for the derailment on my progress towards blogging every day.  This time, I can tell you that two things have led to this: first, my laptop died on the 21st of February.  Caused mommy to get a bit behind on some online work and such--just now getting back to being all the way caught up.  And second, I have been SUPER busy with work compared to the beginning of the year.  Great for catching up on bills, not so great for, well...keeping up with almost everything else.  Still, I am determined to get back on track, so here we go!
It snowed again last night and today--not a lot, just about another two inches maybe.  It's been a very cold wintry start to March. Today we went to the gym--all of us, since it's now daddy's session off--and you had a great time as usual.  They told me that they turned off the TV at one point and you exclaimed, "Mommy!"--seems you thought that meant playtime was over and I was going to get you then.  Thankfully, you just kept playing and didn't get upset when I didn't show up right then :)
We went to Jimmy John's to pick up sandwiches for lunch and as per usual, you declared, "Chips!" when we pulled up in the parking lot (which cracked daddy up).  Back at home, 'Laundria' (your name for Andrea) came for her lesson, during which you mainly played with dad, with a few brief visits to check on what we were doing, complete with one where you got in the third chair and pushed the table towards Andrea with your feet lol.
After this, mommy cleaned up the living room a bit while you continued to play downstairs with dad.  I came down for a little bit to make some copies, which you "helped" with by taking over the arduous task of pressing the start button each time.  Soon, it was time for me to head out to go to lessons.
When I got home, I found you and dad taking a bath together.  He reported that you had taken a nearly 3-hour nap (you didn't have one yesterday) and were in a much better mood than prior to it.  Also said that you requested to "make house" when you were playing in basement--which was something we have not done in well over a month (we took the 2 remaining sections of gate and put on top of the ball pit to form a house shape).  You remember so much, it just amazes me.
 I had a frozen pizza for dinner, which you shared some of, then we practiced counting (you can get to 3 on your own usually, 5 if you are really concentrating) and singing ABC's. You then requested to watch some "dance" before bed.  No matter how many times I watch you do it, I have to giggle every time at your imitations of the sounds, song lyrics, and even some of the dance moves from the videos--though it appears we'll need to stop watching "Fat" by Weird Al, because you now think grabbing your diaper and making a silly noise is fun lol...
You now often head to bed when it's time without us telling you, which was the case tonight.  You then come back out of the room and say, "Mommy! Daddy!" and go back in there, as if to tell us that it is time to do bedtime routine.  You hugged and kissed your "froggie" (story on that another day), we read the books we read nearly every night now, put your blankies in crib, then "boinged" you up (I basically help you jump in with successively higher springs each time) into the crib. Oh, one funny thing that was different: you got your cash register out to play with and I asked you what numbers were on it. You pointed and said each one, then when you got to the equals sign, you said, "oops."  This was the way of it for all the operators, except multiply and add, because you saw those as "x" (you were looking from the side).
As I write this, you have been asleep for a while now, but just started making some sounds.  You said, "daddy, daddy, blankies, blankies."  You often talk to yourself for a while prior to sleep, and occasionally do this, too.  It's cute, but mommy worries for when you have a big bed and can get out when such happens...let's just stay at this stage, shall we? :)