Volume control

Last night, like so many nights lately, you announced, "It's night now.  Time to go to bed," and we, of course, got you in bed shortly after.  The newest trend in the bedtime routine is that you want to read all 6 of the French books that I got you (they are cute and short).  What I think is amazing is that you recognize when I am telling you a French word versus English; you point out often that, "That's a French." lol.  Anyway, you went to sleep earlier than usual, which would normally be a good thing, except that you also decided to get up much earlier, too--9:20am, if I saw the clock correctly.  Daddy took care of you until mommy was ready to get up an hour later because he, too, has been going to bed earlier lately due to a morning class on Mondays and Wednesdays.
Since you were up earlier today, this meant we could take you to the Kids Zone while we worked out--yay!  You were very happy to go, and all went well except that you had to go potty in the middle of the time we were there, thus interrupting mommy's workout (it's ok :))
You also seem desperate to play in the snow when we go out; problem is, we haven't had all that much this year (to mommy's dismay and daddy's delight).  You kick and stomp in what little is out there every time we are outside, with today being no exception.  However, you were quite un-thrilled when your stomping caused you to lose balance and plant your hands in it when we were on our way to get in the car to go home.  Chocolate milk in the car seemed to fix that.  Next thing we knew, you were telling daddy that you want an Everest toy--something that may not even exist!  (Everest is the newest character on your favorite show, PAW Patrol.)  You even put together the phrase, "Buy Everest toy at the store?"
one hour later, real time
So, mommy decided after writing that just now to see if there were any Everest toys; there are not.  However, I did find some lovely PAW Patrol sheets for your bed that I just had to order--will be picking those up tomorrow (yes, I spoil you, can't help it--but you do actually need another sheet set).
Tonight, Kevin and I made fried chicken for dinner.  You decided to watch the frying action until it popped by surprise (it even surprised mommy, kind of big)--then you wanted nothing to do with that.  You are fairly picky right now still about eating, thus you did not partake of the wonderful chicken.  I'm slowly trying to work on that with you...hope you will come out of it eventually :)
And the reason for this post's title is that your other latest trend is seeing if you can get a response from raising your voice.  It doesn't work, which I do think you are learning, but wow can you get loud!  We've been trying to teach you volume control (whispering and such), which is also a very slow process.  Thankfully, you do not often yell, it's mainly just a testing out on your capabilities, it seems.
Love you lots <3

Happy new year (a couple weeks in...)

Ah, another new year is upon us and you are getting bigger and bigger :)  Mommy has finally graduated with her Masters degree, so hopefully now the entries will be more frequent.  I apologize again that I have not been entering nearly as often as I'd like--I really am determined to do better, starting from now!!
Just the other day, a belated Christmas present arrived for you from Nana: PAW Patrol wall decals!  They were out of stock at Christmas time, so she waited and we're glad she did.  You LOVE these; of course we had to get them up on the wall immediately, right by your bed.  You chose the order and (sort of) their placement.
Speaking of your bed--in the last entry, I told you about getting you switched over to a 'big boy bed'.  Yes, you are still there, but oh how you like to fight going to sleep!  The funniest thing you do right now at that time is to say, "Mommy, close one eye?", to which I reply, "No, close both eyes and go to sleep." You protest and sometimes whine, but eventually you give up and do indeed close them both lol.
This morning, you got mad at me for trying to put your right leg in your pants first instead of your left.  Yes, really.  Thankfully this did not lead to a full meltdown (that does happen for just as silly of reasons at times).
Right now, you just requested to make popcorn with the air popper.  This is nearly a daily thing with you; you love plain popcorn (and the popping part, I'm sure :))  Time for mommy to get some stuff other stuff done before heading out for work this afternoon!  Love you lots.

Big boy bed!

(the post date on this was supposed to be the 4th of December)
Mommy has been off the blog for a bit because she was in a sleep lab for 2 weeks...ask me about this sometime (or maybe I'll still be doing them by the time you can, who knows lol?)
Anyway, I came back home last week, very tired, the day before Thanksgiving.  Nana Linda and Papa Junior were already here because we needed them to watch you while Uncle Kevin and daddy were both busy away from the house the day before.  We had a great Thanksgiving, though you didn't eat any of the wonderful yummies (you have been quite the picky poke lately about eating even foods we know you love).  The day after that, we went out shopping to get you a new mattress set and on Saturday (4 days ago), we picked it up--everyone except mommy helped convert your crib into a new, full size big boy bed (mommy had to leave to start back to lessons/work).  You loved it right away and have so far *knock on wood* slept very well in it.  Problem is, unlike the crib, you now have the freedom to get up when you want.  You have gotten up too early for us most mornings, and then last night, you came out of the room 3 times after being put to bed to go potty and get more milk.  Guess you're still adjusting--that's OK :)

Your newest thing is to grab someone's hand and say, "Walk-a-my-hand" and then lead them off to show them something or do something with you.
Potty training is going pretty well these days.  You now say this whole phrase when you need to go, "Go bathroom and pee pee potty go for it"--probably because every time you would tell us you needed to go when we were doing the no-bottoms method, we would tell you to "go for it".  So cute that you think this is part of the phrase now lol.
You've also started randomly repeating phrases from TV.  The other day you were just walking through the house and declared, "Don't go anywhere, we'll be right back on Boomerang!"  No surprise, given your love of all the shows on that network :)

cold bathwater

When you were younger, you loved baths and would stay in there for quite a while, though you absolutely hated (and still do) to get water on your face or head at all.  Around 2 1/2, a switch seemed to flip and you suddenly wanted nothing to do with baths.  We had to nearly beg you to get in, and you always got mad and screamed at mommy when she attempted to wash your hair.  Lately, you are back to liking baths and staying in there for a long time.  Along with the recovery of bath enjoyment is that you  really like the water flowing from the tap...to the point that you never want to turn it off.  Tonight you really surprised me by actually requesting to take a bath; of course, I obliged, and you stayed in there a long time.  You are VERY picky about which toys are acceptable in the tub lol.  For example, I offered the yellow duckie and you very sternly refused, but a blue plastic bowl, that was happily allowed.  Going back to the water--you also have a preference for cold water.  I can understand not wanting it very hot, but you seem to think it's summer in the bathroom or something, preferring water that feels much like a swimming pool temp.  This evening, I thought you had drained the tub when you finished (I heard it) and didn't bother to check.  When we were getting you ready for bed (a good 4 hours post-bath), I took you to the bathroom to have you use the toilet before bed and discovered that you had not entirely drained the tub (about an inch and a half depth remained).  I asked you to drain the water the rest of the way.  You took this to mean, "Get back in the tub and play for another half hour, who cares what temp the water is?"  I really thought the water would be too cool for you, but no, you were quite content to splash around and have a grand old time with it, so we let you burn out the rest of your energy this way :)

Cookie monsters

Today's big event was making cookies with mommy.  Yes, it's true, you have inherited my love of sweets, cookies included; selection du jour: family recipe drop sugar cookies.  These are so super addictive, it's ridiculous.  Of course, you were my little kitchen helper as usual.  When I told you we were going to make cookies, you said, "Use the mixer!"  Yep, trained already ;)  You even know the name brand on it lol.  You read "baking soda" when I pulled that down from the cabinet, you understand what it means to measure (still haven't got you to recall "leveling", though), and you love to put the ingredients in the bowl to be mixed.  Today you also got to help with sifting--did a great job of it, too.  As you have done for quite sometime, you imitated the sound of mixer as it ran (this still cracks me up, no matter how many times I've heard it before).
In other recent news, you have started to use the potty while standing in front of it instead of sitting on it (you still do the latter, too).  You are much better at singing your ABC's now, except you just can't get that L-M-N-O-P part down (you usually end up with L-N-O-O-P or something along those lines).

two beaucoups

A quick post of highlights of the first weekend of November:
Yesterday, you were a big helper.  Mind you, you normally are a good helper, but yesterday, you did it often and while helping us unload the dishwasher, you declared, "Avery helping!"  You really were, too.  You also tried to help me with cooking, which was going well until you pushed a little too hard on the pan and sent it tumbling to the floor.  It bumped your feet, but not hard enough to even bruise.  Some kissies from daddy and mommy and you were back to helpful mode quite soon after.
You also tried to help mommy with switching out the decorations from Halloween to Fall/Thanksgiving--had to watch you on that because you still don't get the concept of 'fragile' ;)
Today we went to Meijer (which you still pronounce closer to "Maui") and you were very good there.  Lately you like to ride on the end of the cart (thank you Grandma Judy for teaching you that lol) and get very upset if we put things in the cart instead of you.  Even if we try to sneak an item in while you are distracted, you spot it after the fact and insist on removing the item and putting it back in yourself.
At home, you played in the sink (again--did this yesterday, too) and got your sleeves wet (again).  You also wet your underwear, which is the first time that has happened since we've been trying to get you used to it instead of diapers.
At bedtime, as usual, we always say "Je t'aime beaucoup" (I love you) to you; what cracks us up is that you will quantify it and inform us that it's "two beaucoups!"

3rd Halloween

Yep, it's been too long again, I'm sorry.  I really hope once mommy finishes her Master's degree that she can get back to doing these posts more often.  It's honestly not that I forget--it's the lack of time.
Anyhow, tonight was your 3rd Halloween!  Despite the fact that just the other day it was nice enough to let you wear shorts and go to the park, today it snowed and was super windy!  It's the worst weather of the entire week; the snow was just blowing around, no accumulation--still not a nice sight for Halloween.  Thus, we made sure to give you a good warm layer underneath your fireman costume and daddy bought you some nice warm mittens that matched your outfit perfectly!
We--being you, me, daddy, and uncle Kevin--took you to the same area as last year, then finished by coming down Canyon Trail to return to the house.  You had a lot of fun, just not a fan of the wind constantly trying to push your hat down on your face.  We had to carry you on our shoulders quite a bit, since there would be strings of houses without lights on. Next year I think we'll take the wagon, because you'll probably be too big by then for us to carry anymore!  You were pretty good about saying "trick-or-treat" and "thank you" when prompted, and even on your own a couple of times.
Once we had finished, we stopped by the house to freshen up and then headed out in the car to go have dinner at Anyway's--they were offering a free kid's meal for those who were in costumes.  In the short time it takes to get over there, you managed to fall asleep and catnap!  At the restaurant, you were very good, sat right next to daddy, and ate some of both of our plates (celery from the appetizer, daddy's fries, and mommy's rice), but none of the pizza we ordered for you lol.  Oh well, no big deal :)
Back at home, we watched "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown" and "Ghostbusters" while you ate lots of candy.  Yay for a great 3rd Halloween, buddy!