Leaving... on an airplane

Actually, we aren't going on an airplane any time soon much to H's chagrin. Every time he hears the one pass over, the campaign starts:

'Eh, eh,' he eloquently suggests.

'Oh, H. You'd like to go on a plane?'

'I DO. I DO.' H screeches, as if finally you've comprehended his most fervent desire.

'Well H, we'll be visiting Lala and Grandpa in Minnesota this Christmas and we'll take an airplane.'

H listens thoughtfully and then suggests, 'Wake?'

'Yep, you'll have to wake 57 more times before we go.' This satisfies him.

H is developing a sense of time but it's focused on the future.

Pee, I dooo!

H has taken it upon himself to start using the potty. 'Pee.... Pee? I do. I do.' he'll announce. As we found out this weekend, if he's only wearing a diaper (and no pants), he'll whisk his diaper off and proceed to demonstrate his peeing skills. However, if we are able to interceed before the de-diapering, then we march off to his small potty to behold the magic. H pees in the potty. He is very pleased with himself. And so are we.

We haven't made much of potty training yet. We casually will mention it as a nebulous idea for the future. 'One day, H, you'll pee in the potty too.' As I joke with the pediatrician, we are in the diaper business right now, what's one more to change? But I think that H will be making the transition on his own. I'm sure it will take some effort on our part, but for now, doing it at his pace is working just fine.

Enamored

H is loving school. Loving it. He can't wait to 'wake' so he can go to 'cool'. He runs into the classroom every morning-- shouting 'bye-bye dad' before they even step foot into the building. He loves his teachers and he has made friends. In particular there is one little girl with whom he is totally enamored. He talks about her at bedtime when we're reading- pointing to pictures of curly haired girls and repeating her name, 'Neenah' (his pronunciation of it anyways).

When I was suggesting to him that we could go to the pumpkin patch last weekend (pictures to come), I listed the participants to him: 'Momma's going and H and B and E and Mimi' H chimed in 'Neenah' No, no alas, no Neenah this time.

Thus, H's class picture came as no surprise to us. H, in the center, has eyes only for his teacher and his Neenah.

High on the Hog

Little E has recently expanded the climbing campaign. He's all over the place: on H's new toddler bed, on the shapes truck (see above), up the stairs, on to the step stool... he's a maniac. And look how pleased with himself he is.

monkey house

SuperNanny has captured a few pictures of the boys in action. We have a small butcher block/island that the boys think is a giant climbing device smack in the middle of the kitchen for climbing practice. As they are becoming more physically agile, they spend more time clamoring around and getting into trouble. But lordy, they're cute doing it.

yuck.

B has a word of his own. 'Yuck' which he says with every bit the emphasis of disgust. I have to admit he learned this word from me. As B spends a lot of time trying to investigate yucky things: the toilet bowl, eating dirt, chewing on the A&D ointment tube, taste testing all types of paper products, and generally grossing me out on a regular basis, he hears the word a lot. 'B, Yuck!' I point out as I haul him away from the toilet. 'Yuuuuckk!' he happily agrees. 'yuck, yuck yuck' It's become a mantra for the boy. He repeats it over and over again as he goes about his day playing with toys. When I arrive home from school, he greets me with a 'yuck', a giant smile and a little gleam in his eye.

A Year Ago

It was almost a year ago that this picture was taken in front of Mimi and Poppa's house. Halloween is fast approaching again... and this year we have two more pumpkins in the mix. It's hard to tell how gigantically pregnant I was, but you'll have to take my word for it-- although it's been a year and lots has happened since then and now, somethings are indelibly imprinted in my memory (and on my belly). Other permanent marker moments include: the babies birth, the wonderful valentine's dinner I had with A, H dancing, E's grin when he stood for the first time, B splashing wildly, fake nose blowing, and many other snapshots in my mind.

b's balloon

B had fun attacking a balloon the other day. He was trying to bite it but fortunately, he wasn't able to get his sharp teethies into it. I know the noise of a bursting balloon wouldn't have gone over well.