Bright Spot

In an otherwise not-too-bright week (need I remind you of the rear-view-mirror-up-the-nose and innumerable potty accidents?). 

Unaided, M drew his initial on the easel! THEN, he posed for a photo - unbelievable!

He went on to add a "W," his middle initial, directly above it.  We were very impressed.  When asked to repeat the performance this morning, he drew...a mountain range.

But it's still progress!

And for the record, N can also make a few select letters on the easel.  A few weeks ago, he drew an "H" for the first time, then a "T."  While they are not his initials, they ARE necessary for actually spelling his name.

Remember when you count your blessings they always outnumber your tears. That's what we do.  Much love to you this weekend.

But It Was No Booger...

I'm becoming concerned that as a mother of all boys, my life for the next 15 or so years is going to be about gross bodily functions.  Maybe all moms feel this way, but the older the boys get, the more they amaze me with a different kind of gross than before.  And no, this is not a potty update.

I also used to think that my boys were just a little smarter than your average kid.

Apparently not.

Because this morning while I was getting ready for church and allowing them to watch PBS unattended, M came into my bathroom crying.  I assumed that he was upset about his brother taking a toy from him, which is usually the cause of such a scene.  It was a mylar balloon the other day. 

But now he can speak, and he was saying through his tears and sobs, "Booger!  Get the booger out!" while, of course, trying to fish it out himself.  We have lots of talks about using a tissue instead of your finger with him, but it's not quite getting through, so maybe that's where I should have known that they're not particularly advanced..  Teaching him to blow OUT instead of suck IN is also another challenge, likely why he's not quite enamored with tissues - because they don't work! 

Nevertheless, I attempted to remove said booger, and even took a peek up there because he seemed abnormally upset about this one (he usually takes care of them himself, his way).  I saw nothing, nothing came out, he just kept sniffing and calmed down.  So I took him to his room to get dressed, assuming the incident was over and the booger would come out when it was ready.

Midway through the choosing of the clothes and the dressing, the "booger" slid out. 

But it was no booger.

It was a tiny rear-view mirror, shown above next to an M&M for size comparison. 

A REAR VIEW MIRROR, did you catch that?!

I was able to remain calm, but firm, telling him that ABSOLUTELY NOTHING goes up your nose, this was a no-no, and he's lucky it came out on its own so that he didn't have to "go to the doctor and get a shot" (our typical threat).

I thought only other people's kids put things up their noses, and I thought it was only peas when they did.  This could have been awful, especially because I had NO IDEA it was even up there!  Yikes.

Investigating the car to which the rear view mirror belonged, I discovered BOTH mirrors are missing.  When asked where the other one is, M told me, "In the garbage," and while I don't actually see it there, I sure do hope it was put there at some point.  Because when they break stuff like that, I just say, "It goes in the garbage - there are some things mommy can't fix!"  Which may come back to bite me in the butt someday, but I'm willing to take my chances rather than try to glue those things back on.

Ugh.  Gross.  And little scary, mostly because I do not want to spend Sunday morning in Urgent Care and spending a fortune to get a rear view mirror removed from my toddler's nostril. 

Who Fed My Son Catnip Today?

That's the only logical explanation for M's behavior.  He was seriously bonkers today!  He would NOT sit still for even one minute to eat his breakfast, lunch, or dinner.  He was talking a hundred miles an hour:

I want pancakes!  I want coffee!  I want milk! Help you, Dada!  Read da book, Dada!  Bwow on da pancakes Dada!  Phooo!  Phooo!  Bruder's pancakes!  Bruder's milk!  Where da truck book?  Read da truck book, Dada!  Meow!  Meow!  Meow!  Drive da Jepp, Dada?  DRIVE DA JEEP!  DRIVE DA JEEP!  I WANT DRIVE JEEP!..........Mama's van?  Mama's van?  Drive Mama's van?  Wissen to KTIS!  Go get da keys!  Go downstairs, Dada, play trains!  Go downstairs!  Go downstairs!  GO!  DOWN! STAIRS!

He's crazy about his Dada, who, bless his heart, took the both of them to get haircuts today.  So for about an hour, N was an only (perfect) child, who sat obediently in the NORMAL cart while I strolled the aisles at Target, even shopping for things not on my list (gasp!).  I seriously think having one kid is a joke.  It was unbelievably easy to run an errand.

I hear M was a good boy at the salon, and both my fellas look very handsome today, but he kicked it into high gear again tonight.  I'm pretty sure the nursery workers at church tonight fed him catnip-laced-Mt. Dew because the entire 30 minute ride home was:

Tractor book, mama?  Wilson?  Brewster?  Thomas? Percy? (He was asking for the random train-part toys strewn about the van, which were reached after becoming a contortionist from the passenger seat.)
Cookie?
Whatssat?
Cornfields
Whassat?
Cows.
Whassat?
A car.
Whassat?
Another car.
Whassat?
What are you looking at?  The sky?  The trees?  It's book-reading time.  Here.
oooooo...look...a chicken.  Kiss da chicken!  Mwooah! oooo...a bear.  Kiss da bear!  Mwoooah! 
Cookie?  Cookie?  I want cookie!
Pizza?  Pizza?  I want pizza!  I want pizza!  I want pizza!  I WANT PIZZA!  Meow!  Meow!  Meow!
I was ordering pizza for dinner - did you guess that already?


He didn't stop until 9:00.  I'm going to pass out now. 
Meow.

Chocolate + Pretzels = Love

I just put a batch of brownies in the oven, and for fun, I let the boys lick the batter spoon.  They loved it, because, after all, they are their mother's children.  While I was at the sink, M was beside repeating a mantra, "Pre-bo, pre-bo, pre-bo, pre-bo, pre-bo, pre-bo,"

"What is it, son?  What are you saying?" I glanced down to see him reaching longingly for the giant tub of Utz's Pretzel Sticks on the counter.  "Pretzel?  Are you asking for a pretzel?"

"Pre-bo, pwee?"  He smiled. 

Then it hit me: I just gave him chocolate - now he wants a pretzel! 

Sweet and Salty, just like Mommy.

Medicine Man

Having grown up with three siblings, I know how kids are about things being FAIR.  That is, nothing ever is fair, but that's not how it should be, gosh darn it!  I noticed that I did two blogs all about N, which isn't fair to M, who loves everything to be fair, in his favor, bien sur.

Today is N's last day of amoxicillin for his ear infection, which means it's M's last day of medicine, too.  Yep, for 10 days, when M is the room, I've had to give him a shot of OJ in his brother's amox syringe.  Or else.  Then I feel bad for giving N a shot of amox and have to give him an OJ chaser, too!

If he can get his hands on it, he tries to give himself eye drops that N gets post-surgery, too!  He hasn't figured out how to open up the dropper - yet- so he just pretends to put drops in his eyes. 

On another note, Happy Valentine's Day, everyone!  And a special thank you to the Grandmas who sent treats to the boys.  We are going to have a nice, plain Monday with perhaps a heart-shaped PBJ.  M can say peanut butter, by the way.  It comes out

PEE-ba-ba-ba.

Precious Words

M said, "I love you, Mama," at bedtime the other night.  I nearly fell out!

But he's making sure not to be too sweet, since he hasn't said it again in a week!

His words are coming fast and furious, now!  He's like a whole new kid with this vocabulary streak.  Here are some of the adorable things he's saying:

"Geen been," green bean, the food, and his brother when he's wearing green
"Mama, Dada, brobro,Gamma," identifying each of us while pointing
"EEEEEeeeeOOOOoooEEEEeeeOOOOooo" screeching with the monkeys at the zoo
"Gum-eye," what he calls his gummy vitamins
"WeeeOooooWeeeOoooo," what he says when he sees a fire truck, ambulance, or police car
"Poopoo," when he goes, "peepee," at seemingly random intervals or when one of us enters the bathroom.
"Sheeshee," Aunt L, when he sees her picture on the computer screen or while Skyping
"Gama, Papa," identifying my parents on the computer screen or while Skyping

• Funny story about Skyping my parents: he wants to see Papa at all times - my mom usually holds the laptop - so every time he leaves the screen, he asks, "Papa? Papa? Papa!" until he comes back.  But then M doesn't say anything.  He just wants to see him!

"Dada," when my phone rings or the garage door opens
"Dada go? Mama go?" if one of us is gone, this morning, "Gamma go?" since she visited this weekend
"Gabba Gabba, show, DBD," what he says when he wants to watch TV or DVD
"Key-bee nigh nigh," what he says when we tell him the binky has to stay in bed all day
"Weed," Read
"Pow," Plow, every time he sees a plow, bulldozer, or bobcat
"Mo, pweez?" when he needs more of something - ok, I help him with that one.  First, he says, "Mo!Mo!Mo!"

I hear myself in his vocabulary, too.  Every now and then, I hear:
"Okay, okay, okay, okay!"
"Hereyago,"
In addition to, "Oh, no!  Uh, oh! No, no!"

There is so much more, but I had to tell you about how he's putting two or more words together, identifying people and pictures of people, and associating objects.  I have no doubt his brother is, too, but he just lets M do all the talking!