Helping?

The little dude loves putting things away. Our house is probably a little tidier because of him (no more coffee-table clutter), but sometimes he misses the mark. Exhibit A: Shoes in the hamper.

Stuff like this is one of the big reasons we have to keep a close eye on him. If we don't see him do it, getting ready to leave in the morning can become a super-frustrating scavenger hunt.

Holy Guacamole!

Daycare is seriously amazing. We were playing with the little dude tonight and HE CAN COUNT!!! KIND OF!!! PRETTY WELL, REALLY!!! TO TEN!!!!! EXCEPT FOR SEVEN AND NINE!!!! We even got it on video, so you can watch this super-impressive new (?) skill:

This is not the first time he's dropped some surprise knowledge on us. It always makes me feel like a bad mom. Who doesn't know that their kid can count!?!?? How long has he been able to do this? Oh well. In more run-of-the-mill news, here he is being excited about broccoli:

Mountain Baby!

It's a known fact that a Floridian can freeze to death at room temperature. Given that, there's one big problem with raising the little booger where it still snows in late March. He is happy to play outside when it's only 44 stinking degrees. 

He's no Florida baby. Brrrrr!

So Much Helping!

The little booger loves to help out around the house. Here he is wiping down what he can reach of the table after dinner:

And here he is helping me with the dishes yesterday (it was actually kind of a nightmare because I was washing food processor blades-- yikes!):

On the less-helpful side of things, he's figured out how that he can knock over his ball-popper and it will shoot balls across the room.

He was totally amazed the first time he did it and saw just how far the balls rolled.

No Pictures...

Blogger is having a photo issue, so I'll post a new picture when that's fixed. Here's a quick story from yesterday.

While we were visiting our new niece and her family, the little booger was playing on the (hardwood) stairs with his cousin. I was watching him and congratulating myself on how much more careful he has become. He was at least six inches back from the top step. Wahoo!

The very moment that I was thinking "Wow, look how safe he's getting to be!" my sister-in-law jumped up and said "I can't stand it!" and took the little stinker off the stairs.

I guess familiarity really does breed contempt.

Quality Time

We met our new niece today (she's almost 2 weeks old and an adorable little peanut). After cuddling with me, she spent some quality time snoozing with/on her Uncle Eric.

Mr. Responsible

The little dude loves helping out-- especially with the dogs. Beau reaped the benefits of that on Friday night.

High Tech/Low Tech

It cracks me up that the same kid who texted my mom, reset my speed dial, and figured out how to turn on and off the computer will also spend time trying to eat his ball popper.

 Sadie was not impressed.

Parent-Teacher Conference

In the little stinker's parent-teacher conference today, I learned that he has been tackling other children while trying to hug and kiss them. What? My little angel?

Ahem. Anyway, one of his newly developing skills is the ability to play with others, so here's a video of him doing just that.

What a Sucker!

I'm talking about me-- I'm a total sucker for a fun t-shirt. The nice thing is that I can buy them for the little stinker now, too (or instead). Check out what I picked up for him at the Milwaukee airport on a layover:

Best. Shirt. Ever.

Nobody knows the trouble he's seen...

The little booger is getting a lot better at communicating, but when he's frustrated he'll revert to calling everything "cracker." I tried to give him several different kinds of crackers tonight before I figured out that he wanted milk, snuggles, and a book (and a graham cracker). The poor kid kept wailing "CRACKER!!!!!" and pushing away all the crackers. *sigh* Life is hard.

Once we read Goodnight Gorilla and Green Eggs and Ham 500 times each, though, he perked up and enjoyed his dinner.

Making His Daddy Proud

Here's the little booger watching Spring Training. His dad was thrilled.

Animal Sounds? Part II

The little stinker is getting better at animal noises, but a lot of them are a little too growly. Here's his current version of the animal noises in Moo, Baa, La La La. (It's still a favorite around here.)

He's also started running around with his old tiger-print lunch bag on his arm and roaring. He was a little confused, though, when I asked him what a tiger says.

The more things change...

The little booger is talking up a storm! His newest word is poop. When the dogs go outside, he says "Beau, Sadie, Poop" which is, um, special and perceptive, I guess. In non-poop news, he has started to use me as a human ladder to reach the stereo.

At least he still likes reading, emptying kitchen cabinets, and cuddling.

It's good to be home.

Current Family Favorite

This might explain why the little stinker occasionally throws toys at daycare, but he loves this game! How can we stop playing at home when he's so happy?



We probably play some form of "Throw the Ball Up and Down the stairs" daily. It's doesn't have the catchiest name, though, so I'll work on that.

A wee bitta Irish in 'im.

So the boy's mom goes out of town for four days and the kid falls apart. Either that, or he's been working up to today's big Irish holiday. To my wife's disappointment, the boy is at least a small bit Irish, which comes out in me in the form of my ridiculous red beard. I'm sure there are wonderful and peaceful people on the Emerald Isle, but they do have a reputation for scuffling (see Notre Dame's mascot) and being rough and tumble. With that in mind, my son has come home with one incident and two boo-boo reports in the last four days. See the poor fella's face below.

He's has a bump and bruise on the head (from falling off a table while standing), a scratch under his right eye (a scuffle with another kid today), a busted lip (running so fast his little feet couldn't keep up), and some crazy gash beside his nose (no idea how this one happened). I'd hate to see the other kid! It's nice to know that in spite of all this he still enjoys his graham crackers.

Above is his awesome St. Patrick's day outfit. What a classy dude. His mom gets back tonight so no worries blog readers. Things will pick back up on here tomorrow.

We do own some chairs...

Practically every picture I have of us reading to the little booger looks like this:

Or this:

Or even this:

We really do have chairs in this house. Here's proof-- the little stinker sitting in one (and looking thrilled about it).

Up-Down!

He can say "Up" and "Down" now. It's really funny when he's standing, because he'll stand up on his toes and then squat down to act out the words. We've been trying to get him to do it for the camera. Here's the best version so far-- but it's the most half-hearted "Up, Down" I've ever seen.

Here he is saying it to his book with a little more enthusiasm.

Learning Is Messy!

We bought the little booger some toddler utensils. He's got an interesting technique with the fork.

And here he is after eating his yogurt with a spoon all by himself this morning.

We've still got a long way to go. Yuck.

Oh, the places you'll go!

The little guy is such a sponge. I might have to stop calling him "Stinky britches" before he calls one of his little buddies at day care the same and gets a toy in the face. For the last day or so he's been playing with the box from the wellies I bought his mom for Christmas by grabbing the handle and carrying it around like a briefcase. Well, relative to his size it's more like a giant garment bag, but nonetheless he's carrying it around. I guess he sees us pick up our bags as we are off to work because tonight he picked it up, walked over to the front door, looked at us, waved, and said "Byeeeee!" all while wearing that cheesy grin.

I think next lesson will be on proper work attire.

Here I come, Elizabeth!

The little stinker is trying to give me a heart attack.

Look at that! He's toying with me.

Vignettes (or Assorted Inanity)

1. Today was a pooky day-- chilly and rainy. The little dude wanted to be on the back porch, so here we are! I wasn't as happy about it as I look. It was raining.

2. This is how the little stinker prefers to climb the stairs. He's trying to grow up so fast! This video has a lot of me and my behind in it, so be forewarned.

3. The little stinker really did get a black eye the other day. See it? (your left, his right-- not actually that bad looking in this photo)

4. I like to have us all eat the same thing for dinner. Usually that means the little booger eats a regular meal. Occasionally it means his dad and I eat like two-year-olds. It was tasty, though.

5. If he can escape before his bath, the little booger likes to run naked out onto the landing to stand (or crouch) and giggle. We have no idea what he thinks is so funny. Tonight he ran out, shrieked and giggled and then peed all over the top of the stairs. Fortunately for everyone, there is no photographic evidence of this.

Tired Little Boy

The little guy was pretty tired tonight. He tried to take a nap on the dog's bed.

He also carried his blanket around in his mouth, which is a sure sign of exhaustion (for him, at least).

He was really, really into chewing on his blanket tonight.

We put him to bed half an hour early... just in time to go outside and see the shuttle and the international space station go by! We're total nerds, but it was incredible.

Ten Scars Make a Man?

This morning I accidentally bonked the little stinker's head into the car door. I guess I opened the door too hard and it rebounded right into the little dude's hairline.

He made it through the day without incident (and without me). When I was getting him ready for his bath tonight, though, he hit his cheek on the side of the tub and got a nice little shiner. You can't really see it in this picture, but you can see that he's still making terrible faces when he sees the camera.

Hopefully I'll do better tomorrow.

Taking candy from a baby?

The dogs quickly discovered that it is terrifically easy to take food from a baby, which is why we usually crate them while the little booger is eating. I think the little guy is figuring it out, though. He didn't put his milk down at all tonight-- despite the fact that the dogs were crated.

I'm no MacGyver, but I try!

Now that the little booger can open the doors on the entertainment center, he's messing with all the electronics. I keep forgetting to buy a childproofing loopy thing, so I wrapped a cable around the handles instead. Clever, right?

Too bad it didn't work at all. He can reach his little arms inside and mess with stuff through the crack in the door. Dang it!

He's a lot of fun, but he's getting to be quite a handful.

Daddy's Boy!

I've been trying to get a video of the little dude doing "Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes" for a couple of weeks now, and I finally got it.

In other news, the little guy had a pretty full diaper tonight. This is disgusting, but I have to share. There were little turd-balls falling out the ankles of his pants. We have never seen anything like that before... it was kind of a nightmare.
Just so we don't end on that note, here's a video of the little stinker (literally, haha!) roughhousing with his dad.

Pajama Day!

It was pajama day at daycare today. I tried to take a cute picture before we left the house this morning. The little dude was hilarious, but not super cooperative. He kept charging at the camera. I'm having some camera issues where it's not letting me take a picture quickly. That lack of speed is a real hindrance right now.

 I love the puffy-coat-with-pajamas-and-tennis-shoes look, don't you?

I didn't have him with me when I bought that coat. Winter is (hopefully) almost over and it's still way too big.

Mommy's Little Helper

The little guy is actually kind of useful when he's unloading the dishwasher with me these days. I enjoy his participation-- emptying the dishwasher is one of my least favorite chores.

And here's a photo of the little dude and me hanging out on the floor tonight in our blue sweatshirts.