Lids

The little guy had a great time playing with his hamper lid and his daddy tonight before bath time.

I'm not sure this was Eric's favorite game ever, but he'll be fine.

Cinderella Man?

I'm not sure what the boy-version of the name Cinderella is... but we put the little dude to work the other day cleaning the cabinets.

Do you see his big-boy underpants? The little stinker woke up Saturday morning and insisted on wearing big-boy pants, not diapers. We managed to convince him that pull-ups are big-boy pants (phew!), but the little guy isn't messing around with real diapers anymore. Unbelievable!

If you lie down with dogs...

... you'll melt your Mama's heart! Here's another photo from our Sunday-at-home:

They are so cute together. Sadie keeps trying to play with the little guy. The problem is that when she wants to play she runs away from him and barks her fool head off. He doesn't really understand that, but I'm hoping they'll figure it out someday.

What a Man!

The little guy stayed home from church this morning (our final germ precaution). Instead, he spent the morning without pants-- watching football and reading a Jeep catalog.

It is cold and flu season...

The little booger had to come home from daycare today with a fever. This is how he spent the afternoon:

After a couple of doses of fever-reducing medicine, he perked up a little. I picked up a little something extra at the store for my poor baby tonight: Tow Mater from the movie Cars! I'm such a sucker.

Happy Thanksgiving!

We hope you are enjoying something tastier than a banana peel.

Big Jump

The little dude spent a long time tonight climbing to the top of the step-stool and jumping off of it (he used to use it as a little desk). Here's an action shot:

And here's a video:

We shouldn't be left alone. I clearly can't handle the responsibility.

Sort of...

I guess I do follow the little guy around and take his picture, but in my opinion these sunglasses are a bit overkill.

Just call  me Mom-arazzi.

Daredevil

Today at the playground I learned that the little booger is getting to be a really good climber! He climbed up this ladder without any help.

At the top, he checked my his watch-- look at the time!

So he started back down.

He had to turn around...

... so he could pause and enjoy the view.

Then it was time to keep going.

This kid is fearless and it scares me to death!

Go Cinnamon Rolls!

The little guy has a future as a sports announcer (or at least a color commentator). When he watches football he always says "Whoa! They run SO FAST!!! Hahahahaha... they fall down." Wouldn't he be a great addition to ESPN?

Snow!

Already! (Noooooooo.)

The little dude was pretty fascinated, so we stood outside in the freezing cold for about ten minutes while he looked around and argued that it was rain, not snow. Then we stood outside and froze our tails off for an additional five minutes while he helpfully informed me that it was snow, not rain.

Cheesey-Cheese Cheese

Here's our little cheeseball, cheesing with some cheese curls (dinner of champions).

All Politeness

I tend to pile things that belong upstairs at the bottom of the stairs to remind myself to put them away. Usually I end up stepping around the pile until we're about to have people over. It's a bad habit, and one that's about to change. The other night as the little booger was walking down the stairs, he said "Excuse me, stuff."

Anyway, here's a picture of him reading a book!

Hello?

The little stinker was playing with the (unplugged) phone tonight. It was a nice break from Elmo videos.

When he put it to his ear to talk, he said that he'd been on a buggy ride and made the dogs stay before he fed them. It was fun to hear the highlights of his day! 

Music!

Guess who's shaping up to be a child prodigy? 

Probably not this one, but that's ok.

Riddle Me This!

Q: What is more fun than a tambourine OR rhythm sticks?

A: Beating a tambourine WITH rhythm sticks!

Our Little Prep?

The little booger peed in Sadie's crate tonight.

SRSLY?

So, I'm taking a quick break from misbehavior and bodily functions to show you what the little dude looked like on Sunday:

What a little prep! His dad was so proud.

Kitchen Helper

The little guy loves to help out in the kitchen (Me: Do you want to help me in the kitchen? Him: Yeah!), so tonight we made mini pesto pizzas. He helped press down the dough and spread the pesto. Then he did a great job putting tomato slices on each mini pie.

I really was very careful with the knife-- the angle is off in the above photo.

After we sprinkled them with cheese, I put them in the oven and we sat down to watch them bake.

It was a lot of waiting for a two-year-old, so he laid down to take a nap...

... but dinner was eventually ready!

The pizzas were misshapen and messy, but delicious.

Wow, Look at That!

The little booger has been saying "Wow! Look at that!" for a while now.

But now he wants me to take pictures of the things that make him say wow. One of those things is his left shoe (followed by the right shoe):

Another is his set of legos:

After I take the picture, he always says "Thank you!" What a gentleman.

Sad Dragon

This photo struck me as a little wistful even though the little guy was perfectly happy. He loves wearing his dragon suit.

He's also been muttering "No problem, Bob" to himself, which is cracking us up. This kid is a riot.

In heartbreaking news, the little guy was apparently really scared by the fire drill they had at daycare last Tuesday. He won't play in the room where he was when the fire alarms went off. He's been sitting with his teachers and talking about how loud the alarm was. Gah. This kid-- he kills me.

Almost Hunting Season!

We met up with Nana and Pops today to do some tree-stand business before rifle season... It was a beautiful fall day.

After wandering around in the woods, we had a nice picnic back at the cars. The little booger sat and ate with his Nana.

But then he hung out on the bumper with the boys.

He slept all the way home.

All Better!

The little guy was cheerful and played well with others today at daycare, so that was a nice change from yesterday. We had a quick dinner and then went for a nice walk with the dogs. The little guy got a piece of Halloween candy before his bath. Yum!

"Where did the candy go?" "It's in your belly!"

After he ate the chocolate, he asked for some milk... which he drank out of a real cup like the big boy he is.

A New First!

We were just talking about the lack of new "Firsts" the other day. The last two years have been full of big firsts: first rolling, first crawling, first steps, first food, first word, etc. We were laughing that even though he keeps learning new things, they aren't as momentous these days... but I think we spoke too soon.

Daycare keeps these nice daily logs for the parents. There's a section about diaper changes (times and textures), one about food (when and how much), one about attitude, and a short narrative about their day. It's really nice-- here's a typical attitude section for the little booger:

And here's a typical narrative:

Today, however, was a big first for us. We've only ever gotten two variations of the attitude report: Content or Cheerful. According to his teachers, he's always playing well with others. I really didn't think they ever used those other boxes... until today:

I should have known that the thoroughly marked "Not listening" box wasn't going to lead to a good narrative. And, here it is.

The all caps and exclamation point on the 'he would tell them "NO!"' part really makes this an achievement for the little dude. Today he enjoyed... misbehaving. 

Learning!

Here he is, saying "It's a triANGle!"