The Cow says Moo!

B-Boy doesn't say much, but he sure does know a lot.

I'll ask him to hand me a block, and he will go and get one. Or I will ask him, "B-Boy, where is your Puppy?" and he will run off and look for the stuffed dog GatorGrandpa gave him for Christmas. He even knows what it means when we ask him to put his cup in the sink, or to throw something in the trash.

We are always amazed when he shows us he understands. I guess he feels the same way when we understand what he tries to tell us.

We noticed that he was mimicking Neb whenever Neb gave him a duck cracker. (We found crackers similar to Goldfish, only duck shaped, called Quackers). When Neb would hand it to him, Neb would bob it up and down and say "Quack, Quack, Quack".

B-Boy started mimicking it back, and it was a way of telling us he wanted those duck crackers. We then started asking him "B-Boy, what does a Duck say?" Eventually, B-Boy learned the correct response was "Quack, Quack, Quack!"

That led to cows, as we drove out the back entrance of my work. There are farms, and at the time, cows were often grazing. B-Boy could not help but stare at them, so I would say "What do cows say? MOOOOO!"

And then he got it. Every time we drive past those farms, regardless if a cow is there, B-Boy will Moo. It makes me giggle every time.

He has since learned other animal noises.

• "What do Lions say?" Neb taught him to lightly swat his hand like a paw and say "ROAR!" in a whisper. Too cute.

• "What do Elephants say?" I would wave my arm up like a trunk by my nose and say "Whoo!" (He really liked that one!)

• "What do Doggies say?" This one he got from the Doctor who gave him a dog sticker after an appointment and said "Wuff Wuff Wuff". He immediately repeated the sound. He will now answer strongly "Wuff Wuff Wuff".

• "What do Kitty Cats say?" We think he got this at daycare- he will now say softly "Meow". 

• "What do Sheep say?" These are also on the farm by my work, and B-Boy loves to say "Baaaa-Baaaa!" over and over.  

• "What does a Snake say?" This one was an easy one- my Mom had given him a beanie baby snake. We would show him the snake and say "SSSsssss!" B-Boy got that one very quickly.

Some of this has come from the assistance of the beanie babies my Mom gave B-Boy. He has a duck, lion, elephant, sheep and snake. If we ask him to get one of them, he most often will go into his room and get the correct animal. He also has a kangaroo, and I have no idea what sound they make, so I usually bounce it up and down and say "Hop, Hop, Hop!". B-Boy will say it back, in his true form, with a tiny bounce.

We are working on Owl and Mouse right now. He can say Owl and Hoo, so when we ask him what an Owl says, he often repeats Owl over and over. He can do the "Squeak Squeak" of the mouse, but not without prompting.

Any ideas on what animals we should do next?

18 month check-up

It's official. B-Boy is 18 months old. Tell me, where did the time go?

This milestone also meant that it was time to go for the 18 month check-up. You might remember that we have been struggling with B-Boy's food... not quite sure what has caused his digestive issues. He has been off dairy for a few weeks once again, and since he really hadn't had a solid soiled diaper since our trip to Florida in December, I demanded that the doctor do some more advanced testing.

This meant two blood draws (once from his finger, and once from his arm). He did really well with the arm one, I was so proud. He cried but did not fight or squirm. It was really hard for me to hold him through that, but we both did really well. We decided to forgo any shots at this appointment, since he had just had those draws, so B-Boy was pretty happy during this visit.

We got the results during the 18 month appointment. Turns out, there were no issues with dairy! (Which now means B-Boy can have cheese again! YAY! It's been a challenge feeding him side dishes without using cheese. You try it for a week, you will see what I mean!)

All the things we thought might be an issue were not. Dairy was fine. Wheat was fine. Corn was fine. There may be a slight issue with eggs, so we will have to keep an eye on those. We still don't have a firm answer on what is going on with him, but we have an appointment with the pediatric gastroenterologist at Duke in mid-May, so I hope to have more information soon.

Ok, enough of the yucky stuff. Now for the fun parts.

We filled out a lot of paperwork, answering lots of questions about what B-Boy is doing right now. One question was does he say 8 or more words other than Mama and Dadda? I wrote them down and was surprised the answer is YES!

His words: Up, Cereal, Kitty, Kitty Cat, Shoes, Bye-Bye, Bubble, Ball, Quack, All Done and GA!

One of the questions that the doctor liked my answer to was "Do you understand what your child communicates to you?" My response?

B-Boy is in full on babble mode. He is definitely trying to tell us something! He will repeat the same cadence of babble to you, sometimes stopping and looking you in the eye as he repeats it to be sure you get what he is telling you. He then may start a different sounding babble with someone else. But when he repeats himself a few times, the cadence (sound) is always the same with each repeat. He clearly is trying to tell us something, and knows EXACTLY what that is, even if we don't.

And now the part you have been waiting for... Weight and height! B-Boy is still off the chart with height, coming in at 35 and a half inches long! (Can you believe he is almost 3 feet tall????)

They weighed him with his diaper and clothes on because he was so upset. (I think he was expecting to be given another shot!) He weighed in at 28 pounds and 7 ounces. Personally, I think he is closer to 35 pounds!

B-Boy finished the visit in good spirits as the doctor had him take of his shoes and chase a red ball in the hallway. She wanted to watch him walk and run to see if there was anything to be concerned about. B-Boy had fun doing that, and fortunately, there were no issues to cause concern.

All in all, things are good!

Leaving B-Boy, finding "Mama!"

I knew it was coming. Even so, I couldn't prepare Neb, myself or B-Boy for it. I had to go out of town for my company's conference in Las Vegas, for five days. I would be back for a little over 24 hours before having to hit the road to Chicago. The next day, home again.

The conference was in Las Vegas, and I had to leave really early Sunday. I had to leave before B-Boy woke up, which was a bummer. I made sure to snap some photos of B-Boy before I left, and got lots of extra hugs.

I love Bath Time!

Goodnight! 

While I was gone, Neb was quite busy. Not only was he taking care of B-Boy, taking him to daycare, picking him up and handling swim class for two days... he was busy teaching something so valuable- I couldn't put a price tag on it.

He taught B-Boy how to say "Mama".

I know what you are thinking. He is 18 months- surely he says Mama, right? Nope. Dada, yes. Dad-dee, even more. But I got nothin'. That all changed when I got back from Vegas.

Neb said he was asking for me while I was gone, but I had no idea... and when I saw B-Boy for the first time Friday morning, he looked right at me and said "Mama!".

I must admit, it was the BEST welcome home present I have ever gotten. Neb was so sweet to work with B-Boy while I was gone, practicing saying "Mama".

But you know there has to be a funny end to the story, right?

You may not know this, but Neb's favorite southern word is Ragamuffin. His favorite pastime? Implying that I am a ragamuffin. And his favorite method to do so? To rewrite the lyrics of songs to include Ragamuffin and Eli in them. I could do an entire series on his favorite rewritten songs about his Ragamuffin wife... but I digress.

When I returned from Chicago, I got home really late. When B-Boy woke the next morning, he got to see his Mama again! Yay! Neb was getting him dressed. Neb asked B-Boy "Can you say Ragamuffin?"

And B-Boy's answer had us all laughing. He said "Mama!".

Neb swears he did NOT teach him THAT. I am not sure that I buy this "Happy Accident" theory.

Hmm. Not sure how I'll live that one down.

Getting shoes

While GranE was here, she remarked how big B-Boy has gotten. She was also surprised to learn that B-Boy was stilling wearing the same shoes I had purchased when he started walking. She was convinced that his shoes MUST be too small.

So off to the shoe store we went. B-Boy got his feet measured, and he was still a size 6 and a half! But we knew it would not be long until he feet sprouted to the next size. So, we bought two more pairs in a size 7. B-Boy is now the owner of a pair of brown sandals and some really nifty white tennis shoes!

He really likes the sandals, and finds them really easy to put on and pull off. Until the leather breaks in, he will wear them with socks... so we will need to go find him a pocket protector to go with them!

Reading is FUNdamental

GatorGrandpa asked me, in response to a previous post, what kind of books B-Boy enjoyed. I thought it was a good question, and would be of interest to some of you. I hope I do not disappoint.

I was what you would call a bookworm as a child. I would have much preferred to sit down and read a book than do just about anything. I hope B-Boy also has that adoration of reading, but perhaps at a more balanced level.

B-Boy still enjoys simple touch and feel books a lot. But he also really likes his book about Trucks. The book is also at his daycare, so he sees it quite a lot. Not only that, but he loves to make the VROOM truck noise when he looks at it.

One of my co-workers, WorkBFF, gave me a big box of books for B-Boy that her kids had finished using. In it was one of my childhood favorites, "Goodnight Moon". It has quickly become one of B-Boy's favorites too. In the evening, he will pick up the book, run over to me, and say "GA!" That's his way of saying "Please read me this book!" He loves it.

In the great green room
there was a telephone
and a red balloon.

and a picture of the cow jumping over the moon
There were three little bears sitting on chairs... 

Well you get the point. He asks for us to read that to him almost every night. He adores it as much as I did as a child. 

He also loves a bunch of books that my mom gave him before he even came to be in existence. They were in the Grandbaby Box.Well, one of them, I think there were seven!

B-Boy especially likes books that are alliterative. He loves the Dr. Seuss "Hop on Pop", and the book my mother got him called "The Goose is Loose". He is big on alliteration right now. He also adores a book GranE's sister AuntieM gave him - it's a peekaboo book that has flaps that you can open in different directions and see pictures of babies doing baby things... like holding a bear, eating a cookie, putting on shoes... Each time he opens the flap we say "PEEK A BOO! I see you!". He has gotten really good at opening the flaps.

So those are the types of books B-Boy likes. He's a lot like his Momma, he loves books!

Playing Cinderella

After we got home from swimming, I gave B-Boy a bath and dressed him in his PJs while Neb got dinner ready.

When the bath was over, there was still a bit more time for B-Boy and I to play while Neb finished cooking. I was still in my swim suit, and in true Momma fashion, was cold. So I wrapped up in a blanket and sat down on one of the kitchen chairs to play with him.

B-Boy sat on the kitchen floor and played with several stacking cups (also known as Gladware!). He was having fun stacking them inside one another, and then putting them up to cover his mouth while he said "AHHHHH" into them.

B-Boy spotted Neb's flip-flop laying on the floor where Neb had deposited it. He snatched it up, crawled over to me, moved the blanket that was covering my feet aside and tried to put the flip-flop on my foot.

I knew he knew what shoes were. He has even tried to put on his own shoes at home. But I didn't know that he knew that people other than B-Boy put on shoes. It's a pretty good leap to see a shoe and want to put it on another person.

He successfully put the shoe on my foot several times. Each time, I would hide my foot under the blanket, and he always knew where it was.

We had fun playing Cinderella until dinner. I am lucky to have such a cute little Prince!

Swimming once again

So tonight B-Boy started swimming lessons again.

The last time he was in the pool was in October. Neb and I decided it was time for him to get in again. In retrospect, we think we waited too long!

We arrived with B-Boy in good spirits- he had a great day at day care. We thought that was a good sign. We were wrong.

Neb got in the pool first, and as B-Boy and I approached, B-Boy started to moan a bit. By the time we got to the edge of the pool, he was crying. Not good.

He cried for the first half of the lesson, if not more. Getting into the water, something that used to be fun, was now torture. Passing back and forth to Neb, more water torture. And forget laying on his back- it's hard to imagine, but a toddler tantrum CAN be had while your toddler is laying on his back in the pool.

And I had NO idea B-Boy was that strong! He put his arm around my neck, and had a tight grip. I swear I could have let him go and he would not have budged. He was that strong.

I am happy to say that by the end, he was smiling. He finally got into the pool from the side with a smile, and when we passed him back and forth- SMILE. We even dared to put his head under the water... and he did really well with it.

We left on a good note. B-Boy stood on the side of the pool, cocked his head to the side and exclaimed "GA Done!" Yes B-Boy, "All Done".