Hoppy Easter!

We hope you had a great Easter, and I am sorry it has taken me so long to post this for you. This month has been crazy!

B-Boy and I were sick the week before Easter, and on Saturday, slept most of the day. We were supposed to go to my Mom's for an Easter event, but ended up having to cancel because we were so run down.

So I was really excited when we both felt better on Sunday. Our neighborhood's Easter Egg Hunt was re-scheduled for Easter Sunday afternoon because of the tornadoes that hit our area when it was originally scheduled. We weren't sure how B-Boy would respond, so we "hid" some eggs in our yard for him and told him to "Go get the ball!". He would run to the egg, pick it up and then run over to his basket and put the egg into it.

B-Boy, I think I see one over there!

Daddy, are you trying to trick me so you can steal my chair?

We did this several times, and he did really well with it. So we thought we were good for the hunt. Um no.

We got to the hunt and spread a blanket to watch them set up. They had staked off the field and ran bright orange tape around the stakes. There was a big rectangle of land for each of the 6 age groups starting with the 1 to 2 year olds. When we arrived, volunteers were emptying big plastic bins of eggs on the ground and tossing them to spread them out. B-Boy watched in avid wonder.

Look at all the balls Daddy! WOW!

When the whistle was blown for his age group to go, the kids and parents took to the field. I think all the people there confused B-Boy, because it took him a while to get started. And when he did? He would pick up an egg, and put it in someone else's basket. He had very little interest in using his own. He eventually found a basket he really liked, and kept chasing the mom to give her the eggs. I kept having to wave off the parents trying to hand me them back. He's a giver, ya know? :)

I like THIS basket. Here, have an egg.

(No, that is NOT me holding that basket. It is some stranger, that we have never seen before.)

We had fun, it was more about participating than getting eggs. Once B-Boy noticed the orange tape, it was done. He kept putting it over his head back and forth. The tape held his attention more than the eggs and he eventually led Neb on a chase around the tape.

Afterward, we stopped for this quick photo. Could he be any cuter?

Happy Easter Ya'll!

The next day, we went to work/daycare. B-Boy had an Easter Egg hunt scheduled Monday afternoon and all the parents were invited!

We started with a snack of Cheese Nips and cookies...

and then moved outside to look for eggs. His teachers provided a cute blue bucket with yellow chicks on it for him to put his eggs in.

Ga Daddy!

Once again, B-Boy had more fun giving the eggs to the other kids... Like I said, he's a giver!

He had fun running around with his bucket, playing with his friends.

He then played on the slide until it was time for us to leave. It was a lot of fun, and I think B-Boy enjoyed showing his parents all the stuff at the daycare.

I love this slide Daddy, are you watching me? 

Wheeeee!

Riding a horse with MusicLady

A few weeks ago, I was able to make it back to B-Boy's daycare for Music Time with MusicLady.

She comes every Tuesday at 10:30, and it is so much fun I can't believe it. I had been out of town for what felt like FOREVER, and a present to B-Boy and I was for me to go and have some fun with him in his classroom. Music Time is the BEST time to go for several reasons.

1. Waiting for MusicLady to arrive is such fun. The kids all fawn over the parent in the room, and work to get your attention by bringing lots of stuff to you. Each child had a book they wanted B-Boy's mommy to read to them!
2. The kids all are a captive audience to MusicLady's magical music. You never know WHAT instrument that talented woman is going to bring out.
3. It is fun to sing and bop to the music without looking like a crazy person. Everyone in the room thinks you are cool. And hey, if the teachers think you are lame... they aren't going to tell you because your kid is one less kid they have to worry about! :)
4. You can watch your child interact with someone without having to get your attention every second of the half hour you are there. A big plus!
5. MusicLady is incredibly sweet, and includes you in the fun while you are there.

I could list more, but you probably want me to move along and get to the point, right?

B-Boy had a blast with MusicLady. He actually LISTENED to her. One of the songs she sings is called "_____ is in the ring!". She has a big wooden hoop that she lays on the floor. One at a time, she sings their name followed by "is in the ring."  And, the child whose name is called will get up, step inside the circle, and a song is sung about them.

For example, she might say "B-Boy, would you like to get in the ring?" and B-Boy will jump up and step inside the wooden hoop. Yep, he does! Then MusicLady will sing in her pretty voice while playing an instrument to the tune of "The Farmer in the Dell"... "B-Boy is in the ring, B-Boy is in the ring, Hi-Ho the Merry-O, B-Boy is in the ring. And now, B-Boy is out of the ring!"

And just like that... B-Boy will step out and go sit down.

B-Boy had a ball, and enjoyed sitting in my lap most of the time we were there. At one point, he ran across the room to get on the rocking horse. He rocked for a while and I had to pick my jaw up from the floor because I didn't know he could do that!

Normally when MusicLady is finished, all the kids go outside to the toddler playground. On this day, however, B-Boy freaked out that his Mommy might leave and cried A LOT. Not that I could blame him. So, I took him out to the playground and held him until he could calm down. Once he did, he wanted to be put DOWN. As soon as his feet hit the ground, he took off running.

I was not sure why until I saw him sit down. You see, MusicLady had gone to the classroom next door, and they had decided to have Music Time outside on the playground. B-Boy just had to join in. It was quite the sight, all the kids from the class next door, B-Boy, and...

all the 2 year olds who were on the adjoining playground that were leaning up against the fence behind all the 1 year olds. There had to be at least 20 of them standing there watching, listening, singing and waiting in anticipation for her to visit them.

MusicLady, did you KNOW I was going to be out here? 

I think you came to find ME!

It was adorable. Everyone adores MusicLady and her cool pink guitar. She brings fun, learning, creativity and music into the hearts and minds of our little ones. We are all so lucky to have her.

Thank you MusicLady, we sure do love you.

Sounds like the Count

Neb and I both agree, one of the coolest Sesame Street characters is The Count.

Don't get me wrong, Grover is, as he will be happy to tell you, "CUTE!". Elmo is a B-Boy favorite, and I really liked Mr. Snuffleupagus as a child. My sister's favorite was The Grouch, which is really funny because she is anything but a grouch. There are CLEARLY a lot of great Sesame Street characters.

But none of them are near as cool as The Count. Perhaps being math geeks has something to do with it... but I always did like him.

Neb and I were thrilled to find a small stuffed Count a few months before B-Boy was born. When B-Boy moved to the crib and was finally able to sit up, I added The Count to one of the corners so he could play with him. The Count quickly became one of his favorite toys to play with in the morning while he waited for us to come get him.

This morning, I walked in to get B-Boy, and he was standing up with a paci in his mouth and one in each hand. He handed me all three pacis, and then picked up The Count. I thought it would be a good time to count with B-Boy. 

One (as I point to the green one), two (as I point to the clear one), three (as I point to the blue one).

Then I picked up The Count.

"ONE! ONE PACI! Ah-Ah-Ah!"

"TWO! TWO PACIs! Ah-Ah-Ah!"

"THREE! THREE PACIs! Ah-Ah-Ah!"

And then I start over. "ONE! ONE PACI! Ah-Ah-Ah!"

I take a moment to pause, and then B-Boy did something very unexpected.

He looked up at me and said some babble that clearly showed he was trying to say "TWO! TWO PACIs!"

And then he did the "Ah-Ah-Ah!"

I almost fell over, I could not stop laughing. B-Boy did it a few more times, and then it was time to get him dressed.

Neb watched it all happen on the baby monitor- which explained why he was laughing when we joined him!

Uh oh... SpaghettiO!

B-Boy is very much like a typical toddler. He says "Uh-Oh" a lot.

He says it when he drops something. He says it if I drop something. He says it if Neb drops something. He will even say it right before he intentionally drops something. Sigh.  He says it a lot.

Did I mention he says it a lot?

When I was a kid, Campell's Soup had a commercial for SpaghettiOs that included the phrase "Uh-Oh SpaghettiO". They even had a little tune that went with it, to be sure you didn't forget. I remember saying that catch phrase for a long time. Sometimes, I catch myself saying it to B-Boy.

One of his teachers, Ms. W., says it too. As a matter of fact, every time I have heard her say "Uh-Oh", she has followed it up with "SpaghettiO". (Minus the singing, of course!) I don't know if she always says it, but the few times I have heard her, she has.

So it was only a matter of time before you-know-who would start saying it.

I walked into B-Boy's room to get him this morning. He had a pacifier in his mouth (we aren't quite ready to give it up yet, but he is getting close). He looked over the side of the crib at the other pacifier laying on the floor and he said....

"Uh-Oh Ski-O!"

He can't say the whole word, but he knows there are some sounds in there. He holds the EEEEEE for a while before adding the O at the end.

It's really cute. At least, for now anyways!

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.