Cuddle Bros

A week or so ago I was having a blah day, just chugging it out until winter vacation, and it felt like bedtime couldn't come fast enough - for the kids and for me. In an act of desperation gave in to yet another Daniel Tiger episode rather than be the screen time enforcer and went off to do something in the kitchen. When I came back to check on the boys I found them like this.

My heart melted. They'd found the mexiblanket on their own, and snuggled together without any prodding from me or J-Man. MDG had his "beeball," PDG one of his wrong-holiday books and someone had been obviously sneaking snacks on the couches, but otherwise it was perfection.

Pretty sure I went to bed with a smile that night. (probably around eight o'clock...)

MDG Turns TWO

I don't know when or how it happened, but MDG turned two!!!!!

(Ok, that's a lie, it happened on Dec. 2nd, but the how is still confounding me. Like, he was just born. I was just pregnant. He should still be my baby. Period)

A little bit about my MDG

He's big. He weighs almost 30 pounds (twenty-nine point something) 78% and measures right at 36in - 91%. Head size in the 50% but we blame that on J-Man :)

(Unrelated, anyone see that link going around facebook that using sideways smileys is not cool anymore? Just like using periods in text messages. Oh well. :))

MDG still doesn't really like to eat. I don't know how he's so giant when I swear all he does is drink milk. When I told the doctor he has four cups a day (actually five lots of days - I'm just not great at being 100% honest with doctors) she gasped aloud. So that's one goal, less milk. More water and food. He loves broccoli though. And fruit of all kinds. He's warming up to meat and other vegetables. He must eat at daycare. But when all else fails and your totally kid-friendly meal gets spurned while PDG inhales it and asks for seconds, MDG will go for a well-rounded plate of string cheese, yogurt, krab, clementines, and a gallon of milk.

He talks a lot now. He sings a version of the ABC's that just repeats ABC over and over, but he can throw in other letters when you sing with him. He thinks every letter he sees is a P and counts "one, two, seven, three" more often than not. He's expanded his color guessing to go "green? purple? green? blue? green? purple?" To help him out we often ask him about something green or purple when he gets frustrated.

When you cough or sneeze he'll ask if you're ok, and also right after he tackles J-Man. Before he tackles J-Man he'll usually ask "ready?" too. The answer doesn't affect the impending full-body flinging. He likes to help "wakie up" the Santa and snowman decorations in our yard, and will ask if it's good morningtime when I go in at 5:30 to get them dressed. He pops up with a smile and is ready to start the day. I'm telling you, he may look like an H, but he's got G genes dominating in the personality.

He's pretty into Super Y, Daniel Tiger, and Elmo on TV, and then anything his brother is playing with for toys. He had a brief scared-of-bugs phase a month or so ago, but unlike with his brother's, I was totally calm this go-round.

MDG continues to be our passionate child with the high highs and the low lows and no middle ground. He lights up our lives and I can't imagine life without him. Happy (belated) birthday to my darling, not-so-baby boy.

What Does a G Say?

This summer I spent a kid-free church meeting jotting down the random things my boys were saying back in July in the hopes of returning to blogging. Obviously I didn't do anything with the scribbled-on program. I think it's tucked away in one of my story notebooks or jammed between couch cushions along with a few spare raisins, some crushed goldfish and probably a rainbow of peeled-off crayon wrappers.

If I ever find it, I'll write it up and add a hyperlink here.

In the meantime, now that it's November, here are some soundbites a fly on our wall might encounter. Or more likely a spider. It is fall after all.

A-town Fair 2015

"Where are my paaaaaants?"
"Darn, darnety darn, darn, darn!"
"Everything is awesome..."
(can you tell PDG's been obsessively watching the Lego Movie???)

one particular bedtime the day after daylight savings, once the door was shut:
PDG: "Waaaahhhh" (crash, boom, sounds of flailing and overtired limbs)
MDG: "PDG, stop! PDG, no!"
PDG: "I don't wanna stop! I want another song. I want another song!!!"
MDG: "Mommmmmm-myyyyyy"
PDG: "She can't hear you, MDG. (pause) Let's try it together. Mommy!!!"
MDG: "Mommmmmm-myyyyyyy."
repeat for a good long while...

"Um, excuse me, what did you say?" - PDG inserting himself into any conversation

"MDG, what color is this?" (any person pointing at any thing that is any color)
"Geen!"

Who says this is PDG's bike?

"Anything can happen, anything can happen, anything can happen" - PDG channeling Ellie Goulding

"It's a hard knock life, for me"
"Tomorrow, tomorrow, tomorrow, tomorrow, tomorrow..."
(there's been some Annie watching too. the 2014 black version. jury's still out...)

"What song do you want?"
"ABC's"
"A-B-C-D..."
"No, backwards!"
(J-Man, turning to face the door) "A-B-C-D..."
"Not that way! Like Mommy"
(Me, wishing I'd never shared my secret talent) "Z-Y-X-W-V-and-U..."

A few MDG frequent orders:
"Mommy, wait!"
"Mommy, come!"
"Mommy, stop!"
"Pees." (please)
"Mommy, carry you." (aka will you carry me?)
"Self!" (aka I can do this myself, yo - what do you think I am, a baby?!"

"I have a headache" - J-Man
"My back hurts" - me
"We're getting old..." - both of us

....
Yes, the photos are from August. Better late than never.