Little Anecdotes

On Facebook I've been keeping a list of funny little things Baby K says or does, and I thought it was time to share some of them with you. Enjoy! --Tuesday, 9/10: He put a clear plastic storage container on his head, said it was his firefighter helmet and that he was going to go drive a pumper truck. --When he got his baby doll, I told him he was the baby doll's daddy, and he went around the house saying, "Baby daddy! Baby daddy!" very proudly. --Wed. 9/23: We were watching SuperWHY! and they were telling the story of Hansel and Gretel. As Gretel munched on part of the witch's house she said, "It's scrumptious!" We'd learned that word on Sesame Street recently, so I asked Baby K, "Remember what scrumptious is? It's something that's really yummy." He looked at me very seriously and whispered, "Cupcakes." --Tues. 10/27: Baby K said that Baby Jesus was in a basket in the river. Then he said that Baby Jesus was born in a manger in a fire station. --Thurs. 10/29: Baby K looked at the wallpaper on my laptop and said, "Daddy!" The problem is, my wallpaper is Bono. Daddy was not amused when I told him about this. --Sat. 10/31: On our way back from trick or treating, Baby K, "I'm so hungwy! I need tandy [candy] in my mouf [mouth]!" --Thurs. 11/5: Baby K grabbed his backpack and headed to the door, saying, "Bye! Going to school!" He reached the door and said, "Oh no! I forgot my keys!"

Back to school!

The photo above shows Baby K and Daddy "driving" a boat this past weekend at the Bass Pro Shop. Baby K was not a fan of the giant fish in the aquarium, but he loved the boats and the elevator, which was partially glass so riders could look out over the store as they rode from one floor to the other. Prior to our trip to Bass Pro Shop, we went to Fairhope and visited a few of our favorite stores there. Baby K enjoyed the book store, but of course his favorite was the toy store where they had a big Thomas the Tank Engine play table with lots of engines. He also enjoyed the baby dolls, and he loves real babies as well, so Daddy and I are considering buying him a soft baby doll of his own. After all, boys need to learn how to be daddies, just like girls need to learn how to be mommies!

We've had an eventful summer. Baby K spent three days each week during June and July at Moms' Day Out. He loves going-- he's always been a social baby and has always loved to go places, so MDO gives him the social interaction he needs and gives me the time and space to myself that I need. For one week in July we visited Grammy and Grampy, and Grandma and Granddad came down for July 4th, along with Great-Aunt Boo, Uncle R, and cousins M and E. It was a noisy but fun house that day. One day during the week we visited Great-Granny in Nashville, and Keenan loved showing her his trains and sitting on her lap to watch a Thomas dvd. He even gave her a hug before we left, which is rare because he's always active!

During Baby K's two-week break from MDO, we played with friends, visited Daddy at his office, went to our church's ladies' Bible study, and got on each others' nerves. We're not used to being together 24/7, and we each need a break from each other to enjoy being together. The last three or four days of his break, the first or second thing out of Baby K's mouth every morning was "Daddy home?!?!" asked with such hope. Yesterday he asked for Daddy every ten minutes at least. He was pretty happy to see Daddy when he finally came home from work, but not as happy as I was!

favorite toys/activities: toy vehicles of any kind (trains, buses, police cars, trucks, etc.); Little People Noah's Ark; foam letters and numbers for the bathtub; cooking in his toy kitchen (he'll often tell me he's baking cupcakes, though tonight he cooked soup); singing; pretending to lead singing; "chasing" our cat Miles (this involves Baby K walking very slowly behind Miles, giggling, and Miles trying to ignore him); sweeping with his toy broom and "vacuuming" with his popper toy; helping me cook by adding the ingredients I give him; TALKING ALL THE TIME!

favorite foods: chips/crackers/pita with hummus; milk; peanut butter and jelly; fruity bunny-shaped snacks; cupcakes; pizza (made with dairy-free cheese, or without cheese at all); bananas; applesauce; French fries; ketchup (doesn't have to be on anything; he'll eat it with a spoon if we let him!); soy or coconut milk yogurt

favorite songs: "The Lord Told Noah There's Gonna Be a Floody Floody;" any song by SteveSongs, a kids' artist; "God is So Good;" "Hello Again" (song from VBS this year); "Wise Man and the Foolish Man" (he calls it "The Building Song")

favorite shows: We try to limit how much tv he watches on any given day, and what he watches depends on our schedule, etc., so he sees several different shows, but not all on the same day! He especially likes "Super WHY!", "Sesame Street," "Curious George," "Thomas the Tank Engine," "Jeopardy!" and "Wheel of Fortune."

Baby K at 20 Months

I know there's no text for the last blog entry, so you may have no idea what some of the pictures are. I promise I'll go back and update that entry with descriptions when I have a bit more time.

Baby K is now 20 months old, so I thought it was time to give a profile of him, his likes and dislikes, etc. This may wind up sounding like a personal ad-- well, he does like walks on the beach!-- but I think it'll be a great way for his fans to learn more about him.

Favorite games and songs: Ring Around the Rosie; My God is So Big; Roll the Gospel Chariot; anything by Laurie Berkner; some Raffi; the entire "Here Come the 123s" by They Might Be Giants

Favorite TV shows: SuperWhy; Clifford the Big Red Dog; Thomas the Tank Engine; Sesame Street; Curious George; Wheel of Fortune (no, I'm not making that up)

Favorite books: Anything by Karen Katz and Sandra Boytnon (especially The Belly Button Book and Snuggle Puppy, which we always read before bedtime); books about trains, cars, and construction vehicles; his photo album filled with pictures of friends and family; right now at naptime and bedtime we're reading poems by Shel Silverstein (Light in the Attic and Where the Sidewalk Ends)

Favorite foods: juice; carrots; bananas; soy yogurt; bunny-shaped graham crackers; French fries, especially from Chik-fil-a

Favorite adults (non-family): Miss V, the children's librarian who does storytime; Miss K, his Bible class teacher; Miss A, his teacher at Moms' Day Out

Words he can say: Daddy; meow; woof; hoot (for owls); school; thank you; please; more; juice; good; God; big; milk; go; car; Whee (his version of "Louise," one of his friends); Bible; book; Kee (his version of his own name); choo choo; jump. When he say them, they may not sound like the actual words, so we "translate" at times for him. He can also make some pretty good fire engine, police car, and train sounds.

Favorite toys: all Little People toys, especially the farm, garage, and fire truck; his play kitchen; his slides outside (he has two)

Favorite things to do: pat cats; being naked; watching Thomas the Tank Engine on Saturday mornings while sitting on Daddy's lap; playing w/Miss K's calculator at Daddy's office; using a handheld calculator as a pretend cell phone; playing chase; howling when we read Snuggle Puppy; pushing any sort of button; opening and closing doors, boxes, etc.; going to play at a local playplace; screeching

Baby K's Second Christmas Morning!

Baby K Gets a Big Boy Haircut and Bed

Baby K has had a good deal of company lately! Last weekend his daddy's parents came down and played with him, which he loved. Grandma W. built dozens of towers out of alphabet blocks, and Baby K knocked down every one with a squeal of glee. This weekend, my parents and sister are here, and I hope they've had fun, even though Baby K is cranky and apparently teething.

This morning I, Grammy, and Auntie A took Baby K to get a haircut. He had one back before his first birthday at my stylist, and has had a few trims at home since, but it was time for a "real" haircut. We went to a kids' salon in town, and though he started out driving a yellow Hummer while they worked on his hair, he quickly wanted to sit only in my lap. He was a little scared, and it probably didn't help that I cried a bit as the stylist snipped off inches of my baby's beautiful hair. He looks like a boy now instead of a baby, and it breaks my heart just a little to look at him.

Two mornings last week when I went into his nursery to get him up for the day, I found Baby K standing up in his crib with one leg hitched up on the rail, a sign he was trying to get out. So we searched for a decent used toddler bed and found one in the town where my parents live. Grammy picked it up and they brought it with them this weekend. It's sitting in Baby K's room now, to let him get used to seeing it there, before we put him in it for sleeping, which will likely happen in the next day or two. Daddy has been working to babyproof the nursery, which has included strapping the bookcase to the wall and putting in latches on dresser drawers-- Baby K is quite the climber and will scale anything if given the opportunity.

Baby K's First Beach Experience

Not counting the trip to Orange Beach when Baby K was almost 2 months old, he had never been to the beach. Now that the weather is a bit cooler-- mid-eighties for the high instead of the mid-nineties-- it seemed like the perfect time to take him. So we got together our beach things, including towels and sand toys, and headed to Gulf Shores this morning. Baby K got antsy about five minutes before we arrived, so our timing was perfect. His first feel of the sand on his toes did not go well; he cried a bit and tried to climb up my leg, actually. The waves were a bit frightening for him as well. Daddy, ever the engineer, dug a hole with a little seat for Baby K, and water slowly pooled into it, so Baby K could sit and play in the sand and water in his own small little area without feeling overwhelmed.

Later, Daddy took Baby K on a walk through the small tidal pool that was near our beach spot. Baby K loved that! He realized that the water was not scary, and he walked and crawled all through it. He studied some big boys (ages 3 and 5) who were playing and realized he could run (well, sort of) through the tide pool, which he did very gleefully. He learned that, at the beach, he could get as dirty and as wet as he wanted, and nobody got mad at him for it! :-)

Unfortunately, we left K's change of clothes at home (he had been playing with the bag they were in before we left, so we missed putting it in the car), so he had to wear just a diaper and one of Daddy's t-shirts home. He napped for about 30 minutes in the car and that was it, so he had an early bedtime this evening.

Slacker Mom Updates Blog!

I admit, I haven't been great about keeping this blog updated, but I promise to try to do better!

Baby K celebrated his first birthday in May. As you can tell from the second picture above, he really enjoyed his cake! He got plenty of presents and love from family and friends.

Baby K is now walking, though he does crawl occasionally when he's in a really big hurry. He's also saying a few words, mostly "heddo" (hello), "tank yoo," "dada," "bye bye," and "Eh-mo" (Elmo). He still won't say "mama," probably because he knows how badly I want him to! He makes the sign for "more," which is helpful at mealtimes, and we're working on the signs for "all done" and "milk" as well.

In the first picture above, Baby K is wearing his Batman jammies. Aunt A, my sister, took this pic a few weeks ago while Baby K and I were there for a week. We got to spend time with Grammy, Grandpa, Aunt A, Great-Grammy, and Great-Grandpa (my parents and my mom's parents). We also got to spend a day with Great-Granny, my dad's mom, who gave Baby K a football that he has loved playing with almost every day since.

We hope everyone is having a great summer!