headlights

these last few days, mosey has learned how to say that while cars have headlights, other things don't have headlights. "car has headlights, mommy. tiger doesn't have headlights, mommy." <shaking head> also, "mommy has ponytail. moses doesn't have ponytail." <shaking head>

it's so cute. :)

lovelove,
me

thanksgiving was great!

nana and grandpa came down to spend the day with us. we went to a thanksgiving morning breakfast and service at an old church that nana's relatives go to as a tradition. we had fun meeting people. we came back home to make some mashed potatoes and watch some of the macy's day parade. we went to a thanksgiving lunch at elinor and paul's house, which are relatives of nana's too. we met lots of people, ate lots of food, and the kingerys actually took a nap all together IN ONE BED, for THREE hours! its actually never happened before in mosey's whole life! it was glorious. we all left there at 6 or so, had dinner at waffle house, and went to walmart for some deals. it was so fun!

lovelove,
me

mystery of the carrot: solved

we've been singing old mcdonald every time we've been brushing teeth, and i do believe it's made the whole process much more enjoyable. he chimes in with animals, as i have mentioned before, but this week, he introduced the carrot. "and on that farm, he had a.... CARROT." i've not been able to figure out what animal sounds like carrot. well, tonight's melissa and doug wooden puzzle has revealed the answer: he picked up the parrot, said, "birdy," and then he said, "carrot." ah ha!!

also, i found out the other day that he can count to 20. he's a genius.

also, he's hanging over my computer right this second saying, "you did it, mommy." "carrot, elephant, too." "right there on the compoooter. right there." love that kid. :)

lovelove,
me

letters and numbers and animals

mosey's favorite letter is W. he points it out whenever he sees it... and also whenever he thinks about it. "that's a W, mommy!"

he also calls both letters and numbers "letters." when i correct him when they're numbers, he repeats, "mummers."

his favorite song is Old McDonald. he picks the animals (loosely defined) correctly, and his favorite ones are: baby, piggy, elephant (said, etta-phant), chicken, and lion. what a farm this man had! also, we were reading the Jesus Storybook Bible (which he asked to read a couple hours after he'd seen it! and he named the right guy Jesus as soon as he saw him!), we were reading the story of Noah, and he correctly pointed at all the animals and said "animals." do kids really learn categories this early? wow.

our Aunt Glady told us a few weeks ago that he was advanced because he could count in his head without having to touch each object. it was pretty cool, but i think his math skills have kind of declined in the last little bit here. now he seems to always skip the number 4, and he doesn't tell us how many things there are anymore. i guess that's the ebb and flow as they're learning so much so fast.

lovelove,
me

random ramblings... some might say, bragging :)

we went on a walk the other day. there is construction work going on in our neighborhood, so there are lots of exciting big trucks to look at. we were watching them from a distance, and he looked at me and said, "cross the street, mommy." i didn't know he knew that phrase, but he sure knew how to communicate that he wanted to see those trucks up close!

also, how does a person even learn the word "too?" doesn't that seem sophisticated? (i.e. my child is brilliant.) he says, "that's a zebra, mommy. oh, that's a zebra, too!" he uses it right every time. i love hearing it.

something he gets wrong every time is the phrase, "do you hear it?" ironic, isn't it? he says, "do you her mitt?" super cute. :)

something that he does so politely is say "s'cuse me, mommy" every time he burps and he also tries to remember to put his little hand over his mouth when he coughs. thank you, daycare!

also, i think now that he's learning to say so much, there are also phrases and requests that i really can't understand. he clearly says the same jumbled phrases or requests over and over, so i know he intends a very specific meaning. anyway, i'm still blown away that he can communicate. it's like a miracle.

oh, also, i just learned this week that he can count to ten. and did i mention that he can sing almost the whole alphabet now? what happened to this baby??

love that guy.
me

sickness

so, normally, mosey is sick with a fever, and shane and i do my best to rearrange our schedules and somehow manage to care for him while he is not allowed to attend daycare. this time around (yes, mo's got a fever again, it was overdue, tbh), i'm also sick. and with each day that passes, my sickness has been getting worse! wth.

it started with a bit of random phlegm from my lungs like two weeks ago. it progressed to a cough over the next week. over the weekend, it turned into a much worse cough, and then quickly to a head cold with congestion and plenty of nose-running and headaches. tonight, i'm feeling achy and my skin is all sensitive. oh man. i definitely can't go into the office tomorrow, but now i'm wondering if i can get any work done at all, even from home.

at least mosey and i can probably just sit around, be sick, and watch a little tv together. btw, our son may be the only kid who ever asks if we can turn the tv off because he's had enough. love that little guy.

lovelove,
sick-o

goofy and pluto

while reading a mickey mouse and friends book and explaining to mosey what all the different characters were: mickey's a mouse, donald's a duck, etc, i came to goofy and pluto and realized that i had stumbled on an age-old paradox. goofy and pluto are BOTH DOGS! they're exactly the same, except goofy wears clothes and a hat, talks, walks on his hind legs and has hands. pluto is a regular old dog, and also a pet. what?? does this blow your mind, or is it just me? all these things that i just took at face value when i was a kid. 

anyway. i guess lots of people have thought about this. here and here for example. many theories, so i'm not the only one sitting around thinking about this. :) 

lovelove,

goofy me 

little things to cherish

"bye bye, poo poo! see you later!!" this is what he exuberantly shouts as he flushes the toilet these days.

also, he pointed to the hair clippers in our bathroom, and he dubbed it, "hair cut fork."













he knows his alphabet pretty well now (very suddenly, like in the last week or so), and i asked him how he learned it, "who sings this song, mosey?" he answered, "miss marie!" while i'm so thankful for our daycare ladies, i am also surprised that his answer was not daddy or mommy. it's been years of singing this song to him ad nauseum.

lovelove,
me

socks

the other day i helped mosey take off his socks. right away, he took them and tried to put them on my feet. well, my feet are a little bit bigger than his, and he still has a tiny bit of trouble maneuvering socks in general. so, with a lot of effort and concentration, he hung one off of my big toe, and one off of my next two toes, and he shouted excitedly, "i DID it!" what a sense of accomplishment! i wish i had a picture of it.

also, mo watched daddy put some of his own socks on the other morning, and after he succeeded, mosey encouraged him, "you DID it, daddy!"

also, mosey has started putting his own sneakers on this month. wow!

lovelove,
sock monkey

the diapers saga continues

two nights ago, we had a softball sized leak on Mo's bedsheet when i went to get him in the morning. last night, he woke up at 4:30 in the morning (i think?) crying, "mommy, blaaaaankeeeeet, mommy..." so, i managed to change his sheets, diaper, and pants, mostly in the dark, and we all actually went back to sleep until morning.

i'm sad about these results, to be honest with you. the promise of super-cheap diapers was in our grasp. sigh. i'm thinking about getting Pampers again, this time in a size bigger, and maybe that will solve the leaking problem. i might consider underwear training again next week during the 3-day weekend, but the nights will still require a leak-proof solution... probably for a long time--this child pees a lot during the night. it's probably because he loves, i mean LOVES, to drink water. but did you know? i used to love to drink water too. my family used to call me 'goldfish' when i was little because i'd drink so much water. i still can chug a glass like nobody's business. i guess i gave birth to a goldfish too.

lovelove,
sleepy mommy blanket

delightful

okay, in case you ever had wondered, it's decided. we have a delightful child. tonight was a real testament that we are experiencing what folks call the "terrific two's." we are certainly experiencing a smattering of "terrible two's," but honestly not too bad. so far. :O) here are some great moments just from tonight:

• he came to me and said, "need some help, momma." i asked him to wait a bit, and he did patiently, and when i told him i was ready to help him, he led me into the kitchen, climbed up the step stool by the sink, put his comb out under the faucet, and said, "need some help, momma." i turned the water on, and he proceeded to wet the comb and comb his hair (we do this in the mornings because of his insane bed head). he did this for a little while, and after managing to completely wet the top of his head, i told him he would get one more time and we'd turn the water off, and he accepted it without a fuss. i guess he had felt satisfied with his results. i told him to go show daddy, and he said, "daddy, comb water, the hair," or something just as cute. he was so proud, and i was so proud of him. 
• he also combed my hair for me. it was nice.
• we were leaving my room, and some of Shane's sketch paper was on the floor. i walked by it without saying anything, but mosey accidentally stepped on it. i think most toddlers would then proceed to do a dance on it because it's actually quite crinkly paper (seems slightly enticing, even to me). i was just about to warn him to be careful when he gently picked up the large, thin, crinkly paper and handed it to daddy saying, "here, daddy, here." he didn't even leave it on the floor like i did. how did our son become more responsible than me?
• in the bath, mosey must have thought about birthday cake, because he started to pretend-eat some and pretend-feed me some too. he actually sang the happy birthday song in very clear speech and with the actual tune! i couldn't believe it. i sang it later during tooth-brush time, and at the end of each line, mosey sang, "momma" on key, like a duet! it sounded great, if i do say so myself. 
• he climbed into the bathtub on his own. he's been doing this for a few days, but seeing his little tushy and him on his tippy toes just doesn't get old. 
• also, i think he either remembers his birthday or his nana's birthday, because right after he sang happy birthday, he said, "donna." we ended up calling donna around this time because mosey was then singing happy birthday to donna. then he actually talked to her on the phone (this might have been the first time in his life that he actually talked beyond a one-word whisper on the phone) about tigers and how they go ROAR! and the animals at the zoo (we went to the zoo with donna, nana, and aiden during the government shutdown). he remembers things, and now he can tell us about them! it's really remarkable.
• a bit later, i asked mosey to go and say night-night to daddy and come back to read a book together. that sweet boy went straight into the other room and said, "i love you, daddy." i think that may have been the first time in his whole life that i've heard him say i love you, unprompted. wow--melt my heart!
• when i was about to put him down for bed, he put his little hands on either side of my head and gave me a big kiss, unprompted, too! my heart is so full!

lovelove, 

mamma

diapers, time change, boogers, and potty--a great day!

the verdict on the walmart diapers? not bad. they generally feel bulkier and noisier (read: cheaper), but they held up just fine last night. they're literally half the price of buying the pampers brand on amazon.com subscribe and save, which is hard to beat. especially as we are on the twilight of our diaper days. i think i'll just stick to them.

the verdict on the time change? we slept a normal night last night, we woke up this morning at around 6:30 (pretty normal), and i stayed in bed until 7 while mosey just stayed quiet in his room. it was just great. his nap was about 3 hours this afternoon, and he went to bed normal this evening. so great!

in other news, mosey picked a booger from my nose today (it was a dry one hanging out of my nostril... is that tmi? ha), and i wiped the booger up and then he took the wipe from my hand to wipe my nose for me. it was so caring, i feel as though my heart could explode with love and pride! he's a really special little boy.

tonight i decided to put underwear on mosey after dinner, and i told him that if he needed to go pee pee, he would have to go to the potty so that he doesn't get his underwear wet. i asked him if he understood, and he nodded and said yeah. about a half an hour later, i was filling up the bathtub for his bath, and when i turned around, momo had pulled his stool up to the toilet and was pulling his underwear down! with no prompting from me! he got up on the stool and peed standing up, like a big boy!! it was so exciting! and of course, as soon as he finished, he said, "get the treat, mama, get the treat!"

also, car-beep-beep! this is what mosey says every time there is a siren or flashing lights on a car. it's so cute.

lovelove,
me

how does he know??

it's getting too hard to keep track of new words anymore, but i did want to mention that Mosey knows words that i literally have never said to him. words like, "kite," "worm," and "Grover." and i couldn't be certain, but i'm thinking that daycare probably doesn't drill those words either. how does he learn them? i wonder.

i heard today that it's daylight savings time tonight. i have generally had a lot of trouble thinking about how the time change affects our lives with a child, but when i finally figured it out this time, i realized... maybe that's why mosey has progressively getting to sleep later and later for the last two weeks! he hasn't fallen completely asleep until about 8:30 most days and then he is sleeping in the morning until we go and wake him up. which means! this time change might be super easy. wahoo! maybe they taught him at daycare. ;)

unfortunately, i decided that today was also the night i was going to try walmart diapers. i don't know what i was thinking. anyway, i hope they hold up. :)

lovelove,
me