where are you, choo choo?

we got a train set a couple of weeks ago from nana, and we keep it in the original box (for now), because i'm terribly anal and i hate to lose things when they are a set like that (one set of tracks that fit in a circle, three train cars, and two zoo animals). well, a babysitter helped us out last week (another fever and no daycare), which i was grateful for, but by the end of their time together, our living room was a toy explosion zone. i'm not entirely sure this babysitter has much experience... in fact, i'm sure she has very little because she has only ever changed one diaper, and it was Moses' a couple of weeks ago. i don't mind though, since he's strong  enough now to generally not get too injured and she's a friend that we trust.

anyway, so back to the choo-choo's. i was sort of sad to find that the train set had been scattered. i found pieces stuffed in lots of different hiding places. i (rather skillfully, i might add) located every piece and put them all back in the box. every piece, except for one blue choo choo. we have literally looked for this choo choo everyday for the past week. so much that moses knows how to say, "where are you, choo choo?" his comes out a bit jumbled, but he says it with the proper inflection and everything, which is so adorable.

and victory! we found it today. we were just playing around in the living room, and moses started to say, "whereareyou, choo choo?" and picked it up from under the couch. yay!!! i put that train right back in its proper place in the styrofoam package. and truth be told, i think moses was glad to have the set complete again too.

maybe we're both a little anal.

also, moses knows the color blue. it's kind of blowing me away. or maybe it blue me away... hah!

lovelove,
sa-mama

suddenly!

a lot of changes happen suddenly during these first few years of life, i think. there are a few firsts that i'd like to mention in today's entry that seem rather large... and make me think of his budding career as a dancer... engineer... or doctor... or.... well, really, i just love to watch him play. he is just pure delight. :)

• he started repeating after us--the brown bear book has been a real favorite of his, but mine has got to be the very hungry caterpillar (which he actually tries to say!). i've already told you about pickle, but he also calls the "salami" "sa-mama," which i adore. maybe our child will be a motivational speaker. 
• we sing a few verses of the song God is so Good to him before he sleeps (both naps and bedtime), and this week for the first time, he started kind of singing along with us! no words, just sounds, but still! maybe our child will be a singer. 
• he's been dancing like a fiend! one care provider in every place he's been in the last couple of weeks has commented on moses' dancing skills. yesterday, at church, the lady said, "when we started the music, moses broke it DOWN." she didn't just say that he liked music or liked to dance, it's that he broke it down! maybe our child will be a dancer.
• he loves clipping seat belt buckles together. he hasn't yet figured out how to get out once they're buckled, so i'm thankful for that. less work for me, and he's pleased as punch when he gets to do it. also, this isn't part of it, but he likes to unscrew the bolt from the bottom of our kitchen table. maybe our child will be an engineer.
• the other week, he inspected some of my scrapes on my legs and told me, "mama, boo boo." maybe our child will be a doctor.
• this weekend, when hubby was in the shower, mosey got one of his own washcloths from the closet, opened the shower curtain, said "daddy," threw the washcloth in, and walked out of the bathroom. that was just plain awesome.

i love that little guy so much that i feel pride and joy coming out of my pores.

lovelove,

meeeeeeeeeee

he brought me a pillow!

little mosey put a couple of pillows down on the ground this morning. he laid down on one, and then pointed to the other one and said, "daddy, night night." daddy laid down next to him, and then i continued getting ready to leave.

when i finished in the bathroom and came out, moses got up, pulled another pillow next to theirs on the ground, and said, "momma, night night."

oh. my. goodness.

i love this kid. there are a lot of things i can say no to, but this is not one of them. i laid down and cuddled for a while, and he was pleased as punch to be laying down with his parents.

just when i think i can't love this kid any more, another day starts, and i do.

lovelove,
me

short one

a few things this week or so:

* mo has his second ear infection. pulling on his ears, but no real fever and no real pain. but now that he's on medicine, he's in a great mood!

* we get comments about mo's dance moves. i'm so proud. :)

* new favorite word that he can say: pickle.

lovelove,

me

do all parents think their children are gifted?

i'm pretty sure our child is gifted. does every parent think that? i wonder. anyway, here are the reasons mosey is gifted:

• he knows where we're driving before we get there; today he knew we were going to daycare 
• he said 'bless you' when i sneezed this morning (what??)
• he knows how to blow his nose when you ask him to
• he has started clipping buckles together (like on his high chair and on the baby carrier)
• he knows daddy's name is Shane and says it when he thinks i'm going to call his name (!)
• he adjusted my shirt to cover up my bra strap yesterday
• he asked for a big piece of mango when i was cutting one up last night ('bik, bik!')
• he says 'uh oh, cool!' when he sees squirrels running under the cars ('cool' is what he calls squirrels). it's like he's warning them of the danger.
• he cannot stop picking up jude's toys to give them to the pup. if i let him have his way, he will gather up all the toys and put them in jude's crate.
• he told me there was a bug on me this morning by pointing and saying 'yuck!'

suddenly our baby is a little boy!

i love that little guy. so much that my joints hurt a little bit.

helen 

life is so fun!

so, i think that time of language explosion is finally upon us, after nearly 22 months of waiting for Mosey to talk to us. he's said many words this week, for the first time, uncoached by us! he's said: door, orange, bless you, miss thelma. yes, miss thelma! i told moses we were going to daycare, and clear as day, he said miss thelma--his daycare teacher's name!  wow.

door and orange are especially cute because he forms his lips into a perfect little circle when he says them.

anyway. i thought i'd let you read his teacher comments from this past week from our daycare's daily communication sheets:

• Moses makes his own fun outside. He's everywhere but you can tell he's enjoying his self.
• We are talking about water this month. Moses loves to splash in the water.
• I love the way Moses answers you when you ask a question. Even if he doesn't know what you're talking about he will always answer.
• Moses called me by my name today Miss Thelma. I was shocked.
• Moses knows how to keep busy. He loves pouring toys out of the containers then looking to see where his teachers are so he can leave the scene.

that last one cracks me up. i love that little guy. wish i could be a fly on the wall all day and watch him play.

lovelove,

me

babbling and speaking and harmonica playing

the past month or two, mosey has really started to blossom in his ability to babble in real sentence cadence. it's been a real joy to listen to him talk; i just can't get enough. i'm sure girls hit this stage at like his age minus one entire year. ha. some of the girls in mosey's class can already speak recognizable sentences like "he's drinking water" and sing recognizable songs like "twinkle twinkle little star." it's crazy.

but anyway, last week, his new word was "bird." he had said it in sign language since a few months ago, but he just started saying it with his mouth out of the blue, unprompted. it was pretty close, too, but instead of "bird" he started it by saying "biiiiitch." it was super cute in his little toddler voice. it only lasted a little while, and he's already corrected his speech to say "bid," which is admittedly closer but slightly less cute. ;O)

this week, one of his new words has been "love you," which comes out "yeeuh yoooo." oh. so. cute. i just can't handle it. my insides are jello.

also this week, he has added harmonica playing to his menu of skills.

lovelove,
smelly