Big Boy Bed!

Hello everyone!!   A lot has been going on in our tiny little apartment this past month or so.   Mostly Justin is the busy one – though he keeps us busier than ever too. 

Justin has had two colds and a sinus infection since Christmas and is working (very painfully) on his last 4 baby teeth: the dreaded 2-year-molars.  Yes, it’s “molar-mania” at the Owen household.  We’ve had a few rough nights, and Dadda has been quite frazzled at the end of some of those tough days.  We’ve gotten to the point with the teeth that we just let him roam the house with a bottle of cold milk to help keep him calm and give him something to chew on (this is favorable to chewing on Momma’s nipples).  I, for one, cannot wait for Justin to be done teething.  The drama ends sometime, right?

Besides everything I’ve already mentioned, Justin is growing like a weed.  And not one of those puny dandelions.  I’m thinking more the bamboo type.  Strong, wild, and makes lots of noise in the wind.  He’s nearly outgrown his size 3T clothes (he still has 2 months to go before he’s 2 years old!), and at this rate we’ll need a hammer to tap on his size 8 shoes.  His hair is growing so fast, sometimes I think I’m raising a sheepdog (this is especially pronounced because he won’t let me cut his hair – I have to sneak in when he’s sleeping or catch him unawares).   Plus, he’s got anywhere from 2-3 new words a day.  My current favorite is “All gone!” which he happily pronounces when anything is empty.   He does, however, get very angry when I tell him that “nerrs” are all gone (meaning momma is out of milk and he needs to go play/sleep/whatever). 

That kid. 

I think sometimes I’ll be nursing him until he’s 30.  I just have to remind myself that most of his want to nurse all the time is because he’s teething – not because I’m an avoidant parent.  I wonder sometimes though, when he wants to keep nursing after being latched on for more than 30 minutes.  Seriously, I’m NOT a pacifier, and I’d really rather cuddle and I know he’d get as much or more out of that than just interacting with the boob.  For now my plan is to start weaning as soon as he’s done teething.  I’m just getting too worn of it and have started resenting it to a certain degree.  I’m actually jealous of Matt’s ability to just cuddle up with Justin and take naps, watch tv, whatever.  With me, it’s just nurse nurse nurse.  We can tickle and wrestle and read books, but if I’m sitting down (ie. not a moving target), he wants to nurse. 

In other news, after months of sleeping on, and then half-on his crib mattress on the floor, we finally got Justin his very own big boy bed.  It’s really just a twin-size mattress laid on the floor in the same place as his old bed. 

He’s got his own pillow, and we used his old familiar crib bumper around the edge and added his fluffy “binkit” and he’s quite comfy.  The first night he was up 4-5 times, but the next night and every night since (with the exception of maybe two bad teething nights) Justin has slept through the night for the first time since he was 4 months and one week old.  He’s down between 8-10pm (when mommy works late, his bedtime is later ’cause he can’t fall asleep until Momma gets home), and doesn’t so much as stir until at least 5:30 or 6 am.  And then, if he wants to cuddle in our bed with his dad (as he frequently does), I can climb into Justin’s bed and sleep better than on the couch!  It’s AWESOME!!!!  I’ll admit though, when I’m getting ready for work at 5am, I like our little “Cindy Lou Who” moments: I’ll be making my lunch and suddenly hear the soft tapping of the bedroom door being pushed open and the shuffle of footie pajamas coming down the hallway to the kitchen.  I turn and there in the doorway is my little Justin, rubbing his eyes and creakily saying, “Momma?” 

Justin’s favorite toys are his toy vacuum, Dusty the Talking Vacuum (which he calls, “Vack-ooom!” -

 

And his Play-Doh.  Not so much the dough itself (which he pretty much just wants to put in his mouth – and really, who wouldn’t?), just the colorful jars.  He stacks them, rolls them, tries to fit them all back in the box.  He will spend a good 10 minutes of every hour sitting at the kitchen table organizing his Play-Doh.  Then, of course, there’s He-man.  There’s ALWAYS He-man.  A Masters of the Universe toy goes with us everywhere we go.  He knows more characters than most geeks, and can recognize them faster.  And yes, he not only knows the difference between Battle-Cat (“Cat!”) and Cringer (“ckeegoo”), but the difference between Teela (“Tetta”) and the Sorceress (“So-ses”).  Sad, but I knew before he was born that my little guy would be Geekimus-Maximus.  I seriously considered buying the maternity tee I found that read in dot-matrix style text over the belly, “Geek Incubator”. 

At the same time, Justin absolutely adores Church.  He’s a BUSY boy, so it’s VERY hard for him to be still in Church.  He prefers to move around, watching the service from many different angles.  He’s started singing along with the Liturgy.  If you’re ever in Church with us and hear Justin yell, “Loo!” he doesn’t have to go potty, he’s singing “Lord, Have Mercy!”.  If you see/hear him say, “Fah-wah” and tap his chest with his fingertips, he’s actually trying to cross himself and say “In the Name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Ghost”.  If you see him touch the floor and say, “eh-Gott!” he’s actually doing a metanya while saying, “Holy God, Holy Mighty, Holy Immortal”.  Justin lights up when he is taken up to the chalice to take Communion.  He opens his mouth wide, receives the Host, and proudly kisses the chalice.  His current favorite Icon is the Icon of the Guardian Angel (“Angoh”) which he climbs up to at our Icon corner at home, points to and says, “Bess you, Angoh”, then kisses the icon “Pmwah!”.  He also loves the Icon of the Theotokos (“Toekoke”).

One of my most favorite things that Justin does now is what I call the “Roll Call”.  He will bounce around the house, run as fast as he can right into my legs and shout, “Momma!”, then turn and run as fast as he can right into Matt’s legs and shout, “Dadda!”.  When we’re at Nanna and Poppa’s, he’ll do the same to them.  When he’s really wound up, he’ll include his favorite familiar objects like the computer (“Pedoo”),  the recliner (“Chayoh!”), or the bathtub (“Baff!”).  He’ll also catch you in the shower, run up and point at the shower curtain and say, “Momma!  Baff!  Showw!”

He could give a rat’s patoot about numbers or counting, but has started showing some limited interest in letters.  He recognizes some words and logos (the Target bullseye and the Mattel burst, for example).  The Haggen grocery store sign, for Justin at least, means “Bagoo!” since we frequently get him a cheese bagel from there as a treat for behaving at the library.

Next on the agenda:

1. Potty training.  A friend gave us an awesome potty chair a while back but Justin won’t let us put him on it without his diaper on, and he prefers to remove the little chamber pot in it since it’s apparently “not supposed to be there”.  He hangs out on it while Matt or I are in the shower and plays with his bath toys.  We just got him a Ducka potty seat that goes on the toilet itself to try, we’ll see how that goes.  When it came I showed it to him, he pointed to the duck’s nose and said, “nose!”, pointed to the eyes and said, “Dats yo eye!”.  Then I asked him, “Justin, what is this?!” and he looked at me and then at the seat and said very assuredly, “Hat!”  At the same time, when he’s so much as wet he’ll retrieve a new diaper and tell you “AhWow” (meaning: water, “I’m wet”).  So he’s aware, and he knows we go potty and we talk to him about it.  I know he’ll get there eventually, but advice is always welcome.

2.  Weaning.  I’d love to throw an “All done nursing” party around his 2nd birthday. 

3.  Moving.  Yup, as soon as we get our tax return, we’re packing our bags and getting a 2 bedroom apartment so Justin can have his own room (for his stuff, and soon after, his bed too).  Part of the reason we got his big boy bed now was so he could get attached to it before we move.  We’ll keep him in our room for the first month or two after the move and then hopefully start working him into his own room at night.

Contemplations

I’ve been thinking about the topic of schooling for Justin for a little while.  I’m posting this blog more as an invitation to discussion than just a normal post as there are many people I know and respect deeply who have different views on this topic.  I recently read an article that got me thinking more specifically about this issue.  I would encourage everyone considering posting a comment to read this short article beforehand.

Since I was a child I’d always envisioned sending my children to public school.  I did very well in public school, at least for elementary and high school.  For many years I joked about the idea of homeschooling for junior high alone simply because there is no social benefit other than evil.  I had a horrible experience with middle school – kids torturing each other, making fun of each other, intense competition over trivial perceptions of status left me feeling small, awkward, and ultimately rendered me unable to learn.  I failed multiple classes in middle school, where I had tested very high in elementary and in high school, it took me just a matter of months before I was recommended for honors/AP classes – which I ultimately excelled at.  Ultimately, with the exception of middle school, I have had a generally positive view of public schools.  My experience with other kids from other educational paths were just different than I’d encountered elsewhere.  Whether because of the culture of the town I was from or some other reason, the majority of homeschooled kids I encountered were smart, well-read, but socially stunted to a painful degree, totally unable to cope with people from different backgrounds or religious traditions.   Kids I knew who went to private school (Protestant private schools) were smart, well-put together, and confident in their beliefs without being too openly judgemental of other groups, but sometimes encountered a fair bit of cliquishness.  Now of course, all of these negative situations also occur in public schools to varying degrees.

After reading the linked article, which also adds the options of Orthodox parochial schools (which aren’t available in the Pacific Northwest), and also another option – pooling resources from multiple homeschooling families in a particular Orthodox parish to form an informal mini-parish school.  My criticisms of most of the options presented in Bishop THOMAS’ article, as well as more traditional arguments generally revolve around balance.  Just because your kid goes to public school, does that mean that the only Christian education they get is at Church?  Just because you homeschool your kid, does that mean that you’re some kind of protectionist trying to shield your child from the outside world, social development be damned? 

After having been Orthodox for a little more than 3 years, and now having a small child, and reflecting on my own experience, I find that I’m at a place where I envision a mix of all the options:  Public school, but with an intentional emphasis on Church life, prayer, and right-living at home and adding Greek school if/where available.  Right now, at just under the age of 2, Justin prays with Matt his prayer rule every morning in our icon corner (even if for him that’s just sitting and chattering near Matt, occasionally doing a “toddler-matanoya”, and kissing Icons).  We bring him to every service we can afford to go to (I often work evenings and we don’t have a lot of money for consistent travel to our little church in the boonies for services beyond Divine Liturgy). 

The question is: what is the best method of schooling for Orthodox children, and more specifically my (or your) child.  Public school, private school (religious or otherwise), or homeschooling.  Why and how did you come to this conclusion?  What are your thoughts on my temporary/initial/flexible conclusion?

Merry Christmas!

I would apologize for the delay in a Christmas post, BUT we’re still celebrating Christmas!  As Orthodox Christians, the “first day of Christmas” is Christmas Day, Christmas continues until January 6th (Theophany) which is actually an even bigger holiday for us. 

This year, our little family spent Christmas Eve through Sunday with my parents and enjoyed the visit by my brother, Ryan.  As with any family holiday event, it just wouldn’t be Christmas without a little fruit and nuts.  Yes there was food (and it was wonderful after our 40 day fast), but also a little craziness, it’s just part of the fun!

As the craziness goes, we got to enjoy a number of fun occurences:

1.  All three of us being sick (Justin on antibiotics) so ultimately, we were all exhausted and had difficulty sleeping due to stuffy noses and sore throats.

2.  Justin is fully into the “terrible twos”.  Justin sees danger, i.e. a busy parking lot immediately prompts Justin to not only bolt out as fast as he can, but to look back and laugh a malicious laugh.  He also uses words like “no! no!”, and “stop!” on a VERY regular basis.  He’s also begun to stage “sit-ins” where he, rather than comply, just sits down (little does he know that this is actually a happily accepted arrest to whatever unnacceptable behavior he was previously engaging in).  Full tantrums are generally reserved for crowded places when we follow through on our promise to follow through with discipline (generally buckling him in a cart or stroller as a consequence for darting off away from us, or not stopping when we tell him to stop).  For good or ill though, he does usually respond to bribes, and doesn’t fight his monkey leash (named “Buckles”) since it’s recent reinstitution.

3.  We brought all of our gifts for Justin with us to Nanna and Poppa’s house.  In retrospect, I don’t think we’ll do that again.  I had hoped to let Justin open one gift every few hours – spreading it out over the day.  Sadly, all of us adults got excited and pushed Justin through all his gifts in the course of maybe an hour and a half as we all enjoyed the giving and receiving of our own gifts.  Next year, I think we’ll do our own gifts at home, and just enjoy the ones to other family members on Christmas day. 

—

As far as all the joys and wonderfulness of Christmas itself though we got to do a lot of things we don’t always get to do.  We went to Church at St. Paul’s on Christmas Day.  The service was wonderful, and the people were warm and accepting of us and our rascaly hooligan.  We got to see my brother for the first time in months (I generally am lucky to see him even once a year, so twice in one year is particularly awesome).  I got to take my niece, Madysen to a movie, just the two of us; and got to enjoy seeing my mom open and love her new plush flamingo slippers. 

I’ll admit though, my favorite part was seeing Justin open a gift from my parents.  It was the last gift for him to open.  A large-ish, odd-shaped, paper loosely-wrapped box, Justin eyed it longer than others eventually poking one little finger through the paper.  He then tore a little hole in it so he could just barely look inside.  His eyes got big and he exclaimed proudly, “Vacuum!?!”.  With a little help from Momma and Dadda, he opened it up and waited with ill-moderated patience as we assembled his new toy vacuum.  The next 4-5 hours were spent with Justin happily “vacuuming” the whole house. 

Pictures to follow!

St. Nicholas Day 2009

Hi everyone! 

Last year, as you may or may not remember, Matt and I had a rough time figuring out how to build our own family holiday tradition.  Well, after seeing how tired and overwhelmed our little boy was last year, and getting to know some other Orthodox families and how they do holidays at home, we decided to do our stockings on St. Nicholas Day instead of waiting until Christmas morning.

Saturday night we went to our Church for Great Vespers, and the end of which we were paid a visit by our own resident Bishop St. Nicholas (ie. our Subdeacon dressed as St. Nicholas) who handed out candy canes.

As you can see, Justin couldn’t wait to help St. Nicholas make his entrance.    At one point I had to hold him back, as he was losing his composure to the excitement of it all:

Kids young and old got to venerate the Cross and receive a candy cane from our, as a friend dubbed him, “Sub-Nicholas”:

And of course the sugar high ensued.  Between the half-chewed chunks of cane and the little pink candy-drool spots on the floor, you almost had to watch your step!  I’ll tell you though, everyone seemed in good spirits – despite the army of increasingly wild kids.

 After all this excitement, we headed for home and to our warm beds (it’s been an awfully cold and windy December!).  This morning, Dec. 6, we got up and “discovered” our filled stockings!

And what did our little cheese find in his stocking?  A “hoose!”, a “kitteee!”, a Potato Head booster pack, and an orange.

No overwhelming morning before Church this time!  And who could be with this cheese smiling at you first thing in the morning?!

HALLOWEEN!!!

Sorry for the overdue post, friends. 

10/31/2009 marked Justin’s second Halloween adventure.  Taking Justin’s utter love for all things He-Man, we dressed him as none other than “The Most Powerful Man in the Universe”!

Okay, so for those of you who don’t remember what He-man looked like, here you go:

Then here’s the guy in the costume I spent WAY too many hours building (made the whole thing including the sword from scratch):

Once Justin was dressed and his squires equipped with his armory (pumpkin, sword, and foam battle axe), we headed to Costco and then to the mall for some introductory trick-or-treating.  All this not without a few outdoor adventures on the way to the car:

Then off we went:

Justin didn’t really get the whole “gimme candy” thing.  He thought it was cool to be around all the other kids all dressed up (he even chased a little boy dressed as Batman pointing and yelling, “Batman?!!”).  He’d run up to folks giving candy and just look at them.  Then, when they’d offer candy, he’d just shyly give a gesture as if to say, “no thanks, I’m good”.  He thought it all much cooler when he had a little candy (ie. shiny weighted objects) in his bucket that he could shake around. 

After visiting Patty at the Target Pharmacy, and tromping around the mall we headed for our friend Brooksana’s house to trick-or-treat, hang out, and chill down before heading home for bedtime.  Good times.

Oh!  I have to share the He-Man words Justin says/knows (it’s almost embarrassing how many he knows, and yet I’m proud…):

Buh-ban = He-Man

Owkow = Orko

Sow-sess = Sorceress

Cat! = Battle Cat

Manadoom = Man at Arms

Dandoe = King Randor

Biss-man = Beastman
Skehtoe = Skeletor

Msss-mn = Moss man

Ta ta = Teela

Gatskoo = Greyskull

Zoh = Zoar

 

Justin is 18-Months Old!!!

So, our not so little guy has reached 1 1/2!  In honor of this occasion, I made 18 bumblebee cupcakes:

Why bees? you may ask.  About a month ago, at the suggestion of our friend Erin, we picked up a copy of “Raising Your Spirited Child”.  This book describes Justin to a “T”.  There’s one anecdotal story in the book in which a 4 year old boy, when asked to put his shoes on by his mother so that they could get in the car a pick up his sister anxiously looks up at his mom and says, “But Mom! What about the bees in my body?!”.  In the case of the story, the little boy couldn’t fathom the torture that would be having to sit still in the car.  Justin clearly has this problem.  He simply has bees in his body that must get worked out somehow before he can sit still for more than half a second.  Realizing this about our child has led us to ensure that Justin gets at least an hour at the park 7 days a week – and it has helped.  Now before you all jump in and say, “oh, he’s just a boy”, I’ve watched him with other boys his age on more than one occasion.  Justin is easily 3 times “more” than other boys.  Not ADHD, just busier, more intense, and more emotional than other kids.  Oh, and he’s exactly like his father in this respect.  He’s wonderful and on occasion, can be found just bursting with buzzing bees!

Justin dove face first into the bee on his cupcake without hesitation:

It was great to spend Justin’s 18-month birthday with Nanna and Poppa – who he insists on talking to whenever someone is on the phone (who else could we be talking to?!).

So, a few updates will come soon, when in mid-October I’m able to give real stats on just how big our big boy is after his 18-month well child doctor visit.  In the meantime, enjoy these observations:

1.  Justin is running and pushing around anything he can get his hands on.  If it can be pushed across the floor, it will be. 

2.  Justin loves the park.  We are starting to make friends at Cornwall Park.  Justin would move in there if we’d let him – if only he could bring He-Man.

3.  Justin LOVES He-Man.  You know, the mid-1980’s cartoon.  Yeah.  He knows all the characters’ names (or the sound they make) and proudly shares when he watches them.  Some recent additions include “OwKoe” (Orko), “Soe-so-ess” (Sorceress), “Gatskoo” (Grayskull).

4.  Justin now is the proud owner of a total of 16 out of a total 20 baby teeth!  No wonder breastfeeding hasn’t been so comfy lately…  little bi-ped piranha!

5.  Justin’s most favorite foods include apples, spicy red pepper tomato sauce on whole grain penne, and Kraft Premium 3 cheese macaroni & cheese (where momma has swapped out half the noodles for frozen peas & carrots and added a little actual cheddar cheese – if you don’t do this, he won’t touch it). 

6.  Justin loves to be at Church.  He sings the “amen”s, the “hallelujah”s (though it’s more rhythm with lots of “L” sounds than anything), says “Mmm!” when he gets Communion and makes a big deal of kissing the Chalice.  He does many of the metanoyas (by looking around then touching his finger to the floor), and is getting really good at prostrations when called upon to do so.  He knows the difference between regular pictures and Icons (“Icon” is a new word for him this week), and regularly demands to kiss them by saying, “Kiss!! Kiss!!”.  And while he loves Church, he can’t stand still and is frequently walking around trying to get the best view of whatever is going on.  If he’s not able to see what he wants or we’re not cooperating with his requests (which can get awfully rediculous) he’ll yell and fuss forcing us to make a little escape for a break.  He may be awesome, but he’s still a toddler. 

7.  Justin still doesn’t sleep through the night.  On a good night he’ll only wake up 1-2 times (waking up qualifies as being awake enough to try to crawl into our bed and say, “Momma?  Nerrr??” ).  On a rough night he’ll be up as many as 6 times in 10 hours.  Talk about exhausting.  But the nights he sleeps better are getting more frequent, with the rough nights only happening maybe 1-2 times per week.  The biggest factor?  We know he won’t sleep well at night if his nap was interrupted by a phone call or daddy trying to move him to his bed so he can use the restroom.  That and not getting enough exercise - hence the daily park visits. 

So that’s what our little monkey is up to.

Do You Know Who’s Chatting with Your Daughter Online?

I couldn’t resist.

To Quote a Beloved (bad) Movie…

“It’s better to get pissed off, than pissed on!” – Achoo, Robin Hood: Men in Tights

You know, as a parent, I expected some excrement.  Really, I did.  When Justin was itty-bitty I had some good adventures in Diaper-Land.  There was the time I took his diaper off to change him (1-month-old and had a cold) and he shot poop about 18 inches across the changing table.  Then there was that first Pascha where a diaper leak led to me getting poop all down the front of my shirt and no clean shirt to change into at Church.  At his first visit with the pediatrician, I went to get him in his birthday suit to be weighed and he peed straight up into his hair, down his face and across his belly.  Lately though, these adventures have been generally limited to diapers being over-saturated first thing in the morning resulting in the need to change all our sheets or the occasional poopy blow-out.

Excrement happens.

Last night, my little boy didn’t want me to put a new diaper on him when I was getting him ready for bed.  This is not new behavior.  Daddy does diaper changes, Mommy is to be toyed with.  So there I am, sitting on the living room floor in my jammies trying to get Justin into his.  He, naturally thinks it’s hilarious to run around me in circles in the buff occasionally stopping to pull my hair.  But this time, that wasn’t all he had in mind:  he suddenly stopped running long enough to lean into my back, bury his face in my hair and pee.  That’s right, pee.  Standing there, in the living room, right down my back.  I’ve never been so horrified to feel anything warm/wet in my life.  Shirt, jammy-pants, undies – all soaked through.  The carpet?  fortunately left unscathed due to the amazing absorbent power of my own, personal pajamas.   Nice.

That’s another adventure for the books, or at least the running list of stories I could unleash upon a teenage boy in front of a girl he’s trying to impress.  I don’t know a mom who would do such a thing… but it’s an option to consider. 

The Fair!!!

Last year, we weren’t able to go to the NW Washington Fair in Lynden because we were busy going to Justin’s godparents’ wedding in California.  That was a wonderful trip, and I think that Justin enjoyed the Fair better this year than he would have at the 5 months old he was last year.

Mostly we went for the animals.  Justin LOVES animals. 

Our first stop was at the cattle barn:

This little bull’s owner actually let Justin touch her cow, but needless to say, the cow wasn’t terribly impressed when Justin poked his finger in the cow’s eye and enthusiastically proclaimed, “That’s yo’ eye?!”   Forgiveness was granted (I’m sure the cow promptly forgot) when we moved on to the next pen:  sheep and goats!

I’m sure he’d have ridden this one if we let him…  except the part where Justin kept putting his finger in the sheep’s water and making the sheep look more and more suspicious of this obsurd pink bi-ped on a leash.

Then it was off to have a bit of lunch.  Justin LOVES grapes, and Poppa and Nanna brought grapes.  Needless to say, the three got along nicely.

I can’t say much for the other entertainment while we were eating though.  Here we are, in Lynden, WA of all places at a county fair and what’s the hour’s entertainment?  Well, how ’bout an offbeat klezmer band with an improvisational hula-hoop-dancer with hot pink hair putting on a show together?  Wow.  How random is that?!  I tell you, I never expected to watch a hot-pink-hair girl dancing in a hula-hoop to Hava Nagila anywhere, much less Lynden (the Dutch town that’s so Dutch -and therefore Reformed – that you get cited if you mow your lawn on Sunday, not to mention that it’s in the Guinness Book of World Records for greatest number of churches per capita).  And yet, there we were.

Then it was off to Justin’s favorite part of the whole fair – the chicken coop! 

At first we didn’t think he was enjoying it.  Then I thought I heard something.  I leaned over the stroller and put my ear down close to Justin.  What did I hear?  Very quiet repetitions of “oo OOO!”

I tried to catch it on video, but he was already on to us that we were listening so my video doesn’t catch all of his enthusiasm for it, but alas, I have some video, and to me, it’s priceless.  Enjoy.

What was cool was the fact that at home we’d taught him “Cock-a-doodle Doo!”.   And when he copied us he’d say, “Cah-doo-doo”.  But here he was in the chicken barn at the fair correcting himself on what we’d taught him: roosters don’t say, “Cock-a-doodle-doo”! they say “oo-oo-OOO!”.  Oh, and he liked the baby chicks too:

Little yellow chicks still say “Bock! Bock!”, by the way.  Oh, and they’re awesome. 

Of course we adults wandered around the goofy salespeople at their booths, looked at over-priced kitchy crafts (Justin wanted a wooden flute SO bad!), and walked ’till our feet were sore.  Definitely a great day. 

Thanks for coming with us, Nanna and Poppa!!

Summer Fun!!

Sorry for the long absence.  Working at 5:30am each morning and having to go to bed when Justin does hasn’t left me much time for telling all that’s been going on!  This has (so far) been a fun and exciting adventure of a summer (and lots more to go!).  Justin has made lots of discoveries:

1. Outdoor water – generally in the form of fountains and sprinklers:

 

2. Penguins are awesome.

3.  Shopping carts can be bent to the will of this toddler.

(You’ll note that he’s buckled in.  When we first put him in the cart he was facing the appropriate direction.  He has toddler powers I’ll never be able to understand.)

4.  “He-Man Day” is the best day of the month.

Each month MattyCollector.com releases a new Masters of the Universe Classics figure.  Justin loves He-Man and the MOTU more than just about anything.  He has endearing names for He-Man (Bubba), Battle-Cat (cat-cat!), Orko (oukkg), Mer-Man (“gtgrr” is the sound Mer-man makes), and Skeletor (pronounced “skeh-toe” and frequently followed by an open mouthed “he he he”). 

5.  I can use my words to get what I want:  One morning, repeatedly handing Momma one shirt after another and demanding “And this!” got me to have 6 shirts on at once.  Also, shoes are to be applied simultaneously, not one at a time.

More to come!!  (especially since we’re going to the Northwest Washington Fair on Monday afternoon with Nanna and Poppa!!!)