2.

Little Man turned 2 today. We had a low-key birthday as we're celebrating next weekend in a joint celebration for I's 2nd birthday. They're about 2 weeks apart.

T. and I had a wedding out of town yesterday evening, so we left Little Man with M. and I. and family (I need a bloggy nickname for them because we talk about them so much, but until I come up with something they'll continue to be M. and B. and M. and I.). Little Man helped pack his bag.In addition to the necessary items, he added Monkey, Daddy Bear (a bear that belonged to T. when he was a baby), two blankets, a comb, and about 5 books. Even though we came back last night, he spent the night over there because we would've woken everyone up getting home at midnight.

We met them all at church this morning and went to our favorite kiddie place for lunch afterwards. He got a birthday sundae and we sang to him.

We gave him the gifts and cards we had since next weekend will likely be chaotic, and this kid is VERY two and is likely to decide he hates everything next weekend.

From T. and I, he got an easel. We're starting slowly with just the chalkboard, but the other side has a marker board and you can add a roll of paper for painting. I have no idea why Blogger has decided I want to underline, so please forgive me.

Then he took a huge nap and by the time he woke up it was cold and overcast (AGAIN) so we weren't able to do much more. Dinner, bath, a few phone calls from his adoring public. We opened the other cards and the gift that Mimi and Grandpa Jeff left when they left the country in the summer.

This one's for them:



I realized too late that I should've had cake even though we weren't officially celebrating today, so Little Man had to make do with another ice cream sundae.

He liked the candles and later asked for "More hot, Mommy" and even seemed to know to blow them out.
Like my father, his "Pop" he likes to be sung to as much as possible on his birthday. Here he calls for Daddy to come sing with me.



And, now that he's a man, he's decided to call T. by his first name. He'll repeat it until T. finally realizes he's talking to him and says, "I'm DADDY." It doesn't seem that Little Man is doing this to be funny, just because he realized that's Daddy's name.

Easter

We've been pretty booked-up lately and we will continue to be busy through Easter, so we took the opportunity this weekend to dye some eggs.

Every time I took one out to check on it he said, "Ooh, cool."
Then he would push it back into the "bath" and lick the colored vinegar-water off his fingers. The real reason the Pirate Bluebeard got his name.
Scoping out some of the sticker options and generally taking this seriously.
Or not seriously, but wouldn't it be so funny to pour red dye all over? Mommy thinks not.
Here is why a picture is worth 1000 words. This picture captures perfectly the personality of almost-2-year-old Little Man. It's likely that he was caught doing something he wasn't supposed to be doing (probably sticking his hands in the dye) just before Daddio snapped this one.
And two bonus pictures. I used my dad's visit as an excuse to make french onion soup and bundt cake Friday night. I didn't photograph the soup, but isn't this a pretty bundt (it's a bunnnnttttt")?
And, Little Man likes our flowers and picked this one, allegedly for me, but then he wouldn't put it down. It's fun to hear him say "daffodil".Perhaps we should put the flower in the middle of the cake to "fix" it like in My Big Fat Greek Wedding.

Egg-coloring action.

Singin' in the Rain

Little Man has always been an outdoor baby. In those colic-y first few months being outside was what would calm him.
Now that it's getting warm again, and now that he's older and can ask for what he wants, we've been spending a lot more time outside. It's usually our first stop when we get home from school. "C'mon, Daisy, outside. Mommy, c'mon."

Monday night he wanted to go outside but it was raining. Daddio said, "Eh, what harm can it do?" so we suited up.

He was exited to put on his raincoat, but when he saw me getting wet outside he ran away. Considering how much fun I'm having with the ball:
Checking it out for himself. "Raining mommy's shoes! Raining table. Raining Little Man."
When it was all over, he cried when it was time to come inside.

Monk

"Monk." Rhymes with "Honk," not "bunk."

Little Man will occasionally identify all the parts of my face, touching my eyes, ears, mouth, etc. while saying, "Mommy eyes. Mommy ears..." One day a while back he squeezed my nose and I said "Honk" which he has now changed to "Monk."

He likes to monk everyone's nose, including Daisy's.

Legal Proceedings with Little Man

Here is how a typical conversation with Little Man goes.

LM: Car. Car. Car car car car car... (this goes on until you acknowledge it)
Me: Yes, car.
LM: Truck. Truck. Truck truck truck truck truck.
Me: Truck.
LM: Mommy, where's the motorcycle? Motorcycle motorcycle motorcycle motorcycle.

He is very rarely quiet.

Last night we had the closing for refinancing our mortgage. I don't understand why banks cannot schedule these things ahead of time, or why they're complicated at all, but it got delayed from noon until 6, so LM was home for it.

He did not stop talking for over an hour while we were signing the huge stack of documents. We had conversations about reading "Ernie's Big Mess." We talked about the notary's white car in the driveway. We talked about how big he is sitting in the seat. He brushed his hair. He brushed my hair while I signed documents. He wanted to brush T.'s and the notary's hair. He walked in and out of the dining room, every time walking behind T's chair which required him to grunt and say, "Excuse me Daddy." He crawled under the table to retrieve toys, or just because. He sat on the hard piano bench and tooted loudly. He asked to color (for many children, this would be a reasonable request, but he just eats the crayons). He asked for cheese.

At one point he opened my wallet and pulled out all my cash. I said, "Oh, you have Mommy's money?" He said, "No, it's Daddy's." Then he asked for help to put it back in the wallet. Then he took it out again. Then he asked for help to put it back...

And, the for his grand finale, he tried to turn around on the piano bench to wave goodbye to the notary. It looked like someone pulled a rug out from under him. His knees flew out and he landed with all his weight, head first on the wood floor.

So this may feel intuitive to all of you, but my recommendation is not closing on a mortgage with a toddler present.

The good news is, we have a new and improved mortgage. And Little Man has a very hard head.

A Little Man Story

This story breaks my heart a little. I will illustrate with old photos so you don't get tired of my lack of photos and abandon us.

Sunday night I gave LM a bath and put him to bed, but instead of laying down and snuggling with Puppy

Little Man at 1 month

like he usually does, he wanted to goof off. I therefore couldn't tuck him in but instead just told him goodnight and went to leave the room.

You may recall that #2 got a sock monkey for Christmas.

It's been in Little Man's room, which will eventually be #2's room, and occasionally he pays attention to it but mostly it's just decoration.

I'd noticed that the sock monkey had a hole in its tail, so on my way out of the room I grabbed it. I turned around at the door to tell LM goodnight, and he was standing in his crib with his bottom lip stuck out and a heart-broken look on his face.

He said sadly, "My monkey." I think he interpreted that I was taking his monkey away because he was being naughty and not laying down. Poor little booger. I showed him that the monkey had a hole in its tail and I was going to fix it, and he was okay with that. Monday night he fell asleep cuddling Puppy with one arm and the repaired sock monkey with the other. Don't tell #2, but I might just let Little Man keep the sock monkey.

We're Still Here

It was a beautiful weekend, and when we weren't sleeping, we were outside. Cars were washed, flower beds were cleaned out (Little Man thought raking the leaves was hilarious), poop was scooped, a motorcycle was ridden, swings were swung, slides were slid, balls were kicked, thrown, and chased. But no pictures were taken. So you'll just have to take my word for it.

Snow Day!

I felt a little guilty for not getting Little Man out in the snow yesterday, but it continued to snow overnight and we had a good blanket when waking up! Even Daddio had a delayed start to his workday, so we were able to all eat breakfast and play together before he braved the un-plowed streets.

Then, Little Man and I hit the streets. Man, it takes a long time to get a toddler ready to go out in the snow.

He immediately tried to walk into the grass where the snow was very deep, wiped out, and remembered that he doesn't like snow.
Once he learned to stick to the sidewalk, driveway, and road, things were better.
I love this one of them blazing a trail.Cute little snotty nose.Daisy has always loved snow, and runs as fast as she can, then buries her nose in the snow and inhales deeply.Snow-covered house.
LM saying hi to the neighbor dog
And, for your listening pleasure, a song.