Oh Man!

One of the cinemas in town in offering free movies on Saturday mornings, so I took advantage of the deal and took N to his first ever movie at the theatre. I decided it was a good test run.If he wasn't interested in the movie or wasn't able to sit still in his chair there wasn't a big loss in having to leave a free movie. To be even more frugal, I snuck in my own popcorn.. But I did buy a drink there. One reason I brought my own popcorn is because I bought the kind w/o kernels or seeds. N hasn't eaten too much popcorn in his short little life time, so he still hasn't fully grasped the idea of not eating the seeds. I didn't want him to eat and choke on a seed in the middle of the dark theater, so I brought my own. Makes sense, right?
Anyway...Space Chimps was playing. That was not a movie on my "to see" list, but I figured N would probably like it, so N and I checked it out while Daddy got to stay home for some time to himself. N was amazed by the "big tv." He was so mesmerized by the whole thing that he sat in his seat and didn't say a word for the first ten minutes. (Believe me, ten minutes of my child not saying a word is a loooong time!) At one point in the movie the chimps crashed the spaceship on the ground. When the spaceship hit the ground the theatre went silent and the movie was silent....but my child was not silent. He yelled out "Oh man!!!" Luckily the audience was made up of mostly kids and parents, so everyone in the theatre found it funny and laughed at his reaction. There is a ten minute intermission in the movie.. I guess they do this for any little kids in the theatre who may have to go potty and so Mom and Dad can get refills on treats. This is a great idea in theory, but it did not work to my child's advantage. It only revved up his little engines and made him want to climb on the faux stage in front of the movie screen to dance for everyone. He ran up there a few times and I caught him before getting onto the stage. He screamed "I dance, I dance, I dance" as I carried him back to our seats. Unfortunately N was not able to overcome his desire to dance (and he wouldn't dance in the aisle right next to me), so we had to leave promptly after intermission. I'm sure he will learn the etiquette of movie viewing sooner or later, but I can see we have some work ahead of us. We might try another freebie movie again this weekend since the weather has turned cold once again.

Abraham Lincoln

About a week ago D watched a great program on the History Channel about Abraham Lincoln. N was in the room part of the time, but did not appear to be paying attention. The only time N watched the show was when the train Lincoln rode was shown. D and I watched the show a second time (second time for D, first time for me) the other night. N was in the room once again, but we were all playing while we had the tv on, so we didn't think N was absorbing anything... Well, this morning when I went into his room to start our day he said "Lincoln was on the tv, Mommy. He was scared...and shut the door...and rode the president's train." I could NOT believe my ears!! N said Lincoln's name clear as a bell. He pulled this thought from a show he had "watched" a week ago and he said "president's train??" Wow!! I was floored! I haven't figured out what "he closed the door" means, but I'm sure it makes perfect sense to N. I guess it goes to show D and I that N is constantly soaking in what we say, what we listen to on the radio and what we watch on television!

Other funny things N is saying right now are:

"Oh my goodness!!!" He says this one a LOT!!

He's constantly asking "What does that do?" He asks this about everything. What does a pancake flipper do? What does a computer do? What does a pen do??

The other day D taught him to say "Hey good looking, what ya got cookin?" It's so cute when he says it!

I can tell that we are gradually approaching the "Why?" phase. That dreaded phase where a child asks you a question and no matter how well you answer the question they keep asking why? why? why? Right now N is curious as to why we cannot go somewhere. He wants to know why we cannot go to the park. I have been telling him it's too cold. I tell him there is snow on the slide, on the swings and on the ground so we cannot go to the park... His response? "No, Mommy. It's not too cold to go to the park...We can't go to park because it's closed." He also asks me why we can't go to school today. Then I go into this deep explanation that we cannot go to school today because it's not our day to go. We take our turn on a certain day of the week and today is not our day to take our turn. His response? "No, Mommy. We can't go to school because it's closed." So, I admit... He has given me this reason several times and I am finally catching on. I know, I was a little slow to catch on, but now whenever N asks me why we cannot go somewhere I often times catch myself starting to give him a genuine, educated answer to his question then I catch myself midway through and just say "We cannot go there because it's closed." And you know what? He's perfectly find with that answer. :)

Good night,
C

Chicken Nuggets on Wednesdays

N and I ate lunch with some friends after Music Class today. We haven't gone out for lunch with friends in a really, really long time, so it was especially fun. As we were all walking out of the restaurant to head home one of my friends said "N we'll see you at the Valentine's Party on Friday." Well, N is all ears when he hears the word "party." No kidding! I think he envisions a birthday party with cake, gifts and lots of yummy food any time he hears the word party. For the rest of the day he's been asking me to go to the party and I explain to him that the party is a couple days away... Well, how do you explain that to a toddler?? He understands it when I tell him we're going to do something after breakfast, after lunch, after nap, etc. But, he's still little young to grasp the idea of something being a day or more away.

I went to the store to get some groceries tonight. N was having a hard time going to sleep (as has been the case lately) and he asked for me while I was gone. D told him I was at the store and I would tell him goodnight when I got home. I could see on our monitor that N was still awake when I got home, so I went to his room. I sat next to his bed and said "Mommy's home now. I came in your room to tell you goodnight and sweet dreams." His response? "I go to sleep...get rest...we go to party tomorrow??" So sweet!! I said "The party is Friday, honey. Tomorrow is Thursday and the next day is Friday. The party is on Friday." He thought about it for a minute and said "Party's on Friday... I go to school on Tuesday." And he was totally right!! He goes to school on Tuesdays.. I have NO idea how he knows that. I have mentioned the days of the week to him a few times, but haven't ever really concentrated on it or attempted to teach them to him. I figure he's a little too young for that still. After a brief pause he says "I go to school on Tuesday, then we get chicken nuggets. :) " I laughed and thought about it and said "Well, we usually get chicken nuggets on Wednesdays because we get them after music class." He laughed a big old belly laugh and said "Oh, ya! Chicken nuggets on Wednesday!!!"

So sweet!!

Mommy to the Rescue

N was sick once again! He got hit really hard with a nasty case of bronchitis and an ear infection. He appears to be mostly over it. He hasn't had a temperature in several days and his coughing has drastically reduced, but I don't want to get him sick all over again, so I'm still playing it somewhat safe and not taking him out as much as usual yet.

With that said...N and I did go to McDonald's Saturday night while D was at a toy tractor show in St. Louis. I know, I know... I even let N play on the indoor playground. Talk about germ city, but the child hadn't left the house in DAYS and we were both on the verge of going bonkers!! I used a serious (but safe) dose of hand sanitizer after he played and we washed his hands thoroughly when we got home. While we were at McDonald's N was able to figure out how to climb up to the top of the playground and slide down the slide. He loved it the first time.. Then he got alllll the way to the very top and got scared for some reason. I tried to talk him down, but he was crying "Help, Mommy... Help, Mommy." I looked around the playground at the other parents like "What do I do??" and one woman said... "We've all been up there, honey." So, I took that as permission to climb up into the playground to save him. I'm sure I was exceeding the suggested weight limit on the jungle gym, but I could not believe how wobbly the playground got the farther I climbed. When I got to N I took a quick survey of our options for getting down. Since there was no way N and I would fit down the steps together to get to the bottom, we went down the slide together. I looked at the slide and it didn't look to long or winding from where I was so I had no problem going that route.... Until I got in the darn thing and had no way of getting out.. That slide was twice as long as I estimated and had many more curves than I cared for. Urgh.. I actually felt sick upon reaching the bottom. Yuck. I looked at N and said "Okay, honey. It's time to go home." And he said "Put a shoes on, Mommy. This's scary playground." Too cute.

N and I went to music class this morning. N loves music class and has no problem dancing around in front of everyone. Today he did a first, though. He actually found a small plastic drumstick with a squishy red ball on top and held it to his mouth like he was singing into a hair brush. It was hilarious! He had everyone in the class laughing.

After music class I spontaneously called D and asked him if he wanted to head to Steak N Shake for lunch with N and I. His schedule was open, so he joined us. When D got into the car he asked N where we were going for lunch and N said "Steak N Cake, Daddy." D and N shared one side of the booth at lunch. At one point during the meal N studied D's face. He then pointed to different parts of his face and named them. He said "Mouth...nose...hair..eyes.....and very matter of factly...snot. Needless to say D and I cracked up laughing when he said it, but N kept a straight face and stood by his story.

Hope you had a good day, too. Take care and stay warm (that is if your not reading this from a warm, sunny, breezy place). -C