Princess Crankypants

Snoozernaut

Baby still co-sleeps with us. I curl around him and sniff his sweet head. Smells like warm play-doh. He twitches in his sleep. Small movements that tell his dreams. He feels safe, and that makes him more adventurous. He ranges away from me. Stretches and rolls into his own space. For awhile. Then back again to the reassurance of the noo-noos. I tuck him into a snuggle chicken nest. Rub his cheek with soft brown blanket. Whisper about our adventures together. Hold him tight. Goodnight baby.

Billion

My baby might be the smartest baby in the world. Not quite 18 months and he can count to a billion.

We were playing with his abacus this weekend. Counting by ones, then tens, hundreds, thousands. Ten thousands, hundred thousands. Millions. Ten million. One hundred million. One thousand million. Ten to the ninth.

Smart boy.

Abbis Seedy

He is so verbal. Picking up words like crazy. Responds to any challenge. “Can you say the alphabet? A, B, C, D…” He says “Abbis Seedy!” and a little while later, “Lemon happy!”

I wanted to post all the words he knows, but there are too many. Just for starters, here’s the lists I made during our car trip at thanksgiving…

He can either say, sign or make the sound for these animals: Elephant Gorilla Giraffe Snake Monkey Lion Rhino Dog Cat Chicken Pig Horse Cow Goat Sheep Bird Duck Goose Owl Fish Rabbit Squirrel Bear Crab Bug Mouse Butterfly

He says or signs these things: Fire truck Car Airplane Boat Juice Milk Apple Banana Cracker Phone Flower Hat Bubbles Tree Leaf Light Moon Keys Flashlight Balloon Sock Ball Swing Slide Outside Bathtub Shoe Carrot Bread Blueberry Green bean Soup Book Train Poopoo Peepee Potty

He can sign or say these action words: Eat Sleep Kiss Blow kiss Thank you Up Down Gentle Swim Kick Dig Splash Dance Stomp Clap Shake Mix Zerbert Smell Paint Draw Point Pat Peekaboo Wave High five Soft Blow Hot Cold On Off Climb Walk Bring Take

And of course you expect him to know people and body parts like: Momma Daddy Jaja Nana Noo noos Head Eyes Nose Mouth Teeth Tongue Ears Arm Hand Fingers Legs Feet Toes Elbow Knee Tallywacker Belly button

I love him so much. Abbis seedy lemon happy.

17 months. 74 weeks.

He loves to say: Draw, Snowing, Hat, Shoes, Nana, Uncle, Choo-choo, Jaja, and Happy!

His favorite foods are green beans and cous-cous. He understands about opposites. Up, down. Yes, no. He loves cooking, trains, reading and drawing.

When I ask what he will do at school today he makes the sign for cracker because Miss Tasha gives him goldfish when he arrives in the morning.

I love the feel of his warm belly and the clean smell of his sweaty head when he sleeps. I love how excited he is to wake up in the morning. I can’t wait to start another wonderful year.

Nana

Nana came to visit for three weeks. In the morning Lex would wake up and say Nana! And we would troop downstairs to find her. They would draw together while Daddy fixed coffee and breakfast. Or read together in Nana’s bed. She showed Lex how to do scratch-n-sniff books. He loves “The Sweet Smell of Christmas.”

It snowed this weekend and we built 4 snowmen in the front yard, Momma and Daddy, Baby and Nana. Lex is so verbal. He says “snowing!” and “snowman” and if you ask him what Santa says he holds his belly and says “Ho Ho Ho!” We told him Nana was going to spend Christmas with his Uncle and he says “Unka!”

He loved baking popovers for Nana, showing her his favorite parts of the Children’s Museum, helping her knit. He would solemnly hand her every item from her bedside table. Here’s your knitting counters, here’s your glasses, oops maybe I better wear them for you! Here’s your lotion, can I have some?

When he heard the bell ring on the side porch door he would say, “Nana!” and come to meet her in the living room. He liked looking at the sparkly Christmas tree lights with her, or sitting on the warm radiators and looking out at the snow.

In the evenings Nana would help bathe the baby and he would help too, by washing her hands with his No More Tears. He would kiss his Nana goodnight all snuggly in his jammies. Sweetest of all possible sweet babies. Loves his Nana.

Jack

Nana is visiting. Every morning before school, Lex sits on her bed and “helps” with her knitting or they draw together.

Lex is really into drawing. He is bossy about it. “Draw Nana! Draw Momma! Draw! Draw! Draw!” He shoves markers towards us, flaps open his notebook. Draw!

This morning Nana gave him an early Christmas present, a doll baby that drinks a bottle, burps, sleeps, laughs. We named it “Jack” because it snores like a lumberjack.

Lex loves feeding the baby and pushing it around in a little stroller. He is very nurturing.

At school today his report card said that he was a big boy and comforted a new classmate by giving her a hug when she cried. He also helped clean up the classroom for circle time.

When he got home he wanted us to help the baby doll draw. Draw! Draw! Draw! The baby obliged, with some assistance, and Lex was happy. After dinner, more stroller time. After bath, Lex snuggled the baby in bed, holding it the same way I hold him. It was very sweet. They fell asleep together.

Thank you for the doll baby Nana!

Caught a Bug

Uneventful trip home from Thanksgiving in Indiana, but Bug woke up with pinkeye and a little cough on Monday. Dadda took him to the doctor in the morning and I came home at lunchtime to take care of him. The doc thought both issues were vital and prescribed rest and fluids.

Tuesday I worked all day and Dadda took off. We gave him Benadryl, helped with the congestion but made him wired. When I got home he had dark circles under his eyes. I wanted to rush him to KidMed, but felt like I might be overreacting. He was feverish, skipped dinner, vomited in the cool bath we soaked in to bring his temperature down. I was dressed to leave for KidMed, but from he wanted to nurse in the bed and went right to sleep. We called the pediatric nurse and her recommedation was not to wake him. If he was comfortable he could wait til morning for a doctor visit. We got infant Tylenol suppositories so he couldn’t puke it up. We monitored his temperature and it was steady around 100 for the next few hours.

This morning his fever was gone and he seemed alot better, but as the day went on he got worse. He took a little Benadryl. His pinkeye looked better but later it started oozing goop again. He complained of pain in his right ear. He was stumbling when he walked. By 3:30 Dadda was taking him back to the pediatrician.

This time they checked his ears. The infection on his right side was so bad that what we thought was pinkeye was actually mucus coming out of his tear ducts.

We started him on antibiotics right away and saw an immediate improvement. He played with his toys, ate a little dinner, talked to us while he splashed in the bath.

Get well little Bug. We missed your cheerful self.

Good Morning

His feet wake up first. Toes curl, soles flap a little. Then his fingers wiggle, wave. Knees twitch. Stretch.

Suddenly he is sitting up blinking. Yawn. He flops down to cuddle again. Nurses for a minute. Considers the day.

All our mornings are good.