don’t worry–he’s okay

So, Wesley has always gone to bed with a bottle of water. We decided it was time to end his attachment to his beloved bottle (is it wrong that part of my objection is that he has always refused to upgrade to the sippy cup?), especially because he is getting closer and closer to being housebroken and we figured that cutting out that last cup of water would help.

Conor talked to him about it today. Wesley agreed that he was a big kid and he didn’t need a bottle anymore. So when bedtime rolled around, I reminded him of this, and he said, “Okay.”

While I was reading stories, Wesley snuggled his bottle and petted it like it was a little dog. When we finished reading, he took it to the hallway and “tucked it in” under a towel. (Yes. It was the most pathetic thing I’ve ever seen.) I put Wesley into the crib* and tucked him in. Then he popped up again, peered over the end of the crib into the hallway and said, “Can I just see my bottle?”

He had a look at the bottle, all tucked in, and then we tucked HIM back in, and he said, “I’m okay, Mama.” I said good night and came downstairs, and he’s jabbering and talking. I can hear him over the monitor, talking about all kinds of things–but every few minutes he keeps coming back to “I’m okay. I’m fine.” Just now, I heard him say to his little toy train, “It’s okay, Thomas. I’m fine. We’re okay.”

* Yes, I know–just now taking away his bottle; still sleeps in a crib. These really are by HIS choice, not because I have some twisted desire to keep him a baby forever. He tried the big-kid bed on the floor a few times but he didn’t seem to like it. And the sippy cup made him sink to the floor and weep great big Wesley tears.

don’t worry…

Frobdit Tooth-girl came and took Mary’s tooth.

lesson: look before you take it

On the way home from school today, Mary was in the back seat, munching some Cheerios. She said, “Here, Mama!”

I held out a hand to take whatever she wanted to give me.

It turned out to be a tooth.

big kids!

Just in case you’re wondering what’s going on with Mary and Wesley recently–the answer to that question is, they’re growing. And learning. You know how sometimes kids go through growth spurts where they just acquire new skills and language like mad? Well, they’re both doing that right now. It’s amazing.

Here are a few things they’ve said recently that I thought were interesting.

Mary:

• told me that Buzz Lightyear (from Toy Story) gets sad in one of the movies “because he finds out that he is just a toy, and that he’s not a real Range Spacer. [Note: She means Space Ranger. So funny.] He thinks he’s real but actually he’s a toy, like Wesley’s toy Woody cowboy. And when he finds out he is very sad.” This is interesting because she’s learning to attribute motivation and reasoning to the character–a few months ago she would’ve just said, “Oh, look–Buzz is so sad!”

• is getting better and better at knowing when she’s about to to go into overload meltdown mode and taking herself out of the situation. At church, for example, I sit in the cry room (because I am not ABOUT to try sitting in the congregation with both kids alone–Conor’s in the choir). There are usually other kids there, including one particular little girl that Mary really likes. This little girl is, however, very social and a little bit loud, and Mary can’t handle it for a whole hour. She gets overwhelmed by that. So, she’s taken to saying, “I’m gonna go take a little break, Mama,” and going to sit just outside the cry room door. She just sits on the floor, out of the way, and is quiet until she’s calmed down, and then she comes back to play. This is a BIG step forward from her old method of [not] coping, where she would just get crazier and crazier until finally she had a huge, screaming, flailing meltdown that would go on for 20 minutes.

• is turning into such a generous, sweet person. Yesterday I gave her a brownie. (Those of you who have spent time with her post-chocolate know that this was a brave, possibly foolish move–but what was I supposed to do, eat all of the birthday brownies without sharing with the kids?) Each kid got a SMALL piece. Maybe two, three bites. And she immediately went to the living room and asked Conor, “Do you want a bite of my brownie, Daddy?” She’d been looking forward to it all day and her first impulse was to share it.

• is going to school next week and cannot stop talking about it. She is so excited. I think she’s going to love it (though maybe not the schedule, just at first). We talked about how Wesley might miss her at first but he would get used to it, and she said, “I think I’ll miss Wesley too. But when I get done and you come get me in the car, I can give him big hugs and say HI WESSY BOY!” Aww.

Wesley:

• is now officially 2 and acts like it. It makes me tired thinking about the tantrums he has yet to throw between now and….whatever age he’ll be when he stops doing it. Mary still has several major fits per week so we’ll see when that passes. His biggest thing–and most annoying–is that he’ll tell you he wants something, then he doesn’t want it, then he does….etc. For example, from this morning at church when I offered to put him in the sling and hold him:

W: NO baby carrier!

Me: Okay, you don’t have to.

W: BABY CARRIER NOW!

Me: You’d like to get in?

W: (nodding) BABY CARRIER!

Me: Okay. (reach to pick him up)

W: NO BABY CARRIER! [wails] Take it OFF, Mama!

Me: Okay, okay. You don’t have to unless you want to. [removes baby carrier]

W: [wailing afresh] PUT IT ON! I NEED BABY CARRIER!

And so forth.

but….he also:

• is hilariously sweet playing with blocks. He’ll spend a ton of time building things. I think it’s extra cute because I don’t really expect a 2-year-old to be that focused.

• is snuggly, cuddly, and incredibly sweet (when he’s in the mood). He gives adorable little kisses–he leans toward you, makes a little “pop!” sound with his mouth, and ALMOST touches you.

• is learning to talk in whole sentences, more every day. Granted, a lot of those sentences seem to be “Don’t touch me, Mama!” or “I CAN’T go to bed, Daddy!”, but still. He said to me the other day, “I love Mary. And I love Mary’s toys.”

• is still very easy to amuse. And he has the best toddler laugh in the whole world, seriously. I am going to take a video of it. It is the most contagious laugh ever.

• has finally learned that the little boy from “A Wocket in My Pocket” is, in fact, a little boy and not the Wocket. For the longest time I tried to explain this but he ALWAYS identified the little boy as the Wocket, no matter how many times I corrected him. Finally last night he pointed at one of the pages and said, “It’s the little boy!” I said, “That’s right, he is!” and Wesley said, “He has a wocket in his pocket on this one,” and flipped to the cover. I think this means he is finally listening to some of the things I say–which is, of course, both good and bad.

Anyway, they’re growing and changing on a daily basis. It’s funny–sometimes months go by and they sort of hang out, staying mostly the same. And then there’s a huge explosion of new skills, new ideas, new language. I’m told, by all of those experts, that they’re probably getting taller in between those explosions but I’ve never checked.

birthday boy pic and an open question

Wesley was not feeling well yesterday–poor boy, being so sad on his birthday. He had a fever and was clingy and cranky and generally unhappy. But he is feeling better today!

So, Grandma and Grandpa S sent Wesley a birthday present. There were two tissue-paper-wrapped packages inside–one for Wesley, one that was marked “For Mary.”

Wesley picked up the one marked for Mary, looked at it, and handed it to her and said, “It’s for Mary.”

Was this coincidence? Or did he read the M? (He knows that her name starts with M, probably, because she spells it a lot. But does he know what an M looks like?)

Wesley is so big.

When we visited Michigan, less than a month ago, Wesley only said a few words–“mama,” “dada” [kind of], “Mary” [“May-ee”],”bottle,” and “go.” Sometimes “no.” Which means both “no” and “yes.”

 

His vocabulary, in the last couple of weeks, has just exploded. Things he has said include: “string cheese” [one of his favorite phrases], “ready get up,” “pick up,” “snuggle,” “give me,” “these,” “book,” “go bed,” “water,” “drink,” “some,” and “monkey.” Oh, and “thank you,” which he said when I gave him a piece of string cheese.  He’s also started helping me unload the silverware from the dishwasher; he takes out the forks and spoons and whatnot one at a time and hands them to me, and then he grins when I say “Thank you!” He is fearless riding the little  dolphin-on-a-spring toy at the playground and is really good at balancing on it. I just can’t get over how much he’s changed in the last month–walking, talking. 

 

Mary is impressed by it, too. She said, “Wesley learning to talk?” I agreed that he was, and she said, “That’s so cute!”

We have a walker!

Only a couple of steps at a time so far, but Wesley is on his feet!

my kids are ancient.

They are getting so big. And so old.

Mary has, in the last few days, done the following:

* gotten her own spoon from the top drawer in the kitchen.
* brought me the phone when it rang, saying, “Here, mommy–you better answer this.”
* given Wesley a bite of whatever she is eating, while saying, “Here, Wesley-boy–let me put it in your mouth, not in your hand” and “you have to wait-your mouth is too full!”
* identified [spottily but mostly correctly] a list of words including MARY, WESLEY, DADDY, JAZZ, MILK, and MOO.

Wesley has, also in the last few days:
* stood up with no support and danced
* said “done,” “bottle” [okay, “boll”], “no,” and “Mary.” [They are all sort of caveman grunts, but identifiable.]
* crawled up to snuggle me and nodded when I asked, “Are you sleepy?”
* learned to turn pages one at a time instead of in great big chunks.

They are getting so old. I am so proud of them but I can’t believe they’re so old!

eleven seconds!

That’s how long Wesley just stood up completely unsupported. What a big kid!

no-complaining Thursday: hilarious baby

Wesley is eating a sandwich. It is ridiculous. He’s taking bites, holding it himself, everything. He’s like a teeny tiny adult with a large head.