Words invented by Toddlers

Difflicated (Dif-fli-ca-ted)--mixed up.

As in: "I need mac and cheese, I'm all difflicated."

Undifflicate (Un-dif-flic-ate)--getting mac and cheese.

As in: "Mommy, I need mac and cheese to undifflictate me."

These are words used by Jonathan today. When I asked where he heard them, he told me he made them up by squishing daddy's shoes (he was wearing Mark's shoes at the time). He was very serious about his new words, although I'm not sure "serious" is the best word to use since Jonathan has redefined it too:

Serious (seer-ee-us)--Mad

As in: "Mommy, time-outs make me serious!"

Outside in Tulsa

I love spring weather in Tulsa! The days are absolutely beautiful, warm enough to love being outside, but cool enough to love actually doing anything! Jonathan and I have been walking up to the gym, I work out, he plays and watches TV, we both have a great time if we finish in an hour! Then we go to the library or the park, and we walk all the way (well, I walk, he "drives" his stroller). It's just fun to be out doing things and not stuck inside with nothing to do but stare at a TV all day. The TV is on during breakfast, then off until the news comes on, I love it!

New Stuff in our Life

Well, it is official! Jonathan is now counting. He knows 1-3 and 8-10! He will ask for "one more" or "two please" and knows exactly what it means. He will point to pictures in books and count them 1-2-3-8-9-10 (nobody's perfect).

He now loves Clifford the Big, Red Dog, and wants to read his books all the time. He is also starting to take apart toys like his racetrack and bring pieces to me saying, "What happened." (which is usually what I ask when he brings me disassembled toys).

He knows some colors, but I don't know if he doesn't know them all, or just doesn't really care which is always which, but he surprises me now and then by pointing to something and saying its correct color.

Also, Mark and I got our new phones and numbers today! If you didn't get a text already, I probably don't have your number.

Mac and Cheese

I want to be a good mom. I want my baby to be healthy. I want him to eat something other than Macaroni and Cheese! He wants it for 3 meals a day, and he eats 3 or more helpings! I've tried all kinds of other things, but the only things he makes exceptions for are hot dogs, french fries and applesauce (or candy). Anyone have any tips to encourage more variety in a 2-year-old's diet?

Why Do Kids Do That?!

I joined a women only gym down the street from our house (Fit for Her). We live close enough that we should walk, but I took Jonathan today so we drove. I made him leave his trail mix in the car, but let him bring in Cheerios to snack on. I got Kim enrolled too, but she hasn't gone yet (I've only been 2x). They have all kinds of cool things including massage chairs and tanning, but I really like the kid's play area. They don't have an attendant, instead they have a surveillance camera in the play room and it hooks up to a cable channel on the TVs that are on front of every cardio machine. Anyway, Jonathan did great while I worked out, he played with cars, watched Clifford on TV, and rearranged the small chairs. When it was time to leave I went in and he helped me clean up the toys and pick up some Cheerios he had spilled on the floor. He was being so well-behaved and so quiet that I began to get suspicious as we were walking to the car. I noticed he was drooling considerably and had that funny "my mouth is too full" look. I suddenly thought, "Oh no! What if he found something on the floor, or a small toy and is trying to eat it!" So I stopped him and told him to spit it out, which he did without complaint. What he had in his mouth looked like a brown pitted cherry half from a cherry pie, though considerably well-rinsed with baby saliva. It took me a moment to realize that it was a raisin! As we were walking into the gym he had stuck a raisin into his mouth. He had held it in his mouth for 45 min? No way. So I asked him what it was. "Razin, Mommy, yucky razin." he told me.

This is not the first time he has held food in his mouth for an unnatural length of time, but it is probably the longest amount of time. My child re-hydrated a raisin into a grape, because he didn't like it and refused to chew and swallow it, and wouldn't spit it out until told to! Why do kids do things like that?

Get a New Baby...

At church yesterday I ran into Amber (formerly Decker) and her husband and three kids (the baby is still tiny!), and we stood and talked until my boys got bored and began playing hide and seek in classrooms. When we were all saying good-bye, Jonathan said bye-bye to the baby, then ran off to keep hiding (he didn't really want to go home to the inevitable nap). Mark and I "searched" the classroom for him, and then in very loud, very disappointed voices announced to the "empty" room that we couldn't find our baby. "How sad!" I said, "Oh well, Daddy, that nursery had lots of babies, I guess we'll have to go get a new baby!" Mark agreed and we started to leave the classroom. Out of the bottom shelf of an open cabinet rushed Jonathan, all smiles and talking a mile a minute, "I found me! I found me! Go get a new baby Mommy! Go get baby now." When I asked him if he wanted a new baby he said, "Huh, (short for uh-huh) go get baby now." I asked what we would do with another baby, but by this time his cute dialogue had exhausted itself and we had moved onto a tired tantrum about running out the door without holding Daddy's hand.

It makes me wonder how he would really react to a baby if we had another. This is the first time he has said anything like this, and it makes me wonder if he was just teasing in the spirit Mark and I were. The last time he had to be around an infant it was Brandon and Elisha's 4 month old in a bouncy chair and Jonathan walked past baby Tanner (by the way, the picture with Jonathan's is "scary" baby Tanner) as if he was a poisonous snake that might strike if he got too close. It was almost funny to watch him carefully sidestep past the nearly immobile baby's reaching hand, with a nervous look of concern and concentration on his face! Anytime a smaller "baby" tries to play with him, Jonathan acts horrified and tries to cringe away. He has even cried on occasion when a baby has crawled up to him to take or investigate a toy. At least he never hits, pushes, or tries to hurt the baby; he just seems REALLY uncomfortable. Maybe I shouldn't think it's so funny, but I do!

3-8-9 and Embarassing Things Jonathan Says

Yesterday afternoon was nice enough to play outside, even for Jonathan who keeps getting sick and me who can't seem to get well. Jonathan loved just running around saying, "So fast! Mommy look, so fast!" To which I say, "Wow you are so fast!"

He wants to throw Buddy's toys for him, but the puppy only wants to play with Mark or me. Even if Jonathan throws them (and he can throw pretty well) the dog brings them back to me. This always results in the inevitable "race for the toy" an event that has both boy and puppy fighting to fetch a ball or stick, and even though the puppy is small, he almost always wins and Jonathan ends up knocked to the ground if he manages to get the toy first.

We played hide and seek, with help from aunt Kim. Jonathan's version of hiding is still just putting up his hood, turning his back on me and covering his face with his hands, but it's helping him learn to count. After we played for a while, we came inside and he lined up all his toy cars on the coffee table and counted: 1, 2, 3, 8, 9, K, P, T, 3, 8, 9 Then said excitedly, "Look Mommy 3,8,9, cars, I count 3,8,9, cars!" He did this for nearly an hour, we counted up to 4 once before he started to add in letters and mix up numbers, and he seems to completely understand 1 and 1, 2. He also picked up his toys last night, I was so impressed!

Jonathan repeats words so well now it's surprising. He came to get me to watch Sesame Street because "Bert-Ernie sing a song, com'on Mommy, Amazing!" And he just kept repeating "Amazing!" (which had been the word he picked up from the previous sketch). Sometimes his vocabulary is embarassing though. He really doesn't like his diaper changed, but is not interested in potty training yet, so he throws big fits when we change him. That's pretty normal, but add the vocab and you get a screaming 2-year old in a restraunt bathroom, yelling, "Don't hurt penis! Daddy no! No hurt my penis!" It's funny, but it sounds awful, and I just hope other people have had their kids say embarassing things, so they understand. Mark has gotten to the point where he really hates changing him in public bathrooms though.