Thursday, September 28, 2006

The "after party"


After the school party, we went home and played outside while we waited for more birthday guests to arrive for dinner and presents. AJ had another cupcake and blew out his candle (with help from Daddy). He got another couple of books for his Little Leappad, a Little People barn (which he seems to LOVE), and an activity table that Mommy and Daddy are having trouble assembling. Gotta find a customer service help line to Fisher Price now. Can't wait for Christmas.....*SIGH*

Happy Birthday

I am now officially exhausted. AJ had a party celebrating his 2nd birthday yesterday at school with 15 other toddlers. We had balloons, Elmo hats and napkins, goodie cups, and cupcakes for everyone. The kids really seemed to enjoy it. We completely trashed his classroom, though. I understand now why they wanted cupcakes with white frosting!

Monday, September 25, 2006

Weekend

We got up and took AJ to the zoo on Saturday morning. His only other trip to the zoo was about this time last year, and he wasn't interested at all. This time he really seemed to enjoy himself. It's all about the elephants, bears, and monkeys...He was kinda cute waving and saying "bye" to each animal as we walked away.

"Aunt Marsha" and "Uncle Rafi" came over yesterday on their way home to San Antonio. They are getting married in January and want AJ to be their ring-bearer. AJ is such a ham that I don't think he will have a problem with that at all. And he'll look really cute in a tuxedo!

Wednesday, September 20, 2006

Miscellaneous Ramblings

Not many good stories lately....AJ has started being very clingy and doesn't want us to leave him at school. This is very unusual for us.

Yesterday AJ found a dead earthworm curled up on the sidewalk. He picked it up and tore it into pieces. I must admit, it was rather disturbing...

Two of AJ's school friends are almost potty-trained. Both of them were born the week of AJ's original due date, so they are 3 months younger than he is. We haven't even started trying to potty-train AJ yet. Are we behind? Do girls always do this faster than boys?

One week until AJ's second birthday and his party at school. Must remember not to bring cupcakes with colored frosting. Apparently the food coloring stains everything.

Monday, September 18, 2006

Puppies for Breakfast

I will be very glad when AJ finally begins to speak clearly. But life won't be nearly as funny.... On Saturday morning AJ starting pointing toward the kitchen saying "eat". I asked him what he wanted for breakfast. He said something that sounded like "puppies". I just stood there scratching my head wondering where the puppies were (since we only have a cat). So I asked him "what puppies?" He just kept repeating "puppies". After about the fifth time, I realized that maybe he was trying to say "breakfast". When I asked him "breakfast?", he got a big smile on his face and started applauding. He was so proud of his stupid Mommy finally figuring it out.

As for the "Mommy" thing...I apparently have a new name. Instead of saying Mommy now, AJ replaces the middle "m" sound with an "n". I am now "Money"! I hope that isn't prophetic. This child is already very expensive!

Friday, September 08, 2006

My new favorite picture of AJ


I think he looks so grown up in this one....it's hard to believe he will be two years old in a couple of weeks.

Early morning ...


If you spend any time around AJ, you will soon learn of his love for books. When we get home from school each evening, he immediately starts bringing out books for us to read. We are required to read at least 5 or 6 books before dinner.

This morning at 4:18am (jeez, that's early) AJ came into our room. Since he moved into his big boy bed, he can get up by himself without having to wait for someone to rescue him from his crib. He navigates very easily through the house in complete darkness to find his way into our bedroom.

Anyway, this morning he showed up next to my side of the bed at 4:20am. When I reached down to pick him up, he handed me a book!

(I should have known this was coming when he started "reading" so early in life...)

Wednesday, September 06, 2006

I'm Sorry

Last night I was tired and yelled at AJ when he picked up his plate at dinner and emptied it onto his lap and the floor. We took this as a sign that he was through eating and (after cleaning him up) he was sent away from the table. My own dinner put aside now, I got out the broom and started cleaning up the food, because AJ will just come eat it off the floor.

Daddy took him into the living room and explained to him that we don't throw food, that he had hurt Mommy's feelings, and that he needed to apologize. I heard this and immediately thought "Right...that'll happen....he's just a baby and won't understand."

AJ walked into the kitchen where I was standing and started hugging me around my leg. I got down on my knees and he gave me a really big hug....

Of course my eyes filled with tears and I felt about this small....

Tuesday, September 05, 2006

Like a day at the beach...


Since we are going on a cruise in November, we decided we should see how AJ would react to the beach. So we went down to Galveston on Saturday. He wasn't too sure about the water, but really enjoyed playing in the sand. Daddy took him out to wade in the water -- that was fun. AJ liked destroying Daddy's sand castles. I took him along the beach to pick up sea shells; until he ate one! I saw him put it in his mouth, but by the time I got him to open his mouth to let my fingers in, all I found was crunched up shell. Guess he needed some calcium is his diet!

Of course sand was EVERYWHERE! During his bath, he kept putting his hand under the running water, then reaching up to touch the faucet. After a while we realized he was copying what Daddy was doing....he'd put his hand under the water to test the temperature, then reach up to adjust the faucet.

Monday (Labor Day) was a trip downtown to the Children's Museum. That place is AWESOME! There is an area called the Tot Spot, designed especially for toddlers. AJ was able to touch and play with anything he wanted to without being told "no". There were all kinds of toys and developmental areas. Signs on the walls explain to parents how children play with certain objects and how they learn from their play. Some friends and their 15-month old daughter went with us, and the kids had a blast. There is also a play area outside with jungle gyms, duck ponds, etc. We bought a year's membership so we can take him back any time we get a chance. The museum had lots of different activities that should interest AJ for several years to come. It's indoors, so it makes a great place to take him to play when it's really hot and when it's really cold.

Friday, September 01, 2006

Monkeys with typewriters

I now believe a little more in the theory that if you park a monkey in front of a typewriter long enough, he will eventually type the works of Shakespeare.

AJ picked up Daddy's cell phone from the table yesterday. During the course of the 15 minutes or so that he was playing with it, AJ managed to turn the phone on, and make two phone calls to numbers in the address book. Of course, we didn't know that's what he had done until we started getting phone calls later in the evening from friends returning our calls.

Kid is getting too smart too fast....