Nuggets

Here are some nuggets from the week:

* I could swear Meg said both "ball" and "nigh-nigh" tonight. Clearly the kid is a genius.
* She's discovered how to be ornery. She now gets annoyed if I try to redirect her from something she wants. Uh oh.
* I suspect her bottom two molars are coming in. I fear this means several weeks of disrupted sleep. Sure, its' obviously uncomfortable for her, but it's all about me, right?
* Yesterday I was packing up some baby bottles to give to a mother in Meg's daycare who is due in April with her second. Andy asked if we were going to have another baby. I said no and he burst into tears. I know, what?
* Later, he told me he, too, would have a baby in his tummy when he grew up. When I said only girls have babies in their tummies as boys are daddies, he burst into tears again. I clearly think he was tired, but the whole exchange was rather amusing.
* I randomly got a package from Pampers yesterday along with a size N diaper. I know! Size N! It was like the size of my hand and not the big tortilla size she has now. I get so caught up in the day-to-day work/life balance that I sometimes forget how far we've come. Size N! So tiny! And they come in packs of like 3,000 to a box.

Speaking of how far we've come, my cousin Frances sent me some info on a little boy in Austin named Ike who is having a rough go of it (as is his mommy). Take a look and say a prayer, drink a beer or whatever it is you do. They could use it.

Whiner

Bjorn's been out of town since Wednesday and I am so glad he's coming back today. It's stressful being home by myself, you know, with my own children. All two of them. I know. That's not that hard, right? For the most part, they were well-behaved and slept decently. Bjorn's mom was nice enough to bring us dinner Thursday and last night a friend invited us over for dinner at their house so it's not like I've been trapped on an island or anything. Still, I'm glad he's coming home today.

The kids continue to change, it's pretty amazing to watch them start to interact more with each other. Yesterday we had a moment that made me well up with price. Meg woke up early from her nap (frown) and Andy was taking a rare nap at the same time. After doing a bunch of stuff, I had her in my room while I folded laundry. She must have gotten bored with me because she crawled out of my room, went to Andy's door and pushed it open. Then she proceeded to climb up to the side of his bed and start jabbering with her. Andy woke up and started talking back. It was beyond adorable (and it was okay because it was already 3:40 p.m. and we had to be somewhere at 4 p.m.) I think they did that for about 15 minutes, just long enough for me to watch the end of Brothers and Sisters from Sunday.

Oh, and to totally bury the lead, Andy turns four tomorrow. WOW. I'm hosting Andy's first real birthday party tomorrow as well. It's only with six or seven friends and they're all kids of my soccer team friends. I figure this is the last year I can get away with mostly inviting my friends. Next year he'll want to invite his school buddies or other buddies, whereas this year he was just happy to have a party. I'm doing it at the local bowling alley, which should be interesting. I'll post pictures -- if we survive.

Pants?

Before bed, I usually sneak into Andy's room to check on him, you know, one last time. Last night when I went in, I noticed something unusual. He had taken off his pajama shorts and was sleeping in just his shirt and diaper. Lately he's been going through a phase of wanting to nap in just a diaper, sometimes with shorts, sometimes with a top, but minus one article of clothing. I'm happy to indulge him on these things, plus I find it somewhat amusing. The removing an article of clothing thing is a new one for us though.

This morning when he got up he kept talking about how he didn't have any pants. "Where are my pants, Mommy?" He didn't seem to have a good answer as to why he had removed them, but still he seemed surprised they weren't on him. Rather funny actually.

Tomorrow is a big day as Andy is starting school in a new class. I'm a little uneasy about it only because all summer Andy was having trouble crying at drop-off and now a new class might start that all over again. I'm sure he'll do fine. He sees all the teachers already and the class is right next door, but it's hard not to worry, even just a little.

When toothpaste attacks

After school last night, Andy was a little cranky so he suggested he go to bed for a little bit. Usually 15 minutes of being quiet, chilling in his bed, flipping through Thomas books helps him settle down into being his adorable self again. Last night, I was in the basement listening to him and he was quiet, like sleeping quiet, for nearly half an hour. I took the silence to mean he really needed the break. I went up after a bit to see if he was ready for dinner only to find him covered in sticky, clear stuff on his face. He'd had a bit of a runny nose so I started to clean off his face only to realize he had taken his toothbrush and toddler toothpaste and squeezed it all over himself and his bed. It was lovely.

I gave him a bath and eventually put him to bed in new sheets. This morning, unfortunately, I discovered that he'd gotten it on a part of his bedspread and one of his dogs, too, so now I get to wash all his bedding and perhaps the new sheets as well. Curious little buggers, aren't they?

A bunch of queens

We went to check out our friends' new place yesterday for dinner. The kids had a great time and insisted that we sing happy birthday with crowns as we ate our brownies. The men looked pretty good in their crowns, surprisingly.

Hiding from monsters

The favorite game in our house is hiding from monsters. He must pick this up from the other kids in school, because we don't normally discuss monsters around here. Well, unless they come in the form of bills, the temperamental lawn edger or killer mosquitoes. Here we are hiding from the monsters under the covers, which is actually pretty darn adorable. Well, except on the 36th time in 20 minutes he screams, "Gotta hide from the monsters!" and takes apart whatever else we were working on.

Fish out of water

I woke up about 4 a.m. last night to the howls of one of the cats who had been left outside. Apparently she'd done all the whoring around that a spayed cat does at that hour and was ready for dinner and some sleep. On my way back to bed, I checked on Andy out of habit. Little guy was asleep at the foot of his bed with his head, chest and arms on the bed with his legs hanging off the side. Neither of us woke up to him crying so I can only imagine at some point he got up to get something, perhaps another Thomas book, and fell asleep on the way back. He wasn't upset, but I went ahead and moved him into his normal spot so it would feel more normal when he woke up.

Crazy little guy. The bed is completely blocked off on three sides yet he still manages to fall out somehow. I can't quite explain it, but I'm somewhat impressed by this.

Date night

At the concert on Friday, some friends came along and brought their daughter, Mia, who is apparently Andy's love interest. Check out the way he laughs at her jokes here as if it's truly the funniest thing anyone has ever said. Rather precious and perfect for later for embarrassment.

Andy is truly smitten with her (she's six months older and clearly more mature as well). He spent the evening following her around even when that involved bad ideas like running down a hill, which remarkably she can handle in flip-flops, but he could not in shoes.

My friend also brought lollipops for the kids, which was a huge hit. Andy carried his around all night even after he dropped it on the grass. Twice.

First off, happy birthday to my new niece. She doesn't have a name yet, but she was born on cue on 7/7/07, weighing in at the healthy 7 pounds, 4 ounces. No word on a name yet, but so far, mother, baby, father and big sister seem to be doing well.

Speaking of birthdays, Andy is obsessed with birthday cake. Actually, he's obsessed with making birthday cake. If we're at the playground, he wants to go over to the house part and make birthday cake out of mulch. If we're at the pool, he wants to make birthday cake by pouring water into various cups. At home in his kitchen, he likes to use his fake food to make, what else, more birthday cake.

We were at the park yesterday and there were two older girls, probably aged 8 or 9, who were playing as well. Andy went over to them and talked to them about making birthday cake. Naturally, they thought he was cute, but crazy, and moved on. I think he's going to have to work on his pickup lines.

Photo is of Andy making birthday cake in our back yard. He takes his culinary responsibilities very seriously.

Q-tips and memories

Behold, the photo of my Q-tip chewer. He really did empty out the box of them and chew the cotton tips off a few. I'm not sure why, but he seemed rather pleased with himself.

At this age, I'm amazed at not only his language skills, but what he remembers. We went to the grocery store this week and he immediately asked for blackberries as we'd had them in the store before. I had forgotten, but he hadn't. The other night we took a walk and he pointed out all that was new - a new railing on the stairs by the pool and a net on the hoop. It amazes me to look through his eyes as I see things that I've been overlooking for years. It's pretty awesome.

In other exciting news, they're making a broadway musical of Xanadu. It's a terrible movie with no plot to speak of, but I really do like the soundtrack even though until recently I thought it was the Bee-Gees and and not ELO.

Date night

A friend came over a couple of weeks ago with her two girls. Andy and Molly had a ball sitting at the small table in the living room having a tea party, where they poured imaginary tea and practiced putting pasta in different bowls and glasses. It was really a hoot to watch the interaction. Later on, we served them grilled cheese sandwiches, grapes and juice boxes at the table. I think it was his first date.

I went by Andy's new school today to drop off some more paperwork and basically give me an excuse to check in again. The teachers are more familiar now as are a few of the kids. Andy marched right in like he'd been there for ages. After a bit, the teachers suggested I leave him for a little bit so I ran to the grocery store and shopped - unencumbered, which was great - while he stayed and played. I told him I was leaving and he sort of waved without taking his eyes off the toys. I was back within about half and hour and they said he did great and was participating. I am hoping this bodes well for the big transition next Thursday.

My son, the cat

Andy has decided he's a cat. That's right, at various times of the day he likes to drop to all four and start meowing. At that point, he's to be treated like a cat, meaning he must be petted on the head and his meowing praised. When he's acting as a cat, he likes to get down and crawl around on all fours, especially weaving in and out of the dining room chairs. It's adorable. Tonight though, he wanted to not only be a cat, but be a cat carried around like a baby. I can't explain what he was thinking, but it was really funny to be carrying him around in my arms while he meowed.

The other thing he's doing lately is specifically asking for Doris our next door neighbor. Last night he was irate with me that I wouldn't take him over. Tonight I did and I figured out his obsession - she give him lollipops. What a brilliant grandmother move - bribe children into loving you! I also am realizing I need to teach him to call her Miss Doris. I prefer the last names generally, but I think forcing him to call her Mrs. Something is going to be confusing. Well, mostly because I'm not exactly sure of her last night either.