Opinions

Opinions -- Linus has them.  I took him shoe shopping today because I was having a hard time cramming his onto him.  The Stride Rite outlet didn't have any brown leather ones, which meant he got sneakers.  There were only three pairs that had shoelaces.  I eliminated one choice, showed him the remaining options, and he chose tan suede with trendy orange stripes on the sides. They do look cute.

On the way home I sang songs.  My repertoire included Old MacDonald, Twinkle Twinkle, ABC, and The Wheels on the Bus.  He joined in on Old MacDonald and ABC.  He started getting ahead of me at parts of ABC. It is adorable how he says v and y.  Once he gets better at it, I'll get some video in front of the computer for you.

Here is Linus helping me pin my current quilt project.

This Just In

Toucan Craze

Linus continues to plague me with requests to make a toucan sound.  Once again, we listened to a toucan online at the National Geographic site.  We listened to it a few times in a row and I tried to figure out how to make the sound.  I just can't get the right sound to come out of my mouth.  He persists in asking for a giraffe "noise," but the most I can find online is a description that once in a while a giraffe will make a bleating sound. 

One day last week I was reading the mail and tuning Linus out.  When I looked up, he had this large stack of books on the chair.  We put this bookcase in the living room for him because when we added his Christmas present books, there were just way too many piles of books in the living room.  We read together on the chair, covered up in the "cozy", and I can put books back on the shelf as we read them.  

As you can see, he has graduated from board books to regular hardcover picture books. He treats his books with care.

Growth

Yesterday Linus demonstrated new skills and signs of maturation, mostly to my delight.  Firstly, he pretended to be a tree.  He frequently pretends to be a rabbit, horse, fox, fish, or egret, but never a plant.  He stood on my legs, pointed down to them and said, "Dirt." He stood up tall and I asked if he was a plant. He said yes, but then changed his mind and said, "No. Tree."  I was so excited to call Matthew at work to tell him. He cheered and his coworkers came running to find out what was going on.

Secondly, he correctly identified his first letter of the alphabet.  He received an alphabet magnetic board from Sara and Billy for Christmas. The letters are on magnet squares in a fabric pouch.  He pulled one out and I asked him what letter he had. He said, "V."  I asked if there was a vase on it and he said yes. I leaned over and, sure enough, he was correct. He did it again today, so it wasn't just a fluke.

The third big thing to happen took place at lunch. I offered to help him get the cottage cheese off of his hands and he said, "No. Self."  I said okay and kept on eating, while on the inside I was freaking out that my little one is now very obviously moving on to be an independent person.  When I gave him seconds on peaches, he didn't want me to cut them for him. He said, "Self," and then successfully cut them with his fork.  

Where did my baby go?  I think he has quietly disappeared and left a growing and changing toddler in his place.

Here are some pictures of Linus with animals at the stock show.  When I bought the feed for the animals, the woman said Linus was too young to feed them. I disagreed, but politely answered that I was buying it for me to feed the animals.  Then first thing I did was show Linus how to feed the goats. He showed no fear whatsoever.  He was so comfortable around the animals.  I was so proud of him and pleased that his comfort level came from me.

A Chat with Linus

Teddy Bear Pal

Linus treats his teddy bear as a buddy and his bee as his security object.  He was getting the crayons out yesterday and suddenly ran out of the room. He returned with Teddy and diligently tried to put a crayon in Teddy's hand.  At snack time he "fed" Teddy a slice of pear.  He has also used his toy stethoscope to listen to Teddy's heart.  Teddy bears make great pals.  I'm already planning a teddy bear's picnic for this summer. I can't wait!

Smarty Pants

Linus has started driving me batty with asking me what sound every animal makes. For example, he has inquired about toucans, giraffes, gazelles, and sea horses.  I finally took him to the computer and looked up toucan sounds.  Sadly, I'm unable to imitate the sound, so he is still disappointed in me.  Today he pointed at every animal in his gigantic animal book (thank you, Stephanie!) and wanted to know what sound each animal made.  When I said I didn't know, he was dissatisfied.  When I made the same sound for leopards and cheetahs, he admonished me.  He is already getting too smart for his own good.  Or my own good.

On a recent relatively nice day, Linus insisted that Teddy accompany us on our walk. The moon became visible as we neared home and Linus was excited to hold up Teddy to see it.

Book Fiend

As you all know, Linus adores books.  I got these pictures yesterday and today.  Yesterday I read to him in the living room and then he took me into his room.  He pulled down all of his stuffed animals, put one cozy on me and one on himself, and then proceeded to look at every single book that was there.  He read them and I sat there and watched.  This morning I was reading with him in the living room and I had to go do some things, so I tucked him in with his choice of book.  

Linus is picking up a lot of knowledge from his books.  Last week he told Matthew, "Bird. Beak. Nectar."  I helped out and said, "Yes, the hummingbird uses its beak to drink nectar."  Smart little kid.  

We have been having some rough nights lately with him.  He wakes up asking for me and then has a tantrum when Matthew returns him to his crib.  Monday night he was up between 10 and 1.  We were all wiped out yesterday. I encountered our new duplex neighbors and asked if they heard Linus screaming in the night.  I was mortified to hear that they could. I apologized profusely.  They were nice about it, but I feel terrible.  I guess I'll be shoveling their sidewalk for the rest of winter to try to stay in their good graces.

Cute, and Smart, Too

Linus has completely charmed our two favorite cashiers at the grocery store. They both adore Linus to the point that when we walk into the store, one or the both of them call out to him. We got into Matt's line today because we've been in Deb's line each of the last four weeks and I didn't want him to feel left out. Linus showed off his smarts today as I quizzed him about each of the items I put on the belt.  Matt was blown away that Linus could identify seitan. Grocery shopping goes smoothly most times because Linus stays entertained and the staff are so nice.

Linus correctly counted yesterday for the first time, without any prompting from us.  He got his mittens out to wear for a walk and he counted out loud, "One. Two.  Two. Mittens."  Hooray!  He tried to count the buttons on my sweater, but only got as high as two.  He usually skips from two to four.

Linus went four days without a runny nose, but woke up with the beginning of a new cold.  The kid has had a virus since the weekend before Thanksgiving.  I'm so tired of looking at his snotty nose.

Here are Linus and Lucero having snack together last Friday. They had yogurt and cheddar bunnies.

First of the Birthday Parties

Today marked the beginning of the round of 2nd birthday parties.  Lucero's party started at 8:30 this morning because she naps around 11 and Annalouiza wanted it done by her nap time.  We munched on breakfast burritos, pumpkin bread, fresh fruit, coffee, tea, and juice.  We met some fun new people and I learned that one of my friends is pregnant with her second child.  (We've also entered that phase of life, where people are starting on their second kids.)  Linus fed Lucero pumpkin bread, drank water out of the same tea cup as Anna, colored, played with a balloon, banged on the piano, etc.  We sang happy birthday in Spanish and English and Lucero beamed when we all cheered after she blew out her candles.  

Oh!  She received delightful presents.  Like a bright blue recorder, a print from China, books, striped tights, and one of those long-ribbon-on-a-stick twirly things.  And yes; the homemade play dough was a hit.

Kitchen Creations

Here is Linus helping me mix the food coloring into the balls of homemade play dough for Lucero's 2nd birthday.  Some red coloring got on his hand and it bothered him that I couldn't wash it off. I showed him the blue on my hands and said not to worry, it will come off in a few days.

He is starting to get into pretending to cook.  He pulled out some pots and pans and I gave him a spoon, dried beans, and dried pasta to play with on his table.  I think a toy kitchen is in order for his birthday.

Today we baked cookies together and he insisted on putting sprinkles on some of them.  I've never seen oatmeal raisin cookies with sprinkles before; how cool!  Then we went on a long walk and had a blast watching some squirrels at someone's squirrel feeder. We got to see one munch on a peanut and Linus thought that was fun.  He kept saying, "Cute, cute," which I'm sure he picked up from me.  I'm always saying things are cute.  During lunch I cracked him up with my impression of the squirrel eating.

Interdependent

I've been coping better with Linus' tantrums.  I adjusted my response to them and now I'm usually able to keep them from escalating.  Plus, I got him a used book called C is for Curious: An ABC of emotions.  He is learning some great words to express how he feels.  Such as angry, tearful, loving, and kind.  He is also learning xenophobic and zealous, but we haven't used those words with him in conversation.

We took a rare trip to the mall together on Monday and he played on the breakfast food.  The play area has waffles, banana slices, bacon, blueberries, and a bowl of cereal for young kids to climb on.  At times he ran off to play without paying attention to where I was.  I was proud of his courage, but then nearly freaked out when I couldn't see him in the bowl of cereal.  I think we are both going through a developmental phase. :)

Hugs and Kisses

At book club last night one of the neighbors told me it was very sweet how Linus was giving hugs and kisses to her boys on Sunday.  That is wonderful feedback to receive!  Saturday morning we visited the zoo because it was warm and sunny out and we hadn't been in a while.  As usual, Linus enjoyed people watching.  He also knows his stuff; when asked, he told me the zebras were eating hay.  We spent a long time watching turtles and fish swim around a tank.  Linus liked them so much, he planted a kiss on the glass when a turtle swam up to him.  He also put his arms on the glass to give it a hug.  

Here he is checking out the polar bear and admiring the water creatures.

Buddies

Here is a picture from the summer time of Linus with baby Max.  Everyone in our neighborhood fights to hold and snuggle Max because he is so chubby and cuddly.  A friend captured this picture of Max and Linus holding hands.

Linus received a gift in the mail today of a Fisher Price Elmo computer-like toy.  It is very cool and will help him learn his colors, numbers, letters, and shapes; but, boy is it loud.  My ears are still ringing from it.  It doesn't have a volume control, so I'm going to have to put tape over the speaker to deaden it a bit.

Linus and I are planning to put together a birthday present for Lucero of homemade play dough and cookie cutters in a cool Beatrix Potter tin we found.  Lucero will be turning two next week. We went to Goodwill in search of cookie cutters.  Linus seems to totally get it when I explain that something is a present for someone.  When we weren't able to find any cookie cutters, he was concerned about it and kept saying, "Cutters, cutters. Lucero."  

More Pretending

After dinner last night Linus had us laughing with his Squirt game.  He used the hose on the vacuum to squirt us.  We'd squeal and act like we'd gotten wet and then he'd hand us a pretend towel.  After numerous rounds of that, he added in that he was soaping us up, rinsing us off, and then drying us with a towel.  As he pretend squirts he emphatically says, "Squirt! Squirt!"  It sounds more like "flirt" and sometimes "furt."  

He is also having fun playing with his new toys in various ways.  The wood construction vehicles get to go down the plastic garage ramp, the Little People get to ride in the airplane toy, and he wore his back pack around for a while to be like the boy in the toy airplane.  He is really into his new books. We got him some non-fiction about birds and bugs.  Fortunately, a bug was strolling across the living room floor on Sunday and he got a good look at it.  He and Matthew took it outside when they went for a walk together.

Here he is in Matthew's childhood bedroom playing with Matthew's old matchbox cars. We brought this transport truck home.  (I'm finding I have to flesh out my vocabulary when it comes to vehicles.)

Imagination

Linus has a thriving imagination and I like to think it is so rich because of all of the books we have read together.  I can't help but compare him to the other little ones I know and think that he has a far superior imagination.  But I'm also conscious of the fact that young children tend to only reveal their true selves to those closest to them, so maybe that is why I haven't witnessed the vivid imaginations of anyone under the age of three.  Even so, I'm tickled pink with the fun games Linus dreams up for us.  

When we were out east for Christmas, he was sitting on my lap after dinner one evening and he started pretending to feed me with my spoon. When I asked him what he was feeding me, he said it was pie.  After each pretend bite, I'd say yum and name a different kind of pie.  It became a spontaneous game for Matthew and Jean to join in with pie suggestions.

On the airplane heading back home, Linus spread his lovey on my chest and said, "Apron."  Then he said, "Cook." When I asked him what I should cook, he said, "Sauce."  I proceeded to talk through the steps of making tomato sauce and then he declared it "yummy."  We played a few rounds of this game.

Here he is helping grandma make a coffee cake.

Meeting the Nieces

I got two new nieces in 2007 and it was wonderful getting to meet them when we were out east for Christmas.  Linus was very curious about Lorrie. He gently touched her after I told him it was okay.  He was out of sorts the day we met Junie.  Even so, he was willing to sit on the couch with her for us to take pictures.

He has been having quite a few tantrums lately.  He screams and throws things.  It made for an exhausting trip, for me anyway.