Story Time Promotion

I decided to move Linus up to the next level of story time at the library because he wasn't really getting anything out of Book Babies any more. We attended Tales for Two on Monday.  He had so much fun.  In between reading three books, the librarian led the group in doing the hokey pokey (Linus' first time), jingling bells to a song about bells, and several songs with movement involved. He stayed sitting by me while other kids sat up front together.  Before I know it, he'll prefer sitting with other kids over me.  When we got home, he pulled himself onto the couch to read the penguin book he checked out while I made lunch.  He also got a book about whales and one about puffins.  He now knows how baleen whales use their baleens to catch krill. I gloss over the page that addresses whale hunting.  I narrate that page by saying that the men are out in a boat to look at whales.  I'm not ready to introduce him to the practice of hunting.

To see a whole bunch of pictures depicting his visit to the library this day, visit the album.

Golden Moments

There are times each and every day when I'm dazzled by Linus' cuteness, intelligence, sweetness, or wit.  Some examples include:

* The bright, exuberant smile that bursts from his face when he first sees me each morning.  Wow! I get such a rush from it.

*Listening to his chatter when we are in separate rooms and he is talking to his toys or himself.  Charming.

*His sensitive soul is revealed by his constant awareness of togetherness.  When we eat an afternoon snack together across from one another at the table he says, "Eating snack. Together."  Or when we snuggle up next to each other under a quilt on the couch to read books he points out, "Reading together."  Togetherness with him is pure joy.

*The genuine appreciation he expresses when he effuses, "Thank you!" for some small thing I've done for him, like bring him a cup of water.

*The other day at the park he fell down and scraped his forehead on pavement. I scooped him up and attempted to soothe him with hugs and kisses. He kept crying and saying, "Hug.  Kiss." When I replied, "I am giving you hugs and kisses sweetheart," he said, "No, goose." He wanted one of the geese to comfort him!

Here he is having a blast at Barrett's birthday party. The kids were popping bubbles that the adults blew for them.

Toddler Crafting

Linus made a birthday card for his friend, Barrett. She turns two this Saturday.  I started by giving him a piece of paper folded in half. I showed him some pictures and he chose the ones he wanted me to cut out for him.  Then I showed him how to use a glue stick.  Ooooh, he loved this part! I quickly ran and grabbed his play dough place mat to work on so glue wouldn't get on the table.  After he stuck down a few pictures, I asked if he wanted to try cutting.  This was pretty interesting to watch. I sipped coffee and watched him make a go at it.  Then we held the scissors together to cut.  He glued pictures of flowers and butterflies on both the front and the back.  Then I instructed him to write or draw for her on the inside.  I told him he would give her the card and present (a book) at her party on Saturday. He said she would say thank you.  I don't know about that, but it is okay if she doesn't because Linus will probably say thank you for her.  I let him pick out the wrapping paper and I let him put some tape on the present, even though it didn't end up being anywhere that it was holding the paper closed.  He was very proud of it all. I asked him where we should put it to keep it safe until Saturday.  He ran and put it in his treasure box (the shoe box with stickers).

Back to the topic of thank you. A woman at the store yesterday commented on how polite Linus was.  Be still my mothering heart.

Outdoor Fun

We've had some nice weather and been able to play outside with our light-weight jackets on.  (Sorry Wisconsin folks who keep getting blasted by winter.)  Linus likes to play with this ear of Indian corn and pretend that he is a squirrel eating it.  As we walk up the block, he stops at Anna's and rides on her porch swing.  Then we tend to encounter Bennett mowing the lawn with his toy mower.  Linus is always excited to see Bennett, but Bennett doesn't play well with Linus. He tries to run him down with the mower.  Then we head over to Lucero's yard and Linus plays on her Little Tykes playset out front. If they are home, Anna Louiza and Lucero come out. The kids play and Anna Louiza and I talk about craft projects, thrift store finds, books, the kids, etc. Sometimes we sip wine -- if it has been a hard day and it is getting close to 5.  

Reptile and Human Friends

We took Linus to a reptile program at the library yesterday.  He was very excited about getting to pet a gecko. We also pet a large snake. He wanted to pet the tarantula and didn't understand that one can hold it but not pet it.  (It would release some of its hairs into his skin and it would itch.)  We ran into my friend Cheryl and her kids, Lena and Gabriel. Gabriel is four and Linus thinks the world of him.  He watches his every move.  Lena is just a couple of weeks older than Linus. When we saw them enter the presentation room, Linus got very excited and started running toward them. About halfway to them, he turned around and ran back to me to breathlessly exclaim, "Friends!"  and then he ran back to them.

Here he is petting a snake, showing Lena the dump truck on his shirt, and the kids climbing around in front of the library.  I just love the tulle under Lena's skirt!

Neighborliness

Wednesday it was in the 60's here and all the neighbor kids were out playing together in the afternoon.  Then it started snowing overnight and we ended up with a couple of inches of snow by mid-day on Thursday. We bundled up and went out to shovel.  Linus tried out the big snow shovel, but gave up on that pretty quickly.  I explained to him that I was shoveling Anna's sidewalk because she is out of town for work and can't do it herself. He proceeded to use his mittened hands to brush the snow off of her porch steps, railing, and porch swing. I tried to capture this gesture of kindness with the camera, but the camera battery gave out in the cold.

Valentines

Last year Linus mostly played with his Valentines and this year he has been excited to receive them.  Thank you to everyone who sent him one.  Here he is all excited about getting one in the mail from Aunt Sara and Uncle Billy.  They got an extra squeal out of him because there was a sheet of stickers inside the card.

Stickers

Linus likes playing with stickers. Up until fairly recently he has been good about only sticking his stickers on his shoe box treasure box.  He learned to stick them to his shirt from the bank and the caucus.  Our credit union always gives him a sticker and I planted an Obama sticker on him at the caucus.  One day last week I was working in the kitchen and he was quiet. I knew to go check on him and found that he was applying sticker after sticker to his sweater. I didn't stop him; instead, I took some pictures and went back to making dinner.

Bill (Matthew's uncle) watched Linus today while I was at the house inspection.  Leading up to it Linus told me he was going to share his cars and books with him.  Both were happy when I returned four hours later.

Cupcakes

A cupcake and cereal bar opened up near us. We visited it on Saturday when it felt really good to be outside.  We let Linus choose his own cupcake and he pointed into the case and said, "Sprinkles."  They were served on cute little plates.  Here is how Linus ate his.

Toddler Bed

As I write this, Linus is napping for the first time in his toddler bed.  We set it up for him this morning and he helped take apart his crib.  We are borrowing the bed frame from our neighbors, Juliana and George, parents to Alex and Max.  

I leaned into his room and snapped a couple of pictures. I'm feeling weepy about this change.  As Matthew started taking apart the crib, I reminded him of how I had to go to the bathroom every three minutes as we set it up for Linus' arrival.  And I still remember how I felt about moving Linus from the bassinet to the crib.  Anna Louiza marvels at my sentimentality when it comes to Linus.  Words can't convey how I feel about him growing up.

Cat Sitting

Linus has been feeding Lucero's kitties while she and her family are on vacation.  He takes this responsibility quite seriously.  Each day when I say it is time to look in on the cats, he marches himself to the door and is ready for business.  When the kitties start to eat the food he gives them, he says thank you on their behalf.  He relishes the opportunity to scoop the food into their dishes.  Since Matthew is allergic to animals and we can't have any furry pets, I'm glad our neighborhood has numerous cats and dogs for Linus to play with and learn about.

Super Tuesday

Yesterday morning, some of the other stay-at-home moms and I were emailing one another letting each other know that it was fine to bring our children to the caucus and that many of would be there.  The crowded gym overwhelmed Linus a bit at first, but then he got his bearings and got into it.  Whenever the crowd cheered and applauded, he clapped.  When we broke out into our precincts, he was pretty well behaved. Towards the end he got tired and we barely got to participate in the very last part of business.  The second I was counted for the congressional race, we got out of there. 

Linus has heard the Yes We Can song so many times that when I sing parts of it he says, "Computer."

To see more pictures from the caucus visit this album.

Got Milk?

Last night Linus was sitting in my seat at the table having milk before dinner.  I came in and saw that he had his monkey's hand through one of the cup's handles and he was helping it drink.  It was pretend, so all was well and good, until I came by again and Linus said, "Monkey. Wet." I looked and saw that Linus had put the monkey's mouth in the milk and it came out with a milk mustache and beard. I took it into the kitchen to clean it up and tried to laugh silently so that my laughter wouldn't encourage Linus to continue dunking the monkey.  Matthew gently explained to Linus that the monkey could only pretend to drink.

Yesterday Linus strung together three words on two occasions.  He said, "Mama do it," and "See you later."  This morning he said, "Mama reach it."  

Linus is also trying out the objective personal pronoun "her."  At the grocery store he kept pointing to women and saying, "Her." I can tell he is thinking about gender from the way we have discussions like this: Linus pointed to me and said "girl." I said, "Yes, I was a girl. I grew up and became a woman."  He said, "Woman." Then he pointed to himself and said, "Boy."  I said, "Yes, and Matthew is a man."  He pointed to my mug and said, "Girl." Then he pointed to his cup and said, "Boy."