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.  

Christmas at Home

We had a fun morning watching Linus open and play with his gifts.  His favorite toy today is the car garage toy that has ramps and an elevator.  He was so excited about it and helped Matthew assemble it.  He received a number of books, including a board book about Mzee and Owen, the tortoise and hippo that became friends. He had me read it to him twice in a row.  At nap time he was visibly tired, but was trying so hard to keep playing.

The second picture is of Linus accompanying Lucero on the piano last night.  Lucero is wearing the patchwork scarf I made for her.

Holidays and Magic

Here is Linus' stocking that I've been working on. I finished it yesterday afternoon. I embroidered it on fabric I cut from a linen top that is too big for me now.  The checkered fabric came from my stash.

I'm also attaching a cute photo of Linus playing with the little jewelry box I got him at Goodwill.  He is mesmerized by the ballerina twirling around and around after I wind the box up.  He says ballerina as "reena."  When I came across it I thought he would be interested in it since he really liked a Christmas music box at our neighbor's across the street. While we were visiting with them when we delivered their baked goods, Linus had fun checking out Mrs. Jones' pretty glass and ceramic knick knacks.

We are going to a  Solstice Party tonight at Anna Louiza's and Santa is coming to our house tonight, as we depart Sunday for Massachusetts.

Cranky Linus

In case you were wondering what he looks like when he is cranky, here you go.  When he was finally healthy enough to go out and play in the snow last week, he had no interest in it and pitched a fit.  He got grumpy at me when I wouldn't sit down in the snow, even though I explained that I didn't have snow pants.  So after spending about 5 minutes bundling him up, we were outside maybe two minutes total and he was heading for the door.

Once we were unbundled, I let him play in the kitchen sink to keep him occupied for a good hour.  He figured out how to climb up to drink from the faucet.

Linus invented a game that he springs on me at odd times.  He'll say, "Sleep!"  I have to close my eyes and pretend to sleep.  Then he'll chirp, "Morning!"  and I wake up and say, "Good morning."  He sprung it on me while I was pushing him in the cart at Target.  So here I was, walking hurriedly through the store, all the while playing the game.  

Holiday Sweets, Installment 3

Our neighbor, Anna, had a holiday party on Sunday. It was really great seeing some of the neighbor kids that we haven't seen much of since it started getting dark so early. It cracked us up that the sweets were on the coffee table right at toddler-height. In the first picture, little Charlotte is looking at her dad, Anna Louiza is telling Lucero she's had enough, and Linus is grabbing at a chocolate.  As the party was starting to wind down Linus and Alex started running laps though the house by running through the living room, entry way, guest bedroom, and dining room. As Linus completed each lap, I held my arms up above my head and cheered, "Yay!" He started doing it too. Juliana positioned herself at the entry way and Matthew positioned himself at the hallway between the bedroom and dining room to make sure no one got hurt. Alex's little brother Max joined in, but was easily distracted by the Christmas tree and his mama.

Linus didn't have as many tantrums yesterday and he's only had one so far today. I need to check out Happiest Toddler on the Block again from the library.

In one of Linus' books there is a line about a cat looking for something wild to eat. Linus has started to follow that line up with giraffe and camel. I don't remember telling him they were wild animals, but he picked it up somewhere.

I told Linus that grandma wants to bake and read books with him. He replied, "Cookies. Sprinkles." He has also been talking about Junie all of the time. He'll say, "Junie. Yogurt." I say, "Junie doesn't eat yogurt yet" and he'll say, "Bananas." He also says, "Junie. Hug. Kiss."

Holiday Sweets, Installment 2

Here is Linus decorating the ginger snaps. He really poured on the green sugar on some of them. Last night the three of us went door to door distributing bags of ginger snaps, angel food candy, and cranberry pecan toffee. Linus wasn't too keen on giving the bag to his little friend Charlotte. Then he caught on that we were giving presents and the rest of the stops went smoothly.

I'm pretty near my wits' end these last few days. Linus has been so ornery and screams at me about nearly everything. I'm hoping he is teething and that this isn't his new personality. I put him down for today's nap about 20 minutes early because I couldn't take it any more. Now I'm going to make some tea and relax while embroidering his Christmas stocking.

Holiday Sweets, Installment 1

Here is Linus helping me make the gingersnap dough. What you can't see are the 3 animals on the counter. He wanted them to help with the mixing. Speaking of mixing; doing a wide variety of activities with Linus broadens his vocabulary. From baking cookies he has learned: mix, mixing, sprinkles, sift, and flour. (He also knows the difference between a tea pot and a tea kettle.)

The other day Linus and I went to the basement to get the laundry from the dryer and for me to look for something in one of the many boxes. He was going around with his keys, locking and unlocking things. When I didn't hear any sounds from him I looked and saw that he was pulling the laundry from the dryer and putting it into the basket. When he was done he pulled all of the lint from the lint trap and put it on top of the dryer. Then he closed the door and came and said to me, "Fluffy." I was speechless.

Holiday Activities

Here is Linus helping me untangle the Christmas tree lights on Saturday when he was coming down with a virus. The other picture is of him checking out the tree a couple of days later. He has been good about looking at ornaments and not playing with them.

This morning he helped me make ginger snap dough. When he was dumping flour into the stand mixer the measuring cup fell in. I stopped the machine quickly and all was well. He really liked sampling the dough off of the beater when we were done. I explained that we were baking treats to give to our neighbors for presents and he liked that idea. It will be fun to go as a family from house to house distributing the treats.

One of Linus' animals was in the snow by the car all night. When it didn't make it into the house yesterday I thought it was in the car. When we ran an errand today I found it in the snow by the car. Poor lamb. Linus gave it a kiss.

Animals

Linus has started playing with his animals all of the time. When he refers to them it sounds like "animos." He insists on carrying the pig, lamb, cow, donkey, horse, and lizard around everywhere. Yesterday they had to eat yogurt when he did and he wouldn't eat his crackers at snack until I gave the animals some. He likes arranging them on the back of the couch and pushing them so they slide down onto the cushion. He also likes for them to sit with us when we read books.

Since he was still recovering yesterday I didn't want him to play outside in the cold. I got out some dried beans and a little muffin tin and we played with that for quite a while with the animals. He is feeling a lot better today, but seems to tire out easily.

Christmas Card Elf

Here is Linus coloring the Christmas cards. I've been making the cards in fits and starts as Linus plays with buttons in the craft room. Most of them will go out tomorrow.

Linus is feeling better today and his temp is normal. The doctor said it appeared Linus had a virus and a sore throat. I think I need to keep him away from much of society until we travel east for Christmas so that he arrives in Massachusetts in good condition for lots of fun. Even in the throes of a mean virus, Linus still said thank you when we handed him things. It was very touching. Holding his hot, feverish body against mine certainly pulled all of my heart strings.

Yesterday Linus gave me a kiss for the first time. He kissed me on the cheek twice. When I was on the phone with Jean telling her about it, Linus heard me and he showered Matthew with kisses. What a little sweetheart.

Sick Baby

Linus is sick again. Or maybe he didn't get over what he had at Thanksgiving and it worsened? Who knows?! He had a temp of 104 much of the weekend. He has spent the last two nights in our bed. He started to appear sick when we went to pick out our Christmas tree and to see Santa at our neighborhood yarn shop. I thought he was crying at the tree lot because he was scared of the chain saw. But he didn't eat the candy cane the tree seller gave him and when we got him to the yarn shop he felt warm. I was hoping to get a good picture of him with Santa to use for our Christmas cards, but he looks sad and sick in all three shots. See what I mean? Poor little guy. I'm hoping he naps for at least 30 minutes right now and I'm taking him in to see the doctor later.

Sweet

Here is Linus licking the beater when we made a cake together last week. He helped me sift the dry ingredients together. (When I shared this story with the neighbors they were astonished that I sift.) His fine motor skills are improving and less of the batter or dough gets thrown around when he mixes by hand.

Linus has been driving me a bit batty with some of the conversations we have repeatedly from morning until night. The main one goes like this:
Linus: "Yogurt?"
Me: "You can have yogurt for breakfast."

Later--
Linus: "Yogurt?"
Me: "You already had yogurt."
Linus: "All gone."

We have this part of the conversation throughout the rest of the day. If I give in and let him have a second 8-ounce yogurt, he gets very gassy and last night he wouldn't eat dinner. When we bring groceries home, Linus puts the yogurt away on a lower shelf in the refrigerator and I let him pick which one he wants each day. He knows that his yogurt has a cow on the container.

Pretend

In that last couple of weeks Linus has started pretending a lot. He pretends to pick hay and feeds it to me and tells me to be a horse. Today he was walking around with Matthew's electric razor and pretending to shave himself, me, and his stuffed animals. He even made shaving noises.

He has also started to get interested in his crayons for more than telling me to draw bees. He scribbles up a storm. He calls every color yellow. He also asks me to draw horses, cats, and babies. He now asks me for a pen and when I ask him what he is writing, he says, "Name."

Here he is wearing the reindeer antlers he has us take turns wearing.

Date Night

Matthew and I actually took the plunge and had Annalouiza watch Linus so we could attend Matthew's work party. It was fun to get dressed up and participate in the half hour salsa dancing lesson at the party. Linus cried a bit when we left and Annalouiza said it seemed as though he was waiting for us to come home. He survived and we had a great time.

As you can see, Linus liked my purse. (Creases, do you remember this cute shirt of Brandons?)

Cozy

Linus refers to quilts and blankets as cozies. As I rushed to finish Lyz'z 30th birthday quilt/cozy, Linus saw quite a bit of it. He plopped down on it to play with buttons while I embroidered the label for the back. He played under it when it was hanging over the ironing board. I kept reminding him that it was a present for Lyz so that he wouldn't get too attached to it. He seemed okay with that as he helped me wrap it up. He learned all about curling ribbon and he stuck stickers on the box.

Monkey

When Lucero came over on Tuesday to play while her mama enjoyed some crafting time, she brought over monkey hats. She didn't wear hers, but Linus loves his. He even insisted on wearing it when he went down for his nap later in the day. The two wanted to play in Linus' crib and next thing I knew, they were jumping up and down. With Linus wearing the monkey hat, I couldn't help but sing, "Two little monkeys jumping on the bed."

When they were snacking together, Linus said thank you every single time Lucero handed him a piece of cereal. Every single time. He also says thank you when he hands something to someone. When Lucero fell down and cried, Linus became distraught. I cuddled him and said we should give Lucero a hug. He gives hugs to his little friends by resting his head on their chest. It looks awkward because he has to bend down to accomplish it, but it is very sweet. He appears to be a sensitive kid.

Haircut

Linus' first professional haircut experience went great! I felt so relieved when he was done, as I had been stressing out about him making a scene. I should have known better, because Linus really is a mellow kid. I took him to LolliLocks, a locally- owned chain of kids salons. The place is little diva girl heaven. They sell tons of pretty hair things. They have a play area and fun chairs for the younger kids to sit in while getting their hair cut. Linus chose to sit on the dragon. The stylist apologized that she only had a pink cape for Linus to wear because the blue ones weren't dry yet. I said I had nothing against Linus wearing a pink cape. She worked efficiently, talked nicely to him, and gave him books to look at while she worked. She asked what I wanted and I said I wanted it trimmed up and for him to look like a sweet little boy, no buzz cut. Voila!

Keys

I don't remember posting about the set of keys I bought Linus at a neighborhood hardware store. He showed no interest whatsoever in his toy keys, but loved playing with mine. When I told the guys at the hardware store what I wanted keys for, they got very excited and involved in coming up with the best solution. One suggested giving us keys that they had cut wrong for other customers. They said I could have them for free. Then the one guy was worried that the edges were too sharp. I said I'd buy blanks. When I asked if they had colored bands to put on the keys to help with teaching Linus colors, they were so excited to pull out colored keys. Linus has a set of red, blue, yellow, green, and purple keys on a real key chain. Every now and then he plays a game of running around the house "locking" all of the doors. Fortunately, we live in an older house with skeleton key locks in each door. Here he is locking our bedroom door at night.

Notice how long his hair is? He will no longer let me trim it, so I'm taking him in on Thursday for his first professional haircut.

Child Development

Here are some random things about Linus at 19 3/4 months:
--He has started saying thank you without being prompted. At the library on Saturday an older boy was handing him plastic animals and Linus thanked him. I was so very proud of him. Reminds me yet again of Brandon's early courtesy development.
--He now tells us when he has pooed. He'll say, "Poo," and point to his diaper, or he'll say, "Diaper." I'll say, "Should I change you?" and he heads to his changing table. This is the first step toward his being potty trained. Every little boy I know hasn't mastered it until he was three, so I'm under no delusion that Linus will potty train any earlier. Sometimes he says poo and he hasn't. Maybe he felt the urge? Who knows? Today he said poo right before he very obviously pooed. Getting there kiddo, step by step.
--He has become aware of gender. He has correctly identified people as boys and girls. Lucero points out that boys have penises and girls have vaginas, but Linus hasn't started asking about that yet.

We had to mail Flat Stanley back to Wisconsin today. We'll miss him. Here is a picture of him posing with Matthew and Linus at a public art installation outside the library.

Thanksgiving Wrap Up

We had an enjoyable holiday at Martha and Bill's. That morning he kept saying, "Pahty," for party. The food and conversation were great. We put a little piece of turkey on Linus' plate, but he didn't even taste it. He didn't eat much other than butter off of his roll. It was past his nap time and he was getting a bit worn out. He rebounded in time for pumpkin pie later in the afternoon. He enjoyed running around the house, playing with Bill's stuffed eagle, and trying to feed the dog that was a guest at the gathering.

Friday night we went to our first holiday party for the season. One of the families from the Congress Park play group invited folks over for food, drink, and play. The plan was for the whole group of us to head downtown to see the lighting of the city county building, but when we got to the party the host said it was too cold to go. My first thought was that they were pretty wimpy. We'd come prepared with warm clothes, coats, boots, scarves, etc. So after the party we went down to see the lights on our own. Saturday we took Flat Stanley downtown to see some sights. This morning we went for dim sum and Linus kept trying to drink from his chopstick, like it were a straw. He liked the sweet little rolls we gave him.

The pictures are from Thanksgiving: Linus posing with Flat Stanley and the turkey and him reading a book with Thomas.