Berry Patch Farm

Langley and I took the kids berry picking yesterday.  Linus was good about putting his raspberries into the basket until he saw Chase eating all of hers. Then he started gobbling them up as fast as he could pick them. I managed to pick a pint before the kids lost interest and needed to go to the bathroom.  New to the farm this year is a potbellied pig named Bacon Bits. Linus liked petting her and a barn cat.  He wanted to pet a chicken, but I couldn't catch one.  I was able to catch a toad for the kids to see.  Linus was excited to hold it, but Chase was having none of that.  When we were done having our third drinks from the drinking fountain (so much more fun than drinking from the water bottle!), I tried getting the kids to head back around the barn to Langley.  When Chase wouldn't come, Linus took her hand and they walked back that way. Two-year-olds are so cute.

This morning Linus was asking about my raspberries. I told him I froze them to have in January when we are really missing fresh fruit. He wanted to eat them NOW.  I told him we'll go back to the farm next week for more.

By the way, Chase is super tall. She is wearing a size 4t and is only a month or so older than Linus.  Her mama is tall, too.

Sweet Tea

One afternoon last week we had tea time.  I made us raspberry leaf tea and we enjoyed it at Linus' little table.  He was more interested in pouring in lots of milk and honey and stirring it than he was in drinking it.  I've always put the milk and honey in for him in the kitchen, but this time decided to bring out the creamer, which he calls the milk dish.  All of the little tea spoons we inherited are getting some use.  Tea time is something very pleasant for us to share together.

Miscellaneous cute stories:

*We were lying on the bed together facing each other and he said, "We're both cute."

*I had him try on his winter coat from last year and he said, "This seems perfect on me."  A few days later he told Matthew, "That jacket is perfect on you."

*Sunday we went to a party to celebrate one of Matthew's colleagues getting tenure.  I met a lot of people there.  Back at home Linus started shaking hands with his stuffed animals and saying, "Nice to meet you."  

*At the library yesterday he selected a kids cookbook with no prompting from me. When I was done getting dressed this morning he told me he'd made pretend muffins using a recipe from the cookbook and would I like some.

Jam Surprise Muffins

Linus asked for us to bake.  He requested gingerbread cookies, which to him means any kind of cookie made with cookie cutters.  I suggested scones, which he readily agreed to, but we didn't have sour cream.  I quickly chose a recipe for Jam Surprise Muffins.  He didn't completely understand what the surprise was until he got to eat one.  After we mixed the batter, I put some in each muffin spot and he put in a dollop of raspberry jam.  He kept wanting to eat jam straight from the jar. Then I put more batter on top and we baked them.  We made both little and normal size ones.  When he bit into one of the little ones he exclaimed, "I found the jam!"  And I said, "Yes, that is the surprise!"

When we returned from the park yesterday afternoon he was rubbing his nose and crying, which led me to believe he was coming down with Matthew's cold.  He insisted I snuggle with him on the couch, which I did while Matthew made grilled cheese sandwiches for dinner.  Next thing I knew, Linus was throwing up all over me.  Fortunately, most of the vomit was on me and very little got on the couch. I called for Matthew and while he was helping us out of our icky clothes and comforting Linus, the sandwiches became rather overdone.  And of course as soon as Linus was done crying, he asked for food.  

I feel like mother nature flipped over into fall the second we got out of the Labor Day weekend.  I'm loving most of it.  Matthew came home with a cold Tuesday, so the virus season has begun.  It has been cool at night and we've been closing up most of the windows.  We've been able to wear pants and long sleeves.  It has been cool enough for me to work in the garage at getting the last of the move finished off.  Except for the virus thing, I am reveling in this perfect weather.  I love to be able to wear long sleeves and snuggle under a cozy with Linus on the couch.  Summer days will sneak in again here and there, but we are definitely shifting gears.

Cotton Candy

We went to the zoo at the end of the day on Labor Day.  We got to ooh and ah over the new baby giraffe. It is just two weeks old and super cute.  Then Linus wet his pants while riding on Matthew's shoulders.  Oops!  Matthew changed Linus' clothes and then we went on to see the camels and bison.  (Linus now knows that another name for camel is dromedary.)  He wanted a treat and he got interested in cotton candy, which he has never had before.  He chose yellow.  He still has quite a bit of it left even now.  He didn't eat any yesterday and only took a few bites of it today.  

Saturday Linus and Matthew got to ride in an ice cream truck.  We decided we wanted to spend the exorbitant amount of money to buy ice cream because we hadn't taken advantage of the ice cream truck at all this summer.  They had to chase it down because it goes down our street so fast.  I had the money and was back at the house.  The driver had Linus and Matthew hop in and then he reversed back down our street.  

How Do You Measure Up?

Linus helped Matthew make a scarecrow this weekend.  It is a project for the corn maze the Gardens does each fall at the Chatfield site.  They shopped together for the supplies and when they got home Linus was excited to show me the boards they bought.  He said, "Look mama, wood!"

Linus had fun learning how to use the tape measure and proceeded to measure anything he could.  When he measured my foot I asked him how long it was.  He said, "Two feet."  When he measured his own head he said, "It's a good size." 

Linus' current look when he smiles for the camera includes him squinting his eyes.

Purple Park

One day last week we walked over to the purple playground in City Park.  It takes about 15 minutes to walk there.  We haven't been there since last summer.  The playground equipment was beyond Linus' abilities and I forgot about it.  I'm glad I remembered it because now Linus can enjoy many of the activities there.  I'm not sure what the real name of it is, but neighbors refer to it as Purple Park or Gorilla Park.  The predominate color is purple and there is a sculpture of a gorilla.  On a sad note, it is dedicated to a boy who died at the very young age of five.

Linus spent much of the time there pushing his dump truck around, sending it down the slide, and pushing it on various swings.  He has gotten very good at climbing and today he climbed all the way to the top of some rather tall equipment at Turtle Park.  It left me feeling a bit uneasy, but I spotted for him and he did it over and over again until he made it to the top without my help.  Even so, I was under him ready to catch him and worried about him hitting his head or teeth on the metal as he fell down.  Sometimes he gains confidence before I do.

Somewhere along the way I neglected to mention that Linus can say his ABC's and count to 13.  Neither of us knows how he learned the number 13.

Cute Guys

My guys are so cute.

We took my friends from out of town to the Botanic Gardens.  Between that and our keeping late hours all weekend, Linus was tuckered out.  

We just got back from a 4-hour visit to the zoo with Matthew's cousin and her kids. When we got in the door, Linus climbed up onto the couch and promptly fell to sleep.  Too bad I have to wake him up soon to head out to pick up our produce.

Veggie Heaven

Linus really has fun pulling out the veggies from our CSA farm bag each week.  You'd think it were Christmas.  He smells them as he takes them out and then he looks them over.  He tends to think carrots are cute.

Today I handed him a book to read and he told me, "I don't know the words in this book."  He's never said that before!

Nap Struggle

Linus continues to nap sporadically.  Some days he ends up passing out in weird places.  The other day he was overtired and crabby. I suggested he rest on the couch with a book. He said he wasn't tired.  Next thing I knew, he was asleep.

Gym

On Sunday we attended the fifth birthday party for Gabriel.  It was held at a gymnastics facility and was heaven for all of the little kids. They could run around, climb, jump, bounce, and swing to their heart's content.  The two-year-olds in the group were more timid about a number of the activities, but everyone found something fun to do and some pushed through their fears.

In the first picture Linus is sitting with Anna. She is four and a half years old and recently she has taken to Linus as though she were his big sister.  She made sure he had what he needed and put the straw into his juice box for him.  It is really cute to see.  Anna's mom is working on a teaching certificate, which brings my teachers as friends count up to four.  I think I identify with them in their approach to helping kids grow and learn.

In his goody bag from the party Linus found a pack of Smarties, his first ones, and he said they had good flavor.  He shared one with me and one with Matthew.

First Camping Trip

Our 24-hour camping trip was fun for all.  Linus helped us set up the tent and then he and I went down by the lake to see the four pelicans swimming near shore. We also got to get a good look at a pocket gopher that kept coming out of its hole to stuff food in its cheeks.  Linus called it a cute little critter.  Our campsite was near a small playground.  A big kid pushed him on the tire swing and once he was comfortable with her, he really got into the fun of it.  We had hobo dinners and then Matthew and Linus attended a mountain blue bird talk while I watched over the fire and relaxed.  We made s'mores of course.  Linus enjoyed them, but had little patience for roasting his marshmallows.  He pulled his out right away.  One good thing about this is that we didn't have to worry about him getting burned from melting marshmallows.

We got to bed rather late and it was like having a slumber party in our tent.  Linus slept in Matthew's old blue sleeping bag, which is better than either of our sleeping bags.  He thought it was cozy.

We got lightly rained on a few times and hid out in the car to stay dry.  When Matthew was out stashing the fire wood under the car to keep it dry, Linus sat in the driver seat and pretended to drive.  He said, "I'm driving.  Drive out of camp and go to coffee shop."  

We left earlier than we had planned on Saturday because Linus was tuckered out and at the crabby, weepy stage.  That was understandable since we were up way past his bedtime and each and every minute of the trip was a new experience for him.  I think it was overload for him.  He has good memories of the trip and talks about the tent.

Social Events

Saturday night through to Monday morning we hosted Luc from Montreal.  He works at the botanic garden there and is doing an employee swap with the garden here.  He'll be here for three weeks and we got to host him when he first got to Denver. He was a charming guest and Linus enjoyed playing with him.  The top picture shows him playing with Luc at a picnic at City Park for the final jazz concert of the summer.  (How could it already be the last one?!)

Tuesday night we attended a neighborhood ice cream social.  The free ice cream was a delightful treat and we all got to climb into a fire truck. Actually, Linus was in two trucks. One had the 100-foot ladder and he got to climb around in the back seat area.  The other truck was a regular fire truck and he had a blast "driving" it.  I was pretty excited to be in it, too. I don't remember ever having done that.  The firefighters were great with all of the kids.  

We are taking Linus on his very first camping trip tomorrow.  He keeps telling me he likes camping.  Little does he know how much fun he is going to have.  We are only going for one night because we want to see how it goes and because we have to be back for a birthday party.

Posts continue to be few and far between.  We've been busy and twice this week I fell asleep when Linus napped. Today he helped me can plum jam. He washed the plums and pulled off their stems. He also put the icky ones in the compost pile.  I ended up cranking out 24 jars of jam.  No wonder I'm tired out.

Armadillo

We got to pet a three-banded armadillo today! It was the cutest little creature.  For some reason a zookeeper brought it to the Botanic Gardens for a video conference.  Matthew told us we could come and touch it.  Linus didn't nap,so I loaded him up and we went for this amazing experience.  Linus has no clue that getting to pet an armadillo is unusual.  Which is a great perspective on life, thinking that such things are normal.  I, on the other hand, was totally jazzed up about it.  I wanted to bring it home with us.  It was so cute.

On Tuesday we received a huge amount of produce from our CSA farm and we got our first corn of the season.  Linus helped me shuck corn and then proceeded to eat his raw. Every single kernel of it.  I guess he just couldn't wait.

Here are some things he has said recently:

*"What mama thinking?"  I thought that was pretty advanced for a two-year-old to understand from the look on my face that I was contemplating something.  (I was thinking about freezing green beans at the time.)

*Lately he asks me, "Mama happy?"  I say yes and then he asks if Matthew is happy. I say yes.  Then Linus says he is happy and that everyone is happy.

*He has started using the word "actually" and he uses it correctly.  He also uses the word creature to describe animals sometimes, which he picked up from me.  

*He brought home a library book called Germs Are Not for Sharing.  After hearing it once or twice he started coughing into his sleeve instead of his hand.  He'll cough for real, point out to me that he is coughing into his sleeve, and then does a few fake coughs into his sleeve to punctuate the act.

*Every time he uses the potty one of us ends up saying, "Germs are not for sharing," to remind him to wash his hands.  One time Matthew was using the bathroom and as soon as Linus heard the toilet flush, he bellowed out, "Germs are not for sharing, Matthew!!!"  It was a riot.

*He was playing store with the real food in the cupboard and I wrote down some of what he said.  "I'm buying food for my family.  My family likes to eat couscous.  My family wants to eat more pinto beans. My family likes pasta.  I like buying pine nuts most."

*He was playing with a sticker of a camel.  He narrated the story like this: "Camel just standing there. Another camel will walk and bonk into it. They'll be friends."

*After every few bites of a sandwich he showed it to me and says it is a letter. One time a "b" and one time a "j."  Not really, but he has a good imagination.

*We were at a coffee shop that has a bunch of toys because it caters to parents of young kids.  Linus was playing with other kids and came over to tell me, "I like playing with dolls mostly.  I like playing with train mostly.  And playing bus."

Tonight he fell and split open his lip.  It was important to him that Matthew see it, but Matthew is working late.  I said Matthew would look in on him when he got home.  

First Coloring Book

Although his friends have coloring books, I have held off on buying one because I never ran across one that wasn't with licensed characters designed to make kids want more stuff. We were at the locally-owned children's bookstore to buy a couple of presents and I found a beginner's coloring book that has lessons that are more directed in the respect that they build on a two-year-olds ability to control a crayon.  

The book is published by Kumon and each page has a different theme.  The first two are shown above.  In the one on the left he was instructed to color in catsup on the omelette. In the one he is working on he was to draw spaghetti on the girl's plate.  He thought both activities were fun and returned to both of them several times over the next day or so.  After a few more pages of scribbling type activities it moves onto coloring a shape that is white in the middle of something. For example, there is a yellow lemon with a white triangle in the middle.  One is asked to color in the triangle.  

Before any of you think this is too academic for just coloring, I want to say that the approach is quite laid back and tells caregivers to let kids color the activities however they like and with whatever colors they choose.  Linus seems to like that there is an activity to do, rather than just color pictures.  He gets to contribute to the picture.  In the picture of the girl sitting at the dinner table with the spaghetti, Linus asked why she had a grownup glass.  He calls wine glasses that because whenever he wants a drink of my wine I tell him it is a grownup drink.  I couldn't think of a good answer other than that maybe she was drinking juice out of the glass for a special occasion. 

Playing Librarian

Here is Linus leading what he refers to as program.  He always has a very attentive audience.
I left the room for maybe five minutes and I came in to find Linus like this.  I really got a kick out of his balancing act, but I kept that response to myself, took a quick photo, and then told him it wasn't safe for him to be up there like that. He hasn't tried it again so perhaps he got it out of his system.  Notice that teddy bear, police duck, lovey, and bink were accomplices.  He's been big on carrying any number of toys around at all time.  He must be going through another emotional development phase; he wants bink and lovey with him at all times.  His friend Anna is the same way. She showed up to the library with her lovey, baby, and two Ziploc bags filled with little toys.

At dinner tonight Linus said, "I like dinner, mama.  Mama make a good dinner." We were dining on a new recipe I tried for new red potatoes and green beans with butter and garlic, leftover soba noodles with veggies, and leftover mac and cheese with broccoli and cauliflower in it.  It wasn't the best meal I've ever served, but it made Linus happy.  Matthew has done a good job of teaching and modeling Linus on thanking the cook. 

Trike

It was fun telling Linus there was a surprise outside for him and then witnessing his curiosity about what it could be.  He hopped on it right away and figured out how to ring the bell.  He will be working on his pedaling skills for a while.  We picked up his bike helmet from Lucero's house so he'll be set for a while.  

He has a new baby doll.  It came with jammies, but he prefers for it to be naked most of the time. He is very gentle and caring with it.  He even took it for a bike ride!  Sometimes he refers to her as a girl and other times he says it is big brother to his other baby, the Kewpie doll.

Surprise for Linus

After I posted last night I went on Craig's List and looked for a trike.  I wanted one with a bell and  streamers.  I found one listed for $10 and I was the first to respond.  I went out and picked it up tonight and returned home after Linus had gone to bed.  He will be so excited.  I can't wait to take him out to the patio to give it to him.

Hot as Blazes

It is dastardly hot here lately.  None of the little kids are eating much and those without air conditioning aren't sleeping.  I told Langley she and Chase would just have to move into our basement until the heat wave broke. All the pregnant women I know are especially suffering.

Linus made a valiant effort to ride Lucero's trike last week.  He stuck with it and made many attempts to get the pedals to go around.  I guess it is time to think about buying him a trike. He also needs a sandbox because he keeps trying to climb into the sand/water table he has. 

Yesterday and today Linus lined up a number of his stuffed animals and plastic figures and said, "Time for program."  He then proceeded to "read" them a book. He took great care in ensuring each toy got a good look at the pictures.  He was being the story time librarian!  I can't wait to tell her about it next week. One time he placed the small plastic figures in the laps of the larger stuffed animals, just like some of the kids sit in their caregiver's lap.  

Linus was drumming today and said, "I'm Jonathan. Mama, clap."  Then he put down the drumsticks and drummed with his hands while telling me, "Jonathan uses his hands." Jonathan is one of Matthew's coworkers who drums for fun.  We really enjoy his performances and go to see him when he plays at the Gardens.  Jonathan always lets Linus beat on his drum. 

Linus' favorite song to sing right now is Baa, Baa Black Sheep.  Most of the time he just loudly bellows, "BAA BAA BLACK SHEEP!"  Now and then he sings all of the words at a more reasonable volume.  I still haven't figured out what possesses him to holler out the first line like that at odd times.  

Ten Apples Up on Top

Here are a couple of photos from the Wednesday night when we attended Members' Night at the Gardens.  Linus had fun attempting to roll down the amphitheater hill with Matthew.  He found some little apples on the ground under a tree and brought them back with him to our picnic blanket.  He started putting them on his head and saying lines from the Theo L. LeSieg book, Ten Apples Up on Top." 

I'm having a hard time finding the time and energy to post much lately.  Linus only naps every two or three days and keeps me going every second.  He has started the "why" phase and I find it tedious.  I wouldn't have a problem with him asking me a legitimate question; but, instead he asks me things to which he already knows the answer.  Or he asks me something very random like, "Why is that man driving?"  Uh, because he has somewhere to go!?  How do I know?  Plus, if we ask him a question he turns around and asks the question of us instead of answering it.

He continues to be adorable as ever.  This morning he came up to me with a big smile on his face and said, "Mama look pretty in the skirt."  He says things like that whenever I wear a particular skirt, so it must be his favorite.

Kewpie

Linus' baby was dirty.  I suggested giving her a bath.  He wanted to me to fill up the bathtub, but I said the sink was a better size for her.  He scrubbed her up quite thoroughly and even used the hand soap.  Then he had her use the faucet as a diving board.  It was a good bit of fun for him.

Humor and Sweetness

Linus keeps cracking us up or amazing us with the things he says.  His vocabulary continues to grow at breakneck speed and he is stringing sentences together with more words.  Matthew asked me if I was writing it all down.  I'd have to write down every other thing he says, so I'm only able to capture a small percentage of his witty remarks.

*He was building with his mega blocks and said, "I have idea to build butterfly."

*He is enthusiastic about many things and frequently says, "I'm having fun!"

*I showed him how to use the salad spinner, which he thought was the coolest thing.  He announced, "I'm a good helper with lettuce."

*He describes things as being upside up and upside down.

*Told me, "My tummy is thirsty."

*Matthew has been trying to teach him how to listen to his body for when he needs to use the potty. We were at the museum and when Matthew told him to listen to his body Linus said, "My body says no!"

*We made felt puppets the other day and when we finished the frog puppet he said, "Good job, Mama! I wear it."

*I spelled out museum to Matthew so Linus wouldn't know I was suggesting it as a destination and Linus figured out I was talking about the museum and said he wanted to go there.  That was kind of freaky. I suppose the seum letters in museum sounded close enough to the full word.

*I overheard him in the back yard saying, "Shoo away; shoo away bug."

*He told me his yellow car was crabby. When I asked why he said, "Because its not happy."

*On our way home in the car from seeing an outdoor art exhibit he said, "I love Linus' mama. I love Linus' Matthew.  I love all of everybody."

Mt. Evans

On Sunday we went to Mt. Evans so Lyz could see some mountains.  At the beginning of the road up, there was a sign warning folks that adverse weather conditions could happen at any time. No kidding!  There was thunder, lightening, rain, hail, and snow as we progressed up in our car. Linus and I were hoping to see pikas, but we only saw a mountain goat.  It was at the top of the mountain at just over 14,000 feet elevation.  Right when someone pointed it out to us, the ranger sternly told everyone that the lightening was striking right there and we needed to get into our cars.  It was rather exhilarating being in the clouds during a storm.  

In the middle picture, Linus is looking for pikas near Summit Lake. He was softly saying, "Come out little pika."  (He so totally takes after me!)

Linus and Lyz

I'm behind on posting because Lyz was here for a visit and I didn't want to waste a minute of my time to talk with her.  Linus ADORES Lyz.  She is the only person he's met that he put ahead of me on several occasions.  There were times when he only wanted her to read to him.  I was amazed.  Whenever she left the room he'd ask, "Where Lyz?"  He would head downstairs to find her and they'd play a silly game, such as tossing my stuffed animals onto the air mattress guest bed.  

Linus still pronounces the letter l at the beginning of a word as a y, so he pronounced Lyz as Yiz, which sounded funny and cute.  One thing that was less cute was the way he'd hold his hand out to me and say, "Stop talking."  He always wanted both of us to give him all of our attention and not talk to one another.  Sometimes we'd try whispering while he played, but he always caught us.

Lyz brought Linus a very cute owl kite that is just the right size for him.  We had fun running around in City Park with it.  He thinks it is great fun to chase after us as we run with it.  We, of course, tire out more quickly than he does.

Public Pool

Matthew was gone all week to a conference in California and I was getting rather worn out.  I decided we needed to do something extra fun so I took Linus to the Congress Park pool.  (The city has made all Rec Center facilities free for kids this summer.)  When we got there the life guards had just started their break and Linus was impatient to get into the water.  Unlike last year, he was very comfortable playing in the water and played with some kids we met in the baby pool.  The baby pool has one side with a one-foot depth and on the other side of the fence it is two feet deep. Linus had fun on both sides.  He liked to go after the ball, had fun throwing it up in the air so it would splash and make a sound as it landed in the water, and especially enjoyed tossing the ball directly into one of the jets of water and then watching it float back toward him.  

When Linus was only a few months old, one of Matthew's co-workers didn't understand why we didn't let Linus watch television. I quoted the recommendation by the American Academy of Pediatricians.  She was incredulous and said her nephew would never have gotten to know about trains if he hadn't watched Thomas on tv.  I said that Linus could see trains quite easily in Green Bay since the National Railroad Museum is there and trains go through the downtown every day.  This is a long introduction to my sharing an example of how a child can become excited about something they've only seen in a book.  On our walk yesterday we encountered a yard that had tall, overgrown grass and weeds.  Linus joyfully jumped into it and pranced around saying, "Mama, its a meadow!  Come walk in meadow!"  So there!

New Best Friend

When I was washing our lettuce from the CSA farm I discovered a little green caterpillar.  My guess is that it will turn into a cabbage moth, but we shall see.  I hammered some holes in a jar lid and Linus moved it into the jar with so much excitement.  He exclaimed, "I love it!  Its cute.  I love it! I love it! I love it!"  As he carried it into the living room he was gushing over it, referring to it as Linus' friend and Linus' caterpillar.  He took it to the couch and read stories to it.  Later he put it on a shelf in his room next to a rose in a small glass.  When he brought it out again he said, "I hug it.  I keep it company."  Today we cleaned out the jar and gave it fresh lettuce and a stick.  He told it, "I love you, caterpillar."  That's more than I've ever gotten!  He is already talking about it turning into a butterfly and we looked at butterfly books to day dream about what it will become.  Now if only we can keep it alive and happy long enough to go through metamorphosis, which will be a great new word in his vocabulary.

Between the caterpillar and the fresh peas, I can already proclaim our CSA experience as a hit and well worth every penny.  And to think some people complain about bugs on their produce.

(In the second picture he is wearing the two parts to my embroidery hoop on his head. He told me he was being a king.  He wore them while brushing his teeth and then brought the caterpillar with him for bedtime stories.)

More New Powers

Linus has been developing in leaps and bounds the last week or so.  Since last Monday he has only worn diapers at night.  When I took him to the library yesterday for story time we made it through the excursion with no accidents and I help him use a toilet for the first time.  I thought for sure he'd have an accident during our grocery shopping trip today, but he did great.

Yesterday he started using figurative language.  I'm so excited about this!  We were looking at a book together and he said, "Flower like mama."  He pointed to my red shirt and said, "It matches."  When we were out for a walk, he pointed to a yellow car and said, "Car like a flower."  I asked, "Because it is yellow?"  He said yes.  

He has become even more involved in imaginative play.  He creates detailed scenarios for his cars, little people, stuffed animals, plastic animals, etc.  I love eavesdropping as he plays.  I overheard him have the little person driving the digger say to the cement truck, "Excuse me, cement truck."  Another time he had a car say, "Excuse me construction persons."  Even his toys are polite!

Other fun things he has said:

- "Nice to see you, Matthew."  He said this when Matthew returned from work.

- He asked for an Easter egg. I told him we didn't have any more.  He said we needed to get some at the Easter store.

-He pointed to a picture I'd recently hung and said, "Good!"

-He tells himself, "Good job, Linus."  He also tells his animals they do a good job.

-He pointed to the clock and said it was "early o'clock."  

-He peeked his head up from under the table and told me, "Linus pretending be a billy goat."  He saw his first puppet show at the library and it was about the Three Billy Goats Gruff.  He also told me he wanted to play puppets.  I'm going to make him some.

-He adds ded to a number of verbs.  He tells us that he "run-ded."  

-He told his stuffed animal, "New day, bunny! Time get dressed."

SunSchool

Anna Louiza spearheaded the formation of SunSchool, a cooperative pre-preschool group.  We have four mamas and their two- or three- year olds are now meeting each Friday.  Linus was already friends with Anna and Lucero, and now has a new friend named Max.  Max is the three-year old.  Although he is older and taller, his verbal skills are behind those of Linus and Lucero; so he doesn't seem like such a big kid.

Each Friday a mom is responsible for the lesson plan and instruction.  We all decided we would sing a welcome song together at the beginning, read at least one book on the chosen topic to the kids, have a bit of exercise or movement time, then do a craft.  We are aiming for 20-30 minutes of instruction and then snacks and playing together. Each family brings a snack to share.

I lead today's topic.  I decided to talk about frogs to follow up on Anna Louiza teaching about snakes last week.  I showed the kids photos of frog eggs, tadpoles, and frogs swimming and catching flies with their tongues.  Linus hadn't seen the non-fiction frog books yet because I wanted them to be new for him, too.  Well Mr. Smarty Pants answered every question I posed to the group.  When I showed them the picture of frog eggs and asked what they were, Linus called out, "Eggs!"  After talking about the eggs a bit I pointed to the tadpole and said, "What did the eggs turn into?"  Linus called out, "Tadpoles!"  He did this for everything we talked about during the lesson.  This exercise once again showed me that he doesn't just memorize everything and repeat it back when we look at the same books over and over again.  He latches onto the information and/or grasps the concepts and applies it in other settings.  Of course he was the most comfortable student since I was teaching and we were in our own back yard.

Here is a picture from last week's session.  The kids were coloring and attempting to cut out snakes.  Linus is in the lower right corner.

A couple of side notes:  I brought Linus' potty chair outside during class and he used it twice. Lucero was starting to use her potty a few months ago, but ever since she found out her mama is going to have another baby, she says she is a baby and won't use the potty.  Even so, she came over and watched Linus pee and we talked about him having a penis.  These potty lessons are kind of funny because as a grown up I never really had any reason to discuss this topic so much, if ever.  Another interesting element of our group is that all three of the other moms are pregnant, so there is quite a bit of pregnancy talk while the kids play together after the lesson.

Gardening in the Buff

Yes, another nakey-baby photo.  On this day after playing in his little pool and sand box he took off his swimsuit and started doing yard work. He pulled a few weeds and put them in the compost bin.  Together we cleaned out and refilled the bird bath (the little tray shown here perched on a log), and then he decided he wanted to see worms. I told him that they were staying underground and he asked me for a trowel and started digging.  He didn't find any and asked me for help.  I suppose I could have gotten out a full-size shovel to dig farther down to find the worms, but he had already moved on to just enjoying the digging.  

He hasn't worn any clothes today and hasn't had any accidents.  Even when he is engrossed in play he stops what he is doing and says, "Mama, run!"  and off we go to the bathroom.  Based on my reading on the topic, one recommendation that sounds like a good idea is to eliminate all diapers, cold turkey.  I decided to compromise a bit and when he went down for his nap I had him step into a pair of training pants that have a waterproof outer layer.  He said they were cute.

He looked especially cute today playing tea party with me with no clothes on.  Baby and toddler nudity is cute.  Their bodies are absolutely perfect and delicious. Me, I won't even wear something as revealing as a tank top.