For the first time, Alex let me read him an entire chapter of a real book! His PJs had Winnie the Pooh on them last night and I guess he has picked up who Pooh is from day care. When I put them on he got so excited -- kept saying Pooh, Pooh, Winnie Pooh and pointing and chattering excitedly. Even went into the family room to show Daddy Pooh on his pants. So I said to him, Alex, would you like to read a story about Winnie the Pooh? I pulled the big book off of the shelf and read the entire first chapter. I handed him a classic Pooh little stuffed animal he has and he cuddled it and sat with me through the entire thing. When the chapter was over (well, when I was on the last page of it, where the storyteller and Christopher Robin are talking about the fact that there will be more stories, but the bee story was done at least) he closed the book and said "all done!" Then he very sweetly asked for lights out and bed time.
Have I mentioned how much this boy makes my heart melt?
David Spade may well be the King of No in those Capital One commercials, but Alex could give him a run for his money for that part. He has definitely learned the fine art of saying no. In fact, it is particularly cute because it usually comes in the form of "No, No, ______, Mommy/Daddy, No _____!" With _____ being whatever he doesn't want to hear us say or do at the moment. For example:
We usually count to three together before I pick him up for any reason. Well, a week or so ago he didn't want to get out of the tub. So when I said, "Time to get out of the tub, Alex! Ready? One...." the response was "No, No, Two, Mommy, No Two!"
"Yes, Alex, time to get out. Two...." "No, no three Mommy, No three!" He certainly knows how to count to three!
Other funny turns of phrase include "No, no, Dude, Daddy, No Dude" (in response to Mike's attempts to calm a fit by saying "Duuuuude, relax!") and No, no, Go, Daddy, No Go! (In response to Mike's trying to distract him out of a fit in the car by getting him excited to go through a green light).
Ahh, the power of No!
For the first 21 months of Alex's life, I was pretty darn adamant that he not drink juice. Call me snobby, but I have seen too may babies end up with tooth decay and sugar hyperness from juice, and that wasn't going to happen to my kid, darn it. He only drank milk and water, and was fine with that.
Then, the poor baby got sick. He was so sick the doctor said no milk. He wasn't eating much (and who can blame him). So I broke down and bought some OJ (fortified with extra C and calcium). And he loved it. And now, he asks insistently for "juice! juice!" when he is thirsty. Sometimes he even refuses milk or water completely, the stinker.
I tell myself at least it is OJ, and fortified, and healthier than some of the garbage that passes for juice on the shelves these days. And that it's diluted. Still, I guess I desserved this, being taken down a peg or two. Hi, my name is Dineen, and my toddler is a juice-a-holic.
Bedtime in our household usually goes one of two ways. Either Alex falls asleep in my arms or is sleepy enough that he doesn't protest when I put him in his crib, or he immediately jumps up and screams when I put him in the crib and I have to walk out and say "sorry, sweetie, it's night night time," after which he continues to be mad for about 2-5 minutes and then settles down and goes to sleep.
Not last night.
Last night we did our usual stories then lights out and rock and nurse. He wasn't nursing too well because of his stuffy nose, and kind of chattering away, not relaxing down at all. Bracing for a screamfest, I gave him a kiss and put him in his crib. He didn't protest, and I thought "hmmmm, maybe he will go to sleep after all!" Not quite. He didn't protest, but he did proceed to talk to himself for a good half hour. We could hear him through the closed door. He was perfectly happy sounding. Just chattering away. He finally went silent around 9:15 pm.
Weird.