from dreamland, with yuv

The weather has been sunny and sweltering but generally that doesn't keep us from getting outside. E's even learning how to fend off the "skeeters" by swatting. And thanks to Gram, he just can't stay away from that Cozy Coupe. Boy, he loves that thing.
Unfortunately we've been battling with a high fever for two days now and it's definitely slowed my little guy down. His temp was up to 104 at the doctor's office today! "I'm not fee-wing my best" he repeats in the sweetest voice you ever heard. Would you believe that on our car ride home from the doctor's office, after she swabbed his throat for Strep, he still said "we had very much fun today". Talk about a good sport!

So, here's the cutest thing that I just have to share: I decided to rock him tonight and skip our usual routine because he could hardly keep his eyes open. I snuggled and rocked him in his dimly dusk-lit room until he was deeply snoring. I admit, I kept rocking anyway trying to savor the baby love. Eventually I gently lowered him into his bed making sure to tuck him in with his crocheted blue blankie.

I stroked his flush cheek and his little glassy eyes popped open. He sweetly said, "we fu-got to read books" followed up with "we fu-got to send yuv". It was all I could do to keep from crying and laughing all at once. "Send yuv to Aunt Doy-ya" was what he wanted to say. ('Sending love' is our way of showing gratitude and concern for those we love each night.)

I continued to rub his hair and listen to his angel voice. "There's a lion. The lion not going to hurt you. Lion might kiss you". He was referring to a baby toy still hanging from his bed. I have never seen more of a cherub face as I did tonight. I have never heard more innocent, precious words fall from anyone's mouth. All I could think of is how much love I have for this incredible little boy.

Which is what brings me to his favorite books. We skipped them tonight, but I hope he'll be well enough to hit the books tomorrow night! He's upgraded his faves from the 1.0 to the 2.5 version. (I'm talking age here people.) Here are some of the best:

Where's Spot? by Eric Hill
Harry the Dirty Dog by Gene Zion
How Does a Dinosaur Say Goodnight? by Jane Yolen
I Love You Stinky Face by Lisa McCourt

And some lesser known favorites:

The Barn Owls by Tony Johnston
to be like the Sun by Susan Marie Swanson
Mouse in a Meadow by John Himmelman
On the Seashore by Anna Milbourne and Erica-Jane Waters

potty parade?

Oh, he's getting so big!

I've washed his first "big boy undies" and training pants in preparation...He's using the potty every day but not quite ready to make the switch. I'm amazed at how quickly he's taken to it. I guess it's been about a month now since I've been inviting him to go sit on the potty. Gradually he's been going more and more each day. I had no idea how exciting it would be when he did his first real poop in the potty last night. I am so proud! I didn't read any books on the topic (there's still time and we're in no hurry) but I think common sense prevails. We never force or rush him when he sits on the potty so there is zero pressure about him going - it's totally up to him whether he wants to try or not. And there's practically a tinker tape parade anytime he pees or poos because I show him how excited and proud I am! He's very pleased with himself, too. :)

I'll give you an update once we change over to big boy undies and we'll see if my theory still holds true. Oh, my baby is getting SO BIG!

blah blah blog

It's a gray, rainy day and I feel cooped up. Turned out to be a great day for making art with E! We practiced using scissors, scribbling, and peeling labels off crayons. We also practiced NOT eating crayons. I was eager to make his a colorful word chart for the fridge and I've been working on a little word book for him (insert the word DORK here). I'm proud to say "rain" and "wet" and "art" have been added to the list, thanks to this soggy day!
The rain and onset of early spring also has me thinking about the ever-growing to-do list for our yard. So here's what was on it last year:

2011 The Ultimate Spring Fever To-Do List:
Remove the nasty English Ivy from under my hedge row (in progress)
Re-establish a border for my front garden, use branches from our Beech tree
Incorporate a dirt-digging pile for E somewhere in the backyard
Build a sand box for E
Get plans for a cool fort/playhouse (if not this year then next)
Create a little table/chairs area for E to do outside art projects (in progress)
Remove more English Ivy from the fence in the back yard
Rearrange and transplant perennials in the back garden
Pot several more herbs with E to use in our cooking
Divide and share our Lemon Basil
Give strawberries and tomatoes another go and plant some more peppers
Relocate the crazy pumpkin sprouts to the back yard and up a trellis if possible
Convince my neighbor to take care of her horrible English Ivy situation creeping into my yard!

See the area behind the plants? That's where E's little art area will be.

Okay, so I didn't do everything on the list, but props for doing half of the list, right?

And here's the new and improved list:

Summer 2011 - first year of veggie garden!

2012 Ultimate Spring Fever To-Do List:
Remove heinous English Ivy from back of yard, clear and plant native shade garden with natural play area!
Build a cool playhouse and sand box for E in new shade garden
Replensh E's digging pit
Install recycled instrument area for E (I started this last summer)
Make a living hut with E - train grapevine over bamboo frame
Continue to remove the nasty English Ivy from under my hedge row UG
Plant some fruit trees along the sunny hedge - cherry, pear, apple?
Finish mini stone patio with table/chairs area for E to do outside art projects
Rearrange and transplant perennials, especially the spider wort and coreopsis
Plant and pot more herbs with E to use in cooking (rosemary, basil)
Veggie garden - plant more tomatoes, strawberry upkeep, try zucchini, peppers, beans, and lettuce
Border for front garden - stacked stone wall?
Convince my neighbor to take care of her horrible English Ivy situation creeping into my yard!

So obviously I'm the most excited about creating a new woodland garden along the back part of the yard. There are three beautiful old tulip trees there and room for tons of great features. Our compost pile and shrubs will live on along with native shrub plantings to benefit the birds and bugs. There are lots of great old limbs and logs that I will keep for E to climb on and add more log jumps and loose parts for him to build with. We've got a bat house waiting in the wings because the mosquitoes are horrible here. I can't wait to add a tree house and sand box for E, but that will take some recruiting to build. If nothing else, we will be able to enjoy them first thing in the mornings before the skeeters are in full force. I also want a little quiet nook for me and my husband to put our feet up with a glass of wine (or beer as the case may be) and watch the lightening bugs when E is asleep.

There are some beautiful native hydrangeas and azaleas that should do well along with lots of fern and a pretty little stone path. There's no way we could afford to do all the plantings this year, but I'm hoping to at least get the bones of the garden in. Maybe even an archway at the start of the path...

This was taken in late June 2011 - consider it our "before" shot.
If you look closely you can see our shed on the right where the compost pile will go.
The neighbor's fence is on the left behind our property, just to give you sense of how big the
garden will be. The area is about 20 feet deep or so. (I'll get a tape measure when I go out next.) 

These are the mature tulip poplars in the space.

But first: irradicate the English Ivy once and for ALL!

I have literally tried everything from newspaper to landscape fabric and cardboard to smother and kill it. I've pulled alot by hand, too. But the area is enormous and all tangled with the stuff, not to mention poison ivy here and there. Unfortunately the only solution left is Round Up if I really want it gone. My dear friend is a Master Gardener and she assures me it's the safest, most effective thing to use to get rid of ivy and it won't stay in the soil.

The plan is to spray on Friday and start this process...so wish me luck...

arp - watch out!

He looks at me with serious, intent eyes and says "arp" in a warning voice. Translation: he's telling me that this wooden knife is "sharp" so I'd better be careful. In fact, only he should really be using it  - for my own protection.

I love to watch him play.

a visit to the lake and pumpkins!

 

This tulip poplar leaf was floating on the lake. Too pretty to pass by.



Daddy taught E how to toss sticks in the water.



There was no keeping him dry today. He had a point:
Why are we going to the lake if we can't get wet?!

The weather was too beautiful to be inside today so we ditched our Montessori class in favor of a walk at the lake, Loch Raven Reservior to be exact.

After E was good and soaked from trying to wade in the lake with the Canada geese, we headed over to our local nursery. Watson's is a wonderful mom-and-pop garden center so we support them any chance we get by purchasing most of our plant material there instead of a big box store. The good news? They had a great selection of pumpkins!

Despite the fact that E loves to walk in a stream or lake, he really hated getting the sticky pumpkin pulp on his hands. He's the opposite of his mama!

And in case you were dying to know, here's his most recent talk list:

ack = snack

guck = truck

uck = duck

bive = five
rrr = grrr (as in, I'm angry)
ug = hug
k = lake
k = bike
k = music (accompanied by sign language)

k = book (also with sign language)

dis = this

dat = that

nk = drink

up = up (as in, pick me up)

elp = help (and baby sign language)

t = eat

ess = eyes

sis = shoes

ess = kiss

iss = juice (as in his first taste of orange juice that was definitely memorable)

us = bus

ock = rock (like ones he picks up outside)

f = teeth

atch = Chatch (short for our cat's name)

ba ba ba = him singing a little tune :)

I'm sure there's more, but those are the ones I can think of right now. He's on his way!

The toddler busy-ness continues...



Why are we doing this again, Mom? For your amusement?

music together

Me and E had the pleasure of taking a great music class this summer called Music Together. It's an interactive, mixed age approach to music that takes place during 45-minute sessions. This national program is an outstanding introduction to music-making, group singing, and creative movement.

The song circle is always full of engaged care givers and eager little ones from infants on up to preschoolers. All of the children respond to Miss Bettina (our amazing teacher) differently. Some listen or observe while others sing, tap, or dance along. My little guy enjoys listening but when the music gets too loud or boisterous, he wanders away to listen from a distance.

I love that our instructor varies her methods to stimulate interest the whole time. She incorporates scarves, instruments, and other manipulative props to keep toes tappin'. I hoped that E would benefit from the class musically, but I didn't realize how much I would get out of it. I've learned many new ways to sing and make music with him. It's very empowering!

She also provides music CDs and a song book to keep singing at home and in the car. We use them daily!

The music book is excellent because I can follow my finger along with the notes while we sing - a great way for E to start to understand a music scale. The CD is great because the quality of music is tops. And between the songs, periodically, a voice will sing a short melody followed by a child's voice repeating it back.

Since the class, my husband and I have clapped out simple beats and E will clap them back. Pretty amazing! But even better, yesterday out of nowhere E starting saying "ba-ba ba, ba-ba-ba ba". I know that sounds like nothing, but he was SINGING in the same syllable as the voice on the CD! My baby can't say much yet but he was already SINGING!

Needless to say, we'll be continuing our music education with Music Together for many years to come. Thank you, Miss Bettina!

Our little guy brushes up on his tunes in the Music Together song book.
Note all of our scarves and percussion instruments that we use when we sing.

word up

More words from E at 16 months old, translation provided:

raff = giraffe
dis = this
bapf = bath
k-k-k-k = cluck cluck cluck
mmm = mmm (like "mmm I love this banana")
baba = bottle
wawa = water
pop = pop, as in Pop Pop Ken
Jess = Aunt Jess

Sorry, Gram. Still no word for you!

baby talk?

No words for the angry fists shaking...

It seems as if "eh eh" is a stand in for all kinds of two word phrases! Here, I'll translate for you:

All done (at the end of each meal, along with his hand waving, baby-signing arm motion) = "eh eh"

Bless you! (following sneezes, of course) = "eh eh"

Uh-oh...(like when he intentionally chucks his spoon on the floor) = "eh eh"

Love you! (when mommy shamelessly tries to get him to say it back to her) = "eh eh"

The End (as in, after each book we read) = "eh eh"

"esssssss" means many things, too:

Star = "esssssss"
Snow = "essssss"
Yes = "esssss"

But there are other, fancier words of noteworthy praise, such as:

Home = "OOOOHhhhhhh" (intonation counts for a lot when he squeals this happily from the back seat)
Fish = "ish" (first word, actually, next to da-da)
Flutter, flutter = "fa fa fa" (in a whisper, he repeats this when referencing butterflies)
Milk = "meh" (I am so thankful for that baby sign language...)
More = "meh" (see the difference from the one above?)
Sizzle, sizzle = "sa-sa sa-sa" (like when I'm frying his tofu)

And of course, drum roll please, DAD means dad, and MOM means mom. Got it?

This kid knows what he's talkin' about!