"i'm sleeping"

"i'm tired, i'm sleeping" (nj)

"then you mean, you're sleepy. not sleeping!" (mama)

"yeah!" (nj)

"want to hear abc's"

when he was starting to restless in the car, i gave him his alphabet toy. it kind of looks like a cell phone, but has all the letters (says it when you press the letter) and plays music. his favorite was the abc song, which he sang along with. he was interested enough that it lasted quite a while. so we told him that toy is only for the car (hopefully that way, he doesn't get sick of it). let's see how long it lasts when he's bored and restless in the car.

"cool classic car!"

what a pleasant surprise at a yard sale stop that we made. the two older men standing around outside their garage had some impressive classic cars. they were nice enough to stop and talk to us about them and even let little nj sit in it to take photos. how kind. nj loved it! a nice treat for a good boy that was so patient with our stopping and going...

"push twice fast!"

pb & j's to go...

all ready for tomorrow! :)

"need to wash hands!"

nj had fun helping me draw for a card we were sending. he told me what to draw, with what color, and where. a brown horse and a yellow dotty. i added some other little drawings and he did the rest. he enjoyed himself so much he got marker ink all over his hands. i couldn't wash it all off so he kept showing me his hand and telling me that it needs to be washed. after so many complaints, baba got some solution to get the ink off and washed it right out. whew! well, i hope the special little girl we're sending the package to enjoys the card and goodies.

"yesterday we eat and see robot!"

he had his left over fried rice from last night for dinner. he shoveled two bowls down so fast, he wanted more. but there wasn't any more. all during dinner he talked about ah-goo and the restaurant we were at. who knew giant robot also had a cafe?

"ladies!"

to get ready for his shower, we asked nj to take his clothes off. he did what almost seemed like a little strip show, he did it so happily. but he slowed down significantly at his socks. baba said, "ladies!" and he repeated while running naked to the bathroom. crazy kid.

"i like to see cooper"

a little visit with his cousin cooper, who has a cool new pad. nj had way too much fun running around their beautiful, spacious new house. while i'm sure nj was loving all of the awesome cars and toys that cooper had, we were loving their place and so happy to see them again. the boys were kind of funny together, it was cute. nj was busy playing with toys he doesn't have so we interacted with cooper a lot more. what a sweet boy! can't wait to see them again. the rest of the day nj wouldn't stop talking about how he likes seeing cooper, how he had fun, and describing all that he did there. we're happy he had a good time. thanks auntie julie and uncle chris for having us!

"i need to eat too!"

yes, ok, i guess you can eat too. ah-goo (uncle perry) said to nj, "how about you stay in the car? we're all getting out to eat dinner, but you stay here." ha, ha, of coarse he doesn't want to be left out if there's eating involved! he sat in a normal chair and ate a lot. he made a mess of the rice he had. rice all over the place including his face. but he didn't believe ah-goo when he kept telling him, "rice is on your face!" and he'd comically repeat, "on your face!" nj had a great time seeing ah-goo and having dinner. after dinner, we walked around to some shops. we stopped at one shop where i looked around. that's where he started to lose it. jumping, dancing, pulling, tugging, laughing, not making any sense. i wasn't surprised since it was past his bedtime already. but he was so excited from the day, the tiredness somehow put that into a higher gear. so we made our way home right after. what a great time visiting with family. why do we all have to be so far?

"nine mini coopers!"

nj likes to bring books to me and asks me to read it to him. today he brought me a free auto magazine (car ads) from his uncle perry. this one is his favorite because there's a big photo of a mini on the front cover. we went page by page to count how many mini's he could find. and randomly, i'd point to other photos of cars and ask him what it was. i was amazed by how great his recognition of cars are. almost all the photos are at an angle and you can't fully see the logo yet he still knew what kind of car it was. and they are all different models and years, so i was impressed that he'd still know what kind of car. sometimes he'd voluntarily point them out without me even asking. thanks, ah-goo, for teaching him about car logos so early on! lots of time well spent i see while he was in your care. :) we have a little car enthusiast on our hands.

"i'm so hungry"

also common is, "i'm so full" or "my tummy hurts" or "i need to pee pee"... anything to try and get out of eating something he doesn't want. uh-huh, we're on to your tricks. today i noticed that when we ask him something like, "did you listen?" or "did you do what we asked?" he'll say, "i did!" umm, no you didn't!

"i'm putting away..."

ok, thank you. how nice. we didn't get to see him for too long today since we had a last minute clinic visit. good thing they didn't keep me. whew, that was a close one. today he came back crying, whiney, and cranky. which means a little someone didn't get much sleep, great! it wasn't too bad, though. he went to bed pretty quickly after dinner. he really needed to get to bed early, poor guy. we promised him his bike (tricycle) back if he was a good boy at ah-ma's (grandma's). we took it away the other day when he wasn't behaving. as incentive to be good while away, we used the trike. maybe it worked. since we got a good report, he asked for it right away. sheesh, he didn't waste one moment! i said he could have it once he got up in the morning because it was almost bedtime. he reluctantly complied.

"want to read monkey book and spider book"

"mama, ants. right there!"

"and there... one, two, three, four, five..." yes, ok, there are lots of ants! ants seem to be appearing randomly all the time all over the house. nj is our ant (and spider/bug) police. he always points them out, tells us to get them, and tells us to vacuum (usually the ants are around some crumbs). jokingly, i told dotty to go eat them. my mistake, because nj started to yell at dotty to eat the ants: "dotty, eat the ants! come here! right here! eat it!" i laughed and try to get him to stop. i wasn't sure how to explain that i was only kidding.

"garbage truck, i can see it!"

when he got up in the morning he said, "garbage truck, i can hear in my room." we thought it had passed already, but it came later than usual. so when the truck came around, he ran to the door to look through the screen. he was so excited and had a huge smile on his face. even though he wanted to go outside to see it, we told him he could see it from the door and he was ok with that. thank goodness, no whining about it.

"sit still, don't hit your face"

exactly! i didn't really like him sitting backwards in the chair like that, but he probably just wanted to see what we were doing. but he started fidgeting and moving around so i told him to sit still. otherwise, the chair may fall since he is leaning on the heavy side of it and he'll hit the floor. i guess this was his way of repeating what i said, short and simple.

loving hope

all ready for church, nj?

nj: yeah! (with a big smile)

nj: "the music is going!"

yes, it is! we could hear it from the parking lot. he loves the music.

ooh, play-do. he doesn't get to play with that much, i'm sure he had fun. see you after class, baby!

hi, we're back! ready to go?

of coarse not, he's still enjoying his cake again. today they were celebrating two birthdays. skylar and danielle's, so there were cupcakes again. that answers my question of why one of the little girl's had pink wings on her back. ha, ha, cute.

what's on your back, nj? oh! it's your name! ha, ha, just in case we forget your name, can we take it with us?

look nj, it's who you ask to see every day... your girlfriend! awww, and how cute she is in her new glasses! just trying to play it cool today, huh? ok, we get it...

"auntie becca! uncle dan!"

nj was so excited about lunch, even at church he kept saying he wanted to go while pointing to the parking lot. at the car, as nj got in his seat, he said to auntie becca: "you sit here!" as he points to the seat next to him. awww... so poor uncle dan drove by himself as auntie hopped in the car with us. the two of them in the backseat had a laugh over his penguin in his cup holder. it was sweet how much fun he was having with her. all through lunch, he was calling their names, auntie becca, uncle dan! silly guy. he was good during lunch though, he really liked the food, so that preoccupied him as did the crayons. he kept pointing to the words on the coloring paper and saying, "bible verses". i told him that there weren't any on this paper, but there is on the sheet he took home from class today. outside, nj and auntie had their little dancing and jumping time as we waited for baba to pull up (he had to park kind of far). man, do we miss living closer to them.

"want to finish my milk"

he had a snack after his nap and asked for cold milk. it's a little unusual, he mostly likes it warm if he has the choice. using the cup that he does, there's always some left at the bottom. he asked me for the rest of the milk to drink. he's never asked that before, but i gladly took the top off for him to finish it. he seemed to really enjoy it. he had already asked for more milk after his first cup, he's never done that before either. funny to see him enjoy it, i'm surprised he didn't drip any milk on his chin or shirt. i'm starting to just give him milk with his meals sometimes instead of getting him to drink it before meals. sometimes it cuts down his eating time too.

getting comfy

nj sat himself down and said, "mama, come sit here!" i got his laundry basket to fold his clothes as i sat down. he says, "oh my goodness! so much blankets!" then, "i want blanket on me, it's warm." so i tucked him under the blanket. he looked so cute and comfy. it was almost bedtime and i think he felt it because he turned to me and said, "i'm tired." he did watch some football for a little bit. he kept telling us who had the ball by pointing and saying, "there's the ball. that one!" and he loved the car commercials, as soon as he sees a car he calls out what it is before i'm even paying attention to it. he knows his cars a little too well. he'd say, "that cadillac is fast!" or "vw volkswagon, that one!" he doesn't quite get that vw is the same as volkswagon, but saying together is a cute thing he does, i think.