Beedy!

So, you all know how Logan used to call his blanky "Beedon." Auden has similarly become attached to his special blanket, and last night as I was putting him down to sleep, he started to fuss and thrash around. "Beedy!" He whined, and as soon as I gave him his blanky, he was fine. He folded his little hands behind his head, like he always does when he's going off to sleep, sighed a pleasant "Beedy!" and settled down for the night.

We're noticing a rush of words starting to erupt from Auden lately. It's a welcome sound! According to Grammy Sue, he said "rock star" the other day, which is probably the coolest verbal outburst, but the more consistent ones are "birds," "water," "stinky," hello," "bye-bye." He counts off, "one, two, three...go!" and says "no" with a dramatic head shake whenever he can. He still calls Eric "Mommy," which is funny. When we correct him, he just smiles, points to Eric, and says "Mommy" again, like he's just doing it for the sake of defying us. It's become a little inside joke. He's doing these funny little dances, too. Picture the haka ...maybe that's too aggressive...ok, a sumo stance--that's pretty much it.

Tomorrow Logan will embark on his first show-and-tell speech. This little assignment brought to mind how funny my young child's mind is. His teacher asked him to bring one or two toys, etc., that are really special to him and be prepared to say a little something about them. On the way home, I asked him what he was planning to bring: A Superman figure given to him by his Uncle Jim and Aunt Karen and a monster truck given to him by Papa George. I guess it's pretty remarkable that he can remember who gave him these toys, since he and Auden have a ridiculous amount of toys, but I was wondering what made them so special. He goes through phases, and those two toys are certainly hot items lately.
"Because they are special, so special," he said, as though it's the most obvious thing in the world.
"Yes, but why do you like them so much?"
"I just do."
"Do you think of the people who gave you those toys when you play with them?"
"Yeah." That's it. Nothing complicated. He just really likes those toys because they're cool--duh, mom--and he likes the people who gave the toys to him.

Logan says

Logan was pulling his blankie across the living room floor, and Auden hopped on. For a few seconds, he rode the blanket standing up. "Hey," Logan said, "it looks like Auden's walking on the water, just like Jesus!"

No More Monkeys Jumping on the Bed

Auden got his first nosebleed today, in a very boyish fashion. I was making dinner; Eric was in our bedroom, where the boys were playing on our bed. Eric left to fill up the humidifier, and whamo, the boys collided, Logan's head into Auden's face. When I came into the room, both boys were crying, and Auden had a bloody snot bubble ballooning out of his left nostril. The bleeding stopped quickly, but I have to admit, I did wonder if I'd have a toddler version of John Kerry on my hands for a second there. Later, Auden was eating some yogurt--his favorite method of eating it is by taking the little tub, clamping it in the middle, and drinking it. Mainly, he ends up with a nice coating of yogurt all over his nose and mouth. Tonight, he had a little added color to his yogurt face, as his nose had started leaking again. Yuck. But still funny.

New 'do

I cut off my hair! For years I've been wanting short hair, but have never had the guts. Well, I figured since my hair was so long, I had the added bonus of being able to donate it. It was kind of funny to read what they wouldn't take for donations: No gray hair, no bleached hair, no dreadlocks. I get the dreadlocks requirement, but it made me chuckle nonetheless.
I came home from the salon last night, Logan took one look at me, his jaw dropped, and he said, "You're not my mommy, you're Grammy Renee!"

Photo ops

I realize I haven't posted any pics in a while, so here are a few that serve to recap our holiday.

Happy New Year!

I can't believe I didn't make a holiday post yet, but with the festivities over, I think it's high time I post a recap of the boys' holiday happiness this year.

Logan was in his first Christmas play this year. He dressed in a little sheep costume, walked up the aisle, sat with the other sheep (including his "girlfriend" Emmy, an 8-year-old cougar, apparently), and waited for the play to be over. He was adorable, even if he didn't know "Away in a Manger," which the older kids sang at the end of the play. He can, however, sing "Jingle Bells" with gusto (except for the "one horse open sleigh" line-he kind of mumbles through that one.)

Auden was really into the demo (that's demolition, not demonstration) portion of Christmas this year, much to Logan's dismay, since he unwrapped many of Auden's gifts last year. No, Auden made up for last year's disinterest. He unwrapped gifts with a vengeance, and his favorite toys were these Russian-doll style nesting dinosaur figures and stacking cubes. Of course, he enjoyed the demo part of the stacking toys, too. Oh, and he loves this inflatable blue donkey (?) horse (?) bounce toy. It's strangely fitting for the holiday season, since that was Mary's ride and all.

We celebrated Christmas a couple of times with Eric's family and spent a few days with my family, rounded out Eric's vacation with a little stay-cay in Chicago, so we enjoyed a fun, yet restful winter break with family and friends we love. Who could ask for anything more? Oh, and speaking of restful, the boys slept in most days until 7:00, even close to 8:00 on some mornings. I've been trying to set my alarm earlier and earlier this week to try to get back in the swing of things, but the siren song of blessed silence always tempts me to sleep in. Next week is going to be brutal as we start our early wake-ups again.

This week I've been enjoying my time off with the boys while Eric has been going back to work. We've been playing with the new toys...and the old ones. Logan and Auden are starting ever so slowly to play together better. Auden yells "Go!" as the Hot Wheels shoot down the race track Logan got for Christmas. Logan shouts "Lane 5 won!" even though we have no idea which car was in lane 5. They're having little dance parties together with this little music-maker wand toy Auden got for Christmas.

Tomorrow, Logan and I are visiting a preschool I'd like him to go to next year. Hard to believe we're embarking on the school expedition already. Here's hoping we can make this work next year!

Loganism

As we pass the local cemetary on the way for a Holiday visit Logan says: "look, an airport!"