1,2,3

I came home from a very dramatic and hectic day at work with a nasty headache and an empty tummy, and while I am still not feeling great, Daddy did a great job of taking care of me in his own special way (making me two cheese tortillas, a quarter of a peach and two Ibuprofen with a glass of water). I feel just good enough to tell you all that I also came home from work to a son who can count to three and make his own decisions; he is almost ready to move out on his own, I think. Oh wait, he just pushed his shopping cart into the hearth and bumped his nose on it, so he needs a hug...... Maybe he needs me a little longer (just for boo boos and dinner, anyway).

Tonight he got ready for his bath by throwing away his own diaper and putting his dirty laundry in the hamper; then he asked for soap and washed his legs in the bath, splashed around a little, and climbed out without me telling him it was time.

After his bath, Little P played with uncle James and Daddy for a little bit, and I heard him through my pain-filled ears and clinched teeth count to three before jumping onto Daddy off the coffee table. It was very cute and so much fun to hear him counting and calculating his jump. Nearly every week I say how amazed I am at his development. It is so amazing to realize every day how smart toddlers are to pick up language, gestures and thoughts so easily. He has begun to play and use what he has learned to make his own games, instead of simply playing with something out of curiosity. I am so excited for him and I love to watch his face light up when he realizes he can do or say something he could not do the day before.

It is Little P's bed time, so we are going to lay down, but I thought I would share my happiness at my little man's progress, and share some pictures of this little ham as well!

Funny Guys

We went to the auction yard/flea market in Roseville yesterday to look around, just for something to do. We could have stayed home and worked on our house, but it was just too nice to stay indoors, and we are too cheap and boring to do anything more entertaining. The auction is fun, mostly because you can see things that you never knew existed, and wonder how on earth people came to possess these items, and why they would sell such fascinating conversation pieces. We hardly ever actually come across anything we need there, but one can spend an entire day treasure hunting... or, if you have a child, you can spend an hour speed walking through the isles so the kid does not get bored in the stroller.

We were looking for a runner for our hallway (to try to muffle the sound of the squeaky wood floors that mommy walks on at 4:30am while getting ready for work), and just generally browsing, when Little P started laughing and pointing and saying "Funny Guys!!!" I asked him what was funny, and he pointed again and said "Funny Guys!" I looked around, and for the life of me could not find anything that could be considered the least bit funny, but he kept laughing and pointing, so we strolled him in the general direction of his pointing. There, in the midst of stacks of socks and t-shirts was a headless mannequin sporting blue jeans and a fancy bra.

I had completely forgotten that Little P has mannequins right at the top of his list of stuff that is totally hilarious. We were at the mall a couple of months ago, and that is where P got his first glimpse of these funky people standing in the display windows. He loved them! I guess, to a baby, headless and/or armless folks that stood completely still would either be really scary or really funny. I am glad that Paul chose the latter, because it made mommy's day to hear him laughing and talking in his Paulinese/English mix about the "Funny People."

Milestone

Tonight at dinner my Little P used a fork to eat all by himself! I am so excited and so sad at the same time! Yay for him, sad for me; he is growing up so fast. It is great that he is developing and growing like crazy, but he is not a baby anymore. Well, there is not anything I can do to keep him a baby forever, so I might as well roll with it.

Another thing he started yesterday I am not so willing to roll with. Yesterday he started saying "MOVE!" and pushing people out of his way. Excuse me? 1. How rude! 2. Where the hell did he learn that? Nobody in my immediate family would talk like that, and I am pretty sure grams and gramps would not say that, so where does he come up with this stuff? Ugh! So now we have begun to learn how to say "excuse me." So far I have not had any success, but we only started last night.

Little P: (pushing mommy out of his way) Move!

Mommy: Excuse me?

Little P: Move!

Mommy: How do you ask, Paul?

Little P: Move! Please!

Mommy: Pauly, we say "excuse me" if we would like someone to get out of the way.

Little P: Cue me! Move!

Sigh. It is going to be a long week.