Tiny Talk Tuesday

J is 27 months old

J was finishing lunch one day during the past week and I was getting the diaper bag ready and set it by the door. He says, "Where are we going? We're going on a trip." I told him we were going to get a gift for my nephew Blake's birthday. He said, "We're going to Toy Story?" I said, "No, we're going to Toys-R-Us." Then I remembered that morning I had been telling L what we'd be up to during the day and mentioned Toys-R-Us. So he must have heard me but got it mixed up.

We were going somewhere and were getting in the car and he saw a tiny spider crawling on the car. Out of the blue he says, "Go, spider go!" (He says that when he wants something to go away.) I told him he was just a tiny spider and it was okay. He said, "Go fly away spider. You can't fly. You've got no wings."

I've been limiting the use of J's blankie and nuk to nap times and over night. One morning, he was wanting to take blankie and nuk downstairs with him. I asked him to put blankie and nuk in his bed. Then I had to ask him two more times. Finally, he went to put them in his bed and I helped. Then when we were leaving the room he says, "Blankie go to sleep. Turn out the light blankie."

One night at dinner, J was asking for some M&M's. I wanted to see him eat some fruit before giving him a dessert so I told him no dessert unless he ate his apple sauce. He says, "No treat. That's funny." I said, "What's funny?" Then he starts this long list of no's saying, "No outside, no coloring, no milk, no treat..."

It's been so awesome to see J learning his manners. He is now regularly saying "thank you" when you get something that he asks for. This is so special to me....considering how many times a day I do get things for him!!! It's so nice to hear the thank you. He's getting better with "please" but often needs the hint "how do we ask?" Oh, and then one day this week I was walking upstairs with him and had a small burp and he says "excuse me!" I love that.

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Tuesday's Musings

This morning worked out again to have alone time with L. I was really tired though. Some of our time today was spent on "housekeeping" items like talking about our volunteering at church this fall, what our options are for a small group within the church body, our schedules. It was hard to believe, but J wasn't up until around 10:30 this morning. Once he was downstairs, he was completely absorbed with exploring the new ABC floor mat I just got from EBay. We spent time playing with this a lot today, taking out the letters and saying what they are and naming something that starts with that letter. I'd say "J for Julian" and then he picked out a letter and said "K for mommy". Cute.

With him getting up so late, we had a weird schedule again. We didn't get out the door for shopping until around noon. It was my last day before I'm starting a 30 day fast from buying things. By "things", I mean anything beyond the essentials which would be groceries, diapers, cleaning supplies that run out. I got this idea from Living, Learning and Loving Simply. I totally agree with one of the things she said, to get my focus off of stuff and instead spending my resources on people. So I needed to buy J fall clothes since the weather will be changing during this 30 day time period. We went to a Goodwill-type store called Savers that I really love. J brought along his dinosaurs and fire engine that he kept dropping as he played with them in the cart. Then I found some great old books for him and he spent the rest of the time in the cart reading. This was such a wonderful thing that I might bring books for groceries and shopping in the future. He was completely content whereas this is the place he usually melts down from being in the cart too long. I confess, I did get a few long-sleeved shirts for myself in the process.

After this, we took a break for lunch at McD's where J wanted to play for a bit. I got into a neat conversation with a grandpa who was a 4th grade teacher and loved to talk. Our last stop was to get our groceries for the week. On our way out, it was pouring rain. I wasn't sure if we'd make a run for it, but then a really nice mom said she'd watch J in the cart for me so I got the car and pulled it up close. J kept saying after he heard me say it, "Mommy got soaked!" He took a really late nap (4:30-6:30) but that went along with getting up so late. Then daddy was playing with him using the letters from the floor mat. Oh, one more thing I remembered is that J has started a new habit. Instead of biting, he's licking me now. Gross! But it is much better than the biting thing so I'm not overly concerned about it.