My son is now officially sleeping in a big boy bed. I took apart his crib this weekend while he was at his dad's. Surprisingly he stayed in bed, much more than he did in his crib. I'm hoping it sticks and this isn't a beginner's luck type of thing.

My little love bug

My son really is growing into quite a sweetheart. The other day we were playing in his room and I was sitting on the floor. I had just started up with Pilates again earlier in the week and my back was a little tight. I began to twist back and forth to stretch my back. L asked me in his super cute broken english, "Mommy, what doin?", and I told him my back was hurting. He dropped what he had in his hand and ran over to my back and said "I kiss it" and then leaned in to kiss my back.

It was the sweetest thing ever.

catch-up

So I guess I haven't posted in a while, but that sure doesn't mean things haven't been changing on a daily basis with Leighton. He is very much a parrot nowadays and can and will pretty much state EXACTLY what you just said. Luckily it hasn't been a problem yet... no swear words or things a child of 2 shouldn't be saying. Obviously I try NOT to swear around him so I have taken to using words like "nuts, fudge, crumb" etc instead...The funniest thing he has said lately was when he spilled yogurt on the table. He said "OH NO... NUTS!" It was absolutely adorable and made me burst out laughing.

He also asks "what's that?" every time he hears any noise at all. Even if you just explained what the noise was, like fireworks. It is very cute but can be very tedious as well.

I am in the process of moving him from his crib to his big boy bed so that my brother Scott can have the crib for his daughter who is due in Sept. Leighton has already taken to meeting me at his door every time he gets up in the morning, or at nap time on weekends, so the crib is obviously NOT keeping him IN. At the moment he doesn't really get out of the crib until he is ready to get up for the day. He just sits behind the closed door trying to peek underneath or pushing his toy cars underneath the door and out into the hallway. Eventually I hear a "MOMMY!" and that means he is ready to come out. I just wonder how long it will take for him to STAY in bed once he no longer has the crib. The freedom is so tempting I'm sure...

Leighton is such a sweet little boy. Don't worry, I get plenty of pull my hair out moments too, but really, I have only had to put him in timeout a few times since he hit "the terrible twos". He knows exactly what timeout means and sometimes he even picks that punishment and puts himself in the corner, probably because he wants the quiet time.

Being a single parent can be difficult, mainly because you are always on call, but to be honest I wouldn't change a thing. All I know is that I love being a mom and I hope that someday I will be blessed with the opportunity to have more children in my life.

dragons, pools, and why? oh my...

I went away for a weeklong trip to California to see family and friends (4/29-5/5) and when I returned, not only did it seem like my son had grown a foot taller, but also that his conversation skills had increased by leaps and bounds. He asked me when we got in the car at the airport, "have fun mommy?". It made me laugh because I always ask him when I pick him up from daycare if he had fun that day.

I've started narrating any time we spend together because he pretty much spends most of our time asking "mommy, what doin?". So now I tell him about cooking, getting dressed, driving, how a car works, why we need gasoline, and why we don't need three boxes of cereal, etc. It can be a bit exhausting, but I dont use baby words, and do my best to explain everything as simply as possible. So if Leighton is that little know-it-all kid when he gets to kindergarten, I'm okay with that... and then we will work on humility, and not always having to be right.

His new favorite movie is Shrek and he LOVES the dragon. On several occasions while driving I have been informed that he just saw a dragon. His imagination is endless and I love it. :)

We went to the pool twice this weekend, and both times he spent the entire time jumping from the side into the pool. After catching him for the third/fourth time I decided to see what happens if he went all the way under... He survived, no coughing, no increased fear or anger, just a loud "cooooool!" He's a dare devil that one.

Mommy, watch this!!!

Today Leighton asked me to watch him as he ran back and forth from my room to the front door and back. It was super sweet. I can't believe how quickly he is growing up and fully conversing now. The process is so amazing. :)

Humbled...

This morning Leighton wasn't being very cooperative about keeping his shoes on in the car on the way to daycare. I ended up being stern with him, which was followed by a loud "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO" from him. I didn't say anything, and maybe 5 minutes later all of the sudden I hear "mommy?"... "sorry".

I was floored. It actually made me tear up. I'm proud to know I am raising a son who understands that yelling isn't always the best way to get your point across.

Starting Fresh redux...

Okay so wow... I obviously didn't ever post anything here. And oddly enough, just when I was thinking to myself, "Now that my son has turned two years old I should start blogging and really keeping track of his funny little sayings," I think "Wait a minute... I've GOT a blog!" And low an behold, I apparently started this one in April, FOUR YEARS AGO. That's kind of freaky.

Although this blog was originally started for reasons that were upsetting I'm turning the tables and writing about happy things, like my little man :)

It's very hard to believe that he is 2 years old. Where does the time go? It's rather amazing to watch him grow and learn new things every day... heck every minute something new seems to come out of his mouth.

My current favorite phrases are:
"Mama, what doin?" followed by "oh..." when I answer, which now seems to be followed by "why?"

"Be good boy" originally said to Gatsby, now said to anything that leaves the house/car, etc.

"Bye __ (insert whatever it is that he doesn't want anymore)" like "bye Cars", when he doesn't want to watch the movie anymore.

"Mommy funny" which is usually said as I'm making a face or hopping up and down to avoid swearing because I just injured myself.

He is also getting to the point where he points out things that maybe he shouldn't. Like "Mommy in potty", or "Bampa stinky, peeee yuuwww" after a night of beans :P I'm going to have to learn to think on my feet to avoid certain situations... I mean, yes, its cute because he's 2 and he doesn't know better, but I don't want to encourage it. Even though potty humor still cracks me up (and I'm about to turn 33)

The journey has been a blast so far (minus the few Oscar worthy tantrums I've witnessed) and I can't wait to hear what he comes up with next.