"Ba, Mom"

(actually posted by Amanda)

This is what Corban said as I left his room tonight after putting him in bed. This kid is the cutest! All day he has been cracking me up with what he is saying. And to go along with that laugh is me pulling my hair out trying to figure out what he wants as he is also very quick to get upset. He has definitely entered the terrible twos- now I know what other moms are talking about ( I HOPE). So it is a really good thing he has a lot of cute moments that I can dwell on for enjoyment.

When I brought him down for breakfast he was saying "dogs". I figured he was talking about dogs and asked if he wanted oatmeal (that has been a winner for the past week). "No". But when I showed him the packet he said "yessss". So I cooked it up for him. He hadn't finished eating the oatmeal, but he asked to get down, "hans" as he is holding out his hands asking that I wash them. And then he started looking for "baby". He saw a blanket on the couch and stood over it as if to peek at the baby, but he couldn't see her, so he pulled the blankets off the couch. Luckily "baby" wasn't there, but was up on my bed sleeping. So I took him up to see her. He calls her "baby" even when you say, "Say Malia".

Later I was getting into the freezer for yeast to make bread and he saw the frozen hot dogs and says "DOGS". Oh, that is what he meant. So I then cooked him hot dogs for breakfast...But those hot dogs he gobbled up- 2 to be exact. So while he was in his chair eating, I was making bread. Back to the hot dogs, EVERY TIME I put them in the microwave, he cries/whines. It is as if the microwave is a cue for that. It lasts just short of the 30 seconds that they are cooking, and when I take him out he is happily yelling "hot dogssss". When I gave him his second one, he wouldn't allow me to cut it up. Later I came in and he was choking, mouth stuffed, on it. But he is pretty good at solving those problems on his own.

I allowed him to get up on a chair while I was making bread. After it has risen and was time to put it in pans he wanted "Up" again. So I allowed him. He started picking and eating the dough. When I got to the last loaf he played tug-o-war with me over it and it ended with him yelling at me with big alligator tears. So I put him in his chair with a little bit of dough to finish off. It would be one thing if he were just playing with it, but since it was being eaten I was a little concerned of the amount of intake. I threw some crackers on as a distraction.

Then tonight he wanted "cheessse" (he must love "s"). A few minutes later you hear, "I", "J", then there was a "Y" and a "K". He was making...seeing letters in the pieces of shredded cheese.

Jared came home with a yogurt cup in hand and Corban excitedly says, "yote."

Dinner was soup, so Corban kept saying it, "Soup. Soup. Soup."

As we drive around I will every once in a while hear, "O", "T", or whatever letter he is seeing. He will also do this at t he yogurt store, "Z", "Y", "Rrrrr" (that one is the sound, not the letter), "S". It is amazing what Letter Factory has done to this kid. When he goes to "draw", he wants me to do it with him and I just end up going through the alphabet while he says the letter I write. Today I decided to do numbers, "10" was his favorite.

It really is "delightful", as one of my friends put it, to watch these little ones learn and grow. The simplest of things are so entertaining. The other night I saw him rolling around on the ground- it was like he just had figured out he could do that. Same thing with putting his head on the ground while his feet are still on the ground- so I pushed him into a somersault. He liked that.

There is so much more I wish I could remember. He really is so much fun at this stage. Oh, the other day I was changing Malia on the floor and Corban came up and laid down close to her head and just started talking sweet talk to her. She got a big smile on her face and was enthralled with him - bigger brother taking care of little sister. He also has been found jingling toys in front of her face- they both get enjoyment out of that one.

Jared will have to write about nursery since I wasn't there and would do the story justice.

Life really is good!

Santa House

We are lucky enough to have friends that are concerned about our Christmas spirit and are interested in helping us build traditions in San Diego. On Wednesday night we went with the Garcia's to "The Santa House", which is a home of a very wealthy couple who have Santa and toys from Santa every night in December leading up to Christmas. They have been doing this for years. Pretty spectacular! More amazing than any other place I have seen Santa. Corban was a little scared of Santa, but he sure was a nice one. In fact, he said, "We believe in Golden Spoon. Anyone who is a friend of Golden Spoon is a friend of ours." Even Santa knows we have the best yogurt!
Corban really enjoyed looking at all the toys but probably wouldn't have cared if he couldn't take one home. He also enjoyed all the scenes they had set up. The "snow" bubbles weren't as exciting as I thought they would be to him, especially considering his facination with bubbles.
We left with a hot cup of cider and hot cocoa. It was a fabulous night spent in the Christmas spirit!

Visiting Hours

The best way for the kids to spend time with daddy lately has been at Golden Spoon. Can't say that we don't enjoy it. Every visit gets a sweet treat! Today the store was so slow that daddy even sat in the lobby with us, played a guessing game with Corban and fed Malia a bottle while mommy ate her yogurt...or two yogurts. Corban's favorite treats are a cone with yogurt, he starts at the bottom of the cone, and gummy bears or worms. Daddy played "which hand has the gummy" and was very good to stick to the rules- only pick one.

When it continued to be slow we decided to take a walk outside. We stayed close because Jared was the only one working :) There is a lovely fountain out front that gives lots and lots of entertainment for an almost-2-year-old. When I was outside with Corban and Jared was back in serving some customers, an old couple walked by and stopped to watched for just a moment. I made the comment to go with their look, "It makes me just as nervous." Corban doesn't always look so stable on his feet and was walking around the edge of the fountain. Of course I was the one that got this started, but that was when he would hold on to my hand. Now he was comfortable handling it all on his own...picking up speed every now and then.

Daddy joined us again once another employee arrived to work, so I had him take over the Corban watch. He tends to not get as nervous as I do and this kid needs exploration time! Mom holds him back too much.

It was fun being able to spend some time with daddy. To make it all worth it, the night ended with a SPLASH! Even San Diego is too cold for a fountain swim in December!

And I am thinking he enjoyed that part of "exploration", but was just a little nervous about getting back up on the edge.