Merry Christmas!

Christian-isms and his first prayer

If you spoke Christian, you'd say

watey for water
corney for corner (he LOVES the corners of his blankey - he strokes his face with them when falling asleep)
buttah for peanut butter
dahk for dark
eintine for little einsteins...

which brings me to his first prayer. Every night after we sing and rock together we pray thanking the Lord for what happened that day. Last week I was mentioning the people he interacted with and toys he played with - he perked up during this, looked at me and said, "eintine" with a few head nods. I tried to stop from laughing but then thanked God for the Little Einsteins show that brings Christian such joy.

Road trip with a 20 month old!

I don't know how many of you have traveled long distance via automobile with a toddler, but I'd appreciate any tips you have! We don't currently own a portable DVD player but are looking into the investment. In 12 days we will be driving to my sister's in GA stopping first at a friend's house in Indy. We are excited for the vacation opportunity but are a bit anxious about how CPK will handle the 10 hours or so in his car seat and then also sleeping in another house, etc. etc.

Prayers and tips people! I beg of you:)

I'm a mommy slacker! - Let's catch up...

Sorry about the silence! Wow months have flown by!
So what to say?
1st 'real' phone conversation: Dan and I were checking in with one another over the telephone. Dan asked Christian if he'd like to say 'hi to mamma'? Normally when he gets on the phone I either hear breathing or beeping. This time, he said, 'ello momma' So then I said, 'Hello Christian,' so then he said, 'ello' and then I said, 'Hello!' and on and on for a few more seconds. SO CUTE! I definitely wanted to jump through the phone and give him a big hug:)
So that's today's catch up. I'll try to keep them coming:) Happy Weekend!

gooo-geee!

Yesterday was the first time that I (Dan) heard Christian use the word "cookie," and it was also the first time that I was forced to buy him something that I didn't really want to have around the house. A coincidence? No, but it is a great story. After running some errands, Christianchen and I had to stop by Jewel to pick up some fish and beef, neither of which, interestingly, he seemed to care about in the least. I made the mistake of walking through the bakery to get to the meat counter, and there Christian spied a small box of sugar cookies with bright yellow and purple icing. When he turned into a Christian-booger, crying and wrestling in arms, I assumed that it was just standard toddler crankiness; that is, until I heard the two syllables: gooo-geeee? gooo-geeee? For a couple of minutes, apparently, Christian could think of nothing else, and the cries for cookie satisfaction got louder and louder. You can guess how the story ends: I bought the box with the yellow and purple icing, and ten minutes later, Christian was falling asleep in his car-seat with sugary goo smeared on his cheeks. Now the question is: will I ever be able to say 'no' to the demand for goo-gees again?

His first diversion...

Our little man has been entertaining us lately. Here are just a few lines in which we find joy:

Christian runs to the TV and shouts, " Momo!" (Elmo)...

When he drinks something cold or stands on the vents spouting air conditioning his cheeks raise squinting his eyes, his mouth forms an 'O' and he breathes air in as if through a straw...

He knows that most mornings he and Dan drive me to work. He picks up a pair of shoes and brings both shoes of the same set to me and turns his body around in order to plop in my lap so I can put them on his feet...

On the not so funny side, he has started to take off his pants and diaper during his afternoon naps. The other day, he ended up peeing on the bedding. LOVELY!

The cake topper: I was feeding him lunch the other day. When he isn't too interested in the cuisine, he likes to throw it on the floor or otherwise get it off his tray. I warned him to stop. He then looked to the side toward our front windows as if he wanted me to see something. I looked and when I did, he dropped the food on the floor! He created a diversion!! Stinker:)

17 months - that sounds too close to 18 months...

Hi people!
Some news to flash: Christian is getting so big! He survived our move - the first few weeks were hard but I think he's become acclimated to our new digs. We too are a bit more relaxed now - we know where to shop, where to walk and are learning where to eat! This part of our life has improved - more variety - and also become worse - more variety = more temptation = more giving in, spending money, more calories! Argh! :)

Christian is becoming his own little person, little boy. He understands way more than we think and challenges us a lot! We are still grappling with the whole discipline how's and when's and why's. I think it'll be endless...

He says a lot of words now: boat, train, elmo, eye, nose, no (his favorite), momma (but not when I want him to say it), daden (daddy), meow (another favorite:)...

He's a joy and also not so much sometimes - like when he tips over the garbage on purpose.

I can't believe he'll be 17 months on August 8 - that's almost 11/2, almost 18 months! That sounds totally old! No longer a baby...

But I have to admit I don't think I'm ready for another. Well, the Lord's timing on that one!

Ciao.