To copy Claudia- my sister gave me a journal to chronicle all of the daily Slade-isms that I enjoy but the task has for the most part been neglected. I've had so many inquiries from family and friends about him and how he's developing that I thought I'd knock them both out here. These are the adorable things that Slade is currently doing that make us laugh hard. We rarely watch TV anymore with this character around!
1. He loves toothbrushes! I've bought at least 10 for him thus far and can only account for 2 at the moment- he likes to put them in fun, creative places where they are discovered later. They are always funny finds. He always loves to have them in hand (from the start it was highlighters. They fit perfectly into his baby hands and he'd love to have one wherever we went- I even started matching them to his outfits!).
2. He says 'Hi' to everyone, but most pointedly at pretty girls and women- he has a definite preference there! He makes eyes at them and offers them his toothbrushes- a sure sign of flirtation on his part.
3. He loves tools. You can't fool him with the fake, safe baby tools either- he prefers the REAL thing and whenever daddy leaves his work toolbag in the house, Slade is sure to be found rifling through it as soon as he gets a chance. We call him Slade-the-toolboy-Taylor. Fitting, we think.
4. When he gets excited about things he goes, "OOOOOHHHHHHH" (sounds like ewwe but with an o0 you'd have to hear it) - probably from all the times I try to get him excited about veggies or something. The funniest time he gets excited is over Mark opening up the garage to do projects with Slade at his side. He's like a kid in a candy store- he says ohhhhh for a long time and jumps around excitedly before deciding where to start.
5. The kid LOVES Baby Einstein (yes, it is definitely one of the things that elicits an oooohhhhh each and every morning after breakfast when I tell him what time it is - many thanks to Claudia for letting us pirate copies from hers- yes, it was wrong, but man did it turn out to be the biggest blessing yet in baby soothing!) and we cuddle up on the recliner every morning to snuggle under his new favorite blanket and watch together. He sits transfixed for the WHOLE 30 minutes!
6. The kid LOVES string cheese (also another oooohhhhh elicitor). He hasn't tired of it so far and enjoys it for his morning snack every day without fail.
7. He is starting to do many things for himself, which is always nice for me, and so cute to see him do. He will go to the fridge and get his milk out and drink to satisfy then put it back in and shut the door. It may not sound like much, but it shows more of his own mind and that he knows what he wants and how to get it. Plus it's darn cute! He is also throwing away his own diapers these days- now THAT is nice!
8. He loves babies! Whenever he sees one in his books or his baby cousing Sage he says, BEYBEE and runs to give it kisses or be sweet to it. Sometimes a little overly sweet and if I'm paying the baby too much attention he gets a little pushy - but otherwise loves them. It makes me glad for when we have our next!
9. He says "Uh-oh" to the funniest situations and gets a very concerned look on his face with his lips shaped in an 'O' until the situation is remedied.
10. As much time as we spend together and as tired of me I think he must become - whenever I am gone he will ask for me continually and when I leave him at the gymn's childcare when I come back for him he stops whatever he's doing, breaks out into a HUGE grin, and runs (with his arms out aerodynamically) to me (toothbrush in hand of course).
11. His big opened mouth kisses, but more of a favorite are the closed-mouth ones followed by the kissing sound! It is especially cute to see him give them to Mark and I think they're Mark's favorite thing. He loves his boy!!
12. He loves the big boys and going to scouts / priesthood with Mark. It is so cute to see him in the gymn with them on scout nights as they gently toss him the basketball and he excitedly tries to handle it, gives up, and settles for bouncing up and down on his legs going....yes, OOOOHH! The boys are so sweet with him and look out for him and try to include him in as much as they do.
13. He doesn't mind playing with girls, even if they mind playing with him. Mark said he took some good elbows to the head and some eye pokes when he went to nursery for the first time this past Sunday while trying to use the oven on the girl's play kitchen. He was not deterred!
14. When he's really excited and runs- he throws his arms behind him (as if aerodynamically faster) and runs as quick as his little baby toddler legs can carry him with a huge grin on his face. We often mimick this in our house b/c it's soooo cute!
15. He's learning so many words daily- it's amazing to see him putting concepts together and repeating words appropriately. I realize this is the appropriate course for him, but it's so exciting to watch for us!! My favorite words to hear him speak are 'cereal' and 'bup' (for up), 'mess' for whenever he makes a mess and then in turn identifies it as being such to me, and 'peease' with his hand out for something he really wants from me.
16. He is forever in constant motion (yes, even unfortunately at church, in Sacrament meeting. I always swore I wouldn't be one of the parents who let them run around, I relented a little last week b/c I was so tired of fighting it- sigh)- he is only not in motion AND awake when we are watching the aforementioned Baby Einstein. He will come up to us and cuddle for a moment or two, but then he's off again to play with his toy car, push his landmower, or do something very important and critical to entertain himself!
17. He's learning to entertain himself! A LARGE feat for the both of us, only now I sit and watch him instead of getting things done b/c he's so funny and it's so interesting to see how they process things. He largely ignores his toys and gets out the canned goods and pots and pans to play around with while I cook. Unless he IS helping me cook, which has grown to be another favorite of mine! A friend's sister of mine who has ELEVEN kids realized how much utilization can come FROM teaching the kids some basics in cooking. Instead of them watching her while she prepared meals or waiting for her- they would get up before her and start preparing them for the rest of the family! Though it takes a little in the beginning, man does it pay off for her now!
18. He LOVES the great outdoors. I always know when he's ready to go outside b/c he starts brining me his boots, then coat, then hat. Mark can't wait for him to grow up some more so he can justify buying more of the fun camping & fishing things that he's been dying to get and take us out to do! He just loves being out and about in general seeing the world and interacting with it as he knows how to right now!
19. I love to see his excited dance. He will dance around excitedly as he is awaiting something fun and it so cute!
20. My personally favorite thing to do with him is to fall asleep with him in my arms. I used to have him sleep with us when he was first born then later only on Sunday afternoon naps. Now I only really get the chance when we're out travelling and staying at a hotel and he won't nap or sleep unless I'm next to him. I love cuddling my crazy boy all night- I'm the only one he'll nap with and I'm often the only one who can comfort him down when he's really upset. Talk about feeling important! I'm his mother forever- though it can be a very daunting idea at times, with all the great examples I have in my life, I figure it'll work out with just one step at a time. What a wonderful blessing to have children to enrich our lives and return to us the love that we give to them.
I realize all of the above things are simply the regular advances of children as they progress, but every little milestone he makes and adorable things he says or does just endears him to us all the more and reminds us to just sit back and enjoy life. We're so grateful to Heavenly Father that he is part of our eternal family!
I'm so grateful to have him in my life and love watching him grow and take on more personality by the day. There are gazillions of funny things he does during the day that would probably sound boring to anyone who's not his parent or a doting aunt or grandma- but these are just a few of my favorite things to share to those of you who have been asking for some news.
5 comments:
This kid is all boy. So cute.
You go to 24 Hour Fitness, right? I think I told you I've been debating getting a pass...
Such a cute little man!
It seems like forever since we've seen you guys...that was sure nice of Mark to call and check up on us the other day. Maybe we should plan a get together just for fun one of these days?! We miss you guys :)
I love these types of updates! It's the little things that make kids fun to be around. Watcht those toothbrushes though, when Samantha was little she stuck one down the toilet and we had to call the plumber. (We didn't know that was the problem at the time, so we were pretty suprised when he pulled it out.)
I thought of a few more big ones as the day happened:
1. We bought him a small rocking giraffe for pleasure. Instead of rocking on it conventionally- he puts his feet on the seat, holding onto the 'ears'/handles in a standing position and rocks while trying to maintain his balance- much as teenage boys do on their bikes! He is truly ALL boy!
2. His dad comes home everyday he spends at least an hour chasing him around the house- throwing him up in the air, fake ;mounting him to the wall in different positions, doing flips off of his lap, and boyish hijinks in general. He squeals in pleasure and takes off running TOWARDS you when you're chasing him instead of AWAY from you.
3. The kid Lo-ho-hoves Rice! He would eat that and cookies for every meal if he could!
Oh yeah- Amelia- 24 is great! I love love LA-HOOOVE the girls who take care of the kids there. Whenever we come they great him with a yell and hold him whenever he needs it. He's gotten way better at being social since being there (and caught more colds- but there is good in that as well). And the alone time you get out of it is also nice! They watch them for up to 2 hours/day starting at ages 6 mo+.
The only thing I can't stand about the gym is the lack of fans! It gets ridiculously hot for me when I run - I know they have them at their other gymns, but am unsure as to why they have not thought to implement them there. Otherwise it's pretty nice. Everyone just minds their own and it's pretty relaxing (except for the occassional weirdo who smells like they've been working in a sweatshot smoking doobies all the day long wearing SKINtight bananaramas and yelling out quite loudly in utter, though unnecessary, agony as he does his squats in front of the large self-admiring mirrors- but you'll find those kind anywhere- haha)!
I'm ending my membership at the end of March just so I can start running with Slade to the park again in our Crusier when it's nice out- but for the winter months it's been awesome!
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