Flirting

So, Allen has taken an interest in "kids" of late. He always wants to "go to the park and see kids," and talk to other kids when we see them. There aren't too many "kids" close to his age at the Kingdom Hall, but there are about a million in our neighborhood.

He has spent some time recently with "Little Miss S" and "Little Miss E," ages 3 and 5, respectively. They are the daughters of friends of ours here in the neighborhood who we are working with on some fundraising opportunities for RCS. This Saturday, Brian worked with the girls' daddy on the Playhouse Palooza (the Website may not be up yet) project, and Allen and I brought the guys lunch. It was supposed to be a quick stop, but then the girls made an appearance and we ended up spending the next 2 1/2 hours there. Some highlights ...

Playing in their yard

"Little Miss E" driving one of Allen's cars on his head. Can you say flirt?

Allen test-driving "Little Miss S'" bicycle (also pictured, the girls' Gigi)

"E" also invited Allen to take a nap with her in her bed ... I'm not sure I like that too much .... So anyway, we finally lured him home (too late for his nap) with cupcakes. Here he is eating one ....

I will post pictures of our playhouse at some point, but I don't want to spoil anything so I will wait until they have been officially unveiled.

xoxo,

My new nephew

I have a new nephew. My born-to-birth-babies sister-in-law brought this gorgeous boy into the world late last evening. I won't go into the whole story, but let's just say that less than two hours after her water broke, he was in her arms; and she only pushed four times; and two of those times was in the car on the way to the hospital (where her midwife was waiting); and she delivered him in the hallway of the ER with about 15 nurses and doctors staring at her in awe. Her midwife arrived afterwards, and said, "Wow, that was the easiest baby I've ever delivered!" OK, so that was pretty much the whole story.

Without further ado, I introduce you to Elijah Collin Craig Moyer. Born 6 pounds, 11 ounces, 20 inches long, at around 10:45, March 29, 2009.

Congratulations to Steph & Collin. He's beautiful and sweet, and not a preemee (finally, Steph!). Stephanie, you truly amaze me with your ability to get your babies out with no drugs, and apparently with no medical assistance either. We love you, miss you, and can't wait to meet that little guy. Give him skillions of kisses from his Aunt Leggy, Uncle Briany, and Cousin Allen!

xoxo,

More Allenisms; progress

My kid has been especially cute lately. For instance, last night he asked me to read him Where the Wild Things Are like four times (which reminds me ... have you seen the trailer for the movie?). So this morning he's sitting on my bed, and he looks at me and says, "I'm gonna beat you up!" I opened my mouth to scold him, and then realized that he was trying to say, "I'm gonna eat you up," (or I'll eat you up) like Max and the Wild Things say. We spent the next time pretending to eat each other up.




He also randomly says, "I love you, Mommy" (and Daddy). My heart completely melts each time I hear that.

He says some other really cute things right now too ... here's a list:

• "Popstick" (chapstick)
• "Jumping balls" (cotton balls)
• "Where's the yion?" (lion) -- apparently there is usually an imaginary lion chasing him
• "Peese don't cip my nails!" (usually said while crying) -- He doesn't like me to clip his nails at all. It takes a LOT of gummy bears to get him to agree to it.
• "I'm sniffin' my butt" -- this is his response to me as he's laying on the floor and being unusually quiet. I don't know where he got this from (Daddy?), and I'm not sure that I like that he's saying it. But you've gotta admit it's pretty funny.
• He sings ... a lot. Like all the time. Usually it's the ABCs. Sometimes he breaks into the Kingdom Song "Life Without End at Last," but he usually only sings a few words and then goes back to the ABCs. Or else, he just goes around singing people's names, like "Mommy and Daddy" over and over again.

I know there are more, but I'm just drawing a complete blank right now. So I'll move onto these pictures.

As some of you know, Allen's having trouble staying in his bed all night. So, we've been trying to work with him on it, and we've told him that when he sleeps in his bed all night for lots of nights (enough that we feel it's a habit), he can get this toy ... To offer more motivation, we bought him this little progress chart, and Daddy drew a picture of a bus for him (Mommy colored it). It's now on his wall next to his crib. So far, we've only got one sticker, but at least it's something.

In other progress related news, my son is preoccupied with brushing his teeth "by mysef aw (all) day," as he told me this evening. Here are a few shots.

Lovely "baggy pants" look he's got going on ... he's too skinny and his pants are always falling off

Allen brushing his teeth, which is really more like sucking the toothpaste off and chewing on the bristles

Rinsing and spitting
Pearly whites!

xoxo,

You'll shoot your eye out, kid

Tonight Allen and I were at the meeting without Daddy. Poor Daddy is still recovering from his cold and was just beat. So Nana picked Mommy and Allen up for the meeting and off we went.

I don't know what Daddy said to Allen while he was getting him dressed for meeting, but Allen was in a fantastic mood! He dropped his cars and went right to Nana's car (we don't bring cars to meeting). He was excited about going to meeting. And for the first half of the meeting, he was pretty darn good!

He did start to get a little fidgety about half-way through, which is to be expected considering that the meeting starts at Allen's bedtime. But he did really well for the most part. We went to the back (to the Ladies' room) once to talk. I made the mistake of putting Allen down while I was talking to someone, and he managed to lock himself into a stall. Thank goodness they make those stalls easy to break into!

We went back to the seat, and Allen got ahold of Nana's glasses. This is always touchy with me because glasses are supposed to be a no-no (given that Mommy and Daddy need their glasses to see in general), but Nana usually gives into Allen's request. Anyway, Allen gets Nana's reading glasses and launches into the "hello" game. For those of you who have not had the joy of witnessing this, the "hello" game is something I came up with at a restaurant once when Allen was getting fussy. Allen was playing with my sunglasses, and I pulled them down, looked over them, and said, "Hello" in a silly low voice. Then I pulled them up above my eyes, and said "hello" in a silly high voice. Allen has never forgotten this game, and plays it ALL THE TIME.

Anyway, back to my story ... so he launches into the "hello" game in the middle of the meeting! In a normal voice (we only whisper during meeting). So here I am trying to yell at him, when he basically looks like the pictures below (these photos were staged at our house after the meeting).
I almost lost it! Doesn't he look just like the little boy in A Christmas Story??

Well, it's almost midnight and the monkey is now in bed with us (requesting yellow crackers ... don't ask ... I don't know what it means either), so I'd better sign off.

xoxo,

Beaufort Twilight Run

So, I mentioned the other day that this past Saturday was the 1st Annual Beaufort Twilight Run, which benefited the Riverview Charter School (Allen's future school, I hope). Ms. J did a ridiculously wonderful job organizing the event; therefore everyone had a fabulous time. I believe there were over 600 in attendance, and I know lots of money was raised for the school.

Anyway, on a more personal note (this is a blog about the Peanut, after all), here are some highlights of our evening.

The WeeStream (you know, like the Airstream trailer) -- a playhouse that will be auctioned off during Riverview Charter School's Playhouse Palooza 2009 (don't you want it in your backyard?)

Allen playing in the WeeStream. Allen spent the entire evening either playing in or trying to get to the WeeStream. Yes, we will be bidding on this playhouse (even though we're sponsoring/helping build another one).

We're used to Allen being a big hit when we're out-and-about, but after Saturday, we've realized that Murphy is also quite the crowd-pleaser. As we were taking Allen over to get ready for the kid's fun run, Brian noticed this adorable kid admiring Murph. So, he went back to make sure he got to pet him. Both Murphy and this sweetheart were delighted at the encounter.
Here we are nearing the finish-line. Yes, I'm carrying Allen, and yes, we're pretty much the last people in line. Hey, I don't run, and I especially don't run with a 30-pound child in my arms.

Allen making himself at home with the hot trainers from Lowcountry Health & Fitness. He just sat right down next to them and started talking.

xoxo,

Bathroom adventures part 2; I burped; My numbah

What a weekend! We had a busy day Saturday. First we went in service, and then we went to the 1st Annual Beaufort Twilight Run, which benefited the Riverview Charter School. Joli was sponsoring it, so we were manning the shop most of the evening.

Allen's favorite part of the evening was the Wee Stream (I hope to post pictures soon) -- a miniature Airstream trailer that is being raffled off to benefit the school. Allen loved it, and spent most of the evening there or trying to get there.

Another highlight was the kid's fun run that we signed Allen up for. He was very excited about it until we got in the starting line. Then he decided that Mommy should carry him and run in the race. Mom's still recovering from that.

All that running around seemed to make his cold/cough a little worse, so Sunday was spent at home convalescing. We watched a couple movies, and he played with his cars. All was fine until around 7:00 when we sat down for dinner. Allen began complaining of a "tummy egg." At first, it was all very good-natured, but then he started to get really uncomfortable. The next hour was spent with him crying, "My tummy hurts!" and grabbing at his belly.

We tried a bath (Allen's suggestion). It didn't work. We bounced him. It didn't work. We rocked him and held him. It didn't work. We called the pediatrician. He said it could be appendicitis but in all likelihood it was the beginnings of a stomach bug. He told us if Allen got no relief within a half-hour to take him to the ER. Uncle Collin suggested some massage techniques which Daddy administered. All the while poor Allen continued to cry and writhe around unable to get comfortable.

Mommy was upstairs getting dressed for the trip to the ER, so Daddy and Allen went downstairs to wait for Nana who was bringing some "fizzy water" for Allen to sip on. That's when Allen finally got some relief. As he put it, "I burped on Daddy's shirt." And, "I got sick on Daddy and the floor, and the counter, and the sink." Brian said he's never seen anything like it. I saw the aftermath, and I don't think I've ever seen that much puke at once. Poor baby.

We got him back into the bath to clean him up, and by the time Nana arrived, he was as good as new. No more "tummy egg." No more crying. He came downstairs, ate, drank, watched some of the Discovery Channel's Planet Earth, and then decided he wanted to go to bed. No more vomiting since.

Moving onto this morning ... as I have recently shared with you, mornings at my house can be, well, interesting to say the least. Here's what greeted me as I stepped out of the shower today ...

He decided to "sleep" on the floor while I cleaned up. Thanks, Kid. Then, when we got him dressed he decided he need to wear his "numbah" from the kids' fun run Saturday. He wore it until nap time.

That's all for now ... though knowing my son, he'll provide me with more fodder for the blog before the day is over ...

xoxo,

Bathroom adventures

Some of you may be aware of how much I enjoy trying to get ready in the morning these days now that Daddy is once again employed and out of the house early. I've been unsuccessful thus far in getting ready before Daddy leaves, so each morning that I need to be out of the house at a decent time is challenging, to put it mildly.

Lest you think I'm being dramatic, I'd like to share with you my morning. It was one of the more entertaining mornings in recent memory ...

Before I share this story with you, I need to warn you that some may be disturbed by some of the things I'm about to share. Those of you who have been blessed with two-year-olds -- specifically two-year-old boys -- will probably just laugh and nod knowingly. For those of you who read my story and think, "I will never let my child do that!" I say, "Just wait." Now, without further ado ...

This morning, as with other mornings, involved me negotiating with Allen to go upstairs with me. Surprisingly, this morning was fairly easy. I just had to lure him up with food (specifically, a Sunny Days snack bar and SpongeBob juice treats). We got upstairs and got him settled with his milk, snacks, cars, and Tigger and Pooh show ... for about 10 seconds.

As I was getting into the shower, he decided that he wanted to play with the "jumping balls" (cotton balls). So, he opened up my little (glass) jar (calm down everyone ... it's very sturdy and he's very careful), and busied himself with them while I was in the shower. By busying himself, I mean that he emptied the jar of the "jumping balls" and then threw them all over the room. Some of the balls had gotten wet, so one stuck to the closet door like a spit ball.

Once I was out of the shower and dried off, and the "jumping balls" were put away, he decided to get into our shower and "clean" it. Which meant that his pajama pants and shirt got wet, and he tracked dampness all over the bathroom.

After finding some random trash under the guestroom bed while I was ironing, we returned to the bathroom so Mommy could do her makeup and her hair. And so Allen could run from a lion. This involved him slamming the bathroom door, and saying, "Oh no, a yion! It's gonna get me!" and then turning off the light. And Mommy saying, "Turn on the light, please." And Allen trying to reach to turn the light back on, unsuccessfully, and Mommy turning on the light for him. This happened about three times until, against my better judgment, I told him that the lion is afraid of the light, so he should leave it on so it will go away (yes, I know I just invited a fear of the dark, but Mommy needs her makeup).

At some point during this interchange, the lion made it underneath the door and into the toilet. Which called for repeated flushing of the toilet. Mommy's repeated pleas to stop flushing the toilet and wasting water were ignored, so Mommy pulled the lion out of the toilet and dried it off (Allen joined in too). I told him the lion was nice, and it was licking my toes. He didn't notice that though, because he discovered that there was a baby lion in the toilet now.

On top of having no respect for our earth, my son apparently has no respect for animals either, because he started to flush the "baby yion" down the toilet as well. Mommy explained that it wasn't nice to try to flush it down the toilet, but that he should be nice to the baby lion. His response was, "Awww, baby yion" followed by a kiss ... right on the toilet seat.

After Mommy stopped gagging, she rescued baby lion from the toilet, closed the lid, and explained (again) that the toilet was not the place for baby lion or for Allen to play. I then told him that the baby lion jumped into the box (a small wicker box we have in our bathroom, filled with random books and toys for Allen). That finally distracted him.

Somehow, even with all of this distraction, Mommy was able to get herself and Allen ready in about an hour and fifteen minutes. And, if I do say so myself, I looked pretty darn cute!

I hope ya'll enjoyed reading about what life is like in the mornings with Allen. While it is frequently challenging and frustrating, life is never dull with him around.

xoxo,

Silly genious

Finally ... I was able to get his improved ABC skills on camera ... please enjoy!!

After that, he was just a big ham. He's so goofy. He wanted to talk to McQueen, Chick, and King (from Cars), and Nemo on the phone (we "arranged" for some of those calls). Then, when I tried to take some photos of him, he made faces at the camera:

What a goofball!!!

xoxo,

Leggy

Say cheese

We got takeout tonight, and Allen wanted "macky and cheese." He decided to feed himself, and it was, well, interesting to say the least. Why I don't let Allen tell you about it ...

And just in case you couldn't see how cheesy his face really was here's a close-up in better light and with a cheesy expression to go along with his face ...

xoxo,

Murphy gets a haircut

Mommy was sick today. I stayed in bed most of the day, so Daddy decided it was a good time to give Murphy a haircut (Mommy may have made a comment last night that Daddy was not to go near Murphy with a razor; therefore, Daddy may have taken advantage of the fact that Mommy was sound asleep upstairs).

Here's the Murph-man before he got hacked, I mean groomed:

And here is afterwards:

He no longer resembles a dustmop. And we can see his eyes. I guess those are good things. But I kind of miss his furball-ness.

xoxo,

The smartest kid ever

I am not biased. In the least. My kid just happens to be a genius. Don't believe me? Watch this (and keep in mind that he's not even 2 1/2 yet) ...

See! I told you he's a genius. Smartest.Kid.Ever. Seriously. It gets better, too (well, sort of ... I have not gotten successful video of this yet, so you just have to take my word for it). By the day after this video, he was including the letter "E" and he stopped saying, "H, I, J, I'm OK" and just said, "H, I, J, K." Granted, he started saying, "Oh no P" afterwards. But he quickly moved on from that an says, "N, O" pretty clearly. We're now missing L and M. But I'm sure he'll get those very shortly.

Some other cute/smart things he has said or done this week ...

• "Shoo bugs ... stinkin' bugs." In response to the gnats we have blessed with here lately.
• His new favorite thing -- thanks to Miss "S" is picnics. Apparently they don't lunch when she's here. They picnic. So much cooler ...
• We recently got him these Cars juice treats. He loves to bit the tires off the cars, and then say (a la Cars the movie), "Oh no! [insert car name here] blew a tire!"
• Singing, "Yay yay yay" when he knows Miss "S" is going to arrive soon.
• He finally got to "give people tacts" out in service Tuesday. He was very happy about it and proud of himself (and so were Mommy and Daddy of course).
• "Murphy, yet go of that tail!" He yells this to Murphy as he tries to grab his tail and drag him around the room.
• "I was being naughty," he told us as we left meeting Thursday night. And he was right, he was pretty naughty that night.

That's all I can think of for now. Hopefully I'll get a nice video of his current ABC skills soon!

xoxo,

Almost really gross

The other night, shortly after the ABC video was shot, Mommy and Allen were being very silly. I was bouncing him up and down in my arms. He thought it was the most hilarious thing in the world, so we decided to capture it on video ...

Now mind you, we had just finished dinner, and we had done this a few times before the camera started rolling, so I wasn't entirely surprised that he started to look a little queasy. Fortunately, he did not vomit after we stopped taping. And in fact, we started right back up again ... but as you can see from this next video, he wisened up a little and opted for a less-bumpy vantage point ...

Such a smart cookie ... already becoming aware of his limitations. Hope you enjoyed his laughter as much as we did!

xoxo,

Did you miss me?

So, I started this next post almost two weeks ago. But life has been a little crazier than usual, so I haven't gotten to finish it until now. Some updates on our crazy life before I share the cuteness that is my son helping his Daddy put together furniture ...

• My business partner (a.k.a. Mom/Nana) got sick, so I was at the shop more than usual.
• She managed to recover and then leave for a week, so I continued to be at the shop more than usual.
• We hired a new babysitter -- Miss "S" -- who is absolutely awesome. However, it means that we're back to evenings in which Allen and Mommy are joined at the hip until bedtime (makes it hard to cook dinner/pay bills/use the bathroom).
• We "sprang" forward which messed Allen up a little bit with bedtime. We had one night of it taking two hours (one of mommy singing over and over) to get to bed, and a few in which he tried to bargain with us to stay up later (this involved agreeing to the "last" book, and then demanding another one once we were done). We seem to be over that now though.

Many of the nights the past few weeks, I have not even sat down until around 10:00, and as my husband pointed out, I don't exactly blog quickly ... so I decided it was in my best interests to wait until I could start a little earlier.

So now without further ado, my adorable son ...

Helping Daddy and Organizing

We bought some stuff at Target (more on that later). One of those items was a bookcase that required "assembling." Once Allen saw Daddy's tools, he ran to get his Handy Manny tools to help out.

While having Allen "help" is sometimes a challenge, we have found that if we give him "jobs" to do, everyone is happy. Thus the lovely pictures above.

Anyway ... onto the actual organizational part of this (warning: the following is pretty darn boring. It's OK if you don't finish reading ....).

For those of you who have not visited our home, I'll give you some background ... we have a pretty small house. The first floor is an open layout. You walk in the front door to the living room which flows directly into the dining area which flows directly into the kitchen (front-to-back). We have three bedrooms upstairs, the third being used as a guestroom (fairly regularly). So, there's no room that can be used as a sanctioned play room. Allen pretty much has the entire first floor as his play area, and therefore his toys have lived in one corner of our living room.

I'm not one of those moms who wants my house to look like no children live there. I love that our home is lived in and comfortable (I hope). But I am one of those people who likes to have everything in its place. Allen's toys were getting too big for the bins we had, and it was becoming increasingly necessary for us to find some different options.

Enter Target (have I mentioned that I love Target?). For less than $200 we were able to solve our organization issues in a decor-friendly way. I think these items look like they belong in our living room. Hopefully you feel the same way ...

The storage ottomans under each window now house most of Allen's toys. The toy "corner" used to be underneath that left window. (Sorry, I didn't think to take "before" shots).

This built-in has already served many purposes in our short time here. Originally it housed our media components (its original purpose). Once Allen started pushing the buttons, we moved our books into it. Now, it houses Allen's books and the original bins that were once able to house his toys. The new faux-leather storage ottoman houses Allen's large collection of cars. And the media components are now housed in that cabinet to the right with the child-lock.

The old toy corner. Now we have this lovely faux-leather storage ottoman that holds many of his toys ...

And here is the bookcase that Allen helped Daddy put together. It now holds all of Mommy and Daddy's books.

xoxo,