Happy

We tagged along with my parents today, and visited Hilton Head congregation where Dad gave the talk.

Allen was dapper in grey pin-striped pants and matching vest.

And he was over-the-top good for the entire meeting.  Sat down, got his "Bible Book" out, and found his favorite pictures (Jonah and the Big Fish and the story of David killing the bear and saving the lamb).

We accepted hospitality and had a scrumptious lunch at Truffles (side note: I totally typed scrumptious before I even looked at the Truffles homepage ... weird, eh?). I had the Portabella sandwich which was heavenly.

Allen was alternately amusing and atrocious at lunch ... he entertained himself by talking to himself in the mirror behind us, wielding the fork dangerously (and trying to get the steak knife), and "waiting" under the table. He also announced that he had "pink eyes," but that he was all better now. He agreed that Mommy took good care of him while he was sick.

Since we were in the Bluffton area (shopping mecca for us Beaufortonians), we had plans to go to Target, Kroger, and World Market. As we discussed where to go first, I said, "We'd better go to Target first to make the kid happy." To which Allen replied:

I am happy.

Jehovah [God] makes me happy.

Hearts immediately melted. He made out like a bandit at Target.

In the car on the way home, Nana was cleaning off his hands (he had been eating Funions ... he has a strange love-hate relationship with them), and when she was done, he said:

Now I'm good to go.

Too much. Just too much.

Now I sit in bed in a Benadryl haze with the Eagles game on, and my husband next to me watching very animatedly (he talks to the television almost non-stop, and occasionally gestures or dances around ... depends on how well the game is going).

I'm going to go to bed now because I'm getting up to workout with my personal trainer at 6:00 a.m. (yes, I am that crazy).

xoxo,

AHC

Reading, Smarty Pants, Sweetheart

Now that Daddy is once again gainfully employed, Mommy and Allen are getting back into a routine. Since I've been under the weather lately and it's been colder out, we've been reading a lot of books.

Yesterday, he decided he wanted to read Chicka Chicka Boom Boom and Llama Llama Mad at Mama. We brought them downstairs, and I sat down to read them to him. He had other plans though. He stood and "read" me Chicka Chicka Boom Boom, and then decided to read Llama Llama to me as well. Since we already have video of him reading Chicka, I didn't video tape that, but I did get him reading Llama Llama.

It's kind of a long video, and it's not as cute if you aren't familiar with the book, but it's charming nonetheless, and I decided it needed to be posted. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did (and Allen. He spent about an hour yesterday afternoon watching the video. He's so vain).

After he read the books to me, he asked me to read Chicka to him. I read it, and then we looked at the inside back cover, which has all the entire alphabet. I was very impressed to discover that he recognized about 85-90% of the letters. He calls the letter U "umbella" (umbrella) because he has another toy that has "U for Umbrella". What a little smarty pants I have on my hands!

Also, he's been very excited about going in field service lately. He wants to give "people tacts" (tracts) and tell them about "Hovah" (Jehovah). He also announced to us the other night as he got into bed that "Hovah made moon and stars" (and he shook his finger at us for emphasis). I'm so proud of him.

Finally, I was reading an article on Babycenter about teaching your toddler manners, and was impressed to see that Allen is ahead of the curve with this. The article said that by age 4 children can sometimes say "please" and "thank you". I'm so proud to know that Allen says both fairly regularly. In fact, he was ahead of the curve on most of the "manners" that the article discussed.

OK, I'm done bragging for now. Have a fabulous weekend, my friends. I plan to continue my Disney recap and enjoy some Mexican food tomorrow night with my friend T and her beautiful son, Micai. Oh, and we'll be giving people "tacts" tomorrow too!

xoxo,

The sweet, the hilarious, and the naughty

My own version of the good, the bad, and the ugly ...

It's been an interesting couple days ... and a really rough night. It's after 11:30, I'm on my second glass of wine, and I'm still stressed out ... but more on that later.

Since I'm so exhausted, I'm just going to post a list of the "gems" we've heard or seen from Allen over the past couple days:

The Sweet

• Called all his loved ones this morning and talked with each of them (except for Kissen who was having her brunch today). Told Papa "yuv ou" unprompted. That's the first time he's done that with anyone other than Mommy or Daddy. Also told everyone else "yuv ou" I think.
• Talked to "baby" Owen, and laughed each time Owen said something. Then said, "again" every time he said anything. Also loved talking to "Aubey." Having no cousins myself, I'm thrilled to see that he already loves Owen and Aubrey so dearly.
• Finally said "No thank you" instead of just "NO."
• Talked to the people sitting in front us at the movies before it started (also talked to them during the movies, but that falls somewhere between sweet and naughty). Introduced Mommy and Daddy and told them about the "chocate cookie" he was eating.
• Said, unprompted, "Mommy pretty. Mommy sweet."
• Says, "Awwww, Mimi."
• Told us that "Hovah" made the moon.

The Hilarious

• "Mommy, pinch hiney peese!" This is what I heard last night while Daddy was getting him ready for bed. And at other times since (particularly when changing his diaper).
• "Nana in the potty," he informed the people sitting in front of us at the movies today.
• Pretended to take mommy's temperature by sticking the thermometer on my butt (thank goodness I was wearing pants).

The Naughty

• Slammed his head into the chairs along the row we were sitting in at the meeting (knocking a couple off their back legs).
• Walked down the row to talk to the people sitting at the other end.
• Ran away from me (after being disciplined), taking off for the other side of the kingdom hall (during the meeting) which forced me to run after him trying to grab him and resulting in me tripping him and causing him to fall on the floor.
• Screamed "NO" several times during the meeting.

Thus, the two glasses of wine needed after the meeting.

xoxo,

Peanuts, Stories

Allen has been eating peanuts today. I don't know why. He's a strange kid, and every once-in-a-while he breaks away from his tried-and-true snacks and asks for something random in the pantry. Today it was a tin of mixed nuts that only had peanuts in it.

In part, he enjoyed covering and uncovering the tin with the lid. It provided him with a great deal of entertainment. But he also ate a few.

At this point, you are probably thinking, "This is the most boring post Allegra has ever written." And you'd be right, except that it leads to possibly the funniest thing our child has ever said.

So, we are upstairs reading to him tonight (he got to read two stories before the "Bible Book" because he did a really good job changing his attitude about bedtime), and all of a sudden, he sits up straight, reaches down to his thigh/butt, and says,

"Uh-Oh.There's a peanut in my butt."

We don't know what prompted this statement, or what he felt in his diaper, but it was not a peanut. Nor was it poopy, like he then said it was. Perhaps it was a wrinkle in his diaper or his pajama pants; perhaps it was an itch. I don't care what it was because it was just freakin' hilarious!

Allen is really into telling us "stories." Basically it's a lot of gibberish with some familiar names, words, and phrases thrown in. Occasionally, we can actually decipher what he's attempting to tell us. It's fabulously entertaining because in addition to the inflections in his voice, he gestures ... a lot. We're hoping to get this on video for you shortly, but we seem to be getting the camera a few seconds too late so far.

To share some examples, today he and Daddy stopped to visit Mommy and Nana at the shop. Nana was pricing some items, and she asked Allen to help her. He did indeed help, and he was quite good about it, so the praise was heaped upon him. A few minutes later, he was sitting next to me playing with the phone, and he decided he wanted to call Papa. We did, and he told him that, "I hepped Nana!" Obviously he was very proud of himself.

And this evening during our bedtime ritual, he was in my arms gesturing "round an round an round" and telling me some really amazing story, and then clear as day he said, "Hovah lives in heaven" and pointed up. Sometimes, I am so proud of him my heart hurts.

He also has started telling family "yuv you." So sweet I want to cry.

On that note, I am tired, I don't feel well, and the power is flickering (bad weather here). So, yuv you, and I'll share more with you tomorrow!

xoxo,

Ode to Owen

So, as most of you know, Owen is our nephew (son of Stephanie and Collin; brother of Aubrey). You may remember that Owen was born about three weeks early and was a pretty sickly little newborn. He had to wear a heart monitor at all times; had some reflux and apnea problems; and for awhile we were all silently very worried about the little guy. Well, that was before he started eating solid food.

Here's a shot of Owen when he was a newbie:

And this is the kiddo now:

And this is why he look so healthy:

This child is huge now (I mean that in a good way, of course). He's about 9 months younger than Allen, and he weighs 3 pound more than him (and is quite a bit shorter too). He's adorable though. So happy all the time, and such a good eater. Now that he's walking, I'm sure he'll slim down some more too.

But I digress. Back to his cuteness. I was so pleasantly surprised to find that Owen loved his Aunt Leggy (that's me, for those of you who don't know my nickname). Every time I came into the room, he ran towards me and body-slammed me until I picked him up. Or he'd climb over people to reach me on the sofa. His whole face lit up. You have to understand that until I had Allen, I really wasn't a kid person. Kids didn't like me ... they sensed my fear and just cried when I held them. So, Owen is the first kid besides my own who actually liked me! I was so excited.

But then we started to notice a pattern. Every single time I held him, Owen managed to ... um ... well, he copped a feel. He grabbed my boobs. Don't scoff ... if it had been once or twice out of all the times I held him over the week we were there, I would have said, "Coincidence!" But every time he caught sight of me, he wanted me to hold him. And every time I held him, his hands managed to find my boobies. No joke! Oh well, at least he was happy to see me, right?

Anywho ... being that Owen is only about 16 months old, he doesn't really talk a whole lot yet (he says a few words that Mom and Dad understand, but not those of us who only see him every few months). In general, he tends to communicate in a series of grunts and screams (like even when he calls his dad, it comes out "DAAA"). And in sign language that his Mommy taught him. I wish wish wish that I could have caught it on video, but at least I have some stills I can share with you. And let me tell you that if this kid wanted a car and signed the word "please" to me, I'd probably give it to him. It literally makes your heart melt!

"Please"

"Thank you"

Telling us where Jehovah lives (technically not sign language as in ASL, but still adorable)

And, if you say to him, "Owen, do you need a spanking?" He puts his hand to his chest and gasps. It's hilarious.

Owen, baby, Aunt Leggy and Uncle Brian miss you and send you tons of kisses. And we miss and love you too, Collin, Steph, Aubrey, Missy, Tim, Annie, and Pam.

xoxo,

Good Start, I hope

I almost forgot this really sweet story. As you know, we read the Bible Story book to him every night before bed. And we've been trying to review the story with him each night. Tonight we read about Timothy and Paul. So after we read, we went over who was who in the illustration. And then I asked him if Timothy loved Jehovah, and he said "yes." So I asked him if he loves Jehovah, and he said, "yes." What a good little boy. I hope this is a good start for him, and that it continues.

Goodnight again!