Category Archives: Early Childhood

Grandma Peggy and Papa Paul’s Visit: A Night and Day in Chicago

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Grandma Peggy and Papa Paul came to stay with me! I had so much fun with them that I still keep talking about them!

We spent a lot time in the car the first night. But that’s because we went to Chicago. We walked down the street to go to dinner together. Grandma Peggy gave me a puppy that we called Billy. I wore Billy on my back and Grandma held on to his leash so Billy wouldn’t get lost while we walked around. there were so many things to look at, I forgot to look at where I was going! But I  knew Grandma was right there with me.

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I was pretty tired after dinner. I got to sleep in a big soft cozy bed all by myself!

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Mommy says she wants me to put in this picture of Navy Pier. She says she took it when she and Grandma and Daddy went for a walk. I didn't see it because I stayed at the hotel and slept in that nice big bed! (Grandpa stayed with me.)

The next morning, I woke up and I was still in the nice big cozy bed! I hadn’t fallen out!

It was a special day because then we went to ride on a boat! I was very excited to see the boat. The walk to get to the boat seemed to take forever and I wanted to be carried. Mommy says it was four blocks. Is that a lot?


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We got on the boat and it was exciting!

Then I was ready to get off. Mommy laughed and said that it had only been five minutes and it was a 90 minute tour. That sounded like a very long time!

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I played with my sunglasses.

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I looked at the water.

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I sat on Mommy's and Daddy's and Grandma Peggy's and Papa Paul's laps.

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Mommy and Daddy and Grandma Peggy took pictures of buildings. Some person was talking about the buildings. I was bored, for the most part. But then we got off the boat and went and ate food! And then we went in a car again. We drove to a Museum called the Museum of Science and Industry.

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I had fun seeing a big tractor

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and I loved the cow. Cows say "Moo!"

I also saw a huge train and a huge airplane. I got to go in both of them. Mommy didn’t take pictures, though. Silly Mommy!

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I also saw a fun toy train set. I watched it for a long time.

Then we went home. That was the end of our day in Chicago. I slept well that night, even if I wasn’t in that huge bed anymore.

ETA (Dec 2011): Post has been post-dated to reflect date pictures were taken. Originally posted July 2010.

Mother’s Day (2 1/2 Year) Pictures

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On Mother’s Day (almost two months ago already), I dressed Paul in the suit I’d found at a thrift store and took some pictures of my adorable little man. Yes, this suit is far too big. I’ve put it away for another year or so until it will fit him properly. But I did get some pictures!

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Paul playing a toot-a-roo.

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ETA (Dec 2011): Post has been post-dated to reflect date pictures were taken (originally posted July 2010)

Paul’s Reading

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I like to read and I’ve been wanting to make reading with Paul a special project, so I decided to read 1000 different books with Paul before he starts kindergarten. I started last December, and I though it would be hard. 1000 book sounds like a lot! But just a few months later, we’re almost to 300. It’s so easy to add a few more picture books to the library bag when we’re there, and Paul has loved going through all the books and finding new favorites. We read most books (of those 300) more than three times before returning them to the library, and a handful each week are read more than a dozen times. He loves to read!

I’ve been taking lots of videos of Paul reading his books. Here are just two. The first is the very first one I took, back in January, when I found him, unexpectedly, emptying the library bag to read the books himself. Paul is reading an opposite book and Little Boy by Allison McGhee. That second book refers to a big box on each page, and I think I can hear Paul saying “big box.” Video taken January 25, 2010.

And then, here is my absolute favorite video. Paul is reading himself Chicka Chicka Bom Boom. He loves the pages at the beginning and end with the letters. And you’ll notice his sensitivity to others: he kisses the letters better when they get ouchies. His favorite letter is blacked-eyed P. He also loves BOOMing. Video taken about April 2, 2010.

Cache River Wild Life Area (AKA Jumping in Puddles)

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It has been a long time since our family went anywhere, so we took advantage of the no Sunday responsibilities weekend on Easter and drove to southern Illinois to the Cache River Wild Life Area — a state park. Mommy and Daddy took some pictures and Paul enjoyed going for walks and jumping in puddles. Mommy really wanted to see an Easter sunrise and she got her wish!

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About to Jump (taken April 3, 2010 by Mommy)

We also gave him a (very cheap) digital camera and he had fun taking some of his own pictures.

Nice job, Paul!

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(I would say maybe he needs practice focusing, but I promise, this camera is so cheap I don’t know if better focus is possible!!)

Paul’s New Word (AKA Toilet Humor Has Begun Already)

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Ryan and I watched a movie one night a few weeks ago called Parenthood in which an eight-year-old boy was singing a song he’d made up about diarrhea. For some reason, Ryan brought it up during dinner, I think to rub in the fact that some day our little boy will be creating his own creative songs about bodily functions and waste.

“Diarrhea!” Paul laughed, since he could see it made us laugh too.

That would have been fine. OK, one day of a new word. Then suddenly, last night at dinner, two weeks later, in the middle of his bite of pizza, Paul called out very loudly, “Diarrhea!” Without any reminder, he suddenly remembered his new word!

Since he kept saying his new word very loudly, in a moment of brilliance insanity, Mommy decided to take the matter in her own hands and explain just why diarrhea isn’t a word we talk about at the dinner table. After all, Paul didn’t even know what it was! Surely he’d be disgusted to realize he’d been talking about poop.

Unfortunately, Mommy’s plan failed miserable, as you can probably figure out. The rest of dinner was filled with Paul’s conversation thus:

“DIARRHEA! Diarrhea is icky poop. Really icky poop. DIARRHEA! DIARRHEA! Icky poop. DIARRHEA!”

And then, of course, after dinner, Paul wanted the diarrhea to come out. He sat on the toilet for 10 minutes saying, “Diarrhea! Come out!” Hey, at least he’s back to sitting on the toilet!

Great. I thought I had a few years before Cub Scouts’ toilet talk. Apparently, it has begun.

Happy Boy

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I was talking pictures of every room in the house for our home inventory file and Paul thought he’d smile for the camera. We’ve been playing outside for hours every day this week, and we’re in today because of snow! Boo hoo, Chicago!

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“Take a picture of my train too, Mommy!”

Ouchies

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(1) While carrying the step stool across the bedroom, Paul tripped. His chin and neck landed on the stool’s corner. Ouchie!

(2) Paul decided to try to talk on the pay phone at the library, despite my calls to come back right now! When he reached for the receiver, it fell and hit him in the nose. Ouchie!

(3) Paul likes to sit on the rocking ottoman in his room and look out the window at the world. The other day, he fell off and the ottoman tipped on top of him, cutting his leg. Ouchie!

(4) I was a big meanie and before Paul’s bath, I took off the bandaid from ouchie number 3. This was, apparently, the biggest outchie of all. He cried like you couldn’t believe, yelling “Ouchie! Ouchie!”

Note: All of these ouchies were on the same day. It was just a bad day, I guess.

Why Do I Love This Picture So Much?

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Painted by Paul, February 2010

I am not a “post it on the fridge Mom,” probably because my mother never was. But this painting by my son has been in the place of honor for weeks. I love it.

Paul asked me to take a turn, so I added the red border around it. He did the rest. I love how the colors are washed out in the middle. I love the vibrancy of the purple and the green (it doesn’t show up well in the scan). I just love knowing how much fun Paul had in painting it. It is his masterpiece for age 2 and a half.