Category Archives: Toddler Age

Words!

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There must be something special about being 18 months old now (I mean, other than going to nursery). Paul has reach a few new stages. Thankfully, he’s back to napping; being sick last week helped convince him that naps are still nice. But I think I already mentioned the new stage of frustration. I realized this week that it is not all language related because (drum roll please….) Paul is saying words!

It has been a gradual realization. I started noticing that his babbles sounded remarkably like the words I had just said. And then I started to hear the words out of context: yes, he is definitely saying actual words. He has always said “dada” and “ball” and “Mooooo” (for more and milk both). But now the words are definitely clear.

Words I’ve noticed in the past few days/weeks:

  • Mom-ma
  • Dad-da
  • Go
  • Crack-er
  • Ball
  • Paul

I will listen very careful and report any others I hear! This is fun. I get very excited when the word he says sounds like an actual word. I’m sure he’s excited that I’m understanding too, although he’s more eager to sign the word than to say it.

Sorry, Closed

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It’s interesting how we remember general conferences by where we were during each one.

Eighteen months ago I spent the first session of conference (4 to 6 a.m. Sunday morning Australia time) trying to keep my mind off my progressing labor. (Only twelve hours later I held my newborn boy!) I recall Sister Beck’s talk to the mothers with fondness because I was a new mother first the first time that weekend.

Then a year ago I spent the week after conference (since it was delayed a day) listening to all the talks on my computer as I went about my week. I remember listening to Elder Uchtdorf’s and Elder Eyring’s talks over and over again.

Six months ago I went to my parent’s house on Sunday and we had a birthday cake for Paul’s first birthday. I remember Paul’s delight every time the choir started to sing.

This time the whole family zoned out on the couch in cold-induced delirium as the prophet and apostles spoke. I unfortunately don’t recall many of the messages, except it seemed everyone was talking about temples.

Yes, we were all sick. Again. Will the winter cold season never end?

Which is worse:

  • holding my feverish and miserable son while also feeling feverish and miserable
  • letting my energy-filled son hit me on my head with his toys all day long because I’m feverish and miserable and I don’t have the energy (or a voice) to say “please don’t” over and over again

Ever since I woke up this morning, the phrase “Sorry, Closed” has been going through my head. Why today? Because today was the day my husband (who has also been sick) got up before dawn and flew to Manhattan for the next four days. (He did offer to stay home, bless his heart.)

My mind has been telling my body all day to just put up a big sign: “Sorry, I’m Closed Today.” Hence, the toys hitting me on the head. All. Day. Long. (Apparently, the last 48 hours of almost-constant sleep helped Paul to get better. I’m glad. I really am.)

But we all know, moms never close, do we?

Off to put the laundry away. Maybe.

Helping

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I had to change the batteries of Paul’s jungle music box. (He loves it and I do to: he amuses himself at night if he doesn’t want to go to sleep and in the morning when I haven’t come in yet).

He wanted to do it himself (after I was done).

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The Stage of Frustration

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Paul has reached a new stage: frustration. He can’t talk, but he thinks he can. So he has lots of mini-tantrums every day. He says: “Goggol bubble mmmmmlophble.” When I don’t do what he wants, he repeats himself louder. Then he starts to scream.

On the other hand, he also knows about 25 signs. Apple, cracker, help, please, thank you, milk, more, banana, cookie, shoes, socks, play, ball, eat, water, bath, and I’m sure I’m missing a number of them. When he signs one of those things and I can’t do what he wants, he screams.

I know this is stage. And I don’t want to indulge his every whim. I’ll give him what he wants when I can. But some days it’s a bit frustrating on this end too.

Paul, the world won’t end when you don’t get what you want! How long will it take you to learn this?

On the other hand, I got him a hat for when Mommy and Daddy are working out in the yard and it’s sunny. Here he is eating his lunch on the deck Saturday. (For some reason, I couldn’t get him to smile at first. Maybe the sun was in his eyes.)

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Musings on Cleaning with a Kid

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I told Paul he could stay in the family room, playing with his toys: I was going to clean the bathrooms. I put the Scrubbing Bubbles container on the corner of the kitchen table and grabbed a few rags from the laundry room.

In the ten seconds I was gone, Paul grabbed the cleanser. (Apparently, he is now tall enough to reach things on the table. Make a note of that.) Then he took off the lid (I have no idea how he was successful so quickly) and went into the bathroom. When I walked into the bathroom, he was rubbing the green nozzle of the bathroom cleaner on the lid of the toilet. (He knew the bubbles had something to do with the nozzle, but wasn’t sure how to get the bubbles out.)

Wow. I was blown away.

Now, I’d love for you to suppose this is a reflection on how often I clean the toilets. Trust me – that is not the case. It’s been at least two weeks since I cleaned the bathrooms and the time before that was, I think, when we first moved in (three weeks before that). I think I just have the most clean-aware child on the face of the planet. Or maybe he’s just going through a very serious “I want to imitate Mommy” stage.

After I sprayed the cleanser on the countertops, Paul grabbed the hand towel and tried to reach the counters himself. As I Swiffer-ed the bathroom floors, Paul tried to steal the Swiffer from me. When I scrubbed the toilets, he wanted to take the brush away from me and splash it in the toilet too. (I didn’t let him, and he was very sad.)

(Paul did dip his finger in some of the Scrubbing Bubbles and put it in his month. Ooops. Trust me, Paul, that’s not whipped cream! I think he realized that when he made such a face…)

I don’t think this interest in cleaning is normal for an (almost) 18-month-old. Or is it?

Don’t get me wrong — I’d love to encourage it. I personally hate cleaning the bathrooms (among other things) and I dreaded Saturday mornings  as a kid when my sister and I were forced to clean (although we made up for it by singing “It’s a Hard-Knock Life” the whole time because our “mean mom” was like Miss Hannigan when she made us do chores). I look forward to the day when I can make cleaning the bathrooms a weekly chore for my son and not for me.  Wouldn’t it be nice if he actually liked to clean?!

I was going to post this little anecdote on Paul’s Page (where I post weekly updates and stories about Paul). But then I was hoping that some of the other moms out there can share their thoughts. At what age were your kids competent at cleaning? Did they ever express an interest in cleaning with you? How do I keep him interested in helping (even though, right now, he really isn’t helping)?

Sunshine!

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I had a great weekend. Daddy was home, finally, so I enjoyed playing with him. He makes me laugh a lot! He is a lot more fun than Mommy. Mommy is boring.

On Saturday I went to the store with Mommy. Then, instead of taking a nap (I just kept screaming for a long time, so Mommy got me up), I went outside with Mommy and Daddy. I wasn’t wearing my coat. There was this very bright thing in the sky. I had to squint. But I helped Mommy and Daddy rake the leaves. There were lots of leaves. I liked to run through them after Daddy got them all into a nice neat pile.

Mommy doesn’t have a picture of me running through the leaves because she was busy raking the leaves. (She wants me to tell you that it really is almost Springtime. There are leaves to rake because they were never raked last autumn before the snow came.)

Mommy and Daddy and I raked all afternoon, until I reminded them that it was dinner time. I think the front yard looks very nice now. But Daddy put all the leaves in a big bag, so I can’t walk through them anymore. It’s really sad.

Then I ate dinner and wasn’t feeling well, so I threw it up. I don’t think I can eat scrambled eggs, because I think that happened the last time I ate scrambled eggs too.

I didn’t feel very well all day Sunday either. I bumped my head on the bench during Sacrament meeting and I was very sleepy so Daddy held me close for the rest of the meetings.

Daddy isn’t here today, but Mommy and I went back outside to rake. I ran around the back yard. And Mommy showed me this really fun new thing called a slide. She has to help get to the top but — WHEEE!!! — I love to come down again. I laugh a lot.

I’m taking my nap right now. It feels good to rest after a busy morning.

Back to Napping

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My goal was to post an update on Paul on Sunday, Monday, or Tuesday each week. Now it is already Wednesday. How time flies!

Paul got sick along with Mommy and Daddy last week. While he wasn’t coughing, sneezing, and otherwise acting sick, he certainly acted like he felt miserable. I mentioned in the last update that he was phasing out his naps — but then last week there was a day when he slept for more than 4 hours during the day! He was definitely acting unwell. He’s better now, but he is back to taking a two-hour nap. Only time will tell how long he’ll keep that up.

Daddy was working from home last week. Paul absolutely loved to have Daddy around, and always looked for him over Mommy. When Mommy tried to take him to do other things, he cried and whined for Daddy. Daddy is much more fun! Paul is definitely a Daddy’s boy. Daddy is traveling again this week, but Paul will love to have him home Thursday and Friday.

Other than being a bit whiny and testing Mommy’s patience everyday, Paul is still the delightful boy he’s always been.

Winnie the Pooh

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I visited another thrift shop this week. They had a sale on kid’s clothes and I got a few things. It is amazing how many of the thrift shop items (for boys, at least) are Winnie-the-Pooh related! I got Paul’s chair a few weeks ago and now I got some jeans and a Winnie-the-Pooh outfit. If only it were Halloween, Paul would be all set!

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I’d never buy an outfit like this off the store rack, but at a thrift shop for less than $1? Sure. I think he is adorable, although this outfit makes him look more like a baby. Lately, he’s been looking a lot like a little boy, so I’m OK with that reversal!

Paul loves to play in the closets in his room; that’s what he’s doing in those pictures above.

In other news, Paul is phasing out his nap. His only nap. A few days in the last few weeks he hasn’t napped at all when I put him in his bed; other days he sleeps just one hour before awaking. But then he sleeps for more than two hours Sunday afternoon, so maybe he’s not completely done with the napping.

I am in mourning! What will I do without that precious two-hour break in the middle of the day?

Paul’s First Week (At the New House)

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I have a friend who sends an email/photo update to her parents and in-laws every single Sunday, without fail. Since this website is Paul’s journal, as well as my “update” to family, I really must do a better job of taking pictures of Paul and sending them on!

General Update

  • Paul’s future occupation will probably be janitor. He loves to pick things up to throw away or put away. He loves to “sweep” with the broom.
  • Paul tumbled down a full flight of stairs this week. Mommy panicked and thought he was going to be broken — but he only had a few bruises and a rug burn on his face and back.
  • Paul hates the car wash. He screams and kicks and otherwise is very, very sad. I’m not sure why. I always loved it as a kid. But, I must remember to wash the car when Paul is not in the backseat.
  • Daddy left at night to go to airport last week (he usually leaves in the morning), so Paul and I walked him to the door. I thought Paul would have fun waving “bye bye.” He actually was quite upset and cried for a minute after I closed the door. “Bye-bye” must be too permanent; most of the people we tell “bye-bye” are strangers.

Photo Update

Paul was a ham for the camera before breakfast one morning. Paul looks more and more like a little boy and less and less like a baby.

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Paul likes to jam.

Good News (Belated)

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On January 29, we closed on our first house!

Pictures have been officially requested from my mother, who is home sick and hasn’t seen it, so I have found some time to get them together.

The weekend after we closed, we were fixing the to-be-expected things – replacing locks, cleaning the dirt and dust from months of being vacant, throwing away the previous owners’ garbage, etc. Then this last week we had the hardwood floors refinished: I think they turned out marvelously! We’ve been packing this weekend. Now that we can get into the house, I get to wipe away walls of dust from the sanding of the floors. If you want to see what I mean about dust, see this video of Paul helping me clean it in just one small corner.

I’ve been spending lots of time over at the new house and I can’t wait until we move there for good on Friday! Away with apartment living! Four bedrooms, a family room, and a yard, here we come!

Note my little cutie in most of these pictures. He loves cameras!

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The facade

(When I started walking away from Paul, he started yelling at me. He wasn’t sure if it was a game or not. Then I came back and he did not want to go back inside! You can tell how warm it is: he doesn’t have a jacket. Besides the fact that one foot of snow, everywhere, melted in three days.)

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The view in the front door (Swiffer in the background...)

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The living room, with doors open into the dining room

(Sorry for all the spots. I didn’t do anything to these pictures other than make them small for the web….Looks pretty bad!)

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The family room

I wasn’t crazy about the hardwood in the family room at first. But since we got them refinished, I love the look! I’m not sure I’d change it. I guess we’ll see how it looks with the furniture in it.

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The kitchen

I am so excited for so much (comparatively) cabinet space!

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The deck

The back yard is so huge. I’m quite excited. This is also a swing set with slide at the back of the yard. (My picture didn’t turn out.)

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Foyer from above

I like the half-open foyer. Two story foyers are also nice, but I like how this works out (it gives me a sitting room in the master bedroom!)

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Part of the master bedroom and sitting room

I suppose it’s a good problem that I can’t fit the whole room in a picture, huh? I like the little sitting room attached to the master bedroom. It looks cozy.

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Tub in master bath

I’m not a bath kind of girl, usually. But in our current apartment, the master bath only has a shower, and I’ve found myself wanting a tub on some “I’m so exhausted!” nights. I’m glad the master bath has both! And this looks fun.

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Room that will probably be Paul's room

Again, it’s hard to get perspective: the ceiling is peaked (as was the master bedroom) and it makes the room feel so much bigger.

Well, I hope that satiates the curious. I’ll try to post again to let you know how the move goes on Friday!

I suppose that means I should go pack so we’ll be ready, huh…