The Griff

There are some things about our Goofy 3.5 year old that must be chronicled.

Do not eat the cookies he decorates. You have been warned.

The child cannot be trusted around frosting. Or sweets of any kind. This holiday season he took to sneaking a candy cane off the tree and disappearing downstairs for a few moments to hastily cram the forbidden fruit into his mouth.

Of course, the moment he came back upstairs his sticky face and hands would betray his crime. Also, he would confess without even being asked a question. Do not tell him your secrets.

Too bad for him I won't actually let him play football while he's on our health insurance plan.

The child is silly. Like, seriously silly. Always. He has an overactive imagination that, on the one hand gives us this great game of Mama & Baby Penguin (explained below), but on the other hand contributes to his frequent nightmares and deep fear of the dark.

Mama & Baby Penguin
In this game (or reenactment, call it what you will), G rushes straight to his bed after his bath and curls up in a ball with his towel covering him. I come in and envelop him until he's ready to "hatch" and then he pops out of his "egg" and says "Hi Mama Penguin!" At which point I can now dry him off and he can put on his pajamas. This happens every night at our house and is partially based off of a book the kids have called A Penguin Pup for Pinkerton.

Mama's Boy, 1,000%

Griffin loves his Daddy, even though Bryan jokes that he's the last man on the totem pole with his son. But Bubby looooooooooooves his Mama. And I used to find that a smidgen frustrating when he was smaller and needier. But I no longer feel that way.

One day the scales will tip back. Mama is no good at throwing baseballs or playing tackle/tickle (his favorite game to play with Bryan), so I will take my dozens of kisses a day now and hopefully save the sweet memory of them until, many many many many many years from now, I get a grandchild who will love me with the same unconditional fervor. (Or a niece/nephew - hint hint Nic).

Speaking of kisses, G has taken to counting our kisses. I usually get 10 at a time. I think it's because he loves counting. LOVES. He counts everything.

I get flowers at least once a week.

If there is a flower on the grass, Griffin will pick it and give it to me. Without fail. Often, on the way home from school with the babysitter, he'll pick a few pretty weeds and have them in a cup of water waiting for me when I get home.

It is adorable. It is heart melting. It is awesome.

Little boys can be messy, dirty, and smelly. They can play rough. They often forget their own strength. They are quickly swayed by their emotions.

They are also sweet. And kind. And loving.

Because really? All kids are those things.

The List (and other things)

First off, thank you to everyone who gave us baby boy name suggestions. We considered them all (well, except for some of the ones my Dad suggested - like Vahl, really Dad??) and found a few on our own.

So here is the Official LIST. Names are in alphabetical order.
Dexter
Griffin
Kian (Key-An)
Lucas
Milo
Pierce
Ronan

I feel much better now that we have a list. I have a couple of favorites, but there's currently no front-runner. If "&" is a boy we'll just wait to meet him and see which name fits him the best.

And now "other things"

Yesterday Penelope started kissing the dog. Luckily she had her paci in, otherwise that would have been just gross. Harley-Quinn's been bathed this month, but she's not exactly clean - although P gets enough dog hair on her and in her mouth just by being in the house. No amount of vacuuming can get all the pet hair Harley & Flea shed every day.

A couple of days ago we inherited some cool toys from my Aunt Diana whose kids have outgrown their baby/toddler toys. So Pen got a kitchen, games, potato head, and a ton of other cool toys. She's in love with the kitchen set, especially the oven and microwave which make noises when you press the buttons. This morning she brought me the doctor kit with a stethoscope, thermometer, and other doohickey, and made me listen to her heartbeat over and over again. She hates it when the doctor does it (although we have a new female pediatrician so maybe next visit she'll be more cooperative). Playing with the toys might also help her feel more comfortable when it comes to exam time - who knows.

So thanks Aunty Di for the toys! :)

Oh, one of the games we inherited is a matching game. It's meant for slightly older kids, but I'm using one of the boards now just for fun. Penny can already match half of the pictures! She's a genius! (That or she REALLY loves frogs, dogs, butterflies, and suns and so already knows those well enough to be able to match the pictures)... we'll go with genius.

I will endeavor to take pictures today so I can do a picture update. P's getting big (and so am I!).

Good morning baby

I'm spending the day doing massive amounts of silly homework (my assignments for this class are beyond ridiculous) but I decided to take a quick break so I could tell you, my beloved blog reading audience, about the phenomenally cute thing Penelope does every morning.

If I've mentioned this before you'll have to forgive me, but it's just so damn cute!

Every morning she wakes up in our bed (see previous blogs on why she's in our bed every morning - damn teething). Anyway, she smiles, chatters, and then makes her way over to me where she proceeds to lift up my shirt, expose my pregnancy belly, and give it a big kiss. This morning "&" received no less than 6 kisses from his/her big sister. She also placed her ear on my belly as if she was listening to the baby... she'll also hug the baby and poke the baby.

It's so sweet :)

Ok, back to homework.

Something from this morning...

This morning we all wake up and I ask Penny "where's my morning kiss?"

So she leans over and kisses... Daddy.

Yeah.

I eventually got my morning kiss, but he got two.

I took video today...

But haven't uploaded it yet. I'm only telling you this because I need to be held accountable and if I don't put it out there it'll sit dormant on the video camera until Penelope's second birthday.

It's really cute.

Anyway, we have some new firsts. Today was the VERY FIRST TIME Penelope has EVER fed herself. I am so beyond excited... part of me was convinced I was going to be feeding her until she was 13. But nope! Tonight at dinner she picked up a tortilla chip (we were at a Mexican Restaurant) that we had given her to play with (she likes to crumble them into little pieces and throw them on the floor - we are the bane of all waitstaff). Anyway, she picked it up AND PUT IT IN HER MOUTH! And then ate it! And picked up another one and ate some more!

I seriously got teary eyed at the restaurant. I wish I was kidding.

Other new-ish stuff (I cannot remember if I've blogged about this before and am way too lazy to go back and check).
*Playing with the shaker egg... so we've been going to music classes for ages. She dances and is absolutely fascinated with guitars, but has never really taken the shaker egg and given it a good shake. But today (incidentally, NOT during music class) she picked one up and went to town. Shaking it to her own special rhythm, and even clapping with it in her hand. Cute!
*Clapping - all the time. If I ask her to show me "Yea!" she claps like a mad woman.
*Kissing on command - that sounds awful, but it's not. If I ask her for a kiss she'll give me one. Of course, then she won't stop. She sometimes tried to eat my face. I can't tell if I birthed a Jezebel or a Zombie. Maybe both. She doesn't do it for everyone though, so far it's just a few people - so it's not like she's making out with random strangers... just mommy *lol*
*Kissing BOYS. Well, just Orson. The two of them are hilarious... Orson is just hilarious - he'll kiss whatever girl is sitting next to him. Kim & Matt are going to have their hands full, I wonder whose karma this is coming back to haunt them? Hopefully my karma never comes back to visit me, otherwise I'm locking both of my children up in convents until they're 30.

Pictures and video later, I promise.