tricycle!

I spent a half-hour yesterday assembling Leo's new tricycle, because he's outgrown his old scooter. He loved riding it yesterday, and spent more time outside today before dinner. Yes, he has a bike helmet, but we need to try to adjust the fit sometime while it rains. (That way, we can keep him inside while we tinker with the fit.)

There are some other quotes that haven't made it into the last couple posts:

• "I wanna see how (it) works" (often while playing with something that he shouldn't be playing with.
• "I('m) very tall"... while climbing on various furniture and other things not always meant to be climbed.
• "Oh my goodness gracious"... at the drop of a hat
• "I do by 'self"... (almost) whenever we try to help him with something, especially if he thinks he already knows how. (Brushing teeth, climbing into his booster seat, getting undressed, or pretty much anything.)
• "Clean up do your share"... sing-songed to this tune.
• "Num num de-licious"... with extra emphasis on the "de"
• "Leave me alone" or "go away"... if Mama or Papa gets too interfering
  

oh the screaming

First it was Leo screaming in the middle of the night because he had a bad dream. All he would say about it (and repeated again this morning) is that he was scared of the school bus, round and round. Ok, he's never ridden a bus, and I refuse to believe that he is scared of a song.

Second, it was Leo screaming this morning because he didn't want to go to school. First he tried to convince Papa to stay home, then he said he wanted to stay with Mama, and then he just kept repeating that he wanted to stay home, and once or twice said he wanted to hibernate. I felt so bad, but I know he loves school. But, I had a really hard time keeping my cool (and didn't really) while buckling him into the car. It had been really difficult to get him into his coat, and then he was screaming and thrashing while I tried to buckle him in. I did shout at him to be quiet because in thrashing he caused my to bang my lower lip on the door frame of the car. Ouch. Of course, then he screamed more. By the time I dropped him off he stopped crying and I apologized. Whew. He wouldn't say goodbye to me as I left, but that's not all that unusual.

Excedrin take me away...

a few random things

Here are a few things that just didn't find homes in the last posts:

--Leo has been singing a lot lately; Wheels on the Bus, Miss Mary Mack, and Baa Baa Black Sheep are favorites right now.
--Leo's favorite question lately is "What's that noise?," which can be prompted by sounds big or little.
--Leo loves tickling and getting tickled. He even tries (frequently, and unsuccessfully) to tickle inanimate objects, ranging from grapes on his dinner plate to pictures in a book.
--When you tell him it's time for bed he says, "I go nigh-nigh," with a slight Northeastern accent. (so more like noi-noi)

Easter

We made the trip up to WI to see my folks for Easter. There was still lots of snow on the ground. I always remember there being snow on the ground for Easter growing up. Mom woul make these cute matching springtime Easter dresses and we'd be all bundled up in our winter coats.

All in all we had a really good time on this trip. The only (major) problem was that for no obvious reason Leo was really freaked out by Grandpa and cried anytime they were in the same room. Never mind that Grandpa has lots of grandkids and is really good with kids and Leo has liked him up to this point. It made us all feel really bad, but hopefully Leo will forget all about it next time we see them.

We colored Easter eggs and made Leo his first Easter basket. Mom had lots of toys and books for Leo to play with (some came home, most stayed at her house). Leo also got his first real haircut (in a salon). Here are some pictures.
Grandma Marge helping with the eggs. We managed to keep the mess to a minimum, although he did end up with blue dye in his nose.












He really loved these trucks from Mom (that's her doing some work from the office in the background)--I had to hide them before he got up this morning because they were staying at her house and not coming home with us.









Our family gatherings aren't complete without some sort of game, whether cards, cribbage, or Yahtzee. Here we're teaching Leo how to play Yahtzee--my personal favorite.









Here's Leo admiring his haircut. He did that several times that afternoon.













Leo got a sucker for being such a good boy at the salon. Now his tongue matched the blue dye in his nostril (see above). Must color coordinate!

new floor

Leo's new floor got installed last week. It turned out very well and we think he likes it.

Here he is waiting for Papa to get home one night before the flooring was installed.














And here he is christening the new floor by eating a banana on it.

Si senor

They've been teaching a little Spanish at daycare and Leo knows some shapes, numbers, and colors. This morning Jeff asked Leo if he wanted some water and Leo said, "No, agua."

Leo has been fighting getting dressed lately, asking instead for either "pjs all day" or "naked baby."

Right before I took this picture, Leo was trying to eat crackers and keep his pacifier at the same time. Since he didn't have any pockets, he was holding the pacifier under his chin and eating the crackers. He finished them before I could grab the camera.




The Great Tupperhead makes an appearance.













More naked baby, this time reading stories before bed. He asked for the blanket so he could be all "cozy and warm."

Oy!

Last night we went to a concert at Urbana Free Library that's part of a series just for babies, toddlers, and kids. The group last night was Little Oy on the Prairie- a klezmer band. As with all of the concerts, the kids are encouraged to sing and dance and interact with the musicians. It was so much fun. The musicians were really good and really understood the point of the concert--they played to the kids and not at them.

Leo was entranced and sat through the entire 45 minute concert. He said "more music" very emphatically after the first piece, and kept asking me what all of the instruments were. He didn't want to dance, which surprised me a little. But, he definitely had a good time, as did everyone there!

Maybe baby

Leo is learning the concept of "maybe." This morning while he was on the changing table I said "maybe baby," and he looked at me and said, "maybe mama."

magic bandaids

Leo has reached that stage where a bandaid, even for an imagined hurt, can make an owie all better. Tonight he bonked his head a bit getting out of the car, and demanded a bandaid. As usual, he only wanted to wear it for about a minute, then insisted we take it off.

Can't you tell he's in a great deal of pain?

Leo help mama

This morning Leo offered to help me pick out a shirt to wear and he did a good job. Every morning we give him two choices of shirts and pants, so I think he's into this whole making decisions mode now.

Yesterday after breakfast we went on a walk at Meadowbrook Park and he insisted on walking and pulling the wagon most of the way. He did pretty well and only tripped once. He cringed every time a dog went by (and there were lots and lots of dogs), but once we pointed out that they were on leashes and not interested in a little-boy snack, he relaxed.

exclamations

Two things Leo said today that were funny:

--at breakfast today Leo said "thank you" to his papa for something, and then immediately self-evaluated with a loud exclamation of "good manners!"

--when we got home I noticed something was stinky, and in my ever-so subtle manner asked "what's stinky?." Leo immediately replied with "Leo!" (It was in fact an empty chicken package in the garbage that was causing the smell, not Leo's diaper.)