Haircut, etc

E had his first proper haircut last week. We went to a local kids' hairdresser/shoeshop and he sat in a tall chair and watched a large fish tank while the lady snipped away.

Before:

During:


After:


He's been getting very chatty of late and making some funny comments. When I told him about the impending haircut, he said in a knowing voice, "Ohhhh! Lawnmower!"

Lying with B in the hammock a few weeks ago: "That the moon! Moon hiding in trees."

Dadden: "Where's your cup?" E: "Cup hiding... in living room."

We have a lowercase alphabet puzzle that he enjoys. I'm gently working on the sounds of letters, aided by the pictures underneath the puzzle pieces (rainbow for R, apple for A, etc). E will often pick up/point out a letter and say "P! Puh, puh!" But for "X" he goes "X! Black hand!" For ages I had no idea why, and then B pointed out the fact that there's a picture of a hand being X-Rayed underneath the X puzzle piece.

And... we're not sure whether it's genuine or a bedtime delaying tactic, but last night when B was tucking him in, E said: "Butt trouble! Lie down mat!" After being duly checked, nothing was wrong, but it did make us laugh.

Speaking of which, we're no-pressure potty training, which basically means we're leaving out the little potty we recently bought to get him comfortable with it. I didn't expect him to take to it but in the last 5 days or so he's gone from sitting on it fully clothed to insisting "diaper off!" to sit down on it. We give him praise and read him books while he sits. To date we've had one success. He goes right back into diapers when he feels he's done and it's all child-led (he makes the decision when/if to sit down and when he feels finished) and really it's not a lot of hassle for us parental units either. Still, we have no real expectations (well, before 3 would be nice).

Next week I should have an interesting update for the blog.

Finally

I have one of THOSE pictures.

This kid is not much of a sleeper and never has been. He is always on the go. Today, he was so on the go that he didn't take a nap. I gave him some spaghetti for dinner. A few minutes later I looked around, only to find him keeled over, 98% done with dinner and fast asleep.

He never falls asleep in random places so I am very tickled.

"Pow"

Nearly two years ago now... E having tummy-time at a little less than two months old - no current pics are on this computer.

Today, my awesome kid did three awesome things.

1. We were at our usual toddler playgroup and Katie (usual playmate) had to leave early. Very solemnly, she bent down to E, who was sitting on the floor, and pronounced, "Bye-bye, Elijah." E looked up and immediately said, complete with flappy wave, "Bye-bye Katieeee." It was very, very proper and very, very amusing. S (friend) and I were in stitches.

2. E took my hand, then reached over to B's hand, said: "GUP (get up) PEESE." Dragged us both into the nursery. B sat down and I started giving him a head massage, E saw this, marched over and firmly began massaging B's face with a big smile, all the while acting as if he was bestowing a gigantic favor upon his father.

3. While in our bedroom I smashed a huge spider on the wall with a nearby paperback. (I am not good with spiders. Or bees. Or bugs. Snakes I can kinda deal with.) Later, B and E were in the bedroom and E marched up to the wall, armed with paperback, goes "POW!" and smacked it against the spot where the spider once existed. B was very amused. As for me? I'm just glad my kid hasn't handed me any more spider corpses....

Happy Early 4th of July to everyone, including the losing side all the Brits.