Books

John David has three favorite books at the moment.

1.  Where the Wild Things Are 
2.  There was an Old Monster (similar to There was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly)
3.  There was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Bat (Halloween themed)


We read these three books several times a day.  He's getting to be very curious about letters and words.  He asked me to read the copyright page the other day after noticing that I routinely skip through the first few pages in a book before beginning the story.

He will ask me, "Mom, what sound does a 'B' make?"  And I will tell him.  He'll usually ask about 2-3 letters at a time.  Today he wanted to know the sounds of Z, N, and B.  He will point at random words in a book and ask, "What does that say?"  I'm so glad he's finally taking a deeper interest!

He actually got the Monster book at church.  Our church recently started giving the children bookmarks every time they came to children's church on Sundays or Kid's Club on Thursday nights.  Once they collect ten bookmarks, they were allowed to choose a book to take home as a reward.

Our church is going to be hosting a book fair in just a few more days and I'm hoping they will have the book, "There was an Old Lady who Swallowed a Fly," because I think he'll love that one too (and I would consider it to be the "original" although technically, it's based on the nursery rhyme song).

18 months & a black eye

Rex had his 18 month well-baby checkup yesterday. He weighed 27 lbs 12 oz and was 33.5 inches tall. He got three shots and didn't cry until the last one. Poor thing, was so tough for the first two but three proved too many.

He loves watching me put my makeup on in the mornings, so I wasn't surprised he got into my makeup bag on Monday. He was applying lipstick to his right eye, the upper and lower lids, when I caught him.





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mongolian blue spot

I've been meaning to take a photo of Rex's Mongolian Blue Spot for a long time and keep forgetting. He's about 18 months now and, while it's started to fade, it's still quite prominent. I never took a photo (that I know of) of John's and I recently realized that his has nearly disappeared, so I regret that I have nothing to show him as he grows up. John's was smaller, though, and lighter in color. Rex's is heart shaped and then his entire left cheek is light purple, similar to a bruise. And the round dot is also part of the birthmark. He also has a light spot on the back of his left shoulder (looks like a shadow in this pic, but it's a light spot) and down on his left foot. Speaking of the spot on his foot & ankle--when he was a young baby, I would carry him around in an infant carrier and people (strangers!) would stop me, concerned, because they thought his foot was blue from lack of blood circulation. Most people were surprised (and relieved perhaps) to hear it was a blue birthmark, and most commented they'd "never heard of such a thing!" Whenever I hand Rex over to a new child care provider, I show them the marks and explain so they aren't mistaken for bruises during a diaper change. ;)



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swimming, songs, and more

This morning is John David's last morning of Kinder Kinetics.  He has been going every Saturday morning for the last 10 weeks.  It's a program through the University of Pittsburgh.  They do an hour of gross motor activities and then an hour of swimming.  

Every Saturday when I run him inside, he stops at the security guard's desk and announces, "My hands are SO COLD."

And the man says, "Let me see!"  And John David will let the man feel his hands.

This morning the man turned to his buddy and said, "See?  Told ya."

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Right now John David has two favorite songs.

Made in America by Toby Keith

If You're Gonna Play in Texas by Alabama

He heard these songs on the radio and was always asking me, "Mom, when will I hear the 'Texas' song again?"  And I would catch him singing the "Made in Americaaaaaa" refrain, over and over.

So finally I bought the songs and put it them on my iPhone.  Our Highlander has a Bluetooth connection so when I hop in the car it connects to the stereo and you can listen to songs on my iPod.  So EVERY time we get in the car we find ourselves listening to these SAME TWO SONGS.  He will occasionally ask to hear, "That song by the Eagles," as he calls it, which is Peaceful Easy Feeling.

This morning, after dropping John David off at Kinder Kinetics, I got back into the car with Rex.  The song by Alabama came on, AGAIN.  Sick to death of it, I switched over to the radio.  Rex started kicking his legs and fussing.  

Oh for heaven's sake!

One more time, I guess.

Like my outfit?

We chose our own clothes today!

This is John David and his friend Carson. What a pair! I was a little speechless when he clomped downstairs wearing Spiderman swimming trunks, cowboy boots, and a striped shirt... But hey! He did it all by himself!!




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