The Things You Say

Julia, as more and more words- and sentences- come out of your mouth the more apparent it becomes that you are whip-smart, super powerful, and amazingly funny too.

You know most of your body parts and don't hesitate to tell us. "Eye", "Eyebrow", "Elbow", "hair", "knee", "nose", "Behbuh" (belly button), "mouth", "eeah" (ear), "teef!" "eyelash" are among your favorites. I often have no shirt on (that's what Dads do)...so I've noticed that you - like your brother before you- seem very interested in "bibbles" (nipples).  And you use these liberally: in your favorite book ("Nemo") you always have to find the "shaaa" (shark) and tell us all about his teeth.

You know when you want to play "Horsey" or "kikitty" or "dog."

When you go potty, you tell me to "sit!" So, I sit across from you on the edge of the tub.

You learn words left and right, and remember them too. Last night in the bath tub, you said "Grover Cup, Pease."

Last night while you were trying to avoid going to bed, you kept point and asking me to take you to the "chair." "Chair." "Chair."

When you are proud for going pee pee on the potty, or just looking for someone, you use your "Oh!" Such as "Oh, Mama!" "Oh, Daddy!" "Oh, Aidan!"


If you don't know someone's name, that never stops you:  You called your cousin Jenny "That."

"Nah" means "yeah." "Neh" means again. "No no no no no no"- you can figure that one out.

We played "ring around the rosey" once before you fell in love with the game and request it every day a hundred times. "Robey robey robey neh!"

You sing songs too, including "clean up clean up" (often you'll make messes just for the joy of cleaning them up!)

You love to sing songs that your brother is teaching you too. "A, B, A, B, A, B, B" But once a few days ago I sang "ABCD" and you sang "EFG" unmistakably!

You also LOVE when a song from "Frozen" comes on and in a gruff voice you say "FROZEN! FROZEN! FROZEN!"

And of course, Old MacDonald remains one of your favorites.

In the car one day, Aidan was doing some improv and sang "E I E I Daddy." He thought it was hilarious! So did you...and you've been singing it ever since!

You are making sentences quite readily too. "Oolia bath" (you wanted to get back in the bath since Aidan and Kaelyn were still in there having fun).

"Ho me ho me" is of course "hold me hold me".

"Oolia go goo gleep shirt" (you were wearing your Go Goo Gleep shirt..duh!)

"Aidan shoes"

"Mine iPad! Mine iPad!"

"Aidan bite." (no, he didn't)

"Good gog"

"Aidan cry." (yes, he did)

"Mama book"

"Thank you!"

"Hi Nemo!"

"Bye bye, Nemo!"

"Bye bye, park"

"Mimi! Bop!" (Pops)

"Yaya! Baba!"

"NG NG" (it means "swing"...trust me on this)

"Asher! Asher! Asher!"

"Baby Bottle! Baby..."

"More wah wah Oolia!"

"Mama, Dada, there you are!"

Sometimes you just sit and babble stuff we haven't heard before and can't translate yet; occasionally it's over a book, so you're probably just reading. But, with the speed with which your vocabulary is growing and you're mastering language, we'll understand you soon enough. For now though, you are a little girl in a big world, and you have a lot to say about it. We're just happy to hear it!

Sleeping Here, There and Everywhere

Aidan,

You might have gotten accustomed to sleeping in the same room as us when were in Galveston.

Or maybe you sense that a change is coming, in the form of your little sister Julia.

Or maybe you're too cold at night. Or having active dreams. Or the air conditioner (which is right outside your bedroom) is too loud when it kicks on (because the compressor is slowly dying). Or maybe your bed is uncomfortable. Or maybe you want more shelter...like a little cave or something.

But, ever since Galveston, you've been off your sleep cycles.

First of all, in Galveston, since you were upstairs in a new place all by yourself, your Mom and I took turns laying down with you at nap and night until you fell asleep. You are a strong little boy and were determined to sleep in the new place. You took your blanket by the hand and gave it a 'let's do this' speech: the now famous, "Okay, blankies!"

You are, as we knew, very talkative when you are going to bed. But that, plus new place, plus excitement at the beach, plus a bit of heat stroke made for some very talkative night times at the beach. Take a listen:

But the sleep adventures have only continued once we got back home.

We put you to bed, and you talk up a storm, singing, laughing, fighting it and finally fall asleep. You request that Mommy lays down with you for a bit by saying "Mommy nighttime please." But then normally in the wee hours of the morning you and your blankies at the side off our bed asking to get in. The first couple of nights we obliged, trying to transition you back to dry land, and brought you into bed instead of waking up and carrying you back to bed and starting the whole nighttime please ritual again.

Okay, so it was just me. But it was way easier that way. But, as it turns out, you only cuddle with me for a few minutes and then roll right on to your already-very-uncomfortable-with-one-child-in-her-ribs mother and latch right onto her neck (really, her neck is your comfort spot...and you kind of choke her unwittingly). So, for a few nights your mother got no rest at all. Which wasn't good.

So we made a pact: Put Mr. Aidan back in bed.

This lead to some funny situations. Not once, but twice, we've gone into your room to check on you before we go to be and have not found you in bed at all. You've taken to setting up camp in your closet:

And last night you really set up camp in there good. No half-in, half-out for you: you were all the way in. With two blankets, and a stuffed elephant.

So we pick you up and put you back in bed and hope for the best. But, we're still getting one or two pop-ups per night where we take you back to bed, and then you realize that we're not going to let you in bed with us, and if you wake us, you'll be put back in bed. So, you have been wising up and deciding just to sleep near us...as near as you can get. With hilarious and precious results.

Here you were this morning at the foot of our bed:

And earlier this week, in a more comfortable spot. Though who knows where you displaced Toby to.

We know that this is adorable, for sure, but we're not quite sure exactly what it means.

So we're looking into it and trying to find the best way to make sure that you- and all of us- can get the best night's sleep possible.

Hopefully soon we'll all return to sleeping through the night, so that when Julia arrives and immediately starts sleeping through the night, we'll all be rested and ready to go! Well...at least one can dream.

Good night and sweet dreams, my traveling-while-sleeping son.