Chainsaw ears

I bet you're wondering what "chainsaw ears" are.... kinda weird, I know.

Here's the story of how Alex uses the words he learns and uses them in real life...

Lance wears ear protection when mowing, weed-eating, and when using the chainsaw. We got Alex to wear them a couple of times because he LOVES riding on the lawnmower with Lance and mowing the grass.

He won't wear the ear protection anymore, and for a while we were OK with him just plugging his ears (little does he know - next time he will have to wear the ear protection or he doesn't get to ride).

So, the other day, there was a neighbor mowing their grass (or something else loud) and he told me that I had to put on my "chainsaw ears". He took his hands and kind-of put his hands on each of my ears and told me now I had "chainsaw ears". He's done this a few times to me and I didn't really think anything of it until he did it to Lance and Lance just had the funniest look on his face.... Like, "what did he just say? Chainsaw ears? What does that mean?"

I told him I thought he meant lawnmower ears (which is what they are used for most of the time) but got it mixed up and then it stuck.

We laughed and told ourselves that we will have to remember this moment.

Chainsaw ears. Love it!

A dream

It was a typical Moms night out - I met with some gals for an evening of good food, wine and great conversations. I came home around 9PM and Daddy had the duty of putting Alex to bed that night. He went to sleep at his usualy time, but kept waking up and crying. He woke up twice since I had gotten home and it's usually best if the one who puts him to bed goes in there and settles him back down, lest he get all excited. But, by the third time, I braved the crying kiddo and went in. I asked him what was wrong, did he have a scary dream?

He said "yeah - scary dream"

I asked if it was about his bicycle (something that isn't scary - but a chance for him to say no and then tell me)

He said "No - boats"

We had a long coversation about boats, water, waves, boots and cold.

Guess what show him and Daddy had been watching on tv on Mom's night out?



It's called the Deadliest Catch - a show about Alaskan crab fishing with lots of scary, dark, boats, water, waves, boots, cold. All of it!


I calmed him back down and he was asleep for the rest of the night. Although, Daddy and I did have a converstion, as well, about appropriate shows for a 2 year old!!!

First conversation

Scene: Alex wakes up crying from a nap before Christmas (after seeing Santa for pictures) Mama comes in to see if she can put him back to sleep.

Alex: Waaaaa Waaaa Waaaaahhhh!

Mama: Are you OK?

Alex: No

Mama: Did you have a bad dream?

Alex: Yeah

Mama: Are you scared?

Alex: Yeah

Mama: What are you scared of?

Alex: ..... Santa ....... scared (shivers like it's cold) ..... Santa

And he's been scared of Santa ever since. It's totally normal to be scared of Santa at this stage. It took a while to sink in for me - but we had a real conversation!

Conversation this morning

Alex's words on the way to daycare this morning (only a 10 second snapshot):

Big Truck
Yes - that's a Big Truck

More Truck, More Truck, Big Truck
Let's look for more trucks

More Bus (which sounds like Bice)
I don't see any buses right now, let's look for one

(sees a bus, but it passes by) More Bus, Yellow, Yellow
yes, a bus is yellow - let's see if another bus is coming

More Yellow
Let's try to find something yellow...

More Bus, please, please, please (which sounds like "peas")
Yes - you say you want a bus, please. You sure know how to talk!

Blue
Do you see something blue?

Green
Do you see something green?

White
Do you see something white?

More White, More White, More White
Let's look for something white... do you see anything white?

More Yellow
Do you see something yellow?

Big Truck, More Big Truck, please, please, please
I know you like Big Trucks, let's look for one...

PJ's

One of Alex's new words is PJ's, but instead of saying it like "Pee-Jays" he says "Paa-Gees" and it's so darn cute! Here is a picture of him last year at this time in the laundry basket.

Sign language "More"

Here is a (not-so-good) picture of what Alex is signing "more". He points his pointer finger at the middle palm of the other open hand.

It's not what you'll typically see in the fancy baby sign language books - but it works. Here is what you would typically see - pulling the hands back and forth.

He learned this at daycare - can you believe that? It usually goes along with him saying "Mo" "Mo". It means that he wants more of whatever you are feeding him, or, if it's not during a meal/snack then it means he wants something to drink, preferably milk. Did you know that we go through 2 gallons a week of milk just for Alex? He loves to drink milk!

What a complex thought.... I want more food. I want something to drink. It's just amazing to me what he is learning.

We are trying to now do much more signing to him. We are doing Milk (just like milking a cow), Eat (like your putting something in your mouth) to be more specific.

Milk

Eat

Maybe we should add Please and Thank you.

Please

Thank you

Or maybe one for earache. (Pointing with both pointer fingers at the ear). BTW - he has a clean bill of health (for now) on his ear infections. Only 2 rounds of antibiotics, this time.

Pain

We are thoroughly enjoying our new found communication - we can actually know what he wants and needs. It was also difficult, since we didn't have anything for him to drink this Sunday while running errands, and he kept signing for milk. Bad parents.

a few fun things...

Alex and Allie - havin' fun. They are two peas in a pod - active, social and totally had a fun time together. Allie taught Alex how to do "quick feet" and has been doing it so much since they played together. "Quick feet" is like a little dance - he picks his feet up and down fast and is prompted by us, but he also does it by himself.

Alex and Daddy on the new lawnmower. Alex loves playing on this and it's definately his new toy. He and Daddy mowed part of the lawn together on Sunday. Of course, Daddy made sure that Alex had his ear protection on, even though it doesn't show it in this picture. Just to make Mama happy :)

He is learning a few new words to say - they all happen to be "B" words. Strange? I'm not sure.... there isn't too much distinction between these words, but there is a difference in syllables and "Be" sounds vs. "Ba" sounds. He is working on quite a few things right now.

Ball

Bella

Banana

(his favorite food right now is Banana, nevermind the constipation, Mom! He says)

Bellybutton

He is understanding so much now. It's truely incredible. When we ask where is his bellybutton - he will show us! We are now working on nose and ears.