Conversations with Ed

Here are some samples of the most frequent conversations we are having with Eddie lately:

Conversation #1

Eddie: "I want my [fill in blank with random toy]."
Momma: "Where is it?"
Eddie: "I want it."
Momma: "I know you want it. Can you find it?"
Eddie: "Momma find it."
Momma: "I don't know where it is. Do you know where it is?"
Eddie: "I want it."
Momma: "I think we lost it."
Eddie: "I want it."
Momma: "It's lost."
Eddie: "I want it."

Conversation #2

Eddie: "Momma, what you doin?"
Momma: "Cleaning the tub."
Eddie: "You not?"
Momma: "I am."
Eddie: "You not?"
Momma: "Yes, I am."
Eddie: "Momma, what you doin?"
Momma: "Cleaning the tub."
Eddie: "Momma, what you doin?"
Momma: "Eddie, I already told you."
Eddie: "Momma, what you doin?"

Conversation #3

Eddie: "Momma, what you doin?"
Momma: "Sitting."
Eddie: "You not."
Momma: "I am."
Eddie: "You not sitting!"
Momma: "Then what am I doing?"
Eddie: "You sitting on that chair?"
Momma: "Yes I am."
Eddie: "You not."

Conversation #4

Eddie: We don't
Daddy: We do
Eddie: We don't
Daddy: We don't
Eddie: We do

"I'm stuck!"

Eddie loves boxes, so this time of year has been great for him. Not only do we have diaper boxes like always, but we have been getting a lot of packages since I'm doing all my Christmas shopping online. Eddie likes to fill the boxes with toys and carry them around. He likes to stand on the boxes, sit on the boxes, jump on the boxes, climb in the boxes, etc. Today, he wedged himself into this box and proudly declared, "Ine stuck!"

He paused long enough for a photo-op, then tipped over. Of course, at that point, he had to announce "I fall down!"

Eddie, the Con Artist

I always had good intentions to be one of those moms who doesn't cave into their kids unreasonable demands. I thought that with the proper combination of love and discipline, my kids would be little angels who would do whatever I asked.

Okay, so I was a little naive. Having never been around kids for extended periods, I did not realize the power such a little person can hold over the otherwise reasonable adults who raise them. Now I realize that successful parenting is not so much about finding the perfect combination of love and discipline that turns the kid into an angel and is more about surviving every day by choosing your battles.

Unfortunately, I think that lately, the toddler has been winning every battle. I have my excuses for my lax parenting, so I will lay them out for you:

1. I am rotund and achy and get very little sleep.
2. Eddie is a very stubborn child.
3. Eddie has been teething and/or sick for most of his life, so I feel bad when I put my foot down too often.
4. Eddie is a two year old and cannot be reasoned with.
5. Eddie is a master manipulator who knows exactly how to get his way.

It is Excuse #5 which I wish to discuss today. In just the last few days, I have started to notice how entirely Eddie is the master of this domain. I think we have been on a slippery slope for some time, but since we learned that his two-year molars are coming in, I have become even more lax than before, telling myself that he doesn't feel good and I shouldn't be too hard on him.

The reality is that Eddie knows my weak spots. Here are a few examples of how he messes with me and inevitably gets his way:

Scenario #1 Lunch

When we get home from work every morning, Eddie wants to "watch some-pin." I am okay with this because it gives me time to make lunch without being asked "what you doin?" eight thousand times. In former times, I would make said lunch, then turn off the TV while Eddie came into the kitchen, sat at the counter, and ate his lunch. Now when lunch is ready, I say "Eddie, do you want to come eat your lunch?" to which he immediately responds "No." When I press him, he says, "In living room?" Unfortunately, I have given into this request one too many times. Now if I say no, he bursts into tears and cannot be calmed until I bring him his lunch in the living room. Or, if I try to wait it out, thinking he will eventually get hungry and come into the kitchen, he will just not eat lunch.

Scenario #2 Lunch

The other trick Eddie likes to pull at lunch time (usually in conjunction with the one detailed above) is to be completely indecisive. I am happy to give him a choice on what he wants to eat as long as he follows through and eats what I make for him. Unfortunately, that is not usually how it works. I will say "Eddie, do you want toast with cheese for lunch?" For the sake of this scenario, we'll say he agrees. I go in the kitchen and make toast with cheese. After going through scenario #1, I bring his food into the living room and set it next to him on the couch. Then Eddie says "don't want cheesy toast any more." So I say "well what do you want?" I will suggest various things, which he will always reject. Finally, after the cheese on his toast has solidified into a greasy glob, he will request "sugar toast" (which is really cinnamon sugar toast, one of Ed's breakfast staples). Generally I try to restrict the sugar toast to a breakfast food, but if I refuse, he will then burst into tears, crying "want sugar toast! want sugar toast!" until I give in.

Scenario #3 Nap

After lunch, I attempt to convince Eddie that it is nap time. He has been pretty good about taking naps willingly and I can usually succeed in getting him up the stairs and into his bed. It is once he is in the bed that the tricks start. I tuck him in and walk to the door, at which point he says "Momma?" I turn and say "yes?" Then he says "Wanna say prayer?" I feel this is one request I ought to grant, so I come back in and try to get him to say a prayer. Of course now he refuses to say a prayer or listen to me say one. So I try again to leave and he again demands a prayer. Regardless of whether or not I say a prayer, he is always mad when I finally get frustrated and leave the room. At that point, he generally cries for 10 minutes, then switches to talking and singing for the next 50-75 minutes until I give in and go get him out of bed.

So here is my appeal to you: how do I turn the tables and regain control of our lives? Do I let Eddie go hungry if he refuses to do as I ask? Do I stop asking what he wants to eat and just make something else instead then insist that he eat it? Or do I continue to give in to his demands and end up with one of those 300 pound 3 year olds and we'll go on Dr. Phil so he can berate me for not feeding my child enough vegetables and letting him watch too much TV?

An Incident

This morning, as Eddie and Dave went "out-outside" to play, Eddie tripped on the porch and dove down our cement stairs. His face hit the edge of the bottom stair. Needless to say, he was a bit upset.


I took this photo hours later. It looked a lot worse right after it happened, with a big blue lump forming just above the scrape within minutes. The lump went down pretty quickly, but I imagine the scrape will last several days.

Big Boy Bed

As a way of easing the transition when Morsel is born, we decided to move Eddie out of the crib a few months early and get the nursery set up. Luckily for us, Eddie's cousin Zach was quickly outgrowing his race car toddler bed, so we were able to borrow it. We brought it home on Friday. Eddie enjoyed playing on it while it was in the car:

After we got home, Eddie wanted to watch a movie, which gave us approximately 1.5 hours of uninterrupted setup time. After some struggle, we managed to get the crib out of Eddie's room (without having to completely take it apart) and got his new bed set up. I tried to convince him to smile for the photo:

He's slept in it for two nights now and hasn't had any problems. Our problem is nap time. Friday, he got out and came downstairs while he was supposed to be napping, so Saturday, we just put him in the crib for his nap. Hopefully he will get used to it and will take naps in the bed because I am not ready for the naps to end.

Ed's Fashion Sense

Everyone wishes they had fashion sense like Ed's.

Generally, I would never let Eddie leave the house in such an ensemble. But on Friday, I was trying to get all his long pants washed for the weekend, so of course he had an "incident" in the pair he was wearing while all the others were in the wash. I pulled out these lovely yellow pants and he was so excited to wear them that he also demanded to wear his yellow shirt.

We ended up going out for dinner that evening and didn't bother changing his clothes first, so I'm sure we got plenty of weird looks from people. Dave and I couldn't stop cracking up every time we'd look at Ed strutting around Buster Burger looking like a banana.

Another Zoo Trip

Yesterday, to celebrate our new-found freedom, Eddie and I joined his grandma, aunt, and cousins for a trip to the zoo. Eddie was unsure of whether or not he wanted to go, telling me earlier in the day, "Not go zoo right now," then later crying "Go zoo!" Luckily, I did not wait for him to make up his mind. We went regardless.

We got to the zoo just before noon and unfortunately, Eddie fell asleep in the car on the way there. This is always a bad thing if we are not on our way home to put him in bed. He does not wake up happy after sleeping in the car. Maybe you can see why:

We were a bit early, so we waited in the car and I let him sleep as long as possible. Then I had to wake him up and get him out. As I suspected, he was very unhappy, bordering on hysterical, when he learned we were actually at the zoo. We sat by the fountain out front to wait for everyone else, Eddie clinging desperately to me all the while. He perked up a little when I showed him all the money in the fountain (he talked about that for the rest of the day), and cheered up even more when his favorite cousin, Sarah, showed up a few minutes later. Eventually I convinced him to sit in the stroller and in we went.

Eddie enjoyed seeing the monkeys and the elephants. He didn't want to stop looking at the baby elephant, so we were there for a while. We ate lunch, then went to see the tigers and giraffes. Even though there were 5 tigers on display and a couple of them were up and moving around, Eddie was more interested in the giant ball floating in the tiger's pond. He happily sat on the tiger statue and said "giddy-up!" while I took his picture.

After seeing the orangutans, we took a ride on the carousel, but I couldn't convince Eddie to actually ride on one of the animals. Instead, we sat on the peacock bench. Eddie seemed to enjoy the ride, but when we got off, he told me he would not ride the elephant next time.

As always, Eddie's favorite part of the zoo was playing with the "black ball" before we left. Of course, I forgot to pack him a change of clothes, so I couldn't let him get too wet. Here you can see how excited he was to splash:

The Not-So-Super 8

Since we had plans to spend Saturday at my grandma's house in Huntington, the three of us sallied forth on Friday to Price and checked into the Super 8 for what we imagined to be a luxurious night. Little did we know that Eddie is terrified of 2-star hotels. The following is a truncated transcript of the rest of our stay:

7:30 PM Dave checks in. Eddie screams and cries after being placed on the lobby floor. He insists that he will not swim in the pool.

7:35 PM Kristen and Eddie enter Room 226, the scene of Eddie's worst nightmares, apparently. Eddie screams and cries and demands that we go to "Cavin's house" (aka the Barton family cabin).

7:40 PM Eddie is given a cookie to help him come to grips with the Super 8.

8:00 PM Despite Eddie's protests, we head to the pool. This is, after all, our main purpose for staying in the Super 8.

8:15 PM Eddie is terrified of the pool. Perhaps he can read the sign on the wall that says "A swimming pool is like a community bathtub. Do not drink the water."

8:25 PM The other pool patrons vacate the premises and Eddie begins to warm up to the pool.

8:45 PM We leave the pool despite Eddie's protests.

9:00 PM Spongebob saves us from going to bed at 9:00.

9:30 PM Lights out! Eddie is placed in his pack & play.

9:31 PM Screams of "DADDY HOLD YOU!" ring through the Super 8.

9:40 PM Eddie joins us in the king size bed.

9:42 PM Eddie joins me on my side of the king size bed.

9:43 PM "Hi Mama!"

9:44 PM "Big bed."

9:45 PM "My pillow."

9:46 PM "Hi Mama!"

9:47 PM "BATMAN! BATMAN!"

9:48 PM Me: "Eddie, shh. It's time to sleep."

9:49 PM Eddie grabs my nose. "HONK!"

9:50 PM "Hi Mama!"

.....

10:40 PM "Love oo. Love oo."

10:43 PM SILENCE

10:45 PM Eddie sounds like he's asleep. I am perched on the edge of the bed and can feel him against my back and my head. I don't dare move.

11:15 PM I can't stand it any more and have to turn over. I move my head. Eddie is startled and wraps his arm around my neck.

11:20 PM I give up and roll over and learn that Eddie is wrapped around my head. Now he's wrapped around my face.

11:25 PM Eddie sits up. "Lay down," I say. He lays down across the bed the wrong way.

11:26 PM I reposition Eddie, despite the fear that this will wake him up. It doesn't.

11:27 PM We all sleep... poorly.

.....

5:59 AM "Wake up?"

6:00 AM "Hi Mama!"

6:01 AM "Knuckles!" Eddie punches the back of my head.

6:02 AM Me: "OW! Go back to sleep."

6:03 AM "NO! Lights on."

6:05 AM "Bonk head." Eddie headbutts me.

6:06 AM Me: "OW! Go back to sleep. It's still night time."

6:07 AM "Make day. Lights on."

.....

6:15 AM I give up. The lights are on and Spongebob saves us from an immediate breakfast.

Weekend Antics

It feels like there haven't been nearly as many updates and/or photos of Eddie in recent months, at least comparatively speaking. But like most two-year olds, he continues to entertain (and aggravate) us on a regular basis. And he was on a serious roll this weekend.

Sitting on the end table with his own personal zoo.

Falling off the "chouch," currently one of his favorite activities.

Watching Music and the Spoken Word in a rather unusual ensemble.

Playing outside, before haircut.

Modeling his new Batman towel from Uncle Jason, after haircut.

Eddie's Sentences

Eddie has started to say some really hilarious things. All of the sudden he is using complete sentences, and it cracks me up because it makes him sound so much older. Here are my favorite sentences/phrases he just started using in the past couple of weeks:

"Later alligator."
Except when Eddie says it, it sounds like "Later elevator."

"Guess what? I found a snack!"
This is referring, of course, to his beloved fruit snacks. He is always overjoyed when he finds a stray snack in his car seat... no matter how old and chewy it might be.

"Not quite yet."
Eddie has started telling us this when we want him to do something he does not want to do... like go to bed or get dressed. It's a pretty clever way to keep us from arguing since he's not really saying "no," just saying, "not quite yet."

"I want it back!"
I guess this isn't really one of my favorites, but this is the phrase we are hearing most often. Since Eddie already thinks everything belongs to him, he is not happy when things are taken away from him... and he makes his feelings known.

"This is a [fill in the blank]."
Eddie likes to tell me what things are. For example, "this is a red car" or "this is a blue snack." I am glad he keeps me so well informed.

"I'm not scared."
For a while, Eddie has been saying things are "scary," though I'm not sure he knows what that means. Today he told me something was scary, then he said, "I'm not scared." If nothing else, I'm glad he's finally learning how to use first-person pronouns.

Sick Again

Eddie is sick yet again this week. He woke up Monday morning and obviously had an eye infection, so I took him in to get eye drops prescribed. While at the doctor's office, we also discovered that he has strep. Eddie was definitely not happy about having his throat swabbed! But afterwards, he got a sucker and cheered right up. So, not only did we get eye drops, but we also got oral antibiotics to give him. He is obviously feeling a lot better already.

The problem with Eddie and medicine is that he doesn't like to take it. Since Monday, we have only gotten him to take his medicine once without a fuss. All the other times involved force-feeding it to him while he spit as much out as possible. I'm hoping he'll still get better despite the inconsistent amounts he has been swallowing. This morning, however, we had a breakthrough: I mixed the medicine in with his milk. I was afraid he'd be able to taste it and refuse to drink the milk, but he didn't notice at all. He drank most of his milk and probably got almost a full dose of medicine. And all this without any tears (from either of us). Of course, the same cannot be said about the eye drops. He is getting better about them, but they still require all his limbs to be restrained while we put them in amidst his writhing screams.

The good news is that after today, he will have three weeks out of daycare since our provider is having a baby next week. That means he will be at home only being exposed to one other kid's germs. I am excited, thinking this might mean at least 3 weeks of illness-free Eddie.

Here is a photo of Eddie sleeping this morning. I went in to wake him up and thought he was too cute.

First Trip to the Movies

Eddie has been watching Woody and Buzz (Toy Story 1 & 2) a lot lately, so Kristen and I had been pondering if we should take him to see Toy Story 3. Having never taken him to the theater before, we weren't quite sure what to expect. We kinda figured it would either be too "noisy" and scare him, or he wouldn't want to sit still for 2 hours, or he would be totally mesmerized by it. It turned out to be a combination of all three.

Since Kristen was working, I volunteered to accompany him solo to a Friday matinee. The showing started right at lunch time, so I packed him a peanut butter sandwich, goldfish crackers and a big bottle of water, plus three emergency bags of fruit snacks and some lemonade. I put a few cloaking diapers at the top of his bag to get around the "no outside food or drink" policy, but they didn't even bother to check.

As the previews started Eddie was clearly overwhelmed. I had to hold him in my lap, and he would alternate burying his head in my chest and peaking at the screen. With rapid fire images and surround sound assaulting him from every angle, he asked me if I could turn the "big TV" off. Once the actual movie started he stayed on my lap, but settled down at the welcome sight of Woody and Buzz. He watched intently between bites of sandwich and goldfish, and after about 45 minutes he let me put him in his own seat.

However, once we got past the hour mark he started to get antsy. He wouldn't stay in his seat, and didn't want me to hold him on my lap. I eventually took him down to the hallway where you enter the theater and let him run around a little bit. After a few minutes I remembered the emergency supply of fruit snacks and lemonade and was able to convince him to return to his seat.

This final snack reserve nearly got us to the end of the movie, but just as it was reaching the finale, Eddie once again refused to sit still. So we adjourned to the hallway to watch the last few minutes. Quite out of character, he hasn't really said much about it since then, so I'm not sure if he enjoyed the experience or not.

It's Eddie's

In true 2-year old fashion, Eddie has concluded that as long as something belongs to him, there are no restrictions. Of course in his mind, this means that anything and everything belongs to Eddie, as long as he says so. Here are a few examples of the outrageous things Eddie has claimed ownership of in the last few weeks:

Eddie's river.

This means he can dump as much water as he wants on the dry banks where we are sitting.

Eddie's temple.

He thinks he can hold it. Luckily he seems to understand what "too big" means and that generally satisfies him until the next time we drive by.

Eddie's couch.

He feels he can draw on it with a pen, dump entire cups of water on it, smash goldfish into its crevices, jump on it, and climb up onto the back of it in order to look in the mirror.

Eddie's cart.

Eddie's toy.

Eddie is not a fan of sharing. Luckily, according to Eddie's rules, he can just claim a toy as "Eddie's" and then he'll never have to share again. This includes toys that are not his by any normal societal standards.

Eddie's lake.

Unfortunately Daybreak does not agree that the lake is Eddie's and, therefore, still will not let him swim in it.

Eddie's Daddy.

Yes, this one is partially true. Dave is Eddie's Daddy, but he says it likes he owns Dave and can, therefore, climb up and sit on his head in the middle of sacrament meeting.

Eddie's Sarah Sue's house.

Sure, he visits nearly every day and acts like he owns the place, but to claim dual ownership is quite the advanced concept for a 2-year old brain, if you ask me.

"I hereby proclaim this post property of Eddie."

Holy Marathon, Batman!

Last month Eddie watched Batman: The Movie so many days in a row that he was starting to draw DiMaggio comparisons. Needless to say, Kristen and I were getting pretty tired of the United Underworld and their dehydrating hijinks.

Things finally changed when I got a Blu-ray player for my birthday, allowing us to watch all sorts of streaming online video services on our TV. I soon discovered every episode of the '60s Batman TV series on YouTube in six part increments, thus giving Batman: The Movie a much appreciated respite.

So, most evenings after I pick Eddie up from daycare, we tune in at the same bat-time to the same bat-channel for another episode. The video quality isn't the greatest, but he doesn't really care.

It's fun for me to recall certain moments from when I watched the show as a kid, such as Batman doing the batusi, or Robin catching a batarang with his teeth to avoid plummeting to his death. Eddie's favorite part is unquestionably singing along (and bouncing) during the opening credits, which I have captured in the following video.

Starting Daycare

Now that I have a new job, Eddie gets to go to daycare four afternoons a week. We found a nice in-home daycare in South Jordan that we are taking him to. Last week, Eddie and I visited twice, just to get to know the provider, Brooke, and to introduce Eddie to the other kids. Both times, he had a lot of fun playing with them, so I was hopeful that he would do okay when I actually left him there.

In preparation for this new adventure, we bought Eddie his own Toy Story backpack to keep his stuff in. Here he is all ready for his first day:


I took him into daycare yesterday and he was instantly clingy. He wouldn't let go of me, so when I had to leave, he had a breakdown and tried to climb up my legs. Luckily, Brooke took him off my hands to allow me to escape, even if it was a little disconcerting to leave him screaming my name. I imagined him spending the entire afternoon terrorizing the place and having Brooke tell us that she couldn't handle him. But, apparently he calmed down after a few minutes and did fine... even taking a nap, which I was sure he would not do. Hopefully this means that he will adjust well to the new arrangement. Now let's just hope that I'll adjust well to the new arrangement too!

Big Brother

We have been pondering how to approach the subject of our pregnancy with Eddie. So when I came upon our 2007 Christmas card while looking at his baby book with him the other day, I tried to seize the moment. I pointed to the ultrasound image and the box around Kristen's belly, and we had the following exchange:

Me: Did you know that you used to live in Momma's belly?
Eddie: Tree!
Me: Yeah, that's a tree. But you used to live in Momma's belly.
Eddie: Yeah, tree.

Clearly the concept is still a little above him. Picking a name for the fetus seems to have helped though. Now he will point to Kristen's belly and say "Morsel" (it sounds more like "muh-sow"). Of course he is also under the impression that I have a baby in my belly too. Silly boy, that's an entirely different kind of morsel.

Big Brother is watching you, Morsel.

Naptime Toys

Lately Eddie always wants to take random things to bed with him for his nap. Here are a few of the items he has slept with in recent weeks:

• Empty milk jug
• Sunglasses (on)
• Flashlight
• Sippy cups
• Cereal boxes
• Various toys

Yesterday, it was a rock. He found the rock on our walk home from church and didn't want to give it up, so I just let him take it to bed. When he got up hours later, he was playing normally when suddenly, he rubbed his nose and said "Rock. Nose." So I asked, "Did you put the rock in your nose?" and he replied, "Yeah. Bed." So I tried looking up there, but couldn't see anything, so I took that to mean that he put it in there at one point, but it was no longer in there.

A few minutes later he was rubbing his nose again, so I took another look. Sure enough, there was a rock in there. Luckily for us, it was small enough that it worked its own way down to where we could fish it out. Of course, as soon as I got it out and disposed of it, Eddie cried because he wanted his rock back.

Eddie's Phrases

Since it has been quite a while since I posted about Eddie's words, I think another installment is due. Eddie has now moved on from single words to phrases, some of which are quite amusing. He is getting into the stage where he will repeat weird things that we say, so we have to be careful what he hears. Here are some of our favorite Ed phrases:

Want one.

I suppose this stems from me asking Eddie if he "wants one" of something. So now whenever he wants something, he'll just say "want one!" Generally we try to ask what he wants so that he'll learn how to better express himself, but if he doesn't know the word for something, he'll just get angry and shout "WANT ONE! THIS ONE!" until we figure out what he wants.

See it!

Back before Eddie was so observant, we would point things out to him while driving. We would say "Eddie, there's a temple. Do you see it?" So now, Eddie notices things himself and always yells "TEMPLE! SEE IT! SEE IT!" until we acknowledge that we have also seen it.

So like. Um.

As mentioned in an earlier post, Eddie started saying "so like, um" when Dave and I were making fun of me one day in the car. At first it was just cute and funny. Now it is getting a little out of hand. Eddie will be playing and suddenly will shout "SO LIKE! UM!" I'm not sure how to discourage it, since there is no adequate replacement to teach him.

Blender noisy.

Eddie is very sensitive to noises. Anything that makes any sound at all is quickly dubbed "noisy." The blender and vacuum are the worst ones of all. He has a love/hate relationship with the blender, often asking to see it in the cupboard, but never wanting to be around when it comes out of the cupboard. He is always sure to tell us repeatedly (with a very serious look on his face), "blender... noisy."

Reach it!

I suppose all parents will be familiar with this situation -- Eddie drops all his toys while we're in the car, then demands that I get them for him. If I'm riding in the passenger seat, I can usually retrieve them. However, if it is just he and I, I have to tell him no, which infuriates him. So I tell him I can't reach it. Then he'll try to reach it and grunt and groan and say "REACH IT!" until something distracts him.

Geet down.

It seems like ever since Eddie started talking, we have been trying to get him to say "up." He can say the word. I think he knows what it means. But whenever he wants to be carried, he always says "GEET DOWN!"

My goodness!

Since Eddie's favorite cousin, Sarah Sue, has older brothers, she now says things like, "Oh geez!" Since I don't particularly like the word "geez," I have opted to teach Eddie to say "my goodness" instead. I love when he says it spontaneously after something happens.


Sharkbait, oo ha ha!

Eddie's favorite movie is Finding Nemo. He will repeat many of the lines from the movie, but his favorite is this one. He struggles with the "oo ha ha" part, so it usually comes out sound like, "shark bait ha!"

Yummy good.

We probably should stop encouraging this one, but it cracks us up every time. When Ed is eating something, he used to always say it was yummy. Then I started asking him if things were good. So now he says things are "yummy good." Now, he was started adding "licious" into the mix, so often things are "yummy good. licious."

Good job.

I believe in the power of positive reinforcement, so I generally try to tell Eddie "good job" when he does something that was hard for him or when he does what I ask. But now he tells me good job... and he tells himself good job. I'm not sure if I should be concerned about him ending up with some sort of complex.

Help you!

Apparently Ed needs help with pronouns. We have been working on getting him to stop calling people "it," but he doesn't know the word "me," yet either. So when he wants help with something, he always says "help you!" He also says "to you" when he wants us to read stories to him.

More Daddy please.

This is the newest phrase that Eddie started saying over the weekend. We have been trying to get him to say "please" for a long, long time, and now he suddenly will... but only in certain cases. Just to clarify, he's not asking for more Daddy... he's asking Daddy to get him more of something.

Ten Things...

...I Have Learned From Having a Toddler

1. Out of sight, out of mind
The person who came up with this saying must have been a parent. We have found that one of the most effective ways to reduce tantrums and conflicts is to avoid letting Eddie see or hear anything about something which could make him upset. For example: We now have a habit of laying a kitchen towel over the cookie container so he can't see what is inside. Eddie's trike stays in the closet when not in use. One of us distracts Eddie upstairs or outside while the other uses the blender. We spell words that we do not dare say out loud, like "park" and "snacks" and "cookie."

2. Shoes and socks should not be worn in the car
Every car ride (no matter how short) involves the removal of Eddie's shoes. If the ride is long enough, his socks go too. I have considered removing them before we even start to save him the trouble, but he would probably be upset about that and demand to have "shoe shon" just so he could take them off himself.

3. If Momma suggests it, it must be a bad idea
90% of the suggestions I make to Eddie are swiftly answered with a "NO!" Then if I suggest the complete opposite, he replies "NO!" For example: The other day I was eating some cheese. Eddie walks in. I say, "Eddie, do you want some cheese?" He yells "NO!" I say, "Okay, you don't have to have any." Eddie then yells "CHEESE!" like he wants some. This goes back and forth for a good 5 minutes before I finally say "You can't have any cheese," which is when Eddie breaks down into hysterics. Then I give him a piece of cheese, which he promptly throws on the floor and stomps on in tears.

4. Hills are made for running down
This makes for long walks around the block, since we inevitably have to go downhill, then back uphill. He can't simply walk up the hill. He must walk part way up, then charge back down, over and over. This would go on all day if I didn't finally pick him up amidst writhing screams and carry him home. Maybe one of these days I'll let him keep going until he stops on his own... just to see how long it would take.

5. If you're going to eat fruit snacks, you should be able to eat as many as you want
I do what I can to regulate Eddie's sugar intake. I am not sure if it does or does not affect his mood, however, I am keen on helping prevent diabetes if possible. So I try not to let him eat sugary things like fruit snacks every day. Then when I let him eat them, I will let him have one package. This fills Eddie with rage. It is almost better to have no fruit snacks because as soon as he horks them down in 2.4 seconds, he is angrily demanding more "nacks!" Upon being informed that there are no more snacks, he continues demanding them until I either give in or find some way to distract him.

6. All statements must be properly acknowledged before we can move on
This has become a habit for me. I simply repeat what he says back to him so that he'll stop yelling it. Occasionally, though, Dave and I will be having a conversation and Eddie will be repeatedly shouting something at increasing volume until one of us breaks off mid-sentence to acknowledge it. Then Eddie will happily move on to the next thing. For example, when we are driving in the car and see a church and/or temple, Eddie feels compelled to shout "SEE TEMPLE! SEE IT!" until we tell him that yes, we also see the temple.

7. Sand is yummy; chicken is not
No matter how many different forms we try to feed to him, Eddie will not eat chicken. We have occasionally gotten him to eat other types of meat, but with chicken, he is stubborn. Sometimes he will even put it in his mouth, chew it up, then spit it out. Sand, on the other hand, is one of Eddie's staples. This grosses me out because I have seen dogs root around in the same sand that Eddie likes to eat. I am somewhat worried that he is going to end up with ringworm or some other parasite from eating park sand. He insists on eating it so much that I have considered buying a bag of sandbox sand just so I know the sand he is eating is reasonably clean.

8. If something is worth doing once, it is worth doing over and over and over and over and over and over
Unfortunately for me, during our recent ride home from Cedar City, Eddie suddenly wanted me to do "piggies" on his toes. We were about 10 minutes outside of Nephi, where we were planning on stopping for dinner. So I did 10 minutes of "this little piggy..." on Eddie's feet, all while twisted around uncomfortably in the seat so I could reach said feet. After every "wee wee wee," Eddie immediately said, "gain." I was trapped.

9. Having the sun shine on you in the car is like having your eyes boiled out with acid
This is why we own hats and sunglasses. Now if only Eddie would realize the wisdom of putting on his hat and glasses when the sun shines on him. Instead, he writhes. He shrieks. He yells "SUN ON YOU! GO WAY!" This makes for some miserable car rides... especially when it is just the two of us and there is nothing I can do to get the sun off of his face. Or when he simply refuses to be comforted despite Dave's attempts to shield him from the sun.

10. Getting all wet is always fun
It doesn't matter if it is winter. It doesn't matter if the water temperature is 40 degrees. It doesn't matter where we are or what we are doing... if Eddie can get wet, he will. He will splash until he is turning blue and shivering, and then he'll splash some more. I have now learned that I should always pack a change of clothes when we go somewhere with a fountain.

Zoology

I included a shot from our recent trip to the zoo on the main blog, but since when have I only taken one photo? Here are a few more.

Ed was more interested in this little watefall than most of the animals.

Love this shot. Neil is clearly not enjoying himself on the rhino.

We got the boys to leave the gorilla's "chest muscles" alone for just long enough to get this one.

The aftermath of the ball fountain incident.

Two Year Stats

Lucky Eddie got to visit the doctor for his 2-year well check on Tuesday. Eddie has come to dread the doctor's office. I don't think it has anything to do with shots, but I think he just doesn't like being prodded and examined. He started crying as soon as we pulled into the parking lot. Then we had to take the elevator (there was no way I was carrying him up to the 4th floor), which terrifies him.

Apparently now that he is two, he is no longer considered a baby and gets to stand on the scale and stand up to be measured. They didn't make me strip him down to be weighed, which was nice. Then when they asked me to strip him down, they provided a lovely Looney Tunes hospital gown for him to wear. Apparently modesty is important once you turn two.

We had to wait just long enough for the doctor that I was able to get Ed calmed down. We read stories and he clung desperately to his Diego figurine. Then the doctor came in. He seemed to like her as long as she wasn't touching him. She made sure to give Diego a check-up, too, so that Eddie could see that he didn't need to be afraid. Of course, as soon as she tried looking in his ears, that was all over. The doctor was impressed by Eddie's words, even taking him out into the main office to show off his most famous trick of shouting "BATMAN!" after someone says "na na na na." She was cracking up at some of the things he said, including the word "salami," which she described as awesome (which Eddie then repeated). All in all, he appears to be healthy and reasonably normal.

He weighed in at a whopping 27.8 pounds (48th percentile) and is 34.1 inches tall (50th percentile). That was a pleasant surprise after he slipped to the 8th percentile on weight at his 18 month check-up. It's good to know that he is growing despite his picky eating.

Happy Birthday, Ed!

Today is Eddie's 2nd birthday! To celebrate, we had a big birthday party on Saturday.

Since Eddie loves Curious George, we thought this would be a good party theme. I looked at hundreds of Curious George cakes online, trying to figure out what sort of design to do. Eventually, we settled on this:


I stressed about the cake more than anything. I even woke up at 5:15 on Friday morning and laid there for two hours thinking of the cake. Luckily, it turned out pretty well. I felt it was a success when I finished decorating it and showed it to Eddie and he said, "George!" Luckily, he didn't realize it was a cake or he would've spent a lot more time begging for cake before I could let him have any. In keeping with our theme, we also splurged on some Curious George party supplies.


Eddie's big present from Dave and I was a tricycle. Eddie has always liked bikes and loves watching the neighbor kids ride their bikes around outside. I spent a lot of time researching trikes and trying to find one that would not be too big for him. We ended up with this Radio Flyer Fold 2 Go trike, which folds for storage and has an adjustable seat. We made sure to have Eddie get on one at Toys R Us before we bought it -- just to make sure he could reach the pedals.


He has been riding his bike ever since. He doesn't know how to work the pedals, so he climbs on and then makes one of us push him around the house. On its maiden voyage outside, Eddie didn't take long to tip over and crash. Hopefully he'll get the hang of it soon... before one of us throws out our back pushing it around.




Dave was a Curious George fan when he was little, too, so Dave's parents brought down his old Curious George in a jogging suit for Eddie to have. He also got a couple more George DVDs, so that we know have 24 episodes to watch instead of the 8 that I have memorized. Uncle Jason got him a fold-up race track for his cars, which was a big hit. All the kids loved it and Eddie loves to send anything and everything down the "big hill." He got his helmet and pads and a t-ball set from my parents, a doctor kit from Aunt Cheryl's family, and a Diego truck from Aunt Christie's family.


Thanks to everyone for celebrating with us!

Eddie Update

I've been having a bit of blogger's block lately and haven't been able to think of anything interesting to post. But, I feel like a new post is overdue, so I figured I would give a general update on Eddie and his antics. So here are a few fun facts about Ed:

Eddie is a singer. The two songs he sings are "I Love to See the Temple" and "No More Monkeys." Sometimes these songs get combined into one. He's getting better at remembering the words. He used to sing "No temple day! No temple day!" but now he sings "I goin' temple! I goin' temple... no monkey bed." It's precious, as you can imagine. He loves seeing the temple and insists on seeing it out the window before naps and bedtime. He also points out every church we pass while riding in the car and can even say "Moroni," which sounds like, "Oh Why."

Eddie has recently become obsessed with tractors. I'm not sure what brought it on, but I remember him asking what something was, and I told him it was a tractor. So now he keeps his eyes peeled for "trackas" everywhere we go.

Here is Eddie when he got upset that there was no mail on Sunday.

Eddie loves to play outside. He gets excited whenever I ask if he will go with me to get the mail. If I even go near the front door, he'll start saying, "Side? Mail!" So I generally try to avoid that area of the house unless I am prepared to go out. His new favorite thing to do outside is to play on "big hills." He likes to climb them and he likes to run back down. One day on our walk around the block, he realized that we were walking uphill (a very gradual uphill), but he insisted on turning around and running down the hill at least 4 times before I forced him to move on. He also discovered puddles last week when it rained and had to stomp in every puddle we saw as we walked around the block.

Eddie will put himself in time-out and thinks time-outs are funny. We're not really sure how to impress the seriousness of punishment on him. He will stand in the corner and press his little face as far into the corner as he can. Then every once in a while, he will turn to smile at us and either go back to the corner or try to run away.

Eddie's favorite foods are pizza, noodles (noons), bread (dread), and dip-dip. He doesn't care what kind of dip-dip he has, as long as he has some. He eats it with a fork, or just with his hands. Occasionally he dips other foods into it, like strawberries in mustard or grapes in ketchup. He likes pretty much everything he tries, but refuses to try some things on principle (like chicken). We often find ourselves telling him that a certain food tastes just like something else he likes in order to get him to try it. He doesn't usually fall for that trick any more, but it is how we got him to try bacon (which we told him was like a cracker) and now he loves bacon.

Eddie went through a phase where he didn't like to snuggle or hug, so I am very happy that he now likes to "huggle." He will climb up on the couch for huggles, or will huggle at the grocery store while hanging out of the shopping cart. If he wants attention, that is his sure-fire way of getting it, because who could resist Eddie and his huggles?

Bippity Boppity Boo

It always seems to be windy in our neck of the woods. I think this is because the community is so new, thus there are no full grown trees to slow the wind down.

Aching for some sunshine without getting blown away, we invited ourselves up to Christie's neighborhood on Saturday afternoon.

We went to the "Princess Park," which features great old school playground fixtures like this pumpkin carriage.

Bouncing is one of Eddie's new favorite pastimes. On a related not, having to change a dirty diaper after said bouncing is not nearly as enjoyable.

Eddie and Kyle had all sorts of fun making a two man train down the slide.

Wild Things

After spending Sunday evening hunting eggs with the Barton cousins, we got to enjoy more cousin fun on Monday. Thanks to Spring Break, all the cousins got to go to the zoo together. The past few times we have gone, it has been just Eddie and I, so going with such a large group was quite the change. Luckily, it was supposed to snow that day, so the zoo was not crowded. Unfortunately, it was cold and hailed on us a bit. It was still fun despite the weather.

At first, Eddie was not interested in being at the zoo. We pulled into the parking lot and he immediately started saying "no! no!" As if the zoo is a torturous experience or something. After getting in the gates, Christie and I wrestled Eddie into his stroller, amidst flying shoes and agonizing screams. Once he was in, he got over it. But he was not interested in any of the animals until after we ate, which means he missed out on half off the zoo. His loss, I suppose. We stopped off at the rhino statue to get a photo of all the kids together.


I think it turned out surprisingly well, all things considered. Especially if you see the group photo from the previous day.

Eddie's hands-down favorite part is the small animal building (a.k.a. the reptile house). This is mainly because he gets out of the stroller and it is warm and enclosed. It is also because he can actually see some of the animals up close. Here are Eddie and Sarah, checking out a turtle:


Of course we had to stop off at the carousel. Eddie's mommy is too cheap to let him ride it, mostly because I think he would scream the whole time. Instead, Eddie and Kyle hung out on the sidelines:

Bubbles

Eddie loves bubbles. On Tuesday before the recent snowstorm hit, Eddie and I enjoyed an afternoon outside, letting the ridiculous wind blow bubbles for us.

Eddie refused to let me hold the wand, even to show him the proper technique. I tried to get him to hold the wand straight out so the wind would make bubbles, but he just wanted to keep dunking the wand, then waving it frantically, then dunking it again. Luckily, it was windy enough that we still managed to see some bubbles. Occasionally, he would hold it up to his mouth to try to blow bubbles, but would just end up licking the wand and saying "Yummy."

It is virtually impossible to get a photo of Ed with a smile these days, but I managed it by saying, "oogily boogily" just before snapping the shot.

Man vs. Guy

Today we profile two of Eddie's favorite toys, whom he has dubbed "Man" and "Guy." Check out their profiles and cast your vote to help determine which one is cooler.

Man

One of the manliest men around, Man is a construction worker. His well-groomed mustache perfectly compliments his lantern-shaped jaw. Thick, curly locks of chest hair billow out from under his collar. His oversized fists are ready to trade blows with any upstart stuffed animal or action figure that crosses his path.

On a recent walk, Eddie was holding Man when he started swinging his legs in a frenzied run and tripped. Man sacrificed his body to protect Eddie's hand from scrapes, but is so perfectly chiseled that he only suffered a small rip in his shirt pocket where his pectoral muscle flexed to break the fall.

Guy

Crew chief for a pair of successful race car drivers, Guy's large noggin indicates a superior intellect that is crucial in guiding his racers to victory. He sports a stylish ensemble that includes a striped racing jacket, yellow pants, and matching ball cap.

Eddie has been teething lately, and asked for Guy when he woke up crying in the middle of the night. Rumor has it that it was Guy who eventually coached Eddie back to sleep when even his parents had given up and shut their bedroom door to muffle the screaming.

Our Son, the Narcissist

In the post 3 Minutes With Eddie I described the work that went into putting Eddie's word video together, and pondered if it was all worth it. 3 months later the answer is clear.

Pretty much every night before bed Eddie demands to watch the various videos of himself on the blog, and that one is probably his favorite. He loves to repeat all the words along with the video, usually with the same vocal inflections (and whatever physical actions he was doing). By now he has watched it so many times that he can say many of the words just before they arrive because he has the order memorized.

Since I'm kinda warped I thought it would be amusing to make a video of Eddie watching the original video. Maybe in a few more months we'll do another video of him watching this video of him watching the original.

Ready for Spring

Eddie and I are officially ready for Spring. These last few days of warmth have been fabulous. We've taken trips to the park. Eddie loves to run down the hill and find things to throw down the storm drains. Oh, and he occasionally goes down the slide. It's also nice that when the weather is nice, all the neighbors come out and play on the lawn in front of our house. So Eddie got to play with the neighbor kids yesterday and draw with sidewalk chalk.

Today I bought him some summer-time shoes and some sunglasses (because he is now obsessed with sunglasses, which he calls "gas"). Here he is, decked out: