Don't Forget This!

My sister in law posted on facebook some funny things my niece says right now, and it made me think of all the crazy things that come out of Tag's mouth.  It's always hard to capture the true sentiment in text, but I feel like it's better than not recording this at all, right?



When Tag wakes up in the morning he usually plays in his room for a bit.  Eventually though, he'll come knock on his door for mommy.  As soon as I open the door, he says, "I sweep good!  Mommy,I sweep good!"  Occasionally, he'll add on to that, "Mommy, I hab a sticky diapa."  It's like he's so excited to have someone to talk to, that he makes up story's or tells me what happened in the book he's flipping through, even tells me something that I assume he dreamed.  When we get downstairs he asks for "bekfast", or a "babana" (banana) and asks to watch "TB" (TV).  Lately, the requests are, "Finin Nemo," (Finding Nemo) "Tut-toe Tales" (Turtle Tales), "Boo Coo's"(Blue's Clues), and "Fesh Beat Ban" (Fresh Beat Band). 

Once he sees the hustle and bustle of the morning begin, he asks "Whas we doin today?"  And some days he's "goin da skoo," (school), some days he's "goin da curch" (church), and sometimes  he says "i not goin da skoo, i goin museum!"  When we get in the car for school, we have to pick up Emmy (neighbor). Would you believe, Tag already knows how to pick fights with girls!  He and Emmy talk back and forth about whose school it is--"it my skoooo!!" Tag would say. Emmy has been in a habit of asking for Tag to be quiet, which Tag then returns, "I wan Emmy to be kiet!!" (quiet).  My ability to discipline is severely handicapped early in the morning (pre-coffee), and in the car.  But, one day I'm going to come up with a clever way to remedy this! 

On days where he stays home, he has "Miss Mowee" (Molly) to play with, if I'm working.  Some days he asks "where Miss Mowee at," and when she gets there he says things like, "Fowow me, Mis Mowee" (follow me Miss Molly) and wants her to come play something with him.  He does do his fair share of pitching fits and crying when I have to go to work, and he tells me "you NOT go to wook!"  Thankfully, he gets over it soon enough and is back to playing with Miss Molly.    

He's been potty training hard core for the past few months, and he's doing pretty well.  If we could get over hurdle # 2 (literally), we'd be done!  But, he's only 2.5 and I'm sure we'll get there one day!  I'll have to do a separate post about these adventures-- HA!!  

Tag loves music and drums, and when we're in the car he asks for "anoder song" when one song ends.  His hands are playing air drums, and his head is banging every time.  It has to be fast, too!  He can hear the words a lot of times, and he'll repeat them.  Just check out the video on Youtube (click "Clips of Life" at the top of this page) of him singing "I will wait" by Mumford&Sons.  Kid heard it one time and just kept saying the words that evening and through out the week!  


When we pass (or stop at) any fast food restaurant, Tag starts ordering food. Like this:  "Ummm, I wan, a chiken nuggets and fen-fies, and umm diet pepper" AND recently, he adds a "cheeseburga" and milkshake to the request.  Once at drive through ATM at the bank, Tag started to order. HAHA!  (yes we eat fast food occasionally,err once a weekish, no judging!)

Tag's attention span has definitely grown lately because he asks me to sit with him a lot.  It's hard to resist, "come sit with me, mommy!"  He likes to get blankets and cuddle in, and like me, he twists and turns 10 times to find just the right comfy spot.  It's always some place where he can yank out my pony tail and pull on my hair.  I remember now why I was fine with him having super long hair!   

He talks through movies and asks questions like he must confirm what he's seen.  In Finding Nemo (we pulled that one out during the latest two-week-long-cold), he asks "Nemo touch da boat,"  "Das da bad shark," "oh no, whese cora (coral)? da shark got her"?  It's such a sweet time.

During our night time routines, Tag plays pretend in the bath tub.  He sips his "Copies" (coffee) in a toy cup shaped like a measuring cup, and says how good it is.  When B bathes the kids, he asks "who wants to smell like strawberries?" and then he uses the kids berry body wash to wash them.  Tag yells to me about how he "mewl wike berries" (smells like berries).  When he gets out of the bath, he asks to be naked and all he wants is to do a few laps around the upstairs without clothes on.  He finds Story a paci and brings her her favorite blanket when it's time to read the bible.  He LOVES to sit with B and read at night-- I honestly think he could listen to him read for hours!  When it's time for bed Tag usually gets tucked in by daddy, while I put SK down.  And he repeats his usual farewell, "i wove you! see you in da mornin!"  Brentley prays with Tag and it's SO sweet to hear Tag sometimes interrupt B and say, "bess (bless) hudson, bess (bless) kent..." and anyone else Brentley might not have said yet.  Tag knows his prayer list backwards and forwards!     

Now these days, wouldn't be complete without those times when Tag says mommy about 50+ times in a row.  There are the times when he throws huge fits because he can't have Story's paci, or go outside, or eat a 6th slice of kraft singles (gross, right?).    But I appreciate these short sweet moments, and long drawn out days, seemingly filled with discipline and fits.  I love that he loves me and wants me to sit with him, or follow him, or lay with him, hold him, or forgive him.  I love being a mom in this season.  And, I can't believe how big my little baby is (36 lbs, btw).  

Time, slow down sister.  

jammin'

So as I have mentioned before, Tag loves to get down.  I got a video on Julia's phone last week, and I had to post.  You can barely hear the music coming from his toy, but it's typical baby classical tunes.  One day when I get a phone that is cool enough to have a video camera on it, I'll catch him dancing to some gospel jams--that is where it's at! 

Anyway, the headbanging thing is a new dance.  I wish I had captured him "droppin' it" but maybe next time!

Recent Milestones + Videos!

we're having a terribly busy week (work wise), but i just have to take a second and document some of the big changes around here with our little 14 month old! 

last night as tag was taking his last serving of milk in his sippy cup, i realized that i think we can safely say we've transitioned out of using a bottle!  it took about a week.  he still likes the milk warm or room temperature (but not cold).  and he won't drink it like water with a meal, but he'll suck it down when he wakes up, before his afternoon nap, and before bed. 

i also realized that i need to relax and let everything happen in it's right time.  i tried to take the bottle away from tag around 12 months and he wasn't having it!  i was kind of discouraged because it seemed like he was staying on top of the curve with all things eating and drinking.  i've tried to sneak some milk in a few other times since then, and sometimes he literally spewed it out when he got a mouth full of milk instead of water.  but then i had another itch to try it this week, and he went for it!    

tag is a terrific eater, but lately he's given up his first love--apples.  he will suck down some apple sauce out of those squeezy things in like 10 seconds, though.  i'm thinking maybe he just enjoyed apples a lot while he was cutting teeth.  now that he's got a mouth full, i think he's impatient with trying to eat off the core.  he'll eat apple's in bite sizes, but when i had him a whole peeled apple, he takes like 2 bites and tosses it.  he does love a good pear though.  i can hand him one (skin on) and within 10 minutes he's holding the core and has pear juice and goo in his hair. 

tag's grams gave him a set of plastic fruit (melissa and doug), and he really enjoys them!  i can say, "where's your apple?" and he'll go get it.  he also knows banana really well.  in fact he says 'apple' (apo) and 'banana' (nananana).  this kid loves to eat a banana too!  tag has enjoyed pears also, but i think he still thinks they are apples?    

speaking of words, tag learned the signs for 'all done' and 'more.'  he can say 'more' too, but it comes out like 'moe!'-- and it's definitely in a command tone.  he tries to say 'all done' but it sounds a bit different each time.  he also says 'mama' (not to be confused with 'moe' for 'more' which i think only b and i can differentiate), and he says 'dada' and 'papa.'  tag says 'duh' when he sees a dog.  i think that's because we've been trying to get him to say 'durham'?  and he does say 'bye' too!  in fact he and his buddy hudson both successfully said 'bye' to one another yesterday-- their first real word conversation!  he may say more words, but those are the only ones i'm confident i know.

tag loves music.  he dances to anything... even a beat that brentley will tap out on the counter.  when brentley plays his guitar, tag dances.  when the intro to thomas the train or yo gabba gabba come on, he really gets down! 

he really loves reading.  he loves to flip through books on his own, and have us read too.  he basically loves any one-on-one attention.  he's doing a lot better sleeping in his pack-n-play lately, and this last week at home group he didn't cry but for maybe minute.  he slept pretty well when we went to visit family in VA too, all things considered.  

we finally found a diaper that will work for 12 hours for him, and this has caused him to sleep until 6:30-7am instead of waking up around 5--woo hoo!!!  

tag is a HUGE flirt.  he know's how to get anyone smiling at him, and he really enjoys interacting with others.  he plays pretty well on his own, but doesn't like to be in a room alone for long.  i'm not sure why we have so many toys becuase his favorite things almost always end up being some household item.  he loves a remote or a phone.  he grabs anything that even resembles a phone and holds it to his ear.  his favorite thing to do in his room is unplug anything that is plugged in.  then he may go grab a piece of fruit and chew on it while he thinks on what he can get into next.  it's rarely the toy box though... mostly, he waits for me to sneak out so he can pull all the things out of the drawers he can reach.  or so he can rip pages from the good books.        

tag is such a tactile little creature.  he loves to touch and taste and feel everything.  at church he likes to go feel the textures of the walls and the glass windows.  he bangs on things to see the sound they make.  everywhere he goes, he reaches out to touch things.  at the park, he finds the nearest tree to touch... i have to coax him onto the playground.  he looks to the ground to pick up leaves and sticks and he almost always considers putting them in his mouth.  he is a sweet and cuddly nugget too!  he will give a big ol' bear hug--especially when he's tired or just waking up.  he likes to poke peoples eyes and noses and pull ears and touch teeth.  it looks like he will be a hands on learner, for sure! 

i have discovered though, that the paci is next on our list of things to attempt to transition.  though i am trying to be patient and make sure the timing is right for tag.  my new rule is for the paci to pretty much stay in his room (for sleep).  when he doesn't have it, he seems to want to bite more.  Usually it's just me, brentley, and julia, but he also responds to dicipline in a fit of rage and will find my hand to try to bite it.  though, he knows "no biting" and does obey most of the time. 

i'm not sure if it's too soon, but the doctor did say it could hinder his speech, and i should try to take it away during the day where possible.  i still give it to him when he's sleepy-- more or less to get us safely to bed without being eaten.  he has a mouth full of sharp little dino teeth!  so, yeah, we're working on that issue... can't have him munchin' on baby girl! 

anyway, to finish up this post about what a little toddler tag has become, i wanted to share these videos from the past few months.  i have been on an organizing kick (making room for baby girl), and i had this empty box lying around waiting to be used.  this is tag at 14 months. 

this second video is tag playing with the same toys around 13 months. 

This is tag trying something new at 12 months.  It always takes him a few bites to get familiar with a new food, but he did end up loving this orange cottage cheese salad.

Tag's First....ER Visit

Well we just did make it a year before Tag had to go to the ER.  One day a few weeks back, he was playing and just came up to me (after a not so good nap) and was rubbing his eyes and wanted to be held.  So, I thought perhaps he might need to try another nap.  I took him up and rocked him, read a book, and put him down.  We had minimal fussing, and he went to sleep quickly.  He was up an hour later screaming.  This isn't abnormal, but he wouldn't open his eyes when I picked him up.  He kept crying, and I took him into the bathroom so I could check out his eyes.  He still wouldn't open them?  At this point, panic sort of set in.  It was about 4pm, and I texted B to come home asap.  I tried a wet wash cloth to calm his eyes, but nothing I did worked.  B came home and suggested Benadryl.  Then, he held Tag while I called the Pediatricians office.  They suggested we go to the ER (since it was so late in the day) and so we went.  By the time we arrived at the Duke, Tag had his eyes back open.  But,then he was SO sleepy. 

The end result, after we waited long enough for the Benadryl to stop working and his eye to begin bothering him again, was the use of a dye and a black light.  I could see the scratch right away in the black light.  Conveniently, Tag also had a virus at the same time this was all going down.  I obviously didn't take pictures of Tag when he was crying or in pain, so these photos make the trip seem a lot more docile than it was.  Suffice it to say, I was thankful B was there to trade off holding/wrangling/comforting Tag with me for the 4 hour visit during dinner time (which all he had, thanks to a panic ridden mother, was a bag of goldfish).

This last picture is the day after.  It was definitely a Tylenol/Motrin filled couple of days. 

Welcome to Toddlerhood!

This weekend I lost my crockpot to a sticky fingered, tippy toe reaching, toddler.  Great timing huh, with fall/winter around the corner?  He reached between the fridge and the counter and pulled the electrical cord until the entire thing came down onto my dark hardwood floor.  By God's grace, he did not get hurt, but the super heavy stoneware bowl broke into a lot of tiny pieces.  The stoneware was so heavy it chopped up my hardwood floor in several places.  I was in the shower when this happened, so B got to experience that scare.  I'm sad to report though, that this has not taught Tag one single lesson in reaching for things or the dangers in the kitchen, etc.   

Once Tag began pulling up, I put locks on our cabinets.  It's taken roughly 3 months, and he's figured out how to get past them.  We haven't gotten around to putting knobs on our kitchen cabinets yet, so I can't use the other safety thingy's yet.  I guess I'm going to have to gate off the kitchen, because my current method doesn't last long.  His target cabinet is the garbage.  SO GROSS.  

Also, this kid is like a shark.  The teeth keep on coming!  Can you see the molars on the bottom right of his mouth in the picture below?  You can even see the molars on the left bulging.  Poor kid! 

 

He's happy almost all the time until you tell him "NO," which is what was going on in this photo (he was trying to bite my leg which is what he does sometimes when I tell him no).  I'm trying not to wear out the word, but he continuously goes back to the "no" items... bookshelves and the dog bowl.  Occasionally, he'll pull the cable box and DVD player from the TV cabinet which is also a "no."  The other "no" that I'm so tired of saying already is about electrical outlets and my computer.  GAH!  Sometimes, I want to throw a tantrum when I have to say the dreaded word, because I'm tired of it too!  We also pop Tag's hand if he disobeys when we tell "no."  Usually, it doesn't even phase him, and occasionally he smiles and laughs if we don't use the right tone with him, and other times when he's tired and we get the tone just right he seems emotionally traumatized.  Meanwhile, I'm reading Shepherding a Child's Heart, and will probably have it on repeat for the next 20 years.