Words

Sawyer didn't start really talking until he started preschool last fall - he was already 26 months. I even had him evaluated by a speech therapist when he turned two, who agreed that while he struggles with pronunciation he met the basic milestones of a 24 month old. That's not to say he isn't a genius in his own ways. He somehow knows which teachers are absent from school on any given day with a single glance at the parking lot - even though he never sees them entering or leaving their cars and he knows every turn we take on the way to any of our regular destinations. While his language skills have vastly improved over the past few months to the point where he and I can have complete and complex conversations, I still have to act as translator for most people and when he's tired or sick will revert to grunting and pointing like a Neanderthal. I chalk up much of this up to the whole boys are slower than girls thing, but we may end up in speech therapy yet.

So, it's a welcome change that at 15 months Arden already has more than 30 words and she's busting new ones out all the time. Here's a running list of some of the things I've heard her say:
Mama
Dada
Baby
Doggy
Bye
Hi
Shoe
Night Night
Outside
Please
Thank You
Bless You
I'm Gonna Get You
"Row Row Row . . . ."
More
All Done
Cracker
Bird
Tree
Flower
Milk
Water
Juice
Hungry
Dirty
Happy
NO!
Mine
Me
You
MMMMMwwwah!
(Okay, not sure that last one counts as a word but she blows kisses at anyone - even the cars we pass on the road!).

Its Party Time

These videos are three weeks old and almost too short at 13 seconds to be worth posting but I can't help it. I want to remember how excited Sawyer gets about birthdays now. I'm such a party pooper. We never go to his little friends birthday parties, and I've been going off lately about how I don't believe in big birthday parties for kids. We got an invitation to one this weekend and I tried to call to RSVP but never got through - and it KEPT ME UP AT NIGHT because Sawyer was so excited about going. In the end - who gives an rsvp number with no voicemail? - I was a little relieved to not spend the afternoon at a wild card party where I knew nobody. But I was a little sad thinking about how much Sawyer wanted to go. A few months back, when Sawyer was going through his tough spell at school - bad behavior at naptime and such - they didn't let him have a cupcake to celebrate his friend Nora's birthday. He was so saaaad when he told me about it that night that I was ready to pull him out of the Baptist School then and there and forever. He's TWO for Christ Sake! Give the kid a cupcake! So what if he said "no" and threw his blanket across the room. A few weeks ago he went for a ride in the truck with Scott and they saw a bunch of cars at the end of the street and Scott made the offhanded comment that it must be party time. Sawyer's eyes were saucer-wide when he came back into our house. He came up to me with a wild look and yelled: "It's party time!"Then he ran into the pantry, looked around and asked: "Where is it?" What? "Cake?" Like I had one made. Or like I'd EVER made one. I appeased him by having an impromptu Oreos and Milk party. I'm starting to rethink my 'no parties until age 5' motto - but I'm putting my foot down when it comes to moon bounces, clowns, pony rides, or anything of that ilk.

My birthday

Turning 35 was far from momentous. I slept on the couch at my parents house nursing a fever while Scott was stuck in traffic. My kids ate the cake and enjoyed the card, which I promptly lost. Here I am, trying my best to be festive. Arden is saying Mmmm, yummy! which is her new favorite thing to say. We give her sweet things to eat, just to hear her say it over and over with every bite. She can also count to three and sing some approximation of the words to Row Row Row Your Boat. Far more exciting than anything that happened on my birthday. As for 35, it's a nice age. Old enough without being too old. 38 - now that's my scary age.

Happy Easter

It's Done!