Time with Grandma and Grandpa!

We are fortunate to live close enough to my parents, and that they are able to come and visit so often! They come down every other weekend and we look forward to each and every visit!
They only get to stay a few hours, and they usually arrive just in time for M's nap.
So M and Grandpa take a routine short nap on the couch together, and grandma and I get time to chat outside on the patio while they sleep! I forgot to mention that J usually sleeps on the other couch/recliner. It is so funny to look into the living room and see 2 men and a toddler all sleeping sitting up- and I can't believe I don't have more photos of that!
Grandma often spoils M by bringing over goodies. She brings what we call "Grandma's special bag" and he knows to look in that bag- there is always something fun in there!
I gave grandma a book a while back that I wanted to be a special thing between her and M. I wrote my wish to her: that she could read it to him every time they saw each other and that could be one of his childhood memories. Well she remembers to bring that book over on each visit and they read it together and it is so special! M goes straight for her "Grandma bag" and pulls out the book, and he sits on her lap and they read it together- so precious! He quite often finds other goodies in that bag that she brings just for him too!
It's funny, I don't think there is a visit that I don't have photos of M sleeping with Grandpa, and sitting on Grandma's lap reading!
I am overdue in posting pics from their visits, so below is a slideshow with some pics from our most recent visit.
Note: I will add some more pics to this slideshow of other recent visits soon (I need to sort through my gazillions of pics)

Visit with Grandma and Pops!

Grandma and Pops came out earlier this month and we had a nice visit. They stayed about a week, and split their time between our house and the (John's brother's family).
They brought over 2 of M's cousins, to visit on two of the days, which was nice because we hadn't seen them in a long time! The oldest one is involved in sports and wasn't able to make it. M just loves his cousins and he especially bonded with D- he really looked up to him! M really loves hanging out with older kids, he prefers them to kids his own age- so having his big cousins over was a very special treat!
I really enjoyed watching the kids hanging out and playing together! M was constantly talking and laughing! They were surprised at how well M talks, and they really enoyed it! He loved showing and telling them about all of his toys and videos!
We also took the kids to the playground and to the pool for a short time. By the time we went swimming it had cooled down outside and the water was pretty freezing, so we made that quick!

One day, we took the grandparents and M over to Jamba Juice- his favorite local hangout. He loves to run around and meet other kids, splash in the water fountain, and of course getting our Mango-A-Go-Go smoothies is always a treat!
Grandma gave M some coins from her purse to throw in the fountain, and he got a HUGE kick out of that! He wanted to throw coin after coin! He kept coming back for more! It was cute because he had no idea that it was 'money'- he didn't care if he threw rocks, trash, or coins, just as long as he was allowed to throw it in the water! After she ran out of coins, I caught M trying to get the coins back from the bottom of the fountain- which is pretty deep. As he stretched and stretched and tried to get closer- he almost fell in! I actually caught him on his way in! The grandparents really enjoyed watching him run around, have fun, and get soaking wet!
I always pack an extra shirt when we go there, because when he is finished playing you can literally wring out a puddle of water from the one he has on! Good times!

When they were leaving M was very sad, but he was quickly cheered up by a bouquet of lollipops that Grandma gave him as she said goodbye. He quickly handed it off to his cousin and asked "open it please?" That was his first lollipop believe it or not and he was a happy camper!

The slideshow below has a LOT of pics from the visit...

Three Toddler Cousins!

It was nice to see my brothers and nieces, even though it was a short visit! Last month, Jason and Addie were down from Colorado, and Brian and Myah were down from Arizona! I wish Brittani could have came out but she had to work, I miss my sister!
The kids had a lot of fun here because our house is a "Toddlers Dream-land", hehe! They got to go to the playground and play on the jungle gym, then back inside where they got to play with the train set, and they really enjoyed playing the piano and drums! They also played basketball, colored, and played with LOTS of other toys!
I noticed Addie was really interested in our toy microwave and play food! I think she wanted to take some home with her cuz when they came back from a run to the car, Jason came in and handed me a handful of toy silverware and food he confiscated from her outside, LOL! I should have bought THAT for one of her birthday presents- DUH! Oh well, I must tell Brittani where she can get it- cuz she loved it! Myah was enthralled with the drums, and she also played away at the piano quite a bit! It was really funny watching the girls play around the train set, because I am not sure they even played with actual 'trains', I saw Addie pushing a toy spoon across the tracks, and a few other objects, hehe! Too cute!
I wasn't able to get them all in a photo, as much as I tried, they were very uncooperative. I sure hope next time we see them, it can be a longer visit!
I threw a few pics from the visit in a slideshow below...

Do You Know Your Dinosaurs???

Before you read on...

Do you know what kind of dinosaur this is?

OK, so I was playing with Maletch and his dinosaurs (5 minutes ago) and I decided that I would tell/teach him about the 4 kinds of dinosaurs that I know, or at least I thought I knew!!
First, I grabbed the T-Rex, and Maletch said "T- Rex" at the same time as me. John and I looked at each other and we figured he must have learned this from his dinosaur cartoon, 'Dinosaur Train', so that's great!...
I then showed him a Stegosaurus, and Maletch named it, and he also pointed out his 'spikes'.
Then I grabbed this one (in the pic above) ,

and I said, "This is a Pterodactyl."

Maletch said, "It's a Pteranodon."
I thought he couldn't pronounce what I said, so I thought, "good try"... BUT John was falling on the floor laughing- so I asked, "What is so funny?"
John said, "I wasn't going to correct you, I think that is fine that you told him that was a pterodactyl, BUT Maletch is right- it is a Pteranodon!"
Oh my goodness, I just got schooled! I will be buying some dinosaur books, and I will be studying!! I had better learn the different species BEFORE I teach him, and I had better know what I am talking about- because he obviously pays very close attention!

Maletch Cracks Me Up!

OK, so here are some quotes of the week...

We have Maletch's Power Wheels (a motorized quad for riding) 'parked' (wedged) between a few big toys in our Master bedroom (for storage when not in use).
He climbed on it and said, "I'm stuck, I'm too stuck, I can't ride it, I can't go!"
Me: "Yeah honey, we don't have enough space for you to ride it in here."
Maletch: "How about I go outside?"

When Maletch gets fussy or acts up we always ask, "Do you want to go nite-nite?" He only gets fussy when he is tired, so he usually agrees, "Yes, I'm tired, I go nite nite."
One day playing with Maletch, I injured my neck, I was in a lot of pain, but I was trying to hide it. I didn't realize that I was scrunching my face or that Maletch was looking, and I guess he interpreted that as a "fussy face" (like I was going to cry) because he asked, "Mommy do you wanna go nite-nite?"

When Grandma and Pops Pollard were visiting: we were getting ready to take Maletch over to the playground.
I said, "Wait Maletch, I'm gonna get your jacket!" When I went upstairs, Maletch turned to Pops
and asked, "Where's your jacket?"
Pops said, "It's in the car."
Maletch replied, "I'll go get it!"
Grandma and Pops were so shocked they laughed about this conversation for a while! It was funny hearing pops tell it, "He asked me where my jacket was," .... "then he offered to go get it when I told him it was in the car!"

Maletch: "Have some cookies please?"
Me: "No, we have to eat lunch first, maybe after lunch."
Maletch: "Have cookies first please?"
Me: "Well if we have cookies first, you won't want to eat your lunch."
Maletch: "Yeah, I do."

We pulled into a store parking lot,
Maletch asked, "Where are the people?"
Me: "What people?"
Maletch: "Oh, there is everybody!" (he said it with such excitement)
I had to turn around in the car to see who he was so excited about, 'who is everybody?' He was pointing to a large group of people walking out of the store.

This is probably more cute than funny (to read), although it is both in person...
We bought Maletch his own set of realistic toy keys to hang on our key rack (next to ours) since one of our sets went missing.... He frequently asks me to get them down so he can go bye-bye (his "going to work routine") Lately, he heads for the door, "Bye bye mommy." I always oblige by asking, "Where are you going?" He replies, "I'm going to work!" he heads off, but then, turns around to get his things to take with him. I watch as he wanders around "packing" his things. He says, "I take my juice, and I take Mcqueen." Then he asks, "Where is my milk?" and "Hmm... let's see, I need Thomas." It is so cute watching him pack for his pretend adventure, and it is interesting to see what he thinks he 'needs' for work, hehe.
When we are actually going someplace, he knows the 'real' packing list very well, and he always helps me with it. He will "remind" me to get his shoes, jacket, juice, crackers, and mommy's shoes, mommy's jacket, mommy's soda, mommy's purse, the diaper bag, and of course the keys. And he walks around and helps me grab everything while announcing "I get the ___." He also packs his own toys now too (I never have to do it or ask him to). He even reminds me that we need to change his diaper before we leave.

This had me and John rolling on the floor tonight..
Daddy: "Maletch, do you want some green beans and some yogurt?"
Maletch: "Yes please."
Daddy brought it over to him.
Maletch: "No, it's too late."
Daddy: "What?"
Maletch: "It's too late, it's nite-nite time!"
Daddy was trying not to laugh, but he was giggling with his hand in front of his face.
Maletch: "I'm not laughing, it's not funny."

Update on Alphabet!!

Update:
Well it's totally official now....
In just a few days of actually going over the alphabet with Maletch- he knows ALL of them! Funny, I noticed him paying extra close attention to the 6 letters that he didn't already know (see previous post), and I also noticed him 'studying' the ones that look similar to other letters (like B & D)-- he placed them side by side and really studied them.... AND he sure DID- because he knows them all so well- he RARELY makes a mistake- not even confusing similar letters with each other- almost zero mistakes! He has them solid!
Good job Maletch!
Soon, I will introduce the lower case forms, and I expect that will even be easier since many of the letters look the same as capital, only smaller- so there will be less letters to learn!
I am in no 'rush' to teach him anything, but he is so interested in learning and especially reading- so I am just trying to go with his flow! Just tonight he picked up some store ads, and wanted to "read" the text, and he always wants to "read" signs and books!
I am so glad we have the learning programs that we have, but I am still amazed that he learned everything so fast!
I mentioned before that I know he picked up some of the phonics sounds too, (the same way I thought he picked up on SOME of the letters, LOL) by him walking around and casually mentioning it- so I have no idea how many he actually knows....
But he often points to a letter (example letter B) and says, "B, B says ba ba" (the sound it makes), I have heard him do that with many letters too! He will also tell you that, "A is for Apple", "P is for Pear", and "W is for Whale" (and more).
One day soon, I will ask him about those, but I will do it the same way I did the alphabet-- and I have some funny suspicions!

A FUNNY Thing To Note:
Maletch thinks it's the coolest thing that mommy can write the alphabet (and that my 'drawings' actually resemble letters) because he tries to write his ABC's and they are total scribbles (it is very cute)! A new game we play, is that I "make a letter" and he names it, and finds the matching puzzle piece to put on top of it (on a magnetic drawing board we have). Then he says, "I'll make a ___" (name of letter) and then he tries, it is so cute cuz everything he "makes" looks the same, hehe! By the way, he made up this game all by himself-- I just "made a letter"-- he named it- and grabbed the puzzle pieces- and asked for the pen to try.... and he likes his new game!
The other day, he said, "I will draw a bumble bee!"... so I said, "That's great!" and he came over to show me his creation, and although it was very hard to see that it was a bumble bee, hehe, he confirmed, "Look mommy, I made a bumble bee!" He says the same thing about 'shapes' and 'letters' that he "makes"-- so next time you are over, make sure to pay attention to what he says if he is drawing, because he does expect you to know/see what it is too!