Our First Look at Our New Baby!!

Our Little Peanut!

Yay, I almost couldn't wait for today! We got to look inside my belly- and the new baby is tiny (right now) but already has a strong and fast heartbeat (150 beats per minute)- that was a BEAUTIFUL thing to see!
Our radiology technician was a sweetheart and told us everything "as we went" which was a wonderful surprise! So we were happy to leave with not only a feeling that everything looks good so far, but also with a DUE DATE!! The ultrasound said- I am 7 weeks and 1 day along, and it also provided a due date of May 12, 2011.

I am so excited to officially begin our countdown to "when 3 become 4"... and I am so excited we are going to have TWO kids running around here soon!!
It is possible to find out the gender as early as 12 - 13 weeks of pregnancy with the new high tech ultrasound machines, so we could possibly know what we are having within 5-6 weeks from now! Standard machines can take up to 4 weeks more, the place we go has both kinds of machines.
We were so happy that they allowed Maletch to be in the room, because he already knows about the baby coming (well as much as he can understand). If you ask him what is in mommy's belly- he will tell you "A baby!" He is already such a sweet big brother too, he talks to the baby sometimes, "Look at this, baby!" while holding (showing the baby in my belly) his toys or whatever, and sometimes he kisses the baby (my belly)- he just melts my heart!

It was hilarious, while he was watching the monitor (which does look weird- it looks like a storm tracking video to me, LOL)-- well Maletch pointed to the monitor and said, "Look a turtle! A turtle is swimming in the water!" Then he went on to talk about "Dude Crush" and "Squirt" which are 2 turtles in the movie "Finding Nemo." So I may be having a turtle or a baby, definitely one or the other! The girl doing the ultrasound was giggling the whole time at "Maletch's commentary" and she just fell in love with him! I don't know how many times I heard, "He is so CUTE" or "He talks so well" etc. He has a way with the ladies, hehe!
Above are 2 of the ultrasound photos that they gave us- although the 'still photos' are extremely hard to see any detail- it is much easier to tell what you are looking at when you can see it "real time" as we did (which is almost like a constant video). I am still playing with adding 'pregnancy widgets' to my blog, they are fun and also provide a realistic view- more like what we saw today live on the monitor. The widgets will be changing and growing daily, as our baby develops daily- it should be fun to watch!

What Happened to Jack and Bulgy??

In case you don't know who Jack and Bulgy are: They are 2 of Maletch's favorite characters from his wooden "Thomas the Train & Friends" collection. Now what happened to them is a lovely story.... (yes that is sarcasm)

"Jack"

"Bulgy"

Why is there a toilet in our front yard???

What happened here??

And who the heck is this guy??

All good questions...

The pictures truly tell the story, but in case something isn't quite clear...

One day (about a month ago) I briefly ran upstairs leaving Maletch downstairs and I heard the bathroom door open and then I heard the toilet flush... I immediately thought "Uh-Oh!" I went tearing downstairs to find out what he was up to. He told me, "I put Jack and Bulgy in the potty chair!" Uh-Oh was right!!! I was hoping so badly that it wasn't true- but 2 yr old's never lie- at least not this one! Sure enough after a quick search Jack and Bulgy were missing-- and then after a test flush came a HUGE mess! Jack and Bulgy were lodged deep down and clogging the toilet!!
We called a plumber. He tried to "snake" them out (among other things) but they were STUCK! He had to pull the toilet out and even then- he had a lot of trouble trying to get them out! At one point, he was pretty sure we were going to need to replace the toilet completely- but they finally came out- first a sock- then Bulgy- then a LONG time later out came Jack. They were so covered in sludge (Oh-- so gross) that there was NO WAY we were going to clean them and let Maletch have them back!

I had a talk with Maletch and now he knows that he can't put any trains, cars, or any other toys in the toilet. He thought it was a fun game to name everything that was NOT allowed in the toilet, hehe! For example he said, "No putting Thomas in the toilet." "No putting ___ in the toilet." Among listing MANY of his toys, he also added, "No putting pizza in the toilet." He got very creative and this was a pretty long game!

He has been pretty sad and talks about his missing "friends" very often and says, "Jack and Bulgy are gone." (he says it with such a sad face) and then he'll say, "Don't put trains in the toilet" Although we feel really sorry for Maletch, since they were two of his favorites- we thought that if we replaced them too soon that he might think that toys can "come back" from the toilet somehow. We know that he didn't know better when he did it- so he shouldn't be punished for it- but we thought that missing them a little while might help teach a good lesson. He has shown us that he can be completely trusted and that he has learned about not putting things in the toilet. In case you are wondering, several weeks later we did replace Jack, and we will replace Bulgy soon.

Unfortunately, this wasn't the first time he put a bunch of stuff in the toilet- and it is too bad the first time- that I didn't find it until he was in bed for the night. I had received a package that day and he took all the air pillows and bubble wrap and stuffed it down the toilet- and took a bunch of "Thomas" books we had just bought at Barnes & Noble and put them on top of the air pillows/ bubble wrap! That night I went into the bathroom and found the toilet was full all the way to the lid with stuff, hehe! Luckily that time I was able to pull everything out and we didn't need a plumber! BUT, since he was sleeping, I missed my opportunity to talk to him about it, and then forgot to bring it up after that. Had I "caught him" the first time, the Jack and Bulgy incident probably wouldn't have happened.

This probably deserves it's own post, but...
One good thing that came out of this was that not only was he eager to learn what was NOT allowed in the toilet, he was super excited to learn that he COULD put pee pee and poo poo in the toilet. Shortly after this incident- he began using his potty chair regularly and we let him pour it- from his potty into the toilet- and flush it all by himself cuz he loves doing it so much!
BTW, he is pretty much potty trained now. He wears "big boy underwear" ALL day (not training pants) and the only time we put training pants on him is at bedtime or when we go out in public, because he is too small to use a real toilet- (or at least he will need some practice with it first). Even for naps he holds it till he wakes up.

Although normally you teach boys to do everything sitting down (at first) and teach them standing and "aim" later- Maletch made it very clear that he wants to stand to pee (like daddy) and he has not had a single pee accident in over 2 weeks. He does need help with taking his clothes off- well he pulls them down- but he thinks they need to come 'all-the-way-off' for him to use the potty, hehe. I am sure these little quirks will get worked out as he gets more experience.

Almost 2 Years of Wishing and Hoping......

Well, after almost 2 years of trying, wishing, and hoping and getting a little help from the doctor..... I am pregnant! (insert doing a cartwheel here) YAY!!
It is funny that it seems when people focus on trying to get pregnant- that it doesn't happen- and when you stop thinking about it, give up, or in my case- "Give it to God"... then He takes care of the rest!!
It wasn't long ago, that I realized that I was worrying too much about it, and every month I was disappointed when I found out I wasn't pregnant. We wanted Maletch to have sibling(s) and we wanted them to be close in age and then taking into consideration my age and medical problems-- as the time went by in the past almost 2 yrs, we knew that the window for opportunity was closing..... One day it finally "clicked" that children are gifts from God, and that I needed to stop worrying about it and completely "Give it to God." I 'wrapped my heart' around believing that He has His own timing and plans and that it will happen if it is supposed to, and that I need to 'be OK' with whatever happens... John and I even 'revisited' the idea (and were getting on-board) of adoption... and soon after I got my head and heart in the right place.... I found out YESTERDAY that I am pregnant!! God always takes care of us so I wonder why I forget that sometimes?
I am so excited for Maletch because I know he will love having someone to play with, and this baby is very lucky because I know Maletch is going to be the BEST big brother anyone could ever have!!
We can't wait to share the news with everyone, and I wanted to post this for anyone that stops by my blog!
Tomorrow (Tues) we will be calling my OB, and hopefully we will be able to get an appointment soon. I am anxious to find out how far along I am. We figure that I will be due in May, if not sooner.
I am in the "over 35 yr old category" now (YIKES, I can't believe I am that old) so that does put me in a higher risk category. I mention it because all prayers for the health of our new baby are important and very much appreciated!
I will post updates here on my blog as we find out the "guesstimate" due date, the sex of the baby, get ultrasound photos, and all those good things!
And just for fun, I posted a "Baby Gender Poll" in the upper right hand corner of my blog- I thought it would be fun for everyone to try to guess if it will be a boy or a girl? So be sure to vote, LOL!

Another Fantastic Disney Adventure!!

WOW, this trip was awesome! We went back to California Adventure last Sunday (Aug 1st). We plan to go at least every other Sunday and we plan to alternate going to Disneyland one visit and California Adventure the other, since there is so much to do at each park!

Highlights:

Water Fountains:
Maletch played in the water fountains for over an hour. Water shot up from the ground like springs, but also from overhead too- and that was kind of a surprise for John and I, haha! What made it more fun was that the water was completely unpredictable and would go off and on from all different directions! So fun! He had a blast, and by the time we left, he was completely drenched. It was too bad we didn't have a change of clothes with us- it took all day and night for him to dry off- at least it was a nice day!

The Best Show EVER:
We saw the Brand New show "World of Color" and HOLY MOLY did that blow our minds! We were told (many times) that tickets to the show were near impossible to get- so we were thrilled when we got ours! That show is a MUST see and it left me amazed at how they can even do it?? The show is done by shooting up tons of water fountains and is like a laser light show with projection onto the WATER (in the air)! The water shoots up over 250 feet in the air! They show clips from everybody's favorite Disney movies, and so much more-- AND they even had pyrotechnics going off at times! Absolutely spectacular! John and I have never seen anything like that before and if you get a chance to go to Disney this Summer- that show will knock your socks off!
John and I heard that if you want the BEST seats in the house, you can request to watch from "The Boardwalk"! We were also told that from this front row viewing area- you will get very wet and we thought that sounded like fun- so we went for it! They have some people walking around "The Boardwalk" selling 'rain ponchos'. After watching the poncho salesperson make a few trips up and back, funny thing we started getting concerned- just how wet are we gonna get?? So we got me a poncho just in case- and holy moly- yes we got soaked- and we froze our behinds off all the way to the car!! But it sure was fun!!

I have a TON of videos to post, but I will have to do that another day!

------Lots more to add------ although this post is unfinished, I posted a slideshow with some pics below!

Manners, Directions, and Impressions, Oh My!

Maletch continues to surprise me with the things he says and does:

Maletch has very good manners, always "please", "thank you", and "excuse me", and now he even says Grace at the dinner table!!

Saying Grace:
Since he was born, he has always watched us say grace for each and every meal (even snacks) We have never asked him to wait to begin eating until we say grace, since he is so young, but he has been doing this all on his own. He always waits to eat until we say grace. He always says "Amen". Since he has shown interest in saying grace, I started giving him simple things he can say, like "Thank you God for Tacos" and other little things.
Tonight while I was making dinner, he said with such excitement, "I get to say grace!"
After he sat down at the table, I put his plate down in front of him and I went to get his juice... I heard, "Thank you God, Amen" and he had hands together and his head bowed. I was so proud that he said grace all on his own! So when I sat down, I said, "Mommy is going to say grace too." As I was saying it out loud, he repeated every line word for word, and he had the biggest smile on his face!

Driving Directions:
I always tell him which places we will be going while out running around. He always remembers all of the places we will go and also the ORDER of places we will go (example, I will tell him we will go to one place first, another place second, and so on) and he always remembers which is supposed to be next, and he can quote exactly what I said (most times there are 4-5 places).

Somehow he is very good with directions already! Here are a few examples (all from today):
When we were leaving K-Mart to go to Toys R Us, he said, "We need to cross the street and go this way" (pointing left) and he was right.
After that, we were at a light getting ready to turn into the store parking lot, he said, "We need to turn left!" (the store was on the left).
Another time today, I changed my mind about one of the stores, I was going to do it a little 'out of order' and he said, "We need to turn around, the store is that way!" (he was twisting around in his seat trying to look behind us). He was right, that was where we were supposed to be going. He does this constantly in the car! He is my little navigation system, haha!

He also completely understands about time (today, tomorrow, first, after, etc). Last weekend, he wanted to go to the store, but we didn't have time to go. So I promised him "We can't today, but we can go tomorrow." Well the next morning, he woke up and did his routine with daddy, and he waited for me to wake up. As soon as I woke up, he said, "Hi Mommy, we go to the store now, OK?" I had completely forgotten about it (until he reminded me). John was cracking up that he remembered AND that he waited to mention it until I got up (since I was the one who said it)! So I asked, "OK, where do you want to go?" Maletch said, "How about Walmart and Jamba Juice?" I said, "OK, that sounds fun." He said, "Mommy, go get ready, OK?"

Impressions:
I love listening to Maletch play, and what is so hilarious is that he actually does "voice impersonations" now!! I'm not kidding. Ok, so he is really into Thomas the train, as probably all of you know... we watch videos, read books, and have loads of train characters for him to enjoy! Well just like in any movie, of course each character has their own different voice, and several are very distinctive. Maletch first started imitating "Diesel 10" (a train who has a deep and raspy voice). Maletch will say his lines in his best deep and raspy voice, "Hi, stinky steamies, I am Diesel 10!" He started doing "Sir Topham Hatt" (the person in charge of the railway) too- who has a different deep voice. Now he does impressions of them all, and he also "does" Mickey Mouse too! He will say, "Hi Pal!" (a famous Mickey line) in his best high-pitched squeaky voice. We have NO IDEA how he came up with 'doing voices', but it is hilarious, and he is actually quite good at it! Now when he is playing with his trains, they have conversations, and he has a whole boatload of different voices he can do.
Another tidbit: he also knows the story lines of Thomas and he can tell you which trains do which jobs (ex: pull freight or coaches, etc), where they are supposed to go (ex: the wharf or docks, etc) and all sorts of information. If you put the trains together wrong, he will gently correct you. He is quite the little Thomas expert!

More for Your Entertainment:
Maletch has loved music since he was an infant. He loves to dance and play in his band... and since we have purchased several 'kids music videos', he has learned and memorized MANY songs. The songs he knows, he knows quite well and he can really put on a show! I will be video-taping him singing this week, and I will post it here, for those of you that can't make the "live show." I will also type in the lyrical mistakes that he makes, he doesn't skip words, but there are a few words that he hears/pronounces wrong, which make it so cute! Just for one example: In "Row, Row, Row your boat" he sings, "Gently down the street." I think a boat rowing down the street is way more cool than rowing down the stream, hehe!

Maletch just LOVES to talk to people everywhere we go, and nobody can believe that he is only 2. It is a little harder to get Maletch to sit down for a long phone conversation, but he loves to talk on the phone, so if any of you would like to call him...

Another Day At Disneyland BABY!!

So we went back to Disneyland Sunday (July 18)-- YIPEE! It's such a good thing we have Season Tickets, cuz there is so MUCH to do there, it will probably take us all year to do it all!
This visit was so much different than the last, and as much or more fun!

This time:
We explored "Toon Town"- we went to 'Mickey's crazy house', where we met Mickey and had photos taken with him.

Meeting Mickey:
It's too bad that there was a line of people waiting to meet Mickey, so we couldn't spend more time with him. Most kids this age are afraid of the large characters and usually cry when they meet them, but Maletch was super excited! He wanted to check him out, like really stare at him, and I could tell that he didn't want to leave when our turn was up. Mickey first asked him for a hug, then a "high-five" and then a "fist bump" and Maletch thought he was so cool!

We also visited Goofy's house and a few other places, then off to 'It's a Small World' which was closed last time, so we were happy to get to go on that. As soon as we got off the ride, we ran into the "Celebrate You Parade" going by! We saw Woody and Jessie (from Toy Story), Chip n' Dale, Tigger, Pooh, Mickey, Goofy, Pluto, and many others go by, so that was fun!
We of course went back on Nemo Submarine and Autopia (two of his favorites) and he was over the moon excited about those! We also watched the spectacular fireworks show again!

Funny Highlights:
At night we purchased a TON of "light-up" goodies to walk around with, and Maletch got a Light-Up Bubble Blowing Gun- that thing is so cool and it shoots TONS of bubbles per second- like a bubble gun Uzi, LOL! The funny part was he started shooting himself in the face with it- and he kept on shooting himself in the face! He thought it was HILARIOUS! Everybody walking by stopped to watch him have fun, and we were all giggling. I knew the soapy bubbles would sting his eyes, so I felt bad that instead of instantly stopping him (figuring it would sting)- I was snapping photos of him, and Daddy was video-taping! When I stopped to clean off his face, I couldn't believe the THICK layer of soap on his face! His face was covered in goo- including his eyes- but he didn't even complain about it. and he couldn't stop laughing!

Maletch kept dancing to music EVERYWHERE we were, sometimes there wasn't music, so he made up his own- although there was usually music. He tries to impress girls that he likes by dancing in front of them- which is so cute and funny to watch. He met a few little girls that he really liked and got a little upset when we had to leave them. He is a huge flirt, and it is something most people have to see to believe! When there aren't any little girls around, he will dance with teenagers and ladies- and people were just cracking up at his personality. Of course he danced with mommy and daddy too! We did get a video of him dancing with one lady, which I will post soon!
We heard a live band playing off in the distance and he preferred to dance and flirt with girls than leave the area (to go on rides)... so we walked over to watch the band play- and he went RIGHT up to the stage and was dancing with the teenage girls and adults.
I posted a slideshow below with lots of pics!

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!

Maletch Can Read Sight Words!

Maletch started pointing out and naming stores quite often since he was about 18 months- he always knew Toys R Us, Target, Jamba Juice, and WalMart- and initially I believed he was memorizing the places we had been before. But he really surprised us when he started pointing out and naming places we had never been before such as Del Taco and McDonald's (two examples)- then I assumed he was memorizing store logos/signs from places we had been AND also somehow from T.V. commercials is all we could guess on those.

One day, a few months back he really surprised me when he handed me a Toys R Us receipt that was on my nightstand, and said, "Go to Toys R Us store?" He wanted to go, and all I was thinking was "How do you know that says Toys R Us?" because we were at home- not in front of a color sign- this was just the name of the store in black print on the sales receipt!

After the first day of teaching/reviewing the alphabet with Maletch, we ran errands, while we were driving around, stopped at a stoplight- I heard from the backseat, "I see the H", "I see O", "I see Y", "I see W", "I see another O, two O's"" I see D" I looked up and sure enough, he was naming the letters in a sign that said "HOLLYWOOD" and he continued to do this the entire day of running around. He stayed busy pointing out places he knew, and letters he saw! So of course, that gave me the opportunity to really have some fun with it, so even when we were inside stores, I grabbed pamphlets/packaging/whatever I thought looked interesting for him to "read."
Later, when I pulled into the Walmart parking lot Maletch says, "I see Walmart over there mommy" He was still pointing to the sign on the building and said, "I see the W" then he sang, "W,X,Y and Z"
A funny thing happened in Walmart:
I was doing a site-to-store pickup, so there was a lady in the back helping me. While we were waiting I grabbed a pamphlet for him to look at. First thing Maletch did was point to the word and say, "Walmart" (which was printed on the pamphlet)- she looked at me, "He can read?" Then he started naming and showing me (and her) all of the letters- that lady almost fell down.

Later that night after we got home, I brought out my sales receipts (from a few stores) and asked him, "What does this say?" and sure enough almost before I finished my question- he pointed to each receipt and correctly "read" the names of each store from all of them!

Maletch and His Alphabet!

Maletch Knows His Alphabet- From Watching One "Hooked On Phonics" Video For ONE Week:

First off, I cannot believe how well the "Hooked on Phonics" program works! Tonight was the first night I had planned to sit down and actually work with Maletch on his alphabet, meaning I would try to teach him, since his only introduction to it has been from the H.O.P. program (he has watched one video a few times) and the ONLY thing I have ever done was watch the video with him each time, narrating it further and trying to make it more fun (although it already was) and everyday this week, rather than using the program’s workbooks, I “made up” a game with a wooden alphabet puzzle that we have—that is IT! I haven’t actually made any efforts in ‘teaching’, and I certainly didn’t expect him to be retaining anything- it was just an introduction.

I couldn’t believe that as I started to work with him tonight, he began naming the letters, before I could tell him. I hadn’t realized that he knew almost all of them already! In fact we only thought he knew W, H, and T because he casually pointed those out around the house- but I never thought to “quiz” him because I had never taught him.

So what was supposed to be me working with him (teaching him) tonight, instantly became a “quiz” with flashcards, to find out what he knows. I’m still scratching my head on how he learned that quickly, but there were very few letters that he wasn’t sure of, and very few he mixed up (like O & Q).

His introduction has only been to capital letters, so after I actually work with him a little on these (maybe for a week). I will start introducing the lower case versions.

Here are the results from my quiz: 15 of the letters he knew completely solid (no mistakes), 5 letters he confused for similar letters (a few times, but sometimes he did have them right), and only 6 letters that he wasn’t too sure.

If you are curious to which ones he knows, here is the list (if the letter is named as “B & D”, those are the letters that he sometimes confused for each other), if it is named alone, it means he knew it every time. I think my teaching job is going to be easy, since he knows all this without my help!

A
B & D
C & O
F
H
I
J
K
M
N
P
Q & O
R
S
T
W
X
Y

These were the only ones that he wasn’t too sure

E, G, L, U, V, Z

Note (the ones he wasn't sure): For G, one time he said O, and Z one time he said N (he even tilted his head to the left to try to make the Z a N), but his hesitation and facial expressions were clear that he knew it wasn’t correct.

Another note about the program: It appears he has picked up some of the phonics sounds already too! He has demonstrated this with a few letters (again just came up casually around the house talking, pointing to a letter, etc) so I wonder how many of those he actually knows if I was to quiz that right now, "What sound does that make?" That will be for another day very soon!

I am so excited that we have this program, and I am so excited that teaching him his alphabet which I expected would be a lot of work and a difficult thing to learn is... gosh, not only going to be easy- but it's almost done... before Maletch or I even started trying- how about that??- learning by accident!!

What a Milestone!

YAY! What a week we've had with Maletch's learning and milestones! Everyday, he shocks me by saying something, usually multiple somethings, that have me going, "Huh? How does he know that?"

And for a long time, Maletch has been very interested in his potty chair, and not wanting to wear diapers, specifically he wants to wear underwear as he frequently tells us, but the poor boy just hasn't been able to 'remember' in time. He also gets 'stage fright' when he gets there, and just can't quite bring himself to go on the potty chair, but he tries so hard! In fact he will insist on sitting there for a very long time and will not want to get up and get dressed- but he is actually "holding it."

One time the poor boy held it for 4 1/2 hours, he sat on the potty chair for a long time, then would get up to run around and play (after he couldn't go) but when I would try to put his diaper and pants back on, he would go right back and sit down, telling me, "I'm going to go potty on the potty chair" and that day it went on for 4 1/2 hours- unfortunately with no success, but to his credit, he didn't have any accidents either while running around naked for that long period of time!

Well this week, he had a major breakthrough! One night, much like all previous nights, he sat there, off and on for an hour, insisting he wanted to go, I gave up since I needed to make dinner, and didn't want him running around naked (for fear of an accident) so I insisted he get redressed. He instantly wanted to try again, and I reluctantly let him, and as I walked into the kitchen (leaving him on the potty chair) he came running in with wet hands. Wet hands? that made me suspicious of an accident (although he rarely has them)- but as I went to find "where" he went-- to my surprise it was in the potty chair!!

YAY Maletch, Good Job!!

I don't believe in "bribery" with children, so he has never been promised anything, nor have we made any "deals" for potty training-- but I was so PROUD of him for his achievement that I rewarded him with a special treat... He got a new Thomas & Friends train for his collection "Emily" who is one of his favorites from the movie (that we had stashed for a special occasion or holiday)! He knows why he got it, so he sees it not only as a new toy, but almost like a trophy- he is so proud of that train! I told him that Mommy and Daddy are proud of him and that we are so happy, and at bedtime as I told him goodnite and said his prayer, he said "I'm happy!"

We do have a long way to go before he will be officially potty trained, but this was a major breakthrough for him! I am so happy that he has always been so eager to try, but that has made it harder to watch as he struggled with his fear, I could see the inner turmoil. I'm hoping now that he was able to do it for that first time that it will help break through that fear/nervousness/shyness and that it will be easier for him each time.

Maletch's First Trip to the Beach!!

I am late in posting the next slideshow which is from September (Maletch 18 months).
I had several doctors appointments down in Los Angeles, so each time we went- we made a fun day out of it.
One day we walked around the Redondo Beach Pier, ate at Tony's restaurant (with a beautiful view overlooking the ocean), then went to the beach that very warm night. Maletch had fun playing in the sand and water.
It was our first time taking him to the beach, and it was so hard not to laugh watching him try to walk on sand for the very first time! We planned on letting Maletch get his feet wet, but he wanted to go for a swim! He kept luring us out further and further- until we all became soaked- Maletch from head to toe, and John and I- up to our shoulders!
That day was special because Redondo Beach is where I grew up so it was fun to share some of my favorite places with John and Maletch. We will be going back to Redondo Bch this summer so I can take them to one of my all time favorite places (as a kid) "The Seaside Lagoon"!!
Another day while in L.A.: we went to one of my favorite little places to eat, Jerry's Famous Deli. John and I were brave and tried some exotic Mediterranean food for the first time- it was yummy!
So here are some pics from those two days...

Now That's Funny!!

Tonight Maletch was goofing around and being silly. He was cracking up laughing, and said, "Oh my goodness, I'm funny!"

Disneyland & California Adventure- Oh the FUN!

We took Maletch to Disneyland for his official B-day celebration and we had so much fun! Our tickets also included a trip to California Adventure (so we got to have twice the fun!) I was so excited about taking him to both places equally because of the different rides, shows, and parades at each. I had researched ahead of time- so we could make the best use of our time there. I figured that he would be limited to what he could ride since he is only 2 yrs old. But I was surprised and happy to learn that because he is over 35" tall, he could go on every ride that I could (which is anything but the big 'jerky' roller coasters). I can't go on those anyway because of my neck injuries.

What I didn't know was that John had only been to Disneyland ONE time, and it was a LONG time ago (when he was a teenager during 'grad nite'). He didn't grow up in Cali, so he doesn't have the classic childhood memories of Disney, like I have. This was really like both of their first times to Disneyland! That made it even more special! It turned out, he had never even been on any of the rides that we went on (the "classics").

At Disneyland:

We went to City Hall and got Maletch a birthday button, so everybody would know it was his special day (and everybody noticed). Then we took care of some 'really important business'- getting Maletch his "first ears"- ya know ya got to do that! Aww, so cute with his name embroidered across the back! Then we headed for the fun....

He absolutely flipped over 2 of the rides:

"Autopia" was his favorite because he got to drive a 'real' car by himself! My gosh he was so excited while controlling that steering wheel! He drives like a maniac is all I can tell you- we were bouncing around like crazy- but it was so much fun! He even got a driver's license (with his photo) and everything!

The "Nemo Submarine" ride is the other one where he flipped because he loves "Nemo" (from the movie). He kept telling everybody at the park, that he "got to see Nemo on the boat!" This ride was new for me too, because it has been completely remodeled from the 'original submarine ride'- which you might remember was a cool underwater experience- well now the scenery is completely changed and the aqua life are now characters- made to feel like you are in the movie.

We also got to go on "Pirates of the Caribbean" which he seemed to like alot- but he was very 'serious' on that boat because he was busy taking it all in.

A few other fav's were: "The Jungle Cruise" (we saw lots of animals and our 'captain' was HILARIOUS- I was laughing so hard I was crying) and "Alice In Wonderland" was super cool too!

We wanted to go on "It's a Small World" but it was having maintenance issues when we there. We also got to see a fantastic fireworks show that featured a flying, lit-up "Tinkerbell" - Now that was pretty amazing!

We knew there was no way we could go from morning til night with Maletch needing his early afternoon nap, so we decided to go late and stay late which worked out perfect! That is the only nap he usually takes- so he was fully charged for the trip. The only thing we missed out on was 'meeting the characters.' Apparantly they stop walking around early evening, and we didn't realize that (or we could have made that the first thing we did). By the time we started asking about Mickey, he was already gone. Oh well, we know for next time!

3 weeks later, we went to California Adventure:
Although they have a TON of fun rides for kids, I was most excited to take Maletch to their parades and shows.
They have a FANTASTIC "Pixar Parade" that has some amazing floats, with live stunts (crazy stunt men), and all of the major characters from the newer Disney Pixar movies like "Finding Nemo" (ya know he loves that), "Toy Story" (he loves Buzz Lightyear), and his MOST favorite of all yep- "Cars!" I couldn't wait to see Maletch's face when he would meet 'Lightning McQueen' and 'Mater'! Oh boy was he shocked, his eyes were huge and his jaw was dropped for so long (seriously- mouth wide open)- he was in total disbelief- and he was so serious! It was too funny!
That parade had super fun music so I couldn't help but dance and smile the whole time! I uploaded some of the songs/sounds from the parade which you are listening to now (exept the sound was MUCH better and louder in person) . The best part was when McQueen pulled up to us and started reving his engine "Vroom!" "VRoooom!" it was so loud, and so realistic just like a real racecar- it was really awesome! Mcqueen is not just a character in a movie and Maletch's favorite toy- he is real, LOL!
We missed one of the shows that I wanted to take him to, where the classic disney characters (Mickey and friends) sing, dance, and interact with the kids in the audience. It is in a studio there, but we arrived just a little too late- so we will be sure to catch that one next time.
That night we got to see the famous "Electrical Parade" which I was sure I had seen as a kid (at Disneyland)- but it was even more spectacular than I remembered- so much that I'm starting to doubt that I had seen it before. It was truly amazing and beautiful! Tons of characters were in it too.
Maletch made us laugh when "Alice" from 'Alice and Wonderland' went by on a float, and Maletch waved and said, "Hi mommy!" Then he turned around and looked at me like "wait a minute??" She did have long blonde hair, LOL!
We did enjoy all the rides there too, but I think our favorite would have to be the Toy Story 3-D one where we had guns and rode around shooting targets- that was super fun! That is why you will see the silly pics of- all three of us wearing those funky glasses, haha!

Funny, we had so much fun that when we were leaving Cali Adventure- we were already planning to go online (as soon as we got home) to buy more tickets to come back (to both parks) right away! But before we got to the car, we met another family that had 'season tickets' (we had met a few others before) and in talking with them we started seeing the value in them and we decided to get Season Tickets too! YAY! They are rediculously expensive- well I think 850 bucks is crazy (for 2 adults)- but we decided to go for it! I'm excited that we will be able to spend so much quality family fun time- anytime we want- while creating great memories too! So anytime you all want to go to Disney, the Pollards will be available! And you know that means lots more fun Disney pics to come!
The slideshow below is just a few pics I threw together-- but some of my FAVORITE pics are on regular "old school" film. I do have them developed, but I need to scan them to my computer and I just haven't gotten around to that yet. When I do, I will share by adding them to this slide. I will probably also add a few video clips from the Electrical Parade because it's impossible to capture the beauty in a photo, the video is much better! I'm sure some of you haven't seen this parade- it is amazing!

Two Year Olds Are So Entertaining!!

Here's Another Funny Conversation with Maletch:

Maletch: "Go bye bye in the car?"
Me: "You want to go bye bye? Where do you want to go?"
Maletch "Go to the bank?"
Me: "You want to go to the bank??"
Maletch: "Go to the bank and to the store Toys R Us?"
Me: "Well, we don't need to go to the bank, but I guess we could go to Toys R Us!"
Maletch: "I go nite-nite first, we go after, OK?"

I'm going to see if I can upload a recording John took of Maletch singing "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" It is only 'audio' and not the best recording (it is recorded on his toy microphone, lol)- but it's super cute! He shocked us the other night by memorizing (from a new video) most of the first two lines of it.
After the video went off, we heard, "Twinkle little star, how I wonder you are." Tonight he sang, "Row, row your boat, merry merry merry" after hearing it once. The second time I played it he sat there with such concentration trying to listen to learn more of the words. I must find that computer microphone I have around here somewhere- and try to remember how to use it.

The Things Maletch Says

All of these quotes are from last month (the week of his 2nd birthday) that I jotted down for his baby book, with the exception of one (which I noted was back at 15 months) but I threw in this post because it was funny for those that haven't heard it. I took quotes that either surprised me, or made me laugh (so- some are funnier than others).

When Maletch trips and bumps into anyone or anything, he always apologizes to them or it. I can't help but smile when I hear him apologize to a thing. I hear, "I'm sorry Percy!" (one of his toy trains) or, "I'm sorry dinosaur!"

One day while out running errands, I told Maletch where we would be going (to Target and to Jamba Juice where he would get to see the water fountain). Maletch was really excited about seeing the water. When we were leaving Target, I said, "Oh I just remembered, we need to go to the bank!" Maletch got concerned and asked if we would "go see the water?" So I explained, yes we would but we would go to the bank first, then the water fountain after. He responded by asking to "go see water first?"

I told Maletch, "It's bedtime." He went to the couch, laid down, and said "I'm sleeping" and made snoring noises (no idea where he learned that?)

A different night
Mommy: "Maletch, it's time for bed"
Maletch: "I'm going to sit down on the potty chair and go potty. I'm going to go potty in the potty chair. No more diapers, put on underwear! OK?"

Mommy: "Maletch, do you want a grilled cheese?"
Maletch: "How about a yogurt?"

One day he was hardly eating at all, and I was beginning to wonder what was going on. Maletch finally told me, "Belly don't feel good, tummy hurt!" (while he was rubbing his stomach). Sure enough he had to go diarrhea right at that moment, and poor boy had it for days. I was surprised he even knew how to tell me that!

Funny public restroom story:
When we are out in public, he is obsessed with pointing out the bathrooms in stores. He can somehow recognize the sign on the door, I guess. You would think that we use a lot of public restrooms by the way he has a knack for spotting them, but the truth is, he has been in them maybe a handful of times- ever. I avoid them if at all possible since they are so disgusting and he will inevitably touch everything. Well, he has to point out to EVERYBODY we pass in the store, "Bafroom is over there!" which may seem helpful except he follows by telling them, "You go poo-poo and potty on the potty chair in the bafroom!" Even when we get out of sight of the bathrooms, he will still do this pointing in the direction of where he saw it. He will sometimes talk about it the whole time we are in the store (including if we are on a aisle with the same person for a long time- he will tell them over and over and over) until mommy suggests a different topic he can discuss with them. If we have not seen the bathroom yet, he will ask me "Where's the bafroom?" repeatedly until we see it, then he will tell everyone where it is and what to do in it, LOL! It's hilarious and a little embarrassing! He has been doing this since he was 15 months (when we started introducing the potty chair at home) and for some reason he still loves to do this everyplace we go!

The other night he asked to "see mommy's penis?" (you can tell we are potty training, lol). When I explained mommy doesn't have one, he got a look of horror and confusion on his face. He was very freaked out (as if, that's impossible, and how do you go potty?) So then I had to explain to my 2 year old about the difference between boys and girls, lol. I'm sure the next thing I know he will be telling people that "mommy doesn't have a penis"

Another bathroom story, lol (this is the older story)
When he was first learning (about 15 months), he thought everything about the bathroom had to do with "poo-poo" (he didn't know "potty" yet). Well, we were at one of my scrapbook groups (at the store) and mommy had to go to the bathroom. So I asked Maletch if he wanted to stay with my friends or come with me (which I preferred him wait with them- so he wouldn't touch anything in there). Turns out he wanted to come with me- just to see where I was going- and then run back to them. Well he went back and told them "Mommy poo-poo bafroom" I came out and heard him talking about "poo-poo" so I asked him if he went poo-poo and if he needed a diaper. Everyone started laughing and said "No, he's talking about you- he said you went poo-poo!"

I was busy polishing his piano and drum set, and I heard the kitchen sink turn on (nothing unusual), he climbs up on the arm of the couch reaches through the kitchen window and turns on the faucet.... So mommy said the usual, "Maletch get down" . During that few minutes I heard him turn it off, when told- then back on a minute later- etc. Well, I finished and turned around just in time for him to tell me so proudly, "Mommy, I washed the trains with soap and water!" Mommy: "Oh no, you did what??" As he told me again, he proudly showed me how he helped me clean his toys. His trains were all lined up- all wet! These were his expensive wooden Thomas trains with electric parts--- 60 bucks of trains stopped working. I felt sorry for him because he thought he did such a good thing!

He is used to daddy giving hair cuts, but daddy was at work, and he was over-due and we were going to Disneyland soon.... so I decided I would do it. I started with the scissors- which apparently are NOT what daddy uses, he uses clippers- and Maletch "knows" how this is supposed to work, because when I started cutting he said, "Stop it mommy!" He was squirming and resisted the scissors (so I thought he must be 'difficult' during haircuts), but when I got out the clippers (only to make it go faster), he smiled and said, "Right!" and then he sat completely still for the haircut.

We were in Toys R Us
Maletch: "Baby is crying!"
Mommy: "Yes, you're right the baby is crying."
Maletch: "Stop fussing baby!"
He received so much attention for this from the ladies in the store that thought it was hilarious. I think they were annoyed by the crying and they said things like, "Yeah, that's right, you tell him to stop fussing!"

Getting ready to leave the house I knew I was forgetting something. Maletch said, "Get the keys!" He was right, they were hanging on the key rack- which is where he was pointing.
Another time he was waiting on me to get our stuff packed to leave, he told me, "Get mommy's purse."

One night he asked me to get the keys down from the rack, when I handed them to him, he said, "Bye bye mommy!" and headed for the front door. I asked, "Where are you going?" He said, "To work!"

In the middle of a meal, he always asks, "Wash my hands?" in between courses- example, he won't want to touch his peaches when he has taco sauce on his hands. (I guess he doesn't like to mix flavors). He will also tell me throughout the meal when he makes a mess, "Oh no, tacos make a mess!" He will wipe down the table, his sippy cup, and any toys on the table with the washcloth if I set it down- while saying "I clean the mess!"

Maletch was excited because we were all getting ready to go 'bye bye in the car.' While I grabbed a few last minute things, daddy walked out the door to put some things in the car. Maletch went tearing after John, and yelled "DADDY!" he chased him out the door, when daddy turned around Maletch said, "Wait for mommy!"

We were all at one of my doctor's appointments, (to see a new orthopedic surgeon) meaning he had to do a full exam on me since I was a new patient with him. While the doctor was bending my hands, wrist, and fingers in all kind of ways- Maletch seemed really nervous and finally exclaimed, "Oh no, hurting mommy! Mommy's hurt!" He sprang up and started to grab the doctors hand (like to stop him), when the doc turned to look at him, he got scared, but he didn't freeze up, he grabbed daddy's hand and pulled hard towards the doctor, and was going to make daddy stop him! After we explained that the doctor wasn't hurting mommy, he still didn't trust it completely. So, he "copied" the doctor and did everything to daddy that the doctor did to me- to make sure it didn't hurt. I'm not kidding- when the doctor bent my middle finger back, my wrist- he did it exactly to daddy's hand! What a sweetheart- he has mommy's back, LOL!

Sneak Peek Pics from Maletch's B-day!

The slide show below is still too long, (like when you are 'sure' you have seen the whole thing and think it 'has' to be repeating- nope- there is still more, lol). There are so many pics and I need to shorten it- BUT- for now- this gives the grandparents a ton of choices. I'll go back and shorten it up, one of these days, so that it doesn't take forever to see them all!

Some B-Day Deets:
His 2nd B-day was so much fun! Funny this year he knew exactly what to do when he saw his presents and didn't need any help or encouragement from us-- except to get the toys out of the packages and I needed help with that too- haha! Why do they come on official "lock down"? He also didn't want to wait for the cake to be served- he was up on the table to help himself as soon as he saw it coming out of the fridge!
That train table:
That train table was the best money we have ever spent- we expected it to be of high quality but it even far surpassed our expectations on quality and features! Rare when that happens! It was funny to see him be 'so serious' the entire first day he played with it. While he was studying and exploring it, he never smiled (which is super rare)- I'm sure it was a lot to take in since there is so much to this set! He was at that table every waking second for the first few days- didn't even stop to play with anything else- and barely to eat! Since then, he plays with it for hours everyday- and can play for hours at a time. Although he's always played with all of his toys, he usually played with each one for about a minute to 5 minutes at the most- so to see him interested in anything for hours made us so happy!
We bought several Thomas and Friends wooden trains, and have added 2 extra Thomas Destinations (not in the photos) to the track setup and we will add to it a little more each year. When he has outgrown this collection- it will make a nice heirloom for his future kids and grandkids!
He also loves EVERYTHING that he got from Disney's "Cars." His new car collection and that train table occupy almost all of his play time- although he always makes time to play in "his band!"