Toddler Logic

(Ren and I were playing with a toy snake.)

Me: "I think he wants to ride in your shirt pocket."
Ren: "No!" (Doesn't want the snake on him. I wonder why...)
Me: "Maybe he wants to ride the motorcycle." (I put him on the motorcycle.)
Ren: "No, he doesn't have a bum!"
Me: "So you can't ride a motorcycle if you don't have a bum?"
Ren: "No, you can't."

Makes sense, I guess. :-)

I Was Being Superman, He Tells Me

Well, at Least He's Honest

Me: Why are you sticking your hand down my shirt? That makes me uncomfortable.
Ren: But I want to make you uncomfortable!

Due Date Update

So I had my NT screening ultrasound today in which, among other things, the doctors "officially" date the baby. Everything looks good, but my new due date is now Christmas Eve. I was hoping against hope it would be moved back, not forward (so I could work up until Christmas break), but it looks like this one will be born on or around December 10. (They won't let me go past 38 weeks because diabetic moms have a higher probability of sudden fetal death after that point.) I guess it's incentive for me to take the best care of myself possible, so at the least I can wait until 12/12.

(And no, I don't WANT to work until the very end, but teachers here don't pay into disability - which is where most people get their maternity leave - so our maternity leave consists of accrued sick days. At the beginning of the next school year I'll have enough days saved up for five whole weeks of maternity leave, but I'll have to take at least eight, especially if I have another C-section. Consequently, I'm trying to have this baby as late as possible, because the later I wait, the later I have to go back, and we have a really convenient one week break six weeks after the return to school in January. I would really like to go back after that break. Guess we'll see...)

Anyway, the most important thing is that the baby is looking super healthy, so...hooray!

Happiness Update

For the last five days bedtime has gone quite well, and I really have to give kudos to Robb for this one. While I did suggest that we make a change and he be the one who actually puts Ren in bed, it appears the whole "be downstairs in timeout or be upstairs in bed" works to help Ren choose bed. For a couple nights he didn't come out of his room at all, but when he did (last night), he stood at the top of the stairs and talked with himself about what to do:

"If I go downstairs, I'll be in time out. I need to stay upstairs in bed."
(We hear him come down a step or two.)
"Daddy says if I go downstairs, I'll be in time out. I need to stay upstairs in bed."
(Comes down another step or two.)
Etcetera.

When he finally made it downstairs Robb looked at him and said "you have two choices: be downstairs in time out or be upstairs in bed."

Ren: "Okay, I'm going to go to bed now."
And he did.

Way to go Dad!

The Pursuit of Happiness

We co-slept with Ren for the first 9 months, and had him in our bedroom (and our bed, when necessary) until 15 months. He was in his own room (but, due to the layout of our house, still only about 7 feet away from our bed) for a few months, then back in our room, and finally back in his own room about six months ago. Throughout all our different configurations he has been a really good sleeper (8:30pm - 7:30 am solid) for at least a year...up until the last week or so.

Lately we put him to bed (same routine as always), and 10 - 30 minutes later he wanders downstairs saying "I woke up!" It's a fight to get him back into his bed, as he wants to be in Mommy's bed (or Daddy's, depending on which one of us he's talking to.)

I don't think he's developed any new fears, nor do I think his sleep schedule has changed drastically (meaning I'm pretty sure he's tired well before 10 or 10:30 when we finally get him to sleep,) but tonight he went above and beyond.

8:30 pm
We go through the bedtime routine. (Change diaper, put on jammies, wash up, brush teeth, read scriptures, read 2 - 3 stories, pray, get in bed.)
Ren: "The door is NOT stuck!" (Meaning: Mommy, don't close the door!)
Me: "Okay, I will leave the door open, but if you come downstairs, I'm going to close the door, okay?"
Ren: "Okay."

8:40 pm
I hear him coming down the stairs.
Me: "If I see you down here then I'll take you back upstairs and close your door."
Ren: "But I want to be happy!"
Me: ??? (I repeat what I already said.)
Ren: (Walks all the way downstairs.)
Me: (I go pick him up.)
Ren: "But I want to be happy!!!"
Me: "Well, you need to be happy in bed."
Ren: "No, I want to be happy downstairs."
Me: "I'm sorry. You need to be happy in bed."
Ren: (Very upset. We go up to his room.)
Me: "How can I help you be happy in bed?"
Ren: "I want a light."
Me: "Okay, I can turn on a light for you" (which I promptly take care of.) "Let's sing your bedtime song and say another prayer to ask Heavenly Father to help you be happy in bed" (which we did).
Ren: (Climbs back into bed under his own steam.) "Mommy, the door is not stuck."
Me: "Okay. I'll leave your light on and your door open, but you HAVE to stay in bed. If you come downstairs again, the door WILL be closed."
Ren: "Okay Mommy."

10:00 pm
(I could hear him talking to himself and banging his foot against the wall, but he stayed up there for a while.)
Ren comes downstairs.
I told Robb it was his turn.
Robb picked Ren up and held him.
Robb: "You are in time out since you didn't listen to Mommy."
Ren: "But, I want to be happy!"
Robb: "Well, you can be downstairs and be in timeout, or you can be upstairs in bed. Those are your choices."
Ren: "I want Mommy!"
Robb: "Mommy is not a choice right now." (Repeated the choices. I got up and hid in the kitchen.)

I then listened to Robb and Ren talking for about 5 minutes. It went something like this, repeated about ten times:

Ren: (crying) "But, I want to be happy!"
Robb: "Are you happy?"
Ren: "Yes!" (As he cries.)
Robb: "Okay. Like I said, you can stay here in my lap on timeout, or you can go upstairs to bed."
Ren: (still crying) "But, I want to be happy downstairs!"
Robb: "Are you happy right now?"
Ren: "Yes!" (As he cries.)
Robb: "Okay. Like I said, you can stay here in my lap on timeout, or you can go upstairs to bed."
Etc.
Ren finally chose to go up to bed, at which point Robb took him up, turned off the light, and closed the door. And Ren went to sleep!

The whole thing was funny (I was laughing my head off in the kitchen), but it's also very frustrating. Why won't he stay in bed?????

Cousins

We visited Southern California in mid April and Ren had a great time playing with his cousin, Will. The trip made such an impression that when I told him (3 weeks ago) that we would be going to visit again, he started asking EVERY DAY if we're going to see Will and Aunt Drea and Uncle Blake. According to him, "we need to play with Will and Will's toys!" ☺️ I'm just glad he enjoys family so much!

On the way down. 

Celebrating Blake's birthday. 

Costco!

Playing in the backyard. 

They filled the sandbox with water. (Sorry Drea!)

Vocabulary

Ren is quite the talker (mostly due, in my opinion, to his insanely verbal daycare buddy, Lincoln.) As such, he often says interesting things.  For example...

Ren: "Mommy, use your knockers!"
Me: "My what???"
Ren: "Your knockers!"
Me:  (Making fists with my hands and knocking in the air) "These?"
Ren: "Yes!"

So we start walking and I knock in the air as we walk.

Ren: "No Mommy, not like that, like THIS." (He holds them up to his eyes.)
Me: "Oooh - you mean my (bi)noculars?"
Ren: "Yes, your noculars!"
(Glad we figured that one out!)


This next one involves an anatomical term, just in case you care. We refer to things by their real names, both to remove the mystery/stigma and (in my case) to help me be comfortable talking about it with our kids. (Which is REALLY hard, so I guess it's good I'm starting now rather than when he starts asking questions.) At any rate, today at church Robb and Ren were sitting on the front pew while I conducted the opening hymn. When I came to sit with them Robb was laughing. He related the following:

Robb picked Ren up and moved him on the pew. He accidentally lifted Ren by his crotch.
Ren: "My penis! My penis! Ow!!!!!"

I don't think anyone else actually heard, but it made us laugh so hard I decided I want to remember this one. (And yes, Ren was fine.) :-)