Odds & Ends

It's Friday night, and we have the entire weekend before us... Is there any better time of the week? :) In honor of this great time, I thought I'd share a few random-type-things that have been percolating in my brain for the past few days.

Words: It never ceases to amaze me how quickly Nikos picks up new words/sounds. In addition to all the words I wrote about back on January 4th, he now says broom ("boom"), yay!, cookie, bubbles ("bubba"), dinner ("di-duh"), and thank you ("tah-you"), he makes a bunch more animal sounds (monkey, snake, tiger, etc.), and he has his own Nikos-ese words for other items (shoes are "ees," outside is "ai-ya.") Not to mention the fact that he understands a million other words ("open," "close," "no," "bring here," "go get ___," "brush hair," "brush teeth," "bath time," etc.)

Actions: He is now obsessed with opening and closing doors, turning light switches on and off, pushing any sort of button (including the one on the surge protector that's connected to this computer), dumping things out and then putting them back, chasing bubbles around the backyard, getting things from the refrigerator, pushing his pack-n-play around (and the dining room chairs... and the piano bench...), sweeping, standing on the floor while playing the (real) piano while singing along, dancing every single time he hears music (hilarious!), eating with a fork, playing with refrigerator magnets, playing hide-and-seek with Charlie, draining the bathtub on his own when it's time to get out, snuggling in his bed after gathering every stuffed animal he owns, and running around in the bed of Gus' truck while it's parked in the driveway. I'm sure there's more, but I just wanted to make the point: he's a very busy little person these days! And Mommy is tired!

Anyhow, I think that's it. We're staying close to home this weekend, which will be very nice. I plan to get Nikos some more shoes (since he officially lives in his Nikes, and I'm thinking we need another pair just like them but in a different color), a toy broom, and some other "outside" toys. This kid LOVES being outside-- walking has really opened up a whole new world for him!

P.S. I forgot one of the cutest things he started doing this week: fake snoring! Sometimes, when we're playing, I'll pretend to go "night-night." I lie down on the floor, close my eyes (mostly because I really DO want to rest, haha!), and make fake snoring noises. Well, Mr. Smartypants has figured out the connection! The other day, while he was eating dinner, I leaned back in my chair and closed my eyes for a sec. And he started making snoring noises for me! I opened my eyes, and he stopped... only to start again as soon as I closed my eyes. It was HILARIOUS!