Not at 5AM

On the list of things parents never want to hear their children say, this isn't too bad and I'm sure I'll hear worse. Nevertheless, this is not what I wanted to hear Karston say at 5:18 AM this morning!

I woke up when I heard him call Mama! Mama!, and I hopped out of bed. In the shadowy hall, I saw Karston reaching out for me, and then he said what I didn't want to hear ...

Mama, I'm awake!

Yep, he was wide awake, and according to Daddy he had been since 3 AM! Ugh. I feel a bit disoriented after last night. I wonder if he'll let us sleep in this weekend ... probably not. I can take a nap with him, but if he continues to wake up after only 5 to 6 hours of night-time sleep, that might signal the end of the afternoon naps.

On the other hand, Karston is getting better at communication. He said exactly what he meant, quite clearly, even if I didn't want to hear it.

Toddler

Monkey On

This morning, Karston bawled about Daddy leaving for work. (I guess he got used to having both of us around over the long weekend holiday!) That made his nose run, so we went to the closest bathroom (and laundry room) to wipe his nose. He saw his Monkey See, Monkey Do costume, what he wore for Halloween again (his choice!), on the drying rack. That made him stop crying to say Monkey On! followed by Monkey Hat On!

So Karston went to the grocery store this morning as a monkey. He smiled at everyone in the store, so it took a while when clerks and customers were drawn in by my Monkey See, Monkey Flirt child. I even ran into Val, Cheryl's sister, and her 1-year-old daughter Sydney, sending the cute factor through the roof! He's a great little monkey.

Toddler

Pronouns

Karston understands pronouns!

While I was changing his diaper, he was reaching for a teddy bear almost out of his reach. Since he wasn't going to give up on his teddy bear grab, I moved his changing table closer to it. Karston gave me a startled look! I reassured him that the world was normal and said, I moved you. He looked at me, nodded, and said, you moved me. Notice how he switched the pronouns properly? Often he'll repeat our sentences, and we weren't sure if he were just aping us, or if he understood what we were saying and agreed by repeating. Since he understands pronouns, now we think he understands even more than we thought.

Technorati Tags: Toddler

Thankful

Although he's sick right now, I am thankful for a toddler who lets me know when he wants to blow his nose. You know the kids with totally gross noses? Karston doesn't want to be one of those. When his nose starts to run, we hear him yell Nose! Nose! until we wipe it. He's pretty good about letting us wipe his nose, too. Remarkable!

Also, Karston seems to want to potty train himself. Karston asked for his potty this evening, and then did one of each in it. So he knew in advance, he asked for it, and he used it! It's slow going, but he might just train himself. That's easy on us! I'm thankful for that too.

Technorati Tags: Toddler

Hungry

Karston lost weight while he had croup, but he's back up to 22 pounds again. In fact, he's been eating well for the past several days, and might put on even more weight!

Our normal Monday morning routine is that Karston and I go to the store and buy whatever we're going to eat this week. We usually go to the Wal-Mart. I know that's awful, but it is literally five times closer to our house than any other store, and I don't want to spend all day driving around. Shopping's one of my least favorite activities. Our local Wal-Mart has a claim to fame, though: the deli makes the best fried okra. I don't like fried okra, but my husband and my grandparents do, and they all agree that the absolutely very best okra comes from that Wal-Mart.

Karston wanted okra as soon as we stepped in the store, but I did non-perishable shopping first, and then worked my way through food. He asked for juice early, and finished off his sippy early. (I don't go to the store without bringing a full sippy cup.) He still wanted okra when we got to deli and was almost done, so I got a quarter pound.

He ate it all before I checked out and wanted more!

Keep in mind, all I did after the deli was walk quickly through produce, so I got to check out shortly after he started eating fried okra.

By the time I got him more okra, he wanted juice. I took the lid off his sippy, and he downed what was in the very bottom, so I bought a can of juice too. He downed more than half of a can of juice! Didn't touch the second quarter-pound of okra though. I guess I'm not surprised.

I went through self-checkout both times because I saw one with no line. In all the noise from Karston about what he wanted right now, I forgot to scan my Pampers coupon for $1.50 off (oops). We've been having diaper leaks lately, and I know that's often an indication that it's time to move up to the next size. Since Karston's only 22 pounds and size 3 diapers say they run until 28 pounds, I didn't think it was time for size 4, but I notice that size 4 diapers start at 22 pounds. That's what Karston weighs! Sometimes we've even started on the next size a pound or two early, so all signs point to buying size 4 diapers instead of size 3 diapers.

After the food binge in the store, and the juice binge in the parking lot, we drove home (4 minutes!). By the time I unpacked the groceries, Karston had poop in his pants (he said that), so I changed him and set him on the bed to continue to fuss while I went for his toys.

He was asleep by the time I got back, and we hadn't done any of our getting-ready to nap routine!

I think this was a successful trip to the store: I wasn't hungry while I was there, so I wasn't tempted to buy any snacks; Karston was hungry, he told me what he wanted me to buy (like bananas), and he plowed down some serious calories (I'd guess 500 calories or more, all at once).

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Zoo

We went to the zoo today, Mommy, Daddy, Karston, Opa, and Grammy. Karston was tired and in his stroller for much of it, but we all enjoyed it!

Technorati Tags: Toddler, Travel