'Scue Me, Mommy!

About a month ago, Pax started having a tough time when I was having conversations with other adults in his presence. He'd put his hand up near my mouth in "STOP" formation and shout, "NO, MOMMY!" just about every time I'd start a sentence. As you can imagine, this did not fly well with me.

So, I taught him to (politely) say, "Excuse me" to adults when they are talking. Currently, we've seen some improvement. Usually, conversations happen like this around our house.

Me: Talking with someone other than Pax.

Pax: 'SCUE ME, MOMMY! Still sort of frantic, but much better than shouting "NO!"

Me: Yes, Paxon?

90% of the time, he has not really processed what he is going to say or do once he has my attention. It's like he's surprised each time that I stop and listen to him.

Pax: Blank look, then thinking quickly, he picks up the nearest toy and shows it to me. This one red, mommy.

Me: You're right, buddy! That truck is red.

The conversation resumes for another few turns and this scenario repeats itself. It's a work in progress, right?

T-shirt

Yesterday when Pax and I were getting ready for our day, Pax turned around and said, "Mommy have on t-shirt." I did in fact still have on the t-shirt that I'd slept in.

Usually, we just label all shirts as shirts in our house and don't differentiate t-shirts from short sleeved blouses or sleeveless sweaters from strapless tops. Maybe that's because I have little care of being fashion forward and to me a shirt is basically a shirt.

Out of curiosity, I asked him how he knew that I was wearing a t-shirt. He promptly pointed to the letter "T" amid the print on my shirt. He said, "See Mommy, 'T' right there."

Oh, of course... a "T" shirt. I wonder what letter shirt I will wear tonight.

Pax need new baby

Last week at breakfast, Pax announced, "Pax need new baby at Pax house."

In all fairness, the night before we had been with my sister who is due with her second child in mid-September. Paxon was witness to my discussion with our nephew about a new baby coming to his house. I just didn't realize he'd tracked it all.

Note to self, be careful what you say in front of Pax... he's listening.

Note to Pax, when you are potty trained, we can discuss a sibling.

a rose by any other name would smell as sweet

It's well documented that Pax talked early and now talks a lot. I guess that's what you get when you're mom's a speech pathologist. He's always been pretty sociable, and lately, I've really been appreciating his company and conversation. He tells me stories of what happened when I'm not around. He recounts things we've experienced together with specific and accurate description. He makes up stories about things that never happened at all (maybe we should worry about this one).

While most things he says are pretty easy to understand, there's a growing vocabulary list that require some interpretation. Here are a few enjoyable Pax-isms:

Blehla-blehla-blehla (not really a word, mostly just flipping his tongue) = drink
For the record, he can say drink, he just invented this word over a year ago and for some reason really prefers it. He might be saying it this way when he's 18.

Cookie Monster Truck = Monster Truck
Some things just go together, like cookies and monsters

Keen keen bed = zucchini bread
Thank you, Delvin Farms, for the wonderful fresh produce that has forced me to make zucchini bread and other yummy treats all summer.

Keen keen bed car = Lamborghini
We've been making zucchini bread a lot this summer. We've also been playing with matchbox style cars quite a bit. Zucchini...Lamborghini... I think someone could write a children's song about this.

hip hops = hiccups
As in "Pax have hip hops."

M = M or any letter

T Daddy = T

P Pax = P

Mommy one = A

The Pair

Last week we visited our county fair. There was an awesome, walk-through, local agriculture experience where children got to feed pretend animals, collect pretend eggs and milk, plant pretend seeds and harvet pretend vegetables. They took their pretend produce and sold it at a pretend farmer's market. With the pretend money they made at the market, they got to purchase REAL ice cream, milk, or animal crackers. Somehow I think we got the better end of the deal!

We rode rides, fed farm animals (plus camels and llamas that I don't usually count as farm animals), played fair games, and watched fireworks. Pax asked, "Where pair go?" the whole way home way past his bedtime that night. A week later, he's hardly stopped talking about it. It begins like this every time:

Me: talking to another adult

Pax: EXCUSE ME, MOMMY (I'll have a separate post about this).

Me: Yes, Pax?

Pax: I drove jeep.

Me: At the fair?

Pax: Yeah, pair. Something go down, down, down
I think he's describing the ferris wheel, but it could also be ride that goes up slowly and drops quickly...

Me: Are you talking about the ferris wheel?

Pax: Yeah. Paris wheel. Cow there. Firework pop pop. Go pair, mommy?

Can you blame him? Look at this fun!

these are a few of my favorite things

I've always liked summer. Fireflies, wild flowers, long days, pop up thunderstorms, sunny days poolside, flip flops... it all feels so free. I wish I could just soak up every second of these fleeting precious moments. We didn't take a vacation this summer, but it's been memorable nonetheless. Here are a few of my favorite moments:

Travis's Commissioning

Pax has been enjoying "driving" the car this summer. Here he's just discovered that he can push the horn by himself. Our neighbors love us.

Honking G-Daddy's nose. This one's better for the neighbors.

We spent many days at the pool this summer.

Fourth of July was spent with family and friends.

Crank Up the A/C

We've enjoyed a very mild summer here. With the arrival of August, it seems we're finally getting the expected heat and humidity of a summer in Tennessee. Today as we were leaving the grocery store, we could feel the heat coming of the asphalt in the parking lot. A wave of heat hit us as I opened the car door to put Pax in his car seat:

Pax: It berry (very) hot.

Me: I know, baby. I'm sorry you're hot.

Pax: This one hot. Get new car. G-Daddy get new car. Silver one. This is actually true. My parents just bought my dad a new car. Thank you Cash for Clunkers. It is silver and for the record, has swankier features than our vehicle. I do believe, however, that it would also feel hot on the inside today.

Me: I don't think we're gonna get a new car today, honey. We do not have cash for a new car or a clunker to make a great deal.

Pax: Otay, mommy. Turn on dishning.

If it's hot in your car, I hope you have dishning!