Yawn

Corey kept me up too late last night playing World of Warcraft. I swore I didn't want to play this game. I used to really like to play that kind of thing but lately I just couldn't get into them. He kept bugging me about it and playing all of the time so I finally just gave in out of sheer boredom. I have to admit that I'm enjoying it. I don't want to pay monthly forever, but for now it's kind of fun. Unfortunately, I'm paying for it today. I had forgotten how dumb it was to stay up too late playing video games on a night before you have to work, especially now that I can't drink copious amounts of caffeine.

Pregnancy is going well. I'm still in shock that we're actually expecting a second child, but it's a good kind of shock. Owen is oblivious. He turns 3 at the end of March and I really need to start thinking about his party. It's never a big deal, just some family and a few friends, but it's time to start planning. Cor is leaving town twice next month for entire weeks, aargh!!

A few more things before I forget forever

The good:

• He has a head for patterns. He sits with little basic-shaped magnets and makes amazing creations. He likes to make letters out of his french fries.
• He still likes to snuggle. Granted, it's on his terms, but it's still nice.
  

The irritating:

• This little squeal he does when he's crying but it's kind of a fake crying. Ugh, drives me nuts.

I am usually very good about trying to remember that while my son is a unique person, he's doing things that millions of little kids have done before. Even though it's a first for him and our small family, it's not something that's new to the face of the earth.

I was reminded of this on Sunday when I went out to lunch with some other ladies from the church. Someone mentioned to me they thought it was adorable when Owen counted. I told her thanks, and recounted how he just doesn't understand 15. "He goes 13, 14, and then he says 'five-teen,' which actually makes more sense to me!" The other women around me, mostly older with grandkids of their own, said, "Don't they all do that?" I wasn't sure if I should feel indignant (was that kind of rude?) or embarrassed. Oh, and I'm not one of those moms who goes on and on about how preshus little Buford is and oh did you hear about his latest genius-proving act; I usually sit there with my mouth shut when in the company of anyone other than my husband or my parents, unless specifically asked. I know most people don't want to hear it.

Almost 3 is a bunch of fun

Ways Owen is really fun right now:

• "I'll hide and you count." Ok, so I count to 10, while he scrambles off to hide. He's getting better, he used to just go stand in the kitchen and now he at least hides behind doors. It's too funny, though, because as I look for him and say, "Is he under the table? Is he in the kitchen?" I can hear him giggling the whole time. It's so cute.
• Blue's Clues! A clue, a clue! He says, "We have to write it in our..." which is our cue to say "Handy Dandy Notebook!" And, "We have to go sit in our..." "Thinking Chair!" He will take Post-Its with clues drawn on them and stick them around the house, then cobble the three clues into something totally unrelated. "Ok, we have a chair, a mirror, and a video...hmm...I know, it's Daddy's computer! We just figured out Blue's Clues!"
• Just the random things a 2-year-old comes up with. We were talking about something, I forget what, and I said something like, "That won't work, no doubt." He counters with, "We have no doubt in our house." Too cute!!
  
• Toddler prayers. "Dear God, thank you for the chicken, and the potatoes ('totatoes', actually), and the milk, and the peas, and the fork, and the spoon. In Jesus' name, Amen." I hope God forgives me for being totally distracted during dinner-time prayers.
• Toddler questions. "Where is God?" "What is Jesus' name?"
• His imagination. Some of it is fueled by TV, some of it is just random. He creates monsters, goes places, drives cars...it's just amazing to see them come into their own as far as what they can come up with.
  

Ways he's driving me nuts:

• Still with the constant mind-changing. Wants to watch a video, but 5 minutes into it wants to watch something else. Declines something and then 5 minutes later wants it. I know, I know, totally normal, but still exasperating.
• Defiance. "I don't hafta do that."
  
• Bedtime battles. We just switched to a big-boy bed this weekend and the first night was great, but since then we've had to deal with crying right after bedtime. This actually isn't new, he was delaying bedtime as long as possible when he was still in his crib, but we were hoping that some of it would be gone if he could get up and move around. I honestly don't care if he reads himself to sleep. He used to cry that he wanted a book. Now he has a whole bookshelf at his fingertips, so now he wants to snuggle, or whatever.
  

I know this is just boring but I wanted to document it somewhere. If I get it down here maybe I'll eventually get some of it into the baby book. I just can't believe he's almost 3! He's not a baby anymore, go ahead and ask him, he'll tell you!