Tongue Kissing

One day I was giving N a kiss when he asked me to give him a "tongue kiss". Surprised, I asked him what that was.

N: "You stick out your tongue and I stick out mine, and they touch. Tongue kiss"
Me: "Who taught you that?"
N: "N"
Me: "Your cousin N, or N at daycare?"
N: "N at daycare"
Me: "Oh. Does she only tongue kiss you, or does she tongue kiss everyone?"
N: "She tongue kisses everyone"

Update: I asked him about it again recently and he said she doesn't do that anymore. Then he said maybe it was his cousin not the girl at daycare.

Subtraction

On our last camping trip, I was surprised to notice N understands some simple subtraction. We had the mugs on the picnic table while the hot chocolate was warming on the fire. N looked at them and then said:
"There are three mugs. If I take one away, there are only two."
Me: "That's right. What happens if I take one more?"
N: "Then there is one left"
Me: "Wow. What if you have three and I take two away? What's left?"
N: "One."

Maybe I'm wrong, but I think that's pretty good for a 3 year old.

One year

Can't believe the baby is now one. I've barely written anything about him.
Here's some of the new things he's learned in the last couple of months.

1. Q started walking. He took his first steps the day before Father's Day (and walked to dad). By the beginning of August, he'd pretty much given up crawling for walking. Now, he's fast... and quiet. You never know where you'll find him.

2. First words. Banana. We were at DeLuca's getting some groceries and he saw bananas on display, reached for them and yelled out "nanana". Since then, he's added Dad, dog, cat, hat, mom, hello, and really tries to say any word. I should note Dad and dog sound quite similar, although Dad is usually screamed. He also signs water, cat, and dog, although he sometimes pats my leg for dog instead of his own (see sign for dog)

3. Climbing. He climbs the stairs, the step stool, all furniture, and if you're not watching, he pulls out the drawer under the oven so he can stand on it to see what's cooking...

4. He, like his brother, loves trains. There is often a fight over who gets Thomas and Percy. I think I'll have to buy some duplicates. Q also recently figured out how to roll cars along the ground. Before it was either play with the wheels, chew on the cars, or throw them.

5. the phone. He loves the phone. Every time it rings he yells out hello and puts the palm of his hand on his mouth. He also likes to yell at the phone if it's on speaker. To his Dad, usually.

Can We Talk?

That is N's latest late night question. This past weekend it was directed at Dad.
It was followed by these questions:
1. How do people eat?
2. How do people walk?
3. How do you know when you're good?
4. How do you know when the food goes down the right pipe?

I think Dad handled them quite well.

Brotherly Love

Often when N and I are in bed, he'll tell me I'm "the bestest Mom". Last night, Q was sleeping next to us. N reached over, patted his head and said "you're the bestest baby". Put a little lump in my throat.

Of course, this morning, N was back to sitting on Q or telling him to keep away from his toys

busy week

Baby Q had a very busy week... another tooth came in (top this time, but one to the side, not the middle), he started crawling (he's been dragging himself by his arms for a couple of weeks now), and just yesterday he started clapping. Oh, and he has a bad diaper rash.

first tooth for baby Q

Actually, now it's two bottom teeth! Unlike his older brother, he had a tough time with teething. Poor kid. Hopefully the others will be easier (other teeth that is, not babies).