TURN!

For the past few months we have been talking with Andrew a lot about "turns". We talk about when it is his turn to ride the slide, to get the mail, to feed the dog, to go to the park...All day long we talk about when it is his turn. On the flip side we also talk about when it's not his turn. (Thank You Aunt Lisa!) When we leave the park we talk about how it's another kids turn to play, when we leave a toy at the store we talk about how it's time for another kid to play with it or buy it, when we leave the store and he’s sad about leaving the car cart we talk about how it’s someone else’s turn to ride in it… You get the picture. It has all been working beautifully for us and our friends have been so impressed.

My favorite is when we go past the park with the slide. He used to whine about stopping but now he asks, "Turn?" When we say no he tells us, "Oh, big kid turn" and is ok with it. This happened everywhere we went, with everything we did and it was beautiful. I say WAS because this week he decided he no longer liked this "turn" thing. We were at the park on Wednesday and he and a little girl ran to the slide to climb up at the same time. Katelyn got there slightly before Andrew and he did not like this. So he looked at her, pushed her off the step (only 6 inches high thank goodness) and with a very firm voice declared "Turn!" (as in MY turn!) This happened 2 more times at the park (thankfully they were all my friends children), but nonetheless I was mortified. Since then he has been on a "turn" power trip. Try to help him wash his hands and he pushes your hands out of the sink saying turn, or better yet before you even turn on the water he's yelling “TURN”!

We’ve become tired of this and tonight I came up with a game plan to outwit him, or at least teach him about sharing. He was playing in the tub with the water running from the faucet. As I stuck my hands into play as well, I said "Mommy's turn". Then I took my hands out said "Andrew's turn". This went back and forth for a few times and he seemed ok with it, understanding that he would get to try again soon. I decided to push my luck and put our hands in the water stream together. I told him, “Sharing, we play together". It lasted a few seconds, and just as I thought-aha, this is great; he looked at me with the most serious of faces and said "No sharing mommy!"

Andrew 1, Mommy 0!

First Popsicle

The weather warmed up this week and it was time for Andrew to try his first Popsicle! He was so excited. We went to the store, picked them out, brought him home, stripped him to his diaper, and well let's just say the idea of a Popsicle was much more interesting than actually eating one. One bite of the cold and that was it for him, but he wouldn't dare let go of it. It was his "turn" He spent the rest of the time looking at it, showing it to the dogs and swinging it like a flag. By the time he decided to take another bite it slid off the stick and Ellie got it. Oh well, he still had fun!

So excited!

The first bite...

and the reaction!

Splat...

Andrew LOVES going upstairs these days, and the first thing he does is check to see if our bedroom door is open. Why you ask? So he can play his favorite game, SPLAT, of course! It's the funniest thing to me and I've been trying to capture it on video for days, but I never seem to have the camera on me when I need it. Finally I had success today! Here...you can check it our for yourself.

Grandma's Hat

We all know of Andrew's love of hats... Well this weekend Andrew discovered Oma's hat at the farm and had a fabulous time wearing it. Isn't he too cute?!

Finger Paint Fun

Watch out this kid is a wild child with the fingerpaint.

Thank goodness it's just shaving cream!

Place your bets!

Place your bets people!

Guess the closest to when Andrew will be going to the doctor to have something removed from his nose and win a prize!

That's right Andrew has discovered his nostrils and better yet he has discovered that things fit in them! This weekend we have removed cake, a rock, dirt clumps, corn kernels and cheese from his nose. I feel like a broken record...."food goes in our mouth not our nose", over and over again. I mean seriously what makes a child say hmmm... I wonder if this fish cracker, stick, rock, apple slice, strawberry, dog food, etc., etc., etc., will fit in my nose?