Weird toddler behavior unexplained

I love my son, and generally I am able to understand him (except when he doesn't want me to understand him). Just when I think I have a handle on his behavior, and what I need to do with him, he starts being all strange.

This morning, he hopped around the house yelling "Ribbit" and "I'm a kangaroo, kangaroo." I am unclear what prompted such a joyful hopping. And I don't know how to stop it either, because when it came time to put his shoes on to go to day care, he wouldn't stop hopping. when I firmly grabbed him and planted him on the sofa, he started bouncing as best he could. I am so confused!

And this combines with last night, when he was bear crawling around the house (hands and feet, bent in half) and yelling "roar, big boy lion" and "dinosaur." He didn't tell me why, he just kept doing it. Up and down the stairs he went, around the house....it was so odd.

He also does the following things:

1. Eats food and says "yum I love it" but then doesn't want to eat it after saying "yum."

2. Runs naked around the house whenever he gets a chance (shocker).

3. Uses the potty occasionally at day care, and refuses to do it at home because he says he likes diapers.

4. Giggles like a maniac for no reason.

5. Clings to my leg and tries to pull my pants down.

6. Plays catch with his stuffed animals.

7. Sits and cuddles with his bouncy balls.

8. Insists that pianos should be played with his toes - and then gets mad when I don't allow this.

9. Tries to color with the crayon between his toes.

10. Opens and closes doors randomly.

Some of his odd behaviors I understand - his shirts go on inside out because he wants to dress himself. His pants go on backwards for the same reason. He likes to play with play dough...who doesn't?! He loves to see his artwork on the wall, so we have a ton of it posted all over our house. If you come over - you are going home with a Nicholas original.

He is a very smart, verbal, intelligent boy. But sometimes I just don't understand him. He needs to have a balloon over his head so I can understand what he means and what he wants. He cries and says he's not hungry, but if you put food out he eats it all up. Or he says he's hungry, but he won't eat.

Two-year olds are a mystery that have never been solved, and regardless of what the experts say, I think they will remain a mystery that is never solved.

It's a girl

I had my ultrasound yesterday and .... IT'S A GIRL!!!

I am really excited. Since this is our last child, and I really wanted a girl. It isn't so much that I wanted a matched set, as that I just wanted a girl. Plus, I really don't know what I would do if I had two boys. I mean, Nicholas runs me ragged the whole time and has so much energy....what would I do with two of them? I mentioned that to Jon, who warned me that it is likely that the girl will have just as much energy because she's going to want to take after her big brother.

I also want to pick out names (no, we are not taking suggestions). At this time we already had Nicholas' name picked out - and the room panted blue - long before we knew it was going to be a boy. But I want a name picked out so we can start calling her by name instead "baby girl" or whatever term we happen to be using.

When Nicholas was told it was a girl he looked at me and said "Uh-uh mommy. It's a baby." I laughed so hard. But this morning he said "hello baby girl" to the baby. We gave him one of the ultra sound pictures yesterday and he went to sleep with it. It was cute. He wouldn't give it up.

So we are super excited!

Marine World

We went to Marine World this past Saturday. It is $43.99 for a one-day adult ticket and $49.99 for a season pass. So we went for the season pass. I figure we will go twice (at least) which totally makes up the cost of the season pass. It is only an hour away from here, so it is totally do-able as a day trip. Plus we got a whole bunch of coupons for 1/2 off tickets and even some free tickets. So that was nice. We went to watch Nicholas have fun. I thought we were going to get to see some of the shows - but was I wrong. We didn't see the dolphin or killer whale show - we only saw the short tiger show. Nicholas was not a big fan of sitting and watching animals, so we had to find other things to do. Like go on rides in the Looney Toons area.



We actually got there a little early. I couldn't wait to leave and go, and then there was no traffic on the way there. So we parked and got into the park about 10:00 - but nothing opens except the main area until 10:30. But that was fine. Nicholas spent almost 30 minutes staring at the fountain, running on the bench around it, and yelling "fountain!"



Then Nicholas and Jon went on rides in the Looney Toons area. Since I am pregnant, I didn't go on any. The first ride was this balloon ride that looked great, until I realized the balloons go in circles. But Nicholas liked it. He also liked the merry-go-round and the playhouse they have. He was not a huge fan of the kid-sized roller coaster. But that is fine.



Then we went to the Thomas the Tank Engine area. I thought this would be great, since Nicholas is a fan. He ran to the Harold the Helicopter ride. And we couldn't get him off. However, we then had a huge meltdown when he realized there was a Thomas store and ran in, grabbed a train, and wanted us to get it. He looked at me, with a mean face, and said "Grandma do it." Well, I promptly told him that I was not grandma and we weren't there to get toys. We had to leave because there was a huge meltdown. once we left we gave him some food - even though we had just had a huge snack. He simply needed more food, and then I got my cheerful son back. We went to see the tiger show, and then ate lunch.



After lunch we walked around and saw the elephants, tigers, baby animals, lions, and the kid's jungle area. Nicholas found this ride that had jeeps they could ride in. There wasn't much room for Jon, but Jon gamely went on it 4 times in a row. Nicholas was in love, and we had to finally leave. He cried until we told him we were going back to see the giraffes (which he loves) and feed the giraffes. Then he ran away from us to the giraffes as fast as his little legs could go. Luckily, his dad runs faster.



And then here is the giraffe feeding. Nicholas had a blast. He fed them carrots (big carrots as he says), kale, and green onions. He had so much fun and didn't want to leave. But I was tired, and so was he. Jon was also tired.

Jon lost our car! I told him where it was, but he didn't listen to me. He couldn't find our car! It was pretty funny because he came back to where I was waiting for him at the tram place and told me he couldn't find the car. I told him it was in "B" and faced away from the front of the parking lot. He told me he didn't see it. I told him to try again. He found it. We got into the car and hadn't driven but 100 yards when Nicholas was already asleep. It was such a great family outing.

My first tomato!

I went out to my garden to water today and there was an actual green tomato on the vine! I was so excited. This is my first time growing plants (on my own) and having them survive to the stage where they actually produce veggies and fruits. I am happy. Now if only my strawberry plants would work too....

It is brownie time!

We recently made brownie cupcakes at our house. Jon and Nicholas enjoyed working together. I got all the ingredients together, put them in the bowl, and let the two of them do the mixing. I think there was more eating than there was mixing, but it was a fun family activity.

Nicholas really enjoyed the end, right before I cleaned the bowl. He got to sit on the kitchen floor (with a towel underneath to prevent too much mess) and eat everything that he wanted.

Needless to say - the next stop was the bathtub.

I am finally done!!!

I know, people thought I was crazy doing school, a job, and being a mom. But I am finally done. I finished my comprehensive exams last 2 weeks ago on May 3rd, learned I passed one on May 5th and the other on May 10th. Then I just had to attend one more class and do my two take-home finals.

I can officially say I am done. I just printed the second take-home final, and put on my shoes so I can go deliver them to my professors at their offices. Who agrees with me that if a professor gives a take home final at the end of a semester they should have to accept emailed submissions? But I am finally done.

It feels great to be done. Now I can focus on finally getting the boxes in the house put away, doing some sewing that I want to do, cleaning the house, and growing this second child of ours - who has made my life miserable with sickness and all kinds of things so far. Hopefully this means it is a girl, and will be a great sleeper since I am miserable now and shouldn't have to be miserable later too :) Wouldn't that be nice.

Anyways, it feels great to be done and thanks to everyone - especially my family - who supported me during this time. I am truly blessed with friends and family who are great supporters.

We are expecting a 4th member of our family!

Just so everyone knows, we are expecting the 4th member of our family in November. November 18th to be precise. However, I am expecting the baby to come a month before - at week 36 - because I get horrible blood pressure during pregnancy.

I am feeling fine, now that I have accessed the great medical drugs that prevent my all-day sickness. Jon is excited and happy, although he is nervous too. We told Nicholas, so he randomly picks up my shirt, looks at my tummy, and says "no baby there mommy." So it is clear he doesn't really understand, so we are working on that.

We are very excited about this 4th member of our family, and we hope to share the joy with all our friends. I will refrain from putting up any ultrasound pictures, since those are interesting to me and Jon only - so they are on our refrigerator. No one else needs to see those.

Best wishes to everyone and my friends who are pregnant too! At least this time I won't be the only one I know who is pregnant.