Pearly Whites

David was a champ at his second dentist appointment. The first time he went in--6 months ago--he did such a good job holding still while they checked his teeth that they gave him a full cleaning. Everyone kept saying how good David was about getting his teeth cleaned, holding still, and as the hygienist said, "That's the happiest patient I'll see all week!"

David loves an opportunity to watch tools and machines work, even if he has to open his mouth while they do their job.

This time I had a camera with me, so we captured the star.

Great job, buddy on being a good sport and cavity free!

Those sugar bugs won't get a chance to party it up in your mouth.

Davidisms--Nov 18

• I've picked up on a few more of David's renamings when it comes to characters: He calls them "mad guys" everyone else calls them Angry Birds. And to him  it's "Cheese guy" and to everyone else, it's Sponge Bob Square Pants. He doesn't know these characters, per se, but he sees them around in stores and such. I think his re-naming game appropriately matches his paradigm.
• We showed David "The Absent Minded Professor" (think Flubber) and in the opening scene, the professor is in class and blows a trumpet which causes the glass in the classroom to break. David was deeply impressed with this. Oh, another thing is that David refers to metal and glass as both being metal. So yesterday we were watching parts of the BYU game, and the camera did a close-up of the band. David was instantly concerned. He asked "Mom, do they have any metal there?" I asked him for clarification. "Mom, will those horns break the metal at the football game?" I told him I thought everything would be okay, even if the horns played their music. David continued to reason with himself out loud, and I heard him reassure himself, "It's okay, it's not metal, it's just plastic at that game. And horns don't break plastic. They just break metal."

Dashing

Wow, I'm lucky to walk in to church with a guy this good looking. 

 Then I get a smile from another guy on the stand as we take our seats.

And all is right and good in my world for the moment.

Halloween 2012

We had a good holiday. Just a few pics to capture the fun of it all.

 Of course this year David is really in to the activities around the holiday. Dressing up for a Halloween Party!?! It was so exciting to him that I almost didn't mention the whole trick or treating tradition.

 David was a little bummed that his pumpkin's mouth didn't have a mouth--it was more of a hole.  So Daddy obliged and gave the pumpkin two faces. It was a fun family night. The ring around David's mouth came from the number of times David took a bite of the raw pumpkin lid. This kid is something else! I really thought that once would be enough for him, but he kept snacking on it for as long as the jack-o-lanterns stuck around.

 Here's my version of a decorated pumpkin--isn't she cute?

Here is the dynamic duo that hung around our house for a few days.

 I learned a lesson this year. If I'm about to slice up a jack-o-lantern to roast the pumpkin for future batches of sweet treats, I need to consult the little guy who has his heart and soul invested into his creation. My child was truly distraught when he saw me from across the room take a knife to his pumpkin and chop it in two. I was explaining the whole "let's cook this up and make some treats" thing to him while I chopped. Before he could rescue the pieces, I had his pumpkin in quarters. I wanted to grab my camera, but I had to restrain myself out of respect for the truly traumatic experience that was already happening to my little boy. Oh, I don't think I'll ever cut a pumpkin again without thinking of David cradling four pieces of his pumpkin in his arms, his body bent over it as a protective measure, and sobs shaking his little body as he tried to tell his mother that she was making a bad choice to be so disrespectful to his pumpkin. Of course I was trying to comfort him, but he was not interested in that. He was doing all he could to save his pumpkin--and alas, it was too late. So when that didn't work out for me, I grabbed my own pumpkin and started chopping it up. And just in case he could hear me through his sobs, I started saying how excited I was to make cookies out of my pumpkin. He heard me. He sat up. He dried his eyes by pinching his thumb and fingers across the bridge of his nose. And he said, "Cookies?" Oh, if I had had a video camera, I would be accused of setting up the drama, not capturing a real life moment.

But all that drama, folks--not even I could have imagined it!

And I will never again take it upon myself to roast my child's pumpkin.

In the end, we roasted both pumpkins.

Halloween night found us at the church for a trunk or treat. 

 Three-year-old is their name, and super heroes is their game!

David, Jonathon and Charlie

 This little boy loved being Spider Man . . .

 Maybe even as much as another little boy who loved it once upon a time.

What can I say? Like father, like son!

Preschool Boys

For a few brief weeks, we had a small preschool with these four cute boys. It was an absolute burst of energy to whoever's home was hosting for the week. The preschool dissolved all too soon, but we sure enjoyed it while it lasted!

 When it was at our house, we got to do the letter T and the number 10.

I pulled out Grammy's yellow children's songbook, and played the piano while I taught the boys, Choo choo train, what's comin' down the tracks? Choo choo train, it's something big and black . . . Oh, we had a good time together!

Oh, and this was just as my camera was going out--so they are a bit blurry--but still a fun memory!

Davidisms--Oct 28

• David has a few funny things he has renamed based on how he hears the words. If it's in his head that he is correct, he won't be persuaded otherwise. The example coming to mind right now is Lightning the Queen.
• We were hurrying through Fred Meyer the other night, walking down the chip aisle when David noticed some bags of chips on the floor. They were propped against the bottom shelf, but sitting on the floor. He didn't like that. So he picked them up and tried to get them to stay. I tapped my toe, but he wouldn't be persuaded to come with me until those chips were back on the shelf. Clearly the shelf was too full, because they fell off the first four times he tried to put them up. The fifth time was the charm, though, when he leaned his whole body weight into the chip bags to get them to stay. I heard all 8 bags behind them crunch while he pushed with all his might. Turns out you can fit a lot more bags of chips on the shelf if you use the lean-and-crunch method. I hope whoever picks up those bags is planning to make a whole bunch of taco soup. Come to think of it, now that the moment of mortification is over, that customer probably should have been me. At the time, I was laughing so hard and trying to conceal it that I couldn't think straight like that. Maybe the next time the chip vendor won't leave it up to a 3-year old to finish the job of making sure all the chips are on the shelf. Oh, and the little boy helper? He was absolutely pleased with himself. "Look mom! I got them to stay! I served them! Those chips did not belong on the floor like that, so I served the store. Do you think they feel happy when I serve them? . . . "
• David is very excited to be Spiderman for Halloween. He doesn't even remember the candy part yet! The dressing up is fun enough for him. He wore his costume around all day on Thursday, then I finally peeled it off of him to throw him in the shower. I came back to check a few minutes later,  and what should my wondering eyes find? David in the shower. With nothing on but his Spiderman mask. It was absolutely hillarious.
• Sometimes this little boy likes to be contrary just for the sake of being contrary. We were asking him to finish his dinner tonight, and he really didn't want to. He was whining and moaning, and making up reasons about why he was full of dinner, but he still had room for dessert . . . and we were doing our best to not respond to every whine. In his desperation, he dramatically pulled out a really whiny voice and said, "But I don't want to eat dinner! I just want to go outside and mow the grass!!!!" Huh? Ok, you can do that, buddy--but wear your parka,  because it's in the teens, and the grass is crunchy from ice, and it's really dark. It gave us a good laugh.

Davidisms--October 14

• Here Mom,  let me show you how to fish. You put the pole in the water like this, then you get your big shark, you bring it out of the water like this and then you give it to your mom so she can take care of it. (Eeek! Don't bring home a shark, buddy!)
• After a morning of paint projects at the house, David was going to his friend's house to play. Here's the conversation on the way over. D: Mom, I want to walk up to the door by myself today. Me: Oh, are you big enough  now to go to the door by yourself? D: Yes, I'm a big boy. But really I don't want my friends to see the paint on your pants.  Definitely his father's son! ;)
• As we approached the car after being inside of a store, David put himself between me and the keyhole. He folded his arms across his chest and said, "I need to talk to you for a minute about what just happened in there, Mom." I was a little humored by such a stance, and tried to hide my smile. "I don't appreciate it that you didn't buy me a treat." I was trying to suppress a laugh. "I hope next time you'll make a different choice." Now I was all-out laughing, and David tried to continue his lecture but was getting frustrated with his inattentive and not-serious subject. After a few minutes, he finally laughed with me and I was allowed to access the car door.
• D: "Hey everyone, look at me! I'm Spider Man! I can climb walls!" THUD. In a sweet but disappointed voice he continued, "Ohh-hh, I'm not Spider Man. I'm just David."
• David has some little friends who are twins. He can't figure out what to call them or how to keep them straight. First it was "Hey, little boy!" Then it was "Darius" and "Another Darius." Most recentlly he's gone back to "Hi Twin!"

Editor's note--The camera has been banged up a bit, and only about 1 in 20 pictures turns out right now. Of course they don't turn out when I am trying to capture a moment. Sorry about all of the picture-less posts--I hope to repair the camera soon. The pressure is on with the holidays coming--so sooner rather than later is my goal.