Little Things

Yesterday I gave Rand a little packet of fruit snacks. After he finished, I started looking around for the wrapped. And where did I find it? In the trash! Totally unprompted. Smart boy.

His cutest word right now is "macaroni." He says it, "MA'aroni." Laundry is "johnny." That one always throws me at first (who's Johnny? Oh, yeah, laundry).

Last night I told Rand to go get a book so I could read him a bedtime story. He said, "Not potty!" I was confused because he had just been to the bathroom....and he comes back with the book "But Not The Hippopotamus." Ahhhh, I get it.

Here are a couple of cute pictures of Rand and his Auntie. We can't wait to see you guys in a couple of weeks!

Sharing is Hard.

Rand said his first complete sentence today: "RAND TURN!!!!!"

I was babysitting Bella and making macaroni. They were having to take turns stirring, and it was very hard for Rand to wait. Every time I picked up Bella and put him down, he burst into tears, started pulling on my pants, and begging, "Rand turn! Rand turn! Rand turn!"

So cute.

I'm back!

I'm back! I had a fantastic time in Washington D.C. last week but it's always great to get home. Especially when you're so loved and appreciated by the men of the house. As soon as Rand saw me at the airpot, he started pointing out all of his "owies," almost all of which happened ages ago (he has a great memory for any injury).

Rand learned two new phrases while I was gone: "one more" and "hungry." He uses "one more" all the time -- one more kiss, one more crayon, one more bite of food -- even when there's more than "one more" left. Very cute. He's also started waking up in the morning, saying "hungry," then bolting to the fridge.

Werner downloaded a bunch of Wiggles and Raffi songs to his iPod. Rand loves to stand there and hold the headphones up to his ears while he listened to the music. He was listening to a Wiggles song that had something in it about honey cakes, and he said, "Cake!" Then he ran straight to where the mixer is kept and started saying, "Cake? Cake? Mommy? Cake?"

Last but not least, Rand tasted the famous Fisher dessert of strawberries rolled in sour cream and brown sugar. He loved it, especially the sugar. He would eat the edges off of the strawberry, then dip it in the sugar to maximize every square inch of strawberry.

Spoiled rotten

Rand had a great evening today. It's finally cooled off a little so we can spend some time outside. After dinner, Werner, Doug, and I went with Rand to feed the ducks at the nearby golf course. He had so much fun ripping up the bread and throwing it to them. He had a surprisingly good throwing arm!

After that, we went to the nearby shopping center with a water fountain that kids can play in. We played in that for a while, got ice cream at Coldstone, and watched a big water and lights and music show. He was laughing and smiling the whole time. He only cried a little bit when he got his first skinned knee and he helped me put medicine on when we got home.

Rand also counted to 14 today by himself. He seems to be growing up super fast recently. He also was mistaken for a girl at the grocery store yesterday, so I think it's time for a haircut.

Boys

Just kidding, he's still sick! Ugh. I think we've turned the corner this evening -- he ate three hours ago and it hasn't come back up yet. My carpeting is shot.

We had to miss the 4th of July fireworks last night, which was sad. I think Rand would have really liked them. We could hear stuff from our house but couldn't see anything.

Can I ask what it is with little boys and stunts? We got a very cool little trike for Rand from my parents. It has a handle so I can push him, and a little bar that he can put his feet on since he's too small to reach the pedals. The first time he rode it he was an angel. He sat still and had this huge smile on his face. Now every time he climbs on, he wants to be an acrobat! He likes to stand up while I push him (which I don't let him, so he tries to be sneaky and stand up when I'm not looking), ride without holding onto the handlebars, ride it backwards, etc. I sure didn't show him these things!

Rand is a very stereotypical boy in so many ways. He's having a great time wrestling with his Uncle Doug. He thinks burping is hilarious and his favorite things to play with are rocks, mud, and water. He would always rather walk in the dirt than on the sidewalk. He is a total mama's boy and would practically rather die than wash his hair. He would much rather do wheelies in his stroller than be pushed the right way. He never wants to ride in the shopping cart and gets mad if you don't let him help push it. He runs from the moment he wakes up in the morning until he (unhappily) goes to bed at night. But he gives great kisses, and lots of hugs, and says, "I love you mommy" without being prompted. Awwww.

Sick sick sicky sick sick

Rand was sick, like really sick, for the first time last night. Throwing up every couple of hours, couldn't keep anything down, the works. Poor baby! He seems to be doing much better this morning, but he's still very clingy.

This morning he also referred to himself as "Rand" for the first time. He would point first at me and say, "Mommy." Then he pointed at Werner and said, "Daddy." Finally he pointed at himself and said, "Rand." He did this over and over and over again.

It's been a week of record-breaking heat here in Phoenix...it hasn't been under 110 all week. Rand is now traumatized by his carseat. We go to get in the car and he starts waving his arms and saying, "Hot! hot! hot!"