Welcome August...

I welcome August with open arms. Though I enjoy summer, I adore Fall. Autumn. Whichever. Whatever. I grew up saying 'Fall' but 'Autumn' does sound a bit nicer for some reason. And let's just ignore the fact that my welcome August post is happening on August 15. I'm a bit behind the times - oops. I felt like I just posted on the blog a few days ago but nope it was weeks! Nevertheless, we welcomed August by saying our farewells to our weekend company last weekend, of Mamaw & Pap, the paternal grandparents who came for a weekend visit.

The kid was pumped the second they walked in the door and did. not. stop. nope. not once. he was chatting, and playing, and opening matchbox cars, and running, and playing. making decisions about where he wanted to go. and with who. First rule of order - "I go on walk with pap!" Later in the visit, while riding home from the mall, the kid declared, "now I go park!" he had lots of ideas haha... we adored the time with them and they left us, heading onto a week at Myrtle Beach, SC. The kid cried all week every time the word beach came up, whining and literally crying, "I go beachhhhhhh toooo," over and over.

Not much else is new here in these parts. What to write? I was pondering that. Seems we've been just doing a lot of random things. So its going to be a random post. Lots of random happenings round here.

Today? A rainy sunday. Still raining. I got to sleep in while husband and the kid huddled on the couch watching Diego via Netflix (and can I just say - I'm LOVING Netflix!). Breakfast for all, made so sweetly by husband. Some play time and rain watching. A quick trip to target for a desperately needed storage ottoman. I threw a two waffle maker in the cart on a whim. A long nap for the kid. I tested the waffle maker (thus far not impressed - at all - but perhaps its the batter i used?). American Pickers TV time for husband (okay, i watched too!). Some quick cleaning for me. A sandwich for husband. Blog time for mom. A random dinner of rice, carrots w/ hummus, crackers, and a peanut butter sandwich, and a side of watermelon. Tasty, I know! Clearly, we're super exciting around here. So i'll just proceed with some randomness.

We've gotten into reading a lot of books with the kid. At naptime. And before bed. He gets to pick his books and we cozy up in the rocker and read. He loves it. Husband and i both love to read so we really want to instill this in the kid too! Clearly its working well because just last week he took to reading some John Grisham all on his own. What can i say?!? He's a picking it up quickly lol...

Really its dad's book and dad's booklight, which the kid insisted he needed! Too cute. He loves his daddy. and wants to be just like him. from what he's eating. to what he's reading. and shoes too!

I was on travel last week to Mechanicsburg. Though I came home on Wednesday night, I stayed over the other nights, leaving husband and kid on their own. I'm thinking lots of pizza and mac 'n cheese went down here last week. Just thinking. I called each night, and morning. Checking in, wanting details of wake up times, sleep times, drop offs, pickups, eating patterns, you name it.

"He said he dreamt about a moose again," husband told me as he drove to work. "Yea, I asked him if he had any dreams and his words were: "yes daddy, a moose. a moose wants his mommy. i say where my mommy? i tell moose my mommy work."

"Yea, thats exactly what he told me," husband said, laughing.

"What?!" I laughed. His moose dreams (or made up stories?!) are getting more and more funny. He does say the darndest things. I do tell.

The other night, while waiting on dinner, I randomly asked, "What does Abram want for dinner?"

"Umm...." he says, putting his finger to his lips, as if he's deep in serious thought. "Um... Bears!" he shouts, referring to his gummy bear vitamins.

"Thats after dinner silly! What else?"

"Umm.... Chocolate!!!"

Dad laughs, telling him, "you can't have chocolate for dinner kid, we don't have any!"

"All Gone?!?" he asks.

With a confirming nod from me, he gasps, whips his head around to dad, saying, "Mommy ate it all!" and started shaking his head, as if exasperated at me. haha....

We burst into laughter, so the kid laughs too. What can I say? the kid knows his mommy! lol...

He's also has some interesting counting patterns. Each night after dinner he gets three gummy bear vitamins.

"Count the bears Abram!" I encourage him.

"1, 3, 1" or "1, 3, Big Bird!" or often "1, 3, Elmo!"

Yet the other day, while playing in his sandbox, I heard him muttering to himself, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10! haha...

In other random news, I hit up one of my favorite kids consignment sales yesterday, promptly at 12:45pm. It goes till 2pm and at 1pm, everything becomes half off. So at 12:45, I start browsing and gathering. and proceed to the checkout line anytime after the 1 o'clock mark. I've had such great luck at yard sales lately though, I surprisely didn't need that much for the kid. I hit the motherload at a yard sale last fall in a fancy neighborhood. The kid has looked smashing since then and has more in his closet to boot!

While browsing, I realized all the cute little hats were too small for him. those adorable little blankets - he doesn't need. and those nursery items, well i simply don't need them. During all my realizations, i then was reminding that this year I was accompanied by a toddler, no baby at all! Oh yea, him!

I did pick up a few sweatpants this fall/winter, a halloween costume (he's going to be a BAT! can we say, the cutest darn bat you ever did see!? he growls while wearing the costume! and yes, i decide what he will be after finding a good cheap outfit), two pair of slippers, and new monkey pajamas. Oh, and a USA puzzle.

Husband told the woman selling the puzzle we needed it because, "he just can't seem to memorize the capitals!" all serious. she gave a big "ohhh" and a head nod, while glancing at Abram pulling items off shelves.  We can't help but have a little fun while out bargaining with folks!

After nap time, he really wanted to wear his sweatpants and new bear slippers, despite it being summer and us not having central AC. I was sweating looking at him. He's showing me his state puzzle pieces while i'm trying to capture a shot without DOGS! Impossible I must say!!

If we're out on a Saturday, running errands, hitting up yard sales, or farmers markets, we often go to lunch. When we ask the kid, "what do you want to eat?" He usually has 1 of 3 responses. Pizza, Rice, or Fruit. At home, his requests are usually rice, fruit, noodles, or dip. Often when he feels bedtime approaching, he becomes strangely hungry for dates. or raisins. Raisins are only a second choice since we are often out of dates. He's been consuming mad amounts of fruit this summer.  I mean crazy. His consumption of watermelon is insane. Can we say he loves it? more than loves it?

Yep, we're still using the good ole highchair. We've made a few 'well take a booster seat' attempts while dining out. Usually resulting in one of us (ahem, me) saying, 'we should have gotten a high chair!' The high chair gives him no choice but to stay put, eat, or wait on mom and dad eating. So we're sticking to it!

And in other random news, well, thats all i got! We're loving our summer days here at home and are pondering a few fall trips to say, southwestern PA, maybe the shore, and northeast TN too!