Unique Pallets

We've gotten in the habit of letting Payton try even the stuff we know he won't like. I had bought some coconut water and didn't like it, passed it to Bill, and Payton demanded to have some. He took a big gulp, swallowed and made the worst face ever. The best part was the look he gave us that said, "what are you doing to me?" Later on, he came back over to the counter and I asked him if he wanted more. He replied with "No me lie dat co-co-nut waler."

Earlier that day I was eating some cabbage with a dressing of olive oil, garlic, lemon juice and parsley. Payton insisted on trying it, even though I knew it would be too strong for him. I gave him a little bit of cabbage and he didn't gag on it. (He usually runs to the garbage and spits it out.) He asked for more, I gave it to him. This continued until I ran out and he still wanted more. I made another bowl and didn't discriminate on the bites that I gave him. He had to have had some straight up garlic and ate it all.

Tasha's first salad dressing was balsamic vinegar. She continues to like this, but has branched out and is always asking for the salad at Costco for lunch. Aren't kids supposed to want the pizza?

When Kyra was just getting teeth she gnawed on a red onion quite contently during a lunch I had with my mom. (Yes, she was that baby that you could take to a restaurant.) She still had onion breath when her dad came home from work that evening.

I had a juice of apple, carrot, lemon, and ginger this morning... Payton said, "oh, too spicey, mommy!" I love that kid. I also think that lemon and ginger are my non-so-secret favorite ingredients to give juice a little zing.

Q: Why don't I spend 15 minutes a day working on cleaning out my laundry room so I have room to store the stuff that is cluttering my house?

A: Because in the 15 very productive minutes that I spent back there one morning Payton was able to :

• empty the laundry basket I had just taken out onto the living room floor
• take the empty basket to my bedroom to use as a step stool
• open my jewelry box and remove the drawer to bring to the living room
• get a carrot from who knows where (I thought they were all in the outside fridge!)

...and who knows what else that I did not find.

Pretty Boy Payton Turned 2

On his 2nd birthday, Payton walked into nursery on his own, without crying for the first time ever.

He now lets us read to him. His favorite books being:

• If You Give a Cat a Cupcake (he asks for "cupcake, cupcake")
• If You Give a Pig a Party (we enjoy finding all her friends)
• Blue Hat Green Hat
• Who Stole the Cookie from the Cookie Jar
• A stupid pirate book that has a "(s)cary bug" that we squish with our thumb and a "peencha c(r)ab" that we immitate by pinching each other with our fingers
• 10 Little Ladybugs (another "bug" book, but they are not scary)

He's not nursing anymore. He completely weaned about 2 weeks before his birthday.

He's settling in to a bedtime routine: teethbrushing, stories, and sleep.

When we bless the dinner he folds his arms, lays his head down on the table, and then after we've all said "amen", he will lift his head up, smile and kindly say "amen" as well. (this, instead of declaring in his loudest voice "A-MEN", or telling us "no pray, no pray"... I'm glad those 2 phases are over, although the first was hard not to laugh at)

He still likes "cook-een" in the kitchen with me. He mostly stays away from the oven though.

He has generalized that anything you plug in is either "loud" or "hot". It cracks me up. I was plugging in the hot glue gun and he said, "oh, loud!" On Super Why he always says "oh, HAUT!" when the pig saws out the letters creating a bunch of dust.

He knows the following shapes: cir-coe, tie-an-goe, oh-boe, ec-tan-goe, and kwair.

His favorite color is "lelloe". If you are familiar with the Sandra Boynton book, Blue Hat, Green Hat, he will read, "lelloe hat, lelloe hat, lelloe hat, oots!" This is precious. I need to get it on video.

The only way I can cut his fingernails is to bribe him by painting them as I go. I try to stick to boy blue, but he really likes the green and purple. Bill absolutely LOVES this.

He really likes to try on clothes when Tasha is. He especially insists on trying on the dresses and spinning. When he does this, Tasha and I say in our sweetest voices, "awe PT, you're so pri-tee!" He then gives us his most petite smile ever.

He can walk pretty well in Kyra's slip on high heals, even with his toes poking through the front and hitting the floor. (this may help, actually)

Bill might get concerned about all this pretty boy stuff, except that he has the following disgusting habits that I would like eliminated:

• He calls most brown things "poop", including the dinner I made last night.
• "too-pid, too-pid, too-pid" is a regular word, along with the phrase, "oh, c(r)ap"
• He likes to pretend to hawk loogies (is that how you spell that?), complete with a hand swipe of the mouth.
• He's fallen asleep more than once with his hand in his diaper. I got a picture, but it is very dark.
• He is VERY good at being a little brother. Ask his sisters. Someday we hope all the bullying will be put to good use and he can fend off undesireable male suiters.

40 is the beginning of everything that matters...

"It's when you start to be respected in the world,

make an impact, and get listened to.

It's when you let go of everything fake

and pursue what's important to you for real.

It's when you realize that

knowing what you know,

you wouldn't go back.

40 is when you deserve to celebrate yourself

and take pride in your strengths without apologizing.

So celebrate you today-

where you are right now-

you deserve it.!"

-Hallmark

"I'm going to be 40..."

This is one of my favorite lines from one of my favorite movies, When Harry Met Sally. Sally is all upset because she's not married and doesn't have kids and her ex boyfriend just got engaged and it wasn't to her...blah, blah, blah. Then she declares:

Sally: "And I'm going to be 40" (sob, sob, sob)
Harry: "When?"
Sally: "...SOME DAY!" (SOB, SOB, SOB)
Harry: "Yeah, like in 8 years."

OK Sally. I've got you beat. I'm going to be 40... SOON! Like in 5 days!

AAAAAHHHHH!!!!

So, I'm making a list of 40 things I'm going to do while I'm 40. I'm up for suggestions, although if they cost too much money I'll be calling you to flip the bill.

Q: What do you say when your vacuum is not working properly?

A: You can't say, "this vacuum sucks", because it doesn't.

Hmm, I really only told you what the answer insn't. I guess this post should only be a "Q". Oh well, maybe you have the answer.

PT is 2 Today