Debbie's Birthday Bash Turned Ball Fight...

My birthday party this year turned into a giant ball fight for all the kids in the basement. Adults were scared to go down there. We were still picking up balls days later, all over the house.

Leo's cakes

Leo made styrofoam cakes for Christmas

Dumb

I've been teaching Leo how to read his second word, "Mom". He can already read his name. So I took my birthday locket from my parents and showed Leo the word on the front. I read out, "m-o-m", and asked him what it spelled. He said, "dumb".

Christmas Pictures!

Some pictures from our Christmas festivities!

Down your shirt

We were playing Chutes and Ladders, one of Leo's Christmas presents. I had thrown my back out and was doing some exercises to make it better. Daddy said "I can see down your shirt.". Leo stuck his head in my shirt. Paul said, "Hey, that's my wife." Leo laughed and said, "I'm not going to kill her.

Toys!

Leo was talking to Grandpa about Christmas. Grandpa asked Leo if he got many toys. Leo replied, "Yes, I got millions and billions and trillions of toys."

Flash cards

Last night I let Leo open one of his gifts from Pop-pop and Por-por. They were addition flash cards. I thought, oh no, this is for kids 6 and up. We'll have to store this away. He asked me how the game worked, so I explained what a '+' was and that the line meant equals. He got it immediately, and he did 3+1, 2+3, etc perfectly. Then I explained what a zero was and he was able to add those as well. I was so proud of him and so excited that he might be a budding little math guy. Today I gave him some jelly beans and he's learning how to subtract!

Bear Peak

Today I took Leo to the dermatologist. I hadn’t mentioned that we were going to daycare afterwards; I just assumed he knew it was a Monday. On the way back into Boulder, we were looking at the beautiful view of mountains and snow. Leo said, “I was thinking that after we go to the doctor’s, we could climb Bear Peak”.  Leo has never climbed Bear Peak himself and has only been carried up once, when he about a month old.  I laughed and told him to ask his dad about that.

Leo and Mia on a date

Leo and his girlfriend Mia on a playdate. Paul dressed him up to the nines for this date - a button-down oxford with his snowman sweater. When Mia arrived, Leo promptly ignored her and ran out to find seeds. (Something I recall Paul doing with me once upon a time) They did end up having a great time once they actually started playing together.

Leo waited for us to grow up

Leo and I were making a gingerbread house. He had a blast, especially with all that frosting and popping bits of candy here and there. He was pointing to some colored gel frosting that I had brought out and said, "I got that when you were babies". I said, "You got this when me and daddy were babies????" He replied, "Yes. I waited for you to grow up and become indults".

This is what Leo looks like after a LOT of sugar!

Obama

Leo loves to look at the Economist's cartoons. I have to explain them and that is sometimes very difficult. This cartoon was about race and the promised land. I started with, "Remember how we have a new big boss of the whole country?". To which Leo replied, "yes and the bad guy wanted to cut down all the trees and Obama wanted to make more trees!"

Presents for everybody

Leo was wrapping his toys in wrapping paper and needed some help. I helped him and asked him who it was for. He said, "Everybody! There's presents for everybody in the whole village!"

Money

When I picked Leo at school today, the teacher said that he'd been working for 30 minutes on something for me. He showed me some paper with pieces of colored paper and pieces of wood chips on it. He said, "I made you this money so you can buy me presents with it!"

Skinny

I was explaining to Leo that after we went to the museum this morning, I would drop him off at school. He said oh then I will be at school for a long time. I tried to explain that I would pick him up after his lunch, nap, and then snack time. Or maybe Daddy would pick him up. As I tried to divert attention from the fact that he had to go to school, I asked whether he preferred that I or Daddy pick him up.

He replied, "You. Because you are nice and skinny."

Out my brain

We continue to work with Leo on the bed-wetting issue. Last night he soaked his bed.

Paul asked, "Did you know you were going to pee?"

Leo replied, "No, I didn't. It just came out of my brain and then I peed in my bed."

He does math!

Yesterday Leo said something like “1 + 1”. I showed him how to add on his fingers. He took to it immediately and could add 1 + 2 by himself without any help. Today in the car I asked him offhand what 2 + 1 was and he figured it out. I hate listening to parents brag about their kids and hate bragging about my own, but having been a little Chinese math kid once, I felt really proud of his math abilities! Now if only we can teach him how to be the banker in the Monopoly games....