Happy Easter

Enjoy this season of new beginnings.

Friday Flashback

My little Easter egg hunter, shortly before his first birthday last year.

A Quick Guide to Milospeak

Milo's vocabulary improves all the time. He has plenty of words that even people who aren't the parents of toddlers can understand. Some things he says are easy to understand, but may not mean exactly what you might think at first. And some of his "words" or phrases take a little more detective work to understand. There are even a few that I haven't figured out yet (and may never).
 

 The following are words and phrases that I find funny, cute and/or mind-boggling.

Apee: Airplane


Aw doo (drawn out): All aboard! (It's what the conductor says.)

Big car: Truck, especially garbage truck

Boo choo choo (while playing with a train simulator on my smart phone): ?  I thought it was "blue choo choo." But when I'd change the engine to blue, I got a resounding "No!" It might be "blow choo choo," as in blow the train horn, but I don't really think so.

Bo nigh: ? Again, I have no idea. It was said while looking at the train simulator, but also once while going down the stairs. It either morphed into boo choo choo or he gave up on it.

Bubu: Builder or bulldozer, possibly Bob the Builder, said when we see construction vehicles.

Cu-cucka: Time tunnel (from "Dinosaur Train"), said when going under an overpass or overhead traffic signals or other random overhead objects

Cuckoo: Cookie

Dingo: Ding dong, meaning the doorbell

Dough: Door, as in "Open the cabinet/refrigerator door so I can get something to eat."

Go: Yes (but also "Go," as in "Damn the red light. Get this car moving, Mama!")

Ice or Ides: Outside

Meemo (sometimes meebo): Hippo, also some stuffed animals that aren't hippos

Meese (accompanied by the sign language for it): Please

Mo: More

Moo (when not talking about a cow): Move

Mymo: Milo - often used to express pride, as in "look what Milo did!"

T.T.: TV specifically "Timmy Time"

Mostly Wordless Wednesday

"Night night."

Friday Flashback

Milo was jaundiced when he was born -- apparently a fairly common occurrence in Colorado. ("In Colorado babies are 39 percent more likely to have newborn jaundice compared to newborns born at sea level.") He slept in a light bed at the hospital. We called him our little Tron baby.

23 months

Dear Milo,

You are 23 months old today. Sometimes the past almost two years seems like they've flown by, other times it feels like a lifetime.

You seem to change and grow every single day. You are getting to be such a big boy, and it's often hard to remember how little you were not so very long ago. Because, really 23 months isn't such a long time (even though for you, it's been a lifetime). Thank goodness for all the pictures we've taken.

You, just a few hours old

You took your first plane ride this month -- and your first vacation that didn't involve staying at a relative's house. It was all pretty exciting.

As you can plainly see.

I was pretty nervous at the prospect of flying with a toddler, but you were a champ. You were well-behaved, then just took a nice long nap.

We went to San Diego to enjoy some sun and surf. We took you to the zoo and some museums -- and, of course, the beach. You and Daddy ended up with colds so we didn't do as much as we might have, but we had a really great time.

You got to meet one of Daddy's cousins, and I think she was quite taken with you, even though you slept through a lot of our outing with her.

You're kind of obsessed with trains at the moment. I don't expect that to go away any time soon. You also really like hippos (or as you call them "meebos") right now which really makes me smile. Because I have a bit of an obsession with them.

You've started calling me "Mom" sometimes. I'm not sure if you're switching to that or if you just get lazy and don't want to pronounce the second part of "Mama." Either way, I don't think I like it. It's too grown up. You are trying out new words all the time. But when you don't know a word, you just kind of babble something. At the zoo, "Bye bye, turblabla" to the tortoises. It's really cute though.

You do so many cute things that you know are cute. You lay down, pretend to snore, then pop up and say, "Oh. Hi." It's just too cute. You are also requesting certain songs to be sung, including "ABDD" and "Up Above," as well as "Itsy Bitsy Spider."

I think you are the cutest thing in the world. When someone else tells me you're handsome or cute or adorable, I can feel my chest swell with pride. At the airport, you were reading letters out loud and a lady heard you -- a retired teacher, no less -- and commented on how impressive it was for your age. I just about burst from the pride I felt.

It's actually kind of surprising that I don't just explode from all the pride and love and joy I feel just having you in my life. The fact that you're smart and beautiful is just icing on the cake. Which you're also kind of obsessed with right now.

I love you, my smart, beautiful, wonderful son.

Love,
Mama