The Nut House

Sorry if there are a billion typos.  I’m publishing without going back to proofread because I have to leave soon.  Hopefully it still makes sense.

Now that both Wingnut and Peanut are doing goofy things I guess it can’t just be Peanutty Silliness anymore.  So here are a few of the funny/interesting (to me, their doting mother, at least) things they’ve been doing lately.

Wingnut

• My little guy is not so little anymore.  He’s almost 20 pounds and he pretty much looks it.  He’s yummy.
• He seems to be taking after his sister in that he chews on everything.  If his binkie isn’t in his mouth everything else goes in be it cotton balls, doll shoes, or itty bitty pieces flecks of lint only he can see.  Then there’s the random bits of stuff Peanut leaves all over the floor when she eats that I just don’t get around to cleaning because that would involve sweeping the floor and I refuse to sweep more than once a day.  And that’s a good day.  People always say they love wood floors because they’re so easy to clean.  It’s true, they are, and it’s a darn good thing because they need to be cleaned all. the. time.  Or maybe that’s just me.
• Not only does Wingnut like to chew on things that are not food, he like me to chew on non-food items as well.  Mainly his fingers.  His idea of a game is to force my lips apart and stick his fat, little baby fingers in my mouth so I can munch on them.  Then he pulls them out, giggles, flaps his arms, and does it again.  One day I didn’t want to play and wouldn’t open my mouth for him so when he pulled his finger out of my lips my bottom lip flipped up and made up funny sound flapping back against my top lip.  He seemed to think that was almost as good as getting munched on.
• Wingnut continues to have a love of stairs.  One day around Christmas we found him halfway up the staircase.  He was quite proud of himself but it freaked ODD and me out so we put up the baby gate.  He now spends a lot of time at the baby gate studying it.  I’m sure he’s trying to figure out a way to get around it so he can be reunited with the lovely brown-carpeted staircase and all the string and lint available for eating that it offers.
• When Peanut was Wingnut’s age she would cry and scream when she was upset.  Wingnut’s a more mellow child.  Instead of crying and fussing he hums.  When he feels he isn’t getting the attention he deserves he pulls himself up to standing by the couch, cruises back and forth across it, and hums maniacally until we notice him.  It isn’t a great sound but it’s worlds better than Peanut’s Most Obnoxious Sound In The Universe which was akin to using a dentist drill to clean out one of our ears while listening to fingernails scraping down a chalkboard with the other ear.  I’ll take the frantic humming any day.
• When I took Wingnut in for his 9 month doctor appointment last week the doctor asked if he was babbling yet.  I explained that, no, he hums instead.  That very afternoon he began babbling with “bababababa.”  Like he’d been listening to what the doctor said and thought maybe he’d give it a try.  He still prefers to hum but occasionally throws in a “babababa” for fun.
• The doctor was also surprised to see him pulling up to stand and cruise.  He informed me he prefers to have babies crawl for 4 months before walking (because it builds different coordination connections in the brain than walking) but understands that some babies just want to walk.  I told him Peanut was basically walking at this point when she was a baby and I didn’t think Wingnut would be that far away from walking himself seeing as how he’s wanted to stand since, well, birth.  The doctor still recommended pushing the crawling for a while longer, like maybe until St. Patrick’s Day.  I don’t know if we’ll even make it to St. Valentine’s Day.  He’s one determined boy.
• When I put Wingnut in his crib the other day he pulled himself up to the side and started jumping on the bed.  He must be watching his sister closely.
• When he catches anybody looking at him while he’s just sitting around, Wingnut raises his arms above his head and inhales loudly and excitedly.  If we do it back he gets even more excited and does it again and again.  Sometimes he points, other times his hands are open.  He still giggles when we tickle him or do funny things but when he gets excited it usually manifested with the big, audible inhale.
• I love when Wingnut gets sleepy.  He snuggles on my shoulder and is so sweet and warm I could hold him like that forever.

Peanut

• I think Peanut truly believe she is a princess now.  I was looking back over some pictures and realized almost every photo of her from the last month includes her crown.  I didn’t really notice how often she was wearing it until we were wandering around the grocery store and someone commented on her crown.  I hadn’t even realized she had it on.
• As far as wardrobe is concerned she’s still layering with the best of them.  She still changes bits of her outfits each day but the core of the outfit may stay for days at a time, usually being slept in.  Since half of her pajama clothes have managed to work their way into her daytime clothes it’s hard to tell if she’s ready for bed or ready for the park.  Usually it looks like both.  Yes, she often looks unkempt but she chooses all her own clothes and is proud of what she wears.  Don’t worry too much, I do wash her clothes and make sure she bathes and changes her underpants.  I’ve just come to accept I will never have the child who is perfectly coiffed with matchy matchy clothes, tights, shoes, and hair clip.  I think I’m okay with that.
• One clothing aspect we are struggling with is socks.  Little kid shoes don’t really, uh, breathe?  Umm, aerate?  Okay, let me be blunt.  Peanut gets seriously stinky feet.  It isn’t really bad if she wears sock.  Therein lies the problem.  She doesn’t like to wear socks.  She’ll wear tights if we’re going out but once we’re home those puppies come off right after her coat.  Then the shoes go back on.  Even regular socks don’t stay on long.  We noticed this odorific problem while in the bathroom one day.  Peanut believes it is necessary to completely undress from the waist down in order to properly use the toilet.  So one day while entering the very small space of our half-bath to help Peanut finish up the job ODD was almost asphyxiated with the smell of stinky feet.  And this man is a podiatrist.  He knows stinky feet.  She had been wearing her “ballet slippers” (also known as pink, sparkly ballet flats I picked up at H&M in May) sans socks.  It was abundantly obvious.  Since that day socks have been a requirement at our house.  Sometimes there are tantrums about it.  Sometimes she happily dons them.  In any case, I’m looking forward to spring and summer when Peanut can again wear sandals that let her smelly little toes get some air.
• ODD has a shirt with a Superman emblem on it.  Every time he wears it Peanut informs him he is Superman.  ODD really digs this.  Since he is Superman so often Peanut has decided she needs an alter ego as well.  Her chosen superhero name is BUTTERFLY GIRL!  Yes, it is said in all caps with an exclamation point at the end, often with one fist in the air like she’s about to take flight.  Apparently BUTTERFLY GIRL!’s duties are to fly around the living room, dining room, and staircase policing children smaller than herself, namely Wingnut.  On the bright side, she prevents Wingnut from ingesting tiny wooden trees.  On the not-so-bright side she takes approved toys away from Wingnut because. . . she likes to hear him hum?  I don’t really know why.  What I do know is she is a truly devoted superhero.
• We went to the dentist a couple of weeks ago for our cleanings.  Peanut was excited and talked about it for days before.  Once we got to the chair, though, she was a bit hesitant.  I can’t remember if I’ve mentioned this before but my uncle is my dentist and he is the best.  He’s never hurt me and his staff is always friendly and helpful.  They are awesome.  Anyway, the lady who did her cleaning mentioned how Teeny had been in just a couple of days before and had laid back in the exact same chair.  Peanut was thrilled.  She laid right back, let them “sparkle” and floss her teeth, and even let them give her fluoride!  I was in another chair listening and was surprised how happy she was to get everything done.  She went home with a pink bubble toothbrush, mint children’s toothpaste, a bunch of little flossers, and a sparkly purple ring from the treasure chest.  She was a big, brave girl it was a proud mama moment for me.