The Nut House

Peanut

• ODD had some sticky notes out the other day for something and Peanut saw him sticking them all over the table, computer, and books.  The next day she started turning all of her drawings into sticky notes with the help of some Scotch tape.  She taped her new sticky notes all over the house.  They’re on the fireplace, the garage door, the chair, the table, the couch.  It’s funny to see her figuring out ways to do the things ODD and I do.
• Yesterday Peanut was singing “Row, row, row your boat” over and over again, sometimes adding in new words or morphing it into a new tune but once in a while she would actually end the song as it’s written with the exception of “life is but a dream,” which she changed to, “sputter, sputter, dream.”  I laughed and sang the right words to her but she told me that wasn’t how it went and sang it her way again.  I think she really thinks that’s how it goes and it makes me laugh every time I hear it.
• She’s also changed the end of the alphabet song.  Sometimes she cuts it short, leaving off W-Z and skipping right to “now I know. . .” and I’ve gotten so used to hearing it I don’t always notice anymore.  The other funny thing she does in the song is at the end when she sings, “now my know mine ABC’s. . .”  Again, I’m afraid she really thinks that’s how it goes and won’t sing it any other way.
• When we’re in the car we’re always listening to the radio or my mp3 player and if she doesn’t like the song that’s on Peanut will ask me to change it to a song she likes so she can sing along.
• As you can see she very into singing these days.  She always has been, really, but lately it’s been all day long every day.  It’s rather enjoyable most of the time, especially when she’s making up new songs about whatever is going on around her and our neighbors get serenaded every day while she’s out swinging on the swingset.  She belts out all sort of made up songs then.  It cracks me up to hear what she comes up with and she’s completely oblivious that anyone else can hear her.
• I’ve been practicing a few songs I’ll be singing at my family’s neighborhood party next month and one of them has some opera.  I was classically trained and used to sing opera quite a bit.  Sometimes it can be really loud.  Think along the lines of Wagner.  You know, the lady with the breastplate and shield and helmet.  Like that.  So I was working on this opera bit and Peanut started shouting at me, “It’s too loud!  It hurts my ears!”  I looked over and she had her hands covering her ears and was huddled into a ball.  Poor thing, I think she’s been traumatized by opera.  Now when I’m going to practice it heavily I warn her in advance so she can go outside to play while I sing so I don’t hurt her ears anymore but sometimes she chooses to stay inside and practice with me.  Apparently it doesn’t hurt her ears when she sings it herself.
• The other morning when I went into Peanut’s room to get her for breakfast she showed me her latest creation.  ”A brella” (or an umberella) made out of legos and a tent stake.  The stuff she comes up with is so goofy sometimes.  With legos and bristle blocks she’s made a computer, a teeter totter, a fishing pole, a cake, and countless other funny things.  I try to remember to take pictures of them but can’t always remember what they are.

• For Peanut’s birthday my mom made her a flower blanky rug.  It’s quilted and soft like a blanky but she can sit on it on the floor like a little mat or rug.  My mom had her choose the fabric while we were doing the quilting shop hop in June and she loves it.

Wingnut

• We have hit the head butting phase.  I’m sad to say it began with Eskimo kisses.  I taught Wingnut how to do an Eskimo kiss and he thought it was fantastic and wanted to do it all the time.  They aren’t very easy to do with him because he leans his head toward me until he bumps my forehead and waits for me to move my nose back and forth across his but his little nose is too far away because his head is tipped so far forward and he doesn’t move his head so I have to do all the movement for the nose rub.  After a while he started becoming more forceful when bumping his forehead against mine and found this to be delightfully funny.  Then he stopped waiting for me to be paying attention before he did it so now we’ve moved in to full on head butting.  Usually it nails me right in the nose.  Honestly, I’m a little shocked he hasn’t given me a bloody nose yet with all the head butting he attempts during the day and now I reserve Eskimo kisses for bed and nap time after I’ve already laid him down and can be in a bit more control of the forehead situation.
• Wingnut has become a little copycat.  If he sees ODD leaning with his back against the counter he’ll pad over and back himself up against the cupboard next to ODD then look over to make sure he’s doing it right.  The other day I was sitting on the edge of the bathtub while Peanut brushed her teeth and Wingnut came over and tried to sit on the edge of the bathtub, too.  I had to help him with that one and keep my hand behind him so he didn’t fall into the tub but once he was up he looked so proud of himself.  Then a while ago while Peanut was having a time out for something or other Wingnut wandered over, and sat down next to her with his legs sticking out like hers were.  ODD and I started laughing so Peanut started laughing and pulled her legs up before I could get a picture of them sitting the same way but it’s funny to see how much he tries to be like us.

• When I bought Peanut some wings for her birthday I bought two sets so if she had a friend over they could each play with one.  Well, we don’t play with anybody cuz I’m loser-mom and also becoming a hermit not organized enough to arrange that kind of thing but the bee wings have found a new owner in Wingnut.  He seems to have laid claim to them which is okay with Peanut as long as she still has the butterfly wings to wear.  Periodically throughout the day he’ll bring the bee wings over, hand them to me, and turn around so I can put them on him.  Then he runs around the house making a growly, buzzy sound until it’s naptime or we have to go somewhere and I take them off.  He’s become so attached to these bee wings.  It’s really cute.  They’re now a favorite toy with both kids.

• The growly buzzy sound doesn’t just stop at the bee wings, though.  Wingnut now growls much of the time.  I remember Peanut growling at people around the same age but I’d forgotten until Wingnut started just recently.  I think he does it more than she did, though.
• Wingnut loves playing with balls.  We got Peanut some balls around the time she turned one but she never really got into them.  She likes them enough now but they’re never the first thing she plays with.  Wingnut is all over them.  He throws them, kicks them, and just carries them around.  He plays with them all the time.  At the McDonald’s playplace the first place he goes is the basketball area.  He’d hang out there all day if I let him but I have to drag him out crying and screaming so he doesn’t get pounded into the pavement by all the bigger kids dribbling and shooting baskets.  As long as I take a ball out for him to play with his crying doesn’t last too long.  I think as soon as he’s old enough we’ll sign him up for soccer since kicking balls around the yard seems to be what he likes best.  I also believe “ball” was his first real word.

• Wingnut likes to eat grape tomatoes from my garden.  Every time we go outside he toddles over the my grape tomato plant, plucks a tomato (sometimes ripe; sometimes not) and take a bite out of it.  Then he tosses it aside.  Sometimes he finishes the bite, sometimes he spits it out a minute later, and whether he eats it or not has nothing to do with the ripeness.  We now have a bunch of half eaten grape tomatoes all over our yard.

• Wingnut loves wearing sunglasses.  He started playing with Peanut’s one day while at the pool so the next time I was at Target I picked up a little pair for him.  Peanut and I usually wear ours in the car and Peanut can reach hers and put them on herself.  Wingnut, seeing us, likes to wear his in the car, too, and will fuss and yell at me, pointing to his sunglasses until I stop and give them to him.  He’s really good about keeping them on and looks so cute wearing them.  What a cool little man.