so much to tell! (long post)

He did so many cute things today that I had to make a list of them so I wouldn't forget them! This morning, he was working on the front door knob and trying to get out (thank you, deadbolt) and he turned to me and asked "please go park?" a couple of times. I told him we couldn't go to the park because it was too wet outside and he said "bye bye park, bye bye slide".

After we put away "tubey head" (Mr. Potato Head) this morning, we were playing with the toys on his shelves when he suddenly grabbed me from behind and said "I wuv you". It came at a time when I admit to being a little frustrated by him and all his demands and a bit of whining, and his little declaration of love restored my mood and made my day. I invented a new activity for us: we made a fort out of four umbrellas today (and Dennis learned a new word). We had fun playing in our fort and he loved twirling the umbrellas around while he walked around carrying various ones. I asked him if he remembered watching Winnie the Pooh and seeing Christopher Robin walking under Pooh and the honey tree saying "Tut tut, it looks like rain". So for half an hour, Dennis walked around carrying the umbrella and saying "tut tut rain" (he apparently did remember, because he marched back and forth just like in the movie, which we watched yesterday).

The dessert quest is ongoing. He persists in asking for cookies and ice cream and cake when no such items exist in the house. Tonight when we were playing with the farm, he leaned two horses and cows over so that their mouths touched the table. He made some slurping sounds and said "look Mommy" and when I looked he said "eat ice cream". He gave me that look of mine with the raised eyebrow as if to say that the cows around here eat better than the humans.
He threw down his milk cup (as usual) onto the living room floor, but this time the spout from the cup popped out and a bit of milk spilled out onto the hardwood. He exclaimed "oh, gosh!" when it happened. I simply called in The Spillmaster (Honey the dog) and showed her where to lick. Sure, think your worst about me, but this was a quick fix in a house with a busy toddler and an absence of paper towels. After she finished her duty, she went back to her bed and he went and got her by the collar and pulled and then walked over and pointed and said "Honey" followed by a stream of unintelligible demonstrative speaking. Soon after this it was time to cook supper and I asked him not to open the oven again because it was hot (it wasn't, actually) and he immediately donned both oven mitts and opened it again. I was too flabbergasted by his logic to scold him.

Just before we sat down to eat, he rolled in his tricycle and said "Mommy push bicycle" and tried to get on. I told him we were about to eat and headed off a minor tantrum by immediately producing the smock he wears when we eat messy meals. The tears dried up quickly and he enjoyed his black beans and rice with chicken (we all did). After supper, we all played together here in the living room and he was happy to see his Daddy after he got in from work. All of a sudden, Dennis grabbed his winter coat and put it on and said "go outside snow" and "play snow". He wanted to go out and play in the snow. Since there isn't any snow, I didn't know what to tell him (although strangely enough they had predicted it for very late tonight--did he watch the news last night when I wasn't looking?). I'd like snow for his sake, but not my own since I am just as sick now as I was when we were on that snowed-in vacation in Washington. My ear was hurting so bad last night that I took one of the painkillers that were prescribed to me for my post childbirth pain (and I had a c-section, they were strong pills). Sure enough, it killed the ear pain and had a wonderful side benefit of stopping the cough that has kept me up every night this week. Surely I will get better soon. Dennis had an easy night since we set up his vaporizer with a menthol steam solution. He rested well and hardly coughed--and he was certainly charged up for his fun day today!