Ta Na . . .

I'm back . . . almost. I still have several dissertation and graduation deadlines in my future, but I met the most important one last week. As always seems to be the case with me, the exhilaration of finishing does not quite match the anxiety of preparing. I tend to focus on the next task instead of feeling relieved about the most recently completed one. Still, I am proud and pleased and looking forward to really having something to celebrate soon!

In the meantime, I thought I would share a few funny things my Bub is doing and saying.*

"That for me?" "You buy that for me?" "You make that for me?" -- Whether it is a box of kleenex, a new bottle of ketchup, a tube of Desitin, or a pan of brownies, the Bub seems endlessly delighted with the prospect that these items came into our home just for him.

"After nap, Barney coming over to play." "Pick up Caillou at Burger Ting [sic]." -- The Bub has imaginary friends now, many inspired by television characters. Considering my own past with Dandy and Shusha, I am thrilled by this development and play along as best I can.

"I want dog mine own." -- Bub told me this after he got to pet the dog of one of his classmates. I never in my whole life thought I would be a dog owner. I just didn't. But, my Bub loves dogs. Over the weekend, we visited Navy Pier and happened upon a pet-adoption event. Bub chose the ugliest, scrawniest, most pathetic looking dog in the place (seriously, the dog weighed like seven pounds and had huge clumps of lusterless gray hair missing) and gave him lots of love and attention. Though we are not ready to welcome a dog (and, I'll be honest, especially not the dog from the adoption fair) into our home, what with all the other poop we have to clean up, I now know it will happen one day. Bub's 7th Birthday, his Daddy hopes. I'll keep you posted.

"Peeze" and "Tank you." -- He's been saying these things for a while now, but they never fail to warm my heart.

"I made a lot of poop. I need a lot a lot of lemonems. Daddy lemonems." Though my attitude about the whole thing has relaxed significantly since it became apparent that he does not need to be totally potty-trained for his pre-preschool program, the Bub has caught steam lately. Just this evening, he pooped on the potty right before his bath. Loyal NTB readers know what a big deal it is for me to be able to discuss poop and bathtime together in a positive fashion. I purchased some M & M Premiums as a little birthday treat for the hubby (33 last Monday), and the Bub seems especially motivated by them as potty prizes (I haven't sampled them myself because they are mint, and I don't enjoy mint-flavored stuff -- these M & M's are beautiful though, little works of art and I'm not kidding).

"Ta na . . . " -- Said often with a huge smiles in situations where one might normally say "Ta da."

"I love my treasure chest." -- Bub found the "treasure chest" in the basement yesterday. I was mighty skeptical when my husband carried it upstairs for him, but after establishing a "treasure stays on the table"-rule, it has been great. He happily stacked, organized, and knocked over his "treasures" for a good part of today. The fact that the chest can be slammed shut and that it comes with a key for locking and unlocking (or pretending to do so) is an added bonus.

Here is the "treasure chest" . . .


Ta na!!!


Even as I write this, I regret the million cute things he has said and done over the past few months, NTB, that I have been too busy to record for posterity. Stay tuned.

What's the cutest/funniest thing a toddler in your life has said recently? Please share in a comment.


*A post devoted to my Little Bit is coming soon. I want there to be photos with it, and I am behind on my uploading. Let me just say that he is so happy and sweet that I almost forget that I still wake to feed him at least twice a night!