what it means to be a 2 y old

Pepe does not climb into his car seat. No, he climbs into the backhoe. And if you happen to suggest, "common Pepe, climb onto the backhoe so we could go", well,big mistake, Pepe immediately corrects you "It's not a backhoe, I climb onto the front loader". And don't even think about helping him a bit, cause he'll jump out and start from the beginning "I do it all by myself".

Pepe is ambidextrous. His spoon travels from his left hand to his right hand in a matter of seconds. Regardless, he continues to eat mostly with his hands. I blame Chris for that. Those who know Chris well - you know what I mean.

Pepe continues to sleep now because I woke him. If I want him to sleep, he does not. Who said "reversed psychology?".

Some people need coffee to start the day right. Pepe needs to see a digger or two.

Pepe's usage of denial serves him well. "It's not raining" (yes, right!), "it's not night time, it's 5'o clock (favorite number). "It's not all gone, I watch it again".

If Pepe talks to you and you are not paying full attention, he grabs your head and turns it toward himself. There is no escape.

If you are a young kid, beware, Pepe will grab your toys. If you are a toddler his age, beware, Pepe will try to grab your toys. If you are an older kid, beware, Pepe will scream and you will most likely give up your toys.

What gives Pepe pleasure?
"A baba!!!!!!!!!".
"Chocolate...yeah".
"Soy chips...OK."

Anything else..."I don't want to. NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO".

i need to sleep more...

Chris told me that pepe went for his nap at 1 this afternoon. Tuesdays I see patients in the morning and rush home so that Chris can go to work in the afternoon. At 4 I thoughts that the nap was long enough (and I like my American Idol at 8pm, so want to make sure no sleeping issues will arise with Pepe this eve) and tried hard to wake him. No peep. I opened the door of his room and was greeted with: "Close the door, I sleep more, I call you when I am up". It is now 4:30pm and Pepe is still sleeping. Is he a parent's dream or what?

feeling guilty

i had pepe this afternoon as chris had bbal practice and then a night of bball watching with banjo jim ("important game", i was told). i was also feverish all day, nauseated, and out of it. i also had 10 patients and a long day. so after i picked pepe up from school i suggested he watch the 'cars" video. he "obeyed". i had fun watching with him, and he even picked up his guitar and played a couple of tunes. he had pretzels, refused the mac & cheese which i set on a little table in front of the tv, and had 1 chocolate chip cookie and 2 bottles for dinner. who knew the movie was going to be 2 hours long (who makes movies for kids this long, hellooooooo????) and, in my defense, i tried to turn the tv off after one hour and distract pepe with the thomas trains or the trucks or a music cd. no luck...and no energy. the movie was over at 8, when he normally is in bed, but we always do stories, and turning the tv off while telling pepe will do stories is much easier than telling him he has to go to bed ("I don't wanna go to bed"). upstairs i changed him into a pair of sweat pants, clean socks and a light fleece - yes, pepe is refusing pj's these days and we went to 'mommy and daddy's bed' for stories: cars, barnies and numbers, spiders *2, bob the builder * 2, murdarica (means "dirty girl" - my favorite book as a kid, that, per mom, i had memorized and used to "read" to myself when i was pepe's age....)... next, we went to look at the sky in the study, and pepe closed all the blinds, and caught his hand in the blind a bit and mommy kissed and it got better (mom and dad used to do this for me when i was a kid...). then off to the crib with a fresh baba, and ducky stories which i did not do right-pepe kept correcting me ensuring that there was no sharing of his toys and he was the only one "using" the excavator...the usual. now he is fast asleep and i feel guilty coz i had so little time with the boy and most of it was spent watching cars. but i guess there will be days like this, and it's ok, and cookies and milk for dinner are all right once in a while, and i will feel better soon and the weather will be nice again and will be outside. and what matters is that pepe had a great afternoon and evening and spent time in my arms telling me about all the cars and what they were doing, and it was ok for a rainy late april afternoon. i love you pepe!

***

Leslie the teacher told me how impressed some moms where with pepe - his language and everything he knows about diggers and construction equipment.
**

Pepe learned about caterpillars today.
P: "Caterpillars, we made caterpillars with paints".
AM: What color were they?
P: Red and blue and yellow. And they have eyes.
AM: Eyes, and mouths?
P: Yes.
AM: And hair?
P: No hair.
AM: And noses?
P: No, no mommy,caterpillars don't have noses. Pepe has nose, and daddy has nose and mommy has nose. No caterpillars. (v. upset!!!!).
Am: Ok,Ok, no noses.
P: And then they grow wings and become butterflies?
AM: Wow.
P; Red and blue and yellow.

**
Pepe rode his red and yellow car from Bianca down the street last night with Chris. I hear there was a tantrum which required Chris to physically remove Pepe from the site and leave the car in front of May's house at the end of the street. This morning Chris and Pepe drove me to the T. Pepe had a meltdown when he saw the car in front of May's house. "I drive it now". He did not forget about it all day, and as we starting walking up the street after picking him up this afternoon, he kept asking about the red car "Red car in front of May's house, It's Pepe's car", and he was reassured only when he saw the red car in the garage...

overheard today

P: Daddy has a big penis. I have a little one.

orthodox easter

we hosted orthodox easter this afternoon. we managed to have 9 adults and 2 kids over. we had a table cloth this time, and margaret brought extra silver ware, and we had enough plates and chairs and a long enough table. it was fun. dragos, kim and bianca, radu and ilii, margaret, jim and nana and luke all came over with nice spinakopita and pasca (illii) and chocolate cake (margaret), and there was cozonac sent by mom. i pulled together a complete meal - made a roast in the crock pot (best idea ever) and mashed potatoes and vegetables and salad. made stuffed mushrooms for appetizers. we cracked eggs and pepe and bibi had a ball with it, and margaret had the champion egg.

pepe and bibi played so well. bibi was so protective of pepe. they played with the ball on the stairs, they sang the abc-s on the guitar, they played in the basement, had macaroni and cake together. pepe was shy initially, just awoken from his nap, and sank into my arms for a while but shortly regained his independence.

margaret, jim and nana hung around for a bit after everyone left and we played with the trains and he new presents and pepe was so sweet and lovely and cuddly.

happy easter!!!!

pepe's letter to his teachers (appreciation week)

April 22, 2008
Dear Leslie, Liz and Carol,


Thank you for a wonderful year.

Thanks for always telling my mom and dad that I was “good” and covering for those “few” occasions when I was not eager to follow your lead with an activity, singing instead of napping, not wanting to share, you know, the “little things’. Mom and dad never had to worry about me, because they knew I’d have a great time at school – and I always do!

Thanks for teaching me about spiders and trains, and crocuses, and sharing, and playing with friends. Thanks for helping me become so independent. Thanks for teaching me to be polite – my “thank you so much”s and “please”s impress everyone around – and I feel so proud of myself.

Thanks also for helping me with the drop offs – sometimes it is hard for me to say good bye in the morning, but by the day’s end I am having so much fun that I don’t want to go home.

Thanks for everything. I love each and every one of you. I will never forget you, and I hope you’ll never forget how important your love and attention have been for my development – building blocks for my entire life.

Lots of looooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooovwe

pepe

saturday - fun day!

i had pepe all to myself this morning - after my long early morning run, that is. we trully had so much fun. we watered the garden, played with helli and pilar - on the sled, with a gigantic abs ball, with trains, with cars, with the guitar and other musical instruments. then we went to the library - it was so great to get so many compliments about how many things pepe does and how much he knows. next, we went to the pizza place for lunch (and a little soda) and pepe asked for his slice and watched it get warmed up in the gigantic oven; he even ate 1/2 of it. we drove home an played with the little tikes car for a while. now it is almost nap time and hopefully all will go on smoothly. pepe was very affectionate today.
*

last night pepe and i read "snappy colors" a book where animals pop out. pepe loved the page with the duckie, and requested that we keep the book open in his crib. when i put it down, he started kissing the duckie. this continued this morning. chris expressed some concern and even talked about not telling anyone about this. well, hon, just can't keep secretes, plus this is such a cute story, the boy in love with a paper pop out little duckie!