Yes I do, Mama

The cutest Nathanism going right now is his new answer when I ask him a question. "Would you like some milk, Nathan?" "Yes I do, Mama." O.M.G. Can he get cuter? He even says it to Leo, but we are trying to guide him towards saying "Daddy" appropriately as well.

He is getting very independent these days. Faster than I ever imagined. Nathan has been able to open the fridge for a while (last year he had lots of practice with the freezer side when he was obsessed with ice pops) but now he opens the fridge and reaches for anything he pleases. Leo caught him climbing inside the fridge towards the top, to the milk. I don't know what he would have done if he actually got to the milk. I'm sure it was have involved lots of bad words and sticky floors. Other than the fridge though, he helps himself to "snacks" in the pantry. He has reached in to get the bag of goldfish crackers, run over to the Tupperware cabinet for a bowl, then poured himself some fishies into it. All on his own. He spoons yogurt and cottage cheese (a couple favorites) into his mouth reasonably neatly and even navigates around couscous rather well, considering it can be  a rather messy food for a toddler.

He is getting to be a big boy in other arenas too. We went out last night and had our neighbor Kate come watch Nathan for the evening. When we came home, she said he went to bed around 9:10p (they must have worn him out!) and he wanted to sleep in his new blue bedroom. He slept there the whole night! It was his first time. We were very proud. Although I didn't sleep well because I was worried he would wake up confused since he hadn't slept there before. He let out a yelp in the morning but I found him sitting in one of his little chairs waiting to be collected. At nap today I tried to put him in there again to get him used to this transition (to see if it would actually stick) and he would only settle in his regular old room. Which was fine but  I found him sitting in the glider in there sleeping. What a cutie, sitting in that big old chair cuddled with his monkey. The kid cracks me up everyday.

He does have some other not so fun tendencies though. In line with his two year old ways, he often thinks the world revolves around him and what he says goes. Yeah, goes out the window if you ask me. He uses "no" quite regularly and makes sure you heard him. When he wants something he asks incessantly and when doesn't want to do or go where you want it's a little piece of hell. We went to Lowe's the other day and he was a maniac. I swear we were so close to leaving him there to run the aisles and find a new family to take him home. Yet, he can get cute as quickly as he can get ugly. I have been trying to master this balance and am forced to practice it nightly when it's time for bed. He kicks and screams until I distract him with a few rounds of "ABC" or itsy bitsy spider. (He says the alphabet like this, btw: "W, X, T, U, V, W, X, T, U, V .. ..")

His newest obsession, the movie Cars. I was never a fan personally but I guess it really is the quintessential boy movie. He is crazy over it and wants to watch it all day long. ("Watchin' Cars!" he says.) It was on the other day and I ran to record it on TiVo last week on the off chance he might enjoy it. Let's just say, Woody and Buzz get a little jealous but I'm sure they will always be his special pals regardless. In fact, right now he is running between the bedroom where the TiVo is and the living room where Leo is watching the Simpsons (Yes, he loves that too. I know - not the most kid friendly but these things happen). "Nathan do you want to watch TV with me?" "Yes I do, Mama."