Random photos from shopping

Mommy likes taking advantage of the fact that having a camera in her phone allows her to take photos wherever she is. And when shopping, there's no shortage of cute Toddy poses that can be assumed, like the one of him sitting in a little chair at Wal-Mart when we had a Mommy-son day Labor Day Weekend :-) Here are some more.

First up: Todd the CEO. This was taken at Office Depot's furniture section. Looks like Geronimo the turtle is serving as his faithful assistant :-D



Next: Todd at Food4Less. With Mommy's flannel shirt on, he looks like a little farmhand!



More hats: This was taken at K-Mart, where Mommy came across some cute hats while looking for purses. This hat in particular, and in this shot, makes Todd look like Grandpa!

Tuck-in Express

Yesterday afternoon, after getting home from shopping, poor Oma was so exhausted that upon coming in through the front door, she simply collapsed onto the sofa for a quick power nap.

Todd observed this, and rather than bug her like he normally would, he played quietly, somehow sensing that Oma really needed her rest. But the best was yet to come:

He noticed that she was still wearing her sandals and that one leg dangled off the sofa. So he carefully removed her sandals, and then picked up the errant leg and placed it comfortably on the sofa. But that's not all.

He scampered into the bedroom, and returned carrying a blanket, his security pillow, and a stuffed animal. He then proceeded to carefully cover Oma with the blanket, smoothing it out and making sure it was covering her and tucked in nicely. The pillow went to the side of her head, and the stuffed toy into her arms. Not just any stuffed animal, either-- but Todd's absolute favorite-- Geronimo the sea turtle! He then topped it all off with a kiss!!

Then Todd ran back into the bedroom, leaving Oma wondering what else he was up to. He returned with another blanket in tow. When she asked him what he was doing, he looked at her and sternly admonished something I'd chastised him about many times before (in an effort to get him to go to sleep): "Close your eyes!"

Afterward, he crawled into the other sofa, covered himself, and pretended to go to sleep-- without his pillow, and without his turtle!

What generosity :-)

Mass updates

FYI-- I've updated this blog with 8 (that's right-- eight!) new entries, not including this one. So be sure to scroll down, down, down and read all of them. Enjoy! :-)

Turtles wear clothes, too!

I couldn't help myself. While dressing Todd after his bath last night, he clamored to have his turtle wear pajamas, too. Since I'd just finished cleaning out storage boxes full of clothes, I immediately thought of the newborn onesies Todd used to wear-- we saved a few for posterity. Well, you can imagine what happened next, in my quest to keep the beloved turtle warm and Todd entertained:

Puzzle accomplishments

Ever since Opa bought him a 24-piece puzzle that results in a 9x12 inch picture, Todd has gotten addicted to putting puzzles together. So Opa got him a few more. Usually he does pretty well, with a bit of assistance and prompting from us. But today he actually managed to piece some of the puzzles together all by himself, without ANY help or evern supervision from the grownups! Here he is proudly showcasing his accomplishment:

Missing Ama

As you've seen from the video in an earlier blog entry, Todd is adept at creating silly faces and mimicking crying, sniffles and all! So it wasn't much of a surprise when he sauntered into the room today, face buried in his hands, pitiful fake sniffles to be heard.

When I asked him why he was "crying", however, I was surprised by his amazingly appropriate response:

"Because Ama-ama isn't here!"

Looks like little man is starting to miss her.

Ama's funeral

Today was Ama's funeral. Todd behaved quite nicely, despite getting a bit fidgety during the times when he was expected to sit still. He put a little heart-shaped pillow with the words "I Love You" embroidered onto it, into the casket before it was closed. And at the gravesite, he stood in rapt fascination as the bulldozers and backhoes went to work filling the plot.

Afterward, we gathered at Black Angus for an early dinner, and while there, Todd let loose some of his pent-up energy and kept the grownups entertained-- everything from bothering great-uncle incessantly, to playing with Grandma and Mr. Turtle, to admonishing Daddy loudly "don't say that!" when Daddy tried to keep him in line.

Here's a shot of Toddy hamming it up at the restaurant:



That evening, we returned to Opa and Oma's house, where Todd enjoyed himself by playing with Great-Uncle, who was quite good-natured about all the rambunctiousness.

A Todd nugget:
Since he's heavy for his age, Great-Uncle had a hard time lifting him, and so he tried to explain to Todd that he wasn't strong enough to carry him all the time.

Todd's solution (in Chinese, of course)? "You need to eat so you can get strong!"

By the time we were ready to return to SB, Todd had a fit, and refused to go along-- he was having so much fun with Great-Uncle that he didn't want to leave! Poor little man really enjoyed the undivided attention that Great-Uncle afforded him, and again, it was so refreshing to see Todd interacting to naturally with someone else, someone he doesn't normally see on a regular basis!

Todd in a suit!

ot Toddy a suit today for the funeral, and also got his hair cut. Here's our little man, looking quite dapper in his new clothes. He was very excited to get the suit and couldn't wait to try it on when we got home. I barely had time to set down my purse when we walked in through the front door, and he was already clamoring to put it on! Here he is, in stages:

Grass cutting, simplified

Todd loves mowing the lawn. He loves playing outdoors. So when he couldn't get the mower out of the shed because Opa was at work, he decided to cut the grass using an alternative method: scissors! Here he is, hard at work:

A new friend

A couple of my parents' friends who live nearby stopped by the house to offer their condolences on Ama's passing. While my dad was talking to his friend, Todd ventured a bit out of his shell and started playing with him. My dad promptly dubbed the friend "Opa An" (as An is part of his name). Todd started by simply nodding and pointing and basically interacting mutely with him, then gradually developed more confidence and started talking with him. When I whisked him away for a shower, he kept clamoring to go back into the living room to play with Opa An! And by evening's end, he was playing with Opa An just as rambunctiously as he was with Opa-- shrieks of laughter, tickling, teasing.

It was so refreshing to see Todd take to someone new so rapidly and so comfortably!

Creative thinking

One morning a couple weeks ago, Todd discovered bugs on the ceiling-- large dragonflies resting there. Since we maintained that the apex of the ceiling (at 14 feet) was too high to reach, Todd put his thinking cap on and then proceeded to find a broom and attempt to scrape them off. But the broom wouldn't reach! So he dragged a chair from the kitchen and climbed on it. Here are the fruits of his labor:



Todd also loves to express his creativity in other, more artsy ways. You know-- the usually crayon/marker/pen/pencil on paper endeavor. But sometimes it's not just limited to paper. Observe the hallowed walls of my parents' house. Not a single room has escaped Todd's touch, and these pics are but small examples of his, um, work. The clock on top, and socket outlet on the bottom, should give you some idea of just how widely these scribbles span (almost the entire wall!):



And this is a drawing of a person: note the large face, and arms and legs protruding out in the right places:

Funny Faces

Here's Todd making a variety of funny faces at Mommy's behest. At the end (cut off), he scrambles up and says "I want to see it!"

Labor Day weekend

Santa Barbara provided a nice respite from the record-breaking heatwave hitting LA, especially the Valley! While my parents roasted at 107 degrees, Todd and I enjoyed a breezy, sunny 78 degrees in SB. Saturday was chore and errand day-- shopping, washing Daddy's car, and cleaning out the back patio. In the middle of it, we bought lunch and delivered it to Daddy, who was studying on campus, because all the eateries there were closed due to the holiday weekend. We enjoyed a little picnic, explored the library a bit, and then finished our chores.

Next day, Mommy and Todd left after lunch (which we enjoyed on the clean back patio) so Daddy could have some quiet time to study for his upcoming interview. We stopped by Wal-Mart on the way home, and made a field day of it. After picking up the items Mommy was shopping for, we spent a long time sauntering through the toy aisle, looking at and playing with the numerous toys. Here's Todd sitting in a kiddie chair:



Afterward, we stopped by the McDonald's inside Wal-Mart and enjoyed an ice cream sundae snack together. Nothing's quite as fun as sitting across from my little man and watching him enjoy his cup of ice cream with a chocolate-smeared face and huge grin!

Next day was a lazy indoor day, staying in the air conditioned house, away from the oven outdoors. But that didn't stop Todd from helping Opa fix the front gate, and grabbing the lawnmower out of the shed and having a try at mowing the lawn all by himself! Here are the fruits of his labor: