The cute little things he says

Having a toddler is way more than a full-time job, but as most parents will tell you, it's totally worth it.  Trying to focus on those adorable and loving moments are the best ways to calm yourself down after a tantrum or naughty behavior occurs.   Here is a little countdown of my current favorite cute little things Evan says.

#10) "Bruxmuss" This is how Evan pronounces breakfast.  And lately he's learned that we took the childproof handle off of his door knob, so he can leave his room on his own when he wakes up in the morning.  We've been surprised many times by him showing up in our room telling us he wants to go get breakfast.  One morning we asked him if he wanted to hop into our bed to snuggle and he replied "No, I just want bruxmuss...just brekky."  Even better that he occasionally interchanges the Aussie slang shortcut of the word in there (pronounced perfectly by the way).

#9) "I pinch you"  While this isn't a good thing, I do prefer that he said it rather than did it.  This happened while we were at the grocery store today.  I was pushing one of those enormous carts that have a little car for kids to sit in and "drive" in the front and yet a normal cart basket for me to put groceries in and set Emma up on top of the normal seat area at the back (by the handle where you push).  This has been the only way I've attempted to do any shopping with both of them so far.  Anyway, after the first half of the shopping trip excitement from sitting in the "car" and having snacks had worn off for Evan, he was getting angry at every new aisle I turned down.  When I bent down by the front of the cart to talk to him, he stuck his hands out toward me and said "I pinch you".  He couldn't quite reach me to actually pinch, so it was like he was verbalizing to me what he really felt like doing right then given his anger about the situation.  While that wasn't nice, I found it pretty funny.  [On a side note, when I think back on it, I like to pretend Evan said it in the voice of Achmed the Dead Terrorist...hehehe]

#8) "Contrails"  As an atmospheric scientist, I am quite proud to say that my son learned what contrails are the other morning when he saw a jet in the sky.  We were driving to daycare and he said "Look mommy, look!  A jet!"  I told him that the white streak the jet was leaving behind was called a contrail and he repeated it (as he does so often given he's in a complete parrot stage) and pronounced it quite well too.  Since then he likes to tell me and John when he sees jets and contrails.

#7) "The sun came up"  Evan learned this fact of nature when we came back from Australia and was fighting jet lag.  Not being tired when it's middle of the night and dark out is so confusing.  We explained to him that it's not time to wake up until morning when the sun comes up.  So now most mornings after he wakes up he also tells us that the sun came up.

#6) "3, 2, 1, Blast off!"  Picture a little boy up on his knees, reaching his arms to the sky, saying "Blast off" with his lips slightly puckered outward and his belly partly showing because he's lifting his arms up so high it pulls the bottom of his shirt up.  If you find this image cute, then you'll understand why this made the list. :)

#5) "I want to snuggle"  Who can resist this request?  Not John nor I!  This is often his request before he goes to bed...especially for his Daddy.  The last few days when John's worked all day right up until the kids' bedtime, I'll get Evan ready for bed and then tell him Daddy will be home just in time to snuggle before bed if he gets in his jammies and all ready.  Evan loves to tell me how "Daddy will come snuggle" as we're getting ready for bed.  

#4) "Hey guys, I'm sleeping here"  While he's only said this once, it made John and I both crack up.  For some reason, even though he loves snuggles before bed, he doesn't like it when we lay on his bed to snuggle him. Maybe it pulls his blanket too tight having us lay on it?  Or maybe he just wants more space (granted, a snuggle to me means getting up close!)?  Either way, there have been a few times that he's told us to "leave"/get off his bed when we're trying to snuggle him, and just last night when I was laying on one side and John on the other he said "Hey guys, I'm sleeping here" as he was asking us to give him more room.  We even asked him for clarification about what he wanted us to do and he told us "Get off Evan's bed"...lol.   [This one also reminds me of when he told me "I'm working here Mommy" when he was helping John refit his crib into a toddler bed.]

#3) "Have safe flights"  When John leaves for work, we all give him hugs and kisses, and I tell him I love him and to have safe flights.  Evan started to pick up on saying "I love you Daddy", and now he also adds "Have safe flights!"  Precious.

#2) "Wait for me!"  He says this if you're going upstairs (or to some other place in the house) without him, or just the other day when I was leaving for work I went out to put my bags in the car before coming back to give everyone hugs and kisses.  Evidently Evan thought I was leaving without saying goodbye and he ran to the door nearly in tears yelling "wait for me!"  That about broke my heart.  But most times when he says this it's just his way of letting us know he doesn't want us going somewhere without him and hearing that coming from such a cute little boy is irresistible if you ask me.

#1) "Just 1 more minute"  This is a very commonly used phrase, most often heard when it's time to get off his Nabi (or another device like our phones), or he doesn't want to stop playing with a toy before nap or bedtime.  We often oblige and give him the extra minute (using a timer to help let him know when it's up), as it really helps us avoid tantrums with him.  Something about him getting his extra time (or maybe the extra warning/lead time) before having to do something he really doesn't want to is all he really needs most times (although he'll diddle dally around as much as he can get away with on his way to his bedroom, or where ever we've asked him to go).  To add to the cuteness of this phrase, he kind of drawls out the word "one" while holding his hand near his face with his his index finger extended in the air like a number "1".  And this is also why it came in at #1 on my list.