Random Updates

I have been musing on some random updates for a new post, but unfortunately none of them are related or resemble anything approaching a coherent thought.  However, with several of you jonesing for a fix of daily Nugget, here are said random updates.  Blogging muse, please return post haste, and bring chocolate.

On Valentine's Day:

The Nugget received Putumayo Animal Playground in lieu of chocolate covered sugar bombs.  He also has his very own Signing Time Zoo dvd on the way and some more money socked away for education, courtesy of Grammy and Grandpa.  They and Aunt E came to visit this weekend, and we had a lot of fun.  Grandpa assembled an IKEA dresser they bought me.  The assembly occurred completely without the use of profanity or the appearance of blood, which impressed me greatly.  Actually, sis and I escaped to Target for part of the process (where we were both distracted many times by various shiny objects - luckily Hubby was not there to look at his watch and sigh loudly), so there might have been lots of blood and cursing while we were there - guess I'll never know.  Grandpa also got into the Nugget's Signing Time dvd from the library and is speeding towards ASL fluency.  He wanted to see the ASL dictionary I have, and we spent a night drinking wine and learning all sorts of random words like "indignant" and "bastard".  I also enjoyed horrifying them by brushing Doggie, then turning the Chihuahua-sized wad of fur that came off Doggie into a keepsake "hair baby" I dubbed Tatiana (pictured above).  What can I say?  Sometimes my penchant for goofiness combines with my creativity to produce things both revolting and cute.  For some reason, no one wanted to hold her.  All in all, it was a perfect visit.  

We didn't exchange Valentine's gifts this year out of practicality.  I bought V-day candy on Sunday at 75% off.  Tasted just as great on the 15th.  I asked Hubby if we could use the money saved on gifts to buy new sheets for the guest room.  Pretty romantic, huh?

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Talk to me, baby:

The Nugget's babbling has taken a sudden veer towards decipherable words.  He's on the brink of English.  (Or who knows, we play a lot of Putumayo Kids music, so maybe he's been speaking French for months and we just don't understand him.)  Several times a day now, Hubby and I turn to each other and say, "Did he just say something?"  He is singing along very clearly with several songs and his syllables sound so purposed and carefully chosen.

What's that in your sippie cup?

The Nugget had an ACCIDENTAL taste of beer when he grew go-go-Gadget arms, stood up in his highchair and dunked his fingers in a glass full of beer at dinner then stuck them immediately in his mouth.  He has been obsessed with the brown bottles from the moment he first laid eyes on them.  (Now that I've mentioned both beer and wine in a single post, I find myself compelled to say that we're not alcoholics, and since becoming parents, any form of alcohol is a very special rare treat reserved for family get-togethers and usually rued in the morning when the Nugget wakes up at the usual time but our pathetic OLD bodies claim that one drink should equal one extra hour of sleep).  Anyway, we all held our breath, hoping for him to make the "yuck" face, but no such luck.  His eyes got all big and wide and he reached hopefully for the entire glass.  So friends, if you come over to tailgate next football season, please don't leave any floaters on the coffee table or the Nugget will finish them for you.

Well on his way to becoming the Fonz:

Another funny event worth mentioning happened on Sunday night.  We went out to eat at our favorite Sunday spot (kids eat free!), and the place was hopping.  The servers there are usually very attentive to the Nugget and he gets all kinds of smiles and compliments.  However, this particular night, they appeared to be short-staffed and were rushing by without taking notice, even when he hammed it up with grins and giggles.  Now, the Nugget knows he isn't supposed to throw things in restaurants - we don't return thrown items to him - but he also knows that when he throws something, the servers will often return it with a smile.  So as his favorite lovely lady rushed past a third time without so much as a "hi there", he purposefully picked up the paper napkin ring, held it between his thumb and forefinger, stretched his arm out over the floor, looked straight at her, and dropped it for her to retrieve.  It immediately made me think of an old man dropping a pencil to make a cute nurse pick it up for him in the hopes of seeing her backside.  Luckily, the server was too busy to notice, so this particular gesture went unrewarded, which is probably a good thing.