Mommy, WOW! I'm a Big Kid Now!

Okay...  I know...  I am officially one of those annoying parents who brags way too much about their adorable, smart, funny, affectionate, absolutely perfect child.  I can't help it!  Monkey is just too darned cute!!!  :-)

Over the past week or two, Monkey has suddenly outgrown the "toddler" and is turning more and more into a "big kid."  He's having a huge word boom and talks and sings up a storm.  He is beginning to have actual "conversations" with me now.  Last night's bedtime conversation went a little something like this...

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Monkey:  "Juice?"
Mama:  "Not tonight, baby.  It's bedtime."
Monkey:  "Noooo, juice!"
Mama:  "You can have your milk tonight.  You can have your juice in the morning."
Monkey:  "Juice in the morning."  (Clear as day!)
Mama:  (giggle) "Yep.  Juice in the morning."  :-)
Monkey then spent the next five minutes singing "Juice in the morning...  Juice in the mooorrrrnnn-iiinnnggg!"
He laid his head on my should and went silent for about thirty seconds.  Then Monkey popped his head up, smiled that "I'm gonna be super-cute so I can hopefully fool Mama into giving me what I want" look and said, "Good Morning! (pause) Juice?"
Little stinker!  :-)

He's developing quite the sense of humor and loves to make people laugh.  He's learning how to crack me up by altering his "normal" voice when he wants me to laugh to the point of crying.  He totally exaggerates his usual laugh by making it very low, very loud, very deep, and very gruff.  What used to be a relaxing bedtime routine every night is now a thirty minute Comedy and Song Fest as Monkey tries his hardest to stall bedtime by requesting every song in our arsenal and cracking "jokes" to make me laugh.

REAL men wear cowboy boots, drink juice from a sippy cup, and love on their stuffed puppy dog with pink bunny ears while snacking on Gerber Puffs in their highchair.

Monkey is quite the accomplished singer.  He's surprisingly on pitch for a 19-month-old, and I can usually tell what he's singing even from another room.  He also loves songs with motions and dances that accompany them.

His favorites right now are:

"Old MacDonald" - recognizable by "EE-I-EE-I-EE-I-EE-I CAT!  Meow!"
"If You're Happy and You Know It" - "Happy!  Stomp Stomp!  Smile!" (clap clap, stomp stomp, point to face)
"Thomas the Train" theme song - "Choo-chooooo...  Away...  It Thomas!"
"Little White Duck" - "Duck...  Quack, quack, quack!"

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But the one that completely makes my heart melt is hearing my baby boy over the baby monitor singing "Jesus Loves Me" before he falls asleep at night.  "Aahhh...  laaaa...  hummm...  Strong...  Yeah...  Bible...  hummm..."  Oh. My. Heart!!!

I love that I've been able to watch this little guy grow since he was 2 months old.  I love seeing the changes in him as he changes from newborn to infant to creeper to toddler to big boy.  I love watching as his personality develops more and more and he turns into his own "person" with his own ideas, opinions, and plans.  I just love everything about this kid!  But more than anything, I love that I am still his Mama.  :-)