I love my little boy

Handsome is growing so quickly. He's talking in little sentences and throwing balls and learning new things every day.

Yesterday he kept putting himself in time-out when he did something he knew he shouldn't. He accidentally knocked out the screen in the front window and turned to me with terror in his face and started to cry because he knew he wasn't supposed to touch the screen. I felt terrible putting him in time out for that one, but I think he would have felt worse if I didn't.

Lately he's also just told DH or I that he was "sleepy" and started up the stairs to his room on his own for nap or bedtime.

He can now say, "I love you, Mommy." or "I love you, Daddy" and it's the sweetest sound I've ever heard.

He says "sorry" when he does something wrong, "Please" when he's asking for something and "thank you" when he gets something he wanted. I remember watching friends struggle to get their kids to use manners so this makes me SOO happy. It may be because of my friends' struggle that it happened so easily with Handsome because I put such an emphasis on it after seeing their struggle. We went to buy new clothes for him this weekend and he said "thank you" to the woman working at the counter when she gave his hat back to him. She was so surprised that he said thank you that she brought over her coworker so that he could say it again when she gave him stickers. She asked if she could take him home, and Handsome said "no." LOL I think part of the surprise is that Handsome is still relatively small for his age so he looks younger.

I bought a hat for him this weekend. It's too cute! He used to love wearing his warm hat in the winter, but hasn't had anything since then. As soon as I found it at the store for him, he put it on his head and didn't take it off until bath time that night. He loves hats! I think he mostly loves the reactions he gets when he wears hats. I dote on him as do random passersby. I tried to take pictures, but consistently got the back of his head. He apparently has to be in the mood to have his picture taken.

We didn't go to fireworks this weekend, but on Sunday we watched the neighbors play with the tiny kind you can light in the street. After Handsome got over my over excitement, he enjoyed them too and we sat and ate our beans by the window as we watched the fireworks (this is when he accidentally knocked out the screen).

Handsome apparently scars like DH. He had two mosquito bites on his leg a while back and he scratched the bejeezers out of them and now he has scars all up and down the side of his leg. It's been at least a month or two, so we'll see if/when those fade away.

He also is sporting a farmer's tan right now. His face and the back of his neck are really tan, as is the lower half of his biceps down to his hands. His feet have tan lines in the shape of his sandals. His belly, however, is white.

We taught him the difference between a green light and a red light, so when we're in the car, he has to tell us when the light turns green: "Green! Go! Green! Thank you, green! Yay!! Green." *clap, clap* And when it turns red: "Go? Stop. Green? Ok." *pout* I fear for when he is old enough to drive. Maybe I'll buy him a car that can't go above 50mph. I'll sleep better at night that way.

He loves to kiss boo-boos. If he falls, he'll kiss whatever hurts. If DH or I knock a toe into a corner, he'll be kissing our toes for the rest of the night and asking if it's ok.

He loves group hugs. If he sees DH and I hugging each other he insists on being picked up and hugging both of us at the same time.

He has also taken to randomly, and purposefully, falling off the couches and chairs. He thinks it's funny to fall on his head.

He asks to play with the bubbles so that he can go outside, but once outside he could care less about those bubbles. He'd much rather play in the dirt or yell at the dog next door.

He dances at any and everything. He loves to shake his little booty to any song he hears. When the song ends, he puts a pitiful look on his face, raises his shoulders, puts his hands out to the side and says, "Music? Music finished?"

He's learning the hand motions for the Itsy Bitsy Spider. He gets frustrated when he can't do the spider part and cries until I move his fingers the right way. Let me just say that it's hard to do that backwards.

When DH is bringing in the groceries, Handsome will hold the glass door open for him. He also likes to carry the bags when we're at the store. He watches DH lift weights, so he likes to lift the 5 pound weights and say at the same time, "Up, down, up, down." He thinks it's hilarious.

He is still sucking his thumb ALL the time. If you tell him to take it out of his mouth, he will, but two seconds later he puts it back in his mouth. He's an equal opportunity thumb sucker, so either thumb will do. I think it's adorable, but I also don't want him hurting his teeth because of it.

I love that little boy more than I than I thought I was capable of.