Why and Mine

We have officially entered the land of Why and Mine. This evening, while putting Peanut to bed she began to itemize the contents of her room and claim each item as "mine". It is really interesting to see possession unfold from just wanting something someone else has to understanding that things in a certain space are yours by default. She is getting a little better at using words to say when she wants something that another child has, but still prefers to grab and go.

The "why" surprised me - I thought I wasn't in for that for a while. She had a long string of them going before I realized what was happening. I dug deeper and deeper for explanations to why the heating vent in her room needed to stay clear - who would think that would be so entertaining as to take up 10 minutes of why?

After all the hullabaloo about sleeping (or not) we finally decided to set up a sleep chart with rewards. So far, we have had 5 nights of Peanut sleeping all the way through the night. She loves her chart, the stickers she gets and her "mail". I'm not above bribery for a little shut eye. Now that we've got a few good nights under our belt, I am feeling ready to tackle the little one. Pumpkin has been waking once or twice a night to eat which is fine really, but we have had some trouble getting him down at night. I've been a little more consistent with naps and hope to work on overnights as well. Last night he slept from 10:30 or so until 4:30am so we are back to longer stretches. What a difference this all makes in my mental outlook!

Our little dude continues to amaze. He is clapping and I think he is understanding the signs for more and milk. Sometimes I think the clapping is actually a "more". He is now cruising a few feet at a time and today he stood at a basket in his room and stepped from there to the chair letting go with one hand. OY. He's just a big flirt with a smile for everyone - he makes me laugh and laugh!