this and that...

Driving is not one of my favorite things to do. I am not scared to drive, or bad at driving. I just prefer to be driven, rather than be the one to drive. I've never been in a wreck, well except for that time I hit that old lady jaywalking through traffic, but that wasn't really my fault. But since moving to California I have been a little edgy about driving.

I have driven to two places since we've moved here. To the airport, about once a week to get a rental car for Steve, or for him to catch a flight to another site. And to the grocery store, which is less than a mile away. And all the way I am guided by TomTom prompting me to turn right, or merge left, or go on 1.8 miles.

But today I got brave. When I dropped Steve off to get the rental car, I really didn't want to wait for him to lead the way home, so I just headed on with Max in tow. I guess I didn't even think about it until I was nearly halfway home, but I didn't listen to TomTom either. I just knew how to get home.

It felt good, but, I still prefer to be driven around! ;)

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Abbey gets here on Saturday. I'll spend the next couple of days getting ready for her. Things are going to be so different this summer for us all. Steve will be at the office all day. We aren't going to do the workbook for schoolwork...and of course...We live in CALIFORNIA. Which she is CRAZY excited about.

She will have the Master Suite upstairs which she thinks is just IT! And told me yesterday that she thinks that she'll just wear her swimsuit under her clothes on the plane so we can go right away to the beach. Poor child doesn't know that it will 54 degrees at the beach on Saturday.

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I have a newfound love in my life. Madeilines. They are something between a cookie and cake...and are French. Which, I'm pretty sure means there is a stick of butter in each one. I got some at Costco the other day and try to only eat one a day. Because really, they are like poundcake shaped like a seashell. And I love them.

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Max is pretty enormous these days. Today he was especially grumpy for no good reason. While I was trying to feed him a bottle he went into fit mode and I thought I was going to literally drop him, I just couldn't hold on to him. It makes me feel pretty small when he does that.

I could tell he really wanted to talk and be talked to today, so we read about 10 books this afternoon. He always listens very closely when I read to him. What is it about reading that makes kids go silent? It's always amazed me!

This evening as it was nearing bedtime, he was talking an awful lot, so I got his switch out and we played some of his Cbeebies games. He has one in particular he likes where he gets to put a band of instruments together to make a song. He usually chooses the same instruments, but tonight he started falling asleep in the middle of choosing. He would get impatient with the process and just keep tapping the switch for the next choice so it would just play the song in the end. Once we got there he was all smiles and ready for bed!

He was in bed for a while when he woke up and we went in to check on him. He was Mr. Smiley and talking some more. He got quiet for a few seconds, then asked for Opera. I told him he could have his Opera if he asked, "Please Opera". He looked between me and Steve a couple of times. Then opened and closed his mouth a few times...then out came this sweet voice garbled up noise followed by Ah-Ah-Ah.

I understood immediately that he was saying please, but didn't quite know how to say it. But he was displeased that it didn't come out right and he started kicking and crying and said AH AH AH again. I told him I understood he said Please, Opera. And that he didn't need to throw a fit, he had said it. He stopped crying and gave me a big toothy smile and rolled over into his pillow ready to listen to his tunes.

I thought it was amazing how quickly he threw a fit because, a. he knew what he said didn't sound like "Please", b. he thought I didn't understand him, and c. he was so frustrated that he had tried and it didn't work for him. And it also made me feel frustrated for him that he has so much in his head that he wants to say, and to communicate, but it just gets garbled from his brain to his mouth.

All it took was for me to acknowledge that what he said was an incredible try, and he felt validated. My son is an amazing little person, and I'm so thankful to have that reminder daily.