Motherhood, where sleep is a rumor and laundry
is eternal. And somehow, we're supposed to be
raising tiny humans through it all. We're here
to laugh at the chaos, cry when necessary, and
remind you that none of us actually know what
we're doing. This is No Manual, a momcast. Your
mom friend group chat, but with microphones.
Well, welcome back to No Manual. This week, we
actually have a first. We fully recorded this
episode, like, over a month ago. Yeah. And then
when we went to edit it, or when Stuart went
to edit it, the audio was not good enough quality
to use. And so we had to scrap it. But we were
like, this was a fun episode. Let's just rerecord
it. We already have all of our prep done. It
was fun. Yeah, we've never had that happen. Like,
we've never lost an episode before. This is the
first time we've lost an episode. Which is surprising
because we've had some, like, some audio difficulties.
Yeah. That Stuart has recovered and he just has,
like, been a boss with that. Yeah. And this one
just, we just had too many technical difficulties.
Yeah, he was like, there's, we're not fixing
that. Yeah. Yeah, but so our episode today is
the ABCs according to our toddlers. Yes. Which
actually as I'm a little bit glad that we had
to re -record this because I feel like Lloyd
has been like saying some new things in the time.
Yeah, I definitely updated some of my things
a little bit. Some of it's like a little bit
funnier, but also. as we were getting ready today
and I was trying to think if there was anything
else, I was going through it with Lloyd. I was
like, Lloyd, what is A for? He's like, A is for
Bappa. And just every letter of the alphabet,
except for a handful, is for Bappa. I was about
to be so impressed if he was going to be like,
A is for Apple. And I'm like, dang. He has a
couple that he actually got right. I was like,
okay, what is A for? A is for Bappa. Okay. What
is B for? B is for Boppa. Like, well, that's
true. What is C for? C is for car or cat. Like,
well, that's right. And then the next one that
he got right is F, which is for Free Fallen by
Tom Petty. But we'll get there. Amazing. He's
a smart kid. Okay. Well, before we hop in, do
you want to share your mom moment of the week?
Sure. I have. I feel like I have so many right
now. I know. The one I'll share. So a couple
weeks ago, we all went to the playground and
Lloyd just like took a massive fall, smacked
his face into the playground and got like a gnarly
black eye. Yes. Kid looked like he was in a bar
fight. It was swollen. It took probably a full
two weeks for it to like completely recover.
Like went through all the stages of like a good
bruise, like the purple, the green, everything.
So that finally healed. And then last night,
Zeta just like was cruising around the coffee
table and just slipped and smacked her forehead
into the coffee table and now has this like gnarly
gash bruise. I was like, so as soon as one of
my kids does not look like, yeah, looks okay.
The other one, she just got, looks like she got
beat up this week. So that's just. It's just
never ending. I feel that 100%. I also feel like,
I don't know if this is how it is for you, but
whenever my kids get like massively hurt, I mean
not that either of them have had like super serious,
but stuff like this where it's like a very obvious
injury in some capacity. It's never like, oh,
that was the moment that I like went into the
other room. Like at the playground, Stuart was
following him. He just tripped. Like that's what
happened. And then last night with Zeta, we were
literally sitting on the couch right next to
her, like within arm's reach. But it just like
happened so fast. She just like. Feet came out
from under her. Can't avoid it. It just happened.
Yeah. And so I'm like, okay, it's not like, it's
not that I'm neglectful. It's not like I wasn't
in the other room or anything. Like maybe I should
have stopped this. I couldn't have it happen
too fast. Yeah, I know. And you probably feel
like you have to like explain yourself to everyone
around you. For sure. Yeah. Like I promise I
watch my children. I don't leave them alone.
Yeah. Yeah. Yep. I'm a good mom, I swear. OK,
my mom moment. So I found like this new thing
that works for Colt because he's like he's totally
at that like rebellion stage. I feel like where
it's really hard. To get him to do anything that
we need him to do. So. No. Specifically brushing
his teeth is like. We struggle with brushing
teeth too. And so now and like our house is a
split level. So like our living area is on the
main level. And then downstairs is like the playroom
and a guest room. And upstairs is all the bedrooms
and two bathrooms. So we have to go up the stairs
to go brush our teeth. And now it's become like
if I tell Colt I'm going to beat him like to
that. Wow, that sounded really bad. Beat him
to the bathroom. Like race him. Race him. Not
beat him. OK, everybody. That I'm going to race
him to the bathroom and that I'm going to win.
He like he's all about the competition right
now. And so everything is like if I say like,
oh, we're going to race to. climb into bed like
he will he will actually listen like on the first
try rather than like come on buddy let's go to
bed no it's like cole i'm gonna race you to bed
right now and he's like he'll like drop whatever
he's doing and just run and i'm like hey i'm
gonna i'm gonna use that as long as it works
yeah we'll have to give that a try because we
definitely uh have a lot of that too like like
okay it's time to go to bed no yeah Well, it
is whether you like it or not. Yes. Yeah. Yeah.
So it works for us for now. I'm sure one day
it won't work and he'll catch on. But and then
you'll figure something else out. Mm hmm. Yes.
Yeah. OK, well, let's just hop right in, too.
So we're going to basically go through like each
letter and share what our toddler is saying the
most of in that letter. Yeah. That makes sense.
So do you want to go first with your letter A?
Sure. For A, we have Apop, which is Stuart's
dad. So neither of our dads are like a normal
grandpa name. I love it. Stuart's dad is Apop.
And everything at their house is Apop's. So it's
like, it's not G -Mon Apop's house. It's Apop's
house. Oh, yeah. Just Apop. Just Op -Op. There's
like a few things that are also GMOs. Mostly
it's Op -Ops. And then he has a Porsche. So Op
-Op's Porsche is obviously a very big deal. Yeah.
Specifically because Op -Op's Porsche is like
Sally from Cars. Yes. So Op -Op and Op -Op's
Porsche. What color is this Porsche? It's brown.
So it's not actually... It's funny because it's...
It's brown and it's not the same make as Sally.
Sally is a Carrera. And Op Op's Porsche is a
Cayman S. But hey. But they do look similar.
They're probably like the closest models of Porsche.
At least to my knowledge. But it does look enough
like it that I'm like, okay, that's fair. Op
Op's Porsche is like Sally is a big phrase that
we're saying a lot right now. That's fun. Okay,
my A is Colt says. A little bit the same. And
so anytime, I don't know specifically where he
got this from, but anytime like something is
similar or even exactly the same, he'll be like,
mom, a little bit the same. And I'm like, yeah,
buddy, it is a little bit the same. I think I
want to say it was like a scenario where like
he pointed out something and said like the same
as. I don't know, the same as that. And it wasn't.
So I'm like, oh, it's it's a little bit the same.
I didn't want to like totally let him down, you
know. Right. Like, oh, it's kind of the same
color or whatever. And so now he's just picked
up on that phrase is like anything that's the
same or like similar is a little bit the same.
I love it. Yeah. We have a few of those right
now where it's like we said at one time. And
there's just this concept that he's latched on
to. Yeah, I love it. Okay, what about for B?
So for B, the other grandpa, we have Bapa. So
like I was saying at the beginning, when we were
going through the alphabet, everything was Bapa.
But that's my dad. He loves his grandpas and
he talks about his grandpas all the time. He
always wants to go to Grandma and Papa's house
or G -Mama and Pop's house. And then again, most
things at my parents' house are not my mom's.
They are Papa's. Yeah. You know, Papa's car and...
I think it's so cute. I feel like it's so common
for little boys to like latch on to like their
grandpas. And like for male figures specifically.
Yeah. Because it's kind of the same on our end
with Colt and his grandpas. Yeah. Yeah. Definitely.
I mean, like he loves his grandmas, but there's
an attachment to his grandpas that's definitely
different. Yeah. So cute. Which is fun. All right.
What's your B? Okay. Mine is be brave. Be brave.
And so on Sundays for church, we always drop
off crews first. And Michael's like already working,
so he can't go with me to drop the kids off on
Sunday mornings. And so we always drop. I always
ask him, who do you want to drop off first? Do
you want to go first or do you want to drop off
Cruz? He always picks Cruz. So we go to Cruz's
classroom and he always gives Cruz a hug and
says, be brave. And then I give Cruz to the kidsman
worker. And Cruz just like doesn't care. He's
like, meh. I don't know. But that has become
like part of our routine. And there's been a
few times where I like forget to let him hug
Cruz and say be brave. And we have to go back
into the classroom. Of course. Have the worker
bring Cruz back over, which makes it harder on
Cruz because he's like already. It's this back
and forth. And then he has to like hug Cruz and
say be brave. And it's so cute. That's so sweet.
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Okay, C. What do you have for
C? C, we have cars and cats. Nice. Those are
maybe his two favorite things right now. I love
it. We have our two cats who he's obsessed with.
He also has started saying this thing where he'll
say, like, Ricky, well, actually, we'll get to
their names at the end, but he'll say, like,
Ricky likes. And then he'll like, Ricky likes
Lloyd. Ricky likes mom. Ricky likes dad. And
it's super cute. And then cars, both like actual
cars that he gets to play with and cars on the
street. And then also the movie, because that
is the most important movie ever made. Yeah,
obviously. But one of the frequent things is,
like, if he goes to a grandparent's house and
he comes home, we're like, oh, what'd you do,
buddy? Play Cars. Like, oh, you played Cars.
Always play Cars. Always plays Cars. That's cute.
So, Cat and Cars are C. Nice. Okay, mine for
C is, can I watch something? Can I watch a little
bit of TV? A little bit of TV? A little bit of
TV? It's always like, a little bit. I mean, it's
easier to say. He knows that, right? You're like,
just a little bit. I don't know your law. Just
a little bit. And that's how he gets me. He's
like, he knows. He can manipulate me so much.
And it's so cute and also so hard to tell him
no because he says it so nicely. A little bit?
Can I watch a little bit of TV? Like right in
the morning, we go downstairs and he grabs the
TV remote because I can never find the right
hiding spot for it. And he hands it to me and
says, can I watch a little bit of TV while you
make breakfast? And sometimes I'm like, sure,
buddy, we can. Or sometimes I'm like, no, we
can't right now. It depends on how I slept. But
it's so, yeah, it's so cute. And I'm like. Yeah,
he just, he knows how to get me because the tone
of voice is like, please, mommy dearest, may
I? That's so cute. Yeah. I love that. Okay, what
about for D? D, we have, I have two for D. We
have dad's car. So for some reason, he's obsessed
with Stuart's car. And what kind of car is it?
He has a Honda Fit. which Lloyd has also decided
is like Sally from Cars. Okay, great. Yeah, so
at least Op Op's Porsche is in fact a Porsche
and does look similar to Sally from Cars. Stewart's
Honda Fit, not as much. Not so much, but hey,
it's a car. But he loves Stewart's car, so every
time we like... stewart usually parks on the
street so when we get in the family car and leave
he always wants to drive by dad's car or when
we see stewart getting home from work we'll like
go to the window and dad's car so you so that's
you ever get to ride in dad's car or no because
there's no we don't have a car seat for him yeah
yeah i mean he has in the past because for a
while it was our only car um but Yeah, we don't
have a car seat for him in there, but Stuart
will every once in a while let him just like
sit in the front seat and, you know, turn on
the lights and, you know, do the little kid thing.
And then my other for D is dump truck. So one,
we love road builders in general and all construction
vehicles. But also if you have ever read Little
Blue Truck. Yes. If you've ever read the book
Little Blue Truck, you know that the pivotal
plot line is that a dump truck comes through
and gets stuck down deep in the muck and mire.
And he has the entire, not the entire book memorized.
I mean, maybe he does, but he always starts like
we'll be just sitting at dinner or driving someplace
and he will. start from when it's like honk dump
truck coming through he'll go through that entire
section until the dump truck gets unstuck like
the whole thing just recite it out of nowhere
just recite it he has the whole thing memorized
and actually the saddest part of it's like so
cute and so sad for those of you who are not
current boy moms and don't know little blue truck
by heart the dump truck comes and gets stuck
in mud and little blue truck tries to help him
But before little blue truck tries to help him,
dump truck says honk and he sounded scared, but
nobody heard and nobody cared. And Lloyd says
that every single time. And in his little two
and a half year old voice, it's maybe the saddest
thing I've ever heard. Nobody cared. You're like,
I do care. Maybe I'll try to get a voice or like
a recording of him saying it because it's so
cute. Nobody heard. Nobody cared. Oh, buddy.
So, D is for dump trucks. But it's not real life,
buddy. It's not real life. The dump truck's okay.
Yeah, that's so cute. Okay, I also have two for
D. So, first one is, don't talk to me, mama.
Don't talk to me. Cole is such a sassy guy. I
love him so much. But this one, so he, like,
anytime he's, like, mad at me for me saying no,
specifically, usually when it's no to, can I
watch something? And I say no. It's, don't talk
to me, Mom. And he'll, like, fall on the ground.
So dramatic. Go dramatically. And I'll be like,
it's okay, buddy. Like, we can watch something
later. Don't talk to me, Mom. And I'm like, okay,
I'll give you a minute. I won't talk to you.
And then he'll yeah, then he just needs a needs
a few minutes. My other one is Danny Go. So that's
I've talked to you. I think I've talked about
it on the podcast. I think so. Yeah. Yeah. That's
like our favorite thing to watch right now is
Danny Go. And if you don't know who Danny Go
is, he's like this guy on YouTube that like makes
these music videos about anything from like.
From flamingos to dump trucks or garbage trucks
and or like Halloween videos like he just has
like a plethora of music videos. And I swear,
well, I have all of them memorized now, but Cole
also has all of them memorized. And it's super
cute because he will like he'll like sing the
songs out of nowhere. He will. There's one specifically
a superhero one that is like his favorite thing.
And he. Likes to go get one of his blankets and
I like tie it around him as a cape. And his great
grandma just made him a cape, like sewed him
a cape and sent it to us. So cute. And then he
wears gloves. So he like has gardening gloves
that he puts on and he always puts his cowboy
boots on. So anytime he like wants to be Danny
Go, he like finds all the all the items to make
himself Danny Go. Perfect. And it's super cute.
Yeah. I love that we're, like, starting to get
to the phase of, like, imagination and doing
stuff like that. Like, getting dressed up in
the Danny Go superhero costume. Yeah. Just, like,
that's so fun. I love it. I'm going to be so
sad. talked to michael about this multiple times
i'm gonna be sad like when this obsession is
over because it's so cute to watch him just like
like in the grocery store he'll just start singing
the songs and i'm like i just want him to always
be like that and i know there's like a moment
where it kicks in where you you just don't do
that anymore yep i'm like i'm gonna take all
the videos of it now so that i can just hold
that in my heart forever For sure. Yeah, we have
a few things like that, too, that I'm like, I
know someday he's not going to do this anymore.
Yeah. And I'm going to be devastated. Huh. Okay,
what about for E? For E, we have emails. Specifically,
doing emails. So, with mom's job is doing emails.
And sometimes if he's like over me working, he'll
say, Mom, all done doing emails. I'm like, I
wish, buddy. It's 2 p .m. He's napping at 2 p
.m. It's 10 a .m. usually when he says, Mom's
all done doing emails. We got a while to go.
But then also he has, it's funny because we don't
actually have a toy laptop for him. We have an
old laptop that doesn't hold charge anymore.
Perfect. I don't even know what I'm supposed
to do with. old technology like that that like
do you just i don't know just like throw it in
the regular trash i guess i don't know but in
our case since it's just been sitting collecting
dust for years now it's just lloyd's toy laptop
and he opens it and then he'll say that he lloyd's
doing emails um so doing emails you're like hey
you do emails while i do emails yes great we'll
get them done at the same time for sure nice
it's so cute because he probably has like zero
actuality of what emails are yeah he has no idea
he just knows the word emails yeah yeah yep so
cute um okay mine is egg bites and that is like
our go -to breakfast right now Whether it's from
Starbucks or we purchased the egg bites, we've
tried to make egg bites before and they just
never turn out the same. Yeah, I've tried them.
I've never been able to figure it out. And so
we've spent an astronomical amount on like Costco
egg bites or Target egg bites. But every morning
when Colt wakes up and he says, I'd like to go
downstairs for breakfast. And I'm like, OK, buddy,
what do you want for breakfast? It's always egg
bites. I'm like. Okay, we can have egg bites.
Or if we don't have them, we have to settle for
scrambled eggs, which is a very far second. Yeah.
Yeah. But egg bites, we'll see how long that's
our breakfast. I mean, if it makes him eat, that's
great. I know, it's good protein. Good protein.
And he, yeah, he's obsessed with, well, I'll
talk about protein later. Oh, excited for that.
Yeah, right. Okay, F. F is? Free Fallin' by Tom
Petty. Yes. Very sophisticated in his music choices.
He is. Yeah. So usually if he wants to listen
to music, the order in which he requests is first
it's We Will Rock You by Queen. Then it is Free
Fallin' by Tom Petty. Then it is Wildflower.
We're out of Barbara Ann. So are we. Yeah. So
then we get to Wildflowers by Tom Petty and then
we've added Radio Gaga by Queen. Nice. Sometimes
he will ask for Spider -Man by the Ramones. That's
a new one that we showed it to him once and he
picked it up and loves it. So cute. But yes,
Free Fallin' is one of his go -to and he says
the whole thing every time. Free Fallin' by Tom
Petty. Yes. Okay, buddy. You got it. You got
it. And then usually as soon as we like, play
it he says turn it up which is and sometimes
we're like it's it's already loud enough we do
not need to turn it up but if it's quiet then
we will turn it up that's that is that's our
life right now which i love it not that man no
honestly that's so smart to like get your kids
to like the music that you like it is the move
we are so far deep into danny go that every time
i'm in the car now with him we have to listen
to danny now you're like this is the music i
like yeah this is On my Spotify wrapped this
next year, Danny go will be number one. Unfortunately.
Yeah. Okay. Mine for F is I'm fine, mommy. Anytime
like I want, I offer to help him right now. It's
he's in that phase of he wants to do everything
himself, which is great. I want him to learn.
I want him to try, but he'll be, I'm fine, mommy.
Do you want help with building that puzzle? I'm
fine, mommy. I'm like, okay, great. You let me
know when you want help. And usually like five
seconds later, mom, I need help. I need help,
mom. Okay, at least he knows how to ask as well.
Yeah. That's great communication. Yep. Love the
confidence that he has. Yeah, it's so funny.
I'm fine, mommy. Love it. Okay, what about for
G? G, we have G -Ma and Gam -Ma. So we got both
the grandmas there. Again, he loves it. He loves
his family, like in general. Well, you'll see.
We have a few more. Yeah, so he talks about them
all the time and always wants to go to their
houses. Yeah, I love it. And he knows what days
of the week he goes to their houses too. Nice.
So he'll like say that. Yeah. Okay, yeah. You're
going to go on that day. That's great. That's
cute. So G -Ma and Gam -Ma. Cute. Okay, mine
is. Go see daddy. So on Wednesdays, Michael has
youth group because he's a youth pastor. And
so it's a super long day for him at work. So
he's usually he is like a 12 hour plus day on
Wednesdays. And so I'm solo parenting on Wednesdays.
And we try to break up the day by going to visit
Michael at work, usually around like three -ish
or even five while they're setting up for youth
group. Usually on Wednesdays. I'll like before
Colt's nap, we'll be like, hey, after nap, we're
going to like hang out for a little bit and then
we'll go see daddy. And so after nap time, he'll
usually wake up and say, go see daddy. And I'm
like, yeah, buddy, in a little bit. So he just
he looks forward to that. And it's super cute.
That is so cute. Yeah. OK. What letter is after
G? H. H. H. We have honk. Only he doesn't actually
he can't say it right yet. So it's chonk. That's
another one maybe I'll try to get a recording
of him saying because it's so funny. Chonk. So
that does go back to the dump truck. The dump
truck says chonk. Also Mater from Cars. This
is another thing that he has just like memorized
and we go through at least once a day is Mater
goes chonk, lightning goes room, tractor goes
up, tractor toot. So in that order, at least
once a day, every time. Amazing. Just like out
of nowhere. Yeah. I love it. I love the randomness.
It's the best. I like wish I knew what was going
on in their brains to get there. Cause you know,
it's not random for them. No. Or like maybe,
maybe it is. I guess there are times when I have
random thoughts. I just don't like necessarily
say them out loud. Yeah. Like we randomly get
songs stuck in our head or whatever, but. But
it's them just vocalizing it right then. Yeah.
Cause they're saying everything all the time
and that's how they process. Yeah. I wonder what.
I would be super like schizophrenic sounding
almost if I just was like. If you said every
thought that came into your head. Yeah. Yeah,
that's probably not a good idea. No, I'll keep
it to myself. OK, mine for H is honeywawa. Honeywawa.
So we started this a while ago, like one time
when Colt was sick and he gets croup often. He's
like got we think he has asthma. So we started
doing, like, before he goes to bed, when he's
reading books, he, like, gets some warm honey
water just to, like, soothe his throat. He coughs
a lot, so we try to, like, minimize that at nighttime.
So now every night, no matter if he's sick or
not, he goes, Honey Wawa? I have my Honey Wawa?
And so every night we make him his honey water,
and he drinks his warm water while we read books.
It's so cute. And honey costs a lot of money.
So we're going through honey like no other. It
is expensive. Yeah. Yeah. But it's cute. And
also I'm like, after he brushes his teeth, I'm
like, it's probably not good to like. Probably
not. Put all that sugar back on there. If you
get local honey, it will help him with seasonal
allergies. Yes. That's what I need to do. Once
farmers markets start back up again. Even honestly,
King Soopers has local honey. Really? Okay, great.
Yeah, I need to do that because right now it's
just the, I don't know, Target brand. But yeah,
that's H for us. Okay, I. I is for Ice Cream
Face, which is a book that if you don't know
about Ice Cream Face, don't introduce it to your
kids. It's the worst book. Yeah, it's awful.
I hate it. Stuart hates it. Did you get it from
Imagination Library? We did. Yes, do not recommend
it. It was actually funny because over Christmas,
my sister and her husband were in town, and Lloyd
was talking about Ice Cream Face, and they were
like, oh, what is that? And I just had such disdain,
and I was like, it's one of his favorite books.
But also the worst book of all time. Shout out
Dolly Parton. Not your best choice, Dolly. No,
sorry, Dolly. Almost all the other books we've
gotten from her were like big fans. Green Tractor,
great. Clearly Lloyd is a big fan, though, of
Ice Cream Face. And I guess that's the audience
she's going for. I guess, yeah. He has stopped
requesting it as often, which is kind of nice.
But it is one of his favorites. But yeah, it's
like, it's not, I feel like this poor author,
I'm just like ripping this book to shreds. I
feel like there's not like a good moral, like
not that there always has to be like this like
super positive, but it's kind of just like this
kid throws a fit because he doesn't get ice cream
at some point. Like that's kind of what it boils
down to. There's some holes in the story. I feel
like. Yeah. everyone's sharing their ice cream
and i'm like that's a lot of germs yeah yeah
that's not really a dish that you share i don't
know no yeah so but it's ice cream face the book
stewart and i've been trying to like it might
be one of those things that just like disappears
at some point in time yeah i don't know you know
i don't know where it went so but that's i for
us what do you have um i have i like a mommy
so colts often will if michael has him And he
doesn't want Michael to have him or hold him.
He goes, I like a mommy. I'd like a mommy to
hold me instead. Especially in the nighttime,
which is not like a possible thing right now.
So anytime, which Colt still wakes up every single
night, Michael will go in there. And most of
the time, he's totally fine with Michael being
there. Sometimes it's, no, I like a mommy. And
that's a problem when I'm like, I'm feeding the
baby or with Cruz and I can't help. And so we're
working on it, working on it. It's one of those
things that you're like, on one hand, this is
so sweet. I love that you love me. And on the
other hand, I need you to also be OK with dad
because. Yes. Yes. Yeah. Yeah. OK, what about
for Jay? For Jay, we have Jack and Jesse, which
are his cousins. He talks about them all the
time. And especially if we've seen them recently
and like done something with them, then it's
just like recapping. Like we did this with Jack
and Jesse and Jack and Jesse and Jack and Jesse.
So big fans of our cousins. Cute. Okay. Mine
for Jay is just like that. So when. especially
at nap time so cole i think is starting to become
afraid of the dark a little bit okay um and so
he has like his hatch sound machine which we
put a little light like a red light on for him
in the night so it like kind of lights up his
room but uh when we put him to bed either at
nap time or at night he wants to fall asleep
with the door open and then we usually like sneak
and close the door when he does fall asleep but
anytime i'm walking out i'm like okay buddy do
you want the door open or closed and usually
he'll say open and then I like do it and I'm
like do you want it just like that and he goes
just like that I'm like okay I will not touch
it you got it buddy and I'm like that's so cute
and now when I usually sneak to shut the door
if he wakes up and like is not in the best mood
and he sees the that the door is shut, he gets
mad at me because I shut the door. It's not just
like that. Yeah, I didn't leave it open. But
I close it because I'm like, if I'm awake or,
you know, we have the TV on or whatever, it's...
You're like, you're two. You don't understand
the idea of a fire risk and that it's important
to have your door closed at night because of
fire risks. Yes, true. And if you're getting
scared, telling you that isn't going to help.
I know. And of course, he's picked up this thing
from Curious George. There's like one single
episode of Curious George where... george is
afraid of the dark and he like is hiding in the
corner and he goes i'm scared of the dark and
uh obviously george is a monkey so he doesn't
say that but colt has picked up on going and
like shaking and saying i'm scared of the dark
and i'm like i don't are you actually afraid
of the dark or are you just picking up on that
from that you should be even though you don't
need to be yeah but you're two so it's natural
yeah yeah so i have no idea but Just like that.
Love it. Okay. K. For K, we have Aunt Caitlin,
which she says Aunt Kaken. And that's my sister.
So we FaceTime Aunt Kaken every week. And, yeah,
Aunt Kaken. Nice. Cute. Mine for K is just K.
Like him saying okay is just K. K. Love it. Yeah.
And I'm like, is that proper English? No, but
it sure is adorable. So, K. Yeah. You know, he's
got years to figure out the grammar and proper
and all that. They'll teach him that in school,
right? Yeah. Yeah. Okay. L. L is another one
I have two for. So we have Lightning McQueen,
obviously, and Little Blue Truck. So interestingly,
he got like a vintage or like, yeah, like it's
a 1955 Chevy 3100. truck toy like months and
months ago and then we after that discovered
the little blue truck book series oh yeah so
it was just like serendipitous you know we were
at costco and i was like i've never seen this
book before but he has a little blue truck and
he loves it so now we have so many of the little
blue truck books there's so many there's so many
we keep thinking we have like a lot and then
we'll find out that there's even more yeah so
he likes his little blue truck that he plays
with And, like, today he was putting little pom
-poms in the bed of the truck, which was adorable.
So cute. And then he also likes to read Little
Blue Truck. So his favorites are the original,
which for some reason he started calling Little
Blue Truck Friends. We don't know why. I mean,
we've picked up on that, so now that's what we
call it. But he started it, and I don't know
where he picked that up. And then Little Blue
Truck Halloween. Those are his, like, go -to.
That one. Yeah. So those are our go -to. Ours
are Little Blue Truck and Racer Red. We got that
for Christmas. And then Little Blue Truck. It's
the one. Little Blue Truck rolls into the city.
Beep, beep, beep. Isn't it pretty? We haven't
gotten that one yet. He goes to the city. Yeah.
There's a Valentine's one. So we're like, maybe
we'll get him. He'll have like a little Valentine's
box or something. And that'll be what he gets
this year. So cute. Okay. Mine for Elle is, I
love you. And this is, yeah. And he says like,
I wuff you. And he'll just, like, say it out
of nowhere. And it's so cute. And he, like, tries
to sign, I love you now. So rather than, like,
this is the sign for I love you, he'll do, he
does that. But it's so cute. So anytime we're
FaceTiming family or anything, we'll say, they
say, love you, Cole. And he goes, I love you.
I love you. That's so sweet. So sweet. Like,
you are just the sweetest boy. Love it. Okay,
M. M, we have mom and mater. Obviously, he says
mom all the time. Mostly, if he wants me to hold
him, and then he'll say, mom hug, mom hug, mom
hug. But he also gets a little bit demanding
right now, so it'll be like, mom hug on couch.
And that means he wants me to go sit on the couch
and hold him. Or sometimes... We'll be like in
the kitchen and I'll get down on his level to
give him a hug. And then he'll say, mom, stand
up. I don't know what the difference is, but
apparently there is a difference for him on if
I'm sitting on the floor giving him a hug or
what. And then made her from cars, of course.
Of course. Because again, cars is life right
now. And actually he was watching cars today
because I had a meeting and I needed him to be
completely distracted. I like saw his face when
Mater came on the screen for the first time.
And you would think Mater was like in our house.
He was so excited. And it was adorable. And you're
like, this is not your first time seeing this,
buddy. No, we've watched. All three cars, so
many times. Also, there's rumors of a fourth
one. I saw that. Just for all the boy moms out
there, this is very important news. Yeah, right.
Imagine when you get to take him to Disneyland
for the first time, or I don't know if they have
Cars Land in Disney World. But I don't know which
one. They for sure have it in Disneyland. But
I'm like, if you take him there when he's like
obsessed with cars, that would be like literally
the best day of his life. For sure. Yeah. Yeah.
Okay. Main for M is Mimi coming. So Mimi is the
woman that watches Colton Cruz for me on Tuesdays
and Thursdays. And so any time on Tuesday and
Thursday when. Colt gets out of bed and I'm like,
OK, buddy, we got to like it's already eight
o 'clock. We got to get ready to have breakfast.
And he's like, where are we going? I'm like,
oh, we're not going anywhere. And he goes, Mimi
coming. I'm like, yes, Mimi's coming today. And
he's like, oh, OK. He'll go, OK, OK, OK. Yeah.
He loves his Mimi so much. That's so sweet. OK.
And so we are entering the world of. learning
about mutual exclusivity so right now everything
is not so Lloyd's water not Zeta's or it's cold
outside not hot or it's Zeta snack not Lloyd's
so everything like almost anything that he could
explain is explained as this not that The worst
one for me, which like I know it's not personal,
but a lot of times we'll like to get him to do
something we'll offer. We'll be like, do you
want mom or dad? Like to, you know, take you
potty, take you to bed, whatever. And he'll say,
dad, not mom. I'm like, I know he's just requesting
dad. Like this isn't actually personal. He's
like, I want dad, not mom. Right. But when you
say specifically not mom, it's a little bit hurtful.
hurts my feelings but also i am happy to sit
here and let dad take you potty yeah dad can
dad can do it for sure that's cute um okay mine
for n is just the word no i feel like we're like
totally in that phase of yeah ask him to do stuff
and then he'll say no that's where i bring the
races into into a into play yeah we've got lots
of mill around here too yeah and he'll like he's
at that point where he's got some some like oomph
behind it too where he'll he'll like yell it
at me no mom like what are you cool cool cool
what are you where are you learning this yeah
yeah i'm like in no fashion have i like shown
him like modeled that for him right at least
not that i remember i'm like are you learning
this at church are you learning this uh i don't
you don't really go anywhere else so yeah yeah
but maybe it's just ingrained in him so no i
feel like that's a toddler thing that they kind
of just learn at some point i don't know for
sure okay what about oh oh it's another one i
have two four first he actually just started
saying this and i don't really know where he
picked it up but oh no And typically this happens
when he does, like, a crash with his cars. And,
of course, he does it on purpose, you know, because
he's a little boy and so crashing cars is really
fun. But so he'll be, like, playing with his
cars or monster trucks and he'll, like, crash
them. And then he goes, oh, no. Oh, no. And I
don't know where he picked it up because I don't
feel like we say that that often. But it's super
cute. And then the other one is on purpose. So
he knows the word uh -oh. But he doesn't really
know like the difference between, I mean, maybe
he does. But so it's like if he drops something
on accident, then we'll be like, oh, uh -oh.
And that's where he picked it up. But now he'll
like throw something on purpose and he'll go,
uh -oh. And so we're trying to explain. We're
like, no, that's not an uh -oh. An uh -oh is
like, right. That was on purpose. Like an uh
-oh is when you didn't mean to do something.
And we're like trying to explain this to our
two -year -old. Sometimes he'll say, uh -oh,
on purpose. Yeah, on purpose. No, I saw you throw
that. I know that was on purpose. There in no
way was that just like accidentally threw that
across the room. Yeah, right. No, that was on
purpose. So on purpose, yeah. Mine for O is open
that. So he is such a snacker, which we're like
trying to break. And it's so hard because I'm
like. I don't if you're hungry like I want to
let you eat but also it's like the snack choices
I'm like we need to get some like other snacks
and in the house but he has his own little we
call it his helper stand like one of those things
you can climb up up on and he'll like drag it
over to the pantry grab whatever snack he wants
and whether I say like yes or no he goes mommy
open that I'm like either yes or no, but he's
he's totally just in that snacking phase. So
if anyone has any tip of like how to it's and
it's not like he's not eating at mealtimes, though,
either. He's like, I just think he's growing
and he's so hungry. Oh, Lloyd will like not eat
dinner. And then 10 minutes later, he'll be like
snack. Yeah. So I don't know if this makes me
a bad mom, but I just like, no, you we just had
dinner. because usually it's that he didn't eat
dinner and then he's asking for a snack so i'm
like i'm not setting up that habit yep no for
sure you're not gonna starve that sometimes too
yeah yeah and it's so hard yeah because you're
like if you're hungry like i don't want to not
let you eat but also it's like you probably just
didn't like what was in front of you and you
want this like you want this granola bar instead
or whatever yeah yeah um okay what about for
p Speaking of snacks, we get those, like, I think
the company is Bomba. And they have their, like,
PBJ. bites or whatever they call them um so we
just call them pbjs and he loves pbjs so that
is one of the snacks that he requests all the
time is nice pbjs and then the other thing for
p is potty like i go potty nice that is a word
that is said a lot in our house right now yeah
that's great hey we are Still afraid to potty
train over here. You'll get there. It's fine.
Oh, gosh. OK, mine for pee is protein. So going
back to gotta get that protein. Oh, my gosh.
I don't know what like what was said at some
point. But now every meal he said, Mama, this
protein protein. And so I like tell him what
what the protein is and his meal. And he'll even
like point to his water. Mama protein. no that's
not protein so I'll try to explain to him no
that's just for hydration but I do make like
a little protein drink like usually usually every
afternoon just to like get me to dinner because
I'm like yeah I'm breastfeeding I'm so hungry
I'm trying not to just snack all the time and
so he'll like help me make that and he's like
so happy to help me make that and he gets to
like taste it and so uh yeah protein obsessed
with protein right now he's got no clue what
it is but yeah everything you know he's on that
trend the high protein diet he knows what what
was the real i saw the other day it was like
i feel more more pressure than i did in high
school to smoke like weed to have a high protein
diet or something like that no more pressure
now to have a high protein diet than i did in
high school to smoke weed like that is so true
everything is protein right now so i feel that
yes for sure q we have queen so i mean sometimes
if i ask him he'll say q like lightning the queen
which i'm like well it's in there for sure but
like i said he loves the songs we will rock you
and radio gaga and he knows they're by queen
so he'll request we will rock you by queen or
radio gaga by queen yeah it's great we love it
I love it. I'm glad you could think of a Q word
because I could not. So. That's fair. It is kind
of a weird one. Like. Yeah. We have no other
Q words that I could think of. Yeah. I don't
even think. I don't know if he could pronounce
like. He probably could, but. I'm sure he could.
I can't think of anything. So I skipped that
one. Sorry. That's fine. Yeah. Okay. R. R. So
we have a few. First, we have our cats who are
Ricky Kitty and Red Guy. Their names are Ricky
and Red, but we call them Ricky Kitty and Red
Guy. And so that's what he calls them all the
time. And he's obsessed with the cats. He usually
wants Ricky in his bed when he wakes up. He'll
get up and be like, Ricky in Lloyd's bed. And
I'm like, well, we can try, but she's also a
cat and she will do whatever she wants. And then
the other thing he's saying right now that he
just, I don't know where he picked this up, but
it's so funny, is really, really. So everything
is really, really. Like when he fell at the playground
and got hurt, it was really, really sad and really,
really scary, which is like so sad. Maybe from
a book or something like that. Maybe. Yeah, because
then also it's really, really cold. It's really,
really hot. Again, it's everything. It all makes
sense what he's saying. Yeah, he's using it correctly.
So everything is not and really, really. So it's
like really, really cold, not hot. Yeah. Really,
really hot. not cold or something like that.
So, but so many things just really, really, and
it's really funny that he does it twice. Yeah.
Again, I don't, I guess it's one of those things
that maybe like, again, it's in a book. Maybe
one of us said it one time and now, now he's
latched onto it. Yep. Love it. Okay. Mine for
R is run with me, mommy. So with his obsession
with, with Danny go, like all the videos are
like, for the most part, like adventure, One.
So he's like on a mission to go like take a picture
of the pink tiger. So that's one of them. And
he's like running through the forest. And so
when we're outside, often he's like acting out
these videos. So he wants me to do them with
him, of course. And Cruz is super like he just
wants to be attached to me. So I'm like running
with Cruz like on my hip. But he'll be run with
me, mommy. I'm like, OK, buddy, let's do it.
All right. Sometimes I don't want to, but someday
I'm going to miss this, that you were even asking
me to play with you. I know. Totally. Totally.
Okay, S. S, I have another one I have two for.
We have Sally, because again, the car's obsession
continues. And Sally is a Porsche, and Sally
has blue eyes, and Sally is like Pop -Pop's Porsche.
Yes. And then the other one, going back to snacks,
smoothie balls. big fan of smoothie balls so
smoothie balls they i'm sure you know exactly
what they are you know the like little smoothie
melts well yeah like the ones that they have
a weird texture that remind me of something that
i can't figure out what but they kind of just
like melt in your mouth and they're i think they're
supposed to be like free of all the allergens
they're like dairy free and gluten free and egg
free and all that i don't know why he started
calling them smoothie balls i think maybe it
was when he like was just learning shapes and
it's like they're round therefore they're balls
yeah but again it was one of those things he
started calling them smoothie balls and we just
now went with it and now that's what everyone
in our house calls them so he requests them and
then because there are multiple flavors he will
request them by color so yellow smoothie balls
pink smoothie balls he gets blueberry ones at
my parents house sometimes so sometimes he'll
ask that and i'll be like Sorry, like we don't
have, that's not the brand that we buy. Blueberry
balls. We don't have blueberry smoothie balls.
That's funny. Amazing. Okay, mine for us is Stop
Cruise. Stop Cruise. So he, yeah, Cruise is like
totally all up in Colt's business all the time,
which I'm like, okay, buddy, we got to get, yeah,
we're getting used to it. We're getting used
to like. Trying to play together. And Colt is,
like, obsessed with his magnetiles right now.
And so, and Cruz is obsessed with knocking magnetiles
over. Of course. Which is not a great combination.
And so I have to, like, anytime Colt is, like,
really into building his magnetiles, I have to
face Cruz the other way or, like, build my own
power that Cruz just keeps knocking over. Can
knock down. Yeah. And so anytime, like, Cruz
gets close to them, he goes, stop, Cruz! These
are my magnetiles. My magnetiles. One thing I
don't think I was prepared for having two kids
is how early the sibling dynamic starts. Oh,
for sure. We all know the sibling, especially,
I mean, maybe if you're an only child, you like
can't recognize it as much, but we all know like
the sibling dynamic of like, I would kill for
you, but also I would kill you. Yeah. At the
same time. absolutely within like 30 seconds
both those things are true and so it's like i
know that exists and i know that was going to
develop but i don't i wasn't prepared for it
to be like oh zeta's under a year and they're
already like picking on each other but also like
if zeta said lloyd's sad and you know all of
those things so i definitely wasn't prepared
for it to happen this same for sure um okay what
about t T, so we have two for this one. First,
I have this guy's got jokes. So Lloyd likes to
tell jokes sometimes. And it's one of those things
as a parent where you're like, they're not that
funny. Like sometimes he has his timing perfect
and gets to it at night and we laugh really hard.
But so there came a point where instead of laughing,
we'd just be like, oh, this guy's got jokes.
And so Lloyd has picked that up. And now if he
tells a joke, he'll say, this guy's got jokes.
cute then the other one i have for t is them
so i don't know again i think i must actually
i know so if he if we're i'm like explaining
how our day's gonna go or something like that
i'll say you know we're gonna get up and then
we're gonna get ready for church and then we're
gonna get in the car and then go to church whatever
yeah so he has picked that up of like explaining
like we're going to do this, then we're going
to do this. But he also tries to use it to convince
us to do things. So if it's like, can we watch
Cars? I'll be like, oh, well, it's time for dinner.
Then I'll be like, eat dinner, then watch Cars.
Probably not, but I like the effort in trying
to convince us. It's like his version of manipulation.
Yeah. And then we do this. If I say it, then
it has to be true. Yeah. He's just reciting the
schedule to you. Yeah. It's dinner, then watch
cars. Yeah. You're like, no, dinner, then go
take a bath and go to bed. Yes. Yeah. Exactly.
All right. What do you got? Okay. Mine is turn
it up a little bit. A little bit. So you talked
about turning it up. Yes. Yeah. Anytime in the
car, if the volume's a little too low for his
liking. You got to turn it up. Turn it up a little
bit. So. And then I do because he runs my life.
And yes, I will turn it up a little bit. So I
just love his like he always says, yeah, a little
bit, a little like so many things with a little
bit. That's so cute. Yeah. OK, you for you. We
have another one. We have uh -oh, which I already
kind of talked about. Uh -oh, but usually it's
not actually an uh -oh. And then we also have
Uncle Roman. That's my brother -in -law. But
he said this one's funny because my brother -in
-law is Hispanic. So he's also Teal Roman. We've
kind of been trying to like, is he going to be
Uncle Roman? Is he going to be Teal Roman? And
so sometimes he'll say Uncle Teal Roman. And
he's got the double title. But he goes back and
forth. And then right now, for Christmas, Roman
got him a dinosaur book. And he knows that came
from Uncle Ronan. But he can't say Roman yet,
so he says Uncle Ronan. And so he'll say, read
Uncle Ronan's dinosaur book. And it's one of
his favorites right now. So Uncle Roman slash
Uncle Roman's dinosaur book. Shout out Uncle
Roman for getting the best book. Yep, he knew
what he was doing. Okay, mine, I feel like I
don't need any explanation for this. It's just,
up, please, daddy. Or, up, please, mommy. So,
just wants us to pick him up. And, of course,
going to pick you up. Yeah. Yeah. Again, that's
going to be. I've seen that trend of, like, or
the reels of, like, picking up your child for
the last time. I hate it. Yeah. It's going to
make me cry. Every one I've seen, yeah, makes
me cry. I'm like, oh, there's going to be one
day where it's literally the last time. You're
like, I don't want to think about it. Nope. I'm
going to pick up my child for as long as I have
muscles. Yep. So, yeah. Yep. Okay. V? V. Yeah,
there you go. All right. We have room. So, again,
with Little Blue Truck, the dump truck goes room.
But also, Lightning McQueen goes room. Mom's
car goes room. If we pass by a car that's loud,
that car goes room. So, everything is room. Yep.
I think on Sunday at church when I was holding
him, he just like said it out of nowhere. I'm
sure he did. Yeah. Yeah. I was like, yeah, buddy.
Nice. Yep. Okay. Mine for V is Vava. So that's
how Colt says like water is Vava. So super cute.
And I'm like, it'll be crazy when he says. water
please it's gonna be devastating please yeah
there's so many things that lloyd says incorrectly
right now that i'm like obviously i want him
to like not have a speech impediment and you
know say things correctly someday and also the
day that he does i'm gonna be devastated so we're
taking lots of videos lots of recordings right
now so that someday i can go back and be like
oh yeah that's how you cry as you yeah yes oh
for sure Okay, W. W, so I have two. One is watch
whatever. So watch Cars. Watch Cars 2. Watch
Cars 3. Watch Incredibles. Watch Incredibles
2. Watch VeggieTales. So we've got, he'll go
through the list. If I say no to one, he's like,
surely she'll say yes to another one. Not Cars?
What about Cars 2? Yeah, we've got to find the
right one. And then the other, he's a two -year
-old boy. So wiener. Yes. There are lots of conversations.
He's also starting to get to the point where,
like, we have to explain to him that, no, mom
does not have a wiener. And he has a little sister.
She does not have a wiener. And our girl cat,
nope, Ricky doesn't have a wiener. So, you know,
we're trying to get that. Valid questions. Valid
questions. You know, I mean, I know this is an
age where there's. starting to like connect by
similarities and so like that is i know part
of it but yes you know this is a conversation
that we have frequently it's just anything surrounding
wieners because you know that's being a boy mom
yeah oh for sure okay mine is i have two for
this one just two questions that he asks all
the time what is that and he says it more like
what What is that? And then I think I've got
a recording of that one so we can maybe put it
in. And then what's happening? And it's just
everything is what is that? Or if he hears a
sound outside, what's happening, mom? What's
happening? And I'm like, I don't know, buddy.
I think a loud car just drove by or. yeah there's
an airplane outside or whatever and he's just
questions everything and wants to is so like
curious and i love it and just the way that his
tone of voice and how he says it is just i just
want to hold on to it forever that's so cute
yeah and it's better than why i'm sure he'll
get to his why face too why why what what is
that is so cute that yeah Okay, X. X. So this
isn't actually an X word, but he gets eczema
and we have like a spray for him to take when
it gets bad. And so he calls it X spray. X spray.
X spray. Nice. That was a little bit of a stretch
because eczema does not actually have an X in
it at all. No, but it sure sounds like it. It
sure does. Well, I think you did better than
I did because mine's just excited face. Like
his excited face. Honestly, anytime you go through,
like, an alphabet book, I think I know, like,
I think we have one, maybe two. No, I think we
only have one. That's an x -ray, probably. Yeah,
and it's x -ray. Yeah. So, all the others, it's,
like, excited or expressed. We're like, that's
not, like, it has x in it. So, you know, you're
just on par with all of the ABC books that you
have. Okay, why? Why? We have yogurt. We have
like yogurt pouches and he loves them. Costco
was out for like a couple weeks. So we were out
of yogurt. With the Stonyfield brand. The Stonyfield
brand. That's also so expensive. So expensive.
If Costco's out, we're not buying it at King
Soopers because it's like twice the price at
King Soopers. So sorry, dude. If it's out at
Costco, we're just. Out of luck for a couple
weeks. Yeah. Yeah. But yeah, he requests yogurt.
Big fan. Yes. Okay. Mine for why is you okay?
He, yeah, is super empathetic. And if, I don't
know, I sneeze or cough or whatever, he'll go,
mommy, you okay? You okay? That's so sweet. Yeah,
buddy, I'm okay. Thank you. So always just asking,
you okay? Or if I sound like frustrated about
something, like, I don't know. Mommy, you okay?
Mom, chill out. Yeah, come on. Chill out, mom.
So super cute. Love it. Okay, last letter, Z.
zeta it's his little sister he loves her and
it's super cute because now he's like actually
saying it for a while it's more like ada but
now it's zeta and again being two he's in a very
descriptive like explaining everything so be
like zeta fell zeta did this zeta zeta playing
with lloyd's lightning mcqueen zeta playing with
whatever zeta said ah that's a big one right
now is just like whatever noise she makes it'll
be zeta said and then zeta said whatever that
noise was so but we talk about zeta a lot because
love it he loves his baby sister yeah all right
what do you have for z okay i have zucchini the
cat so we have we have a neighborhood cat she
lives like a couple houses down her name is actually
tot and um I don't know. We didn't know her name
for a while. And this was during, like, my maternity
leave after Cruz was born. We, like, saw her
around all the time because it was, like, nice
out. And she just, like, wanders the neighborhood.
And Michael had a garden and was growing zucchini.
And for some reason I was like, oh, we should
just say the cat's name is Zucchini. Because
I was like, that's, like, kind of a cool cat's
name. That is a great cat's name. Yeah. And so
we call her Zucchini. And we see her all the
time. And Colt will be like, Mom, Zucchini. There's
Zucchini. And I'm like, yeah, her name is taught.
But she will just forever be Zucchini. Yeah.
Yeah. And super cute. And so my dad and stepmom
have a cat back in California. And his name is
Cooper. And so we'll talk about Cooper sometimes.
And then he'll be like, Mom, Cooper, Zucchini.
A little bit the same. I'm like, yeah. Yeah.
That's right. They're both cats. They're a little
bit the same. Yep. So that is all for ABCs of
toddlerhood. But yeah, hopefully you guys enjoyed
that. And hopefully if your kids are a little
bit older, you can kind of reminisce and think
about the fun. Or share what your big words are
right now. Yeah. Yeah. It's just such a fun season.
And I'm sure if we did this again in a year,
it would be so different. So different. Yeah.
Yeah. I think right now. So Zeta is about to
turn one, which is crazy. But seeing Lloyd at
this age at two and a half, I'm really, really
excited to see Zeta at two and a half. Like not
that I'm not having fun with her, you know, 11,
almost 12 months. But as hard as the two year
old age is with the tantrums and the big emotions
and all that, it's also so fun. And so I'm like,
I'm so excited to, you know. Hear what Zeta's
alphabet is. Yes. You'll see her obsessions and
stuff like that. Yeah. Totally agree. Okay. Well,
should we hop into our wins of the week? Sure.
Okay. I can go first. Okay. So you actually know
about this. On Sunday, Zeta just randomly threw
up on me, which was super, super fun. That was
it. Like she was just. It was just that one time.
But it was a situation where I was like getting
her ready for her nap, nursing her to sleep.
She like stopped nursing, threw up all over me
and her and the chair and everything. So I was
like, okay. Yep. I go take her to the bathroom,
get us both stripped down, both cleaned up. But
also she still needs to take a nap. Like at this
point it's like 1 or 1 .30, something like that.
I don't know. It's late. And we have evening
plans. So, you know, we're going through like.
do I take her? Do we stay home? Like all of that.
But I finally got her to sleep, just like sleeping
on me. And to be honest, like I kind of live
for nap time, which like, not that I don't want
to spend time with my kids, but just like having
a break. Yeah. And then especially on weekends,
because during the week, nap time means that
I'm getting my work done. So then weekends, it's
just like, that's the only time. other than like
after bedtime there's only like daytime time
i have to like myself whether that's i want to
take a nap or whatever so like normally like
i'm just as soon as she's down i like go put
her in her crib and at this point i was like
you know what she's sick and she like clearly
needs mom right now and i don't know the next
time we'll have a contact nap so like she's getting
bigger and she's not gonna want that as often
So, I mean, I did eventually put her in her crib,
but it was one of those things where I was like,
I'm just going to like sit here for longer than
I normally would and just like let her sleep
on me and just, I don't know, just enjoy this,
which is not my natural instinct, I guess. Like
my natural instinct is like, I'm going to put
her down and go do my own thing. And yeah. And
so I feel like it was just like a win to me to
like reprioritize and know like. This is what
she needs right now. And this is actually the
most important thing right now. Not all the other
things I could do or even me getting a nap right
now. So, yeah, that was my win. Nice. What do
you got? My win. So we're really working on trying
to get Cruz used to his crib because we've co
-slept for the past 10 months almost. And so
just like the past couple of weeks, like. At
naptimes, I'm putting him in his crib and for
like at least the first little stretch at night,
he goes in his crib. And the other night, I don't
know what we did differently. I don't know. He
gave me a four hour stretch in his crib, which
was like, yeah, that doesn't seem like a lot
to some people. But like this kid wakes up every
single hour of the night right now. And so that
four hour stretch like. I was not asleep for
that whole time. I was asleep for probably like
two hours of that. But just to like be able to
put him down and like I literally slept in my
bed like with my husband and no child in between
us for like for two hours. And that was crazy.
Yeah. For the last 10 months, it has not been
like that. And so, yeah, we're really working
on trying to get that like. I don't know, more
dialed in. How can we make that more frequent?
And so that was a win in my book. No, that's
huge for sure. Yeah. Getting used to the crib
stuff is rough. It really is. And I'm like, yeah,
of course he wants to be right next to me. But
like I need like he's just so big now and like
move so much. And so we just we got to get used
to it. So, yeah. Yeah. Well. Thanks for tuning
in, guys. Hopefully, yeah, hopefully you guys
enjoyed today's episode. Would love to hear what
your kids are saying right now that are standing
out to you and would love, yeah, just your feedback
and what you guys want to hear in the future.
Yeah. Okay. Well, hope you guys have a great
week and we will see you next week. See you next
week. Well, that's enough oversharing for today.
If you enjoyed hanging out with us, hit subscribe
so you don't miss the next round of chaos. And
if you're listening while hiding in the bathroom
from your kids, no judgment, we see you. Thanks
for joining us on No Manual Momcast, where motherhood
is messy. At least we can laugh about it together.
Good job.