Recently in Cute kid stories Category

Sam recently reached the 30-night mark for sleeping in her own bed.

It was rough going some nights, especially when she was sitting on her bed, her body all tense, sobbing that she just wanted someone to snuggle her and love her.

I held my ground. Several nights, my husband stepped in and took over settling her down. I'm not sure how he did it -- although I know it involved some taking of deep breaths -- but there she'd be in the morning, her hair mussed and her face a little blotchy but in her own bed nonetheless.

This means Sam earned the grand prize she'd been working toward: A giant wooden dollhouse from Target.

Noah has found the sky.

Last night, on our way home, I heard Noah in the backseat saying, "Whoa! Mommy, ky! ky!" I glanced in the rearview mirror and saw he was pointing out the window, up toward the sky.

"It IS beautiful!" I said, looking at the horizon. The sun was beginning to set behind the mountain, and it cast a pink-and-purple tinge across the sky. The fluffy clouds, lilac and cotton candy dotted with white, were almost glowing. "Look at those beautiful clouds!"

"Whoa!" he said again. "Mom, whoa! Ky!"

Even Sam chimed in on the momentous occasion. "Mom, he's talking about the sky! Good job, buddy!"

This morning, as we were headed to the sitter's, he pointed it out again: "Mom, ky! Bwoo ky."

He was right: It was a baby-blue sky, with stringy white clouds wafting across it.

Not even 2 yet, and my son's already an aesthete. I love it.

One day last week, as I was cleaning all the rooms upstairs and returning furniture moved during our home-wreckage project to their proper places, little Mr. Noah was wandering around helping me.

Except by "helping" I mean that he was taking things I was returning into their rightful places and putting them back to where they didn't belong.

At one point, he came barreling into the bathroom, yelling "Mom Mom!" and carrying an open box of baking soda.

Noah helped me with my work ensemble today.

I've got smushed Pop Tart on my left shoulder and the inside crook of my right elbow. I've also got a faint air of milk and brown-sugar Pop Tart, too -- hmmmm, wonder if I could bottle this smell and sell it as Eau de Mommy?

My Mr. Noah's vocabulary has totally taken off.

He's got quite the repertoire now. Among them:

Somebody sent me a link to this video the other day, and I just had to share.

Here are all the words you need: baby, Beyonce, imitative dance.

Enjoy!

There's also this one. And man, can this baby move!

I'm pretty certain Noah's a friggin' genius.

Why do I think this? Other than the fact that he's already saying really hard words like "washcloth" and "Spongebob"?

Because he likes to line up similar things in exact rows.

His favorite is plastic bottles of soap and shampoo in the bathroom. He gets them, one at a time, out of the basket we keep them in, and he carries them to the edge of the tub or the sink. Then, he turns them sideways, slides them gently until they're just touching each other, then taps and bumps them until they're in a straight line.

He's so focused when he does this. So intent. So serious. So exacting. So adorable.

See what I mean? Pure genius.

I was certain Sam was a genius about this age, too, because she could tell you what sounds 10 animals made (cow, horse, sheep, pig, cat, dog, mouse, monkey, snake and elephant).

I think we all get caught up at some point in how fast our kids learn new things that we just can't believe they're already doing whatever thing it is that's amazing us.

Why is your kid a genius?

Noah's learning lots of new words lately.

I love that he says "Dee doh" for "thank you" and "peez" for "please" (actually, it's always more like: "peez peez peez peez peez peez peez peez peez peez peez???")

He says "Yinya" for Linda, his sitter. And "eat" when he's hungry. And "bobble" when he's thirsty (even if he wants a sippy cup).

But my two new favorites: "What?" and "why?"

Here are examples:
Me (in one of the rooms upstairs): "Noah!"
Noah (in one of the other rooms): "What!"

or

Me: "Hey Mr. Stinky Pants, let's go upstairs and change your diaper."
Noah (heading for the stairs): "Why?"

He doesn't actually need a response yet to either of them, but the words sound so funny in his little baby voice that I just crack up.

Anything your kids saying right now that makes you laugh?

On Monday, amid nerves and fake coughs and gleeful romping with friends, Sam started first grade.

Here's a pic of her before she ran off to the bus stop:

And oh, what a fun ride it's been so far.

Sam was swimming in our blow-up pool in the yard this weekend when she swam toward me.

"Mom," she said, "what happens if four-leaf burglars get wet?"

"Four-leaf whats?" I said.

"Four-leaf burglars," she replied. "Like this." And she held out a tiny leaf that looked a bit like a clover.

"Oh, you mean four-leaf clovers," I said.

"Yeah, sure," she said. "So what happens to 'em? Does it take the good luck out of them?"

"No, I don't think so. I think they just get wet," I said between laughs.