That's right, The Roo is finally saying no. I was wondering when he would. We try not to say no too much and give him a reason why he should stop doing whatever it is he's doing that he shouldn't be doing. But, the time has come and he enjoys saying no, especially around bedtime. It's a very cute yet somewhat defiant no, much better than how we imagined it would be. Here are some fun examples of Roo's 'no':

Mama: Roo, would you like to take a bath?
Roo: mmm....No
Mama: Roo, lets change your diaper.
Roo: mmm....No
Mama to Roo who is sitting in the bath: Roo, would you like to stay in the bath?
Roo: mmm...No (he gets mad if we actually take him out of the bath at this point)
Mama to Roo after bathtime: Do you want to read a book?
Roo: mm.m..No (he normally asks for a book a few minutes later as we're putting him to bed if we weren't already reading one)

So, you see, a lot of times he appears to be thinking about his answer and really means no, but it seems that as the day goes on and we get closer to actually putting him in his crib, no becomes his word of choice no matter what we ask him. Now we're trying to teach him yes.

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On a different note, the construction for the addition began yesterday and they made good progress. Now that I can see some of the work I can easily see how the work will be done and I'm getting pretty excited about it. Our only concern is that the hurricanes don't slow the progress down too much. In fact, they would be taking the roof off this week, but with Hanna scheduled to arrive this weekend, they're going to wait until Monday. We'll have to take some pics as the work progresses. For now, the only noticable difference on the outside of the house is that the siding is missing from the garage.

No Dogs Allowed

Since daddy had to spend some time this weekend clearing out the family room and building The Wall, mommy and The Roo went to visit grandma and grandpa. On the way there we stopped at Ikea in College Park to get some ideas for the new playroom. Ikea actually has a pretty good selection of little kid toys at great prices. Mommy decided that since The Roo likes to build his little fort every night that he'd probably like one of those little kiddie tents.

Score one for mom because The Roo loves it. He and daddy had a lot of fun playing in it today.

And, The Roo even enjoyed having his afternoon snack in it...yes, there's nothing better than cherry tomatoes! The Roo does his best to keep Baxter out but once Roo leaves, Baxter has to make sure there aren't any crumbs left behind....there's a surprise!

We had a great long weekend and daddy finished everything in preparation for the construction to begin tomorrow. We'll keep everyone updated on the progress and we'll even take bets on whether or not you think the construction will be complete before the baby arrives. 10 weeks or less until baby comes, 6 weeks is the estimate for the construction timeline. Add hurricane season in as a factor and, well, mommy just ignores the fact that this is all happening. Ignorance is bliss right!?!

Happy Birthday Dada!

Happy birthday dada! Hope you had a wonderful day. The wall looks great and The Roo seems to like the new setup. We love you! :)

Happy Birthday B!

Today is Baxter's 5th birthday! He had a great day helping daddy with some preparation for the addition that starts on Tuesday. I'm sure daddy gave him some extra treats today. Now that he's 5 he's also the most senior member of the household. We're hoping this means he'll take on a little more responsibility around the house ;)

Big Brother

No, this isn't about The Roo becoming a big brother. This is about the nice video camera mommy and daddy installed in his room. You see, The Roo has entered the terrible two's and one night last week when we put him to bed after a long battle, he decided that he was just so mad that he would climb out of his crib and sleep elsewhere in his room. We're not exactly sure where he slept that night but he was lounged comfortably in his recliner in the morning when we went in to get him.

The Roo is an excellent climber so before everyone gets upset about his climbing antics, we've actually watched him climb out and he does it very safely. That said, he doesn't normally climb out but that night definitely got us thinking that we'd really like to see what he does in his room when he's going to bed and waking in the morning. So, we installed the camera and mommy's viewing pleasure for the evening is a cute little sleeping Roo in a little Roo ball with his cover on him.

It's a good thing he's got the cover on him. As some of you are aware, as a part of being 2 now, Roo has decided that he doesn't like to wear pjs to bed anymore. We make him wear a diaper, that's a battle he won't win, but we decided not to worry about wearing pjs. So his new bedtime attire is either a diaper, shorts and socks or just a diaper and socks. Goofy huh?!

Mommy's excited for the 5am version of this spying fun. The Roo has been waking in the 5 o'clock hour and falling back to sleep; this happens sometimes when he's teething. It'll be fun to watch what he's doing during this time!

Outdoor Fun

The past few weekends we've been preparing the house and garage for construction to begin. If you're not aware, we're planning on adding two rooms totaling 600 sq ft to the house, one over the garage and one over the family room. This will add a lot of play space for The Roo and his new little brother. So daddy's been cleaning out the house and garage to prepare, and Baxter and The Roo have been playing in the backyard with mommy.

Roo prefers to run around naked and climb in and out of his water table and pool. He also likes to spray Baxter with the house.

We're pretty happy that Roo's not afraid of the pool this year. Even better is that Roo is exhausted after being outside and is super cuddly for the rest of the evening.

Fort Roo

Every night we let Roo watch a half hour of tv before we head upstairs for bedtime. He watches Nina and Star on Sprout and likes to watch Chica sing happy birthday. It's a good time for him to wind down and relax before bed and he enjoys sitting in 'his' chair for this. Recently he decided that it's even more fun to tip the chair over and turn it into a little fort. We put a blanket over it and he keeps Baxter out and hides from mommy and daddy. What could be more fun than having your own fort!

On a different evening, mommy and daddy found it more entertaining to let him watch his show this way ;)

Happy 2nd Birthday Roo!

Today is The Roo's 2nd birthday. When we went to get him from his crib this morning we welcomed his day with the Happy Birthday song. We had a couple of balloons on his chair waiting for him for breakfast. He loved the balloons and thought it was hilarious to try to bop Baxter in the head with them.

Grandma, Grandpa and Uncle Matt got to the house this morning to help celebrate. After his nap, his party started and his Auntie and Uncle and Connor came over for a small party. Connor and The Roo had a blast playing in the sandbox and running around the yard. Roo enjoyed drinking, no kidding, Daddy's homemade salsa. And even though he thought it was a bit spicy he wanted more.

After the BBQ we opened gifts and he loved everything. It should take him most of the day tomorrow to play with all of his new toys.

The last thing we did was sing happy birthday. He was so excited, we got the most wonderful smile from him. He was a little afraid to blow out the candle, guess we've done a good job of teaching him the concept of hot. And of course, he loved every bit of his homemade cake and was eventually a big green mess!It's hard to believe he's 2 already. We all had a wonderful day and we're so excited Roo enjoyed his day too!

Adventures in Roo-sitting

We had a family emergency this past week and Uncle Matt quickly jumped in to help out. He greeted The Roo when the sitter dropped him off on Thursday and then picked him up from the sitter on Friday. Thanks to Kristin for being extra flexible too! Then Uncle Matt watched The Roo a lot of they day on Saturday and even did bedtime with him. We were glad Uncle Matt was able to help and that the rest of our family and friends who were aware of what was going on were standing by to help, it meant a lot, so thank you.
Dada was happy to be home again on Saturday night and Baxter was excited to greet him. You'd think mama was chopped liver with the greeting dada got! And then Sunday The Roo was just elated to see his dada and play with him all day.
Everything's pretty much back to normal at home now and we're happy to just relax and play with Baxter and The Roo. And, we can't wait to celebrate The Roo's 2nd birthday this Saturday!