In his first year as the Man Up Front...

Because you can't have fall without...

Peter & the Wolf

After the marching band, Turo's second obsession is Peter and the Wolf. My mom gave him some old tapes from when I was little and one of them has the Disney version of on it. Then she found a Sesame Street DVD where Baby Bear goes to see the concert and Elmo is Peter. And we have Sting's narration of it on the Ipod. Plus there are multiple videos on youtube. We listen to some version of it at least three times a day. Turo can recite chunks of the story and can sing sections of the score.

A couple of weekends ago my mom came down to stay while Jose was out of town and brought the cast with her.

Turo as Peter

Getting ready to capture the wolf

The whole crew: Peter, duck, wolf, bird and cat

Turo loves his grandma! (And so do I!)

Broccoli

Possession

Turo's language has exploded in the past few months. It actually feels like we have conversations. I can ask him about past events, and he can describe them to me. He is beginning to articulate his thoughts and feelings. He composes sentences that make Jose and me crack up. The other day he told Jose to "relax."

But I think one of my favorite additions to his vocabulary has been the use of "my" before "Mama" or "Papi" Every time he proclaims, "my mama" or my papi" to others. I beam. My heart flip flops. He has claimed us.

Dear Cindy

After we did a lot of traveling this summer and Turo slept in big beds, the time just felt right for the switch to the toddler bed in August. He "helped" me convert it, so that might have helped make the adjustment easier. He has done a good job of staying in it at night and still calls out when he wakes up. At naptime (which is being phased out - yikes!), I could hear him get out to get toys but then he went right back in. I also like it because I can snuggle with him at bedtime for a bit (but I start feeling cramped after about 10 minutes).



As for the loud factor, we haven't really encountered that particular issue too much. When he gets wound up, his volume increases as well and we have to remind him to use his inside voice. We also did a lot of practicing of quiet voices when we were getting ready for his baptism and refer to situations in which we need to whisper "like church."



Toddlers are such a trip.

My little drummer boy