Talky Talky Toddler

I just realized that at least in part I've spent every weekend of August with kiddos.

I do need to catch up on old posts, mostly because I have fun pictures of making s'mores and fairy birthday parties, but for now I'm going to focus on this weekend.

He's not new to my world, but he is to my blog so I'd like to introduce you to Stompers.

His mommy and I have been friends for about a decade (wowzers!) and he'll be two next month. His nicknames are abundant, but I think my favorite is Silly Billy Stomper Wompers, so I'm going with Stompers.

I don't get to see them all that often since I moved to DC so a weekend at the beach was a nice treat. The three of us hit the road on Friday afternoon and that's when Stompers started talking. With the exception of a few poorly timed naps, he never really stopped.

Occasionally he'd take a break from talking to sing to us. The ABC song, Itsy Bitsy Spider and one he wrote himself, sung to a familiar tune:

(To the tune of Twinkle Twinkle)

No, No, No, No, No, No, No, No, No, No, No, No, No, No

Oh yes, no is most certainly Stompers' favorite word. We heard it often, mostly just in usual conversation, but occasionally in the midst of a tantrum, usually ocean induced. It's a rough life when you are both absolutely drawn to and absolutely afraid of the ocean. A rough life indeed.

While "No" may be his favorite word, my favorite was a conversation we had after he spent much of yesterday afternoon doing this:

Side note: I couldn't resist the adorable close up shot either. Somehow my crappy Blackberry camera actually made it look artsy.

Sorry, I got distracted by cuteness... and eyelashes. My goodness those eyelashes...  

Yesterday it rained. A lot. So after a brief jaunt on the beach we hit the road north for some indoor kiddie rides for Stompers and outlet shopping for his mom and I. Unfortunately for my little friend, he fell asleep within about 15 minutes of getting in the car and slept for HOURS. That meant the rides got skipped altogether and his mom and I took turns - one person shopping while the other read in the car. It made for quite an inefficient use of time, but neither of us really minded since we are both quite content to spend an afternoon with a book. 

By the time we finally pulled into the parking lot of Grottos to order some yummy take out for dinner, Stompers had spent the better part of 5 hours in his car seat. Granted, he was sleeping for about 3 1/2 of that, but still, the kid was over it. 

So we're waiting for his mom to come out with our dinner and I'm doing my best to keep him entertained with silly words and songs when he says "Wanna go Stacy's house. Go please. Drive Car." So completely adorable. I told him we couldn't leave til Mommy came out with dinner, to which he responded "Drive Stacy. Get Mommy. Drive!" 

Poor little buddy. And so polite! 

Finally today, our last stop before hitting the road home was Staples. Because nothing rounds out a good weekend at the beach like office supplies (don't ask). While his mommy tracked down what she needed I did my best to get Stompers ready for a long ride in the car. 

It involved running up and down the aisles and climbing on the sports themed desk chairs. Every time a staff member considered reprimanding us they just looked at that face and turned their frown upside down. My efforts paid off - sorta. Stompers slept for the last hour of our car trip, but I don't think it was the activity in Staples that tired him out. I think it was all of the nonstop talking he did for the first 90 minutes of the drive!

I do love that kid, and I had a great weekend, but I'm pretty happy that my cat doesn't ask any questions!