I don't remember having this problem at the same age with Brayden, she seemed to understand English really well at this point, but we are constantly having communication issues with Ashton! Conversations get so confusing sometimes!
Issue #1: He is always accidentally getting himself into trouble! He thinks "on purpose" means "on accident" and that "meant to" means "didn't mean to". So if he says any of those things, he means the opposite of what he says! Poor kid has gotten punished for things he really didn't do!
Issue #2: He thinks "instead of" means "with"! We have gone in circles with this one, thinking we talked him into having one thing instead of another, when in reality he thinks we're saying he can have both!
Issue #3: He thinks he hears us say something that we're not! Like anytime I say something about "tomorrow" he thinks I'm talking about "Mario" from the Nintendo games. (He IS a little obsessed with Mario, though!) But it happens all day with other things too! I know he has really good hearing, he just mis-hears or misunderstands all the time! Or maybe he's just one-track minded and expects me to be saying something that has to do with what's on his mind! (Hmmm, I guess Daddy has this issue too...)
Another thing he always does is he over-thinks things we say, like today I was asking him what he is hoping to get from the Easter Bunny and he mentioned a toy, and I asked him if he saw it at a store before, and he said "No." So I asked him, "Oh, did you just think of it in your head?" He looked at me like I was crazy for asking him that and said, "Nooo! I can't put my face inside my head!" He says funny things like that all the time! I wish I could remember to write it all down every time!
Seriously, though, as frusterating as it can be sometimes, the way he thinks and understands things usually makes us laugh pretty hard! It's so cute, and I know this phase won't last long! He's growing up so fast, so I'm holding on to these last little moments of his toddler years!
It was about time that we took our first, yes FIRST vacation away from the kids! We had such an amazing time! We stayed in Puntarenas, Costa Rica, but also got to see some other parts as well! We packed so much into each day and really got the most we possibly could out of the vacation!
Day 1: The first day we spent at the resort taking advantage of unlimited food and drinks and lounged at the pools. Later that night we went to a market to buy some souvenirs!Day 2: We set sail for Tortuga Island for some snorkeling and fun on the white sandy beach and beautiful aqua blue water! The trip started off rocky, with a tiny boat instead of the catamaran we were told we'd get. We got stuck at one point and the guys had to get out to help push the boat in crocodile infested water! Mike got out of it since he had a hurt back from the first day of the trip. Lucky him! Then it took 2 hours instead of the 45 minutes we were told it would take to get there! But once we made it, it was beautiful! I tried snorkeling for the first time, didn't work out too well for me, but I'll have to give it another try next time! Mike got some great underwater pics thanks to my dad's camera! After snorkeling our guides prepared us an amazing meal and we had fun walking around, seeing wildlife there, finding shells, and checking out the gift shop. Our ride back was long, and it didn't help that we ran out of gas, but it was all worth it!Day 3: We started out the day on the beach at our resort, skim boarding, boogie boarding, and kayaking. Me and Mike's kayak tipped over then fell on my head and then my back, giving me a horrible bruise, but we still had fun! Later we went on a boat tour looking for crocodiles and saw all kinds of beautiful birds along the way. After that we went to this lady's backyard where a bunch of monkeys live and got to feed them bananas and animal cookies! They were so cute! They would take the food right out of your hand, and they always wanted both of their hand full of food! One stuffed it's mouth full of 4 cookies which reminded me of Ashton! Too cute! Well, they were cute until Mike freaked one of them out by accident and then it showed it's teeth, then another one joined him. Mike saw they might start coming after us so he showed his teeth and tried to make himself look bigger to try to make them back off (he said it was his instincts!) but that just ticked them off more! Everyone took off running down the path we were on, and somehow I ended up in the back! If the monkeys were going to attack anyone it would have been me! Luckily we all got out just fine!Day 4: The guys (minus Mike because of his bad back) went golfing so us girls hung out at the pool all day. Mike got to be our cabana boy, getting us water and pina coladas whenever we needed them! Jocelyn and I decided to do the water aerobics class they had that day, which was all good until we were told me and Jocelyn had to hold each other "like a baby" and then had to get into a circle to massage each other! Jocelyn got to be put on the instructor's lap and massaged by him! We were laughing the whole time! Going back to our lounging spot later we found that there were 2 (at least) iguanas hanging out with us where we were laying out by the pool. Also, Jocelyn and Jamie participated in the "pool party" where they filled the pool with what they called "foam", which was Mr. Bubbles! Later some of us did a merengue class with our hubbies. Andy took a nap so Jocelyn was lucky enough to have her friend, the aerobics and now dance instructor, Joshua, be her dance partner! (He must have had a thing for her!) After that we all met to eat at one of the reservation restaurants there - I thought the food was so good! Nice change from the buffet we had every day!Day 5: We went to Jaco, a beautiful beach town! It was so fun to see a different part of Costa Rica! We did some shopping, ate at a couple of restaurants, and had fun at the beach!Day 6: We did the Canopy Tour which had 25 zip lines and 11 waterfalls! Everyone except for Michelle and I travelled on horseback! We were glad we didn't, most of them were hurting! The zip lines were fun, but I think we were all ready to be done by the end! At the end we got to eat at the restaurant there. It was so gorgeous, it overlooked a beautiful view! We went back and hung out at the pool and then had fun dancing and watching a show for our last night there.This was definitely the most fun and adventurous vacation I've ever been on! We came home exhausted and excited to see our kids, but I have to say, I'm already ready to go back!
I don't remember having this problem at the same age with Brayden, she seemed to understand English really well at this point, but we are constantly having communication issues with Ashton! Conversations get so confusing sometimes!
