Thursday, December 22, 2011

Days 75, 76, and 77

We were supposed to go to a new music and storytime class this morning to replace the one that ended last week, but my son didn't get up until around 9:30, and the class started at 10. Oh well.

I had to go to school today to take care of some paperwork, but what I had hoped would be about a 45 second drop-in turned into a roughly 45 minute stay. I'm not complaining; it gave several of a my coworkers a chance to meet (and fawn over) the 17-month old version of my son (who evidently is adorable). Ever since I worked retailed, I've always disliked when people who aren't working show up at work. Jeez, we'll see you tomorrow, guy! I've tried to stay away from doing it because I don't want it to seem like I'm there to show off my son; that's just what it happened to turn in to.

I called my dad after we left school to see if we could meet for lunch. Even though he had already eaten, he still invited us over so we could eat our lunch. We had a nice quiet visit before light started peaking through the naptime window. It was important that we didn't stay too long because I really didn't want him to fall asleep on the way home (and he didn't).

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One of us didn't wake up until 10 today. I won't say who. I will say that sleeping so late is putting a real damper on a very important project on which I'm supposed to be working.

My son loves hats. Not wearing them, mind you, but rather taking them off of my head and putting them back on just slightly and crooked. Today he took my hat and put it on top of Ellie's head and applauded himself. Apparently not completely pleased with his work, he adjusted it and clapped again. She just let it all happen. Good dog.

I thought of one more thing to get my wife for Christmas, plus we needed some pet supplies, so we went out for a little bit of shopping. As a result of the late wakeup call, I didn't get a chance to shower beforehand. I just threw on my clothes from the day before and went out anyway. I think that officially indoctrinates me into the world of stay-at-home-(whatever).

I needed to get Christmas presents for the dogs, so we returned to Petco (where my son had expertly rearranged the dog treats just a few days before) and I grabbed the first two bags that he had chosen on our previous trip. I think he was a little hurt that I didn't let him carry them, but we didn't have a lot of time to waste. In fact, because I was in such a hurry, I completely forgot to pick up food and treats for the chinchillas. So as soon as we checked and walked out, we walked right back in and went through the line again. Slow down, Daddy!

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It was another late morning today, but this one was totally not my fault. Our only plans for the day were maybe going to school again for our annual student/ faculty basketball game, so I was really in no hurry. Like I said before, I don't really like to go to work if I don't need to be there (I had volunteered to help with the game if it was necessary), so it wasn't a top priority.

After a quick lunch on the road, we did manage to get to school in time for the game. He was far more into it than I could have expected. I held him for the first few minutes, but he let me know when it was time to get down. Then we stood in a corner of the gym until he decided to sit on my shoes for a while. When I got tired of standing, he sat on my lap. When he got tired of sitting, he got up and stood relatively still right in front of me- intently watching all the while. He never does these things at music class or storytime- not enough action for him, perhaps. If nothing else, we do live in the right school district for sports...

We left school around 2 so he could get home for a very late nap. He kept himself busy (and awake) with his arm in his snack container and went down very easily when we got home. I even got to take a nap before Gram came over to watch him while I went back to school to announce a high school basketball game and Mommy enjoyed her school's Christmas party. Mommy has one more day of work this week before we get to enjoy our second Christmas with our little man!

Sunday, December 18, 2011

Days 73 and 74

We spent most of our morning looking at cars. As we were leaving the Subaru dealership, I noticed a familiar color and model- it was my dad's car! I got his attention and we pulled up next to each other so he could get some face time with his grandson. He started saying "Pop Pop" recently (my son, not my dad), so I tried to get him to do it. As anyone who has ever had children knows, they aren't always prepared to perform. It has to be quite entertaining to observe a parent trying (and failing) to get his or her child to do one of these "tricks". I don't think our voices are ever as high-pitched as they are when we're trying to get a baby to say a word or throw a ball.

We took our son along to a veteranarian appointment for our dogs. This is no small task with the new car seat, old base, and stroller in the back of my car. The vet is now on his list of favorite places, as it has all of his favorite things: dogs, ceiling fans, and lights. He also discovered the play area and took his time pulling down each toy and carefully putting it back in the right place.

Since we were in the neighborhood, we had dinner with my parents. While we were there, we were fortunate to catch Santa riding by on a fire truck. Gram briefly scared the boogers out of him as she raced him outside to see and hear the lights and siren and catch a glimpse of Firetruck Santa. It was a neat moment, and all was forgiven in no time at all.

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Mommy took the day off today to go shopping with her friend, so we still had the day to ourselves. We had to go into the city today to pick up some doggie medication but not much else planned for the day. Since we were already in the city, I thought we would stop by the soon-to-be-closed pretzel bakery. The alley on which it is located was blocked by a maintenance truck, and we were up against a pretty strict lunch deadline, so we had to move along.

After talking to an old friend at the Medicine Shoppe, we tried to find a lunch date. We managed to pull Mommy away from shopping long enough to agree to meet us. We had a little time to kill, so we stopped at Petco to check out some animals. After stopping briefly at the ferrets, my son moved on to removing items from shelves and organizing them in the middle of the aisles. At one point he had roughly 20 bags of treats standing upright in the middle of the store. 20 bags that I had to pick up and find replace before we left.

We met Mommy and a friend, despite my son's attempts to keep us from doing so. Seems he wasn't too thrilled about sitting still. He was much more interested in making piles of food in his high chair and staring at a nearby baby. Eventually I figured out a semi-successful method of feeding him that was a cross between the "airplane and hangar" and force feeding. All the giggling told me he didn't mind.

Thursday, December 15, 2011

Days 71 and 72

Mommy had to go back to work tonight for her school's Christmas concert, so we went out and checked out some lights. As I'm sure just about every neighborhood does now, we have "that guy" a few blocks from us who takes things way too far with an animated LED display, and even broadcasts accompanying music to a radio frequency (I wonder if the FCC knows about this...). Every other year I've cringed at how many people sit and listen to Manheim Steamroller or Trans Siberian Orchestra or whatever the new "no really, it's Christmas music, but it rocks!!" is these days, but now I have a son who loves looking at lights. We also recently moved him into his "big boy" car seat, so he can see the lights much better. We stuck around for the whole show (complete with welcome message), and it was worth it just watching the lights reflecting in his amazed eyes.

He's 17-months old today. That's kind of a weird one to say: "seventeen months old". I'm really not sure I've ever actually heard someone say that about his or her child before. Sixteen months, sure. 18- of course. Seventeen months old? Just doesn't roll off the tongue. Anyway, he's still freaking awesome.

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My son got back in his Santa suit for music class today, as it was the final class before Christmas. We also made him wear it when we took him to get his picture taken with Mall Santa. It went about as well as you can expect a 17-month old being forced to sit on a hairy stranger's lap to go. Eventually, Mommy had to step in and hold him while Santa made a "shhh" gesture to his mouth. I thought it all looked kind of dirty in a I-saw-Mommy-kissing-Santa-Claus kind of way, but that was the pose we decided to buy. If he acts the same way next year, we'll be sure to buy the screaming one and add it to the wedding slideshow pile.

Tuesday, December 13, 2011

Days 69 and 70

Today we got a chance to go for a walk. When I say "we", I mean my son, both dogs, and I went for a walk. I'm not sure that this particular crew has ever done that before. I think all of us walked around the block with my wife one time, but never just the four of us. If this doesn't seem like much of a challenge to you, you've clearly never gone on a walk with my dogs.

It's very difficult for them to decide which side of the sidewalk they want to be on. It's also a constant competition to see who can be the lead dog. Of course there's also the pooping, the stopping for no reason, the squirrel/ rabbit/ dog/ bird chasing, and myriad other difficulties that may occur. Couple that with the added responsibility of keeping tabs on my son, and you've got a recipe for an eventful walk.

After getting everyone in his or her stroller and/ or collar, we were off. The first half-mile of a walk with my dogs is always the worst. With the added obstacle of the stroller, it was more difficult than I had anticipated. Ellie, the skittish shelter dog, cringes at every unfamiliar sound or touch- the stroller isn't so quiet when it hits bumps, and she doesn't quite get the idea that it is travelling at the same speed as she. Davi, the elder wannabe alpha dog, can still hear the sound of the stroller but can't see it. He got "ankled" too many times to count.

Eventually they get a little tired of pulling on their leashes and they act like they know what "heel" means. We did do some obedience training; you just wouldn't know it. They settled down just in time for me to decide whether to make this a long or short walk. I chose long, and they didn't let me down. They even helped me rescue a runaway dog whose walker had dropped its leash. My son was in heaven when its own showed up carrying his other dog. Four "dups"! In one place!!!

When we got home from our nearly 3 mile excursion, Mommy was resting on the couch. She was more than happy to warm up his rosy little cheeks.

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Today was our last storytime before Christmas. When we had our last storytime before Halloween, most of the moms dressed up their kids in their costumes, so I figured it might be a good time to put my son in the Santa suit I bought him for the race last weekend. No one else dressed up. That doesn't make it wrong.

We did some shopping before lunchtime (Daddy always needs more v-necks!), and I decided to keep him in his Santa outfit. For such a ridiculous purchase, it is certainly worth the adorableness of seeing a little Santa waddling around Old Navy.

A girl stopped and asked me about my shoes while we were shopping because her husband loves them. I gave her several shopping options, and we parted ways. It's almost shocking to be approached by strangers these days for anything other than talking about how awesome my son is.

Friday, December 9, 2011

Days 67 and 68

Apparently my son has learned to spin. Of course not the stationary bike kind- the kind where you just spin in circles until you fall down. Thankfully he's only mastered the first part. He started doing it at music class today when it was time to "spin/ wave/ clap/ dance hello to so-and-so" which is the way we great each other there. He's even done it when I've asked him to but never on camera. I'm convinced he just wants me to look ridiculous on camera since we spend so much time recording him doing such silly things.

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This week has been a whole lot of nothing. Not coincidentally, it's the final week of my last two classes of this semester. I stopped working out during naptimes so I can do my work, but that will all change next week. I can't believe I can't wait to see Tony Horton's face again.

We went to the grocery store tonight and ran into one of Mommy's coworkers... or ex-coworkers... tough to say because her building might be closing at the end of the year. Anyway, she got our Christmas card and told me how cute my son is and that he looks exactly like me. Lady, I'm clearly married. Geez. She and I took a class together what seems like a lifetime ago- my first Master's degree. Now she's taking a year at home just like me. I guess that's why we were both grocery shopping at 9 o'clock on a Thursday. Living the dream.

Wednesday, December 7, 2011

Day 66a and b

We test drove a car on Saturday night. As we were driving home, I noticed that I didn't have my wallet. We tried calling the dealership, but they had just closed. I drove back to the dealership and retraced my steps- nothing! I drove back to the neighborhood where my wife and I switched seats- nothing! My only choice was to return home and assume the worst. I called and canceled all of my credit cards and though about all the terrible things that someone could be doing with my AutoZone rewards card. I EARNED that 2 dollars back on sparkplugs!!!

Fast forward to Monday morning. I got up early with my wife so my son and I could drive over to the dealership. I walked around the lot again, looking for clues. The only ones I found were some of my son's "puffs" snacks that he donated to the asphalt. After peeking through the windows the day before, I was certain that the wallet simply fell out of my pants (life lesson: never wear track pants when test driving a car!), so I wanted to make sure I was there right when they opened. I walked into the lobby and exclaimed, "My wallet is in your (Honda) Pilot!" The salesman got the keys, opened the door, and there it was!

Because we had gotten up so early, we had some time to kill before storytime. It was nice day, so I decided the time killer would be walking to the library. I ran on Saturday for the first time since the marathon (early October), and I realized that I wasn't doing much to help my Earndit status. I figured I might as well be active outside while I still can. It's only about 3/4 of a mile from our house to library, but every little bit counts.

Storytime was much different than the previous week. We were actually able to sit in the circle! After the stories were done, I inadvertently entertained the rest of the room with an impromptu puppet show. It all started with a little peek-a-boo as I was retrieving my son from behind the stage and escalated from there. I suppose it won't be the last time I am tasked with entertaining a room of toddlers. After holding their attention for a record 3 minutes or so, we packed up and headed home.

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Mommy stayed home sick today, so we all spent a nice relaxing day at home. Two new household dangers have made themselves known: end table dancing and garland grabbing. He figured out how to climb on top of the end table so he can dance for everyone and is contemplating how much fun it would be to pull down the garland on top of our CD cabinets (taking several picture frames along with it). It's going to be an eventful few weeks.

Sunday, December 4, 2011

Days 64 and 65

We went for a walk in the afternoon so Mommy could nap when she got home. We hadn't been to Gring's Mill in a while- in fact not since they reopened the entire trail. We went in the direction of the part of the trail that was reopened most recently and ended up walking around 2 miles. My son walked about a quarter of that on his own, all far away from the dangerous creek. He was safe in the stroller the rest of the time. He got to see a very large buck and several squirrels along the way.

When we got back to the "mainland", I took him out of the stroller. He immediately wanted to go back across the bridge. He also stopped to stare at a woman stretching after her run. He stared. And stared...

After eventually making it across the bridge, he, being the little boy that he is, was magnetically attracted to a dried out puddle of leaves and mud. He tripped and fell into it, naturally. This was the dirtiest he had  ever seen his own hands, so he stared at them for a while. Then he stuck them in his mouth. We weren't going to tell Mommy that.

Gring's Mill has a nice light display for Christmas each year, and they were putting the finishing touches on it today. It was getting dark as we were getting ready to leave, so we got to see some of the lights in action. He scrambled up a rather steep hill when he saw the lights and stood, watched, and grabbed at them. I took some video for Mommy because he was just so amazed by all the lights. He was even more excited when he realized that he could control single lights by turning them just a little bit. As the sun disappeared and the temperature dropped, I realized we needed to get dinner and home to Mommy.

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I got up early this morning (though not as early as I do when I'm working) so I could get some work done before waking up my son and heading out for today's adventure. I guess I should have let him know that I wanted to get an early start because he ended up sleeping later than he had in weeks! We eventually got on the road and made our way to our destination: Cabela's.

It was the first time for both of us. I had been told recently by more than one person that my son would enjoy the animals and aquarium, and that was reason enough for me. I remember the fuss- good and bad- that was made about Cabela's coming to the area. As it turns out, it worked out pretty well for the area which has become surrounded by stores, auto dealers, and restaurants.

The center of the store is a large mountain landscape that is overrun with animal corpses. Well, it is. My son wasn't too excited by any of them at first, but it looked like he was intrigued by the polar bears around the corner. I let him out of the stroller to see if he would point out any animal in particular. I should have looked around because he immediately ran over to the staircase. Knowing that I wasn't going to be able to keep up with him and hang on to the stroller, I pulled him down. This did not get us off to a good start. Luckily, he was in a pretty good mood for the rest of the day.

He liked the elephant and tried to jump in after the fish in the pond on the other side of Corpse Hill. We made our way through Deer Country where he was excited to see a skunk and some other small four-legged creatures. We found the aquarium and checked out that selection of fish. We even saw a few turtles swimming around in there. It's a little more exciting when they're alive. Eventually we made our way upstairs and had lunch. We even managed to pick out a Christmas gift for Mommy before he made it clear it was naptime.

I was so surprised by the SUV to giant truck ratio in the parking that I dropped his sippy cup while putting away his stroller. It was one of the two that we have that doesn't leak, too. If you happen to be in Hamburg and want to check the Route 61 side of the parking lot for us, we'd love to have it back. I realize he has absolutely no idea, but it bothers me when we lose things of his: a sock here, a sippy cup there. Then I think about how he uses these things for such a small percentage of his life, and I feel a little better. One thing is for sure: we'd be in big trouble if we lost his pal, Scout!