Days 33 and 34

Storytime was all about apples and worms today. We did pretty well with sitting still and "listening" to the stories, but again I used snacks as a distraction. It worked so well that other children came over wanting to share my son's Cheerios. I'm a little bit confused about how this is supposed to work. Should I be offering the snack to the other kids? Does that promote sharing, or am I being rude by talking during the story? I guess if the other parents want their kids to be eating, they would be bringing their own food. I have a similar concern about teaching sharing overall. Who am I to say who gets to play with a certain toy at any given moment? If my son wants to take another kid's toy and the other kid starts crying (or vice versa), isn't it teaching the kid that it's OK to cry to throw a fit if it's going to get you what you want?

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I woke up before my son on Friday- without the benefit of an alarm clock. It was a little like Christmas morning; my new iPhone would arrive today! Who can sleep on such an exciting morning? I had no exact idea when it would show up- the tracking website gave me nothing more specific than "at the end of the day" and "out for delivery". Even though we had no actual plans for the day, I thought it would be a good idea to take a shower before he woke up. Just as I was getting ready to dry off, the dogs began barking quite obnoxiously. This could only mean one thing: it was here!

I had to act fast. Surely the dogs barking would wake up my son if it continued. In addition, if I missed the delivery guy, I would also miss the delivery because it required my signature. I reached for a towel, tied it around my waist, and rushed down the stairs- my still soaked feet narrowly avoiding slipping on more than one occasion. Surprised, half-naked and elated, I opened the door to find the UPS man standing on my front porch and holding a nondescript brown box. I was a little concerned because Apple products always seem to ship via FedEx, but I knew by its weight it was exactly what I was expecting. I signed and accepted the delivery, apologized for my lack of clothing, and returned inside. By this time, of course, my son had awoken, so I briefly put down the box and carefully headed back up the puddled steps.

After changing and dressing him, I gave him his bottle. This gave me a chance to open the package and begin the activation process. As anyone who was done this before knows, this is not always a brief exercise. To make matters more difficult, I had to first set this up as my wife's phone and then reset it with all of my information. By doing this, I would be rendering my wife's current phone useless, so I would eventually have to swap out my old phone for her old phone. In order to do that, I also had set up my current phone as her new phone. Confused? I was, too. Luckily I got everything right on the first try. One false move and I could have wiped out a year and a half's worth of pictures and video. And apps- don't forget the apps!

After everything was all set, we surprised Mommy at school to deliver her new (old) phone. Her lunch period had just ended, and we were told she was still upstairs in the faculty room. I asked if we could wait for her by her room, and the security guard (read: senior citizen) obliged. As we walked up the steps to her room, I saw her coming up the hallway. I quickly grabbed my son and placed him in the hallway directly in her line of sight. Within an instant I heard her two-stage gasp- the first because there was a cute baby in the hallway and the second because that cute baby was her cute baby! She hurried over to him and carried him into the office to show him off to the secretary. Then she remembered she still had to work for a few hours and took him into her classroom to roam free. Her students were much more interested in him that I would have expected, and I could tell it would be hard for her to regain focus. Regardless, she had to get back to work, and we had to eat lunch. They separated without tears, soon to be reunited for a relaxing weekend.

Day 8

As expected, there was no run today. Today's weather was really annoying; most of the day it was just a steady mist, and it was just enough to not allow us to go outside. We did all of our normal routine, watch episode 2 of The Hour, and waited around to go to band practice. Then we found out that band practice was cancelled. This was not one of the more exciting days, but it did give us lots of time to hang out together.

My son has recently discovered a small ledge in front of our fireplace. He likes to climb on it and pull himself all the way up to his feet using the door handles. Each time, I pull him down, tell him "no", and put him down in front of something with which he is allowed to play. This is not working. Inevitably, he slipped on the way up, and though he did not get hurt (it's roughly 6 inches off the floor), the shock caused him to fake-cry a little. Tomorrow I'll be looking for options to keep him away from the fireplace altogether. We don't use it all that much, but if we ever do, I don't want him to think it's a cool place to hang out. Because it's not. Because of the fire.

Soon after his faux-fall, I out him down for his afternoon nap and decided to make up for my lack of exercise this week with a little P90X. I put in the Cardio X disc, having only used that particular disc once or twice in the past. I must have forgotten that it's the shortest workout of the program, and roughly half of it is stretching and yoga. Regardless, I did the whole routine, cooled down, and managed a shower before my wife got home.

She was only home for a short time before she had to leave again for Back To School Night. I had just started watching the Modern Marvels episode about Disney World (and Land), and I know how much we both enjoyed our last trip there (about a third of the way through her pregnancy), so I paused it and did the dishes before she got home. While we watched the show, I thought about how amazing it will be to take our son there for the first time. My wife has vowed to never again go to Disney World in any month other than January (it was close to empty the last time we went), and coincidentally the Disney Marathon is in January. If I'm still anywhere near marathon shape by the time he is old enough to appreciate the trip, I think that would be an ideal time to go.

She left for school after dinner, and my son and I got ready to watch the Phillies. He was so excited that he pooped his pants. He's a very excitable boy, it seems. We played a little Gently Toss the Baby on the Couch, and he showed me his new affinity for pressing his face up against a mesh storage tray (of which I promptly sent a picture to my wife) while we waited. Despite a small blowup as he watched her leave, he handled things really well. She was home soon enough and ready for some baby time before bed.