We actually made it to baby storytime this week. We missed it the past couple weeks because my son can't seem to get up in time to make it there by 10:00. I'm not sure if that classifies as bragging or complaining.
When we got there, we found out that another little boy had replaced my son, so to speak. As it turns out, they have the same name! We didn't create a name or pick a trendy one, but we're still shocked any time we hear of or see anyone with the same name as our son. As teachers, we had a hard time picking a boy's name that didn't evoke memories we didn't care to recall. It's been even more fun the second time around.
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I decided we should take a walk around the neighborhood today, and I grabbed my son's lawnmower to see if my theory that it keeps him moving in one direction continued to hold up. We were fine for the first time around the block, but as soon as I asked him to make the turn for the second time around, he began what amounted to the worst tantrum I'd seen him throw. Looking back on it nearly a week later as I write this, it probably wasn't nearly as bad as I originally thought. However, it seemed worse mainly because all of a sudden, there were people all around us. This guy was pulling weeds. That guy was getting out of his car. That lady was sitting on her front porch. They all looked at me with sympathetic eyes and wrinkled lips as, one at a time, they let me know that they had been there before. I picked up my shrieking son in one arm and his lawnmower in the other and carried them until it appeared that he had calmed down. I put him down, gave him back his lawnmower, and we both looked forward to his nap.
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Mommy had the day off yesterday today as we headed to the doctor to get some prenatal glamour shots of TNB. As of right now, he looks just like our oldest son did when he was that age. I assume the black and white turns to color as part of the actual delivery, Wizard of Oz-style.
Today was a "day on the floor" as we played zoo, LEGO, and worked on our numbers and letters. He's becoming quite good at distinguishing letters from numbers. He has a couple wooden puzzles that help him with this. I hand him the pieces and he puts them where they belong. Strangely, he puts them in the right spot but doesn't always get them facing the right way. He then tries to force them in, and I remind him to turn them around. Occasionally I will work in a letter when he's working on a number puzzle, and he will make a noise and then cast the piece aside. Granted, they are different sizes, but it's still rewarding to see him recognize things like that.
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I had some business to take care of this morning, and my dad made himself available to take care of my son. We got up early and made our way over to Pop Pop's house. My son immediately took ownership of all the toys that had been laid out for him and didn't really look back. I was worried that he would start crying as soon as I left the house (my son, not Pop Pop), but he barely flinched as I walked out the door. I didn't take it personally.
We all went to McDonald's for a less-than-nutritious lunch. My son was more interested in putting on a show for our fellow diners. Between loading and unloading his Happy Meal box with anything he could carry, climbing into someone else's both, and mangling his juice box, he had several eyes on him. Though they fell short of giving him a round of applause, the other patrons certainly seemed to be entertained.
When we got home, we had a few minutes to relax before taking the dogs to their hairdresser. It was no small feat to wrangle both dogs and deliver them while also holding a near-22-month-old, but I took care of business. I let the hairdresser know that my son would be going to sleep as soon as we got home, so I couldn't guarantee when I would be able to come back. She understood and let me know their closing time was flexible. Keeping this in mind, I returned home. It was a long day and longer week, and it was time for Daddy to take a nap.
Showing posts with label baby storytime. Show all posts
Showing posts with label baby storytime. Show all posts
Monday, May 7, 2012
Monday, April 9, 2012
Days 136, 137, and Easter break
Storytime continues to be a challenge. I think there are just too many distractions (toys, computers, and most important of all- things to take off of shelves and organize elsewhere). We'll keep going (it's free!), but we'll really have to work on the whole sitting still and listening thing. At least he still likes the bubbles.
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I had to take my car in for a few (!) recalls, and I forgot to take my stroller out of the trunk before I dropped it off. As a result, my son had to ride in the regular stroller (with its hard plastic tires) on the sometimes rough terrain between our house and the dealership. He took it rather well, and we arrived without incident. However, when I claimed my car, an attendant told me he would get it for me. We waited. And waited. And watched. Apparently my car stumped him, as he sat in it for several minutes with no progress. Finally, he dejectedly returned and explained that he couldn't get it to start.
Throughout all of this, my son stayed completely silent and content. I, on the other hand, was not so content. Generally, when one drops off a car in good working order for some minor service, he can assume it to start upon reclamation. Naturally, this is what I expected. I grabbed the key from him and quietly stormed out the door. As soon as I opened the door and sat down, he told me he realized what he did wrong: he didn't use the key.
Yes, apparently we have come so far technologically that we have forgotten how to handle essential tasks such as starting a car. Either that or I just need to get a new car.
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We went back to swimming class last night. I had to miss the first one last week, so I was excited to go back. While he threw up on my wife last week, I managed to get him completely under the water a few times with little more consequence than a surprised and wet face.
My wife's Easter break started on Wednesday, and we kicked it off an appointment to check on l'il baby Hoodie Purrfect. Everything's good. Back off. ;-)
There were no fewer than four egg hunts completed and several new treats enjoyed. He's a big fan of carrying a bag, removing items from said bag, and returning those items to the same bag. Naturally, egg hunts seem right up his alley. While he didn't quite get it at first, he eventually figured it out. Unfortunately, his final egg hunt came right in the middle of naptime, so the main thing being sought was a dark room and soft mattress. He ultimately found them, and we all got a good deal of deserved rest over the long weekend. Back to the grind tomorrow.
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I had to take my car in for a few (!) recalls, and I forgot to take my stroller out of the trunk before I dropped it off. As a result, my son had to ride in the regular stroller (with its hard plastic tires) on the sometimes rough terrain between our house and the dealership. He took it rather well, and we arrived without incident. However, when I claimed my car, an attendant told me he would get it for me. We waited. And waited. And watched. Apparently my car stumped him, as he sat in it for several minutes with no progress. Finally, he dejectedly returned and explained that he couldn't get it to start.
Throughout all of this, my son stayed completely silent and content. I, on the other hand, was not so content. Generally, when one drops off a car in good working order for some minor service, he can assume it to start upon reclamation. Naturally, this is what I expected. I grabbed the key from him and quietly stormed out the door. As soon as I opened the door and sat down, he told me he realized what he did wrong: he didn't use the key.
Yes, apparently we have come so far technologically that we have forgotten how to handle essential tasks such as starting a car. Either that or I just need to get a new car.
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We went back to swimming class last night. I had to miss the first one last week, so I was excited to go back. While he threw up on my wife last week, I managed to get him completely under the water a few times with little more consequence than a surprised and wet face.
My wife's Easter break started on Wednesday, and we kicked it off an appointment to check on l'il baby Hoodie Purrfect. Everything's good. Back off. ;-)
There were no fewer than four egg hunts completed and several new treats enjoyed. He's a big fan of carrying a bag, removing items from said bag, and returning those items to the same bag. Naturally, egg hunts seem right up his alley. While he didn't quite get it at first, he eventually figured it out. Unfortunately, his final egg hunt came right in the middle of naptime, so the main thing being sought was a dark room and soft mattress. He ultimately found them, and we all got a good deal of deserved rest over the long weekend. Back to the grind tomorrow.
Sunday, April 1, 2012
Days 131, 132, 133, 134, and 135
Today marked the return of Baby Storytime at our local library. Based on our behaviorial advancements at music class, I was excited to see how these skills would translate. Things started off very well, as he grabbed a chair and sat down soon after we took off our coats (all of the other children sit on the floor or on a lap). After I sat down, he came over and sat on my lap for a little bit but soon got a little distracted by some magnets. I attempted to redirect him, but I was met with a very angry series of "DAHDAHDAHDAHDAHDAH DAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!"s. We retreated to a magnetless area of the library and returned just in time for the bubbles. We certainly didn't want to miss those.
We stopped at the grocery store afterward, and my streak of forgetting an essential grocery accessory continues. This time it was the reusable bags. I'll get it next week- I promise.
Pop Pop G was doing work at the house when we got home. While I unloaded the non-reusable grocery bags, my son snuck out the back door and led Pop Pop on a tour of our block. There were no reported bumps, scratches, or street crossings.
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Let me tell you about a little film called Beverly Hills Chihuahua 2. My son somehow recorded it on the DVR a few weeks ago, and little did we know how important this would become. I've never seen a second of the first film, and honestly I had no idea they made a second one (or a third one for that matter!). In the film, a litter of chihuahua puppies somehow thwarts a bank robbery ring by sneaking into a bread factory and hurtling pans and buns at the bad guys. French Stewart and the girl who played Al on Step By Step are both in it. A true classic.
Did I mention the dogs talk? That's kind of significant, as it causes my son to freeze wherever he may be, grab his chair, and sit and watch quietly until we turn it off. He does not get bored. He does not get distracted. He watches and legitimately enjoys this movie. He laughs at the funny parts, dances to the music, and is in all other ways completely engaged.
I don't want my son to be too interested in TV, or video games, or the Internet. I don't want TV to become the babysitter that I see many parents allow it to be. However, much like Scout, this thing just works. This morning, when my son decided he needed to get up VERY early and watch Mommy leave for work (which resulted in quite the fit), I was happy it was there. After several minutes of trying to calm him down the old-fashioned way, I gave in. Power, My DVR, Down x3, Right, OK, calm child. We watched that whole darn movie straight through. Then we went back to bed. I still don't understand what they were doing in a bread factory though.
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Today we witnessed likely the worst meltdown in the history of toddlers. Luckily, neither of us were involved. There was screaming, crying, stomping, and punching. As it turns out, it was all because mommy entered the building through a different door than what the kid was expecting. I'm not looking forward to that age.
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I had planned on taking a daytrip to Delaware today, but plans changed when Baby 2.0's crib was scheduled to be delivered at some point in the day. I was somehow able to whittle an initial window of 11-5 down to 11-1. Though this still didn't allow us to take our trip, I wasn't too disappointed because the weather wasn't all that great, and there will be other days. Now I just need to clear some space so I can put this crib together. We should also start working on a name slightly better than Baby 2.0, too. How about Zwei-Dos?
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We started the day with a quick trip to Philadelphia to pick up race materials for a friend. We couldn't stay long because we had band practice later in the day. We made it just in time to wait for it to start.
My son is getting a little more serious about the drums each time we play. Today he attempted to push me out of my seat and eventually succeeded. He still alternates between hitting the drums and banging on the piano, but it's getting more and more uneven. I'm still going to lightly nudge him towards the piano, but I won't be upset if he chooses both. Or more. Or something else entirely.
We stopped at the grocery store afterward, and my streak of forgetting an essential grocery accessory continues. This time it was the reusable bags. I'll get it next week- I promise.
Pop Pop G was doing work at the house when we got home. While I unloaded the non-reusable grocery bags, my son snuck out the back door and led Pop Pop on a tour of our block. There were no reported bumps, scratches, or street crossings.
-----
Let me tell you about a little film called Beverly Hills Chihuahua 2. My son somehow recorded it on the DVR a few weeks ago, and little did we know how important this would become. I've never seen a second of the first film, and honestly I had no idea they made a second one (or a third one for that matter!). In the film, a litter of chihuahua puppies somehow thwarts a bank robbery ring by sneaking into a bread factory and hurtling pans and buns at the bad guys. French Stewart and the girl who played Al on Step By Step are both in it. A true classic.
Did I mention the dogs talk? That's kind of significant, as it causes my son to freeze wherever he may be, grab his chair, and sit and watch quietly until we turn it off. He does not get bored. He does not get distracted. He watches and legitimately enjoys this movie. He laughs at the funny parts, dances to the music, and is in all other ways completely engaged.
I don't want my son to be too interested in TV, or video games, or the Internet. I don't want TV to become the babysitter that I see many parents allow it to be. However, much like Scout, this thing just works. This morning, when my son decided he needed to get up VERY early and watch Mommy leave for work (which resulted in quite the fit), I was happy it was there. After several minutes of trying to calm him down the old-fashioned way, I gave in. Power, My DVR, Down x3, Right, OK, calm child. We watched that whole darn movie straight through. Then we went back to bed. I still don't understand what they were doing in a bread factory though.
-----
Today we witnessed likely the worst meltdown in the history of toddlers. Luckily, neither of us were involved. There was screaming, crying, stomping, and punching. As it turns out, it was all because mommy entered the building through a different door than what the kid was expecting. I'm not looking forward to that age.
-----
I had planned on taking a daytrip to Delaware today, but plans changed when Baby 2.0's crib was scheduled to be delivered at some point in the day. I was somehow able to whittle an initial window of 11-5 down to 11-1. Though this still didn't allow us to take our trip, I wasn't too disappointed because the weather wasn't all that great, and there will be other days. Now I just need to clear some space so I can put this crib together. We should also start working on a name slightly better than Baby 2.0, too. How about Zwei-Dos?
-----
We started the day with a quick trip to Philadelphia to pick up race materials for a friend. We couldn't stay long because we had band practice later in the day. We made it just in time to wait for it to start.
My son is getting a little more serious about the drums each time we play. Today he attempted to push me out of my seat and eventually succeeded. He still alternates between hitting the drums and banging on the piano, but it's getting more and more uneven. I'm still going to lightly nudge him towards the piano, but I won't be upset if he chooses both. Or more. Or something else entirely.
Tuesday, November 8, 2011
Days 50 and 51
We were up nice and early today (thanks, end of Daylight Savings Time!), so we not only made it to Baby Storytime for the second week in a row, we were actually early. It's not often that we are early for anything these days, but I haven't been too concerned with it.
After storytime we took advantage of a gorgeous fall day and walked around a little bit at a local shopping center. I needed some fabric for a chroma key screen, and my son needed a helmet for his bike trailer, and we managed to procure both without incident. In between stops we checked out some "dups" at the pet store, and once again the ferrets were a big hit. Hmm...
I had to do some school work during naptime, as occasionally taking two classes at once requires. I was able to both do the dishes and complete an entire assignment (really just report the results of a survey I deployed last week) during his nap, but I had to sacrifice my workout to do so. Eventually I'll catch up with two of them in one day, but my current sickness makes it difficult. Poor, poor me.
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When I got my car inspected in March, I was told that I needed new brakes. Today I finally had time to make an appointment with my local Toyota dealer to take care of the issue. While it was there, I thought it would be a good idea to have them take a look at the suspect tail light (what is it with my cars and tail lights?) that caused me to get pulled over on the way home from Massachusetts this past summer. (I avoided a ticket by convincing the state trooper that I could get it to work by jiggling the wires, and the wires cooperated.) After paying nearly 90 dollars to find out that the last person to ”fix" it used the wrong wattage bulb, I regretted my decision slightly. Shoulda checked the hunk yard!
In order to make the appointment, I had to keep my still-adjusting-to-standard-time-son up for a hour after his recently normal naptime. We went for a bike ride around the adjecent neighborhoods after lunch, which was only possible because of the previous day's helmet purchase. It was another beautiful day, and it was great to get to spend some of it outside. He fell sleep briefly on the way, and I think it was just enough to hold him off until we got home from my appointment.
Because I would already be at the dealership and my wife and I have been considering getting a new car, I figured it couldn't hurt to test drive a car. I pulled my son's carseat and base out of my car and put it in a new Highlander. After the test drive was over, I explained that I wouldn't be making any decisions today because I had to walk my son home for his nap. The salesman talked me into taking it home for the night so I wouldn't have to walk home. I knew we wouldn't be buying this particular car, so I let it happen. If nothing else, this would give my wife a chance to see if she could handle the jump from a small sedan to a medium-sizes SUV. She says it's like driving a minivan. Next!
After storytime we took advantage of a gorgeous fall day and walked around a little bit at a local shopping center. I needed some fabric for a chroma key screen, and my son needed a helmet for his bike trailer, and we managed to procure both without incident. In between stops we checked out some "dups" at the pet store, and once again the ferrets were a big hit. Hmm...
I had to do some school work during naptime, as occasionally taking two classes at once requires. I was able to both do the dishes and complete an entire assignment (really just report the results of a survey I deployed last week) during his nap, but I had to sacrifice my workout to do so. Eventually I'll catch up with two of them in one day, but my current sickness makes it difficult. Poor, poor me.
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When I got my car inspected in March, I was told that I needed new brakes. Today I finally had time to make an appointment with my local Toyota dealer to take care of the issue. While it was there, I thought it would be a good idea to have them take a look at the suspect tail light (what is it with my cars and tail lights?) that caused me to get pulled over on the way home from Massachusetts this past summer. (I avoided a ticket by convincing the state trooper that I could get it to work by jiggling the wires, and the wires cooperated.) After paying nearly 90 dollars to find out that the last person to ”fix" it used the wrong wattage bulb, I regretted my decision slightly. Shoulda checked the hunk yard!
In order to make the appointment, I had to keep my still-adjusting-to-standard-time-son up for a hour after his recently normal naptime. We went for a bike ride around the adjecent neighborhoods after lunch, which was only possible because of the previous day's helmet purchase. It was another beautiful day, and it was great to get to spend some of it outside. He fell sleep briefly on the way, and I think it was just enough to hold him off until we got home from my appointment.
Because I would already be at the dealership and my wife and I have been considering getting a new car, I figured it couldn't hurt to test drive a car. I pulled my son's carseat and base out of my car and put it in a new Highlander. After the test drive was over, I explained that I wouldn't be making any decisions today because I had to walk my son home for his nap. The salesman talked me into taking it home for the night so I wouldn't have to walk home. I knew we wouldn't be buying this particular car, so I let it happen. If nothing else, this would give my wife a chance to see if she could handle the jump from a small sedan to a medium-sizes SUV. She says it's like driving a minivan. Next!
Monday, October 31, 2011
Days 44 and 45
Today was a lazy day at home. My son hasn't been feeling all that great, so it was best to just relax. The consensus opinion at home was that this was the correct decision.
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Today was our first day of "baby" storytime. We missed the first few classes for a few different reasons. The first was because I didn't sign up ahead of time and didn't want to just show up. Another was because I never put it on my calendar and therefore forgot. The final missed date was the day after the marathon, and I wasn't exactly in any shape to chase my son around the library all morning. Regular storytime ended last week, so it was a good time to finally show up.
Baby storytime is similar to regular storytime in exactly two ways: it has shares the word "storytime" in its name and it takes place at the library. Other than that, there isn't much actual story involved; it's mostly music. I'm not complaining. I wasn't really sure how babies were supposed to stay focused on a story anyway. We started off with a new "hello" song to go along with the hello song we already know for music class. Then we sang about some farm animals and different parts of our body (metatarsals are fantastic, etc.). After that, the leader of storytime, Miss Pat, read a couple board books aloud while the babies drooled and the toddlers walked around. The grand finale had two crowd-pleasing highlights: bubbles and shakers! Who doesn't like that?!?
I can't believe we missed three weeks of this! Next week was scheduled to be the final week of this session, but Miss Pat announced that we would be meeting again for additional weeks. Yay!!! Even after all of that excitement, it got better. There was no snack, but Miss Pat gave us a reusable bag with a couple of books in it. I could get used to baby storytime.
When we got home, I remembered that I had recorded "Poison - Live, Raw & Uncut" early in the morning. I love so many Poison songs, even though they were wildly age-inappropriate (and equally over my head) when they were actually popular. They're such stupid fun that I couldn't resist seeing what they look and sound like these days. My son danced to some of the songs, and I picked him up and sang while we bounced around to classics like "Fallen Angel" and "Unskinny Bop". After he appeared to tire of dancing, I put him down and sat down. What happened next is another one of those moments that sounds completely meaningless, but it meant the world to me. He walked over to my (new) diaper bag, pulled out his drumsticks, and started clicking them together and hitting them on the floor. You can say it was unrelated, but I'm certain he knew what he was doing. Soon after that, it got a little difficult to see in the room. I think some dust got in my eye or something...
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Today was our first day of "baby" storytime. We missed the first few classes for a few different reasons. The first was because I didn't sign up ahead of time and didn't want to just show up. Another was because I never put it on my calendar and therefore forgot. The final missed date was the day after the marathon, and I wasn't exactly in any shape to chase my son around the library all morning. Regular storytime ended last week, so it was a good time to finally show up.
Baby storytime is similar to regular storytime in exactly two ways: it has shares the word "storytime" in its name and it takes place at the library. Other than that, there isn't much actual story involved; it's mostly music. I'm not complaining. I wasn't really sure how babies were supposed to stay focused on a story anyway. We started off with a new "hello" song to go along with the hello song we already know for music class. Then we sang about some farm animals and different parts of our body (metatarsals are fantastic, etc.). After that, the leader of storytime, Miss Pat, read a couple board books aloud while the babies drooled and the toddlers walked around. The grand finale had two crowd-pleasing highlights: bubbles and shakers! Who doesn't like that?!?
I can't believe we missed three weeks of this! Next week was scheduled to be the final week of this session, but Miss Pat announced that we would be meeting again for additional weeks. Yay!!! Even after all of that excitement, it got better. There was no snack, but Miss Pat gave us a reusable bag with a couple of books in it. I could get used to baby storytime.
When we got home, I remembered that I had recorded "Poison - Live, Raw & Uncut" early in the morning. I love so many Poison songs, even though they were wildly age-inappropriate (and equally over my head) when they were actually popular. They're such stupid fun that I couldn't resist seeing what they look and sound like these days. My son danced to some of the songs, and I picked him up and sang while we bounced around to classics like "Fallen Angel" and "Unskinny Bop". After he appeared to tire of dancing, I put him down and sat down. What happened next is another one of those moments that sounds completely meaningless, but it meant the world to me. He walked over to my (new) diaper bag, pulled out his drumsticks, and started clicking them together and hitting them on the floor. You can say it was unrelated, but I'm certain he knew what he was doing. Soon after that, it got a little difficult to see in the room. I think some dust got in my eye or something...
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