The Small Family   

August 9, 2009: A Rather Unnoteworthy Week

Well, this probably won’t be my most exciting blog post ever, because we had a somewhat dull week, really. Chris and I are both working like crazy lately. Our Buffalo/Philadelphia trip is coming up in three weeks, so we’re both working night and day to keep caught up so we (hopefully) won’t have to do any work on vacation. (Chris won’t have to, most likely, but my job is a little less predictable. I’d really prefer not to have to work in the hotel in the evenings!) So, our week was mostly mundane work.

But, as usual, we have a few Theo notes. He is continuing to talk up a storm! Especially when he gets aggravated, he unleashes a tirade full of interesting sounds and vocal inflections. It’s clear he’s trying very hard to communicate to us idiots, but we just can’t understand him! However, he’s actually starting to imitate (successfully) more words, and he uses them in the correct context (though not consistently). This week’s new words include diaper, yogurt, banana, and Deborah. As I said, he isn’t yet using them consistently, but he is using them at the correct times. For example, when we feed him, we generally have several foods at a sitting, trying to make up a balanced diet. And now, Theo will tell us which ones he wants to eat, either by pointing, gesturing, or actually vocalizing. Thus “yogurt” and “banana” this week, when his food choices at one meal included yogurt, banana bread, sweet potatoes, and turkey loaf. At that meal, he very much wanted more yogurt and banana bread, so he said both words. Very cool! And “diaper” came out when I said, “I think we need to change your diaper.” He repeated, “Diaper!” as he toddled after me.  He is also learning the sign for “change,” which I’m using when it’s time to change his diaper. (It’s my first step toward eventually introducing potty training.) Only thing is, the sign for change is sort of cupped hands clasped together (I can’t explain it any better than that!), but Theo has changed it to look just like a monkey scratching its armpit! He extends one arm all the way in the air and scratches that armpit with the other hand, just like an ape would. I’m not sure where he came up with that, but after him consistently doing it for “change” several times, I figured out that is his “change” sign. Ah well, whatever works!

It’s kind of interesting that he said “Deborah” (with regard to float lessons), because he was an absolute turkey for Miss Deborah two days this week. In fact, he earned a dubious honor. After class on Tuesday, Deborah looked at me, shook her head, and said, “MAN, he is stubborn! I’ve worked with stubborn kids before, but he is just a pistol!” Ha...yeah. You don’t need to tell Chris and me that twice. Believe me, we know. He’s the sweetest little kid ever, but when he gets his mind on something, he’s like a stubborn little mule.

So, float lessons.... Theo did great at float lessons Monday and then he suddenly got stubborn Tuesday and Wednesday and completely refused to cooperate. Deborah asked me if he had a new tooth coming in, as she said babies tend to get rather uncooperative with her when they’re teething. And what do you know—I checked when we got home, and Tooth #8 was making an appearance, just poking through the lower gum. Thursday was a better day, thank goodness—Theo was back to cooperating with Miss Deborah. Still, there is only one more week of float classes, and we’re not sure Theo will graduate. He’s doing well at a lot of parts of it, but he hasn’t managed to put it all together yet. Sigh... This has Chris and I both worried, so we invested in a wristband safety alarm for Theo to wear when he’s around pools. It’s just a small base-station alarm, and the baby wears a wristband that activates the alarm if it gets wet. Again, not a foolproof solution, but it will set our minds a bit more at ease. Watching Theo repeatedly race toward the pool at our friend Tina’s house last week was yet another wakeup call that our son is one determined little monkey.

Along the lines of personality, this is kind of funny. Chris and I are reading a book called Happiest Toddler on the Block right now. It’s about working through the tantrum stage with your toddler. The author wrote a book called Happiest Baby on the Block that was a godsend when Theo was an infant—we still use some of the techniques in that book, and almost every mother I know swears by that book. So, we figured, why not try out the toddler book and see if we can figure out a good way to deal with tantrums (which have already started). Anyway, the author, Dr. Karp, divides toddlers into three main groups: easygoing, shy, and spirited. He explains the differences but then says there’s a general litmus test you can do to see what sort of kid your baby tends to be. Put the toddler down in an uncrowded shopping mall and see what he does. If he does nothing and just looks around, he’s easygoing. If he clings to your leg, he’s shy. If he takes off running, he’s spirited. I will let you all guess what Mr. Theo did when we tried this. And in fact, he does the exact same thing when I take him out to play in our court. Not even a backward glance at mom and dad. Really, I’m happy about this—I think he’s going to be an independent child, hopefully with more self-confidence than his mom and dad had as kids. But ack, it makes for some fun times raising a toddler!!

We did manage to get out and have some fun a few times this week. On Monday, Amber came over and played a karaoke-type game with Theo and me, which was fun. (Chris was delighted, since karaoke is not so much his thing. He was quite happy I had someone else to play it with!!) And on Friday, Theo and I took advantage of a morning free of float lessons and went over to Grandma Diane’s house, where we walked to the park and played for a bit with Grandma Diane.

Saturday, Chris, Theo, and I ventured down to Elk Grove (about 35 miles south of here—where my sister and her family live) to try a hot dog place. I know, I know...you’re all thinking, “You drove 35 miles for a hot dog?” Yes, we did. Because you can’t get really good hot dogs here—no one knows that you’re supposed to grill them! So when I read a favorable review of this place, we had to try it. And I have to say, they were good dogs...but alas, not grilled. That’s okay; we’re going to Buffalo in three weeks, which is home to Ted’s Hot Dogs, the Best Hot Dogs EVER! I will indeed be having (at least) one while we’re there.

While we were in Elk Grove, we stopped by Auntie Lynnie’s house for a visit with her, Noelle, and Stevie (and Tyler and Sammie for a short while). Theo kept himself amused by climbing the stairs, attempting to get into the fireplace, and petting Auntie Lynnie’s Chihuahua, Roxy (who, shockingly, allowed him to pet her, despite the fact that she hates most people).

And Sunday was an easy day, with a trip to a local used book sale (we’re obsessed!) after an incredible breakfast of French toast, made by Chris. (If I’d known when I married him how good his French toast was, that would’ve made it into the wedding vows along with the spaghetti.) Theo also surprised us by 1) getting down the box of baby wipes and pulling them out and tossing them all over his room, and 2) learning the concept of “quiet.” He has a book he loves—Dogs: A Barking and Counting Book. When you get to the page for six, all the dogs stop barking, and there are six quiet dogs. So whenever we get to that page, we whisper, “Six quiet dogs...” Now Theo puts his finger up to his lips and whispers, “Shhh!” about the six quiet dogs. And if you ask him where the “six quiet dogs” are, he will turn to that page in the book. But we got another new book that has a page where the animals are quiet, and when I got to it, I lowered my voice, and he put his finger up to his lips and said, “Shhhh!” Hmmm, maybe we can use this to our advantage!

I’m afraid I didn’t get a ton of pictures this week...as I said, work got in the way a lot. But I uploaded some from my iPhone to this week’s gallery (they’ll be the slightly less clear ones), and I did get a few shots with the good camera. Witness the lovely upended canopy in our backyard. We had a freak huge gust of wind that flipped it over and threw it into our fence. It looked like a giant dead cockroach on its back in our backyard...cracked us up, so I had to take a picture!

I’m also working on a video of recent Theo antics, but I don’t have it ready yet. So be on the lookout for it perhaps next week....