The Small Family   

Well, I can’t say this has been the most restful week in the Small household. But before I launch into this week’s blog, let me say happy 22-month birthday (this past Friday) to our boy! I can’t believe he’s going to be two years old soon!

So first an explanation of this week’s blog title. Theo has always loved books and bombarded us with them, but sometimes he takes a short break from books and focuses his attention on something else. This week, it’s singing. Me singing, specifically. Again and again and again… His favorite song of late is “Old McDonald Had a Farm.” And I wouldn’t mind singing it except that he wants me to sing it many, many times a day…with many, many verses. And if I stop, he puts up a huge fuss. And I think to myself, “Is this a battle I want to fight? Yes, I’m sick of singing. But really, what does it hurt that my son wants me to sing to him? I’ll just sing the damn song again….” But I’ll tell you what…if I never have to sing “Old McDonald” again, it’ll be too soon! Luckily, I’m occasionally able to mix it up with the ABC’s or “Itsy Bitsy Spider.”

The problem with singing this week is that it sends me into a coughing fit, and it literally leaves me winded and out of breath. Because, yes, I am sick AGAIN! I believe this is cold #4 for me this season (plus stomach flu), and I usually go years between getting a cold. Such is life with a toddler (a.k.a. a walking germ-fest!). I thought it was just allergies because it started with two nights in a row of me getting a lot of sinus pressure just before going to bed. Since it only came on at night and with no other symptoms, I assumed I was allergic to something in our house. But after two nights of this, I woke up the third morning with a full-fledged cold, complete with aches and a slight fever, so I can deny it no longer…I am, indeed, sick again. Luckily, Chris and Theo have so far managed to avoid catching it. And frankly, I’d rather get it now than in three weeks, when we’re hoping to be at Disneyland….

However, the bad thing about getting sick now was it meant we had to miss Liam’s baby shower in Santa Cruz. Actually, I probably could’ve managed, but 1) I didn’t want to infect anyone else, and 2) Chris’s mom was also sick, as was Nik, and we didn’t want to risk exposing Theo if we could avoid it. Since he and Nik share toys at Grandma and Grandpa’s house, it’s pretty tough to avoid sharing cold germs. And while it’s certainly not the end of the world if Theo gets a cold, he was sick literally almost nonstop from mid-October through mid-January (four colds in a row and then stomach flu), so we weren’t feeling overly eager to expose him to anything new. We’ve had enough runny noses around here to last awhile. :-) So, we sent our regrets to Bill and Sarah and packed up Liam’s gift and mailed it. And we spent a quiet weekend at home.

We did venture out Saturday morning to a used book sale, which was fun. (We’re still selling books on Amazon to pad our travel fund, so anytime we see a “bag sale” in the area, we try to go to it. This weekend’s was $4/bag, so you can’t beat that!) Theo and I walked around the entire Placerville library building while Chris looked at books, which was more interesting than it sounds because I used it as an opportunity to start teaching Theo about walking on the sidewalk (as opposed to in the street or in the dirt/on the grass). This resulted in no fewer than four tantrums as we circumnavigated the library building, but it’s a start!

Saturday evening we went to a restaurant in Sacramento for our friend Briagha’s surprise 30th birthday dinner. Although I’m glad we went because we really like Briagha and were glad to go help her celebrate, it was kind of a nightmare. We rarely take Theo out for dinner because the combination of a noisy restaurant, an approaching bedtime, and a toddler who doesn’t like to be confined is an ugly one. And indeed, it was ugly. Theo lasted about an hour before melting down, but then it was quick and painful. Chris tried taking him outside for a few minutes while we waited for dinner to be served, but Theo kicked into high gear again the minute they came back in the restaurant. We gave him a couple warnings and tried to calm him down, but it was no use. So Chris took Theo out to the car while I paid for our dinner and waited for it to be served so I could immediately box it up to take it home. (And of course, the restaurant was rather slow--no great surprise given how large our party was!) And we were reminded why taking Theo out for lunch is a FAR better idea than taking him out to dinner. Sigh…

Theo’s been off this week anyway. He just hasn’t been quite himself. It seems like perhaps a bit of separation anxiety, though it’s hard to say. He never really went through that at the normal time babies do (about nine months or so), but this past week, he’s just been rather clingy and very easily agitated about things. We shall blame it on teething, since there’s no other apparent reason for it. And we shall say, yet again, “Just cut the darn teeth already!!” :-)

My apologies for the lack of pictures this week. Since I’ve been sick, I haven’t really had the ambition to do much in the way of picture-taking. I did, however, get a few cute ones when Janeane, Emma, and Jamie came over early in the week, so I’ll post those along with a couple others. Normally we do fun activities on the weekend, and I get pictures of that, but this weekend was pretty mellow. The book sale isn’t exactly photo-worthy, and on Sunday I fled to the movies with my Mom to avoid the Superbowl, which I loathe. I sent Chris off for some Theo-free time on Saturday in exchange for some Theo-free/Superbowl-free time for me on Sunday. Chris spent his time going to lunch and browsing the bookstore, and I spent mine going to see The Blind Side with my Mom, and then she stayed over for a yummy spaghetti dinner Chris made. (As an aside, I was really impressed by The Blind Side. It looked a little sappy on the previews, but it was actually quite well done. I enjoyed it very much...actually, much more so than Avatar, though I'll admit that Avatar did have great special effects.) I’m on a movie binge lately. I really want to see Crazy Heart before the Oscars, too, but I’m not sure we’ll have an opportunity. But I am also going to see A Single Man this week with Kim, Janeane, and Amber, while Theo stays home with Chris.

Funny story about A Single Man. In case you haven’t heard of this movie, it stars Colin Firth as a homosexual man whose partner dies, and he decides to take his own life. I believe the movie chronicles the events of the day that he plans to kill himself. Now, this does not sound like an uplifting movie by any means, but Colin Firth is getting absolute raves for his performance. And I love Colin Firth…I mean, I really love him. He’s on my list of men I can leave Chris for, should the opportunity present itself. (Just kidding. But if I had such a list, he’d be on there. Chris has a list, too, so don’t think I’m awful! Chris’s includes Halle Berry, Shania Twain, and Catherine Zeta-Jones. Colin Firth is at the top of mine, along with Johnny Depp and George Strait.) I thought Colin was incredible in Pride and Prejudice and fantastic in Bridget Jones’ Diary and Love, Actually. So naturally, I have to see this new movie of his, since he’s supposedly so brilliant in it. So I told Chris I wanted to see it and explained the premise, and he immediately said, “I don’t want to see that.” “Okay,” I said, “How about I ask Kim or Amber or Janeane if they want to go, and you watch Theo?” He replied, “I will be happy to watch Theo if I don’t have to go sit through that!”

So Kim agreed to go and told her boyfriend, Dave, of the plan, and his first response was, “Oh my God, I don’t have to go, do I?” So I shared this with Janeane after Kim told me, and she said, “I think Jason would have the exact same response!” Clearly, this is not a guy movie. Perhaps Chris, Theo, Dave, and Jason should all get together and drink beer and scratch themselves and watch sports and burp while we ladies go see this excellent movie. :-)

Anyway, I hope you all had a good week! And before I close, I want to wish my Dad a happy birthday. He would be 69 tomorrow (February 8th). I wish he was here to know Chris and to know Theo. He would love Chris (who doesn’t? but really, Chris is just very much my Dad’s kind of person…loyal, soft-spoken, hardworking, good morals, etc.), and I suspect he would get a real laugh out of Theo’s feisty temperament. He’d probably think, “Glad I don’t have to try to raise him…but good for you, Theo, for giving your parents a run for their money!” Anyway, happy birthday, Dad. We’re thinking of you!