The Small Family   

Theo has become a big fan of sharing—a trait that I surely hope sticks with him! His greatest joy in life these days is to share one of his prized possessions: Cheerios. Last week I posted a few pictures of him sharing Cheerios from his highchair with Luna, and he has continued that trend this week. After every meal, he demands to be released from the chair and immediately plunders it, cheerfully sharing his bounty with a happy pug. One Cheerio for Theo, three Cheerios for Luna. It’s incredibly sweet to watch. He talks to her as they perform this ritual, and Luna is getting a little big for her pug britches: She will put a paw on his chest if he doesn’t feed her Cheerios fast enough, as if to say, “Um, hello?! I’m still here, remember??” Chris and I sort of grimaced the first time we saw Luna lick a Cheerio in Theo’s hand, only for him to promptly pop it in his mouth and eat it, but we decided that whatever germs he picks up off the floor are probably as bad or worse than pug-lick germs, so no harm done. And anyway, I am loathe to discourage this sharing, since I think it’s really quite sweet! Luna is Theo’s best friend, so he shares his favorite thing with her. How cute is that?! Alas, we may have a very chubby pug if this continues...

The other day, Theo took it a step further. He was wearing a pair of brown paints with a tiny stuffed monkey in the pocket. The monkey comes out, but it is attached to a string so the baby can’t lose it. I looked over to find Theo attempting to stick a Cheerio in the monkey’s mouth!! When the monkey couldn’t eat it, Theo looked resigned and popped it into his own mouth. Later, I asked him, “Did you feed Cheerios to your monkey??” and he pulled the monkey out of his pocket and promptly stuck its head into his mouth. Hmmm, not quite the same sentiment, I’m afraid...but he looked really cute chewing on the monkey!

This past Monday was my final photography class. I ended up with an A- overall, so I was pleased. I was unable to get a couple of the classes/workshops I wanted for next semester, but I may try to add them when the semester starts, if my schedule permits. (People often drop the classes over the summer, so sometimes there are some open seats the first night.) I’m glad I did this class, though—I learned so much more about photography from it!

Wednesday was Daddy and Theo day most of the day. I had a minor medical procedure scheduled Wednesday morning that required general anesthesia, so Grandma Diane babysat Theo while Chris took me to the outpatient surgery center for the procedure. My post-procedure recovery instructions insisted that I “could not make decisions or be solely responsible for a child for 24 hours.” So, I had a day of leisure while Chris did all the hard stuff! Luckily, Theo was a good boy on Wednesday, so he didn’t make his daddy’s life too hard. And I took a three-hour nap in the afternoon—I kept falling asleep every time I blinked! Guess that anesthesia really knocked me out.

I decided I just didn’t get quite enough of Kaiser on Wednesday, so I went back Thursday to get Theo’s final set of one-year shots. (Just kidding. He happened to be due for the shots, so that’s why we went Thursday. I don’t really hang out at Kaiser for fun!) This time it was chicken pox and pneumo-something-or-other (some sort of influenza vaccine). We wanted to get those well before our trip to Texas, but after his rash from the MMR vaccine cleared up. So, Thursday was the day, and Theo was a very brave boy, so his mama took him to the mall for a little playtime afterward, and then we met Janeane and Emma for lunch. I gave Theo a baby cookie to keep him busy while I devoured my Happy Meal and talked to Janeane and Emma, and Theo made a wonderful, incredible mess with it. He was literally covered in brown cookie goo, pretty much from head to toe. I had to strip off his shirt in McDonald’s because he was just covered in the goo! But he had fun making a mess of himself, so all was well.

Can I just say how much I hate vaccines? A necessary evil, yes, but I hate the grumpiness that accompanies them. Theo was whiny and grumpy all day Friday and much of Saturday, and I’m sure it was probably the vaccines. And I can’t blame the little guy for being fussy—he ended up having diarrhea on Saturday and spitting up several times (which he used to do all the time, but never does anymore). But ugh, it makes for long days! I was pretty much fried by the end of the day on Friday. But, the day was not without its amusements, since Theo’s sharing once again kicked in. One of Theo’s favorite things to do is dismantle the pantry at least twice a day. And although it’s kind of annoying to clean it up only to have him dismantle it again, it keeps him happy, and in the long run it’s a harmless pursuit. So, we let him have at it. But on Friday morning, as I sat on the couch, I heard the unmistakable sound of a bag of chips or crackers being dropped on the floor. I didn’t think much of it, since he regularly drops bags of food onto the floor when he’s rummaging through the pantry. But then I heard crunch, crunch, crunch..., and I decided I ought to investigate. I found my son sitting on a pile of cookbooks with an overturned open bag of cheesy Wheat Thin cracker-crisps on the floor. Luna was devouring them, and Theo was happily munching on them as well. Um, cheese crackers? Given the fussiness every time we feed him dairy? I think not. Alas, I had to remove him from his fun and clean up the cracker mess.

I swear, though—the kid is so finicky about eating solid foods...unless it’s Cheerios or something he has stolen. I think the cheese crackers were the Forbidden Fruit for him. If he had overturned his morning oatmeal, I’m quite sure he wouldn’t have been nearly so interested in eating it.

And on the subject of oatmeal and solid foods, I have created a monster. I’ve been working more with Theo on baby signs over the past week, and I discovered that he has indeed learned the sign for milk, and he is using it regularly. Only problem is, if we’d let him, he’d survive solely on milk (well, formula) and Cheerios...and perhaps the odd stolen cheese cracker! So now, when I put him in his highchair to feed him breakfast, he immediately signs “milk” to me. What to do? I want to reward his sign, but I also want him to eat some solids! Decisions, decisions...

Anyway, on Saturday we decided to visit the Placer County Strawberry Festival. It was kind of like a really cheesy, very small fair, but we had fun anyway. We ate some strawberry shortcake and ice cream and let Theo play on the grass in the shade for a while (which resulted in quite an impressive tantrum when it was time to go—my gosh, that kid has a temper!). I think next year it’ll be more fun, because Theo will be old enough to go into the nifty petting zoo and maybe do a pony ride and/or face painting. As it was, he could really only ride in the stroller and people-watch, which is probably why his stint at playing on the grass was so well-received and why he was so upset about having to give it up! A couple of the shots of him are priceless, I think—he was SO annoyed when Chris dared to pick him up off the ground for a picture!

For Mother’s Day, Grandma Diane came over, and the four of us went to brunch at Johnny Garlic’s—one of Guy Fieri’s restaurants that happens to be across the street from our house and thus very convenient! (For those of you who don’t watch the Food Network like us nerdy folks, Guy Fieri is one of the people who has several shows on that network.) Delicious buffet brunch, although it was a bit of a challenge with wiggly, impatient Theo, who is rarely very content to sit in a highchair for long! I think Grandma Diane and Chris liked the bread pudding best, while my vote was for the Eggs Benedict. (Theo voted for the banana muffin, of which he had a couple bits.)

After Theo’s morning nap, he woke up in an incredibly foul mood...which made my mood, well, blue at best. So, to cheer me and Theo up, Chris took us for a drive, and we ended up in Coloma (out in the boonies between Auburn and Placerville) at a state park that is famous for having been the spot where Marshall first discovered gold! Unfortunately, we didn’t have the camera with us, since we hadn’t intended to go anywhere exciting in particular. It was a shame, because it’s very pretty out there, right on the banks of the American River. Theo was surprisingly amiable once we got him out of the house, which was pretty amazing because he had been screaming relentlessly at us before that. We sat for a while and let Theo play, and then we took a leisurely drive home. Chris and I did a bit of yardwork while Theo played in his walker outside, and then we set up his wading pool for him to play in. At first he seemed rather perturbed by it, but then he figured out that he can splash in there just like in the bathtub, so all was well! In case you’re wondering when you see the picture, yes, the sunshade on the pool was collapsing. We don’t have a pump so I had to blow the darn thing up myself, and I was pooped by the end...so I didn’t get it quite as full of air as I should’ve!

So, all in all, a good week and a good Mother’s Day. Happy Mother’s Day to all the other moms out there—of human children or the four-legged variety!