July 2006

07/30/06

For Tommy's 2 and a 1/2 birthday Saturday, we bought him a tricycle.  He loves it.  We bought it Friday night, but he had to wait to open it until Saturday morning because it was raining.  He remembered it while David was at the gym, so I told him we could gather the tools and take the pieces out of the box while we waited.  He took this job very seriously.  He studied the picture on the box and figured out how all the pieces should go together on the finished bike.  I was very impressed.  He was impatient, but I told him he had to wait for Daddy to really build it. 

Poor David came home all sweaty and worn out from the gym (without the Krispy Kremes he promised me - grrrr) and was immediately met at the door by Tommy and his tools.  David barely had time to look at the instructions when Tommy started handing him pieces.  "These back wheels Daddy.  They go on this part.  Here and here.  Front wheel goes here.  We need screws!"  The boy already has better spatial and mechanical skills than I have. 

He's already figured out how to pedal forwards and backwards, but his steering skills are still a bit rudimentary.  He insists on wearing a helmet (pre-school TV shows are good at teaching that lesson early) and is content to just ride back and forth on the patio.  I'm sure he'll be begging to ride on the sidewalk around the neighborhood soon, but I don't think I'll even hint that this might be an option until we get some cooler weather.

(By the way, I know he looks amazingly color-coordinated in these pictures.  It was entirely accidental.  Trust me.  I'm not that aesthetically aware.)

07/28/06

Here is the long anticipated pirate ship.  His current favorite book is Pirate Pete, so we're all about the pirates around here right now.  I wish I could find him a little costume.

Tommy is under the mistaken impression that the best thing about school is the worms.  "Chocolate worms.  For eating."  I have no idea where this comes from.  He's going to be very disappointed if he gives up his diapers to go to school and discovers that there are no chocolate worms there.  He refused to use the toilet this morning, so I'm not really worried about shattering his illusions any time soon.

07/27/06

Toilet Triumphs!

While driving to Costco this morning, we were following a school bus.  Tommy started talking about how he wanted to go to school.  I told him that only big boys who don't wear diapers and always use the toilet get to go to school.  (I said it more gently and encouragingly than that of course.  I'm sure the Mother's Day Out program I've been looking at allows 2 year olds to wear diapers, but it would be a great reward.)  He got all excited and said he didn't want to wear diapers anymore.  Now, I don't really believe him, but it's a useful first step.

We also had lunch and a play date with our friends Ruth and Claudia today.  We'd only been home from Costco for 20 minutes or so when they arrived at our house.  I was telling Ruth about Tommy's school vs. diapers conversation and Tommy was listening.  All of a sudden he told me he wanted to use the toilet.  I took him into the bathroom and he did it!  We got to put another X on his pirate ship incentive chart (the same 6-box chart he's been trying to fill up for a month).  After lunch, Ruth took Claudia to the bathroom and Tommy picked up on what she was doing.  He got all excited and said he wanted to try again.  Success!  The final X!  He and David get to go buy his Little People Pirate Ship this afternoon while I'm at an appointment.  Plus, his diaper was dry so that means he went in the toilet two times in a row.  Good job Tommy.  He might just be ready for a more serious effort.  No pressure though.

07/26/06

Tommy's new imaginary friend is "Baby."  Baby cries a lot.  Baby is small enough to fit in the palm of Tommy's hand.  Tommy carries baby around and rocks him when he cries.  Tommy puts baby to sleep in the laundry basket, turns out all the lights and orders me to be very quiet so I won't wake him.  Baby hides from Tommy and Tommy tears the house apart looking for him.  Baby swims in Tommy's pool until Tommy remembers that babies can't swim.  Then Baby is set on the grass to play.  I guess this is better than a few weeks ago when our Tommy turned into "Baby Tommy" every time he was upset by something.  He still pretends he's "Baby Tommy" a lot, but not quite as often.  He usually just does it when he wants applesauce (baby food) for dinner instead of chicken.  I'm hoping this is just a normal anticipating-the-new-sibling stage, and that we haven't broken Tommy's little psyche.  <sigh>  I'm getting a little tired of imaginary-friend Baby.  Tommy's going to get pretty tired of the real baby when it arrives.  It's a good thing we still have seven months to help Tommy get ready.

07/25/06

Sorry to be MIA for a few days.  Having company always wears me out, even when it's nice, helpful company like my mom.  We had a nice visit.  Tommy misses his Grammy.  He is much richer in toys after her visit.  He now has a new book, two Totoro Catbuses, a new shark, a dinosaur puzzle, an umbrella, a Little People playground, and multiple outdoor balls and water toys.  I've probably forgotten something.  His new umbrella is by far his favorite.

I was kind of a slacker when it came to taking pictures.  Other than the ones I posted Friday, these are the only ones I got. Sorry!  Tommy and Grammy spent a lot of time playing at home, but we did spend half a day shopping on Friday and went to the Aquarium on Saturday.  We also ate lots of good food, as we usually do when my Mom comes to visit.

*****

Yesterday afternoon, after watching Sagwa the Chinese Siamese Cat, Tommy announced, "I want to live in China."  He hasn't let go of the idea yet.  I showed him where Albuquerque and China are on the world map.  "We go there.  It very far away!  We go on airplane right now."  I showed him pictures of China on the Internet.  "I want to live in China.  (sob, sob, whine)  It beautiful.  Albuquerque yucky."  I told him that since he doesn't really like rice, he probably wouldn't like Chinese food.  "I love Chinese food.  We eat some for lunch?"  I guess I should let him talk to his Aunt Erin who lived in China for a while.  Maybe I should get him a book on China.  His Internet friend Byron (whom Tommy has never actually met) is obsessed with India so I guess this sort of thing is normal for clever little boys.

*****

Pregnancy Update: 

People have been asking, so I guess I should be a bit more forthcoming with the details.  I'm feeling much better this time.  I have all the normal 1st trimester complaints, but they're much more manageable than they were with Tommy.  With him, I lost a bunch of weight in the first three months because I couldn't keep food down.  I'm not nearly that sick this time.  Amazingly, if I just eat something - preferably something composed of bread and cheese - then I stop feeling yucky.  That never worked last time.  The downside to this is that I keep eating whenever I feel sick and have therefore gained six pounds in six weeks.  Oh well.  If this baby nurses non-stop the way Tommy did, then I'll have no trouble loosing any extra pounds I might put on.  Speaking of food, I have had a few pregnancy cravings.  Dolmas and KFC coleslaw and Krispy Kremes have been the big ones so far.  I've given into the first two, but have been avoiding the Krispy Kremes.  I also had migraines every day for about four months with Tommy, and this time I've only had two or three.  That's very, very good since I have a 2.5 year old to chase now.

If you're interested, my OB is going to let me try to give birth without another C-Section, but only if the baby measures less than 8 lbs a week or so before my due date.  It will be nice to have the chance to try if that is the case.  Since Tommy weighed 11 lbs, this scenario is not very likely.  Tommy's size was completely genetics as I didn't gain too much weight or have diabetes or anything.  It's likely this one will be big too.  However, if it's a girl who takes after me instead of David then we might get lucky.  If this is another incredibly large baby then I'll have a scheduled C-Section at the end of February.  I'm happy with that.  I don't really want to go through what happened with Tommy again (pointless exhausting labor then an 11 lb baby via C-Section without fully effective anesthesia).       

07/21/06

I'm too busy to write much.  I'm busy napping on the couch and drinking ginger tea while my Mom plays outside with Tommy.  Here are some pictures to tide you over until Monday.  Have a nice weekend!

An example of Tommy's artistic aesthetic.

  Row, row, row your boat.

Turmeric.  White carpet.  Tommy's feet.  These things should never mix.

  Grammy's hat.

Grammy, Tommy, Big Catbus and Small Catbus (more Totoro paraphenalia).

07/20/06

I guess it's also time to stop keeping this secret since my 2.5 year old is smart enough to figure things out.  Thanks to Tommy's leap of logic, now you all can know the secret too.

(I'm 8 weeks pregnant and due March 4.)

07/19/06

My mom is arriving tonight.  She'll be visiting for almost a week.  Hopefully I'll manage to take lots of pictures to share.

Jason and Christina, two friends from college, drove through Albuquerque yesterday.  They're moving back to Oklahoma from Arizona.  They spent the evening with us, and Tommy enjoyed playing with their daughter Claire.  She's older, and that was really very nice for Tommy.  He gets so annoyed with kids his own age when they can't communicate as well as he can.  Claire and Tommy ran around and played for a couple of hours.  They also brought their dog Cleo.  Tommy REALLY enjoyed playing with her.  It's strange how he's completely forgotten about his terror of dogs.  He used to start shaking and crying whenever he saw one.  Now he loves them.

Tommy fell asleep on the couch at around 3 pm and I let him sleep because he was really tired and has only taken one nap in the last two weeks.  He woke up disoriented after about 25 minutes (I think his drool on the leather couch was overwhelming him) so I carried him into his bed.  He was still sleeping when Jason, Christina and Claire arrived at 5:30.  I was afraid he'd FREAK OUT when he woke up.  He certainly would have a year ago, especially when he realized there was a dog in the house.  He had no problems at all.  I went in to wake him up at about 5:40 and he was really struggling until I told him there was a dog waiting to meet him in the living room. That woke him up and he ran out excited to pet her ears.  Luckily she is an extremely well-behaved, gentle dog/  Tommy loved her and called her "Neo."  We had fun making Matrix jokes about it. 

Since Tommy took a late nap, we were pretty sure he wouldn't be ready to sleep at his usual time.  Jason, Christina and Claire left at about 7:45 and we let Tommy watch quiet TV until about 8:30.  We put him to bed a bit after 9, but he was really fighting sleep.  He was yawning and dozing off, but still a bit wound up because of the company.  He's been going through a new stage where he really doesn't want to miss anything.  When he's really sleepy at his normal bedtime he just goes right to sleep, but if anything is different he's anxious to be out with us.  It's not like we do anything really exciting after he goes to bed, but he doesn't know that.  He kept saying he was hungry too, and it might have been true since he and Claire played more than they ate during dinner.  After a couple of toast and milk snacks (the only unexciting food he's allowed after bedtime) he finally went to sleep at 10:30.  I think the only reason he gave up trying to stay awake was that I finally gave up and went to bed.  Once he knew I was sleeping, getting Daddy to respond wasn't nearly as appealing.  It was a late night for all of us.  I'm going to be dragging today.  

07/18/06

So on a scale of 1 to 10, how bad was today's lunchtime parenting?  One would be something mostly harmless, like letting him eat only strawberries instead of a balanced lunch (something we do quite frequently).  Ten would be something really horrendous, like letting him have beer and potato chips for lunch (something I'd never do). 

I asked Tommy mid-morning what he wanted for lunch, and he said Mac 'n Cheese.  We didn't have any in the house, so we made a special trip to the store for it.  I wanted some too, so we bought two boxes - Spiderman Super Mac for Tommy and Velveeta Shells & Cheese for me.  Then we each had our own bowl of Mac 'n Cheese in the living room for lunch while watching Yogi Bear and Huckleberry Hound.  We had no vegetables, no fruit and drank large glasses of apple juice to wash down the cheesy goodness.  Yum! 

So what do you think?  Four?  Six?  I'm not so bothered by the lunch itself, but making a special trip to the store for Mac 'n Cheese is a bit much.  Plus, making two different kinds indicates a slight problem with my nutritional priorities.  Oh well.  I love Mac 'n Cheese.  We're having one of our most vegatably dinners tonight so it will all balance out.  (We're having salmon with Turlu Turlu, which includes carrots, eggplant, zucchini, onion, chickpeas, potato and tomato sauce.  E-mail me if you want the recipe.)  

07/17/06

We went out after dinner last night to run an errand.  When it was done, I asked Tommy if there was anyplace he wanted to go before we headed home.  He thought for a while and then told us he wanted to go to the shoe store.  "My feet too big.  Buy new big, big, big shoes.  I growing bigger and bigger.  These small shoes hurt my feet.  Go shoe store please?"  Anything you want little guy!  We went to Wal-Mart (the only place open at 7 on a Sunday night) and he picked out some $5 Converse High Top knock-offs in a size 10.  I don't think his size 9 shoes are actually too small.  He saw a Caillou episode about buying new shoes last week, so that may be where this is coming from.  But what do I know?  Maybe his old shoes did hurt his feet.  He made us put his new shoes by his bed when he went to sleep last night, and asked me to put them on him first thing this morning.

07/14/06

This morning Tommy had this to say. 

"Come on Mommy!  Follow me.  We play in Tommy's room.  Bring your tea. We share it.  Some for you and some for me.  It not too hot any more.  I love it.  You play with me?  We play puzzles. Then we read books.  You come too?"

Of course I went with him and we did play puzzles and we did read books and he did share my not-too-hot tea.

That's all I've got for today.  I'm pretty tired.  David's been working extra the last two weeks.  See you Monday!

07/12/06

More proof that despite our hoity-toity ways, we are actually heathen savages at heart.  Yes, that's a chicken drumstick.  Yes, he's sitting on the couch without any clothes eating his drumstick in front of the TV.  At least he can be trusted not to smear chicken grease all over the leather.  Maybe I'll make him put on a shirt and come to the table for some soy bean and corn succotash later.  That might balance things a bit.

07/11/06

Tommy's started saying "another day" instead of "no" when we ask him a question.  "Do you want another piece of toast?"  "Um...'nother day."  "Are you ready to put a shirt on?"  "Um...'nother day."  I think he picked it up from me.  "Go zoo today?"  "No Tommy.  We can go another day though."  "More fruit snacks?"  "No, you already had some.  You can have more another day."

*****

Tommy was taking one of his late afternoon naps on the couch Sunday.  He blearily opened his eyes at about 5 pm.  I bounded over to him, hoping to help him wake up all the way since it was almost dinner time.  Here's what transpired.

Mommy:  Are you awake?

Tommy:  No.

Mommy:  You're still sleeping?

Tommy.  Yes.

Mommy:  Do you want me to go away and leave you alone?

Tommy:   Yes.

Mommy:  Oh Tommmmy!  Time to wake uuuuuup!

Tommy:  Silence. 

07/10/06

I finally bought Tommy a baby doll.  He's always loved playing with them at friends' houses.  He's been singing to "Go to sleep..." lullaby to anything and everything lately too.  Now he can sing it to his baby doll, and it's the cutest thing ever.  He's going to be a very good daddy someday (maybe, if he wants too, no pressure, yadda yadda yadda).

07/09/06

Better late than never.  The small flag is in serious danger of poking someone's eye out, so it's not going to be around much longer.  Luckily I employ toy fairies who, under the cover of darkness, whisk away dangerous pointy flags, annoying Happy Meal toys and disintegrating works of toddler art.

07/07/06

Since Tommy woke up talking about dinosaurs yesterday, I decided to take him to the Natural History Museum.  I wanted to get him a dinosaur poster for his newly painted room.  While we were there, he asked me about the docent sitting at the desk by the large T-Rex, Brachiosaurus and Stegosaurus skeletons.  I told Tommy the man was there to answer questions.  Tommy marched up to him and said, "I have many questions."  The man smiled and got down on Tommy's level and said "What's your question?"  Tommy answered "Don't know!  How 'bout dino question?"  The docent kind of looked at him blankly for a few seconds and then showed Tommy a model that compared the sizes of humans and a few different dinosaurs.  Tommy listened carefully then said "I see them.  This one me.  I smallest.  This one Dino Rex.  Him bigger.  This one long neck.  Him biggest.  Thank you!"  Then he marched off to see something else.  I was quite proud.

*****

Yesterday afternoon, Tommy asked to look at one of the ostrich eggs we have in the guest room closet.  He was talking about how someday the egg would crack and a baby chick would come out and surprise us.  I explained the difference between a chicken egg and an ostrich egg, and told him that the egg he was holding was empty.  At one point I told him that Grandpa Mel gave us the egg.  Tommy replied, "It's a present for me!"  I asked him if he remembered who Grandpa Mel was.  He answered, "Yes!  He beautiful and huggy and nice and clean."

07/06/06

Tommy was playing with his dinosaurs first thing this morning.  Here's what he was saying...

"Where my parasaurolophus?  There he is.  It morning time parasaurolophus!  Where my other one.  There he is.  (Now speaking for the two dinosaurs in his hands.) Hi!  I'm parasaurolophus.  I'm parasaurolophus too!  You be my friend?  Nyes!  What we do now.  Don't know parasaurolophus.  Find more friends.  There dino rex.  There 'ceratops.  There ball tail.  There gorgosaurus.  There long neck.  There big dinosaur.  There pteranadon.  Yep, that all them dinos."      

07/04/06

Happy Independence Day!

In  the middle of the night last night, Tommy was thrashing around on his mattress at the end of our bed.  (His room still smells like paint so he's still sleeping with me.)  I got up, put his pillow back in the right place, and straightened his covers for him.  Tommy, with his eyes still closed, groggily said "Thank you teaching me Mommy."  He went right back to sleep then.

Random pictures that Tommy asked us to take...

After his bath with freshly toweled hair.

Upside down on his bed.

This isn't a great picture of either of us, but you can see the paint color for Tommy's room.  It's the same color we used in the office and kitchen.  I just looks white in those rooms without a true white as contrast.

07/03/06

Tommy Tidbits...

• Tommy was counting something yesterday.  It went like this, "ten, eleven, twelve, thirteen, fourteen, next-teen, next-teen."
• Tommy was coveting a pirate ship owned by his friend Claudia.  I made him a chart with six boxes on it and a picture of the pirate ship.  I told him he could put a "treasure X" in one box every time he used the toilet.  He loved that idea.  He earned two Xs but then got frustrated.  Now he no longer tells me when his diaper needs changing.  If I ask him "Tommy, do you need a new diaper?" he replies with "No.  Don't change my diaper.  I love it.  I love my pee."  Curses.  Foiled again.  One step forward, two steps back.  I don't think he's ready.  (Oh, and please don't send me any more advice on potty training.  We're moving forward at a pace that's right for Tommy.  I just share the stories because I find them amusing, not because I'm asking for advice.)
• We're repainting Tommy's room.  So far, we've stripped the wallpaper border and covered the bright yellow and green paint with primer.  We'll paint the walls cream today and then do something with dinosaurs and accent colors.  Tommy's excited about the paint and dinosaurs, but doesn't really like having his life disrupted.  He seems to be bothered by the fact that we're both focused on the project instead of him all weekend.  Neither the actual changes nor being moved out of his room for a few nights seem to bother him.
• Since his room is full of paint fumes, we decided he should sleep in our room last night.  David slept in the guest room, I slept in our bed and Tommy slept on his mattress at the foot of our bed.  He took a random long nap after swimming in the afternoon (from 3-5) so there was no way he was going to go to sleep easily in a new place at his regular time.  We tried putting him to bed a bit late, but he kept coming to the door to "just check."  I'm not sure what he was checking.  At some point we convinced him that he had to stay in there and at least TRY to sleep.  He wandered around the room saying, "Mommy's bed - check.  Small TV - check.  Clothes - check.  Bathroom - check.  Clock - check. (etc.)"  Eventually, he ended up sitting on the couch with us, watching a documentary on ocean life and eating nachos until 9:45.  He and I both went to bed then, and he went right to sleep, probably because he knew I was there and he was really tired by then.   
• I was feeling a bit overtaxed yesterday morning and announced "I need a break."  As I gathered my things to go out by myself, Tommy said "  Bye Mommy.  I need break too.  You stay here Daddy.  I go play by myself." 

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