Church nursery

This is the 2nd time I've gotten the same report from the church nursery so I thought it deserved a written record. Owen has never been a champ at separations or any sort of childcare...and honestly, he's probably been in a nursery setting for a grand total of less than 24 hours if you added it all up (that is, when he's awake; we've had plenty of sitters after he's down for the night). And probably only about 40-50% of those experiences have gone smoothly enough that we haven't had to be paged to come rescue him from what he perceives to be certain annihilation. Lately he's been doing really, really well, and this morning when I went to pick him up the workers told me that he had a great time, and about 25 minutes *before* snacktime is scheduled to begin, Owen got his sippy cup, went over to the snack table, pulled up a chair, sat down and yelled, 'NACK! 'NACK! 'NACK! They said it was pretty hilarious. I think they succeeded in putting him off for a while, but then they succumbed and he ate a boatload of crackers. This happens every time; if it's a nursery day I pretty much know there will be no lunch that day. Owen loves his 'nacks.

Today we opened our 'home' Christmas presents before we travel to NC on Tuesday. It was a great day. When Owen got up from his nap, we had chocolate, juice, popcorn (the latter was the biggest hit of all, almost surpassing the presents), had a terribly fun time ripping open and playing with gifts, then went out to play in the snow and came in for hot chocolate and homemade pizza. Owen didn't know what sort of magic had hit the house that he was enjoying more treats than he could have thought up for himself. He is a snowhound, and loves to throw himself in face first and play like he's in the pool. He also really enjoyed that he could sit on the snow and it compacted into a chair so that he didn't go all the way down to the ground. We must have 2 feet of snow; it seems like it hasn't stopped snowing in three days! It is really gorgeous.

I must pack!

Stupid Questions and Snow Days

Let's start with the stupid questions. I never really thought about this category of communication so much until recently. I am not generally *quite* as critical a person as I sound right now, but this has really been on my mind so I'm going to let it out. There is a type of question apparently that I had not encountered until becoming a parent. It's a question that EVERYONE has somehow been pre-programmed to ask...a cultural staple of communication that is completely worthless, results in no substantial exchange of information and just makes the askee feel like they've been left out of some information that everyone else knows about. Mostly it's remarkable because I never had any idea that almost every single person one meets can ask the same question. I don't remember asking it of anyone in my lifetime, but I must've done it without thinking...or I apparently wouldn't be human!

'Is he/she sleeping through the night?'

You understand what I mean if you're a parent. Well just recently Reuel and I have noticed that there is another of this category of question in the air right now...

'Have you finished your Christmas shopping?'

I had no idea that this was such a hot topic. EVERYONE asks us this...Reuel noticed it too! As if it matters, the asker cares, or I have the answer figured out. So strange. I am now on alert to notice other cultural questions of this genre, and if I also ask them...fascinating.

We woke up to several inches of snow yesterday morning. I heard Reuel get Owen out of bed, the click of the blinds opening, and the little guy saying, " Noh! Noh! Noh!" (Snow). The two of them went and played before Reuel left for work and had a good time. (well, Reuel shoveled and Owen somehow entertained himself.) Yesterday, our friends Kathleen and Colin came over and we played some more. Owen's craigslist boots did NOT work for him, so he had to make do with very thin sneakers poor guy, but he didn't seem to mind. He was intent on belly flopping onto the snow and crawling across it. I'd pick him up and he'd giggle and throw himself back down. Not sure what that was about...maybe his feet were too cold to walk! He really loved it, though. Today we bought new boots, dressed up and I took him out for a pull-ride on the sled. I'm not sure if he liked it too much...I think he's too controlling to enjoy something where he's not on his own two feet very much. But he tolerated it for a few turns around the yard and down a small hill. Mostly he was not very good at walking in big snow boots so he was eager to get inside and get those off!

Owen has been in especially cute form lately. Quite compliant, quite a bit less tantrum-prone, and quite affectionate. (It may be because with the traveling for the holidays, the house a mess with presents and wrapping, and a little less order to the week with activities on hold for the holidays I tend to just sit and play with the little guy more and give him undivided attention, rather than pushing him toward a little more independence so I can actually, say, cook something--imagine that!--or wash a dish. The technical term for this is 'spoiling' I believe.)

Some cutie-pie moments from our recent days...

Instead of just saying 'no! no, no, no! no, no' as he's been prone to do in the past, Owen has now taking to saying 'Nowaaay! Nowaaay!' Yes, I do say 'no way' to him quite a bit and now it seems to have been sponged.

When we come downstairs in the morning, if the Christmas tree lights aren't plugged in, they must be immediately lit. As happens frequently during the day when Owen wants something he can't accomplish on his own, he grabs my hand and leads me over toward the plug and precisely places my hand on the plug. Then, he lets go, steps back and awaits my completion of the task! My hand is also frequently guided to the computer (to watch home movies), the refrigerator or pantry (self-explanatory) and to the basement door (the home of the tools). Refusing to comply is generally grounds for a hefty amount of frustration.

Owen has really started to enjoy listening/talking on the phone more. He recognizes quite a few relatives by name, and is very eager to listen if he knows whose voice is on the other end!

LOOOVES chocolate ('tak-uh')
LOOOVES candy canes ('nah-nay')
Way more tolerant of tooth brushing than in the past (good thing!).

We've observed that Owen seems to be an extrovert. He is rarely grumpy in a large, boisterous group and gets more bold, more energetic and more happy the more people are around! Whose child is this? He loves coffee hour after church services, running around between all the legs!

Airplanes are fast-gaining favorite status. Owen loves spying an airplane in the sky when he hears the roar overhead. When we're inside, he often takes a toy or piece of food and 'flies' it around his head and makes a motor noise and says 'ah-may' (airplane). Then he giggles. This is apparently the source of most of the jam I find in his hair after Reuel finishes breakfast with Owen and drops him off with me before he leaves for work :)

LOOOVES medicine. Owen has got to be the best medicine taker ever. Of course it does taste like bubble gum. I don't suppose Nyquil would go over as well.

Well, it's a long story, but Reuel and I got 4 hours of sleep last night. But we did enjoy thoroughly the holiday Pops concert at Symphony Hall. There was an especially delightful rendition of the 12 days of Christmas and Sleigh Ride was great as always. Then we went out to The Brasserie for pommes frites and mustard, ham and onion alsace pizza, crepes, profiteroles, mousse and creme brulee afterward. YUM. Definitely worth the sleep loss. (Although we could have done without the standing as still as a statue for an hour when we tried to enter the room we were sharing with Owen once we turned in for the night because he awoke and nearly figured out we were there...recipe for disaster...like I said, long story). Going to bed!

Power outage

The power went out at about 2am last night, and came back on ~4:15pm today (ice storm). It got a fair bit chilly. Normally no big deal, but since we have a wee one trying to sleep next door to us who hasn't yet grasped the concept of using a blanket, it does present some challenges. After spending the morning at the mall, where it was warm, I debated in which setting Owen would resist napping the most: at a friend's relatively unfamiliar house or in a cold crib. We opted for cold crib since it wasn't too terribly icy cold (upper 50s/maybe 60 I'd say)...but it was chilly enough that I thought the little man could use a few layers to encourage nap success. We ended up with onsie + socks + thermal shirt + footie fleece pj's + sweatpants + fleece jacket + fleece slippers. He was a cute little insulated snowman. Knowing the slippers would not be long on the feet, when I was putting him in the crib I looked at him very sternly and told him that it is very cold, the heat is broken and do NOT take those slippers off. I was shocked that they were still on when I went in to put blankets on him after he was asleep. It was chilly enough that I spent his nap under my covers, too, and ended up asleep. Not a bad afternoon. I really feel for anyone who is still without power; it is a cold night. At one point we heard that it may have been til Monday until repairs were complete, so we are grateful for the early reprieve.

Wisdom for Today

Don't think it's a good idea to be out to lunch with your toddler and after he refuses every food option put before him, allow him to drink 8 ounces of chocolate milk instead because 'he's gotta eat something!' This leads to a very wound-up child. The child might be so wound up that he won't settle down for a nap (despite yawning several times during the nap ritual) and furthermore it may cause him to mega-poop about 15 minutes after being put to bed, and then definitely refuse to nap. On the other hand, if you do make this mistake, and decide based on prior experience not to go in and change him right away but rather to leave him for a while to see if he will catch some winks anyway, do watch him on the video monitor and have a few laughs as he tells his stuffed bear to 'poo poo', sits him down on the bed, then picks him up and looks at the imaginary location of his nether-regions to see if he's followed orders. To observe this interaction, you may have to force your eyelids open because you yourself are laying down and having no problem at all settling down for a nap, if only your toddler would please, please fall asleep. After about an hour and a quarter, abandon all attempts for sleep and have a great afternoon. Toddlers are always in a great mood after skipping a nap because they are deviously minded and know that they've won a significant battle in the daily wars with mommy.