sueeeus

A piercing scream. I rip the breathing apparatus from my face and leap from the bed as my child emits another shrill, piercing scream. It’s 3 a.m. Hearts pounding. Holding him close. Comforting him. A bad dream? A spider on his face? I tear his bedding apart, looking for any creepy crawly evidence. None found. Could it have been the wispy edge of the curtain, brushing against his face? Possibly. He sleeps like a helicopter. His head may be on the pillow when first he falls, but through the night he turns and twists and ends up under the bed, half on, half off, or upside down. There’s no telling. This night his face was at the foot, near where the curtains fall. It could have been the tickle of the wispy light drapes on his face. Or was it truly a night terror?

Such a troubling start to a Monday morning. My heart aches for what could cause him such terror. Driving back from daycare, through the fog in my brain, I catch a moment of the morning radio show. Health clips. The topic? Night terrors. The doctor explains that virtually all children who experience night terrors are well-adjusted, and that it doesn’t indicate issues with their mental and emotional health. Moreover, children seldom remember the night terror after they fall back asleep.

It was like manna from heaven. Perfect words at the perfect time to set an anxious mother’s heart at ease.

And there’s even better news. We’ve been making great strides in the potty training endeavor. At the ripe age of two and three fourths, he’s starting to get it.

Of course we make a big production of it.

First, the announcement.

“Ohhhhhhhh, I have to go POTTTTTTTTT-EEEEEEEEEEEEE!”

And then we spring into action. “Hurry!” “Try to hold it ’til we get there!” “Let’s get those pants off!” “Hurry!”

And the chorus. “Hurry!!! Hurry! Hurry!!!”

Sometimes there’s a struggle over wanting to bring a companion toy along for the event. Then there’s the decision as to whether to use the stool or not. Or which stool to use. Or whether to use the potty seat, or not. Or whether to have the seat up or down. He used to immediately begin unrolling the toilet paper. Because that is SO much fun. But now he just hands me the roll. He’s conditioned, since I’ve taken it away from him so many times. Often he’ll change his mind about the seat and stool configuration, so he will stand up and insist on changing things up. And sometimes, he’ll actually go. He finds it quite intriguing. As it is.

“WOOK!!!”

Midnight (a few nights ago). I’m awakened by a small presence and a soft touch on my arm. A little voice. “I’m wet.” And my heart swells.

New sentences rapidly form. “I go pee pee.” (After the fact, number one or number two, but it’s a start.) “Milk all gone.” “Guy all wet.” (Pointing at his motorcycle man’s private area.) “I hear big truck.” “I need bath.” “Go outside.”

And last night, atop the stairs after only an hour of sleep. “I want tee.” It took me a while, but I finally realized he was saying “I want to watch tv,” to which I inwardly groan. Even though I’m so proud of his progress, I’m not so keen that he become a tv hound. He knows that after he falls asleep, I go downstairs and watch tv before going to bed. He just wants to be with us, I tell myself. It doesn’t help that on weekends when I’m feeling lazy, I let him play at our feet while we watch tv and until he passes out, asleep. Because Lord knows Mr. Gadget won’t put him to bed…

He’s learning colors too. I like this, because I didn’t teach him this, so I know he’s picking up good things at daycare. “Red phone.” (My phone is red. He’s so good.) “White shoes.” His shoes are white. “Blue truck.” “Daddy’s truck.” He’s understanding size too. “Big bus.” And so on.

What I love best about this time is that he’s going through an affectionate phase! I’m counting my lucky stars and snuggling him as much as he’ll let me. He hasn’t been the most affectionate child, and I missed out on a lot of infant snuggling, so I’m drinking this up. My snuggle buggle bear.

Every day I find little odds and ends tucked away here and there. Today there is a zebra and a cell phone on the file stand in the office. There are also some diapers (clean!) tucked away in nooks and crannies of the office bookcase. If I look closer, I may find more little toys stuffed in there as well, keeping them company. I found a sock stuffed between a dumptruck body and bed. There are magnetic letters stuffed inside trucks. I do try to be diligent in keeping track of the sippy cups, as it would not be a good thing at all to discover a long-curdled discarded cup tucked away in some secret place.

There is a little bookcase in the living room. See It’s sort of antiquey, and hand made by some moderately skilled person, some time ago. I bought it at a small town auction for $10. It has wheels hiding behind the skirt.

It doesn’t seem to matter how many times I pick up the toys and put them away. In short order, the living room typically looks like this. Every day. All the time.

Except for the few minutes before my active little guy gets home. Then it looks like this. But only for a moment.

I found this adorable toy chest at IKEA. It’s made of nylon. I love the details, from the handles to the lock. And look! It matches the wall, quite nicely.

If only he would play with one thing at a time, and put things away when he’s done.  But where’s the fun in that

I just love the sound of a toddler’s voice –especially when it’s my toddler’s voice! Everything has a sort of an ‘h’ sound in it. I’ve not been on top of things, as far as capturing his firsts for posterity. First tooth I don’t recall. I remember eight teeth came in all at once, but I don’t remember when. First words I don’t know. First haircut That was shortly after his first birthday. I had good intentions, but just didn’t follow through, capturing this stuff. I’ve been thinking of how delighted I am by the sound of his voice and the enthusiasm with which he points to things when he proudly tells me what they are. I thought I’d try to at least capture this, as best I can.

1. D (dheeh)
2. A (ayhe)
3. B (bheeh)
4. Y (wyah)
5. I (Iyah)
6. sky (kiyah)
7. wall (whah)
8. moon (a mhooh! a mhooh! or myeeoon)
9. stool (dhooh)
10. keys (keeyah)
11. truck (tuk)
12. drive (dhive)
13. helicopter (hay-yee-ka)
14. ambulance (ahm-moo)
15. baby (bhaaaaaye-bee)
16. cup (khuh)
17. Mommy (Mhohhhhhh-meee) <– I LOVE that he sings it in this long drawn out way, gush!
18. Daddy (Dhahhhhhh-deee)
19. green beans (mheen-mheen)
20. mine (MHIYAH!)
21. vacuum (bak)
22. broom (bhoo)
23. bowl (bhohw)
24. milk (mheeyuhl)
25. juice (dhooce)
26. apple (ap-poh)
27. soup (sooh)
28. ball (bhah)
29. please (bhee, bheeze)
30. up (uh)
31. sorry (dhah-yee)
32. thank you (dhah-koo)
33. fan (bhah)
34. What are those (ah-doh )
35. What’s that called (ah-kho )
36. balloon (byooh)
37. rock (rhah)
38. yucky (uhck-ee)
39. yummy (yhum-meee)
40. mouth (mhou-wah)
41. eyes (Iyah)
42. nose (nhohwa)
43. hair (heh)
44. leg (yheg)
45. toes (dhoh)
46. teeth (teehe)
47. shoes (sooh)
48. kitty (kih-yee)
49. light (yhigh)
50. wipes (whiya)
51. all gone (ah-go)
52. spoon (pooh)
53. door (dhowa)
54. gate (gaye)
55. house (howe)
56. hot (hawh)
57. cold (koh-ohhhh)
58. pull (puhl)
59. remote (ah-mho)
60. saw (dhaw)
61. spill (pe-yuhl)
62. drop (dhop)
63. hi (hiye)
64. night-night (nhigh-nhigh)
65. bye-bye (bhye-bhye)
66. coat (kho)
67. boat (bho)
68. train (choo-choo)
69. plane (peen)
70. trike (tyke)
71. shower (dhowa)
72. towel (dhowl)
73. tea (teeh)
74. snow (nhoh)
75. tree (treeh)
76. back pack (bhab- bhab)

There is a small dog at daycare named Ci-Ci. My son learned to say Ci-Ci quite some time ago, but he insists that all dogs are Ci-Ci! Ci-Ci means dog in toddlerese. And now, he has extended the definition a bit further.

I have a sweatshirt with a big applique of Eeyore on the front. (It was a hand-me-down, don’t worry.)

My son, pointing at Eeyore: “Ci-Ci!”

Me: “Eeyore”

My son: “Yee-oh”

Me: “Very good! You’re so smart! Eeyore!”

My son: “Ci-Ci!”

Me: “Eeyore!”

My son: “Ci-Ci!”

Me: “Eeyore!”

My son: “Ci-Ci!”

Me: “Eeyore!”

My son: “Ci-Ci!”

Me: “Eeyore!”

My son: “Ci-Ci!”

Me: “Eeyore!”

My son: “Ci-Ci!”

Me: “Eeyore!”

…and so on. He is adamant! He’s stated his position, and by golly, he’s going to stick with it! I can only imagine what I have in store.

Although washing windows is a great skill to master in and of itself, let us not forget the importance of teaching our children how much fun it is to clean.

And when the cleaning fun is all over, there is time to climb on furniture, play, bat those long and beautiful eyelashes at your mother and show her just how adorable you are. After that, when you’ve fallen off the stool and gotten an owie on your bottom, you can snuggle with her and she will make you feel all comfy-womfy and make everything all better. Then you will forget and go back and do it again. And again. And maybe one more time.

Two years old!

Blowing out candles is oodles of fun!

So is chasing balloons.

My little big man is growing up so fast. Thirty seven and a half inches tall, and that many pounds as well. Such a boisterous big and beautiful boy, my Love Bug, Bugaboo, Boo Boy.  Happy birthday, my sweet pea prince.

There is seldom a time when there is daylight, snow, the lot of us home, and a sled on hand. Seizing the opportunity, we ventured out into the cold for a few minutes of fun. Look at that red nose! Yes, we all have the sniffles.

Noh! (Snow!) Words are flowing. Dooh! (Stool!) Doh! (Door!) Bab-bab! (Backpack!) Myeeoon! (Moon!) It’s a delight. He runs from room to room pointing at things and announcing them with great pride. He is so pleased with himself, my sweet little one.

Poor little Boo. The sniffles started on Thursday or Friday and there was a little bit of fever here and there, accompanied by some tearing eyes with swollen eyelids, but he seemed to be feeling better on Saturday.

There was a bit of a croupy sounding cough which alarmed me, though, and then he started drooling. At that point it was Saturday night and I called the doctor, after having read that with that laundry list of symptoms, one should call the doctor immediately. She recommended Ibuprofen over Acetaminaphen, and plenty of fluids. Sometimes I think those books on children’s health, although trying to be helpful, introduce too much stress on the parents’ part. They seem to put forth the worst case scenario. I don’t want to be the one to freak out over every little thing and thus turn my child into a quivering quaking neurotic mess with little to no self-confidence. On the other hand, I don’t want to ignore or overlook things for which I ought to seek assistance. Sunday he had much more energy and the cough was less croupy. Monday he seemed energetic and boisterous. I gave him some Ibuprofen when we got home that night, just for good measure and not long after he got whiny and drowsy. I took his temperature and it was around 100. I held him and he fell asleep, but he felt very warm, so half an hour later I took his temp and it was 103.5 in one ear and 105.5 in the other. This freaked me out, so I stripped him down immediately and got in the bathtub with him, in lukewarm water. He screamed while I dabbed cool water on him. I held him close but kept gently wetting him, trying to cool him down. When his temp dropped to around 101 I put him on my lap out of the water but his temp rose immediately again, so back in the water we went. Meanwhile, we tried to reach the doctor. Finally, she called back and recommended alternating the Tylenol with the Motrin, every 2 hours, and also giving him some Sudafed. She asked that we bring him to the office in the morning, but if his fever spiked again so high before then, to take him to the ER. The Tylenol brought his fever down nicely, and we made it through an uneventful night. I’ve had the humidifier running with eucalyptus oil since Thursday, which has been somewhat of a help. Meanwhile, the full frontal onslaught of toddler coughs and sneezes has finally taken it’s toll, and today I find myself battling the bug as well.

The doctor confirmed that my 37 lb almost 2 year old has an ear infection, and possibly a throat infection as well, so prescribed antibiotics. His 2 year well child physical is next week. It’s uncanny how he manages to get sick enough to require a doctor visit one week before his regularly scheduled checkup. This has happened for the last four checkups (12, 15, 18, and 24 months). Weird. The nice part is that means he hasn’t been sick for six months.

We went to fill his prescription, but Costco wasn’t yet open, so we went to Target to kill 45 minutes. My poor little guy was whining and crying the whole time. I felt so bad for him, but look what I found! I’ve been hoping to find dishes like these for several years now. They’re never quite right, the dishes I encounter, but these plates! Oh, these plates I adore! They remind me of the Hubble nebulae photographs, which I LOVE! The bowls and cups are a bit off. I love the glaze, but not the shape. I ought to be a designer. It’s perfectly fine to mix round with square. Just because one has square plates does not mean the bowls must also be square. Sigh. Alas, Target didn’t ask me. I bought the set anyway, on the plate merit alone. What a find. They are stunning.

Back at Costco, we arrived 15 minutes after opening time, and it was completely packed. It’s insane. It must be senior citizen prescription filling day, because the wait at the pharmacy was two hours. TWO HOURS!! My sweet little boy fell asleep and I made a nest for him in the cart. Being the prepared mother that I am, I keep a comforter, pillow, and blanket in the car, so I can make a nest for him when he falls asleep shopping. This leaves only the space under the basket for items, which one might think would allow somebody to make it out of Costco without spending a small fortune, but somehow I managed to spend a fortune anyway. I had to kill two hours, after all. No, I didn’t need any more Method soap, but I like it, and it comes in nicely shaped bottles. I also didn’t need the 52 pack of disposable razors that I bought, even though Mr. Gadget assured me that he was getting low. Apparently he didn’t look in his cabinet where I put the 52 pack I got him the last time they had a coupon special. No more razors for at least a year. Diapers cost a fortune, but we consider them a necessity. Wipes as well, and those new Huggies wipes with aloe vera and cucumber smell so nice. Then there were the hand made thank you note cards. 30 for $10. I couldn’t pass that up. It’s easy to spend a fortune in that store, and because I’m one of those brainwashed tried and true dedicated Costco shoppers, I don’t mind. It’s Costco.

These eyes have a mischievous twinkle, yes

He’s come a long way in nearly two years. I like how his newborn hat turned out. I still have leftover fabric so I made him a new hat and scarf. I don’t know what happened to the baby hat, and I didn’t remember how I made it. The mittens were a bit of a flop, as well. There is a bit of fabric left, so I may try another pair of mittens, or a better hat. Or perhaps a pillow to match his little blanket and quilt. So many choices.

He is just so darned adorable! And so much fun. He runs and dances and plays and is generally an exhuberant toddler. He gets into absolutely everything!  My little love.

Now, to keep those gifts wrapped until Christmas.  We shall see.