August 31, 2008 at 3:53 pm (Chatterer, MM)
So, as mentioned in an earlier post, we grew popcorn in our backyard. MM was out doing Manly Man things, including removing the corn. In the process, he accidentally dug up a toad. Not a little cute frog-like toad, a huge, bigger-than-the-palm-of-an-adult-hand toad. MM managed to not maim or destroy the thing, and put it back in the ground. During our “inspection” of the garden, MM made a point of taking the dirt off the toad again to show the toad to Chatterer. Now, to the title of this post:
MM: “See, we planted a toad here, and a toad tree will grow and all sorts of little toads will sprout here.”
Never mind that at one point we had 6 toads of various sizes living in our toad house sprinkler control valve box. Never mind that there is at least one toad living under our front walkway in a hole, and another under the overflow from the a/c unit. We needed a toad tree. I think MM can explain it to Chatterer later. (Resigned sigh.)
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August 31, 2008 at 2:29 pm (Chatterer)
“Mommy, I’m naked like a pepperoni sandwich!!!”
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August 31, 2008 at 10:07 am (Chatterer)
A while back (like April) Chatterer’s school grew popcorn in little plastic bags. Then, they sent it home. He wanted to plant it. Bear in mind, we are NOT gardening/farming people. The free plant a car dealership once sent us lasted about 3 years, through no fault of our own. Despite this, we planted the seeds, first in a pot, then in the backyard. MM even put a cage around it so our Vicious Dog wouldn’t get to it. (Vicious Dog is a golden retriever who might lick someone to death.) And it grew. and grew. and grew. Today, MM brought in the ear of corn that grew. Remembering that we are not gardening/farming people, the fact that there was corn was astonishing, since even Chatterer pretty much forgot about it after about 6 weeks. It’s about 6 inches long, and certainly not edible, but it definitely is corn. We’re going to take it to Chatterer’s old school on Tuesday to show Miss Donna. The scary thing is: it really looks like popcorn.
I credit the fact that our house is built where an orchard used to be with a lot of this success. The rest of the garden is similarly doing remarkably well. There are sunflowers, peas, beans and either watermelon or pumpkin growing back there. (The garden markers we bought went unused, so it will be an adventure to figure out what is growing where.)
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August 31, 2008 at 9:59 am (Toddler On a Mission)
ToaM can reach the doorknobs, and has figured out how to open them. It still amazes me how much faster ToaM is reaching these milestones. Chatterer was 16 months before he even walked, and here’s ToaM “hurrying” to walk down the hallway and open the doors! He’s very quickly going to be almost impossible to keep up with… which means the baby gates will be seriously in play again.
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August 30, 2008 at 1:53 pm (Family)
Ok, so in the grand scheme of things, this is pretty low on the list, but still a good sign. My sunglasses were threatening to break. As anyone who knows me knows, I go through sunglasses about a pair a year (including one pair that lasted less than 6 weeks). So when my most recent pair reached a year and a half and I noticed one of the lenses was about to pop out, this saddened me on many levels. First, I actually like this pair (the last pair I bought I really didn’t like). Second, it’s an investment that I don’t want to make right now. Third, the lenses are actually glass, so if it did pop out, it would shatter into a bazillion pieces. So, I was very sad.
I explained this to MM. I was busy doing something today and noticed the kettle was on. I wondered why, since, well, the high today is supposed to be in the 90s, and we usually argue about how the house is too hot for him. He explained he was going to steam the plastic frame to make it more flexible to pop the lens back in. As I watched, I thought how great it was that he just fixed it for me. Without being asked/cajoled/nagged etc.
Like I said, on the grand scheme of things, not enormous. But really nice to have someone to take care of the little things. 
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August 25, 2008 at 9:19 pm (Toddler On a Mission)
Book, ball, MaMa, DaDa, UhOh, Wow
The funniest ones are UhOh and Wow, of course. He has started really enjoying books. He brings them to his chosen reader, hands the person the book, then sits in the lap. If you do not start reading soon enough, or if you are standing and doing something else… beware. Books for toddlers are made of cardboard. They make excellent weapons. If the reader does not acquiesce fast enough, the reader is subjected to beatings with the book until the reader complies with his wishes.
He has also discovered the “joy” of pots and pans. And he has figured out which drawer’s lock is the easiest to pop open despite our best efforts at baby proofing (leftover from Chatterer’s babyhood). He also really likes bath splash time.
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August 25, 2008 at 9:04 pm (Chatterer)
Chatterer was kicked out of his class today. Well, not really. His preschool has three classes: Little Bears (2 years 7 months to 3 years 7 months), Frogs (3 1/2 to 4 1/2) and Fish (all the kids who were in Frogs the previous year and/or miss the kindergarten cutoff date.) Chatterer, having just moved to the school, was originally put in the age appropriate class of Frogs. It took about two weeks before the teachers figured out that they would try to put him in the Fish class in January. Then I saw the curriculum for the Frogs class… ABCs, 123s, shapes and colors. Chatterer has known these things for at least a year, maybe longer. So, when I talked to the teacher, she told me they were planning to put him in the Fish room for “skills” and the Frog room for crafts etc. I was playing this up as Chatterer spending time with kids closer to his own age (although he’s apparently still the youngest in the two older classes) but still learning new stuff.
So today, a note was sent home with Chatterer explaining that his teacher was going to miss him, but a space opened up in the Fish class full time, and Chatterer will be joining his friends in that class starting next Monday.
Mostly this means my grand strategy worked. By moving him when we did, the teachers figured out that, even though he’s young, he’s a very bright little boy. More importantly, I didn’t need to go in and fight with them to put him in the Fish class… they figured it out pretty quickly on their own. I didn’t need to be the overbearing “my child is the best child in the whole world” type (even though I think that about both my children).
MM notes that Chatterer has “devolved”: he went from being a Frog to a Fish. Then again, it’s Catholic school… they don’t believe in evolution in the first place.
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August 21, 2008 at 2:03 pm (Baby On a Mission)
BoaM (now re-named “Toddler on a Mission,” or “ToaM”) had his one year check up yesterday. Yes, I know, it’s almost exactly 1 month late, but there it is. Anyway, it turns out he is in the 90th percentile for height and 75th percentile for weight, far outpacing Chatterer, who at the same point in his life was in the 50th percentile for both.
ToaM also received his vaccinations against Measles, Mumps & Rubella. He handled them like a champ. He cried for about 30 seconds after the shots and then was his normal bubbly self. He ended up with a four hour nap after it all, and seems to be a perfectly normal little boy (except that his parents think he’s extraordinarily gifted just like his big brother, but we’re biased.)
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August 15, 2008 at 12:55 pm (Family)
(I wrote this yesterday, but didn’t post it… assume I’m talking about yesterday.)
Today, since both Chatterer’s and BoaM’s schools were closed I took them to the zoo. Of course, to get there by 10:30 am or so, after a stop at my office (must show off the cute kids before they reach that strange age between 9 and 13 when, from what I’ve seen and remember, all children are awkward and not very attractive), the goal was to leave the house around 8:30. It was a good and noble goal. We were even close to on time… getting out of the house around 8:45. After arriving at my office, Chatterer wanted to meet “the boys and girls that you work with, Mommy.” There is something really satisfying about showing up and having Chatterer want to shake hands with everyone when he meets them.
So, on to the zoo. We had to park a ways away, but this is a good thing (anything that runs energy out of Chatterer is a good thing.) Chatterer insisted on reading the map and the first thing he found that he could identify was a flamingo, so off we went. Sadly, the otters that Chatterer really wanted to see were on vacation. But we saw tigers, anteaters, kangaroos, emus, zebras, giraffes, parrots, tortoises (2 varieties!) and red panda bears, among other animals. After about 2 hours, Chatterer was ready to go home, after we stopped at the gift shop to buy a present for BoaM (small stuffed lion) and Chatterer (small stuffed otter to go with the “mommy” otter he had at home). We also ate lunch at the zoo (prepacked from home) and had a good time chatting about which animals do what and where they’re from.
BoaM slept for about 35 minutes on the way home (he was out cold before we were on the freeway (about 4 minutes after the car started moving)) but neither of them took naps in the afternoon. Which made for a rather quiet evening as both of them were fast asleep.
All in all, a good day. No tragedies, no meltdowns (even when I explained to Chatterer that we couldn’t go on the zoo train because there was no where to leave the stroller) and a fun time was had by all.
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August 15, 2008 at 10:12 am (Baby On a Mission)
Yes, it’s true. BoaM’s school has been closed since Wednesday so MM and I have been trading off duties during the day. (Well, actually I was home Wednesday and Thursday and he’s home today.) Anyway, BoaM woke up before Chatterer this morning. I’m busy changing him and he’s testing his words… “ba ba” and I’m trying to get him to say “ma ma.” (It’s happened before…) and in walks MM. BoaM is all excited and starts saying… you guessed it “da da” over and over again. Just like Chatterer did. Experts say it’s because the “d” sound is easier. Whatever. One of these days some child somewhere is going to say “mama” first and mothers around the world will rejoice. Until then… BoaM’s first word (that he actually associates with the correct person/thing/action) is “Dada.”
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