Thursday, April 03, 2008

Where the Boys Are, Ed. 39/5

It's been rough slogging this winter, to be sure. The Little Guy has been stuck in newborn phase for what seems like an insanely looong time. I feel as if I have been living in the movie Groundhog Day, with the exact same activities: screaming, pooping, feeding, not sleeping. Repeat. And then, all of a sudden, the day dawns and he is five months old. Almost halfway to a year old. Crazy, no?

The Little Guy can now play quite happily in his exersaucer for about 10-15 minutes. He mows down on every toy in sight, covers it with drool, spits up, then spins around to do this to another toy. His feet touch the bottom! He bounces up and down! He chews on everything that can fit in his mouth! He's a miracle child!! Okay, well not really. I'm not going to sign him up for the enriched program at school yet or anything. He's kind of like a puppy, actually. Everything goes in the mouth. But he does seem to get the hang of toys rather quickly, though.

This afternoon, after an impromtu feeding in High Park, my mom - ever the agent of change - and I decided to switch the stroller around so that the Little Guy was sitting in an actual seat, instead of ensconced in the Coccoon. It was like a whole new baby! Of course, I didn't have a head hugger, or a proper stroller blanket on me, so we stuffed the Boy's snowpants around his head to stop any jiggling, and hoped that the little blanket from the Coccoon was warm enough, coupled with the sun.

Although we had a seat available in the stroller, the Boy walked all the way from the daycare to Timothy's, where he promptly demanded a juice and a cookie (No wonder he doesn't eat dinner. I'm a baad influence, but I'm breastfeeding and I was hungry dammit!). Did I mention that he was wearing UNDERWEAR?? The SAME underwear that I put on him at 9am??????? I made him sit on the toilet at Timothy's (it was a big juice..), and he was none too impressed with me. But then, he walked all the way home without an accident. I daren't say more, or it will probably never happen again...But the fact that it happened AT ALL is nothing short of a miracle.


The Boy's latest thing is to point out all the things that are the same colour. "Look, that's lello, same as that!" He's also finally showing more initiative. He picks out his own clothes in the morning, and attempts to put them on. He wants to put his own coat on to go outside. He even tried to brush his own teeth the other yesterday. Just chewed the toothpaste and toothbrush and left the water running, of course, and saw no problem with that. But hey, it's a start. And a far cry from the "you do it" of yester-days.

I feel like we're finally breaking out of the Groundhog circuit. What a difference a day makes. And a little sunshine.

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

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Beck said...

Hello. This post is likeable and your blog is very interesting congratulations!

It really IS very likeable. This time of life - with several small kids - is SO tiring and seemingly endless and uses up SO much of you - and yet it's also such a gorgeous time.

Anonymous said...

Nothing much to say really, but my son says lello as well, and I think it is ABSOLUTELY adorable.

And yay for underwear!!

Mimi said...

That Beck, what a smartass. ;-)

Your post really brought me back to that same time when Munchkin was still Miss Baby ... Groundhog Day, that's exactly right. It's amazing, though, what a little sunshine and a little change can do. It really is. Hang on ... you're gonna make it.

karengreeners said...

hey! i put dove in the seat for the first time on wednesday at ikea! i didn't switch them, just put her where bee had been, but man oh man, did she like watching the action. she just looked so tiny in there. (which is an accomplishment for my buddha baby)

hooray for sunshine.

Woman in a Window said...

We do get caught in these circles-of - SAME, day-in, day-out, don't we? And then suddenly we'll find ourselves in new circles and they will feel binding, too, until suddenly we're in a new circle...How did we get here? It's all so grand though, all of it, even the sleepless times that don't feel so grand. Thanks for looking my way. I'll keep checking in on you...

kittenpie said...

Excellent work on the boy going that long! I really did find abig part of the whole training business was just making sure you gave them lots of opportunities to have success, just like you did there, and it really helps it along.

And love the making connections between things - that's a good skill!

bren j. said...

Hooray for progress! Particularly in the potty training arena!

Good job, Mom!

the dragonfly said...

I remember when the Little Mister started *doing* things. All is the same and then things go crazy! But it's good crazy. Now he's crawling like a fiend and pulling himself up to stand...walking is too close! I'm going to be chasing him for the rest of my life, I think. :)

Hooray for potty training!

moplans said...

The spring is really helping that groundhog day feeling fade. Not being stuck inside all day really helps.
I loved that phase where my girl would point out all the matching things. Their little brains are so amazing.

motherbumper said...

HIGH FIVE for the same underwear all day! Whoot whoot!

I hope the breaking from Groundhog Day continues for you mom.

BlocksofStone said...

Okay, now we're gonna have to have a potty training throw-down. Tai King vs. The Boy...he might be in the lead now...but I'm heading out now to load up loin-girding super-whatever's underwears...and then the game is on!!!