The "Gross" Factor

Boys teach you how to handle "gross" things, how to take them in stride.

Last week Chance and I fed the cat her supper. Scarlet is generally happy to sit and munch t-bits from her dish and get lots of pets. Actually it's probably her most favorite thing in the world, one of the rare times she purrs. Chance was squatting next to her while she crunched her food, stroking her back. I got up and started loading the dryer, and while I was cleaning the lint trap realized that I could hear Chance breathing heavily. I figured he was just plugged up again, so grabbed a kleenex to wipe his nose, turned, and....found him with his tongue jammed into the filter hole of Scarlet's litter box. I dropped the kleenex, scooped him up and made him drink directly from the bathroom tap to get his mouth rinsed out. Gah!

On the weekend he gave me an olive. It was partially chewed. And room temperature. It clicked: I spilled a container of olives a few days ago. I thought I cleaned them all up, but must have missed one. GAAAH!!!

Weekend Over Too Quickly

We had some wildlife in the back yard this weekend:





Chance has now mastered a critical life skill: eating ice cream from a spoon!




Chance and I had a great day. I went to a cycle class this AM and my butt still hurts. I still biked him to the park tonight, what a good Mom I am. I deserve ice cream. I'm off to watch Harry Potter - Cam recorded it for me. :)

Discipline

Last night I punished Chance for the first time. I gave him a time out for hitting the kitty.

I saw him punching Scarlet and so I stopped his hand and told him not to hit, that it wasn't nice. Don't hit.

He looked me right in the eye and punched her again.

I scooped him up, grabbed his fuzzy chair from Gramma Jo and put it in the kitchen, plunked him down and told him to stay. I stalked off to clean up a few coats hanging out in the living room. Chancey sat in his chair and cried, I let him go for a minute before walking back into the kitchen, crouching down and asking if he wanted to calm down now. He got a bit huffy but then went in for a hug.

:( I felt bad for making him cry. But he can't hit Scarlet.

Words

These are the words I can think of that Chance knows:

Bubble

Baby

Woof

All Done

All Gone

Uh Oh

Hi

Bye Bye!

Oooooo!

Oh.

Nuh-nuh-nuh

Yep

Mum/Mama

Dada

Down

Hot

Owwie

Shoes

Cookie

Also, he signs for EAT and MORE. We did not teach him MORE. I think Gramma Jo did while she looked after him for 1 day back in the beginning of March. We get clear MORE signs for ketchup.

New skills: drinking from a cup unassisted. Ususally not spilling. Sliding down a BIG slide all by himself (making the decision to go). Pulling the wagon by himself. Opening and closing the shower stall door. Taking off shoes. Hiding shoes. Where are the ^#($(@!! shoes?? Woofing at new shoes (they have dogs on them). Playing with Scarlet using a string. Punching Cam's heavy bag with boxing gloves on. Pulling drawers open, feeling around inside, pulling out random objects. Mental note: move knives. Climbing chairs. Colouring with crayons without tantrum. Able to watch a movie for about 20 minutes. Playing in a blanket fort for most of the afternoon.

Back to the grind...

Wheeeew just got home from a shopping trip at Zellers (glamorous, I know!), and Cam was trying to comfort Chance with limited success. Chance was very upset, lots of howling. Who knows, maybe more teething pains? Another possibility is that he is upset over having to go back to the day home. I rocked him in the rocking chair for a little while until his head got heavy on my chest and then I put him down in his crib before he fell asleep. Another minute of complaining but soon all we could hear was the music playing from his aquarium.

Today he cried when we dropped him off at Mrs. G's house and was VERY happy to see me when I picked him up in the evening, he bolted out of the chair he was sitting in and gave me a big hug. Halfway to the car I remembered that his diaper bag was still in the house, so turned back and when we got inside he started to cry, I guess he thought he was going to have to stay there a little longer or something. When Cam took his shirt off for a bath this evening he started to cry HARD, at first I thought maybe he got hurt or something or teething pain, so gave him a dose of Tylenol and teething tablets, even a soother while he was in the tub, but nothing calmed him down until I got into the bathroom with a fluffy towel and just held him for a bit. We put him to bed, and there was the usual bit of crank, then quiet, so off I went in search of a replacement change pad.

While I was at Zellers I decided to pick up some new gym clothes, today at lunch during my workout I noticed that my current pair of pants had a hole in them. It was about time, as they are more than 3 years old now! I bought a shirt and matching pant set, reasonable price, and a bonus, they came in a short inseam. The shirt fits better backwards for some reason. I don't think it matters. The gym class today was a good work out, step aerobics with weight intervals. I hurt my pride a little, though, as I turned left when I should have turned right and I slipped off the step and fell right on my butt. Awesome.

New Year's Letter

Here is the letter to Mrs. G that Chance stuck in his diaper bag. I guess he felt that she should get caught up on some things that have happened over the Xmas break!

Dear Mrs. G,

Happy New Year! I am really looking forward to seeing you again! I hope your Christmas was nice and that Santa Claus was as generous with you as he was with me.

Over the Christmas break I managed to cut 2 more molars, so I am getting really good at chewing things. You will be glad to know that I did not have any diarrhea this time, although I did miss out on a bit of sleep and was a bit cranky sometimes, so my Mom and Dad gave me lots of Tylenol and teething tablets. They have included them in my backpack in case I am grumpy. The sure signs are flaming red cheeks and sometimes I pull on my ears.

Also over the Christmas break I have taken to using a proper fork just like the grown-ups use. Mom is still packing my red plastic fork, but if you loan me one of your regular forks, I might have better luck (the points are sharper). Or maybe my Mom should pack a fork from our house, what do you think?

I have some good news – I am starting to talk! I know how to say:

“LOOK” “LIGHT” “DOG” “DADDY”
“ALL DONE” (or “ALL GONE”) and maybe “OUT”

Another thing that I have been doing these days is throwing temper tantrums. Sorry, it’s not very nice, but apparently it is important to my development to learn what “no” means. Sometimes I cry when I hear the word “no”, even if that what isn’t meant (for example, I heard my Mommy ask “Know what??” and I started to cry last week). Please try to put up with me during this phase, I am trying to learn!

Anyways, I just wanted to jot this down on paper tonight before I went to bed because I tend to forget things in the morning, everything is so rushed. I’m sure tomorrow will be a great day!

Love,

Chance

*so* excited!!

Tomorrow we are going to Lake Louise for an overnight stay at the Chateau with Cam's company. I am really looking forward to playing with Chance in the snow and showing him all the cool sights, like the ice carvings, and the mountains, and the horse-drawn sleigh rides, and the giant Christmas tree, and the decorations! We have a babysitter staying with him in the evening while we go to dinner and the dance. Then we will creep into our hotel room and try not to wake him. Hopefully he sleeps well and then in the morning we will go for a family swim at the pool and then have breakfast together before heading home. I hope to get some good family photos!

Here are the videos I took of Chance recently.

1) Chance "cooking" supper with me. He is dressed up in a black t-shirt of mine, he saw me folding laundry and had to have something to dress up in, I guess. He pointed and squealed until I gave him the shirt and then he nearly flipped out trying to put it on. I think he looks like Harry Potter. Or at least Ron Weasley, with the red hair and all!



2) The 2 latest toddlerisms....shaking his head "NO" and having a "conversation".