Tuesday, Oct. 25, 2011: Sick limbo

I'm sick today and hanging out with Gavin. I have a cold. Lots of sneezing and coughing and not being able to breathe, the whole bit. Good times. Before Stacy left for work this morning Gavin asked me, "Feel better?" Alas, I did not, but I thought it was super sweet that he asked and even seemed genuinely concerned. We went to CVS today (I know how to show a toddler a good time) and I told him that Mama D feels junky, which he promptly repeated. He repeats everything now. Before his nap after a particularly loud sneezing bout, he again asked me how I was feeling. I told him I was still feeling junky and he said, "Has medicine?" And I told him that, yes, I had already taken medicine. And that's where he decided to leave it, perhaps feeling there was nothing more he could do, and asked me to read him a book about caterpillars. Which I did. I am hoping that he magically doesn't get sick but I can't exactly say I limited my exposure to him. It's kind of hard to quarantine yourself when you're in charge of a two-year-old.

It was picture day yesterday, which is very exciting for me. I'm pretty sure that school pictures are in the top five reasons I even had a kid. At left is his photo from last year. Quite dashing, thank you very much. When I saw this photo I literally screamed. Again this year we sent him in a button down shirt and black tie. Because school photos are serious business, mister. It is my dream that we will somehow get him to dress in this same combo each and every until he graduates, though I realize that he might decide otherwise as he gets older. They say pick your battles. Maybe I will barter with him, tell him he can get a piercing or a tattoo if he'll just wear the shirt and tie. While I was getting him dressed in the morning he decided to flip out while I was pulling a t-shirt over his head -- all was fine, all was calm, until halfway through the process he decided that he wanted no part of wearing a shirt -- and he fell and scraped his cheek. I felt terrible, but it was totally his fault and I'm not going to lie, part of me wanted to be like, "Dude, that's all you," but I did not. But scrapes and bruises right before picture day are a rite of passage I suppose, and I can always Photoshop it out. Which I probably won't do. Probably.

I have mentioned before how well behaved Gavin is at daycare and how jarring it is to get a bad report, but I'm afraid that picture day was not a shining moment in Gavin's behavior. He was apparently great during the pictures, but nap time was a no go. He's skipped naps before, so that's nothing to be alarmed about, but this time he decided that if he ain't napping ain't nobody napping. Shelly said he would not stay on his cot and that he kept screaming and being very rude. And, of course, part of me thinks, "Hey, this is normal toddler behavior," and another part of me thinks, "I'm raising a sociopath." I'm hoping for the former. In fact, I'm betting on it, all my chips in. Still. Both Stacy and I have spoken to him about staying on his cot during nap time and if he doesn't want to sleep how he can read a book or talk to Shelly quietly, but he cannot keep his friends awake because they really want to sleep. We'll see how it goes tomorrow.

Speaking of tomorrow, it's Gavin's Halloween party at daycare. A party I will, regrettably, be missing since I have to work. This saddens me a great deal. This evening I am getting his costume together. He's going as a fireman. I put together his little hose backpack and I'm washing his black pants on which we're going to put yellow trim with electrical tape. On Friday there's a Halloween party for kids at the library so we're going to that, too, so I can see fireman Gavin in action. Even if I didn't have to work I'd probably be too sick to go to a Halloween party at a daycare anyway. I mean, that would make me an automatic asshole. So I've got my wellness goal set on Friday. No matter what, I'm going. No offense, but I've seen some of the folks who hang out at the library. The bar is simply lower there for contagion.

Friday, Oct. 14, 2011: Sleep clinic

I am extremely well rested this morning. Gavin slept in our bed last night and everyone knows that a 2-year-old is the best way to get a good night's sleep. Or, actually, the opposite of that. In fact, now that he's left for daycare I'm seriously considering going back to bed. Note that Gavin doesn't usually sleep in our bed. In fact, he doesn't ever sleep in our bed. Until last night. For whatever reason he woke up howling at about 1 in the morning. I had just fallen asleep as I was up late grading essays. Stacy shot out of bed and ran into his room, which is totally breaking protocol for crying at night, but she was barely awake and was functioning on "Mommy instinct," as she said. I followed a couple of minutes later to find out what was going on. Gavin had quit crying, but was still weepy. Unfortunately, he got the idea that he was up for good and one of the first things he said is, "I want to play with toys," in a sleepy but determined way. He also announced that he was "no tired," which was a lie. I think I was the one who suggested he get in bed with us mainly because I so badly wanted to go back to bed. Also because it was pretty clear that as soon as Stacy put him down he would lose his mind -- and did I mention I really wanted to go back to sleep? And so Stacy brought him into the bed and in a very sad, near-tears voice he said, "I no tired," and I pet his head and said, "We know, buddy. It's okay. You don't have to be," which miraculously calmed him down. He was totally ready to argue his point but once I snuffed that fuse he fell asleep rather quickly. After it was clear he was asleep Stacy moved him off of her chest and into the middle of the bed where he proceeded to hog nearly all of my side, leaving me pressed up against the cold wall for most of the night.

This morning after he was out of bed I asked him where he slept last night he climbed back onto the bed and said, "Right here" and touched the middle of our bed. He didn't just point to the bed, he didn't just say, "In cama." He claimed territory. I fear bed time tonight, though I already made it clear that he would sleep in his cuna.

"I yike it," is a new favorite phrase. The other day he told me, "I yike yights," meaning, of course, that he likes lights. I don't remember what prompted this but it was adorable. He also says "I like it" much like the kid in the old Life cereal ad says, "He likes it!" so I think about that ad all of the time now.

Hitting is Gavin's new thing. Trying to cause pain to others is apparently all the toddler rage (no pun intended). I, for one, do not like it, especially since I was the recipient of two of these blows this morning. He hit me on top of the head with a ball while I was putting his shoes on. And so I reached out and poked him in eye. I showed him. Actually, the eye poking was an accident. I was reaching my hand up toward the dresser to help me get up since I am old and either he moved or I misjudged the distance between us due to my exhaustion. So it totally seemed like I was "fighting back." But that is not what happened and needless to say I ruined a perfectly good "teachable moment" since it was me doing the apologizing and the hugging instead of him.

Also fun? Crashing. His scooter. Himself. His bike. He's obsessed with "crashing." This morning he tried to crash his scooter into both Jota and Henri. On Tuesday we went to Yates Cider Mill with Megan and Olive and we all took a walk on the dirt trail after we'd had some cider and donuts. About ever five feet Gavin would throw himself to the ground and say he'd crashed. Thankfully I was able to talk him out of the full body crash where he'd end up prone in the dirt on his belly. But I gave up trying to stop the knee crashes where he'd end up on his knees in the mud. Those pants may just be ruined, but we had fun. He loved chasing Ollie (she's a little older than him, but not much) and he is also in love with Megan. He wants to go over her house every day and if I ask him a question like, "Who are we going to see today?" or "Who do you love?" Megan's name is frequently mentioned. Only Jamie and Mommy get more frequent mentions. He even told me the other day that he liked Megan more than me, though it serves me right for asking a toddler such a question.