Gametes In Love

G (when he’s in his sweet mood) likes to share his food. A cheerio for him: a cheerio for you. It’s nice… except for when:

1. Said cheerio was first chewed a bit by him. Unlike birds, I’m not a huge fan of previously chewed-up food. Thanx, buddy, but this is one I’d like to skip.

2. It’s a fish-cracker. I really, really dislike the taste of them.

It’s just hard when you have him genuinely want to do something sweet for you and heads his little fingers towards your mouth. I’ve said “No, thank you!” with no success. I’ve also considered pinching my lips tight (so he doesn’t succeed in shoving said food item in it), but then have to remember that I could only be teaching him to do the same to me in a few weeks. All this means is that I end up with some sort of grossness in my mouth, that I have to smile and “graciously” accept. “Thank you!” (and then try not to gag).

So yeah, sharing is awesome.

It’s no secret that I’m NOT a good singer. I’m not embarrassed to share the fact that I won’t be auditioning for American Idol anytime soon. Unless I want to end up on the blooper reel, that is. While I can dance well, draw and act alright, the singing muse somehow decided not to bestow her gifts in my general direction.

But I’m a parent, and with parenting comes self-humiliation, and I have sung to G many a time in the privacy of our family unit. Occasionally I have subjected you, too in some of my horrible renditions of the ABC song over video. For this I apologize, but it was done for illustrative (of G’s skill) purposes only.

So imagine my surprise when today in the car, I was singing “Chasing Cars” by Snow Patrol (it was on the radio), to G, and I had paused to drink some water, G looked at me and said “Again!” Yeah… imagine my surprise. No person has ever asked for an encore.

So he must be tone-deaf, right? It’s really the only logical explanation.

One of the outcomes of G’s transition to preschool are all the “big kid” things they do. For example, they eat with utensils (which he’s been doing for awhile) and drink out of cups. CUPS people! No lids.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m happy that G is getting bigger, but… how should I put it? I’m not sure I’M emotionally ready for bigger messes. He wants milk, and then gets mad when it’s served to him in a sippy cup. “Mama, top. Off” Uhmn… yeah, not in the car, kid.

But now we have to do open-top cups (at home or at restaurants). It’s a scary thing.

Well, we’re a far cry from being done, but there’s progress. We’ve spent the last (what feels like forever) weeks packing up the office so that we can move G in. And when I say “we”, I really mean S, because one of us has to keep an eye on the monkey while the other gets the actual work done. I never imagined that moving out of one room could take so long and be so painful. In effect the office has been a storage room for us for the past 3-4 years. S’ school stuff is still there, boxes of electronics, extra cables, folders… you name it.

Oscar came in to paint today. It actually kind of accelerated getting the rest of the stuff cleared up, even if it meant dumping it in boxes, and just hiding it away.

G’s room will be kind of a safari theme, but the colors will be orange and gray (yep, where have you seen THAT before?). I don’t have any pics to show just yet, so instead here are most of the elements that will be in the room when all is said and done:

… Now, wanna help us find some cool-looking orange bedding?

In audio format (yeah, some day I “might” get lucky to get it on video too, but for now, just audio will have to do):

G got a play-kitchen for his birthday (amongst a TON of other loot. Seriously, kid is set-up for the rest of his life with toys). He LOVES this thing. Honestly, he’s spent every waking moment at home, since Saturday, at the side of the kitchen. He makes me tea, washes all of his kitchen equipment (by trying to jam it all in his little sink), and uses his utensils as projectiles (note to self: a kiddie play fork flying across the room, still hurts).

One side effect of this new toy? G wants to expand his culinary skills to bigger and more advanced pastures.

Yesterday evening he figured out how to turn on our oven. We have already knobbed up our burners, but our oven requires a minimum of 2 button presses in a specific combination to turn on. Buttons that are on opposite ends of the panel, mind you. I felt “safe” that he wasn’t going to figure it out. And he hadn’t. Until last night. Joy!

Luckily, Kitchenaid is on top of toddler curiosity, and has put a lock on the panel. We just discovered it last night. Now G is locked out of the oven baking for a while. Unfortunately, I think, so is anyone else who comes to our house and needs to cook (sorry Mom!). I genuinely think that safety gear locks out adults more than kids, but hey… at least no fires or gas alarms will go off in my home in the near future. I hope.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tFdHZ9TWHvc]

Dear G,

Today you are 2! Last year I had wished that your second year wouldn’t go by as fast as the first. I guess my wish came true… except that it went by faster 🙁 I am scared to think that each progressive year will go by faster and faster.

I live in some sense of denial that you have gotten as big as you have. You do things every week that amaze me: things that I’m shocked (and impressed) you can do, because I didn’t think you were ready to. I love these surprises, and I love who you are. As of right now you are:

– Determined. You are a very focused little guy who knows what he wants and is persistent until he gets it. It makes redirection very hard, and I will admit, you’ve worn your daddy and I down more than once.

– Stubborn. Kinda goes in hand with the above. You’re not afraid to tell us when something isn’t going your way, and you have a very specific vision of what you want your world to look like.

– Funny. You’ve got a great sense of humor and spend much of your day making those around you laugh, and you laugh in return.

– Fast. Dear lord, how are those little legs able to take you around so quickly?

– Not much of a huger (or a kisser for that matter). While your face lights up when those you love are around you, you are one Hug Scrooge! But in a way a hug from you is really, really special, because you do it so rarely. And a kiss? Wow! One must do something really special to warrant a kiss.

– Smart. Especially “street” smart. You figured out how to turn off light switches by yourself, even when they stand 2 feet above you (as one example). You like to quietly watch how things work, so that you can do it yourself, and you’re not afraid to figure out new tools to help yourself to a task.

– Fearless, but calculating. When you are introduced to a new environment, even with kids your age, you like to stand on the outside for a few minutes, while you take it all in at first. You’re not a jump-in immediately kind of guy. You like to understand your environment first, but then watch out. Once you get going, it’s hard to get you to stop.

– Quite the athlete. If an activity comes with balls, especially, you’re all over it. You kick a ball something mean, throw super far, can bat, and love basketball to boot. You LOVE making up your own ball games too. I think we have a base-bowling (which is occasionally paired with soccer-bowling), base-golf, amongst others.

– An art lover. You LOVE art time, and at school you get really upset when your turn is up. I love many of the pieces you bring home (although some of them really make me scratch my head… like that gooey blob in a zip-lock bag from the other week). You make your Gamma very proud!

I won’t lie, this year we’ve had our moments too. You’ve become a master temper tantrum-er. Going out for dinner with you now is becoming more and more of a challenge, so daddy and I are likely going to be staying in a lot more with you. Could be a good thing, as our waists could use some trimming.

Sadly, no birthday party for you today. While we had a whole party planned for you with trains, and ponies, and a bounce-house, the Ear Infection bug decided to be a party crasher, and paid you a visit yesterday, just at enough time to make us cancel our plans. You had a fever of 103.4, and were generally a clingy, sad boy when not doped-up on Motrin. All this adds up to no party with friends for you today. I’m sorry, but I promise we’ll make it up to you.

Happy Birthday, kiddo!

There are two things G does that stink of cute and just make me smile when he does them:

1. The way he says “Thank You!” He gives you a big cheesey grin, and says “Tek-you!” It makes bed-time interesting. Why? Because he’ll get up after I put him down, and ask for his Scout.. and then Turtle, and then Chickie, until he has a party in his bed with him. Why am I a sucker for this? Because after every friend, he does the cheesy Thank you, and it melts my heart, and I fall for it. Every.single.time!

2. How he lists our family. He says “Mamma, Dadda, Fiffin, Tome”. For starters it’s really, REALLY cool that he’s already including S2 in our family list… even though he’s not even here yet. Second, it’s hilarious how he pronounces “storm” to begin with.

So yeah, those are two cute moments to share with you guys this week.

Today is G’s last “official” day in the toddler room at daycare. Tomorrow is a staff day, and as of Monday G will be heading to the preschool group.

Since I had suggested to Ms. J that the only way the kids move up is after growing facial hair, I thought it would only be fair (and a good way to lighten the mood) is if G showed his maturity and readiness by… you guessed it… growing a mustache. So after his diaper and clothes, I helped accelerate G’s facial hair follicle growth with some eye-liner.

I gotta tell you, painting a mustache on a toddler is no easy task. His whiskers are far from even, and there was a tantrum involved. But, he looked awesome on the end and I think Ms. J got a kick out of it.

Without further adieu here is my little Gomez Adams: