Gametes In Love

G now officially has his first phrase. It’s “green ball” (or “geen ball” if you listen to him say it). I was debating whether I could count “oh, no!” from this past week-end, but now we have two more “official” words strung together.

I’m excited! G still baby-babbles a ton, but I can’t wait to listen to the non-stop chatter of him telling me about his day… and actually understand what he’s saying.

BTW, have I mentioned just how much I love his daycare?

Speaking of daycare, I put in our application and deposit for the wee-one-baking yesterday. Yes, at only 4w along we’re on a wait list. Our daycare is really, really popular and their first opening, even for us, will be March 2011. I say even for us, because once you’re a parent here, you get priority in placement. Still, the list is this long, because other school parents are awaiting acceptance for their incoming kids. I swear, the current families will be keeping this program in business for years to come.

Here’s some park-time fun for you guys.

Mommy’s little climber

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=26T4W_md394]

Wee, slides!

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

We spent a few hours last Sunday at the Coyote Point Museum. We had fun! G really enjoyed the Tinkering exhibit. He also glued himself to the Bobcat exhibit, pointing at the “Ki-ii”es. The kitties appreciated the attention, by mounting each other in that “I like YOU!” kind of way 🙂 It was a very chilly day, but we had a blast. We’ll be back for sure.

“Where do we start?”

“It’s like my busy gears. But bigger!”

I just love this look of amazement.

“Fog machine!”

“I can walk on air!”

Daddy love

I think the wind tunnel was his favorite part

Bird of prey

“Kitties!!!!”

When G gets mad he throws tantrums. Occasionally, G’s tantrums involve him banging his head on something: typically the hardest surface in proximity he could find. We’ve tried to discourage this, and redirect his mortification to a soft surface (like the couch, or the carpet), but not getting the desired effect, he always goes back to the door, or table, or whatever.

Don’t ask me why he does this. His “You’re not giving me what I want!” pain converts to “Man, this hurts (physically)!” pain pretty quickly. Sometimes it’s kind of humorous to watch (does this make me a mean mommy?). Thankfully he’s been weaning himself off the head-injury incidents and they’re happening less and less.

Except for yesterday. Yesterday at daycare (yes, this is a second-hand story), G got mad and proceeded to bang his head on the cabinet. Little Z, who is just a few months younger than G, having observed this dramatic display, approached G. Looking at him curiously, he decided to give head-banging a shot, so standing next to G on the cabinet, he too began hitting his head. Unlike G, however, Z figured out head-banging wasn’t really all that much fun, so he went back to whatever he was doing.
G meanwhile was uneffected. Sigh, he didn’t even appreciate the flattery of imitation.

01.19.2010

02.15.2010

Boxes are fun! And they have so many uses.

1) To give the appearance you’re taller you can can stand on one. If height advantage is still insufficient, add a second, or even third box.

2) They make for excellent step-stools.

3) And wonderful hiding spots

For the first time in his life, G reached the 20th percentile group for weight. Woo hoo!

He weighs 22 lb 0.7 oz as of this morning, which is 10kg on the dot.

Height-wise, however he’s only in the 1st percentile, making him a short and stubby dude. All he needs is a Jersey accent and he’d be perfect for the Mafia, no?

Remember when I said that G likes to pretend he’s Evil Kneivil? Yeah, here’s proof!

An out-take from our monthly photos

Climbing is his new thing

There are many things G does that I can fully see myself in. And then there are others that I just don’t know where they come from. Take his latest car toy interest. S got a big box of his own childhood toys this week-end. In the bunch was a set of small toy cars that G immediately took to. He just knew what they were and what to do, and has been “driving” them around tables, chairs and couches since then. S didn’t show him how to play with them, and I can promise you I certainly didn’t!

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nDa8WwzriDE]

I wonder if they have little toy cars in daycare.

A year and a half! G is a year and a half old!!! I say that with disbelief and amazement and nostalgia (already!) for the days he was a wee infant. I was inspired to look at his 1 year video this week and just couldn’t believe how little he was. I miss that little baby already! Not that I wanna keep having babies, but I can understand why people want more just so they can have a little one-month old around again…. and then I remember the non-stop screaming, the sleepless nights, and the haze that the first 3 months were, and I snap right back out of it 🙂

This tail end of this month was been pretty rough. We had a new tooth break through (Sunday), hand, foot & mouth disease (Monday onwards) AND an ear infection (Thursday) all in one week. I swear there was a germ rave going on in G’s body and someone rolled out the welcome mat before clearing it with us first. My friend A put it best when she said that kid playdates are like sex: you’re not just playing with one friend; you’re playing with all the friends they played with. If I don’t have to care for a sick toddler for another year it will be too soon. I realize that’s unrealistic though, so I’d like a break for at least 3-4 months. Deal, germs?

Now, our survey!

Weight: 21lb 9oz

Height: 30″

Number of teeth: 13

Words: + 7 this month (but 2 are contentious since they’re not in regular rotation yet):

• Muh (milk)
• Cakeh (cracker)
• El-No (Elmo)
• Wee! (self-explanatory)
• Noh (nose)
• Bye-bye. This and the next one he has to repeat again for me to count it.
• Diapeh (diaper). He has to repeat this one again for me to count it. He said it twice, but in a row, so…

Favorite food: no change. Big fan of Baby Mum-mums these last few weeks though, and he discovered birthday cake. He likes! So much so that after I finished my slice, he saw more on daddy’s plate and ran over to make friends with him. We don’t have a dog. Where did he learn the doggie begging tricks?

Favorite activity: 1) Climbing on things he shouldn’t; 2) throwing things (he shouldn’t) at things (he shouldn’t)

New accomplishment: 1) Climbing on the couch using a box for extra lift. He’s a smart cookie! 2) G’s really interested in feeding himself with silverware. Although the food on his spoon rarely makes it IN his mouth, he’s really making an effort.

My hopes for next month: More words & getting rid of the baby bottles. We’re down to one bottle a day, the rest are all sippies, but he insists that he’ll only drink his morning milk out of his baby bottle. I’ve tried with a variety of sippies, but he just won’t drink until Dr. Browns shows up. If I wasn’t worried about him dropping off the chart again, I’d brute force this, but I just don’t have the heart to.

Potty trained?: Don’t I wish!

Naughtiest moment of the month: Oh where do I start?

1. Playing Evil Kneivel on his rocking bike by standing on the seat
2. Trowing drier balls at the living room TV
3. Biting me (HARD) on my thigh because I wasn’t letting him climb up on my chair

… and those happened in the lat 3 days. I’ve blocked out the rest

Sweetest moment of the month: Putting his head on my lap while watching TV

Temper tantrum meter: HIGH