Gametes In Love

… and all through our town
everyone was content
when Santa G came around

We took G this afternoon to drop off our toy donation. Our local fire department collects for Toys for Tots. They’re always in need for toys for little kids, so using G as a guide we delivered some of his favorites.

One of the firemen was outside of the station (deep frying a turkey of all things). G saw him and his funny Santa hat and lost it. It took us awhile to calm him down and after-wards he constantly kept looking over his shoulder to make sure the guy in the yellow jacket and funny red hat was far, far away.

I’m really glad we did this and am really looking forward to doing it again next year.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OYoh-28TTQg]

Merry Christmas everyone!

I’ve really been struggling with what kind of exposure I want G to have to Santa. I’ve got nothing against the jolly man in the red suit, don’t get me wrong. However, I do have a problem with… how should I put this… his authenticity.

I want to tell G about the origins of Santa and what he represents: generosity towards others, fairness and humility. I’m hoping to skirt the whole “Is he real?” conversation (some day) by acknowledging that St. Nick (aka Santa) was a real, live person, and that people resurrect his memory each year to honor him. I don’t want the focus on Santa (for G) to be “What will I get from him?”, but “How will I live up to his spirit?”

So… starting this year I’m creating a new family tradition: on Christmas Eve we will each go and donate to an organization. When G’s old enough he can pick out what he wants to donate (it could be an item, cash or his time volunteering). This year I picked for him, but I picked some of the toys he’s enjoyed playing with that, hopefully, other kids would enjoy as well. It will be his first year being Santa.

Then there’s the whole “gifts on Christmas day” conversation between S and I. I’ll be honest, I don’t want G to get any gifts from Santa… or if he does, I want Santa gifts to fit into his stocking (only). For the record, I’m not saying “no gifts” on Christmas day. G would still get his share of holiday loot, but it would clearly be labeled from the giving party. S, however, isn’t buying into this idea and doesn’t want G to be “the only kid who doesn’t get anything from Santa”. His argument is “if G plays Santa for someone else, who will play Santa for him?” So we’re trying to reach a middle ground. I’m willing to compromise on a single “Santa” gift. One! It has to be within $30 and we can wrap it in special paper (I stole this idea from S’ sister). We’re still ironing out the details though, so stay tuned for final decisions. Luckily for us, it’s not something we need to figure out this year.

You might be thinking that I’m killing Santa here. I’m honestly not. If anything I want to keep Santa alive for G beyond the age of 6. I want him to perpetuate the spirit of St. Nicholas by doing deeds in his name, past when his classmates say “Santa’s for babies!”

With this G still gets to bake cookies with me (yummo) and go hang out with a Santa in pictures. I’m not denying him those experiences. I just want to encourage him to honor the season by asking “What can I do?” and not “What can I get?”

I want to put a big disclaimer here: I have nothing against others who want to tell their kid that Santa lives on the North Pole with a gaggle of hard-working elves and a flying sleigh with reindeer. I will support any of my friends who want this to be what their kids believe in. It’s just not what I want to tell G. The problem at hand will be how do I merge my friends’ perpetuation of the “Night Before Christmas” version of Santa, and the Santa I want G to know. I don’t want my kid to be the one ruining Santa for all others. I’m open for ideas here.

How do you non-Christmas celebrating folk handle this?

I really don’t mean to be a Grinch this year, but it seems like there are a lot of Christmasy-type things that I’m planning on skipping this holiday season.

Prime one? No tree!

That’s right, you heard me. I love Christmas trees! Ever since I was a wee one, I couldn’t wait to get a tree home and decorate it. It killed me when we were in our SF loft not to have one all those years. Yet, this year, I’m standing on the forefront of the “no tree” line. I have 2 primary reasons for it: 1) G; 2) Neko

For starters, G is REALLY into climbing right now. He’s even trying to climb up our safety gates! He started army crawling under them to get into places he shouldn’t, so I lowered them to keep him noggin from getting through. His new approach? If you can’t go under, try climbing over! There’s just no winning here! I really don’t need a tree climber this year, and I don’t want to devise tree mounts to our walls to keep it from toppling over.

Second, Neko is now perpetually being tormented by G. G sees kitty and goes full force after him (maniacally laughing all the way, mind you). Neko, in self-preservation, keeps running away. A tree just spells trouble with this relationship. I can just see it now: G goes after Neko; Neko goes under the tree; G continues in pursuit; Neko decides to climb; tree falls over. Yeah, I might be dramatic, but no thanx!

Next up: no Santa photos.

No, this is not related to my “No Santa gifts!” rant. Yeah, they’re quaint, and kinda cute, but here’s the deal: right now, G has a thing about guys with facial hair. And when I say “a thing”, I mean, screams his bloody head off. Even with people he knows like my dad. So, the idea of standing in a long line with a squirmy toddler and pay money for a generic mall photo only to have G go off screaming is not my idea of a good time. Especially not one I’d like to commemorate in print. I hope next year though!

Third: Shopping.

Is it me, or has shopping hysteria reached new highs recently? Maybe in my adult state I’m noticing it more, but the lines wrapping around buildings and stores is becoming a real turn-off for me. You’d think with our economic outlook still being grim, things would be calmer, but it feels like the opposite. I mean a line around the store for a Zhu Zhu Gerbil? Really?
Oh internet! I puffy heart your calm, patient, open 24-hours, 7-days a week principles. What would I do without you?

I don’t mean to skip out on Christmas this year. I’m really trying to not to, but I’m not quite in the spirit just yet. I think I need some hot chocolate, holiday music, a trip out to see some good lighting and some chilly weather to nip at my nose. Oh, and a vacation. Until then, grumble, grumble, grumble…

A card from G:

Oh, and there’s a little poem inside too:

I made a little turkey
For Thanksgiving Day
To wish you lots of love
In a heartfelt way.

This funny little turkey
Is made of many parts.
Then I added lots of love
Straight from my heart!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Makes you tear up a tad, huh?

G’s time in therapy is already a given, so I had no qualms in ordering G this year’s costume. As a matter of fact the moment I saw it, I got all giddy.

Have I ever mentioned that my dream is to be super pregnant over Halloween, so I can dress up as a cow? I just want the udders sticking out over my big Baby belly. Alas, I can’t 1) plan for such an event; 2) find a cow costume my size. So, instead I shall live my dream through my son and torment him.

At daycare yesterday, there was a parade and all the kids got treats. Of course, as we discussed last year, since G is too young for candy, what it means is that S and I got treats. We ate his bag of goodies promptly after dinner — hmn… yummo. But don’t be sad for G. We left him the mini Play-Doh, the pencil and paper pad. He can put them to use in a few years.

You know that California Cheese commercial that says “Great cheese comes from happy cows. Happy cows come from California”? Yeah, well, sadly, G was not a happy cow. He wasn’t thrilled about the grass of all things. He didn’t know what to do with it. Yeah, we don’t play in the grass of our yard (like ever), and his daycare playground flooring is foam, so I’m not too shocked that grass is kind of foreign to him: he just wanted nothing to do with it. Yes, a city child you are, My Dear!

We took G to meet some pumpkins yesterday. Last year he was too young for a visit to the pumpkin patch, so I had to wait my turn. Well, no more waiting! G’s a big boy now, ready for some orange gourd action, and I’ve been really excited seeing the pumpkin patches getting setup around town.

We spent our morning at Lemos Farm, and while S and I were having a pretty good time, G was just “Eeeh!” I don’t know if he just needed a nap, or he was still feeling poopy from yesterday (he had a light fever and spent almost all day sleeping it off), but he was not in a mood to be social. He was quiet and focused, and generally just stared off into the distance. My happy-go-lucky boy who mostly smiles, was just in a “Eh! Can we go home yet?” mood. We got a few grins, so my face was glued to the camera in hopes I would capture one should it present itself.

Either way, enjoy the photos.

Lemos Farm also has a petting zoo. There are a family of goats enjoying the grub provided by kids. We took G up to the fence, but didn’t give him any feed (mostly because I was worried that G would end up chowing down the pellets along with the goats). Well, the goats, expecting food, wouldn’t take empty hands for an answer and decided to conduct a pat down search: it began with eating G’s sweater. At first G was perplexed over what was going on, but feeling the constant tug of a hungry goat made him mad and he started crying. Yeah, it was pretty darn funny!

Want more photos? These and many more are posted on Flickr.

Oh, PS. Did you notice the photo of him standing unsupported? Oh yeah — he did it a few times yesterday each lasting for 10 seconds or more. I have a feeling unsupported walking is but a month away 🙂

Apparently G thinks so anyway.

We had a really kick-ass day today. Aside from G being a grinch about his afternoon nap, it was awesome! We went to a new park today where G went on the slide for the first time (with me) and got on the swings for the first time too.

He LOVED the swing. After he figured out what was going on, he was laughing and grinning.

I wasn’t expecting anything out of today. One of my friends mentioned earlier this week that her daughter was her mother’s day gift. It’s funny, because I’ve been feeling very much the same way about G. However days like today I’ll take anytime!

Here are some pics:

Neko guarding G’s room while he naps

“Which end of the spoon goes in my mouth again?”

“Never mind… figured it out!”

I’ve been asked a few times this week how I plan to celebrate my first mother’s day. My answer? I don’t know. To be honest, I don’t care to do anything special. I just want a casual day with my boys.

I did, however, send a gift to our RE’s office. I’ve always felt a little guilty for not doing something for the wonderful staff there. At first I didn’t want to jinx the first trimester, then the pregnancy, and then… well too much time had passed.

However, for Mother’s Day, it feels like a perfect opportunity, so I sent them a box of Mrs. Fields sampler cookies. My card read: “This Mother’s Day I thank you for making me a momy!” Yeah, it’s kind of cheesy, but I DO mean it. Besides… there’s only so much you can write in 200 characters or less ;p

G is loved by the ladies. He got two Valentines in the mail: one from his lady friend (Special K) and one from Grammie. Smooches to you ladies!

Unfortunately,  although loved by the ladies, he didn’t get much love from the Poop Faerie yesterday. On Valentine’s day she went on strike  and after two days of rice cereal for breakfast she was replaced by the Constipation Faerie.

Yeah, you read that right. I said Constipation Faerie: not a visitor you want often.

Yesterday was day 3 of G withholding “the big one”. He’d gone that long before, so I wasn’t too concerned, but come afternoon you could tell he was uncomfortable. It only got worse as the night progressed, with G having a hard time going to sleep for the night and waking up every two hours. Finally at 4am, he passed what he needed to, but overall he spent the day today as one tired baby. We, in turn, spent today as two tired parents.

He had 3 poops to make up for the 3 days of absence, but he looked mad all day. I swear whenever he looked at me today his face said “You did this to me!”.

We needed to get his passport photos taken today too, and he was not amused. Further proof that it’s impossible to take a good passport photo, no matter who you are.

So that’s the end of rice cereal for us. Well, I might bust it out when the Diarrhea Faerie comes for a visit (which hopefully will be a looooong ways away). I’m thinking of going with Whole Grain cereal for awhile. If that fails, I’ll wait until G’s a little older and offer him avocado instead.

Meanwhile, I guess I need to stock up on some prune juice…. and possibly some glycerin tablets 😮

Here’s to hoping that G will go back to his usual, cheerful self tomorrow.

G wants to wish you a Happy Smooch Day!