Week of March 31, 2004

"I want to go see Maggie and Bella"
"Is Maggie in town?"
"What are you doing?"
"Why?"
"Mummy/Daddy lie down/sit"
"I want a haircut!"
"I want a popsicle!"
"I want pancakes!"
"I don't want to go to Di's house"
"I want to go to Di's house"

Song of the week: "A Mother's Intuition" from Piglet's Big Movie. Again.
Video of the week: Either "Courtney Amber" or "Whipped Cream" from Rock'N'Roll Clifford

Owen's still getting over last week's cold. His nose is a bit stuffy and he has a cough, which is tough at bed time. We've been bribing him with a video after bath ("Do you want Courtney Amber or Whipped Cream?"). We feel low, but if it makes him docile for medicine taking, we're all for it. We've tried giving him droppers of medicine with him fighting tooth and nail, and it leaves us all exhausted and traumatized. And if we're really unlucky, he throws up the medicine. 10 minutes of TV is a small price to pay, though I'm not looking forward to cutting him off.

We've been having a good time with the improving weather, and got outside to some parks so we could swing. Although he can use "big boy" swings, he prefers the effortlessness of baby swings. He can just sort of slump over and be pushed.

We've all been enjoying watching the plants push out of the ground. I have a few crocuses planted at our apartment, and Owen has been fascinated with looking at them. "Mummy, sit down!" "Purple" Of course, it's easy for him to inadvertently squash them, but at least only I realize this so he's not stressed out. They lose an extra day of life, in exchange for the attention of a small boy.

Owen's been enjoying his new train case. He likes to pack up trains and track, and if he can't actually take his case to visit someone, he'll just go to the other room and unpack his stuff and set it up.

Often, telling Owen "we're going to pack up" is enough of an incentive to get him to separate from whatever we're doing and get geared up for the next phase. There's so much joy (concentration?) in the packing up, he doesn't protest the actually leaving. If we use his metal case, he'll shout out "rubber bands" so we can keep the case from opening up as we transport it. He so much loves packing.

It's a little scary, when I see him trying to carefully tuck his track into the inside pockets, or put his Beloved Bunny books in the outside pocket (the way he saw me do it), or watch him struggle to get the zipper past the tough corner. Between my love of organizing, and Scott's packing nature, I think Owen was doomed to be a packer from the very start.

One interesting side effect of the videos we're watching is that they focus on one particular song in the Clifford world. There's a fake pop start ("Courtney Amber") who has a signature song and dance routine, and Owen has seen it enough to know the words, and the choreography. I have my heart in my throat, each time I see him singing "dreams can come true" with is arm outstretched in imitation of Courtney. He's so earnest and engaged, it makes watching the same video a pleasure.

Another song he loves is the theme from Cyberchase. Okay, I've had a lifelong thing for the credits of shows I like - watching them is part of the experience and I'm entranced every time they come on. Poor Scott long ago learned to ask before fastforwarding through credits of things we've taped. The fact that Owen also seems to love beginning and ending credits is cute but unnerving. If he's eating when Cyberchase comes on, he has to actually get down from his highchair and run back and forth while the credits are going on, and then get back into his highchair when they're done. He knows the words to the credits well enough that he even includes the supporting contributors listed at the end!

We had a birthday party to go to this past weekend, at 5, which is late in Owen's world. His nap was abbreviated (20 minutes!) because of his cough, so he was tired before he arrived. He did the lamprey thing when we got to Scott's sister ("I am one with you, I cling to your chest <sucking noise>.") It's always good to have your child at their social best when you're out in public with them! Eventually, Owen relaxed and then treated the house like his own, furiously running back and forth between the living room and the kitchen.

Unused to sitting at a table, and not in the slightest way hungry, he fidgeted and fought our attempt to keep him at the table. I felt, as always, that my poor parenting skills were on display. "Yes, my child has no manners!" I tried to relax because, hey, they're all parents and toddlers are toddlers. I admit, Owen's not great sitting at a table, but I think few toddlers are great when they're not hungry.

Later, when it was time for cake, he ran from the other room and happily planked himself down in a chair. Motivation makes all the difference. However, I noticed he still wasn't all that hungry, and settled for half of a small piece and a bite of ice cream. That's not the sweet lover we know! He definitely wasn't hungry.

The rains have descended on us. Just last week I was thinking how little rain we'd gotten (not without a trace of gratitude, mind you, I'd be happy if all rain came between midnight and 4 a.m.). The kids are all trapped indoors, and the mood everywhere has gone from zippy and optimistic, to forlorn and edgy. This must be why people get depressed in the Pacific Northwest, and it's most definitely why they drink so much coffee. I feel incomplete without a cup in my hand, and it's been hard to stick to just one cup a day. We've gone out to breakfast with Owen twice this week, and of course when we're out (and have trains and books) he's happy to sit and eat. It's a big change from over the weekend, he's ravenous. He devoured his scrambled eggs, happily using his fork and eating them before his French toast or his pancake. I'm happy to sit and have coffee, and unwind before work. Our evenings have been less than stellar and while they're an improvement from last week, I miss sleeping in my own bed the whole night through.

Owen's also been asking to use the potty. "I go pee!" he tells us, although I think we're a bit far from actually making any deposits. I think it's a big victory, his being willing to sit down without actually having a diaper on already. We'll get there, eventually. At least he's taking an interest in wiping his bottom, flushing, and watching the water drain away!

In other news, one of the children at Owen's daycare apparently had head lice, and we've all had the heebie jeebies as a result. It would appear that the rest of the kids have escaped without lice, but I find my head has been itching anyway. You'd think I'd have more sense, working at Entomology as I once did. Mostly, I'm grateful we can avoid that whole scenario (noxious poisoning of one's head, maniacal cleaning, genuine heebie jeebies). Ugh.

Is it lice that monkeys are constantly picking out of other monkeys' fur, and eating? Owen is one to rub his head against mine repeatedly, so I'm just as grateful his hair looks nit free, but it reminds me once again how many unpleasant creatures exist in the world. Winter perhaps is the price we pay for avoiding all those nasty tropical critters and the diseases they carry. I'm just as glad I don't live in a place where I have to check my shoes before putting them on my feet.

Now if we can get to the point where it stops raining and it's warm enough that I don't need to wear socks, I'll know that Spring is really here.

back | next

Back to Owen's index