Week of June 16, 2004

“I have goopy nose”
“Mummy, you no sing!”
“Here little chick, you go to bed. Good night, sweet dreams, I love you.”
“I want present”
(Looking at Thomas catalog and pointing) “I want that”
“No, I don’t want to do that”
“Here, you light candle”
“I want birthday. I want cake. Smiley cake! Chocolate cake!”
“The chipmunk says ‘Hey, I want some lunch’”
“The sheep tickled me! He tickled my arm!”
“Let’s go Mummy!”
“Bad kitty, bad kitty, what ya gonna do when he comes for you bad kitty, bad kitty” (sung to “bad cops” – also works with “Bad Daddy” and “Bad Maggie”
(I tell Owen my ears ache) “I’m sorry your ears ache”
“Fizzy balls?”
“Diesel in garbage boat!”
“I want my bucket” (spots it in trunk)
“I chase Daddy”
“I need help”
“We watch Diesel 10!”
“I buy this. I want birthday present.” (pouring over Thomas catalog)
“I don’t want Nancy Jane’s”
“You have goopy nose!”

We’re approaching Owen’s 3 rd birthday. Since our impromptu birthday celebration at Maggie’s house, for her sister Katy, Owen had been pretending to cook cake, pretending to blow out candles, asking about birthdays. “Present?” I’m not sure how he became so fixated so fast. We haven’t gone out of our way to build anything up, but he’s certainly been through enough family celebrations that he’s figure out the routine, and that it’s connected to 1) cake and 2) presents.

Maybe it’s in his genes. My mother used to joke that I learned to count and follow a calendar so I could count down to my birthday. I’d start far in advance and by my birthday, be completely incapacitated with expectation. I’m sure this contributed to me regularly curling up in tears in the kitchen, whenever I was at a party. Too much expectation, too much stimulation.

This weekend was a challenge because Owen ended up with a cold. All things considered, he was a trooper. He let us chase him down with Kleenex as we constantly battled his goopy nose. I came down with the cold on Saturday and by Sunday, I felt like my brain was so stuffed up I just wanted to sleep off the headache. Sudafed came to my rescue, but took a toll later in the day when I found myself unable to sleep until 1:30. Why don’t stimulants work when you want them to? We managed to do a Maggie visit and a trip to Look park in spite of my feeling under the weather. Owen’s trip on the small train is always hard to decipher, he gets completely stone-faced. He was more effusive about the “zoo” and seeing a peacock and feeding a sheep.

Notes from the week: wet, back to back diapers. Pretending to be dinosaur, pretending to be Diesel 10. Looking at pictures. Devours Maggie’s raspberries. Playing with trains on steps. “Octopus car” Happy helping with laundry. Beautiful weather. Lots of Diesel 10. Bumpy track. Aggressive/teasing Darius. Fixates on pictures. Counts much of way to 30. Telling Diane and the kids his birthday plans (news to us): “we go to Bertucci’s, and have chocolate cake THIS high, and ice cream”

• Toilet training, will it ever happen? He’s moved out of his Size 5 overnights and that’s as large a size as they come in. We were hoping regular 6’s would prevent the diaper leaks, but we’ve had more than one night with repeat drenchings. Poor little guy, what an icky way to wake up, with a wet bottom. Our Hanna PJs have been life-savers.
• Now that Owen’s outside so much at daycare, a lot of the pressure is off of us to get him outside before and after work. He’s more likely to be happy to hang out inside and play with his trains. On the downside, he runs the other way when we come to pick him up at Diane’s house! It’s better for him, but tougher on us. We’re not as fun as a big yard to play in. With worms and bugs and stuff to play on.
• Owen’s favorite baby, Domenic, is just about to turn 1. It’s interesting that while the babies are terribly popular with the other kids, once they toddle they become competition. Owen is devoted to Domenic and for ages he’s been one of the more exciting aspects of getting to Diane’s. “Domenic!” Will Owen do what he did to poor, adorable Jack, and turn off once he becomes competition and not just a fun plaything? Domenic’s sister used to dote on Owen, and did the same thing to him when he began to toddle – he just wasn’t her baby any more and he was cut lose from her adoration. The real world is tough.
• We got to daycare one of these days and Di said “we know all your plans for Owen’s birthday,” laughing as she said it. All day, Owen had been telling everyone he’s going to Bertucci’s for his birthday, and having chocolate cake that got bigger and bigger with each retelling. There will be a chocolate cake as tall as he is, and ice cream. How is it he’s plotting out the Big Day now, and how is it that he knows it’s a big day to this extent? I mean, he’s got it all figured out. Yikes!
• The Taste of Amherst is in town and we saw the tents Friday morning. Owen was intrigued, but obviously nothing is going on early in the morning. We broke the news to him and he started to point and say “Coffee, coffee!” trying to lure me. This is a scary development.

 

 

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