What I've been dreading finally happened.

Last night Christopher woke up screaming around 3 a.m. Brian went in to see what was wrong, but Christopher just wanted to get down, so he came back to bed. I was laying there, about to go in myself, when I realized the screaming was getting louder and louder...I sat up and almost fell over when I saw a small screaming munchkin come running into our room. He climbed up on the bed, shouted "I sleep there" and threw himself down between Brian and I.
My sleepy brain could not process what had just happened. Why had Brian let him out of the crib? Why was he running around loose at night? What happened to the crib, the ultimate toddler containment system?
Brian summed it up in one terse sentence: "He climbed out."
The last vestiges of babyhood are gone.

We might be homeschooling

I tried taking Christopher to a class at the Community Center again today. After the Funfit debacle - he made it through just one class without running out, screaming - I had vowed never to go back. But this was an open class for people who were thinking of enrolling in the winter, and his friend Anna would be there, so I figured I would try it. Despite the fact that he is exhausted, still having not caught up on his sleep after the wedding.
It may have been a mistake. The class was about sports, and they were doing football today. Christopher did fine until about 20 minutes into the class, when he abruptly stopped throwing the football, curled up on the floor and refused to get up.
We ended up leaving early - I am trying to recover from a stomach bug, and not in the mood to convince a squirming toddler to throw things. And it wasn't early enough. He threw a major tantrum on the way out.
So, homeschooling tips would be much appreciated.

I'm training a ringer!

I have gotten a little obsessed with Christmas cookies.
Every year, I hassle people - Brian, my mother, my grandmother, friends - to make Christmas cookies. Typically people are not exactly brimming with enthusiasm. Something about calories, or fat, or having delicious things that have a lot of calories and fat hanging around the house during the bleakest, most housebound time of the year.
But I'm still obsessed. And this year, three things are coinciding to make it the best Christmas cookie year ever.
1. I'm pregnant. Fat? Calories? Hahahahaha. Already there.
2. My mom's group is going to have a Christmas cookie exchange. Excuse to bake!
3. I'm training a ringer.
Christopher has discovered a new love - baking. It allows him to sit on the counter (under close supervision, of course) and "help" me measure ingredients, pour them into the bowl, spill things all over the place. He loves it. I can tell myself I'm introducing him to reading, following instructions, and math (he looked at me blankly today when I asked him to add 1/3 and 2/3, but he'll catch on soon). He was grouchy this morning, until we started to make muffins. By 8 a.m., we had a batch in the oven and he was happy as a clam.
I think it will be pretty easy to transition him to cookies, especially since he's become obsessed with the subject (thanks, Cookie Monster). So, I'll be able to set up a sweatshop and feed my obsession - literally. Let the countdown to Christmas season begin.

They let young'uns vote here

Christopher, Daddy and I went to the polls at 7:15 a.m. today - and walked out with our precious "I voted" stickers at 9 a.m. Yes, Christopher got one too - make of that what you will.
Christopher did fairly well with the long wait. Lots of books and goldfish crackers, and riding on daddy's shoulders. Afterward, we celebrated his coming of age at Borders, then let Jack loose in the woods while we played outside. Alas, he always comes back. (Jack, I mean. Not the kid. I don't let the kid go anywhere in the first place. I don't want to know if he would come back.)

Naptime is now helltime

Christopher has decided he doesn't like naps. He still needs them - gets grouchy, falls asleep in the car without them - but he certainly doesn't like them.
We have had every kind of disruption possible. He has taken off his diaper, peed in his crib, taken the sheets off of his crib. And the throwing the stuff out of the crib every day is pretty much routine.
Today, he emptied his water on the floor. And the crib.
Tomorrow, I'm going to put him into the dog crate for his nap. (Kidding, I kid. Probably.)

Fatherly Love

When I was little, we went to the beach every year. And every time we went, my dad built sand castles, took me in the ocean and, once every trip, he dug a fabulous tunnel in the sand.
I didn't know until years later that my dad actually hates sand. Passionately hates it. Learning that was one of the first things that made me start to understand what being a parent - a really good parent - really means, and how much my dad loved (well, loves) me and wanted me to be happy.
On our way home on the Metro on Wednesday night, Brian played with Christopher while I read. After a few minutes, he said quietly "Look at this."
Brian's arm was covered in farm stickers. Christopher was taking them out of his sticker book and putting them on Brian's arm while he worked on finding the right pictures to match them to.
Brian hates stickers more than just about anything in the world. But he was just sitting quietly and watching Christopher put stickers on his arm and take them off again and not even flinching. I felt like my mom must have when she watched my dad, elbow deep in sand and not letting on in any way that he wasn't too happy about it.
I didn't get a very good picture of the scene, but I'll always remember it.

Deer Lake

Everyone's been having adventures outdoors lately.
Yesterday, Christopher and I admired three deer in the woods behind our house. About an hour later, I took Heidi outside, with no leash, forgetting her affinity for deer. I watched as she walked, then jogged toward a suspicious scent, then flat-out ran after the one deer that had hung around. I was worried, but more entranced by the sight of her pursuing the beautiful deer. She was flying down the hill, tail flying, and even from the distance at which I stood I could see her eyes shining and her mouth opened in what seemed to be a smile. But no matter how fast she was, she was after an adult male deer, and she returned, defeated but still smiling, a few minutes later.
Today the four of us - Jack, Heidi Christopher and me - went to the park behind our house. I wanted to walk the dogs on the trail around the lake, but the idea was a disaster. They flew into the lake, leashes still on. They were so fast they almost tipped over the stroller, and Christopher promptly started crying. He wasn't upset or hurt; he wanted to go in the lake too. And he did - waded in about a foot to throw a stick to the dogs and promptly fell in. But he recovered, though his clothes still haven't - as you can see from the picture.

Peace, at the grocery store.

I went to the grocery store alone today. After the past few months of always being, um, accompanied, it was a revelation. I could squeeze fruit. I could read labels. I could browse. I meandered, I wandered. It was wonderful.
I was so into my solitude that when I got to the grocery store, I forgot to talk to the clerk and tell her I had brought reusable bags.
"Sorry," I said. "I was so happy to be here alone, without my son, I guess I zoned out."
"How old is he?" she asked.
"Almost two," I said.
"Mine is seven months, and I love bringing him to the grocery store," she said almost smugly.
I couldn't help it - I laughed and laughed, and then did that annoying more-experienced parent thing. "Just wait," I said.

All the News from Lake-Whatever-It's-Called

Well, we took a turn into the dark side this morning. It was Friday, we got a little wild. We did something - illegal. We waded in the lake behind our house.
I'll give you a moment to collect yourselves.
It started out innocently enough. Jack has been woefully neglected since Heidi's surgery. So I decided to take him down to the lake to go swimming. We also took some of Christopher's toys - a dump truck, shovel, bucket. All the things a young boy needs to stay occupied.
Or, at least, it would have been if not for the large, glimmering lake in front of him. After two minutes of watching Jack bound in and out of the lake, fetching sticks and a tennis ball toy, he was screaming to go in. I occupied him with the toys, small stones and hickory nut shells for a few minutes, and of course, throwing all kinds of things for Jack to take out of the lake, but then he wanted in. So I let him walk on the shore, not quite touching the lake. Then, in a moment of what-the-hell, I let him wade right in. And wade in he did - right up to his stomach, trying to shake me off the whole time (didn't work, of course).
Then I looked around, remembered we weren't supposed to be in this lake, didn't see Jack, and started wondering what kind of terrible creepy crawly things there were in this lake. I mean, whales have been spotted in small bodies of water before. So I grabbed the kid and ran.
Well, Christopher didn't approve. He started screaming. I was fighting to get him in the stroller while looking for Jack. It was a miserable walk back home....but a fun few minutes of wading.

The Keymaster

Christopher has fallen in love - with a set of keys. Keys that are magic - they unlock anything, the car, the front door, the toy box....It's really fascinating to watch him with them. His little lower lip juts out as he tries to see if the key can fit into a hole. He concentrates so hard he's squinting. And when he does get the keys to fit into something, he gets so excited and proud that he's beaming.
Well, I have to go look for the keys again. That's the only problem with the keys - they're small and portable and he keeps losing them.

Mess with his schedule at your own risk

The good news is, Heidi is recovering nicely - so nicely, in fact, that she snuck upstairs earlier tonight. I had to carry her back down. Hopefully that scared her enough to keep her from ever doing it again.
We left her for several hours and went to Baltimore today. We ended up spending most of the day in Fells Point - a great area, lots of fun with restaurants to spill beer on oneself in and clothing boutiques in which to buy a new outfit afterward. Good place.
Christopher wasn't so sure, though. He was very very excited about seeing his friend Addy - "Addy! Addy!" was his rallying cry during the preparations for the trip - but he wasn't so happy once we got there and he went through the afternoon without his usual nap. It led to a complete meltdown by the time we got home. But at least I got a new outfit!

Our Poor Heidi

We found out last week that Heidi had a mast cell tumor on her chest. It's a common tumor in dogs, malignant but not always catastrophic. The vet - our new one here in Maryland - suggested "as soon as possible whenever you can as long as it's really really really soon" surgery. At the same appointment, I also asked the vet the fact that Heidi couldn't go 10 feet without deciding to christen some grass. She gave us a prescription for antibiotics for a probably urinary infection, and a surgery date for yesterday to remove the tumor.
By the time yesterday morning rolled around, Heidi's christening habit had added an interested a new feature: she was now peeing blood. We had also noticed a tooth was about to fall out. And her leg, which was operated on four years ago, was bothering her again. The poor dog, age 5, was falling apart.
When I went to pick her up today, she had undergone: x-rays on three parts of her body (bladder, knees, teeth) one tooth removal, dental cleaning, a tumor removal and had about a cup of stones removed from her bladder. And, as the encore, she's going to need more knee surgery.
The worry was amazing, the bill astounding (how do you feel about trade school, Christopher?) but it didn't matter when she bounded out of the vet's office and tried to climb on my lap, despite the stitches that go from her chest to her pelvic bone.
The pictures show the stones (kindly returned to us by the vet), her medications (all four, plus her new special food!) and, of course, Heidi. The extent of the bodywork isn't visible - I'll try to get a picture of that the next time I put the warm, wet washcloth on her wound. (I feel guilty - it's a nice 15-minute break while I sit with her to keep her still.)

Mr. Christopher goes to Washington

It's been a long time since I posted here, and a lot has happened. We moved (twice) had to leave a dog behind (Rory, the badly behaved border collie, is now a country dog in North Carolina) and Christopher and I are staying home together in our townhouse in Maryland.
We went to Washington today to search out the lesser known sites. We've been to The Mall several times and gone in the Natural History Museum, Air and Space, all the usual sites. Today we were going to tackle Capitol Hill. The bookstores, the coffeeshops. Not the tourist sites! The real city!
We never quite made it to The Real City. Instead, we went through National Building Museum - excellent, especially for kids - and then Union Station. Christopher fell asleep, and I started the triumphant march to Capitol Hill and the Bookstore on C between 6th and 7th.
But apparently there are four versions of C street. We never found the right one. After circling the Capitol four times, under the increasingly suspicious glares of Capitol Police, I gave up.
We ended up at the Mall. Botanic Gardens. Christopher loved the Children's Garden, and so did I, but it will still a defeat. But one day, I will find it. The real city.

My little assistant

I got up today and felt better, but still kinda weak and sick. The obvious answer was to enlist an assistant while cooking eggs.
Christopher perched on the counter and gripped each egg tightly, grinning maniacally and obviously excited that he was being allowed - encouraged even - to break something. He "helped" me break three eggs, then stopped after and looked at his hands in grossed-out fascination. Breaking eggs is not a mess-free endeavor when you're 18 months old.
He screamed through the hand-washing process, but then cheered up when he got to eat the eggs he had helped prepare. He ate a lot before demanding to get down and wandering off in search of his little bike.
I'd post pictures if I had any, but trust me, it was cute.

Christopher has said the dreaded word...

Mine.
We are in the territory of "mine" now. Pacifiers are mine, food is mine, a toy that another child dropped is mine. It's starting....
Otherwise, Christopher is doing great. He identifies animals by their sounds "What's this?" "Moo."
That's about all I could do this morning before I gave up, grabbed a wad of tissues and took him to daycare. Now I'm home, hacking and blowing my nose. Christopher had a cold several weeks ago, then Brian had a cold...now I have a cold. Apparently "mine" doesn't apply to illness.

Goodnight, Gorilla

Christopher and I went to the zoo today...it was really nice to get away and relax. Especially on a Monday! We did miss Daddy, though.
We spent about five hours at the zoo. Christopher was a little grouchy - he didn't sleep well last night - but he did pretty well. He did have a few temper tantrums in the chimpanzee exhibit. He didn't want to stop climbing in the exhibit, and he didn't want to leave it. I didn't know he liked chimps so much, but considering how much he likes climbing, it makes sense.
It was funny going to the zoo today and seeing the changes in Christopher. The first time we took him, he liked riding around in the stroller, but was kind of oblivious to most of the animals. Today he did not want to ride in the stroller - he wanted to walk, walk, walk - but he really liked seeing the birds, the bison and especially the sea lions. We got there at feeding time, and he yelled "Yay! Wow!" as they followed the trainers' commands to come out on the step and bark, roll, and do other things. And when they brought out a ball for the sea lions, he yelled "Ball!" and everyone laughed.
I'm telling you, we're lucky they didn't keep him. He seemed to fit in.

Helmet head

Christopher got on a bike and took a ride to the playground on Sunday - but first he had to put on the dreaded (dum dum DUM) helmet.
He didn't like it.
He cried and cried and cried. Until he got onto daddy's bike...once he started moving, all the tears went away. And then he had a great time at the playground. When he was ready to go home, putting the helmet on again went a lot more smoothly.

Just chillin'

Christopher wanted to read this morning...then he didn't...then he did...then he decided he could do it better himself, so he took "Five little monkeys jumping on the bed" and wandered off to sit on the stairs to read it himself. Then he got distracted making his patented pickle face and blowing kisses to mommy.
He's been having a rough few nights, with a cough that's been keeping him (and mommy, and daddy) awake. This morning, we realized that he still has stuff coming out of his infected ear. So my day went from 10 a.m. phone interview, 12:30 going away lunch for a colleague, then frantic phone calls and writing, to all of that plus a 2 p.m. doctor's appointment. This poor kid.

One small boy, one big helmet

Christopher got his first piece of real sporting equipment tonight. We took him to Dick's sporting goods to buy Christopher a ... bike helmet. It was a tiny helmet that looked enormous on our little boy. He wasn't too impressed by it, until we called it a hat. Then he briefly looked interested before shoving it off of his head again.
No pictures yet, but we'll post them as soon as we take some!
Christopher's favorite part of the night, though, was watching mommy try out a punching bag. He laughed and laughed...I think he didn't know I had it in me!

Surprise...snow!

It snowed! There is as much as two inches of snow on the ground! It is going to melt today - it's going up to 57 - but school is still canceled, of course, and Christopher and I went out to play in it, of course!
He mostly liked walking around in the snow and watching it crunch under his boots. He also liked watching Heidi go crazy in the snow. But then I accidentally got snow all over his head - and down his back - when I was cleaning off the car, and that was pretty much it for the snow day.
Right now he's having a post-snow play snack of banana and milk. He has been looking outside, seemingly impressed at how pretty and strange it is. And very relieved not to be in it.

The dogs are finally useful

Christopher was in a good mood this morning, after waking up in a really bad mood at 7 a.m. - and 2 a.m. We were heading down the stairs. I was chatting about reading books, he was carrying his milk. In retrospect, this was a bad decision.
About five steps from the bottom, he threw it down to the floor. Milk spattered everywhere - the floor, rug, wall. I sighed and yelled to Brian for help.
Christopher looked at the mess and shook his head sadly. "Ju-ju," he said, like he wished he could just scoop it up and drink it.
Brian came down and we started cleaning up, while Christopher hovered nearby, saying "ju-ju" really sadly. Brian said something to him about what a mess he made, and he looked at us solemnly and said "Dogs did it."
It didn't seem possible, but we both heard it. Then he shook his head sadly again, looked regretfully at the ju-ju, and toddled off to make another mess.

Go Eagles! Um...next year!

Our little Iggles fan!
Christopher modeled his Eagles warm-up suit - a gift from Cass and Pops. I thought he looked quite fetching, and I hate the sport.
He also got quite a kick out of wandering around the patio on the (unnaturally warm) morning and having his picture taken. He can be quite a ham.
He continues to make a toy out of everything...this morning, he was dragging my headphones around like a pull toy. Then he got out some shoe polish. He couldn't open the jars, but he was fascinated by the sounds they made when they were rubbed against each other and banged on the floor. I was watching him for several minutes before I realized it was 9 a.m. and we really, really needed to get going. He's just so interesting!

Splat

I made egg cupcakes last night. That's not their real name.
I sauteed vegetables, mixed up scrambled eggs and combined them into muffin cups. Baked until they were done. I tried one this morning, and it was great. So I gave it to Christopher.
Two bites, then an "I hate this!" squeal, followed by swoosh, splat. Plate on the floor. Happy, happy Jack. Giggly Christopher.
Sad, bitter mom. Sigh. I hate Mondays.

Big weekend

Christopher had a very big weekend. He spent Saturday getting spiffed up - he got his first haircut - and a "Baby's First Haircut" certificate to prove it - and new shoes. On Sunday we went to the playground in the morning, and Christopher had a playdate in the afternoon with my friend and her 3-year-old son.
It's really interesting to watch Christopher with older kids. He's just fascinated. At the playground, he stared at the little girls on the skateboards. Later that day, he watched Wes intently, as if wondering "Could I do that too? Let me try!"
We had a recitation of animal sounds tonight. Cow? "Moo!" Horse? "Neigh!" and once, oddly, Train? "Choo-choo!" A new animal!

Books, books, books

For a few months, Christopher was more interested in moving than reading. Now that he's got the walking thing down, he's back to loving books (yay!) (The picture is from Wednesday, when he was home sick with a leaky, infected ear. Gross.)
I got home from work tonight and found him sitting on the floor, surrounded by books. Within two minutes, he was on my lap, pointing out the animals he knows and flapping his little hands to tell me to turn the pages more quickly.
So glad he's back to being a scholar instead of an athlete. Close call.