That'd Be Fun!

Things have really begun to fall into place for us here in Chicagoland.  We have begun to settle into the new house with great comfort.  I am proud to say that I’ve hung all of the family pictures around the house and created a very homey feel to the place.  There are still some boxes around that need to be emptied, though.  Most of the stuff in them is completely useless and I need to throw it all away, but for some reason can’t seem to manage it.   I don’t know why this is.  I guess it is because I feel the need to “go through it” before I toss the stuff.  The reality is that I haven’t needed or used it since before we moved, so I SHOULD just take the box to the trash and dump it.  I tried it with a couple of boxes, but it didn’t work.  I just took the box downstairs, looked inside and thought to myself, “there might be something in there I want”.  I then sat the box down by the stairs and that is where it remains.   For the past month, it has sat in this spot.  I even put it in a slightly inconvenient spot so that I wouldn’t ignore it.  Alas, I just walk around it and say to myself, “I will get to that tomorrow.”

Simon is still having silly dreams about the basement flooding any time it rains.  I really don’t understand why he has this fear in the back of his mind.  He knows that it is completely irrational.  Maybe, one day, he won’t worry so much.  I’m not going to hold my breath, though.  Even our last house, with all of its problems, never had a flooded basement.  Yet, for some reason he felt the need to go down and check for moisture.  I tease him sometimes and ask if he needs to take his snorkel.  Luckily he can, at least, laugh at himself about it.  This house is much newer, though, has a brand new roof and has TWO sump pumps… just in case :).

 

I have also been able to find part-time work for myself.  This has really helped to maintain my sanity at home and keep many of my skills honed.  As many of you know, I am a fitness trainer by trade and one of my goals was to find a fitness facility where I could teach a variety of fitness classes.   Well, I have accomplished this goal and now teach three (different) fitness classes at a physical therapy center close to our house.  It even has a playroom that Gavin can go to while I’m teaching.  It has really worked out well.  I had been worried about his lack of interaction with other children.  He is such a social child and I felt a little bad that he only had ME to play with all day.  Since taking this new job, he has been able to play with a group of kids his age twice a week AT NO EXTRA COST to us.  Plus, I get to interact with some adults for a little while.  They apparently have really great trucks to play with because anytime I mention the playroom, he tells me, “Go play with trucks!”  I guess that means he likes it.  

Gavin has become so observant.  The little mimic picks up on things that you had no idea he even noticed.  Back in the summer, we all went to Florida for a little vacation.  While we were there, I had to put on the brakes really hard at a red light and said under my breath, "$hit".  For awhile, anytime I put on the brakes, Gavin would scream "OH $HIT!" It was so embarrassing to have people ride in the car with me.  I have tried to discourage this by trying to redirect his thoughts to another word.  At first, I tried, “Oh Chipmunk!”  but that didn’t work very well, probably because he doesn’t know what a chipmunk was.  So, lately, I’ve turned it into “Pirate Ship”.  Believe it or not, but that seems to be working.  He then starts talking about the pirate ship that he saw in Home Depot over Halloween.  He doesn’t do it as much anymore, thank goodness.  He still says it once in awhile and I am reminded that I need to watch my language.

He has also picked up some less embarrassing phrases.  Recently he was telling us, “Wanna go zoo, mommy daddy.  That’d be fun!”  Simon and I thought that was too cute, but wondered where he had picked up that phrase.  Well, we were talking with his grandma a few days later and she was asking Gavin about what he was going to do that day and after he told her, she said, “That’ll be fun!”  She used the same word inflection and everything.  I guess we know where he heard that one.  Then yesterday, he and I were playing in the floor and he tooted, which he thought was just hilarious.  We both laughed really loud and when he stopped he exclaimed, ”Oh goodness!” just like I do when I finish laughing really hard.  I laughed even harder at thatJ.  Hearing his little voice say these adult phrases is really cute.  It is even hard not to giggle when he says the embarrassing ones.  It is a reminder, though, that I need to be more conscientious of the words that come out of my mouth.  There may be some that I wish not to have repeated back to me.

Another Move and a New House

Mommy finally gave me a haircut!

Our summer has been full of transition.  I think it has been hard on all of us.  While the apartment was quite comfortable, nothing in it was ours and just never felt like home to any of us.  There were no family picture or homey touches that we like to have surrounding us.  However, we all seem to be settling in now that we have moved into our new home.  Simon is growing accustomed to his new commute to work.  In our past locations (South Bend, IN and Statesboro, GA), we became a bit spoiled with the 10 minute commute to work.  He has a 40 minute commute now, but he commented the other day that, “it gives me more time to listen to NPR.”  I was surprised at the lack of sarcasm that I heard in his tone when he said it.  He speaks about his work with much more optimism than I would hear when he worked in South Bend.  I think this is a true testament to how your environment and the others around you can affect your outlook.  <Note to self:  Don’t be negative and stop being so critical>

I really like this little Critter book.  He sure is a lot of fun!

I love my daddy! 

For me, it’s been more than just a change in scenery.   It has been a complete job change – to one that is 24/7.  That’s hard for me because I like my “ME” time.  The natural introvert that I am get’s exhausted with the constant interaction and I need alone time to decompress.  Thank GOD I gave birth to a son that likes to sleep in and take long naps.  He is also very good at entertaining himself while I work to organize the new house.  Our new house is very open, which is great because  he can play in the family room and I can still talk to him while I’m in the kitchen, so I don’t feel like I’m ignoring him.  Lately, though, it has been a challenge getting him to bed.  We had a nice routine in our South Bend house.  He went to bed without any trouble, really.  Oh, there were the occasional nights when he wasn’t sleepy, but that wasn’t the norm.  Lately, though,  he has been very resistant.   He’s starting to come up with excuses not to lie down.  I’ll finish reading him a book and tell him it’s time to go to bed, then he’ll try to distract me.  “Read dis book, Mommy!”  or point to things (that he is all too familiar with) and ask, “Whaz dat, Daddy?”  I think part of the change is that Simon’s commute brings him home later and he misses Gavin.  Gavin gets so excited when Simon comes in the door, which Simon (and I) love.  They just love to wrestle in the floor, do somersaults and play ‘ride the daddy horse’.   However, once bed time rolls around, we haven’t been able to calm things down.   We go up to Gavin’s room to read books and the wrestling continues.  Needless to say, bed time hasn’t been all that calm.  I had to remind us a couple of nights ago that “this is time to wind DOWN.”   We all laugh, jump, roll around and have fun, then wonder, “Why won’t Gavin go to sleep now?”   Humm, maybe it is because his heart rate has increased and his adrenaline levels are higher and is just SUPER excited to be playing with his parents.  Oh what silly parents we are… One day we’ll get the hang of this stuff.

Whaz that Mommy Daddy???

There has been a slight disruption to the normal routine in our household.  Toys have been strewn everywhere and we have all eaten our weight in sweets all in the name of my little man’s birthday!  While it couldn’t be the exciting party that I had hoped for it to be, we still managed to have a fun time with him.  His birthday was on a weekday so we had to spread out the festivities.  He is quite a social child, so we made a point to go back to South Bend, IN to visit with a little buddy that lived next door at our old place.  He often asks, ”Where naked David go?”  (He calls him naked David because he took off all his clothes one day while they were at the pool.)  He was very excited to see David, play on his playground and throw the ball for the dog, Biscuit, that lived across the street.   David even got him a big bulldozer as a present!  Gavin has been pushing it all around the house and having a great time with it every day since.

Then on his actual birthday, he got to open the present from his grandma and presents from us.  As he received each present, he'd say, "Whaz that Mommy Daddy?!?"  The present from grandma was a wagon which was a huge hit, that is, until he opened the skateboard that was from Simon and I.  That was totally awesome…until he opened to tricycle from us.  For the next several days, he just couldn’t decide what toy he wanted to play with.  We’d be getting ready to go to the playground and he say, ”Ride skateboard, Mommy!”  Then we’d get to the door, he’d see his tricycle and decide, “No Mommy. Ride Tricycle!”  He would get on the tricycle, get off…get on skateboard, get off.  Oh, the decisions of childhood :) At present, the tricycle is the toy of choice, but we will see what he chooses to play with tomorrow.

We also had the traditional cake celebration.  We ate an ice cream cake with Davey and a red velvet cake on his actual birthday.  All along the way, we sang “Happy Birday to you, Gavin!” at the top of our lungs.  Needless to say, the days surrounding his birthday were filled with toys, treats and songs.  Even though it wasn’t the structured celebration every parent hopes that their child will experience, with games, friends, party favors, and tons of presents, it was still a pretty great day for the three of us.  Hopefully, next year will be just as much fun!

In search of a mirror

He finds ways to entertain himself in the car.  He's such a silly turkey :)

For most events, my son is pretty easy to manage.  Getting into the car isn’t a problem.  As a matter of fact, he actually LIKES riding in the car.  He climbs right into his car seat and tries to “Buka in”.   I can even make trips to the grocery store without incident and take the dogs for a walk without too much hassle.  However, there is one daily event that gives me such frustration that I want to pull my hair out.  My son has decided that he likes to look at himself in the mirror…naked. 

So happy to be free!

I don’t really have an issue with the fact that he likes to look at himself naked.  It is actually pretty funny.  I cannot help laughing when I see his blonde hair bouncing, arms flailing and naked butt shining.  When he sees his reflection, he screams, “GAVIN NAKED!!!” and laughs so hard.  He’s such a happy little guy.  However, events like bath time or changing clothes now take 10 times as long as they should.  As soon as I pull off his shirt, he takes off to the kitchen to look at his reflection in the oven or to jump on to my bed so that he can see himself in our bedroom mirror.  He’s quick, too.  In the seconds that I take to deal with the dirty clothes and his diaper, he manages to sprint out of arms reach, giggling the whole way.  It’s extremely frustrating, but at the same time, it is REALLY hard to get mad.  Eventually, I am able to nab him and get him in the tub.  The bath is actually the easy part.  I can get his hair and body washed without many problems because he can play with ducks and splash to his little heart content.  However, once bath time is over, the struggle begins again.  I get him all wrapped up and carry him to the bed to apply his lotion and fresh clothes.  However, as soon as I lie him down, he rolls away and get to the closest location to see himself naked.  He continues to giggle and scream, “GAVIN NAKED!!!”  I swear it takes me twenty minutes to accomplish my tasks. 

He's decided to put on Daddy's socks instead of his own.

This doesn’t just happen at bath time either.  He does the same thing when I change his clothes in the morning.  He thinks it is so funny to have Mommy grabbing for him and chasing him around the house.  Most of the time, I just let him run away and have fun, but I have to get him dressed eventually, so the chase has to come to an end. This part is never pleasant…for either of us.   I am just hoping for the day when the light bulb goes off in his little head and he realizes, “This could be over really fast if I stop moving.”  Oh, the dreams of mothers…