Month: December 2012

We decided to take Theo to see Santa yesterday. I was hesitant since he’s still pretty young, and I toyed (insanely) with the idea of taking him to Macy’s Santaland for the NY experience. But, I knew that would probably kill us both. So I found the Brooklyn Santa and we planned to visit him Sunday evening. It was very low-key and we saw him pretty quickly. That is, after he came back from his break! Since we have been talking about Santa, getting Theo amped for Christmas, he was excited to have the chance to tell him what he wants for Christmas. Honestly, though, he was MUCH more enthralled with the escalators that were right where we were waiting in line. He must’ve gone up and down ten times while we were waiting. He told Santa he wants a fire truck. He wasn’t scared to hop on the strange man’s lap but after the photographer snapped three shots he was definitely saying, “uppie Mama! uppie Dada!”. So we got our print and that was that! It was my first time ever visiting Santa so I look forward to getting to enjoy Christmas through Theo’s eyes for years to come. By the way, the fingers are up because Santa was trying to get a thumb’s up. This is what Theo produced and the Santa told the photographer, “just go with it”. Very cute.

We watched “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” and now Theo is tucked in cozy with his monkey and hop, the presents are under the tree, and cookies, milk, and a note are left for the hard working Santa Claus. Looking forward to opening presents and enjoying another lovely day with our family. Merry Christmas to all who celebrate!

(Theo signed his name!)

Yes, that’s still a bottle. Don’t judge! Theo is still refusing to drink milk before nap and bedtime out of anything other than his bottle. We had a conversation the other day about it and I got him to try milk in one of his sippy cups and I thought, yes!, here we go. But, sure enough, he gave me this disgusted look after he took a sip and handed it back to me. “No”, he said, “green bottle”. This is not the first (or second) time I’ve had that reaction. He just loves the comfort of the bottle. I figure if I was still nursing it would be okay so this is his comfort that he needs before sleepy time. I can’t bring myself to go cold turkey on him. Although, honestly, I’m sure he’d be just fine. We’ll get there.

Theo loves to dress up like Mama. Well, really, he’ll steal any of your clothes if you let him. Particularly if there is zipper on it. Or, simply, if they are shoes. And he LOVES to wear a bag on his shoulder. Our friend, Rob, was over the other day and Theo was walking around with his bag like the happiest boy ever. And he has talked about it for days since. He got all gussied up the other day with my boots and bag and said, “go grocery store!”. I asked him what he was going to buy there. His response, “apple juice”, of course. “And… coconut milk!”. And then he listed some other staples… it’s very sweet how children like to emulate the daily rituals of our lives.

Theo has been using the potty like a champ the past several days. Not for #2. He’s not quite interested in that, yet. I haven’t been pushing it at all since we weren’t really planning to go for it until after the holidays and travel were officially finished. But, hey, every time I change his diaper I ask him if he wants to go potty and he gets excited and hops on the potty. He promptly says “oh, good job!” to himself and then slowly carries it to dump in the big toilet. He’s quite the helper. I love how slowly he walks when he knows he’s carrying something that can spill. I started doing a dance for him and singing, “Jingle Bells”, after he goes in the potty. Don’t ask me why. I also let him run around diaper-less and this has prompted him to go when he needs to. This evening when it was already dark, my little naked guy said, “turn light on”, and pointed to the bathroom. I turned it on and he ran in and peed on the potty. Nice progress! I’m glad he is excited about it and it’s not pressure I’m putting on him. #2 might take a little longer, I’m thinking.

I have been slowly starting a new, part-time job. It’s with a new adoption agency. One that I worked with a bit at my old agency. They are national and have only now opened a New York City office. They reached out to me and asked if I was interested in doing some part-time work (home studies and hospital outreach). I’m very interested in the home study work and a bit less about the outreach. Mostly because that was a big part of my old job that I really came to dislike and I know a lot already about the barriers of reaching out to many of the NYC hospitals. Anyhow, it’s a perfect opportunity for me right now because it will only entail about 10 hours/week (some of which will be from home) and then hopefully one home study per month. The agency is really wonderful so in that respect it’s a no brainer. I want to have my foot in the door and for my resume to not have too big a lapse in it. I know it’s now much but it’s still a big change for me and Theo. He will have a sitter one full day per week for now. We’ll see what happens with these pre-school applications, other tours I have arranged/day care wait lists, and how the job goes. Tomorrow I will be heading out to some hospitals and doing my first home visit with a prospective adoptive family. Excited about it. Ready for this change and hopefully Theo will be, too.

A typical occurrence for us lately is hopping on the bus to get to where we are going. Partly because it’s chilly, and partly because Theo loves it and now that he is bigger/older it has become less cumbersome to travel on public transportation. Except of course for when he is adamant about getting on the bus himself (or “self” as he likes to shout out) and then screams really loud when I hurry him along because there are several other people trying to get on the bus, too! But, really, it’s mostly fun.

I am going about our normal life… buying groceries, making plans with friends, decorating trees, taking photos, writing on the blog, and enjoying our days. It’s tough because I can’t stop thinking about the senseless violence that took place in CT. I’m glad I don’t have to deal with talking about this with Theo right now, or that he will hear it at school from somebody else. I’m sure I will have to talk to him at some point in his childhood about some other horrific event, but I hope not. This kind of violence makes us all shutter and feel deeply saddened for our present and, more importantly, for the future of our children. That it could happen anywhere, anytime. That our children will someday know of the evil, the hate, the violence, the discrimination, and the many other ugly parts of our world. I will continue to love my child more than anything else in the world and to protect him as best I can every single day. To tell him I love him constantly and to tuck him in at night knowing that he feels loved and safe. That’s all I can control. I love you my sweet Theo and I hope you never, ever have to experience pain like these families who are grieving today.

We picked up and decorated our Christmas tree on Saturday, which was also the last day of Hanukkah. It’s pretty fun to be able to celebrate both holidays and to be able to experience it through the eyes of Theo. What a lucky kid! He thoroughly enjoyed lighting the candles with me each night and opening a small gift. We even visited the annual menorah lighting at Grand Army Plaza. Did I already mention that?

It was a chilly night but I’m glad we made it over there. Theo gobbled up a latke and watched the world’s largest menorah (the largest allowed by Jewish law apparently) lit by the local Prospect Heights Chabad rabbi’s. The lighting is accompanied by a keyboardist playing some serious music and lots of kiddos running around. They hand out tchotchkes (yes, i had to look up the spelling) and hot latkes. What is wrong with that?! Theo loved the latkes and kept asking, “where’s the person?” because he wanted to get his hands on more. Whenever we refer to that night, he asks that question again.

They also have the big tree lit at Grand Army Plaza and that was nice to visit.

We picked up our tree down the street and Theo seriously insisted on helping carry it home. It actually wasn’t that heavy so we let him for a block, or so, until he realized it’s not quite as fun as he thinks to “work hard”. He is such a sweetie who wants to be a part of everything and to do it by himself.

We strung lights and listened to Christmas music. It was a really nice day together as a family. We don’t have any ornaments, yet, so we’ve been making a few with popsicle sticks, markers, and glue. Jay wants to bring a bunch of his back from Cleveland for next year. And we bought a few. I told Theo a bit about Christmas and Santa Claus. Nothing serious, or religious. Just getting him excited for Christmas Day.

Some of the most endearing qualities about Theo are his love for tickles and kisses. He loves the tickles probably as much as the next child but he really loves to “tickle” all kinds of things himself. Like, inanimate objects. He’ll walk past a door, lean towards it with his hands, give it a little tickle, while also saying “tickles”, with a little giggle and smile. He did it with an elevator the other day. I just love this. It’s adorable. And, the kisses. I know I’ve mentioned how he makes his animals kiss each other often. Yesterday, we put up our Christmas tree and he is so infatuated with the lights he likes to stand and stare and chat about them. I then heard a “mwah!” last night and when I looked over he was making the different colors kiss each other! Melt.

Theo also seems to be expressing his emotion a bunch more these days. He will talk about being scared and being sad, or point it out when he sees someone sad in a book or on a show. He gets it. He feels it. This is amazing to me. Normal, of course, but just amazing to watch this develop in another human being. It’s very sweet when he notices that somebody is sad. I was trying to pack up some veggie chili the other day to take to our friend’s for dinner and I was a bit frustrated because I couldn’t find my funnel. Theo was in the living room playing and all of the sudden he peeks into the kitchen and says, “what’s the matter Mommy?”. He seemed so big and genuinely concerned. I quickly made sure he knew all was well and that I just misplaced something I needed to use. We also found out this week that his Music for Aardvarks teacher, Cassie, is moving and it was her last day. Ever since, Theo has been saying, “Theo miss Cassie, Cassie move Chicago!”. Such a perceptive, caring little guy.

We are pretty much settled back into our home life and routine again. We have been enjoying lighting the Hanukkah candles and opening a small gift each night. Theo likes to say, “Happy Hanukkah!”, and he loves to help me light the candles and say the prayer. I’m going to take him to Grand Army Plaza this evening to see the menorah lighting they do there each night of Hanukkah. I remember going last year and it was freezing and he was a bit young to know what was going on but this year he is excited about it (although still freezing). They also have a big Christmas tree to ogle. This weekend we are going to get our very own Christmas tree. We had one last year, too, so it is officially my (and Theo’s!) second tree, ever.

Anyhow, Theo has been back to napping great and sleeping well at night, too. He was up late (9 or 10pm) pretty much every night in Cleveland and therefore slept until about 7:30/7:45am and hasn’t been too off with the transition back to normal around here. Although, we had a couple later nights this week and tomorrow night we are going to a latke dinner party at my friend Shia’s to celebrate with her and her daughter, Ayla. I’m excited to eat latkes! Theo has been sleeping well past 7am since we’ve been home, too, (which rules) but who knows how long that will stick. I think he definitely just had a growth spurt so hopefully we are settled back down for some good ol’ 8pm – 7am sleep schedule. His naps have pretty much been about 2 – 2 1/2 hours.

We are talking about beginning some real potty training after the holidays. When he runs around diaper-less, he loves to pee in his potty. It’s the #2 I’m not so sure about. He hasn’t showed any interest in that, yet. I may just go for the whirlwind, diaper-free-for-a-few-days potty training plan and just see how it goes. Makes the most sense to me, honestly. He can do it, no doubt. We really wanted to wait until we felt he was ready. I know some people who have been “training” for months and it seems kind of silly to do that to yourself, and to your child. Sorry for the judgment there. I guess it just seems so stressful and time consuming and I would never have the patience for that method.

I started reading a fabulous parenting book, “How To Talk So Kids Will Listen & Listen So Kids Will Talk”, thanks to my longtime friend and parenting guru, Diane. The methods seem obvious but it’s actually pretty tough to always be mindful of your language and how your child may interpret it. Today Theo was frustrated with his shape sorter (sliding the cover back onto the wooden box can be tough) and he started throwing the shapes and then, subsequently, the whole box. I pulled out the, “I see you’re frustrated because you couldn’t slide the cover on”. I had him take a deep breath and helped him to try again. He was still getting frustrated and just wanted to throw things. Then he bit the arm of the couch. Hmmm… I thought. I realized I have yet to show him ways that he CAN get angry, ways that he can take out his frustration. I showed him one of the couch pillows and said, “if you’re mad, punch the pillow and say ‘I’m mad!'”. Well he just thought that was awesome. He started to giggle, punched the pillow, and said, “I’m angry!”. He laughed a bunch more and did it a few more times. The frustration was gone. I’d say that worked pretty well. I love that little guy so much.