Solo flight

This has been a busy month for all of us and I'm sorry to have not gotten anything new up until now. As I write this, I'm getting ready to embark on my longest solo parental stand as Holly is set to leave for Washington DC tomorrow morning to bask in the glow of Barack Obama's inauguration. I'm definitely more looking forward to the next few days than dreading them - before I know it, it will be Wednesday night and Holly will be back. In the meantime, Max and I will go to gymnastics, read some books, laugh a bunch and hopefully see some new teeth.

Those teeth, or lack thereof, have ben the biggest news of late. Max has been rocking the bruisy cheeks, the drool, the drool diarrhea, the crankiness, the interrupted sleep and the reduced appetite for about a week now. From past experience, these could all be symptoms of teeth moving around as well as teeth coming through. That means that by the time Max is doing better, we still might not have anything to show for it. In the meantime, we're getting in the habit of going to bed earlier to handle the nights and handling the crazy tantrums. These kinds of things seem to last a week with Max so it should be over soon. Maybe then, he'll have a seventh tooth.

I can't remember if I'd covered gymnastics in a previous post, but I feel I can elaborate on it a bit more after going last weekend. The class is taught at an actual gymnastics centre, where older kids train and the occasional competitive meet is held. Who knew that we had such a place in our neighbourhood? Max is enrolled in a mixed class, made up of a half-class of kids from 15-24 months and a half-class of kids from 24-36 months of age. So Max is pretty much the youngest child in the class and is a little less capable than the others of doing some of the activities. There are about four circuits set up for the kids to go through. Mats, bars to hang from, trampolines, rings to swing from, tunnels to crawl through, beams to walk on - all sorts of equipment that parents are supposed to assist their children in using. Some of the apparatus (apparati?) appeal to Max more than others, and some things he's just not capable of doing yet (e.g., shuffling sideways along a balance beam, hanging from a bar: both a lack of arm strength and bad head size - arm length ratio contributes here). All in all though, it seems like a good way to burn some energy and we've already signed him up for the next session. I wish I could post some pictures, but they don't allow cameras, except on the last week which is apparently pure mayhem.

Another note to pass along: Max has become obsessed with books. Of course, as it is with kids, he loves to look at a handful of them over and over again. A counting book, a book about food, two tactile books (one about a suede Rudolph, and another about fuzzy pigs) a Curious George book, a book about a day at the beach and, of course, Goodnight Moon. It's become a great part of Max's bedtime routine and a large part of Max's days too. It's a little crazy at this point to think that someday, Max will be able to read, but if we keep destroying board books at this pace, it won't be any surprise if he eventually memorizes these hits (like we have...)

Daycare is coming along swimmingly. Max has gotten into a good routine so there really aren't any crazy ups and downs happening during Max's weekdays. Although he and his caregiver are dying for warmer weather to come along so that they can spend more time outside. Just think - this spring, Max is going to get to splash in puddles! It's a little depressing to think about puddles and see this snow outside though...

What else does Max love these days? Hmm... Chasing Lily around (although she's remarkably tolerant). Having his teeth brushed. Playing with a shoehorn (yes, he's upgraded from doorstops). Phones...still. Watching The Wire. Playing in boxes. Walking around the house in his boots. Going downstairs AS SOON AS he gets home. Helping with snow shoveling. That is, standing in the driveway with a shovel propped up in his arms. Bolthouse Farms green smoothies. Distributing CDs from our shelves to Holly and I. Kissing his plush toys goodnight (and the pages of Good night Moon too!!). There are other things too, I just can think of any more right now.

Ok, so I'm kidding about The Wire...that's Mom and Dad who love that one:)

Tomorrow, to keep myself busy, I suppose, I'll post some holiday pictures of Max.