More Small Moments
More and more, our days are made up of tiny moments strung together to make up our days. Individually they aren't much more than a quick story, but together they give you a window into E's personality and our life.
Daycare
When I picked him up from daycare the other day, a teacher I hadn't seen was in the room with him. I could tell she was smitten with E, and trying to put it in words. "He's such a big kid, stuck in such a little body! It's like he's miniature!" Yes, he's definitely miniature, this one.. but not in the personality!
When I pick E up at daycare, he's gotten slightly more happy to see me lately. I don't think the excitement of the new room is wearing off yet, but I do think he's adjusted to it a bit, and realizes that he gets to go back to the room every day. I'm not there to take him away forever, he's figured out that he gets to go back tomorrow and play with the same toys. So instead of running away from me and crying when I try to take him away from the toys, he'll actually smile, and bring me over a toy to examine. His little face lights up as he watches me look over the toy and exclaim it "so cool!" He doesn't want it back, it's a gift, and he's so happy with himself. All he wants is to show me how awesome his room is, and for me to completely agree with him.
Our Nights
I'm always amused with the ways E finds to entertain himself before bedtime. The other night, he had his favorite T passes in his hands again, but this time he was obsessed with putting them in the bathtub. He'd take one or two at a time, bring them into the bathroom, waddle over to the tub, and throw them in, giggling with glee. Then he'd waddle back out to the hall to grab another T pass. And every time he reached the bathroom threshold, he'd slow way down, put his head down in concentration and s-l-o-w-l-y walk over so he wouldn't trip.
Another night, he was making himself crack up by playing hide and seek with me and a curtain. He'd pull the curtain out from the wall, wrap it around himself and try to stay still while I called out "Where did E go!?" and he'd laugh and laugh from behind the curtain before jumping out in front of me. I just love the anticipation, the little feet poking out from under the curtain, the giggles coming from him as he tried to time his exit.
And speaking of nights, when E decides that his is over, there's no arguing. I was trying to keep him up a bit longer until his official "bedtime," when he decided he wanted to go to sleep right then. He marched over to his crib, stuck his arms through the slats and started stealing pacifiers. He popped one in his mouth, held another one in each hand (his preferred way to sleep), and lied down on the floor and closed his eyes. It was quite clear that if I didn't put him to bed, he was just going to sleep right there on the floor. I gave in and helped him into his crib.
Sippy Cups
E is officially done with bottles! He has been for a few weeks now, but it still makes me excited to say that. Instead, he uses sippy cups. He likes to walk around the house holding one, but unfortunately he also likes to throw them on the ground, at which point the top pops off and the liquid spills everywhere. Which has made me declare that only water can be in the sippy cups that he carries around the house. Still, I don't love big puddles of water either. So one night when I was making dinner and had handed E a cup, I was a bit concerned when he showed up a few minutes later without it.
I put him into his highchair, gave him dinner, and did a quick pass around the floor to try and find his cup. I didn't see it, and he was yelling. Both because he was thirsty and wanted his cup, and because I'm not allowed to go out of his sight. So I gave up the search and gave him a new cup. Still, I couldn't stop thinking about a cup somewhere in the house spilling a huge puddle of water. When he was done dinner I did a more thorough search. I started texting Tom that I was surely losing my mind. WHERE WAS THE CUP!?
It finally occurred to me that he had thrown it somewhere, so the cup was probably out of the range of his reach, where I'd be looking. I did finally find it - behind the couch in a bin of toys, burried with some blankets.