DA-YEE!!

It's seems we're (finally) entering a daddy phase. After, I don't know, two years of a mommy phase? Two years of Kiddle trying to close the door on Daddy when he comes home from work, sobbing at the top of the stairs if Daddy dares to put him to bed solo, and hysterically wailing when Daddy enters his room instead of Mommy.*

Now, he cries when Daddy leaves in the morning, is thrilled when he gets home in the evening and doesn't utter a peep when Daddy takes him up to bed alone. And on nights that we're both getting him ready for bed, his answer to the question, "Do you want to rock with Mommy or Daddy?" is just as often DA-YEE as it is MAMA.

I wouldn't say it's all about Daddy just yet. But we're getting there. Thank god.

Let's hope it hangs on through the birth of this next kid.

* Disclaimer: extreme examples; not everyday occurrences.

Second day of preschool ...

and as suspected it was a bit worse than the first day. Kiddle started yelling NOOOO as soon as I pulled into the parking lot and it took him about 15 minutes to stop crying once I left. He was great out on the playground, but started crying again when they came inside. He was crying when he got to me. Argh.

I spoke to the director for a few minutes after class. She was basically wondering if it was ok with me if his teachers ignored him rather than trying to comfort him. YES! He doesn't know them so holding him is probably making it worse, plus he can be a bit dramatic (related to my mom and sister, perhaps?), so letting him work it out himself is most likely the best course of action.

My fingers are crossed hoping for some improvement next week.

First day of preschool ...

and I wish I had a better report. Lots of crying unfortunately.

I had hoped it would go smoothly. Last Tuesday we got together seven of the nine kids in his class for a playdate at the park. And on Thursday we went to an open house at the school so Kiddle could see his classroom and meet his teachers. He did well at the open house (I was in the room with him), but today he cried when I dropped him off and an hour later when they brought the kids up to where we were waiting, I could hear him wailing the entire way. Poor Kiddle.

But he didn't cry the entire time, at least. Laurie said he stopped within a few minutes and settled in with some markers, but he did have a hard time when they transitioned from one activity to another. And then when they got the kids' stuff together to bring them upstairs to us, he completely freaked out. I'm sure he thought they were taking him somewhere without me.

So hopefully he will react better on Thursday. But I suspect it might be worse because then he'll know I'm leaving him there. I'm not really surprised by all this; he's never been dropped off before and he's also in an intense stranger anxiety phase right now. We continue the gradual phase-in process for a couple of weeks. Thursday the kids are only there for an hour again. Next week is longer while we also add valet drop-off and pick-up (although somehow I doubt he'll react well to someone reaching into the car to take him! I'll probably be walking him in for awhile), then we're finally up to the full three hours in the third week. Six hours a week to myself! Woo hoo!

Trains, Boats and Helicoptors

My parents were just here for another visit (they had free tickets on American as a result of being caught up in the MD-80 fiasco in April) and Kiddle continued his love affair with Ahdah. It's not that he doesn't like his dad or my mom, but for whatever reason my dad is the only person Kiddle will hang out with and not even notice I'm not around. I can't explain it, but I'm not going to fight it.

We had a great visit with them. They're so laid back and don't expect to be entertained. But I was feeling a bit guilty that we haven't done anything really fun the last few times they were here, so we went into the city on Tuesday to see the new Waterfalls public art exhibit. And it was beautiful, interesting and a bit of a let-down all at the same time. We did a half hour Circle Line tour which took you right by each waterfall, but really the best view was from the end of the South Street Seaport where you could see all four structures at one time.

Transportation was the theme of the day. Kiddle was fascinated and a little scared with each new encounter. First was the train ride into the city. I should add here that he doesn't like things that move (shocking, I know, since he's typically a daredevil baby). Last time he rode the little train at the zoo he cried the whole time, and has refused to get on it since then. He even freaks out if you put money in the little truck/car/horse ride-ons at the mall. He'd been on the subway as a baby but this was his first ride as a conscious-of-his-surroundings toddler. And, just as I expected, he wasn't thrilled. Fairly upset, wouldn't get out of my lap. But by the time we got into the city he'd calmed down and realized that trains are ok.

At the seaport, he stood at the railing of the dock saying, "Boat. Boat. Boat." At least until the line started moving to board ... then he was not interested in being a passenger. Of course, once we got underway he decided boats were the coolest thing ever and spent most of the trip running around madly. He had better sea legs than the rest of us (definitely inherited from his dad's side of the family). The river was filled with barges and police boats and speedboats and helicopters and sailboats and trucks and buses crossing the bridges. It was transportation overload and he was in heaven.

Then the return trip on the train was a totally different story: he ran onto the train like he was a seasoned commuter and sat himself down in his own seat with a smug little smile on his face. Such a big boy!

I Slept In Until 10:30!!

Last weekend was heaven. Know why?

Because I was away for three whole days ... BY MYSELF. Well, not really by myself because I was with other people. But none of those other people was a three-foot-tall tornado named Kiddle.

I went to Orlando with some friends and had a good old-fashioned girls' weekend. I got a mani/pedi, had dinner without once saying "use your inside voice, please," saw the "Sex and the City" movie (even though I've seen all of one and a half episodes of the show). But mostly we relaxed by my friend's pool and read and chatted. It was great to not be responsible for anyone other than myself for only the second time in two years.

But I missed Kiddle terribly. He's so funny and interesting right now, it just killed me not to know what was going on with him every second of the day. He and Mr. P spent a couple of days upstate with Mr. P's brother and girlfriend -- a great distraction from the fact I wasn't around, plus Kiddle follows his uncle around like a puppy.

It was a good separation for both of us: I got some great downtime and Kiddle has been much more inclusive of Mr. P this week. Well, until last night ... but more on that later.

It's 2am. Do you know where your children are?

Yes, fortunately. He's passed out in his crib. I, on the other hand, am wide, wide awake. Let's recap.

As mentioned in my last post, Kiddle has a cold. However, I've become less convinced it's a cold and more convinced it's really just a horrible allergy attack. I did stop the Singulair night before last because it really didn't seem to be helping and he's also had sleeping issues. So tonight I started him on Zyrtec. A possible side effect is drowsiness ... and it's dropped him like a ton of bricks. But not before he decided he was going to die unless MOMMY got him ready for bed, NOT DADDY.

Poor Mr. P endured an agonizing hour as Kiddle wailed like somebody shot his dog, all the way through his bath and right on through putting on his PJs. At one point, Mr. P said he was combing Kiddle's hair as he clutched the gate at the top of the stairs, sobbing for me. Then he crashed and went to bed without a whimper. Jeez. I guess a yoga class one night a week is too much to ask of him.

I really haven't had any allergy issues this year. Surprising, since we've had record pollen highs and everyone is miserable. But I was finally starting to feel it today and since I needed to get some more decongestants for my ear (a whole other long ridiculous story), I decided to try some 24-hour Claritin-D. Bad idea. Or at least a bad idea to take it in the evening. I don't think I've slept a wink yet. Argh. It's going to be a long day tomorrow.

Two Already?

How is my baby two already? I know I'll be saying this every year for the rest of his life, but really ... how is he two? Although sometimes I think it's not so much that he's two, but that I haven't been in my former career for TWO FREAKING YEARS! That means even though we worked waaaay in advance, all the programs I developed there are done and gone. My legacy is over! Damn.

Anyway, moment of mourning former life over. Back to the Kiddle.

Grammy and Ahdah came up for a week-long visit. Kiddle is totally, completely, absolutely enamored with my dad right now. I have to say having him around finally gave me a nice break. Kiddle is such a mama's boy right now that he wants me -- and only me -- no matter who else is around. But that all changed when Ahdah arrived. Woo hoo!

Still reeling from last year's 55-strong birthday blowout (who would've thought everyone would be able to come on Easter weekend?), we went low-key this year. Just us, both sets of grandparents, his uncle and future aunt. He seemed really excited about all his presents but I think the favourites right now are the sandwich set (we're offered bites of a wooden hamburger several times a day; it's important to say "yummm" after each bite), a stuffed horse named Nutley (intended to replace the very large, very hard plastic elephant he insists on taking to bed with him), and ....

bubbles!

He's always thought bubbles were pretty cool, but to get his little hands on his very own bubble blower? Awesome!




Happy 2nd Birthday Kiddle!!