Dax's Journal

Bracing ourselves

This is the face of a boy who has spent several days in a row in the care of his mommy.


As a result of all the mommy-bonding he has become, well, a momma's boy. This morning I had planned on sleeping in but the incessant screaming for "MOMMY! MOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!" foiled that plan.

I helped to get him out of his crib and into the living room and then I thought I'd go back to bed. Several minutes of screaming over his diaper change brought me out from under my covers once again.

A few minutes ago he refused to let Cat unbuckle his booster seat's belt.

*sigh*

So perhaps you will understand why my stomach is aching with dread at the thought of him being in a strange (and LARGE) daycare for the next three days. See, our daycare is still closed while Dave and Tracy adjust to being new parents and they don't open again until Thursday. Cat and I were able to juggle most days but these last three required us to pull out the big guns so off to Childtime Learning Center he goes.

Tonight we'll finish filling out the requisite paperwork and packing up a bag with changes of clothing, diapers, wipes, sunscreens, swim diapers, a sheet, blanket, and several wispered wishes for him to have a good time with all his new friends and to be able to nap on a strange mat and to not crawl into a corner somewhere and scream for his mommy all day.

1, 2, 3

This morning as Dax and I sat roaring at each other over his Cheerios (I don't know if we were being lions or dinosaurs) he asked for "more". After a minor line of questioning I figured out that he wanted a another cup. He already had one filled with water and one filled with milk but they were of the sippy variety and I had a suspicion that he wanted a "big boy" cup. Still, how many cups does mommy want to wash this morning?

"But you already have TWO cups," I explained. He thought for a milisecond and then earnestly explained, "Need three cups."

Alrighty then. Three it is.

No!

Guess what word we've been hearing a LOT of lately? That's right.

No! No! No! No! No! No!

Cat and I have been trying NOT to use that word. We try, instead, to suggest what should be done instead. Mind you, I said "try". It is very difficult not to scream out "NO" when your son continually insists on turning on the garbage disposal even though he has been told a bajillion times that it is not a toy and that it can be dangerous and that "Honey, please, mommy would rather you go play with your toys because she worries you will grind her fingers into minced meat one day when she is digging one of your tiny, little spoons out of the disposal."

We're also having a bit of a battle when it comes to eating. Our once experimental boy who had no problem trying anything you set before him (and some things you didn't set before him but which he found on your plate or, worse, on the floor) will suddenly only readily eat strawberries and yogurt.

Even if he tells you that he is hungry and you suggest he might like to eat some beans and he happily agrees to this he will then wait until the beans are served to him before saying, "No. No beans."

This morning I had a major victory when I got him to eat nearly an entire whole wheat english muffin and small banana. I am savoring this as I know that when lunch time rolls around I am going to be hearing NO once again.

Take Dax To Work Day

So Dax spent the whole day with me at work on Monday. That's right...I can bring my kid to work because my company is totally family-oriented. They even have a room set aside for toddlers/kids/teens just in case you have to bring them with you. Since I have an office, I just set up a quilt, books, dvd player, and a folding chair in the corner with the intention of using the Kid's Room as Dax's nap room. Dax ended up NOT napping during the day because there was just too much going on around him. He ended up taking his nap on the commute home.

Here he is getting some work done:

Here he is amusing the troops:

Smartypants

I've been sitting here watching Cat draw letters on the magnetic doodle pad so that Dax can identify them. I'm surprised by how many he knows. He still gets confused sometimes; he just called "C" an "S". But for the most part he knows them.

You know what this means, don't you? He's ready to write his Pulitzer Prize winning novel. This is obviously just a working title.

Drums and Lots

Drum Corps stopped by a local school tonite. I've always watched drumlines warm up in the lot and usually venture into the stadium very late to watch actual shows, if at all. So I took Dax to see if he would like this kind of drumming. Here he is watching the Vanguard Cadets warm up.

He liked it.

Water Bottles

So Michelle normally picks up Dax from daycare. But not this past Monday because I only worked a half day. When I showed up, I expected Dax to run into my arms happily screaming and shrieking my name. Nope. He came running around the corner and stopped in his tracks with a perplexed look on his face when he saw me. So much for that.

After the pickup, we did a few errands and picked up a couple bottles of water 'cause it was a *temperate* 100 degrees out. While we're driving around, Dax usually has this habit of drinking water and burbling it out of his mouth and onto his shirt and car seat. I was so proud when he didn't do it this time. I could hear him taking his sips and drinking water like a normal little kid.

Then, after a few moments of silence, I heard him start to scream: "RAIN!! RAIN!!"

I emit a big SIGH.

I turned my head back and there's Dax, with his legs kicking up and down, shaking the water bottle very much like a race car driver with a bottle of champagne after a win.

Yup...it "rained" in the back of my vehicle.

Grizzlies and Rivercats

Last Tuesday, Dax and I went to a Sacramento Rivercats ballgame. The seating wasn't too crowded where my company has season tickets.

We got there early so that Dax could take in the ambiance. He looked mesmerized.

When the game started, I explained to Dax the basic elements of the game. I pointed to the players and what position they were playing; said to him that the square bags on the ground were the bases; that the ball they were throwing around was a baseball; you know, baseball stuff.

Dax didn't really pay attention to the game though, he was more interested in the people sitting behind us and in the vendors selling their wares. "Peanuts!"

Now, keep in mind that the Rivercats are an Oakland A's affiliate and that the team they were playing were the Fresno Grizzlies, a San Francisco Giants affiliate. So whenever the Grizzlies were scoring and making plays, Dax and I were the only two in our section clapping and woo-hoo'ing. Of course, when the hometown team made some plays, Dax screamed and clapped along with them.

We left just before the 5th inning because by then it was already way past his bedtime.

The Fresno Grizzlies ended up winning 3-2, but it's a good thing we didn't stay because the game went into extra innings (12 innings).

Another sign that he's ready

I'm about to start this entry with one of the most mommy-esque sentences ever uttered: Dax went peepee in the potty today.

Last week at My Gym he had asked to "go potty" and actually sat up on the potty chair for a few seconds. Today when he asked to go potty again, I figured I'd strip him down and see what happened.

Dax thinks that one of the most wonderful things in the free world is toilet paper. He is all about following you into the bathroom and prepping your paper for you. He loves to flush the toilet and wave happily as he chirps, "Bye-bye potty!" So, as expected, as soon as he was on the seat he was reaching for the paper. I told him he had to potty first and then wipe. And, to my surprise, he did.

Just to clarify here, we are not potty training. I mean, we did buy a tiny plastic potty chair for him awhile ago but he hasn't shown much interest in that. He's very interested in the toilet and in our activities involving the toilet so yesterday I bought him one of those little seats you put on top of the toilet to keep their tiny hinies from falling in.

Looks like a good thing that I did.