Dax's Journal

O Christmas Tree

After Dax went to bed last night we took down the Christmas tree. That's why I'm sitting here now comforting a sobbing toddler who keeps lamenting, "Christmas treeeeeeeeee! Chriiiiiiiiiiiiiistmaaaaaaaaaaaaaas treeee! Put back up, mommy. Put. Back. UP!"

It's going to be a long morning.

O, Christmas tree....we hardly knew you.

Raindrops on roses

Those of you who've been following along have noticed that Cat has been capturing a few of his favorite memories of Dax from 2006. For my "end of the year" entry I thought I'd try to capture some of Dax's favorite things in general because it might be fun to look back on it next year and see how much he's changed.

Now, these are obviously not Dax's Favorite Things of 2006 as the things a toddler loves are fleeting and change as frequently as Britney Spear's hair color .

A Few of His Favorite Things (which could change tomorrow)

Color: Red

Number: 4

Movie: Cars

TV Show: Since we got the Cars DVD Dax has been pretty disinterested in watching pretty much anything else (although I did get him to watch the Disney Robin Hood DVD that Aunt Carol and Uncle David sent and he enjoyed that very much - THANK GOODNESS). And while The Wiggles once ruled the roost in terms of television viewing, I believe that the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse may have surpassed it. He hasn't abandoned the Wiggles entirely, he just doesn't watch them as religiously as he used to. He's also fond of Charlie and Lola and, for reasons unfathomable to me, Thomas the Tank Engine.

Book: He has six favorites running right now. Two of them are Cars books: "Old, New, Red, Blue" and "Driving Buddies". The others are Nemo books that came together in a little pack and they are called "Numbers", "Colors", "Shapes", and "Opposites" (which, when he says it, sounds like "O puppets").

Song: Life is a Highway by Rascal Flats (because it is from the Cars movie).

Toy: Again, there are a few. His wooden train set (including his new waterfall tunnel and all his collected train cars) is definitely one of his favorites. Of course he has several Cars toys and he loves them all (he even takes his matchbox cars to bed with him). He got a Thomas the Tank Engine laptop for Christmas which he loves (and I also love because it keeps his grubby paws off of my laptop). The Tickle Me Elmo still makes him laugh and laugh despite frequent usage. He's also a huge fan of playdough.

Food: This is a tough one, too, because he has become an incredibly picky eater and on any given day he may decide that he hates all food. I think yogurt is the only thing he consistently will not refuse if offered so let's go with that.

Phrase: "Mommy/Daddy is happy!" This is also known in our house as the "Toddler Jedi Mind Trick". Dax employs this tactic when a parental unit is getting stern with him because he's misbehaving. Or if he intends to misbehave so he figures he'll convince you ahead of time that you're in a good mood so maybe you won't mind so much.

Animal: Hard to tell, really. He gets most excited about cows but I think that's because he so enjoys telling you what a cow says. His "moo" is inspired. He also seems fond of monkeys, sheep, and horses for much the same reason. He isn't into stuffed animals at all but Cat bought him some little plastic animals for Christmas that he seems to be enjoying (a cow, a horse, and a sheep). And recently when we gave his room a teensy makeover in order to make it a place in which he would happily want to go to bed we let him pick out some wall stickers and he picked out some big, bright fish. I think it is safe to say this category is wide open.

Candy: Finally, an easy one. Candy canes. This is the only candy, in fact, that he will eat. He likes them very much. So much, in fact, that he requested them for breakfast this morning. He got Cheerios instead.

Musical Instrument: Drums, of course, with violins being a close second. He loves to play the drums with daddy and he's not too bad at it for a two-year-old. As for the violin, he not only can recognize one by sight but he knows one when he hears it in a song.

Favorite Place to Unwind After a Long Hard Day at Daycare: When the weather cooperates, we often top off the day with a visit to one of the parks near Dax's daycare before we head home. As soon as we walk in the door, however, Dax wants three things: milk in a red cup, his blanket (which he calls buddy), and a cuddle on the couch.

Of Teapots and Trees

For the past few years I've had this week between Christmas and New Year's Eve off from work so I've never realized what a ghost town it is at the office. The bad thing is that anybody I've needed in the past week has not been around but the good thing is that I've been able to go in late and take off early because you can't accomplish much when 90% of the workforce is gone.

So this morning I selected to spend some time cuddling with Dax rather than dashing out the door in a rush to get to the office. Can you blame me?

I crawled right into bed with him and he shared one of his "buddies" with me. (Lately he has taken to carrying two of them around with him.) He grabbed my arm and pulled it around him and I asked if he wanted to make a "cuddle puddle" which is what I call it when we spoon together in a loopy, dreamy, floppy, snuggly heap. He grinned and nodded so I pulled him into me and nestled my face into that sweet space between his neck and shoulder. He still smelled of lavender from his bath the night before.

We laid there and listened to the morning sounds of the house waking up. We could hear daddy in the shower. We could hear a kitty padding softly down the hall. We could hear the heater kicking on. The wind was blowing wildly as it had been since yesterday and it was making the windows rattle a bit. Dax tensed a bit in my arms; sometimes the wind scares him a bit. I said, "Oh, there's the wind. It came to say good morning. Good morning, house! Good morning, Dax!" He laughed.

We laid there a bit longer and then he turned to me and said, "Wind makes trees move." I nodded in agreement and then added, "Like they're dancing." He smiled at that. Then he sat up and began to wiggle like a little tree in the wind and we laughed.

"Leaves move," he said, wiggling his tiny fingers.

"Yes," I agreed.

"Silly trees, "he giggled. "Dancing."

"Do you think they sing, too?" I asked him. He nodded. "What do you think they sing?"

He considered this for a moment. I suggested the alphabet song but he shook his head. Finally he said with a grin, "Little Teapot" and then he laughed and laughed because apparently trees singing that they are little teapots, short and stout, while they dance in the wind is hysterical.

I love having these little conversations with Dax. It is so much fun to hear what he has on his mind and you never know what interesting thing he might have to say. He's always been pretty advanced with his words but he's really coming into his own now, putting together longer and longer sentences and more descriptive and imaginative scenarios. He's still a little difficult to understand sometimes and he still has his quirky ways of pronouncing some words but, for the most part, he's becoming quite the little conversationalist.

Best of - #5

There will be no picture accompanying this particular entry.

This Best of 2006 Moment occured a couple of months ago when Dax and I were getting ready for the day. Michelle usually lays out Dax's clothes before she leaves for work, so all I have to do is wake up the young one, feed him some breakfast, get him into his clothes, brush his teeth and then take off for daycare. But you know how it is. This "simple" procedure can take over an hour at times.

So, Dax was sitting at the table chugging down his milk after having some cereal and fruit. At one point he burped. So he giggled. He burped again. And giggled. As I helped him down from his chair, he continued to burp and giggle. I tell him, "Dude, if you keep doing that, you're gonna hurl!" And as I head into the living room to gather Dax's clothes, with Dax burping and giggling close behind, I see his face shift from the "Giggly Face" to the "What The Heck Is Happening In My Stomach Face".

Yup...Dax hurled.

Dax looked at the remains in front of him with a very perplexed look for a few seconds. He didn't know what to make of it. And as I started to clean up the mess, Dax immediately turned around and started running around the couch while giggling loudly. This time without the burping.

Enjoying the spoils

This is what Dax woke up to this morning.

He immediately jumped right on top of the red bike and proclaimed it "not working" when he was unable to pedal it across the carpet.

But the Skuut has been a huge hit. He has Skuuted across the carpet and up and down the sidewalk in front of our house. I am holding out hope for the little red bike. But for now, the Skuut rules his heart.

We all made out like bandits this year and I still have many thank you calls to make. Notice I didn't say "thank you cards to write". That's because I am notoriously BAD at writing thank you cards. This is something I really should work on because I'd like not to pass along this extreme lack of etiquette to my son. I have been known to write thank you emails but that's not really the same, now is it?

By the way, Cat did extraordinarily well this year with his gift to me. I got earrings and a matching pendant. They are gorgeous, too. And all I got him was a new mobile phone. And it didn't even get here in time so he really only got a piece of paper claiming that I got him a new phone. For all he knows, I could have gotten him NOTHING AT ALL. So, if we were competing for Best Christmas Gift Giver this year (and those of you who know us best know that, in some way, we totally ARE) he would clearly win.

I might actually have to write him a thank you card.

Best of - #4

There's an online series of short films titled "Chad Vader - Day Shift Manager". If you haven't seen them, you can CLICK HERE to check 'em out.

Anyways, in Episode Three, there's a scene where Chad Vader is talking to Lionel the register guy. Then Jeremy, the young apprentice to Lord Vader, runs up to them and tries to tell Chad that there is something wrong in the store.

Jeremy is hopping around in anticipation from one foot to the other before he finally blurts out: "There's a guy...SLEEPING ON THE MEAT!!"

So a few months ago, Dax was trying to tell Michelle and I about something he wanted to do. But he was so worked up that he was pretty much blabbering. The funny part was that he was waving his arms up and down and hopping back and forth on his feet much like Jeremy the Apprentice. So I looked at Michelle and said: "There's a guy...SLEEPING ON THE MEAT!!" And we laughed and laughed.

Now, Dax will be in the middle of something like eating, or drinking his milk, or sitting in the carseat, or watching "Cars" the movie, and Dax will scream out: "SLEEPING ON THE MEAT!!"

And Michelle and I laugh and laugh...

Merry Messmas!

In keeping with my longstanding family tradition, we tore into most of our gifts tonight. I don't know how we'll ever get Dax to sleep tonight. Or any night ever again, for that matter.

Although, here he is proving that, when you are two, the gift wrap is often just as fun as the gifts.

We started opening gifts at about 5 and it is well past 9 now. He has already played with trains and cars and a giant, roaring dinosaur and puzzles and books and threading games and right now he is playing with his Thomas the Train Laptop and stopping every so often to throw his chubby hands up in the air to yell triumphantly "I did it!" And he still hasn't played with everything he opened.

Tomorrow he'll awaken to find not one, but two bikes under the tree: one tiny little BMX bike and one training bike called a Skuut. He'll also get to watch one of his new Disney movies. (And that means that *I* will get to watch a Disney movie, so YAY!) We also have personalized Williams Sonoma cookies to eat. I'll be cooking a big ol' turkey dinner and at some point I suppose we'll have to clean up this mess but the fun was totally worth it.

Christmas 2006: A huge success!

So from all of us here to all of you out there...Merry, merry Christmas!

Best of - #3

Dax started using the toilet this year. It got a little sketchy at times, but we helped it along by telling Dax that if he peed in the toilet then properly washed and dried his hands, he could place one, and I repeat ONE, sticker on his Potty Chart Calendar.

See how many times he's been successful?

Sort of a clarification

Cat is doing a "Favorite Dax Moments of 2006" series of entries. I just wanted to clarify that for those of you who may have missed it. Because...um...I am one of those who missed it and I needed him to clarify for me so I'm returning the favor and explaining it to all of you.

I don't believe they will appear in any particular order but I believe he intends to have a total of ten. You can see his first post here and his second one right here.

So watch for those posts from Cat which will be much more entertaining than any sort of "end of year" blah, blah, blah that I could do and will most certainly come with photos.

(Psst. I've got a bet going on the side to see if Mr. Procrastination can get through his intended Top Ten. Any takers? Extra points if you can identify his exact excuse: "I was going to have ten entries for my favorite Dax moments but......." and you fill in the blank.)

Best Of - #2

We went to the Wiggles concert this past May. We sat in the front row of our section and were able to see everyone up close and personal. Here's Dax watching Captain Feathersword zoooooom by right in front of him.

He likes red

For a long time Dax's favorite color was blue. Mostly, I think, because it was the only color he knew. Now he knows a lot of colors: blue, yellow, orange, purple green, pink, red, and sometimes white and black. But his favorite color, without a doubt, is red.

Dax wants milk. In a red cup. Or water in a red cup. With a straw. A red one. He wants to wear his red shirt. He wants you to wear your red shirt, too. Today, when I picked him up from daycare, he informed me quite seriously that he needed an umbrella. A red one. On the way home he requested a cereal bar. A red one, please. And when we picked up the mail he was beyond thrilled that many of our envelopes contained Christmas cards and were, therefore, in red envelopes.

I've definitely taken advantage of this love of the color red. Lately he's been resisting going to bed and one of the many things we've done to make bedtime less of a fight is to add some red things to his room. One of the other challenges we've been having with him lately is getting him to eat. And for a moment I found myself wondering if I could employ the "red" trick again.

But if I turn foods that are not normally red into red food by using food coloring is that going to do weird things to his...um...output? Because that would be something helpful to know ahead of time, y'know?

Now I'm off to try to find a cute, red toddler sized umbrella.

Year in Review

I was thinking about doing a Year in Review of what Dax has done so far during 2006. I contemplated creating a montage of several images; listing milestones; or perhaps doing a countdown of sorts.

Maybe I'll try the "Best of 2006" and present them during the next few days.

Here's something from when I brought Dax to work back in July. We had some blowup cactus decorations in my boss' office and Dax commandeered one of them. He rather enjoyed hopping on them.

And the aftermath:

Why it is dark according to Dax, Part 2

"Mommy, dark outside."

"Yes, Dax. Why do you think that is?"

"Sun go bye-bye."

"Oh? Where did the sun go?"

"To the Philippines to see Lola!"

First blood

Dax has moved up to a new gym class. Now, instead of a "Gymster" he's a "Terrific Tot". The class is for kids from 2.5 to 3.5 years old and it is a lot more structured. So where he used to be allowed to run wild the entire time like a tiny, crazed monkey? He is now sometimes required to follow directions, sit patiently, and wait for his turn. There's still plenty of wild monkey time but sometimes he has to behave a bit more like a trained monkey.

Now, I know, he's not technically old enough for this class yet but we have tested it out for the past two weeks and he's done very well so we've gotten the ok to move him on up. He's also got a little friend moving up with him which has made the transition much easier. Dax and Riley have been going to the gym together since the beginning and they rather enjoy each other's company. And I also very much enjoy Riley's mom so that works out nicely for me as well.

Yesterday during one of the Wild Monkey portions of the class he slipped and fell and busted his lip open on a wooden plank he was climbling up. He's done his share of falling at the gym but this was the first time he drew blood. And you know how mouth injuries are, right? Nice and juicy. So it bled more than you would think necessary based on the tiny nick he had. Of course, blood dripped down his chin and he somehow managed to smear some onto his forehead (???) and onto his shirt so as to make it look even more dramatic. One of the teachers immediately brought us paper towels and an ice pack.

The funny thing is that I could tell by how he was crying that he hadn't hurt himself too badly but the blood was just making it look worse than it was. To add to the tiny tragedy, Dax's little friend Riley saw the blood and this concerned her greatly. She came running to him from across the gym and her little eyes welled up with tears and she patted his leg and informed me helpfully, "Dax bleeding! Hurt!" I assured her that he would be fine and that he just had a little ouchie on his lip.

I guess he didn't want to look like a wuss in front of her because he stopped crying within seconds and shoved me and my silly paper-towel wrapped ice pack away. He totally gave me the toddler version of the, "I'm fine, mom. Sheesh. I'll walk it off...rub some dirt on it. Leave me alone."

Riley and Dax returned to their activities but as soon as Dax attempted the first gymnastics feat of the evening (walking on a rolling cylindar while holding onto some hanging rings) Riley yelled out, "Be CAREFUL Dax!" Then she turned to me with wide, worried eyes and kind of shook her head as if to say, "What are we going to do with him?"

So, see? This is why I'm not concerned about Dax being younger than the other kids in the class. He's got Riley looking out for him. That girl will mother him more than I've ever dreamed of!

Drumset Antics

Extreme

When Nanna Clause came to town this week, she gave Dax an early Christmas gift: TMX Elmo.

The pictures do not show how much he loves this toy. Not even that last one in which he is doing the happy, laughing dance. As soon as I can figure out how to post a bit of video here, I will do so. I was a bit afraid he might hyperventilate from all the laughing, pass out, and wack his head on the coffee table. Fortunately, that did not happen.

We still do not know how she managed to get her hands on this coveted item. She won't tell. So I say we all get to make up our own stories about how she managed it. Here are our guesses:

Cat: She was out in front of Wal-Mart pretending she was just on her way in to buy some soda. Then an innocent child came out with the TMX Elmo and she whapped the kid with her purse and stole it.

Michelle: I say she got up reeeeaaaally early in the morning and went to Wal-Mart and then just sauntered up to the huge crowd of people fighting over Elmo and crawled beneath them all, biting ankles when necessary, and emerged victorious. She's small and sneaky so I think she could pull it off. Although, her getting up at the crack of dawn is a tiny bit hard to imagine.

Dax: I think Nanna pulled Elmo from the sky just because she knew that I wanted him. (Editor's note: The author may have taken some liberties here as Dax is only two and very unlikely said anything of the sort. He more likely said something along the lines of, "Elmo funny! I yike Elmo!")

Feel free to speculate. Keep in mind, it must involve Wal-Mart as she lives in a tiny town and that had to be the only option. Although I s'pose "black market" or "eBay" could also be involved. Ah, heck...be as creative as you want to be.

I'm off to tickle Elmo. This toys rocks!

Thanks, Nanna Clause!

Fastest Week Ever

Dax's Nanna visited this week. At least, I think she did. Quite frankly, the week went by so quickly I can hardly remember what happened. But I have photographic evidence of a woman who looks very much like my mom hanging out with us and having oodles of fun in places like San Francisco so I am assuming she was here.

See? Here she is walking with Dax at Pier 39. Who is walking who, I do not know. And I hope they have not stolen a baby. The stroller appears to be empty but those two are crafty and should not be trusted.

I swear this vacation had to be one of the shortest ones ever. Not in terms of actual duration, of course, but in terms of how long it seemed to actually last. It seems like I just put the Thanksgiving turkey in the oven and now I have to go back to work tomorrow. How is that possible?