Caught in the act
I just walked into the bathroom to catch Oscar doing this. . .
I covered the floor with some towels and, of course, went into the next room to upload the photos, only to re-enter the bathroom when I heard a pounding noise. . .
he hears something, but doesn’t know I’m in the room yet, until now. . .
and now, I’m going to clean the rest of the bathroom.
Best Thanksgiving Ever
And not a decent photo to document it. Figures, right?
Oscar and I may have just created a holiday tradition. The Monterey Bay Aquarium on Thanksgiving day. It’s never been a favorite holiday of mine, so this year I decided we would ditch the traditional holiday festivities and do something on our own. I had been planning Legoland, but then I found the cheap hotel room in Mexico. So much for San Diego. Instead, Oscar and I piled into the Mini late this morning after watching some Pink Panther cartoons (see, the day even started well). A couple of hours later, we found rock star parking with an amazing view (you know, because it’s Monterey), meandered down to the aquarium, stopping a few times to act as photographer for a bunch of old guys.
We’ve been to the aquarium once before, but very briefly. Oscar seemed not to remember anything, and he was an entirely different boy this trip. You should have heard him yelling when we got to the first exhibit. He burst through the little barricade that is intended to keep people away from the glass and stuck his face right up to a shark, screaming at it. He loved it. The entire time we were there, he was just crazy, running from exhibit to exhibit and periodically stopping to talk to “big” boys. After getting our fill of the fish, and eating something the cafe sold as really expensive turkey (which was really not good), we went for a long walk down the coast. After a quick trip home, with a silent Oscar in the back seat dozing for over half of it, we stopped at the grocery store for white chocolate covered Oreos (I know, but it’s a holiday) and headed to the house to hang with the doggies and Skype the grandparents. What more does a girl need?
Next year I think we’ll head on down there again, with a few minor tweaks. First, I’ll make sure the camera is working so I can share the crazy cute moments like when the penguins swarmed up around Oscar’s face. Second, we’re not eating the nasty *turkey*. And third, I’m hoping we’ll be taking Oscar’s sister.
Happy Thanksgiving!
Team Mom Review – K’NEX!
I was thrilled to receive the latest two review items from Team Mom, the K’Nex 400 Pieces Tub (for kids ages 7 and up) and the Sesame Street Neighborhood Collection (for kids ages 2-5) (a follow-on offering from last year’s Sesame Street characters introduced by K’Nex, which we’re still playing with).
400 Pieces Tub
The 400 Pieces Tub, obviously comes loaded with (wait for it . . .) 400 parts. Seriously, tons of pieces, including bricks, for lots and lots of wide-ranging fun and endless opportunities for building! For the creatively challenged, like me, the set includes instructions and ideas for 20 models, which were surprisingly easy to recreate. Moms will love the convenient storage tub, providing a handy place to put your pieces, and kids will love it, since it allows them or take the fun along wherever they go.
Suggested price is $20.99 for the 400 pieces tub, recommended age is 7+, and they are available at Target, Wal-Mart, and Toys “R” Us. Oscar is way too young for these (2 1/2 is not quite the suggested age, but he’s definitely going to be using them much sooner than the stated age range). Having said that, he loves them already, even though he can’t build anything on his own yet. If you’re going to jump the gun like me and play with a set early, be mindful of the sizes of the pieces.
Our set is now being used by a perfectly aged 7 year old boy whose mom says he hasn’t put them down for two hours. Enough said.
Sesame Street Neighborhood Collection Building Set
I think you’d be hard pressed to find a toddler who doesn’t love building with the SESAME STREET Neighborhood Collection Building Set. You can select the 1-2-3 Brownstone, the Ice Cream Truck or the Police Car (which we scored). They come with a new buildable Elmo or other character (smaller than last year’s, but just as cute). The package includes a “Play & Learn” activity sheet and additional building ideas.
The set comes with a fair number of parts (around 40), that is manageable, but not overwhelming. The pieces are perfectly sized for toddlers and are easily put together and pulled apart. What I love about this set, compared with last year’s, is that you can create multiple objects with this. We’ve made a car as shown on the box, but have made a number of different variations on the theme. Great for a toddler with less than an ideal attention span.
The Developmental Benefits of Sesame Street Building Sets:
- Physical Development – Building supports the development of hand-eye coordination
- Social/Emotional Development – Encourages imaginative play
- Language Development – Talking about what they built and created can enhance your child’s language skills
- Cognitive Skills – Sorting and making patterns with the building parts encourages thinking and problem-solving skills.
Suggested retail value is between $9.99 and $19.99, for ages 2-5, and available at Target, Wal-Mart, & Toys “R” Us.
Parenting advice
If you happen to be the mother of a little monster angel named Oscar, who likes his weeknight routine just so, do NOT rush home from work early to spend an extra 90 minutes with him before bedtime. If you do, and you attempt to have the nanny put him to bed so you can lead a conference call from your home office, you might end up with a toddler who cries so forcefully that, when you go to check on him after your call, he projectile vomits all over you. Not near you. On you. Twice.
Just sayin.
Note to self
Just for future reference. . .
Being thin again is awesome. Freaking awesome. Opening two boxes of new clothes without thinking “please don’t let these be too small” over and over in a little chant to myself is fantastic. Trying on those new clothes and finding that many are actually a size too big is amazing. Looking in the mirror at a woman in a two-piece bathing suit without a lump or bulge in sight, and being able to think to yourself that she could easily wear that on a beach – in public – without a qualm (and you know this because you watched that woman jump up and down and squat down (like you would playing in the sand with a toddler) in the mirror just to make sure) is unbelievable. Knowing that not only can I wear all of these clothes now and not ten pounds from now, but also that I look good in them already? Incomprehensible.
Please send me this if you see me eating chocolate chip cookies. Or ice cream (the kind with sugar – you’ll want to leave me alone if I’m suffering through my sugar-free excuse for “dessert”). Or pizza. You see where I’m going with this, I think.
Perception
What do you think Ethiopia looks like? Does it look anything like this in your imagination? These make me want to spend more than a week in country (outside of Addis Ababa, which does not look like this).
My little charmer
Oscar is a bit of a flirt. I’ve noticed it a few times when we’re out shopping or at lunch. He’ll make eyes at women, and if he’s really interested, he’ll do a little dance to try to get their attention. Yesterday, his speech therapist brought an observer (a young, attractive, female observer) and Oscar turned up the charm. He hugged both of them when they arrived, he paid attention throughout the session (unheard of before) and he even said two words while they were there. [He also said "bye" and "night" yesterday, but that had nothing to do with him trying to butter up a girl. He was telling Nanny Norma to go away.]
I think he even made his first joke. Usually when he gets bored with an activity one of his therapists is doing, he’ll walk away or lay down on the floor. This time, instead of ignoring them, he signed “bed,” closed his eyes and made a snoring noise. Like he was so bored with what they were doing, he had fallen asleep. Isn’t sarcasm in a 2 year old a bit early? I suspect my parents are laughing at this, as I probably started rolling my eyes before I was even walking.
My favorite is that when he said goodbye to them at the door, he actually said “bye” but then he blew them kisses (which is not something we’ve been teaching him to do, although my parents do blow him kisses on Skype). I’m hoping to develop this into a dual-cheeked air kiss for that certain European panache I’m attempting to instill. Ours is an international household afterall.
Night Night
Documented evidence that he speaks a little! He had been “night night”ing like a maniac right before I remembered that my phone has a camcorder in it. He must have told Norma night night twenty times. On camera? Yeah, just that once.
By the way, the reference to the “box” in the video (which is sitting on the bed with Max the Whippet) is Oscar’s new favorite thing. He likes to carry it around. We don’t know why. It’s an unopened box containing a facial steamer that I purchased years (and I mean years) ago when I had pneumonia. I never used it, but I’ve dragged it around with me through my moves. Oscar found it in the closet a few weeks ago and it became his best friend. He even brings it to bed at night sometimes. He doesn’t open it. It just sits there right next to him, and he pats it from time to time. He’s funny like that.
Ever notice
that when I get stressed out I spend money? Yeah, I picked up on that too. Luckily for me, today I spent it all on clearance sales at J Crew and Athleta for my boy and me, but still. . .
It’s time
I thought that I was going to be all zen throughout this process and not sweat the timing of my referral. I already have a child, I kept telling myself, there’s no big rush here. In fact, it would be better (career wise) if this adoption happened later in the year next year.
Those tactics worked for about five months after I got on the wait list. I saw a chip in my armor on this about a couple of weeks ago, and it’s been steadily increasing in size each day. I’m not saying that I think my wait has been too long or anything. I actually think it’s a completely reasonable amount of time to wait (even a much longer wait is more than reasonable). I get the significance of what I’m waiting for and what it means. All of it. That does not change, however, my desire to actually see my daughter’s face for the first time or my desire to actually get on the real wait list – the one for a court date. Since, as we know in international adoptions, a referral is just the first step. The real waiting begins then. Just saying that my patience is not what I once thought it was. In reality, “my patience” might not exist anymore.
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Etta’s Hats
Where I’ve Been
