The Pee Alarm and Falling over

As Wren approaches 18 months old he has become very strident. He knows what he wants and is very dogmatic about getting it. He wants:

1) To go everwhere with me.
2) To stop at every constructions site (or else he weeps and shrieks "digger, more digger" for the rest of the trip.
3) To eat any sweet thing he sees someone else eating. "more num num! Num num! Cookie!"
4) To have what Frost has.
5) To prevent Frost having anything he has.
6) To run very very fast (and fall over and hit his nose/knee/shin/hand) as he falls.
7) To poke snails and slugs.
8) To get up before 6am, regardless of when he goes to bed.
9) To eat dinner on my lap instead of seated in his high chair.
10) To hit the cats.
11) To Drag the toy digger, excavator and front-end loader around the house even when they are full of sand. He cries all the time as he drags them because they are too big to manoeuvre and jack-knife or fall over or pin his legs in bad ways.

He speaks all the time. Today he said Bean, bear, knife, sharp and many words I can't remember. I shall try and notice tomorrow.

Now I can live in America

Today, I discovered that Safeway stocks Okra Pickles from Texas. These pickles taste just like pickles should and go a long way towards helping me feel at home in America. Finally, I have something to eat with cheese. By contrast, the bottled onions I bought turned out to be just bottled onions, no pickle at all! It was a sad moment. The only pickled onions I can find are cippolino's in the pickle bar (aka Olive Bar in US supermarkets). I have also found Lindemans SOUTH AFRICA Cab Sav at $6 a bottle! It is a delicious drink-now South African red at a great price.

When I bought the wine, Wren embarrassed me by saying "'ine, dada" very loudly and pointing at the bottle. Everyone must think we are regular alcoholics for our little baby to have wine among his first words.

Wren has decided to walk face first down stairs. Until now, he has been crawling backwards in the recommended "feet first" stance. Walking down stairs is much more dangerous and he has already fallen twice today. I am having to escort him down all steps. I should have expected this. For the past few weeks he has been "practicing" stepping up and down any change in grade saying "up-down" as he does it. Honestly, he has done it hundreds of times. Now I see that he was really working on something and feels he has passed the test. Josh says "he had to learn it sometime" but I wish he had waited until he was a bit more able to judge the implications of a fall.

This evening, Frost had his last Husky Soccer Team practice. I had failed to bring snack along so Frost was fake weeping about "how you should ALWAYS bring snack" and Wren was saying "num nums" and crying when I would not share the stick of gum I gave Frost.

I decided to stop at Dicks for burgers.

Dicks has very cheap, relatively good quality beef burgers. They are a bit of a local institution. Frost complained when I said he should share his shake with Wren so I decided to buy them both basic burgers - patty, bun, mayo and pickle. Frost said he didn't want pickle and he wanted strawberry shake instead of the normal vanilla so off I went. Five dollars later I had 2 burgers and a shake. Wren grabbed the burger from me and tried to eat the foil wrap saying "num nums" in a muffled shriek. I guess he was really hungry. I unwrapped it for him.

By the time we reached home he had eaten 3/4 of the burger.

In a weird coincidence we ended up driving home directly behind Joshua in the Subaru. What are the odds of that?

Josh was sad we hadn't bought him a burger but with groceries so expensive I feel compelled to eat what we have whenever possible. Today, I filled the minivan with gas and spent $72. Yes, seventy two dollars. Ouch.

We are going to be hiking in the wild bushes of local parks this summer, not in the wilderness 2 hours drive from here.

We are interviewing decking contractors. THe one we saw tonight said the deck could be made within 2 weeks. I like that thought. We would have to hold a deck warming BBQ ASAP.

Frost invents familial relativism

Me: Frost, come and sit at the table to eat.

Frost: No, pleeeease can I eat in the living room.

Me: Frost, come and eat with Wren and I. We all sit down together to eat breakfast.

Frost: Shannon, there is no actual way to do anything. There are just ways and the adults say "oh, we kind of want you to do this this way." So, you could say Frost, everyday I want you to sit at the table and then we sit at the table. There are basically infinite ways to do things.

Me: That's an interesting idea. Some people agree with you but come and sit down and talk about it.

Frost: See, there is no right and wrong way to do stuff you just make ways and tell other people to do those ways and that is how people do those ways but sometimes they say no and then they do it their own way. You just make up a way to do things and then you do it that way.

Me: But aren't there some occasions when there is a reason for doing things like other people?

Frost: Well of course, with the kids there are board games and they have rules but even then you can make up your own way to play it.

Me: But Frost, what about the reasons for our decisions. Sometimes adults have a way to do things because we know that one way is safer or better. The kids may not understand the reason.

Frost: That is half of what you say. Adults might have a reason to put on the kids. Like you want me to sit at the table. Kids might not understand but the reason is to be polite.

Me: Or, to be safe. For example, I might tell you we roast marshmallows on sticks or not run near the fire. The reason is to stop you getting burned.

Frost: Oh, then the reason to do things and the actual thing you are doing are actually the same thing, they are part of it. The reason is kind of mixed with the actual thing you are doing. It is to help the thing you are doing, to make it safer or better.

I am going to continue this conversation to see whether Frost's relativism is moral, cultural or simply opportunistic before I plan my intervention :)

I suspect he is realizing there is no reason for things like bedtime at 8.30 or eating some place versus another but rather than this being a source of rebellion, for now it is an observation leading to a great deal of discussion about my "requests".

"MOVE!" and other conversations with Wren

Wren has become chatty. As we walk in the stroller he tells me things like "More, isis" (Iris) as they are all in bloom. "Num nums, nut, bite, ar, ar" [translates to Squirrels eat nuts and they bite and are fierce].

If he gets close to your face he starts to poke:

"Eye"
"Nose"
"Eeea"
"teeth"

At diaper change he announces "MORE POOP" even if the diaper is just wet. They he asks for "Dice, mine!" for distraction while I throw the diaper in the rubbish "uck uck."

He has added a whole number of words in recent days (some may be duplicates)

(right now he comes and grabs my leg and says "move" tearfully and signs "milk" and adds "mama")

He says:

move
hose
moose
'puter (computer)
knee
roller (the construction equipment)
a-row (eyebrow)
eeza (eagle)
crane (the bird)
ball
BITE

His favorite book is "go oof go" which we read many times a day.

It is the season

I was cleaning my teeth this morning when Wren walked up to me with something squished between his fingers.

"NUK" he said.

I looked, it was a dead fly.

While I washed his hands he complained because he couldn't hold his Duplo dragon at the same time as being dangled over the basin. After he was done he clung to my legs because he was worried that the floor might be wet and he has fallen over enough times to learn caution.

When I was ready we headed off for our weekly shopping trip at Trader Joes. Wren likes Trader Joe's. He enjoys the snack hut where we eat samples, no matter how bizarre or enticing. Today was sliced hot dog. "Hot Hot" warned Wren as I poured coffee into an egg cup sized cup. I had to return a few times

Along the way, we passed by the hulks of BBQs set out on the sidewalk for adoption. Some looked quite enticing if you have a yen for propane while others are frightening dark maws which need commercial disinfection before I would offer them a hot dog.






This is the season for the dumping and replacement of BBQs. Tomorrow is Memorial Day - a traditional day for the Brats on the BBQ along with a keg and some rose if you're posh. Wren is too small for me to feel comfortable with a tub of fire on the back patio so we are not tempted by the offerings.

Its also the first whole week of sunshine and snails and slugs eating everything green shooting while the perennials grown inches overnight.

Wren is napping so I shall finish unpacking our groceries and plan the next batch of bread.

Bread, bread everywhere

For the past 2 weeks we have not bought any store bread. Instead, I have been using the bread machine to make dough and then raising, shaping and baking it in the oven. This compromise lets me do the fun part while trying out many delicious and exciting dough recipes which take me only 5 minutes to toss into the machine.



Everyone enjoys the bread making. Right now we are waiting while the dough for "English Granary Bread" rises. Wren likes to climb up his step stool and peer into the machine and watch the dough mix. Frost likes to punch down the dough. Josh likes to choose peculiar but interesting recipes (like scandinavian spiced limpa - made with orange zest, caraway and fennel seeds). We all like to eat it hot with butter.

I do not usually promote things in my blog but I can highly recommend the book we are using for our bread machine technique and recipes. It is available through the Seattle Public Library (which is where our copy comes from!) It is called Wholegrain Breads by Machine or Hand.

Today, we are going to shape our bread into hamburger buns for vegie/lamb burgers for lunch.

NEW WORDS & PHRASES:
pop-orn
poop
pee
diaper
hose
wine ('ine, dada)
caw caw num num
go woof woof go (favorite book at the moment is Go Dog Go)
guk (yuk)
mango
eat
ball gone, up

Verbal Explosion

Last night Wren woke up at 3am (again) after almost a week of sleeping through the night. It was either because he wanted to check I was home after Heather put him to bed or he was practicing speaking. This morning, he woke up with a whole new vocabulary.

We have just been playing in the bedroom (aka cleaning the bedroom and rolling around the unmade bed).

Wren said "tent?" [because josh and he play making tents out of sheets and blankets] Then he paused and added "Tent, MINE, Dada". I confirmed that Dada makes him tents. He said "Dada down" (pointing out the bed). I asked where Dada is and he said "Dada, bye-bye, car."

I was very impressed.

New Words Today:

Knee
Bite
Moose
Goose
Tickle

Old words I forgot
Juice
GO
Mum (drum)

Bacon lemonade

The alternative title for this blog post was "when kids cook..." so you can imagine what has been going on in our house.

Frost recently bought a child's cooking book from the thrift store. He has very much enjoyed making food, even though I have to help a lot and end up eating most of it.

This was not the case with the lemonade. The recipe was titled SUNRISE LEMONADE. Frost squeezed lemons, stirred, poured in homemade sugar syrup (made by Mum) and measured water. At the end he spooned in Cranberry concentrate. He mixed it all up in a big pitcher and with the recent heatwave we have enjoyed drinking it.

This morning I poured the dregs out into a glass. There were some things in the dregs. I know that there should not have been things in there but when kids cook they improvise and I thought he may have put in some lemon pieces or ginger.

I peered into the pitcher. At the bottom was bacon.



Yup, bacon.

It was cooked and sliced bacon that looked like the stuff I gave Wren for breakfast a few days ago. Methinks he took the opportunity to slam dunk some into the lemonade while my back was turned.

I felt a bit ill looking at it. Not that I have anything against bacon but I don't take mine stewed in lemonade for days.

Here it is for your viewing pleasure.

Wren 17 month update

Wren is now 17 months old. He is a naughty sweet baby who loves to run and climb and read books. His favorite subject is "broom brooms" (excavators, diggers, front end loaders). His vocabulary in this area includes:

* digder (digger)
* druck (truck)
* yuck yuck and pointing (rubbish truck)

He is now sleeping through the night from 8pm till 6am and he wakes in a cheerful frame of mind yelling "mama" and pulling board books off the shelf into his crib.

His knees and shins are always scraped and bruised because he thumps and falls over frequently. He has learned to say "OW" and point to the painful part and I then snuggle and kiss it better.

His nightmare is squirrels. A while ago Joshua and I started feeding small walnut pieces to a hungry looking squirrel. The squirrel learned to come to the glass patio door and wait on the mat for us to notice and feed him. One day, Wren opened the patio door and the hopeful squirrel hopped up the stairs towards him. From that moment on he has become terrified of squirrels.

If he is in the yard and notices a squirrel on the fence he starts screaming in fear and stumbles towards me crying "num nums, num nums". I used to say squirrel num nums to him when I fed the critter and the num nums part has stuck. I make a big show of chasing the squirrel away but he is not easily consoled.

Wren enjoys riding in the stroller. When I take him into the basement to do laundry he runs into the garage and climbs into the stroller on his own, then waits, hopefully. I wish could walk all the time but I have to disappoint him. However, yesterday we went to the zoo and he really enjoyed seeing the crows and the siamungs. The Siamung apes were calling and now if I ask Wren what a monkey says he starts hooting and chuckling like a monkey.

Wren and Frost are arguing a lot more these days. Wren wants what Frost has and Frost wants what Wren has (odd though that sounds). Frost wants a turn riding Wren's tricycle, on Wren's push car, using Wren's animals and setting them up in zoos. Wren wants to play grownup lego, carry around small rocks, eat Frost's breakfast and generally be into whatever Frost is doing (including having a game controller).

It is hard work keeping them on friendly terms.

Frost is quick to launch into a story of self pity. How he was "just" doing this and Wren hit/took/broke/injured/hurt him in some way. Wren just shouts loudly and then screams and then cries and then hits if Frost messes with him. Frost is not always the victim. If he thinks I am not looking he is quick to take things from Wren or even maliciously hide something Wren is enjoying in order to watch Wren look for it and become upset. Frost does not think Wren is quite as cute but sometimes likes to play with him. Wren will push Frost on the push car and roll cars back and forward. Wren will throw a ball.

The best game is when Wren CHASES Frost with a heavy object. Yesterday, it was the stapler. Frost screams with laughter and runs away in real fear of being clobbered by the stapler. Wren loves the power and laughs so much he stumbles as he chases Frost with the weapon of choice.

I know I shouldn't leave it on that note. They do love each other. Wren loves to sit next to Frost in the car, is thrilled when he sees Frost in the distance (as at Camp Orkila last weekend) and Frost takes care of Wren when he is allowed in safety. Still, we have to make more effort to play with Frost alone and give Wren some supervision in his Big Boy Games.

Chosing your battles

By 8am Frost and I had already had two major arguments. At the end of one I threw the box of cereal on the floor. I am not proud of this and it surely shows that it is time to take a deep breath, reread some of my parenting books (Positive Discipline comes to mind) and meditate but ARGH! its hard. Sometimes I think the kid comes from planet TV Dinner!

Our major arguments are about screen time and sugar. Here are his wistful yearnings after our argument in which I refused to allow him to watch a SECOND TV show in the morning. He wanted to use an hour of his screen time allocation before school and I objected to this on many levels including wanting to eat with him, him not being dressed, wanting to eat standing up, fighting when his carpool comes and just "what the hell, why do you need screen-time before school??"

The Conversation:
I wish we had two TV's. We could have one of those small ones. It would be SO cool.
Me: What would be cool about that?
F: Then you could put the small TV on top of the big TV and watch TWO SHOWS AT ONCE.
Me: Uh huh?
F: And we could put it on the table so I could eat breakfast with you AND watch TV. And we could watch TV in bed!! I could put it in th closet and watch while I am playing in my room.

I bought some sweetened Whole Grain cereals yesterday, thinking that at least he would eat some breakfast with these options. Indeed he does. He ate 2 bowls after dinner a snack bowl in the afternoon and two bowls for Breakfast. At 10g of sugar per bowl he has eaten at least 50grams of sugar in cereal since 4pm yesterday.

When he reached for the 3rd breakfast bowl and started feeding it to Wren (whom I was feeding omelette) when I had just told him NOT to, I lost it. I threatened to throw out the cereal if he couldn't listen to the rules.

Then we had an argument about rules.

Frost claims I should make a rule and stick to it. If I change my mind it is "a broken promise." According to Frost one should only be allowed 3 broken promises a day.

I countered that a promise is not the same as an instruction. If I say he can watch TV and then something happens that is not a broken promise. Its a change in plans.

Nope. According to Frost I am the Queen of Broken promises (aka mixed messages).

I conceded this point and then made a very clear promise that he could not watch more than one show in the morning.

I am exhausted.