Poor Baby

The Bub is well into his third day of fever.  He's so sick, we had to check our ears when he told us, "I want to go to bed."  He spent almost all day yesterday and most of today sleeping or lying around.  Strangely, he's in good spirits and we don't see any other signs of illness.  A mildly runny nose and no appetite, but those things happen a lot anyway.  Remembering that he usually gets a fever every time he gets new teeth, we just checked his mouth and lo and behold: new teeth!  The tiny peaks of his last 2 molars are just beginning to poke through the gums.  Look out, celery!

Making cookies

That Appears to Be True

The Bub and I were having a picnic in the soggy grass at the park when he jumped up, announced, "I'll be right back," and ran far away to investigate something important: cement, workmen, a lamppost, I'm not really sure. He came back eventually, slipping a bit in a mud slick along the way.  He stuffed a couple of grapes in his mouth and told me "I'm going back to the mud puddle where I belong," and spent a good ten minutes getting disgusting. 

Ethical Parenting in the Era of Television

I’m not proud to say I let my son watch too much TV.   To assuage my pangs of guilt for lazy parenting, I turned to Google to soothe myself.  Surely I’m not the only one.  The internet did not disappoint. Who would guess that the average American child aged 2 to 5 watches 32 hours of television a week?  Seriously. When do those average children eat?  In front of the TV set presumably.  Anyway, it made me feel a little better.  Plus the reassuring fact that so far, Sasha doesn’t seem to be lacking developmentally.

I was having a laundry room chat with a neighbor, a mother of 2 young boys.  I complained that the child care room at the Y has a TV blaring at all times of day, with the children watching in a gape-mouthed stupor.  She agreed this was terrible, and said, “As a parent, I’ll be the one to say when you can watch TV: when I need to get something done!”

But lest I judge the harried parent, sometimes all that TV time is worth it just to hear the things that come out of his mouth.  After watching Toy Story 15-plus times, the Bub has memorized quite a bit of dialogue.  I was changing his diaper the other day, when he looks around the room and says to me, “There seems to be no sign of intelligent life.” 

A short time later (after I finally stopped laughing), he looked out the window and announced, “I see a sign of intelligent life!”  Surprised, I walked over to the window where he pointed out the stop sign outside of our building.

He also makes the toy pig yell at me, “Give me all your money!”  This is immediately followed by a round of kisses for everyone.  I didn’t get it until I saw the scene: the bank robber pig demands all your money and then greedily kisses all the coins that cascade around him.  Money lover or just plain lover, it’s all the same to Sasha.

And to make TV matters worse, Toy Story is a Disney/Pixar movie.  This means we’ve bought hook, line, and sinker into licensed merchandise.  How can I deny him the unending pleasures that come with sippy cups and underwear featuring Buzz Lightyear and Woody cowboy?  I’m a sucker! 

Plus, I figure the central conceit of Toy Story—that toys come to life when you’re not around—is enhanced by having toys that exactly resemble the ones in the movie.  Toys have a life of their own and love to be played with and tossed about and want to go everywhere you go? What a great concept for a little kid just beginning to make sense of the world around him.

Soccer!

Today was the Bub's first day of soccer class.  I'm not sure who was more excited, me or him, but it doesn't really matter.  The class is a "parent and child" one, so it will be a Saturday morning bonding experience for Mama and Bub.  I will get some much-needed time off, but I had to attend today to check it out (and to get pictures!) and because I knew it would be cute and funny to see a outdoor class full of 2-year-olds.  How does a coach herd cats? The answer, I discovered, is they don't. For the duration of class, tots would take off across the field then get chased down and brought back by a parent. One kid lay down on top of the net. Another collected the hoops that were intended to mark a running track.  One carried her "home base" rubber mat with her everywhere she went.  I am proud to say that Sasha was very well-behaved, listening to the coach and excited to participate.  He still doesn't understand the waiting in line thing, but whatever-- I hate it, too, and I've had a few decades to get used to it.

Bonus: the t-shirts provided are purple! With a logo in distressed yellow to satisfy the most discerning fashionista.

The weather was cooperative, too.  One of the only nice days we've had so far this year. Get here soon, summer.

Not Quite

-- Sasha, what's your full name?

-- Alexander Sky Rosen.
-- And you're Mamu Sky Rosen and you're Mama Sky Rosen.