We are on Day 4 of me being your full-time-stay-at-home mom, although we try very hard not to stay at home. This week we've gone swimming and shopping (new leg warmers for you), ridden a carousel, listened to stories at the library, and visited the ducks and squirrels at Stow Lake. It turns out you haven't seen a lot of squirrels in your life, because you think they say "meow."
It's been a bit of a rough time since we returned from vacation; you were jetlagged and teething. I can't wait until this teething thing is over. Dad and I worried over you every night last week, giving you medicine and holding you while you cried. A couple of times, I tried to bring you back to bed with us, but forget it. Our bed is like a playground to you. As soon as you got in, all memory of pain disappeared, and you just wanted to sing and hang from the headboard. Dad and I were totally exhausted and one morning at breakfast as we just sort of stared at each other, he said, "So. This is what vacation feels like now."
You are finally feeling better and sleep is getting back on track. This has turned you into a much nicer baby, the one who wants to kiss everything. One morning at breakfast, you fed yourself oatmeal with a spoon. You do this frequently, but never quite as slowly as that day. You spooned the oats up individually, and then started kissing the raisins before eating them. It was a long meal. Today when I was holding you before naptime, you kept interrupting my song to kiss me. If you like a book, you will kiss it. If you like a stuffed animal, you will kiss it. If another child tries to hug or kiss you, you announce "NICE."
Dad bought you this absolutely awful Purdue Pete doll when we went to West Lafayette, Indiana to visit his former university. Purdue Pete yells "You're a Boilermaker!" and then plays the Purdue fight song. You can't seem to get the button to work on your own, so you constantly hand him over after each 5-second song and make us do it. Then you kiss Pete ("MWAH!") and dance until he's done.
We've started swim classes again, and you suddenly love them. You've turned into a complete water baby, after time in the lakes of Wisconsin and Indiana. A couple of nights ago, I heard you around 11pm shuffling in your crib. "Wawa?" you asked a few times. I thought you might be thirsty, but you quieted down quickly, so now I think you were just dreaming of the lakes.
It's probably wrong that one of my favorite things lately involves you falling. But whenever you trip or stumble, you stand up indignantly, shake your finger at the floor, and say "NoNoNO!"
The one thing I might change if I had the ability is your nap schedule. You're doing about 40 minutes a day. I have friends whose kids nap for 3 hours. 3 hours! Imagine what I could get done. It turns out 40 minutes wasn't even enough time to clean up the kitchen and write this blog post.
So I'll end here and go get you.
Love,
Mom
