Halloween 2011

Original Halloween intros are so hard to come up with, so here is a blog post about Halloween.

Last year we dressed the boy up as a kangaroo and took him to a neighborhood trunk or treat. No kids came to our trunk and no one seemed to know what he was supposed to be (“Is he a deer?” “No ma’am, deer don’t carry their young in their stomach.”). It rained and afterwards no one came to our house.

This year Halloween was interrupted by my family’s return from China on the 28th. They are still dealing with the time change and don’t seem to be in the mood to party.

This year I took the boy to the same neighborhood party on Saturday. He was too cranky to put on his dragon costume. There was a boy dressed as werewolf and a girl dressed as a skull-faced jester (a surprisingly common costume this year) that freaked him out to the point that I couldn’t put him down. 

He finally played a few games, won himself a thing of bubbles, which he loved once we got home.
Sunday was devoting entirely to battling first and second hand jet lag.

Monday started as a fairly normal day. We went to the library, which was not as Halloweeny as one would expect, and to the store which was already out of Halloween candy.

At first, when I told Grant about trick or treating, he said he didn’t want to go. But it only took one group of kids interrupting dinner to get him thinking about nothing else.

We dragoned him up, and him and I set off, taking turns holding the nose out of his face.

I felt a little bad taking my not-quiet two year trick or treating. We’ve never giving him any candy so he had no idea what any of this stuff was. People could tell I was a bad parent, either because I would let this way too young a child eat all this candy or I was using him to score candy for myself.

I tried to assuage this guilt by making Grant talk as much as possible. This was extra hard because the things he’s good at saying (“thank you”, “Hello”) are all in Chinese. He got plenty of practice though and after the first street he was good enough to be cute.

He’d say “Trick or Treat” (tee-de-tee), “Thank you” (Koo) and “Happy Halloween” (Happy Ween).

As we/I walked from house to house, if a house looked non-welcoming or I just didn’t want to knock the door, I told Niuniu that they were asleep. He was very accepting of this and would even point to houses with all the lights out and tell me they were sleeping.

After we had knocked enough doors that my back was killing me from Training my Dragon and I was starting to feel guilty about how I was going to eat all this candy, I decided to call it a night. This is how that transition happened, translated form two year old Chinese to English.Niuniu: Next house, next house!

Daddy: Sorry buddy, everyone has gone to bed
Niuniu: Everyone is sleeping
Daddy: Yup.
Niuniu: Next house, next house!
Daddy: No, now we go home, so Daddy can go to sleep too.
Niuniu: Daddy go to sleep? Niuniu sleepy too.

Without another word he fell asleep on my shoulder and would not wake up. He was all rag doll the rest of the night as we undressed him, forced some milk down his throat and brushed his teeth.

I don’t see how a kid who will wake up and scream for an hour if I step on the squeaky step will all of a sudden sleep through a total depantsing.

Happy Ween Everybody

Now he just needs a wing and a song

So teaching the youngling how to pray has been the most fun I’ve had doing anything related to church. Way better than road shows.
   
We’ve always prayed before dinner, so I think he’s just sort of accepted it as a thing that we do pre-food. We were a little slower on bed-time prayers though, only starting four or five months ago so we’ve gotten to see he’s attitude towards it change.

At first he was very earnest, he’d close his eyes and kneel on the floor next to us waiting patiently to say “Amen” and smile at us, knowing he’d made us happy.

It wasn’t long before he realized that each prayer was 30 to 60 seconds of time where Mommy and Daddy’s eyes were closed. He’d jump up, run around the room, even slap us on the butt only to run back to his original position when we got to the “In the name” part.

He’d then say “Amen” and look at us as sweetly and innocently as any 18 month who just punched you in the butt can. He was so proud of himself for gaming the system.

And I gotta admit; I was too.

He calmed down for a while, but lately his prayer time shenanigans have taken a turn to the adorable. He has three stuffed toys in his room, a giraffe, a cow and a stegosaurus (teddy bears are for weak kids with unimaginative parents) that he likes to play with while we read bed time stories.

Well a few days ago, he decided that the three amigos needed to pray with us, so he’d lay them down next to us for prayer time.

Tonight, after we all said “Amen,” he picked each animal up in turn and, shaking them in the universal sign for “this animal is talking” said “Amen.”

Now I just need to teach him all of their different voices and he’ll be set.

Rainy Days and Mondays sometimes lift me up

The Boy, this is your father speaking, so put down whatever you are into when I decide to read/give this to you and listen.

As I write this it is July 25, 2011, you are 20 months old and have just gone to bed. Today was a simple day, very simple in fact. And yet, amidst all the simplicity, you taught me something so profound that I just had to write it down.

First, a bit of background. I said today was a simple day, and it was, but it was the kind of simple day that you live for when you become a parent. We were going to take you to the library.

I’m not sure what your study habits will be like when you’re older, but here and now, you love the library. If we’d let you, you would spent hours, running between the shelves of books, discovering new things at every turn. You love to have your mother or me read to your from the baby books bin. You love to grab magazines with Elmo or Thomas the Tank Engine on them and explain everything about them to us in your own language. You love all the posters and decorations they have there for you to enjoy.

Today however, being the Monday after a Pioneer Day Sunday, the library was closed. We didn’t realize this until we had pulled into the parking lot. You were heart broken. You kicked and thrashed against your car seat and against the injustice of it all.

Your mother, the quick-thinker she always is, placated you by saying we could take you to school next to the library to play on the recess toys. If there’s one place you like more than a library, it’s a park. There’s less books, but more screaming, which is a fair trade in your young mind.

We’d never taken you to this park before. You were hesitant at first, but grew more adventurous, eventually climbing higher than you ever have before. When the time came, you didn’t want to leave. Even the first drops of rain would not dissuade you from pointing at the numbers on the hopscotch boards and giggling with glee.

To move you closer to the car while maintaining your level of happiness, your mother and I each took a hand. When run together for a few steps and then “One Two Three!” swing you forward into the air. You laughed, your mother couldn’t help but smile and I tried to capture the moment in my mind so that I could live in it forever.

I was convinced the day could not get better.

I was wrong.

The rain picked up, damping the world and our spirits. We ran to the car, and promised you that we’d come back and play there again soon. We drove home. As your mother and I cowered in the garage, looking out into the rain, you ran straight in, laughing as you went.

Knowing your mother is part cat and hates to get wet, I went after you. I was about to bend over to pick you up and carry you back into the house, when I decided the “Cool Dad” thing to do would be play with you in the rain for a while.

We started to walk around the block, at least you did, and I followed. As is normal for most kids your age, it was a slow walk, because you had to stop to examine everything. Every rock, every yard, every puddle was the most amazing thing in the world to you.

I hope one day you’ll understand what it does to you to watch your child explore, it makes you slow down and try to understand what they find so fascinating. You think back to your own youth, and for a few minutes recaptures the feelings of wonder and amazement you used to feel when everything was new.

That’s what happened to me. You’d seen everything that we looked at before. Many times in fact. But tonight it was different. Tonight it was wet, shiny and clean and despite the fact that you had to get soaking wet to do, you wanted to see every last bit of it.

I hated when I had to bring it all to end as bed time closed in. But even as I carried you home on my shoulders you were amazed by what was around us and you were smiling.

I pondered this as we finished the last leg of our journey. Into all our lives, rain will fall. Rain that will make us cold, wet and miserable. But the rain will bring with it change. It will wash the world clean and if we embrace it, it’ll wash us too.

When this rain comes, it brings with it a choice. We can hide, staying indoors, where we are safe, warm and where everything is the same. Or we can run, laughing, into the downpour.

We’ll see things in a different way than ever before. We’ll overcome our fears and dislikes, and find a whole new world to play in.

Today you taught me to run in the rain. Something I’d forgotten over the last 27 years since I was your age, when the time comes, I hope to teach it to you again.

Thanks boy.

You’re the best.

End of year wrap up.

Ugh, this is just like peach porridge now (nine days old) so the into doesn't make as much sense as it used to. Sorry.

2010 comes to a close and I wouldn't be a crappy blogger if I didn't try to squeeze something out last minute. I could do a top ten list of my favorite Niuniu related moments or I could to a chronological recap of the whole year. But both of those would be harder than I really want to do between now and the New Year's party we're going to in a few hours.

Besides, really the best to do is recount what's happened in the last two months like I would with any other blog post, and throw some pictures up next to it.



November:

After Halloween we began settling into our winter routine, which is a lot like our summer routine without the evening walks. We still take Grant for walks when the streets are clear and he's gotten stir crazy from too much being inside. Fortunately he likes going out more than he dislikes getting bundled up. I think he knows how good he looks with his winter hat.

Halfway through the month was his birthday. I was under the impression that after this point I didn't have to remember how many months old he was and could just say he's one, but apparently that's not until he turns two.

Regardless we made his birthday a family affair. Everyone got together at his Great Grandma Burdett's house for cake and manual labor with a risk of tetanus (we spend the afternoon tearing down a rusty old down run in the back yard, but Grant just hung out in the house so we didn't get a picture of him with work gloves and bolt cutlers sitting in a pile of 40 year old chain link).



As per family tradition we had a special angel food cake for the birthday boy and a real (chocolate) cake for the adults. Normally in our family we set the kid in front of the cake and just let them got nuts, thereby properly introducing them to the world of emotional binge eating on special occasions.

Grant would have none of it though. Both the tradition and the cake. He pointed at it the whole time we were bringing it to him and looked excited to be the center of attention but as soon as the cameras were rolling and the cake was in front his hand shot out toward the cake, he took the smallest about possible and promptly through it on the floor. No amount of coaxing, encouragements or example would get him to pay the cake any attention. So with nothing else to do we could do the adults had two cakes.

It was a happy birthday.



Thanksgiving was another chance for the little guy to show off how cute and well behaved he is for the extended family. Unfortunately he was sick that day so he just sat on the floor between us and fussed the whole time.

We tried to get him to try some of the holiday foods but he was content with a few bites of roll and a lot of whining. Finally after most people had left and things had calmed down a bit those of us still around were enjoying some cheesecake. Who ever was holding Grant at the time gave him a small bite and his eyes just lit up. It was if he suddenly understood why we had drug him so far and made him be good around so many people, it was for this cake.

He immediately requested more. When that source would not longer give him any, he climbed down and then crawled over to the next person and began begging like a dog. He went from person to person until everyone had given him some. It's bad habit I'm sure but you can't get mad at cute.

And now we know what to get him next year for his birthday.



December

Like most people our December was buried in preparations for Christmas. Grant had apparently decided that since we weren't going for family walks as much that walking was over rated and stopped trying to become a biped.

Getting ready for Christmas is so much more fun with a kid. Every time we when to Babies R Us (our default stop when the kid needs anything) we found something new that he would love. We were able to more or less restrain ourselves but I'm afraid it'll only get harder once he starts to weigh in on the subject.

Actual Christmas was great. Another big family get together and with the exception of waking up at 5:00 AM and then going back to sleep at 8:00 AM when everyone wanted to do presents, he was a perfect Christmas baby. And I'll take him waking up at 5:00 to play with my grandma's 101 Dalmatian toys over staying up all night crying like he did last year anytime.



Grant had plenty of practice opening 12 days of Christmas presents, so we figured he'd be excited to do all the unwrapping he had ahead of him. He was super excited for the first two presents. After which he decided being a baby on Christmas was hard work and he'd rather just look at the pretty packaging and smile at everyone than open anything.

He did eventually get through all his presents and was thrilled with all of them. He was a good baby and would let everyone hold him, at least until he got bored and wanted to go back to Grandpa.



The day after Christmas I set him on the floor to make us some toast. He crawled right to his tub of blocks and was about to start playing with them when he looked across the floor and saw the toy cars his Grandma and Grandpa Shinney had given him. He squealed with delight and threw the blocks down and crawled over the cars as fast as he could. It was a fun moment for me.

For New Years we took him to a friends house. He was a great party baby again and had a great time except when he fell into an unused cable jack and cut his cheek a bit and gave him a nasty welt. It was one of the worst injuries he's had so far so I think it hurt Mommy and me as much as it did him.



All in all it's been a great 2010 with Grant in our lives. We've grown (mostly him) and learned (mostly me) so much and things just keep happening. Here's to an even better 2011.