Week in Recap

Tuesday, March 5: Went to Great Northern Mall to play on the play structure in the food court. Everything was going great (other kids were being friendly and polite, boys had lots of room to themselves) until I had a coughing fit for about 45 seconds. When I turned around, Beck was going down the slide but Theo was nowhere to be found. The area is not enclosed completely, and when I looked out into the food court, I saw two women looking down and then around. There are very few people in the mall at this time of day (11am on a Tuesday), so I figured they were looking at Theo and wondering where his mama was. I ran out to the food court, and one of the women said, "are you looking for a little boy?" I said yes, and they pointed me further down the hall. At that point, I was about 50 yards from the entrance to the play area--where Beck still was. I was still in my socks from being in the play area. I still hadn't seen Theo but there were practically no people in the mall. I decided to go back and get Beck and put my shoes on so I could run better. I ran back, put on my shoes, grabbed Beckett, and then ran back out. I was directed by a different woman around a corner toward more stores. About 100 yards away from the entrance to the play area, around a corner and about five storefronts down, Theo was running, full speed, arms pumping, in his socks, away from me. I never saw him look around or back. Just head down, running in his sweatpants and sweatshirt and tube socks. In all it was probably two or three minutes that I didn't see him. When I picked him up I was relieved but I can't say I was ever afraid of losing him. First, it's a very small mall. Second, there were practically no customers in the mall at the time. There were a few elderly mall walkers but truly, that was it. It was almost like Forrest Gump running through the desert. I could kind of tell where he was from the looks on people's faces as he passed them, though I couldn't see him, and I can't say I ever feared that he would disappear. I wasn't terrified, or even scared; I just knew I needed to get to him as soon as I could, and I didn't want to risk losing Beck on the hunt for Theo. We left once I had both of them in my arms, and I'm still deciding whether I can take them back there or not. I would feel more comfortable sitting in the doorway next time, but even still, I can't control having a coughing fit and I can't control if I'm attending to one of them and the other runs off. Though Theo is definitely more of a runner.... We'll see.

Earlier that morning at the mall play area:

Thursday, March 7: Grandpa Greg came to take care of the boys when Mindy and I had a miscommunication about childcare and Jeff had to leave for a trial competition in Brooklyn. I returned to very happy babies who were comfortable and calm after spending a great day with Grandpa Greg.

Friday, March 8: On my own with the boys, we hit up Wegmans and laid low. Grandma Kathy and Grandpa Greg arrived around 6:30 to put the boys to bed so I could go see a play with friends from work. The boys slept badly--it seemed like one of them was up almost every hour. I suspect at least Beck is getting his two year molars, as he is drooling a lot. They only woke briefly, mostly not even waking up except to yell out, but of course then I was awake. Then Theo inexplicably woke up at 5:45. Luckily he went back to sleep until 6:45.

Saturday, March 9: Grandma Kathy and Grandpa Greg entertained the boys and I ran an errand at the mall. They stayed most of the day, helping me get some cooking and laundry done while keeping the boys happy. I slept during their entire nap that afternoon. I wasn't sure what to do with daylight savings time so I kept the boys up until 8:30, past their usual 8pm bedtime. I think it worked, because Theo slept til 6:45 time, and Beck slept til 8!

Sunday, March 10: Auntie Tara and Puppy came over for some cuddles and a walk in the park on a warm, sunny morning. It feels like it's almost time to play on the playground in the park! Daddy Lovebo got home at about 1am after a very long weekend away for everyone. I tired not of time with the boys alone but of all the responsibility for taking care of everything in the house, and so many repetitive tasks. But his team won the tournament and is on to Nationals!

Monday-Wednesday: Attempting a coup at Mama's office. No big deal. I'll report more later.

Thursday: Home with the boys, doing laundry and folding diapers and cleaning and taking care of a million things I haven't been able to while I've been working this week. And lots of reading, cuddles and building blocks with the boys!

We are very grateful that Grandpa Greg was able to pinch hit yesterday when Mindy and I had a miscommunication about childcare. The boys were happy and eager to keep playing with Grandpa Greg when I arrived home late. Lucky them--Grandpa Greg is coming back tonight with Grandma Kathy to spend some more time with the boys!

I emptied out a large cabinet in the kitchen that Theo was constantly emptying. I had kept things like chips in there, which were usually in tiny crumbs because the bags had been dragged and smashed all the time. Now Theo keeps a duck and the popper and usually a few other things in there. Sometimes he "hides" in there as well.

Theo's first film

Theo found our small digital camera somewhere in the house the other day (probably it was a little too close to the edge of the countertop). I heard strange noises and found him watching video of Beckett on the camera. He had figured out how to turn the camera on and then how to play back video. Then he happened upon the record button. He had a few other very short blips of his feet, but this is the long edit--Theo's first film.

More and more interaction

There is still a lot of parallel play between the boys, but increasingly they seem aware of the other and his wants and needs. Since they had their tummy troubles last week Beck has been cautious about what he eats, so he mostly eats enormous breakfasts (like, four bowls of cereal and several cups of milk) and mostly wants to drink milk. So lunch and dinner usually go like this: we hand Beck a cup of milk with his dinner, he drinks the entire cup of milk in one swig, and then, without touching the food, asks for more milk. Our standard operating procedure has become to suggest he eats his food but not get him more milk. So Theo has taken to advocating for Beck. He will quietly observe what's going on, then hold up his own cup and ask for more milk (when his cup is nearly full). When we try to tell him that he has milk in his cup, he points to Beck's cup and says "more!". Good try, Theo. Beck often summons me when Theo is getting into trouble, helpfully pointing to the bad behavior.

Their trading schemes are becoming more complex now, too. Beck has learned that often when he shows interest in something, Theo suddenly also wants the same thing. Now when Beck wants something Theo has, or even something that is at that moment idle, Beck will initially feign interest in something else to distract Theo away from the real target of his attention. When Theo starts playing with the first item, Beck immediately leaves it to start playing with the other thing, taking advantage of the fact that Theo is now absorbed with the first thing. Beck is also getting bolder about fighting back when Theo tries to take things away from him. For a long time, Beck would simply relinquish whatever he had that Theo had tried to grab away from him. Often Beck would cry and pout after he had handed it over to Theo. That still happens occasionally, but more often now I see Beck push Theo away when Theo arrives to steal Beck's plaything away, or Beck uses his brute strength to win it. Theo, anticipating this new fighting spirit, has begun to respect Beck's space and things to some extent. I observed a detente tonight when Theo approached Beckett, grabbed Beck's book, and when Beck grabbed it back with some finality, Theo shrugged and found his own book to read right next to Beck. I think this is all good news for everybody. Theo learns he doesn't always win, and Beck learns he deserves to win sometimes, too.

Our friend Lauren came over on her way to the first road race of the Syrathon series. She did some important pregaming, including reading storybooks and eating banana bread.

Beck is all about his trucks these days. He can usually be found somewhere either playing with his trucks or reading a book. 

I woke up to Jeff imploring me to come downstairs to help him. I came downstairs to Jeff holding the green play lawnmower, all four wheels of which were inexplicably coated in what appeared to be wet, messy dog crap. This is odd, to say the least, because we have no dog. There was no dog crap anywhere else in the house, that we can see. Boys had clean diapers and had no crap on them. The only place there appeared to be dog crap was on the wheels of the lawnmower and the small spot on the rug where Beck had been rolling the lawnmower. Jeff handled the lawnmower and mopping the floor, and I inspected the children and gave them baths, just to be sure. Luckily our great neighbors the Roots have a steam cleaner they let us borrow. When Jeff brought it in and then Mike showed us how to use it, Theo thought he had died and gone to heaven. The vacuum is just about his favorite thing in the whole world, but this was a bigger and louder version of the regular vacuum. Both boys wanted to help Dada.

Blueberries for Sal

Beck has been a reader from his earliest days. He is fascinated by books and by being read to, and has endless patience for reading. For several months I have seen him "reading" to himself like this, but Mindy captured a great moment reading one of his favorites, Blueberries for Sal (from cousins Barbi, Kevin, Sawyer and Lucy!). The other favorite in this movie is Pout Pout fish.

Toss the Baby

Babies feeling better! Here's to the return of one of Theo's favorite games: Toss the Baby!