Goals Update 2013

I would like to add one more goal to my resolutions: to brush my teeth more.  (Ew, right?)

Ever since I knocked up Carrie, my teeth brushing habits have deteriorated. I went the first 27 years of my life cavity free, and brushing every morning and night. Then, as Carrie grew more uncomfortable in her pregnancy, I found myself waking up to attend to one of her needs instead of my morning routine. At night, she'd often fall asleep before me and if she was sleeping fitfully I wouldn't want to risk waking her by brushing. I still brushed, but my steady routine was broken.

Next came Shane. If my routine was disturbed by Carrie being pregnant, a baby in the house pulled the pin on the grenade and blew the sucker up. Now, I was waking up every morning to Shane's demands, losing sleep at night, and trying to use the little free time I had for things I wanted to do more than brushing my teeth.

It took several years of slack habits, but I had my first cavities ever last August.

Nana was horrified.

This is the woman who once laid down, in her bathrobe, behind my car as a teenager to prevent me from leaving with unclean teeth. I had some tea staining on my bottom front teeth over the summer, too, that she called 'hobo teeth!'

I can't help but wonder if Nana is cringing (or cheering!) as she reads this.

Like a Hawk!

Shane's visual acuity continues to impress me. If there's something he's interested in, he finds it. Period.

Yesterday, we were at the grocery store. Carrie stood in line with the cart and I ran the Shane rodeo. This mainly consisted of Shane running up and down isles and me running up and down isles after him. The only stops were at the water fountains (for a messy sip from each) and at the customer service counter.

Every time we lapped the store, Shane pointed at the customer service desk, shouted "SCHOOL BUS!" and tried to duck behind the counter.

The boy is fast, but not that fast yet. I picked Shane up in a jiffy.

Shane shouted and writhed as I wrangled him out of the employee area, "SCHOOL BUS! SCHOOL BUS! SCHOOOOL BUSSS!"

I scanned the area, but I did not see anything that was toddler high-interest. The customer service people grinned. They enjoyed the show.

The second time around, I looked harder. Shane pointed and yelled "Do you see? SCHOOL BUS!"

And he was right.

There was a school bus magnet on the register in the far corner. Shane could only see it, because he was partially around the counter. Otherwise, it would have been too high up and blocked by the lip of the counter. I don't know if he saw it when I carried him by once, or if he spotted it in the immediate moment I allowed him to poke his head around the first time.

My boy has eagle eyes.

I picked Shane back up and walked over to the register Carrie finished at. It was time to go home. One of the customer service people walked over to me and handed Shane a bus magnet like the one on the register. Shane was enthralled. This is why I will keep going back to this Harris Teeter. Shane's loud and she must have realized what he was pointing at.

It was a kind gesture. I thanked her for it, and made a mental note to post the story online. You're getting a twofer in one today! A kind act by a stranger, and a post about my boy.

Ninja Cat

Max (also known as "Little Cat") was a ninja in her previous life. It's the only explanation. She is always appearing in unexpected places.

It was a familiar scenario. It was night, Carrie was asleep with the TV on, and I needed to sneak in to bed. The light of the TV guided my maneuver to the dresser without causing a clatter. I reached for the pajama drawer when movement in the drawer below caught my attention. I couldn't see what it was until a little black-furred head rose and the light from the TV shone across a pair of feline eyes. Max gave me a hello blink from inside the T-shirt drawer.

She would've stayed in there all night quite happy if I hadn't guided her out. We have a "no cats in the bedroom" rule for my allergies.

Originally, we tried to keep the cats out of Dan's room in the basement since he's mildly allergic, too. Dan gave up when Max kept lurking outside his door every morning. He'd open the door half asleep and Little Cat would be inside in a heartbeat.

Anyway, our littlest cat is a stealth feline extraordinaire. Thankfully, she does a good job of holding her little bladder, too. She won't mew, so when she does manage to sneak into somewhere off the road it sometimes takes a while to find her. I think she spent a full day in the linen closet at the townhouse once.

Dominion!

Originally, I intended to edit my goals post tonight. Instead, Dan, Sharlene, Carrie and I ended up playing Dominion and talking after Shane went to sleep. It was a ton of fun. I love European style board/card games or anything that requires strategy and interaction.

The only downside was too much fun equals no time to write.  I basically posted my goals as they were when I drafted them on vacation.

It's better than not posting at all!

Goals for 2013

Last year's goals were to:
1. Update my blog more - ACCOMPLISHED!
2. Figure out my next career step - SORTA ACCOMPLISHED (still applying, but happy where I am)
3. Invest - ACCOMPLISHED! (I bought a house)
4. Practice my Spanish - NEGATIVE!

With that in mind, I've come up with some new goals for 2013.

Codename: Pickle

Shane's so nuts for the iPad we cannot even say it's name in his presence. If we do, he starts to chant "iPad! iPad? iPad, please! iPad PLEEEEEASE!"

The boy will not take 'no' for an answer. He's incredibly in love with that thing. It's impressive how easily he navigates through it to find exactly what he wants ("Green Garbage truck!") and also worrying for me how addicted he can be. The boy will not relinquish it once he has it.

Carrie and I have taken to using a codename for the iPad. Carrie suggested 'Pickle' and it stuck.

"Honey, did you hide the pickle?"

"The pickle is charging!"

Sensory Play

I don't post enough pictures with my wife. 

Shane enjoys sensory play. It started with him unrolling coffee bags, and evolved into "Daddy grabs all of the spices." We sit and unscrew the tops to take a whiff of each one. So far, Shane's favorite is clearly the cocoa (cinnamon and coffee are probably the close seconds). Shane only sniffs for a split second before he wants to move on to the next scent.

I wanted to get a picture, and I wanted to show Carrie Shane and I's new game so it worked out perfectly when I took a picture of her and the boy with the spices. I was smart enough to wait until the end of the game, because we all know how gaga Shane goes for the iPad.

Bedtime Boy

Shane's learned a new way to protest bedtime: he calls out for "Daddy."

It's cute and heart-wrenching at the same time. 

I can easily ignore a fakey-whine, but a whiny boy who calls for me? It is a lot harder. The boy is changing the rules to the game. It's amazing how clever little children can be to get what they want.

At the moment, the boy is a little spoiled from Grandma and Grandpa's. They would sit with him until he fell asleep (partly out of necessity since the light switches in the room were low enough for him to reach). Shane doesn't want to give that up. He wants me to lay down in his bed until he zonks and to be there in the morning. He's a very social boy, isn't he?

Still, it's not going to happen. All of the books mention how important it is for a child to learn to self-soothe. Thankfully, Shane tends to drop off pretty quickly. He doesn't like going to bed alone, but he'll do it. We have a bunch of night-lights in the room, comfort objects, and some new Lightning McQueen bedsheets to keep it homey. It could be worse. When they were babies, Nana and Pop-Pop had to stick the twins in their room, let them run around (playing or protesting), and then would go back in to relocate them to their beds once they passed out. 

It sounds like Shane is done protesting and sleeping soundly as I finish this. He'll be up and ready to play in the morning as usual!

Happy New Year!

The Adventures of Carrie, Mike, and Shane have leaped into a new year!

New Year's Eve included a jump start and trip to a Volvo dealer, a long road trip, a visit to my parent's, and a 'welcome home' from Genevieve and Chris (they were house/cat-sitting). Carrie ended up feeling sick and going to bed early, but someone's dogs and fireworks woke Shane around 11:57 PM.

Don't worry, though! Shane ended up falling back asleep in a few minutes without any aid from Dada. The crying woke Mama up for long enough to kiss Dada when the clock ticked into a new year. We promptly fell back asleep afterwards.

Today has been a relaxing day. It makes me not want to go back to work tomorrow!

Genevieve and Chris spent the day with us and went to breakfast with my family. Nana and Pop-Pop have been playing shuttle to and from the airport that's right by us. It's been a day of friends, family, a happy baby, and a happy wife (and therefore a very happy Mike). We even got to learn how to play Dominion (Matt and Renee's Christmas present!). Carrie cooked, I got to play some XCom and give Shane a bath, and Genevieve is going to take care of Shane tomorrow so that Carrie can go to work.

I did not get much writing done today, but I worked on a draft Resolutions/Goals post while in Florida. I'll post it in a day or two. For now, I ought to go to bed so I can figure out what to do with my classroom in the morn.

Happy 2013, all.

Nostalgia: Foot in my Mouth

Have you ever thought something in your head, said it out loud, and then everyone else in the room heard something different?

This happens in my family more often than most. Nana and I are the most common victims of 'crowd misconceptions.'

My classic example goes back to when I taught at an Alternative Learning Center (aka: all the kids were expelled from public school). My last year at the ALC, I taught an online at-your-own-pace Algebra I course for 8th graders. There were only five boys in the class, so I got to know them well. I really liked my motley crew.