Walking and talking

Noel has suddenly become a very confident and fast walker. He rarely crawls anymore, unless he's been sitting down playing and wants to get somewhere without the hassle of standing up first. I love watching him walk, even now that he no longer holds his arms out in front of him. There's something about his little form toddling across the room that melts me. (As did the huge smile he gave me and Mike when he saw us outside the Child Watch room at the Y tonight.) He's such a pro that he can now walk while holding objects or drinking from a cup. I'm sure I'll start finding things in really weird places.

Not to compare the boys, but it seems that Noel will be verbal well before Dominick was, so I don't think we'll have any concerns there. Noel has added "uh oh" to his vocabulary, something Dom didn't do until he was two (and that was it). Granted, he's not really using in context yet, but he will. When we're driving, he practices saying it over and over again, so I hear this "ah ah, ah oh, uh ooh" sound coming from the back seat. Every once in a while, he'll squeal in delight, whether because he's proud of himself or because he saw something exciting.

Dominick--could he be the same boy who wasn't talking at age two?--talks in such long sentences now and asks lots of questions. I haven't compiled a list of funny things he's said lately, but here's a gem he lobbed at me yesterday after being reprimanded for taking a toy from Noel: "He can't play with anything. He can only play with bad stuff. Your stuff." Really, if you find it so repulsive, why can't you keep your hands off of it, my friend?

I have that vague yet ominous feeling that I am going to get sick tomorrow. Time to go crash.

Oh. My. Gosh.

What a long day. Mike had a work-related dinner tonight, so it was just me and the boys from about 6:45 this morning on. If it weren't for preschool today, I might not have made it! Or maybe things would have been better without school. All appeared normal when I picked up Dominick, but somewhere between the playground gate and the sidewalk, a demon slipped into Dom's body. Suddenly, Dominick didn't want to go home; he didn't want lunch; he wanted to stay at preschool. This was a fact he made quite clear by repeating it, screaming it for the next hour. Getting him to the car, into the car, in his carseat and buckled in was nearly impossible. Dom thrashed wildly, crashing his head into mine hard. (Sweet Noel sat quietly in his carseat, looking at a book, throughout this episode.) Dom continued this way at home for some time before finally calming down.

So the day went on with the usual toy snatching and such, until it was time for me to fix dinner. Noel ran out of patience and became clingy, which is not good when I'm standing in front of a hot oven working with raw chicken. Dinner was still about 15 minutes out when Dom sat at the table and started whining for his food. Eventually, we did eat, and Dom finished first. He asked me to put a CD on, and I said I would when I was done. He wouldn't accept this answer and kept asking and asking and asking. Grrr.

Fast forward to bedtime. Noel went down first. Dom and I read a story, and he almost threw a tantrum over not getting to read it again. Then he said he wanted to sleep with an envelope. I assumed he meant the (second) one he was so attached to today but couldn't find it so gave him another one. He went into tantrum mode and said he wanted a different envelope. I found the one he liked in the kitchen trash and brought it to him, but he wouldn't have it because it was torn open. So I found a third envelope which was unused, but that wasn't it, either. At that point I gave up and went to wash the dishes, and Dom got out of bed. I told him there were three envelopes on the kitchen table that he could choose from. He picked one, saw it was torn, and got upset again. Then he said something about closing it, and I said, "If we tape it shut, will you sleep with it?" He said yes, so we put four pieces of tape on that stupid envelope, and now he's asleep with it.

That's life with a preschooler for you. What joyous possibilities does tomorrow hold?

Happy New Year!

So far, 2008 has been rather uneventful, which explains my lack of posting. Being parents, we stayed in on New Year's Eve and observed our now-annual tradition of watching the "Twilight Zone" marathon on SciFi. Who am I kidding? We did that before having kids. The only difference now is that there is no way I can stay awake until midnight.

I suppose I need to come up with some resolutions to break next week. Hmmm...how about these:

1. Do a better job of planning meals so that we can cut down on carryout. I'm always happy when I choose recipes in advance, buy ingredients, and make something new that is healthy and tastes good. I just get too lazy for that sometimes.

2. Stop tearing my fingernails. (I've tried this one before, and I can't do it. There's no point in having this as a resolution, so consider it scratched off.)

3. Do more fun stuff with the boys during the day.

4. Find a sitter! (If only we could leave the Y when the boys are in Child Watch...)

By the way, Noel is 14 months old today. He seems so big and yet still so little. He's walking so much these days. Dominick will be four next month, which just can't be right, can it? He wants a phone cake for his birthday.