Sunday 15 December 2013

Junior's 2nd Birthday: As It Happened

Following is a live blog of the events of Thursday 12 December, 2013, to the best of my ability and memory. Junior is K, I am B, and S is S.


7.30        B and S set up K’s birthday train in his playroom
7.35        Went to K’s bedroom to wake him up; he was groggy, crying
7.36        B softly sang ‘happy birthday to you!’ but he shushed her - twice
7.40        Went downstairs for breakfast
7.41        Perked up immediately when he saw the present from Grandma F & Grandpa A that they had left for him this summer – ripped it open
7.42        Threw half of the books on the floor
7.43        Interested in the placemat: ‘dinosaur’
7.44        Started reading the nature book: ‘squirrel!’
7.45        S gently pointed out that it was a rabbit.
7.46        Turned the page: ‘squirrel!’
7.47        Again, it was a rabbit
7.50        B brought her breakfast to the table; K reached over and took a piece of cereal
7.51        B prepared a bowl of cereal for K
7.55        K proceeded to eat his cereal, then reached over to B’s bowl for more
8.00    Picked up a piece of cereal covered in yogurt. Licked it. Put it back in B’s bowl.
8.10        Once breakfast was done, S took K upstairs to get dressed
8.15        After he was dressed, K rushed back downstairs to play with the fridge magnets
8.16        B put his cake and candle in a bag to bring to nursery. K helpfully added a letter ‘m’ from the fridge.
8.17        B stealthily removed the ‘m’
8.18        In the meantime, K added several more letters to the bag, then went back for more
8.25        Eventually, S and B were able to wrangle K into his jacket and shoes. He added a few more fridge magnets to the bag as they left the house.
8.26        K happily ran down the street toward nursery, picking up the compost bins along the way and giving them to Daddy.
8.30        All of a sudden, he stopped, cried, and indicated that he wanted Mummy to carry him across the street to nursery
8.31        At nursery, he got back down and knocked on the door
8.32        Inside, he was happy again. Then not so happy. Then happy again.
8.35        As Mummy & Daddy left, he sat down for second breakfast: Cheerios

***

17.30   Picked up K from nursery
17.31   Nursery staff reported that K had had a good day; enjoyed his cake and was generally good
17.32   Nursery staff asked if we ever play Daft Punk at home – he sang along to ‘Get Lucky’ when it was on during the party
17.33   Nursery staff also praised K’s recent verbal developments. When shown a picture of a ‘bird’ in a book, he corrected his teacher by saying ‘penguin’
17.34   K blew everyone kisses and said ‘bye bye!’ as B and K left
17.35   Outside, K started running down the street. Then stopped, looked up, and said ‘mooooon’.
17.36   Arrived home. K rang the doorbell. B had forgotten that K had previously changed the doorbell chime.
17.37   Ran inside looking for Daddy and headed directly upstairs.
17.38   Daddy joined him and supervised while K explored S’s office and the guest room
17.45   B coaxed K back downstairs with the other present from Grandma F and Grandpa A. K opened it with great enthusiasm. ‘Pajamas!’ Then proceeded to name everything on the different pairs of pajamas: rocket, snowman, digger, truck.
17.50   K opened the new sleepsack that Grandma F had made. ‘Car! Steering wheel!’ Then lost interest. Then found the crocodile card from Aunt S. Then found his toy airplanes.
17.55   Proceeded to the kitchen to play with the fridge magnets again
18.00   Webchat with Grandma F and Grandpa A. He showed Grandpa his airplane, pretended to eat it, and rubbed his tummy as if to say ‘mmm, delicious.’ Grandpa obligingly imitated K, and K laughed and did it again. Grandpa did it again. K did it again. Everyone laughed. Finally, Grandpa had to leave so we said ‘bye bye’ and logged out. K immediately demanded to call back and do it again. Despite a bad connection, he continued pretending to eat his plane and rubbing his tummy.
18.05   S put on ‘Get Lucky’ to test K. Sure enough, he started dancing and singing along.
18.10   Discovered, much to his delight, that the magnets fit under the fridge. But wouldn’t come back out again.
18.12   B found a long, skinny pole to use to retrieve the magnets. K thought this was a fabulous game, and slid several magnets back underneath.
18.15   Dinner was served. S made spaghetti bolognese. K wanted to play with the magnets. A minor meltdown occurred while he refused to sit in his chair or eat. When B settled him on her lap, he grabbed her fork and shoved some meat sauce in her mouth, imploring her to ‘eat it!’
18.30   K demanded a tissue to wipe his nose, except that we have kept a roll of toilet paper on the table for this purpose for a few weeks now. K figured out how to rip off a square, wipe his nose, open the rubbish bin, and throw out the tissue. Guess what happened next?
18.35   After filling the bin with balled-up toilet roll squares, B and S intervened. A minor meltdown occurred.
18.40   B coaxed K upstairs, explaining that it was nearly time for bath, stories, and bed.
18.45   K discovered the train set in his playroom. All was forgiven. ‘Choo choo!’
18.50   K happily played with the train set. B showed him how to work the farm silo; K pushed her away and shouted ‘leave it! Leave it alone!’
18.51   K went back to the trains. Every time a train derailed, he said ‘oh boy’. B and S remarked that they had never heard him say that before.
19.00   B started to get ready for K’s bath. K ran into S&B’s bedroom and jumped on the bed. He then proceeded to look out the window at the cars and trees, drink some milk, climb off the bed, climb back on the bed, and repeat – all the while, chattering about…well, we’re not entirely sure what. He started shushing again, and warning S and B about the ‘baby sleeping! Shhh!’ Hmmm. Where did he pick that up?
19.25   Bath time. K played with his toys, sang songs, and kept saying ‘baby sleeping!’
19.40   Bath time finished too soon for his liking. Minor meltdown when he was removed from the tub. Brushed his teeth and hair, but showed his annoyance.
19.45   New snowman pajamas softened the blow a bit
19.50   Pushing aside their better judgment, B and S offered K some more milk and 2 animal crackers to make up for the fact that he had not eaten dinner
20.00   Story time. K showed no signs of being tired, so B did not reinforce the 3 story limit. They read Owl Babies, It’s Time to Play (a most unhelpful bedtime story), Room on the Broom, and every word of Cars and Trucks and Things That Go.
20.35   K relented and put on his sleepsack
20.40   After a brief cuddle, B placed K gently in his cot, rubbing his back
20.50   K popped back again and demanded another cuddle

21.00   After being rocked and reassured, K drifted off to sleep. Sweet dreams, big 2 year old!

2 comments:

Tracy W said...

Every word of a Richard Scarey book? What dedicated parents! (Admittedly Ryan flicks through them at a great pace of knots so we've never been really tested.)

brandarling said...

Ha, this was a first. Junior might focus on one page for several minutes, but then he skips several pages and moves on.