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!
