Walking Wounded

Tonight after dinner I told Linus with an exasperated tone, "Please, can you not get hurt anymore?!  My goal is to get you through this week alive."  My words didn't faze him, but I realized that his numerous falls, scrapes, bruises, etc. are making me rather nervous and overprotective.  Sunday on our walk home from the concert at the park, he fell on a path covered with tiny, sharp little rocks.  Both knees were bleeding.  As shown above, Linus was very excited about getting bandages.  Yesterday he fell on the sidewalk out front and added a new wound to one knee, lightly scraped palms, and a scraped nose.  The worst came first thing this morning. Matthew and I were slowly coming to and bolted up when we heard a thump immediately followed by Linus crying very hard.  He was at the foot of our bed.  Matthew pulled him up onto the bed and we realized Linus had dropped a can of apricots on his big toe.  We held him between us and when I looked down I saw that his toe was bleeding.  Matthew, still not quite awake, asked, "Where?"  I said, "His toe!"  Matthew ran to get a bandage while I valiantly tried to keep blood off of the bedding. No such luck. It was on the quilt, sheet, and Matthew's pajamas.  So after Matthew bandaged Linus' toe, with Linus crying very hard the whole time and trying to yank his foot away, Matthew went to shower and Linus and I rested on the bed.  I finally got him relaxed and he dozed off in my arms and I actually got to listen to Morning Edition on NPR.  This never happens!  Yes, it was a silver lining.  

Linus limped around for the first half of the day.  He wouldn't let us put ice on the toe or elevate it.  So much for first aid tips!  I need to write a first aid book for toddlers.  Or maybe one already exists and I just need to lay hands on it.  He decided he wanted to go to the park, even though he was walking around with the one big toe up in the air.  We went and he did okay getting around, but then face-planted when gently swinging on his tummy on the swing.  He wasn't hurt, but I was starting to feel the accumulation of stress from him falling so much.  Then later in the day he tripped on the edge of a throw rug, but managed to catch himself before landing on the floor.  Then he was trotting from one room to another and fell down. After dinner he was playing peekaboo under the table and raised up and bonked his head twice.  Twice!  He has never done this.  Even as a wee tot, he was always conscious of what was above his head and never stood up and bonked himself.   So the head-bonking was the final straw and I became exasperated.  Meanwhile, Linus was playing with a rubber band and I heard Matthew warn him to not hurt his eyes.  I decided it was best for me to tend to the laundry. (Don't worry; OxyClean got the blood out of everything.)

Fast forward to bedtime.  I helped him get onto the couch for me to read him stories.  I swear he was firmly seated and in place next to me.  Apparently the Earth shifted in orbit or something because he managed to fall straight down on his head.  Crazy I tell you.  

He isn't a dare devil and each time he gets hurt he isn't doing something he shouldn't, so what is up?! 

Linus Counting

Here is Linus counting while leaving the jazz concert at the park on Sunday evening.

Summer Time

Summer is definitely here!  It seems that the minute Denver Public Schools got done with the school year, the temperature shot up to the mid- and upper 80's.  Friday I got out Linus' little wading pool and he played in the water for hours.  His favorite activity was filling up his watering can in the pool and watering plants.  He also liked moving toys back and forth between the pool and his sand/water table.  When he napped, I made up some yogurt popsicles and surprised him with them the next day.  They were a great treat for all of us.

Funny things Linus has said:

He choked a bit on some water and then he told me it "went down the wrong throat."  

I was making his remote control train go and he asked me to shut it off in a hurry.  He also has some issues with the toy car from Billy that zooms when one shakes it.  I asked him if he doesn't like moving things.  He answered, "I like moving boxes."   That one made me chuckle.

The room darkened a bit and I explained to Linus that the clouds covered up the sun.  He said, "Sun went night-night."  

He found a  dark feather in the park, which is almost guaranteed to be from a goose.  I asked him what kind of bird it was from.  He looked at it and said, "Black bird."  I didn't correct him because of course a black feather would be from a black bird!

Counting update:  Linus for a while only counted to two. Then he moved on to 1, 2, 3, 6, 9.  Now he is at 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10.  So we are working at squeezing nine in there.

Toddlerhood Together

We attended the 40th birthday party of one of our neighbor friends.  Linus and Lucero were happy to play together at it, as they haven't seen each other in about three weeks.  Both of our families were going through various strains of colds and stomach bugs, so we stayed away from each other for fear of catching a different strain of virus.  

It was cute to watch them interact.  They shared a chair at the serving table and Linus made sure Lucero got a cup of lemonade and she made sure he had a napkin.  Too cute!  One interesting thing:  Linus was telling her what to do.  I asked them if they wanted cherry jelly on the homemade bread and Linus thought it was funny to say cherry jelly.  So he said it a few times and then told Lucero to say it.  About 6-8 weeks ago Lucero started telling Linus what to do, and just as I've seen throughout the year that we've known Lucero, Linus ends up doing the same thing she did about two months previous.  

Other funny things that have come up lately:

-- Linus was going downstairs with Matthew to start laundry and Linus blew me a kiss and told me, "Have fun with dishes."  Yes, I was doing dishes at the time.

--  While eating strawberry yogurt he explained to me, "Pick strawberries.  Cut them.  Put them in yogurt,"  all while pantomiming the actions.  I thought it was pretty clever of him to piece all of that together because I have never talked to him about how the fruit gets into yogurt.

-- On several occasions today he would call out, "Matthew!"  Then he would turn to me and say that Matthew couldn't hear him, he was too far away at work.

Snake Friend

BryAnn knit Linus this great snake.  The package was waiting for us on our porch when we got home from the thrift store on Friday.  We took the box to the backyard and opened it to find the snake.  It made me think of those trick cans of nuts where a snake pops out when you pull off the lid.  As Linus carried the large snake around the yard he proclaimed it a "wonderful snake."  We had purchased this great wheelbarrow at the thrift store and Linus proceeded to push the snake around in it.  

He also carries it around the house, like into the bathroom when he brushed his teeth one night.  It cracks me up because of the size difference between Linus and the snake.  The snake has become one of Linus' bed companions.  

He is also having fun with the wheelbarrow. Without being asked to do so, he loaded up my pile of weeds, wheeled them over to the compost bin, slid the lid back enough and put all the weeds in.  He didn't say anything about having done the work, but when I realized what he had done, I praised him. 

Planting Time

The word on the street here is that one can plant things after Mother's Day, but wait to put tomatoes out until after Memorial Day.  Last Saturday Linus and I planted geraniums for the front porch steps and then put some seeds in the bed out front.  We planted zinnias together. Then the neighbor boy, three-year old Alejandro, came over and joined us in planting bachelor button seeds.  Here is a photo of Matthew helping the boys plant the Denver daisy seeds.  Denver is celebrating its sesquicentennial this year and Denver Daisy seeds are free all around town.  The citizenry has been instructed to plant them in our front yards for the Democratic Convention folks to see when they descend upon us in August.  

Alejandro will be moving very soon, which is actually a good thing.  His mother hollers at him all of the time and it stresses me out.  I do wish I could rescue the kid. I can easily see myself rescuing kids like they are cats at the Humane Society.  My mother hollered at us a lot when we were growing up and I'm very happy that I don't have it in me to yell at Linus.

Linus Sings

At dinner last night Linus said he wanted Junie to come over and play.  He said he would feed her yogurt, o's, and cheese.

At the zoo today we encountered numerous peacocks strutting their stuff for the peahens.  Linus wanted to hug them, of course.  I had to keep a close eye on him so he wouldn't interfere with their rituals.  Their tails were open wide and we were very close to them.  At one point Linus was walking along a wall and from down below a peacock brushed its feathers against him.  He talked about it on the way home, as that was a highlight for him.  I could hardly pull him out of the zoo and we'd been there for three hours.  

When Linus has a crabby fit I usually ask him if he needs to go to his room and take a break.  When we got back from the zoo he was tired and crabby.  He announced, "Go in room. Take a break."  Then I heard his door shut.  He came back out after a few minutes and we had a pleasant lunch together.  It is gratifying to know that he is learning how to manage his feelings.

Gardening and Cake

We celebrated Matthew's birthday this weekend. During the day on Friday Linus and I made his cake.  It was a yellow cake with chocolate cream cheese frosting.  I used a cake recipe out of my high altitude cookbook, but it still turned out a bit weird. It tasted fine, considering it wasn't chocolate, but it is rather dense.  Although Linus wasn't eating much yet, he still wanted to lick the frosting off the beater. I obliged him.  I think that is a child's inalienable right.

We spent yesterday morning doing yard work.  I planted my numerous hens and chicks that Matthew and Linus got for me over a month ago at the Cactus and Succulent Society plant sale.  I get such a kick out of hens and chicks and now I have eight specimens and 6 different varieties.  Linus and Matthew planted a pot together and then Linus watered my plants in.  Linus refers to them as "hens chicks" and "Mama's hens chicks."

My favorite part of the weekend was hearing Linus sing happy birthday.  He says it more than sings it and just repeats the "happy birthday to you" line and instead of saying, "To Matthew," he would make like he was blowing out candles.  Very cute.  He sang it while we iced the cake and then again when we did the cake with Matthew.  I had us sing to Matthew a few times so I could hear Linus sing.  It always cracked me up.

Grandma and Grandpa Visit

Jean and Jon, Matthew's parents, visited last Thursday - Monday.  Part of the time Linus was his charming, delightful self, which rapidly declined into him being sick and crabby.  Nevertheless, we had a nice visit with them, as well as Martha and Bill.  We ate lots of good food between the restaurants we visited and the home cooked meals by Martha and myself.  Friday I spent the day as a volunteer Guild Master for the Denver Public Schools Shakespeare Festival.  This event is amazing!  Four thousand students participated.  I had a blast helping out.  While I was there, the rest of our group attended the plant sale at the Garden and Linus took them to the playground to show them one of his favorite places to play.  We went to the zoo on Sunday, but Linus was progressively feeling worse and just wanted me to carry him everywhere.  Then that evening he threw up at the dinner table and that began the onslaught of digestive system ailments that have plagued him all week.

He still isn't back to 100%, but he'll get there in a few more days (I hope).  I have cabin fever. I did take him for a walk in the stroller this morning and we saw lots of flowers blooming in people's yards and met another neighbor.  

Here is Linus with Grandpa at the Garden. The other picture is from the Shakespeare Festival.  It shows a little bit of the contingent from the Denver School of the Arts.  I critiqued about 50 of their 60 performances that day.

On the Mend

Linus is feeling better today.  He still had a bout of diarrhea and has only eaten a waffle and a piece of toast, but he is smiling and talking once again.  We colored, painted, and even got out the Play-do.  When I went to do the laundry he said, "Mama no do laundry. Matthew do laundry."  Gotta love it!  Even so, when he went down for his nap I threw in a load.

Today he drew pictures of a plover, hornbill, killdeer, and woodpecker.  I keep meaning to send a letter to the author of his bird song books to tell him he has a 2-year old fan.  I'm also going to include a photo of Linus reading them.  

Here is Linus reading with Grandma Jean.

Sickness Reigns

Linus is still feeling rather poorly.  He doesn't want to play and I'm getting bored. I'm tired of being trapped in the house. I'm also worried that he isn't getting any better.

Here is a picture of him on the couch today with his lovey, lovey bunny, and bink.  I was sweeping and he asked for a towel and pillow. When I asked if he felt sick he said in a quiet voice, "Yes."  So I put a towel down on the couch and got him comfortable. Then I sat by him and cross stitched while we watched Reading Rainbow.  He doesn't delight in anything, which is really worrying me.

Still Sick

Linus continues to be sick.  Between the vomit, diarrhea, and his crabbiness, I'm beginning to lose my mind. I took him in to the doctor yesterday and after a thorough examination, he was deemed to be plagued with a virus.  

I'm killing time before going to bed, waiting for our bed quilt to dry.  The most recent gastric event leaked through all of our bedding.  

Dishwasher Boy

After the plumber was finished here I called Matthew at work to give him an update.  I told him that now that we could run water down the drains, I needed to catch up on all the dishes.  While I continued talking on the phone, Linus pushed the chair up to the kitchen sink and started pushing dishes in.  He stuck with the task for quite a while as I dried and assisted here and there.

Linus is using more complete sentences now.  They are typically instructions such as he gave Matthew in the middle of the night as the two of them were stumbling around in the dark to get Linus a drink of water.  Linus said, "Matthew, go take shower please."  Matthew told him it was time to sleep, that it was still dark and not time to get up.

He still had a fever this morning, but ate about half a container of cottage cheese, painted, and got in a food fight with me. We were tossing around the stuffed food Lyz made him for his birthday and arrived today.  They make him giggle and giggle.

(He is dressed the way he is because after he used the potty, he wouldn't let me put his pants back on.)

Linus in Sickness and in Health

The first picture is of Linus passed out on my chair after breakfast this morning. He came down with a runny nose yesterday so I thought he was catching my dreadful cold.  Instead, he threw up two times.  He had a fever in the night and slept between us.  When he is sick I like to have him next to me so I can minister to his needs that much quicker.  He kept waking up, sitting bolt upright, and asking for water.  He still has a fever and red cheeks, but rallied for a few hours after his nap on my chair.  It is rough keeping everything together with a sick kid, but I do like that it makes him clingier. I like snuggling with him.

He became very, very upset after throwing up and cried so hard.  He was upset for having puke on his throw rug and his clothes, plus he was so sick.  I distracted him with books for much of the afternoon.

The second picture is from a week ago.  I was hosing off the patio and then let him have the hose for his own fun.  He had a blast and was giggling so hard.  I think the sound of his laughter was resounding through the neighborhood.  I was struck by the fact that it was April and warm enough to play in water outside.

Learning to Use Scissors

We were downstairs with the plumbers and then Linus decided to go into my craft room and play with my sharp scissors.  I got out some slightly safer scissors and gave him his first lesson. Part way into the lesson I thought I'd try to use Photo Booth on my computer to capture it all for posterity.

Keep in mind this is raw material without the best camera angles. We were listening to music on the computer, so it sounds pretty loud in the video.  And you might catch some plumber noises in the background.  Real life!  I had to cut it down to a few minutes because I couldn't get all 10 minutes of it to load. 

Art

Grandma and Grandpa sent Linus a box of ten bottles of paint and a whole bunch of fat paint brushes.  He has lots of fun with them and we go through quite a bit of paper.  I had the foresight to give him a bunch of blank note cards to paint on so I could use them as thank you notes for his birthday gifts.  His favorite thing to do with paint is mix the colors up in the palette, also known as a pie tin.  He thought it was neat when he made the color brown.  For the most part he keeps the paint where it should be, but now and then I notice some in his bangs later on.  

No bath for Linus tonight and no showers for us.  The biggie is that we can't flush the toilet.  The plumber thinks tree roots have busted our line.  Tomorrow we'll get it scoped and find out what it will cost to fix. I can live without the running water for a day I guess, but I'm rather distressed about what this is going to cost.  Linus was fascinated by the plumber and his assistant and kept asking about what they were doing and what the tools were.  I had to ask what the one machine was and now we know what a plumbing auger looks like.  Linus refused to go down for his nap until he had seen them drive away for the day.

Playground Skills

Between March and April, Linus developed some new skills at the playground in City Park.  He has become very independent and wants to do most everything on his own, as long as I am closely watching him.  He can now climb up to the top of the big slide by himself and has become confident enough to go down without me catching him at the bottom. He does still ask me to stand at the bottom.  After watching Lucero swing on her tummy, he tried it out and likes to do it each time for a few minutes before asking me to boost him up and push him.  

It isn't unusual for him to find a new playmate each time we visit.  Usually a three-year old girl will attach herself to him and tell him how to play whatever it is she wants to play.  He goes along willingly.  About two weeks ago a boy threw sand at Linus and it got into his eyes and made him cry.  The boy's grandmother made him apologize and then she told us he didn't mean to do it. Yes, he did!  It was an intentional act.  Linus recovered quickly, but brought it up a number of times over the next few days. 

One of the other activities he enjoys at the park is running after the geese to try to get one to let him hug it.  He wants to hold and hug every critter on the planet, which is very endearing.

So Big

When I look at where his 2-year line is on his growth chart, I think of how big Linus is.  Matthew and I were reminiscing last night how much he has grown. I remembered how little he was lying next to me in the hospital bed the day after he was born.  Matthew recalled washing Linus' hair within the first few hours of his life.  Compared to other kids though, he isn't all that big.  At his doctor appointment we found out that he weighs 26 pounds and is 34.5 inches tall. That puts him in the 30th percentile for weight and 60th for height. His head is still big; he is in the 85th percentile for that.  All those brains!

The doctor was pleased to hear that Linus has good eating and sleeping habits.  Me, too!  For the most part he eats whatever we eat.  He is back on a yogurt kick again.  He had three yogurts the other day.  

Something else to catch you up on the time when I wasn't able to blog:  Linus said I love you to me about two weeks ago.  I was weeding in the back yard and he was playing. He hurt himself and came over for a hug.  As he hugged me back he said, "I love you."  This was the first time he has said it with all three words and unprompted.  It was a beautiful moment.

This picture probably captures his first fake smile. I asked him to smile for the picture, which I never do, and this is what I got.

Bird Friends

Linus and I have been enjoying lunch time picnics in the back yard. He sits on my lap and we munch away while watching the birds and squirrels.  We created a bird bath the other day. We put a plant saucer on a log with some rocks in it.  After Linus was done splashing in it and we'd moved on to starting some zinnia seeds, a bird landed there and took a drink. Yesterday we got to see a robin take a bath. That was fun to see.  Today Linus made a whippoorwill sound at the birds.  After breakfast he made a loud bird call and told me he was being an ibis.  

Matthew's aunt Tanya was in town last weekend and we got to show her Denver Botanic Gardens, our house, and go out for Vietnamese food.  She was completely smitten with Linus, which is great feedback for us.  It is always good to get an outside opinion of Linus since we are utterly and completely biased.  

Here is Linus helping me clean up the back yard last week.

Butterfly Pavilion

Anna Louiza and I took the kids to the Butterfly Pavilion today.  I got to hold Rosie, a friendly tarantula, and the volunteer had it walk on the back of Linus' hand.  She wouldn't let him hold it because kids that age sometimes squeeze the critters.  I haven't the faintest idea where I pulled my courage from today, because before today I would not have held a tarantula.  It was obviously safe to do and I didn't want to teach Linus to fear spiders, so with little thought I just did it.  Wow!  It wasn't creepy at all.

We also got to touch a sea urchin and Linus told a bigger kid that the sea anemone was tickling the clown fish. She looked at him blankly, but I was impressed.  Linus had fun playing in the puddles of water in the butterfly area and he and Lucero ran around with butterflies flying above their heads.

On the potty training front:  this morning Linus asked me to help him sit on the toilet.  I got him out of his sleeper and diaper and held him on the seat.  He didn't go, but talked with me and seemed comfortable about being there.  Anna Louiza says I should go ahead with potty training instead of being so nonchalant.  He doesn't know how to take his pants down, so I don't think that he's ready for a full-scale training effort.  Maybe I'll let him run around the back yard this summer bare-bottomed and he'll figure it all out.