mosquito head

Dennis and I spent the majority of our day at Gran's house. Gran watched him while I researched employment and insurance options on the internet, since I am thinking of changing my current employment and insurance situation. Stay tuned for more on that at a later date. At Gran's house, Dennis refiled some important papers and made some (permanent) adjustments to the printer. He took one nap, and then he learned to put all his plastic Easter eggs back in the bucket. I know it's way past Easter, but he loves those eggs, and they keep him occupied for whole minutes at a time, opening them, closing them, opening them, putting them in the bucket, taking them out, putting them in... You get the idea.

I feel bad that he broke off part of the printer paper loader guide (I would have just called it a printer paper thingy, but that would have irritated David, so I made an effort to identify the actual part). The printer doesn't even know it's missing, and it works fine without it. Mom and I were both on the phone, and he'd been opening and closing the printer cover safely for several minutes before we heard the snap. Oh, well. At dinner tonight, David told me that one of our plates got broken this morning. I got a little bent out of shape, but Mom put it in perspective when she said that it will happen again. She's right. He's a kid, it's just a plate (though a discontinued pattern), I'll be strong. One day we'll get new plates.

He learned to give the dogs treats today, and this was fine for the first dog, but he cried pitifully for the second dog. We think he wanted the treat for himself. So we fed him a snack. I did really bad in the food department today. He had a healthy breakfast, and he had plenty of milk, and applesauce for a snack. But he had a chili cheese dog for lunch. And a Pop Tart for a snack. I asked him in the Sonic drivethru if he wanted a hot dog, and all I heard until we got to Gran's house was "hot? hot hot? hot? ha? hot? hot aah?". David told me he liked hot dogs, but I've never seen him pick through white bread to get to any food before. He tossed that bread aside like it was broccoli or squash or something. He ate every crumb of hot dog. He at one point managed to say "hot daaa", which was the closest he got to correct. We praised like idiots, of course. I don't know if I mentioned this before, but he giggles when you feed him something sweet. I can never sneak goodies to him without everyone knowing. As soon as the sugar touches his tongue, he laughs and laughs. I guess he's so sweet that he tastes good to mosquitoes. Two bites tonight just while the car door was open, and one from 2 nights ago, a total of two big bites on his forehead and one on his hand. He killed one of the mosquitoes himself, because I found a smashed one on his forehead next to the bite. That little bugger died a slobbery torturous death, I'm sure!

He was overwhelmingly cute today, talking to us in his language, smiling, laughing hysterically at peek-a-boo. He saw a picture of my Granny and Papa (boy Papa sure would have loved him) today on the bulletin board by his Gran's computer, and he started waving and waving at the picture. He waved every time he walked by it. He even "read" us a book today, turning the pages and babbling in all seriousness. We heard many new sounds today, so many that I think he must have read my post about too many b words. He said every sound in the alphabet at some point today.

Today was his Pop's birthday, and Dennis helped us pick out shirts and ties (I know, shirts and ties, but he NEEDED them!). We also got him a soft serve ice cream maker and lots of goodies to load it with, and Dennis helped pick out those as well. He's a great little shopper, as long as you let him have the opportunity to explore on his own some. By explore on his own, I mean let him choose a direction and run, and I follow as fast and as close as I can without getting in his way. He just goes by and touches things that are on the low shelves then heads for any child he sees to go and say hello. After this, we can re-contain him in the cart, and he's content for a half hour or so, until he feels the need to get out on his own again. He was so thrilled to see his Pop tonight, and he enjoyed the Waffle House birthday supper (Dad lives for breakfast). It was a full day for Dennis, and he went right to sleep when he got home. I was listening to a parenting podcast about sleep issues recently, and I feel so fortunate that we're not having to deal with any of that at this time. He has so far gone right to sleep at night. He fusses some with naps, but not at night. Wish I had this skill! I'm about to give it a try, anyway!