Spirit

Baby steps in holiday spirit

I have actually started to buy some things for Avery for Christmas.  For me, this is exceptionally early.  I am also looking forward to buying her more stuff.  Again, for me, this is exceptional.  Part of my excitement is because you can't really go wrong buying a three-year-old presents.  At least, you can't with Avery.  I swear I could wrap up dirt and she'd be thrilled with it.

I also know what I'm giving her for her birthday.  We have two nooks, with doors on them, off of an area in our master bedroom.  For some reason, the builder finished the walls of the interior of these spaces even though they're just storage spaces.  I'm going to make one of those spaces a place for Avery to play.  I need to paint the walls (pink, of course), buy some carpet, buy some pillow covers (I have lots of pillows to go in there already), and buy some things to hang on the wall. I'm going to designate it as a space where Avery can write on the walls if she wants.  I know I would have loved a place like that to play when I was a kid, so hopefully Avery feels the same way.

In addition to those two baby steps, I have another plan in place.  I was pondering buying a real Christmas tree this year, but I don't think I'm ready for that hassle in the living room.  So what I've decided to do is buy a fairly small tree that we'll put in the foyer, then decorate that tree with ornaments that we make together.  If it's fun, it can be a yearly tradition.  If it's not, we'll drop it.   My idea for the ornaments as of now is to take old CDs and glue jewels and beads to them.  Maybe put glitter on them, etc.  If anyone has any old CDs, send 'em my way!

Giddy

Since Eddie started pooping in the house regularly, I've been struggling to keep up a supply of plastic bags.  In line with this, I have found I get practically giddy when I find the ideal plastic bag for poop pick ups.  Yes, I really do.  For example, when I finish a bag of bagels, I grin knowing that bag will be perfect for picking up those turds.  Likewise, preschooler clothing ordered online is often delivered in the perfect plastic bags for poop scoop duty.

After being miserable about the poop accidents, I have reached a point of acceptance with them.  The turning point was our return from Mexico.  Before I dropped the dogs at the G's house, I assembled two poop clean up kits: one for accidents on hardwoods and one for accidents on carpet.  Those clean up kits came back virtually unused since Eddie was so often outside at their house.  However, those kits have dramatically reduced my stress about the accidents.  Why I didn't think to gather all the things needed to easily clean up accidents before, I do not know.  But having everything I need to efficiently and effectively clean up the accidents is so much easier.

Eddie had been sleeping in the garage before this cold snap.  Now that we're in the cold weather, he's back in the house at night (and during the day, of course).  This means a daily in-house accident is practically a guarantee.

Overall, Eddie's doing well.  He is becoming less active during the day, but still enjoys the short walks we do occasionally.  He's also starting to seek his pain medication more regularly.  I am very confident that he knows the pills dull pain.  I suspect they also make him feel groggy or something like that because he will sometimes just refuse to take the pills.  I used to make him take them anyway, but now I just offer him the pills and if he wants them, he takes them; if he doesn't, he turns his head and I let it go.  Sometimes, he'll go stand next to the cabinet where the pills are kept and wait for me.  Then I know he wants more pills.  There's one pill that we're allowed to give him quite a few of, so I just give him that one and he goes back to his crate.

Eye roll

I get emails from babycenter.com about once a week.  Most of the time, I immediately delete them.  Some of the time, I click to a link and glance over the topic.  Today's email was centered around "is your child gifted."  I glance through the bullet points and assess Avery's not gifted (which is not to say I don't think she's a smart cookie - I do - but based on those bullet points, she's not gifted).  Anyway, I see there's a poll as to whether your child is gifted.  I click over to view the results.  72% of 32,000+ voters said yes.  Are our eyes really that clouded about our children?  Wow.