Author: suburbandaddy

Curious Trouble

Toddlers are troublemakers curious by nature.?? They touch, push, pull, prod, and climb anything and everything in their path.? It’s how they learn about their world.

It’s also how trouble happens.? I’ve posted before about Thing 3’s curiosity, which even for a toddler, is extraordinarily high.? For a while he was very curious about the water in the toilets and only wanted to put his hands in it.

Having just moved to the two year olds room at daycare, his new teachers are just learning of the new level of curiosity that Thing 3 brings.? And these are teachers who spend all day with two year olds so I would think they’ve seen it all before.

One of Thing 3’s passions is running.? Fast.? Into the unknown.? Because he’s curious, I guess.? We try to give him an outlet for his running.? The mall is a great place for this.? Point him in a direction, put him down and he’s OFF.? Like a wind up race car.? Into the Banana Republic and behind a rack of clothes.? Oh yeah, once he finds a new place, he likes to hide from me.? I”ve lost him more than once in the aisles at Target or Michaels because he ran off to hide.

On day one of being in his new classroom, the teacher told me? Wow, he is fast.? I opened up the door to the class and he was halfway down the hall before I could get out the door.? Yeah, he’s like a puppy that can’t be let off the leash even indoors.

Then today I get a strange instant message from the teacher.? She wanted to know if Thing 3 has ever pulled or tried to pull a fire alarm.? Apparently he’s been working for days to stack objects in the classroom so he can climb them and pull the alarm.

Fortunately, it’s a first.? But given his curiosity level it’s very believable.? I just hope this is a phase and not an indicator of trouble to come.

Back To School Sweepstakes

Ah, back to school time. Since we just started with the school routine as Thing 1 began kindergarten, I can see it’s an annual ritual that kids probably dread but parents probably welcome it. Except, that is, for the costs involved each year for new clothes and supplies.

So I’m letting everyone know about a sweepstakes I just entered from Nestle Family for a $5000 giveaway. You can enter each day to win a messenger bag filled with school supplies. The grand prize will be selected at the end of the month and also includes a $2000 Literacy Grant for your child’s school.

hnsy_nestle

Two Year Terror

You hear a lot about the terrible two’s. We are no doubt smack in the middle of this stage with Thing 3. But that is not what I’m writing about today.

Thing 3 is also a two year old terror. Who does he terrorize? His older brothers. Usually you hear about the older ones picking on the youngest. Not here.

Part of the terror comes from the normal toddler behavior of getting into his brothers stuff. They know a game of checkers, or playing a computer game is subject to instant termination when Thing 3 is around.

Then there is the physical intimidation. Yes, by a two year old. To him, about the funniest thing you can do is bop someone on the head and say “ow”. All fun and games with a pillow or stuffed animal. Not quite so funny when it’s a flashlight, fork, or other hard object.

He also likes to run full steam and dive on you. It’s fun when you see him coming. It hurts when you don’t. Either way he comes up laughing.

On so many occasions when the three of them are horsing around, it’s usually one of the older ones who come up crying at the hands of Thing 3.

They both flinch when Thing 3 makes a move in their direction. As a result, Thing 1 and Thing 2 have the reflexes and awareness of a secret service agent.

One night, Thing 2 woke up crying during the night. He was having a nightmare. I walked him back to his bed and asked what scared him. He said he dreamed that Thing 3 was chasing him with his flashlight.

Two Year Old Swimmer

Thing 3 loves water.? He likes to drink it, spill it, pour it, splash it, bubble it, and throw it.? He is really fascinated by water.? He would run his hands under the faucet all day if he could.

And, this weekend, we found out this kid is also a natural when it comes to swimming.? He is utterly fearless in the pool, which is both good and bad.? I’m happy he isn’t afraid but a little fear is actually a good thing.? It is what prevents him from running headfirst into a body of water.

At just two years old, Thing 3 has managed to figure out all by himself how to hold his breath and float on his belly.? Sure, he swallowed some water a few times.? But he just came up laughing and wanted to do it again.

This kid loves water.

Funniest Moments

I’ve heard that kids laugh hundreds of times each day, compared to adults who only laugh 20 times on average per day. I’m not surprised. Kids will find humor in the strangest places.

And they remember funny stuff like it happened yesterday. Thing 1 and Thing 2 have a funny moment “hall of fame” of sorts. Incidents that happened, which they may or may not have found funny at the time, but have since taken on a much bigger laugh as they recall them over and over and over.

One of the them will say, Remember when such and such happened? And they’ll break out in laughter and relive the moment, often talking in code words which only they understand.

With that, here are the top moments in the Thing 1 and Thing 2’s Funny Moments Hall of Fame.

Daddy got in the back seat of the car. Happened at least 3 years ago. We were walking to the car when a huge downpour started, so I jumped into the back seat with them to get out of the rain. That was before the minivan so I guess it was funny to see me climb to the front seat of my Civic.

Daddy dropped the egg. I was cooking breakfast and placed an egg on the counter. It rolled off when I wasn’t looking and splattered on the ground. Thing 2 found it hysterical at the time, and loves to relive the event.

Note the theme of the first two: laughing at Daddy. Apparently I am a source of amusement at my expense.

Boppy. A babysitter brought her brother one time, probably 3 years ago, and I think his name was Bobby. They called him Boppy. I guess you had to be there. All it takes now is saying “Remember Boppy?” and they will be on the floor laughing.

Sit on me. This one is just for Thing 2. He likes me to sit on top of him to see if he can escape. It never fails to crack him up. He can be mad as hell, in the middle of a tantrum, and if I sit on him he will cheer up. At first, he’ll try to stay mad and tell me to get off. Then, when I try to walk away, he’ll ask me to sit on him. Other times, he’ll walk up randomly and tell me to sit on him.

Daddy forgets. I forget to bring things to school, forget to take food out of the oven, forget names. When it happens, which is often, laughter ensues.

Prepare to be amazed! A quote from the movie Meet the Robinsons. After every bath, before getting dressed, he throws the towel off his shoulders, arms out, buck naked, and exclaims Prepare to be amazed! like the Bowler Hat Guy did in the movie. Here’s the soundbite from the movie. Blank It won’t be very funny, but I’ll try to get some video of him doing it after his next bath and you’ll see for yourself.

Comfort Object of the Month

Comfort objects are a curious stage. For a while it was a monkey stuffed animal, then a duck. I can understand being attached to those nice cuddly objects.

The last few weeks Thing 3 has become attached to a flashlight. He carries it around the house, takes it to school, keeps it with him when he eats, and takes it to bed.

Yes, the batteries will run out soon. Yes, this will cause Thing 3 to have a tantrum. No, I’m not going to keep putting in new batteries if he leaves it turned on 24/7.