The presents were great, but all he really needed was the paper!
Merry Christmas 🙂
Category: Gage
Sundays with Gage – thankful for his smile and sad for Sandy Hook families
Gage is two and this past Wednesday was his last Mommy & Me class. Mothers were encouraged to make themselves scarce as a transition for the kids when they started attending class all by themselves in January. All this time I have been looking forward to the four hours week of ‘free time’ I’d be getting in January, but I admit the last class was bittersweet. I want to be there and see the little guy grow and learn and experience new things. I guess that’s called being a mother 🙂
So, jump forward a day to the horrific killings at Sandy Hook and it does sort of put a new perspective on life, especially life with Gage. It will probably make dropping him off that first day even harder. I am at a loss to even comprehend the devastation of those families and community. I will hug my son, give him kisses and hugs and love him the best I can and I will do it every day. Because today is the only time I know I’ve got for certain and I don’t want to waste it on anything less than being thankful.
And it’s pretty easy to be grateful for this smile.
Sundays with Gage – the countdown to Christmas
Gage is a little young to appreciate counting down the days til Christmas, but I’ve seen so many cute children’s books for advent posts that I thought I’d give it a shot. I chose 22 books and 2 dvds (mostly from the library) and wrapped them up, put a number on them and them put the numbers on a box I still had wrapped from last Christmas. I’m hoping that this will help him with numbers too since he doesn’t seem to care about learning them!
Each day we’ll open the box and find the corresponding book. I plan to have a corresponding activity for each of the books. I found this easy one on Pinterest (bubbly bowl of snowballs). He liked the sensory aspect of the book, but was less interested in the bubbles. I am going to post all the books and activities, so watch out for toddler overload the next few weeks 🙂
Sundays with Gage- Reveling in the The Game
I grew up about 45 minutes from Columbus and have a dad who is a Scarlet & Gray fanatic it is no surprise that I ended up spending 4+ years on campus becoming an OSU alum. Football is king (although we go through eras of basketball excellence) and The Game, the one against that team up North, is important, like really, really important. Lots of trash talk and alcohol consumed (at least I’ve heard ;)) for the rivalry.
Our esteemed coach, Jim Tressel, messed up and let the team and university down a few years ago, so he was fired and our Buckeyes can’t play in any bowl games this year. That made this game their national championship, a win would cap an undefeated season. The excitement was high and the pressure was on.
Gage had a hard time containing his energy. Took a nap for the ages and woke up with a minute to go 🙂 We’ll have to work on his game watching abilities next year. We won 26-21. Go Bucks!
Going to college with Gage
My cousin’s daughter, Claire, started her first year of college at Baldwin Wallace University, only 30 minutes away from us. This is exciting since it’s been a long time since we’ve lived that close to any family. We finally made the drive over on Friday to visit. It’s a great campus with lots of beautiful buildings and homes and in true toddler fashion Gage’s favorite part was riding the elevator. He wasn’t interested in the steps or much else when he caught sight of the elevator. After more than a few rides we headed home.
A fun trip was had by all.
A health update- Last Sunday we took Gage back to the hospital and he received more steroids for his croup. On Monday, I was ready to throw in the mother towel and check myself into mommy rehab. Come to find out that ‘roid rage can happen to toddlers too. Who knew? Thankfully, by Tuesday he was more himself and life got back to normal until early Friday when I started to feel sick. I did what any tired and worn out woman does when she can, I called my mom. She’s here helping out while I get some extra sleep and down time. I really do have the best mom 🙂
Sundays with Gage – croupy week
Jason started feeling sick on Tuesday afternoon and even came home early from work on Thursday (gasp!). So, it shouldn’t have been surprising when Gage got sick too. But I was surprised that we made a trip to the ER at 1 am on Friday morning. Jason stayed home, too sick to be any good, and Gage and I headed to the hospital to see if they could help him breathe easier. After some drugs, a breathing treatment and a croup diagnosis we headed home at 3:30 am.
Jason’s getting better and Gage is holding steady. He’s barely eating and refuses nose drops and Tylenol. He isn’t sleeping well and still wakes up with a seal cough. I took this photo before bed last night, does he look tired or what? Any positive energy you can send his way…
Stay healthy friends.
Halloweening with Gage in November
Because of Sandy our trick or treating wasn’t until tonight. To say that Gage was not happy before we went is an understatment. I thought for sure Halloween would be a bust. The first house was iffy, lots of turning around and saying ‘no’, but after that he warmed to getting candy like a champ. He said trick and sometimes treat (never together), sometimes asked for more (and sometimes just took it) and said ‘thank you’ very nicely for about half of the houses. He also knows that candy is something he wants. Unfortunately, there isn’t any from his bag he can have (I don’t trust him to eat Swedish Fish yet).
Gage rode around in his wagon and hit maybe a dozen houses before calling it a night. If it hadn’t been 40 degrees I think he would have wanted to go all night. He loved it. Halloween success.
Jason’s mom is down visiting so she got to go too (and she can help us eat the candy!).
Sundays with Gage – Mommy & Me
At the beginning of October Gage and I started attending a Mommy & Me class at the chabad down the street. We aren’t Jewish but I heard nothing but great things about the kids classes so we signed up. The class is and hour and a half weekly for 10 weeks. By the end, the moms will be completely transitioned out of the class and in January he can start going by himself twice a week for two hours.
Gage is not one to stand or sit around, constant motion being more his preference, and he really doesn’t listen very well to direction. So, it’s no surprise that I was skeptical about him being able to handle anything class-like. I am nothing short of amazed at what his teacher has been able to accomplish in four weeks. It’s true that there have been no miracles, but I love watching him grow every week.
There is lots of playtime, some art time, snacks, and circle time. Gage hasn’t really warmed to the art time yet, but he is johnny-on-the-spot at snack time. There are only 6 kids with moms so it’s nice to be able to talk with them every week. Now that we know each other we seem to run into each other often and we just had a great playdate with one of his new friends, Lily. I am loving watching my little guy grow into a bigger boy every week.
Sundays with Gage – Turning 2
Oh the difference a year makes…
There were moments that first year I wasn’t sure we’d see a 2nd birthday. They were fleeting and mostly connected to his health scare at four months, but once the fear is there it never quite goes away. There’s this thin layer of worry covering each bump of the head, every fever, the bouts of vomiting. So, they sneak up on me, these quiet moments of reflection when I can truly appreciate the giant leaps Gage has made in his development.
He runs, talks some but still babbles a lot, can follow directions when he wants to, can take off his sandals and socks, can use utensils, knows his alphabet and numbers. He loves to be outside with his sticks and rocks. He gives welcome hugs and kisses. He loves swings and slides and books, especially Chicka Chicka Boom Boom. He loves watching Sesame Street and Super Why. Elmo used to be a favorite but right now he’s got a pretty big crush on Abby. He’s outgrown library story time or at least his hyper activity has but he does love to go to the Kid Zone at the gym. He loves to swim and dance and watch car racing (I blame this entirely on Grandpa). We even started a class with other kids his age and so far he’s managed to behave well enough not to get us kicked out 🙂
He still has allergies which is an ever-present danger but he also has the cutest smile and laugh so that helps offset the panic that sets in when he starts picking stuff off the ground and eating it. So far this has not caused any problems and I hope our luck continues. He hits his head a lot, sometimes on purpose, sometimes not, which has led us to the ER twice and caused much worry the other times. He does know how to throw a tantrum, hitting his head on the floor in anger or frustration so if any of you have any great insight or experience it would be much appreciated. He does try my patience and I have failed many a day to be the best mom I can be, but for some reason he still loves me and keeps giving me more chances to get it right 🙂 Isn’t he generous?
I look forward to seeing the changes this next year will bring, as my baby/toddler grows into a full-fledged boy. I bet it’s going to be fun.
Sundays with Gage and some birthday winners
First, Birthday Winners!! Lloyd is winner #1, Tara is winner #2, Nise is winner #3. Lloyd, if you read this before I send an email let me know which book you want from my Bouchercon stack (pic here). (Winners randomly chosen by Jason) Thanks for stopping by this week and leaving comments!
We went to a pumpkin festival today and I thought I’d share some pics from the morning…
It’s a beautiful fall day here. Hope it is where you are too!
Stacy's Books 