Train Training
Last Tuesday, Baby Nate and Mommy boarded CalTrain for the first time. When we kissed Jacob goodbye at the curb he was wailing, “I want go on choo choo train, I want go on choo choo train!” But then switched to “I want Baby Nake, Baby Nake!” all the way to school.
Nathaniel was the perfect baby. Not a peep. And then, then there was the return trip. He’s sleeping happily in the Ergo front carrier and I score a seat on the crowded train after shaming a man in a suit to move his drippy sandwich so I can sit down. What a gentleman. Never underestimate train shame.
Then he starts to chat me up. Baby Nate hears my voice, wakes-up, gets totally overtired and overstimulated and screams his head off intermitently for what was undoubtedly an eternity. It was now my turn… Oh the shame, the train shame. I bolted from the train as I mentally calculated what kind of car we can afford if I eat only soup for lunch every day. Nate’s Day 1 Train Grade: D
Yesterday, which was exactly one week later, I had worked-up enough courage to brave CalTrain again. I spent the entire weekend trying to train train Baby Nake by carrying him around in the frontpack every day. There were still several episodes of his “oh woe is me!” crying fits. But I promised James I would give it the ol’ college try…
Nathaniel was the perfect baby. Not a peep. Then there was the return trip. I even sat at the other end of the train… hoping that people are creatures of habit and therefore anyone from our Day 1 ride would most likely be at the other end of the train and therefore unable to silently be thinking, “I can’t believe that woman. Why would she bring that screaming baby on the train… again?” We almost made it home with a perfect record. But somehow the train was delayed and around Palo Alto he woke-up. There was a bit of fussing, but I was thinking of awarding him an A-. Then the last ten minutes wiped out his dreams of acing CalTrain 101. Nate’s Day 2 Train Grade: A Solid B
Today was Day 3. Nathaniel was the perfect baby. Both ways. Nate’s Day 3 Train Grade: A
But I’m not holding my train shamed breath just yet…
FAQ
We ask Jacob a lot of questions. We get the same answer to many of them. I thought I’d put together a quick FAQ. Here are a smattering of the latest and most frequent replies:
Q: Jakey, what color is that (doggie, elephant, guitar, banana)?
A: (Without hesitation) Breen. (Green.) One time he saw some purple teetats (kitty cats) with his grandparents, but that was a long time ago.
Q: Jakey, how many apples are there?
A: 1, 2, 7, 8, 9! He used to always answer 2 so this may be an improvement. Now, we’ve heard him count to 10 flawlessly on numerous occasions. Even in Spanish. He’s even practicing his teens, “16, 14, 16, 14…”
Q: Jakey, what did you eat at school today?
A: Ummm, baaanaaanaaas, coookies. Cookie Monster… in a booook.
Q: Jakey, what did you do today?
A: Ummm, baaanaaanaaas, coookies. Cookie Monster… in a booook.
My Funny Valentine
Yesterday Natesy laughed for the first time. First when Daddy was giving him kisses, and then later on when Mommy was giving him kisses. Most people don’t like being laughed at when they go in for a smooch, but we don’t mind one bit.
Bubble Dress
My friend Kristen loves to read Us magazine. Unfortunately I’ve ruined one standing feature for her which is the “Stars– They’re Just Like Us!” page. Apparently, up until I pointed it out, she’d never noticed how ridiculous the “Stars drink coffee– Just Like Us!” captions were. Luckily she’s a good sport and now it’s a running joke.
I think maybe Baby Nate has been sneaking celebrity trash magazines. He seems to be significantly more vocal than Jacob was at this age. How that’s possible given the chatterbox we have from dawn till dusk is still beyond me. In any case, Nathaniel has been telling me a lot about Lady Gaga. I can’t quite make out everything she’s been up to, but he knows all about her. I’d venture to say that he is predicting her next showstopping dress will be made of bubbles.
Yi-yon
Jake loves being a lion… or yi-yon as he puts it. More on lions sometime in the near future. This is an important detail as I relay one of James’ latest stories.
A few weeks ago we were bicuspid deep in our ten day biting phase. James picked Jake up at school and was driving the car and talking to him about good manners and playing nicely at school.
“Jacob, why do you get so mad? Why are you trying to bite people?” He looks in the rearview mirror at Jakey in his car seat in the back.
“I have a yi-yon inside Daddy. Yi-yon inside.”
This Bites
My mom likes to reenact my preschool days by telling the story of when I was bitten at Joan’s house. To hear her tell it, I informed her 10 times a day for the first 10 years of my life that “Matt bit me on the finner.” (finger) Apparently I was “mothering” him. I do remember Matt, and I do remember that he was adorable and had a blond bowl cut. I’m sure he was as irresistible as a doll baby. How could someone not mother him? In any case, that was my first experience with biting.
Over the years, I’ve had a few additional run-ins with biting including a “time out” inflicted by my grandmother, Sweetie, for latching onto my brother’s face. This is probably most memorable because I didn’t grow-up with time-outs… I grew up with The Wooden Spoon. Then there was the incident in fourth or fifth grade when my then best friend, shockingly, bit me while we were playing Nintendo. I still have no idea why. I was like, “WTF?!” Only in more G-rated fourth grade language. And I clearly remember my mom wrestling with my little brother as she attempted to put hot sauce on his tongue for biting.
Now… this entire preamble is leading up to, unfortunately, my present-day experience with biting. It all began during Jake’s Sanibel week o’ meltdowns. He was just so off-kilter being in a new place with no clear routine and spotty naps. He bit my clothes two or three times that week and I had flashbacks of holding my little brother’s forehead while he snapped at me like a two-year-old pirahna, trying to bite my arm… I think Jacob knew that biting skin is completely unacceptable and so he took his anger out on my apparel.
Then, that first week back from Florida, the unthinkable happened. We were told he had “tried” to bite another child at school, but only bit their clothes… a daycare desperate working parent’s worst nightmare. Fortunately he never got written up because no damage was actually done, but those weeks were pretty touch and go. When asked, Jake was quite forthright, “I bite.” “I bite Jhad.” Emphatic nodding. The teachers won’t tell you who bites who, but the kids sure will.
It’s been several weeks since the daily nail-biting conversations, “Jakey, did you have good manners at school today?” It seems the negative reinforcement of “no Handy Manny if there’s been biting or hitting” has done its job. Hopefully this was just a short two-week phase… and wouldn’t you know it, Jake actually likes hot sauce.
Skateboarding Is Not A Crime
If Jakey says something to you that sounds like “paintballing,” he’s actually referencing his favorite hobby outside of catching butterflies and fishing poles… and that hobby is: skateboarding. He asks me to leave his socks on so he can slip around on the hardwood floors, “Skateboarding, Mama. Skateboarding.” He says Miss Suzy taught him this game. She claims innocence.
Wish List
Every day I like to ask Jake what he ate for lunch at school. Sometimes I mix it up and inquire about what was on the menu for breakfast. I always get the same answer:
“Ummm, baaanaaanaaas, coookies…”
Chain Letter
The End of an Era
I can hardly believe today was Baby Nate’s and my last day together… just us. No schedule. No chores. No lists. We just went about our business… Hot tea and the Today Show (sorry Meredith, we won’t miss you), Oller Brothers, Home Depot, soccer jersey drop-offs, dry cleaning pick-up, Buy Buy Baby store visit (the store that will help me keep my promise to never set foot in Babies R Us again), special lunch with Daddy, Jakey’s second real hair cut at Baby Buzz, and shopping and dinner at Santana Row. Whew… what a day! Baby Nate and I are quite efficient… he even lets me try clothes on… unbelievable, right?
Our time together has been completely precious. I miss it so much already. It was almost as precious as his smile, which is the cutest thing ever and still almost impossible to capture on film. There’s something about the camera lens and flash that brings out more of his startled, flared nostril self.
It’s now the beginning of a new era. Baby Nate and Mommy on the choo choo… wish us luck.