Oh yeah, playschool

Today is Daddy's day to stay home with Karston, but he needed to go to work for an hour. Karston was very good in the office, but when they parked and when they were leaving, Karston pointed toward his playschool (only one block from Daddy's office) and asked for Mo' baby? Oh yeah, he likes playschool now, no doubt about it! I'm already starting to forget the tearful mornings because of course he should want to play with other children. What a wonderful change!

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Great Playschool

Karston's playschool meets until noon every Tuesday and every other Thursday. Back when he was tearful about playschool, that seemed like a frequent schedule. However, he loved it last week and this week, so now it seems like an infrequent schedule to me!

When Daddy dropped Karston off at playschool this morning, he discovered some wonderful items in Karston's cubby! One was Karston's little red Tootsie Toy truck (Tootsie Toys are no longer made, and Karston especially loves this truck so it is beloved and irreplaceable!), and the other was two blue caps from Florida's Natural Orange Juice. I know bottle caps rank somewhere between free and disposible and garbage for most people, but Karston loves them! The size fits well in his hand, and he will often ask for Blue? in a forlorn voice until he gets a blue bottle cap. It has to be right size, and given a choice he clearly prefers the caps from Florida's Natural. I think this is a sign of a very caring playschool: the teachers know what's special to Karston, and they put his special items in his cubby. Plus we were down to just one blue, so adding two more gave us some breathing room! Hurrah! (Never knew I would care about bottle caps this much.)

When Mimi picked Karston up at playschool this afternoon, she was just in time to see one of the bigger boys give Karston a hug and say You're my best friend. Karston was very happy too. Now that he's had two weeks of loving playschool, I think Karston has settled in to playing with and enjoying other two-year-olds. Another hurrah!

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Croup

Unfortunately, Karston was getting sick, and I was only hoping I could blame the new tooth for his fussiness. I took Karston to his pediatricians' sick walk-in hours yesterday morning (Daddy joined us at the end of the appointment, to Karston's pure delight!), and she agreed with my diagnosis of croup. Yesterday morning, we had had four sleepless nights, the first two with fever, the next with barking cough, and the fourth with the full stridor of croup (see this child cough reference). Croup is caused by the common cold virus, but in the under-five set, they also get that distinctive cough because their windpipes are smaller and any windpipe inflammation can lead to stridor. Karston hasn't been sleeping, eating, or drinking; that's not going to help him get well. So we (mainly Daddy actually) haven't been sleeping well either. However, this is the first morning after a bad night that Karston has felt well enough to play without being on someone's lap, so I hope he's getting better. (Doesn't help that I caught his cold. Hack, hack.)

We've had these great weekend plans for October so far (beach, aquarium, zoo, museum), and we've ended up on the taking-it-easy schedule anyway. So based on the coughing, we plan to kick back this weekend and enjoy the view (October is so pretty).

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Seventeen Shadows

This afternoon, since the weather was gorgeous, we ate lunch outside on the deck. Karston discovered he could make moving shadows on the table by moving his hand, and this fascinated him for the tail end of lunch. You could see the discovery of shadows click, and then he even experimented with different shapes.

Our original plan this morning was to go to the zoo, but Karston seemed fussier and his forehead seemed warmer than usual, so we stayed home. (Since it was hot in direct sun, and we could enjoy the lake and the breeze at home, might have been for the best.) However, I thought we should go out for some fun, so we went out to dinner. I made faces at Karston while we were waiting for our food, and he made faces right back at me. When he imitated the wide open mouth, I caught a glimpse of tooth #17, one of his two-year-old molars just peeking through! So that explains the fussiness and the low-grade fever (his temperature wasn't outside the normal range, but was half a degree high for him)! Might even explain why he's been so restless at night lately. I'm glad that he's not (getting) sick!

Oh, and this evening's small victory ... Karston ran into the bathroom, grabbed his toilet seat reducer, and nearly threw Daddy off the toilet so he could have a turn. He does ask to (try to) use the potty, but rarely with such determination. As it turns out he had a reason: it was time, he knew it, and he tinkled in the big toilet! To celebrate, he ran around the house naked and laughing while we chased him with diapers (but also let him revel in his victory)!

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I Got You, Dada!

It's really hard to say anything definite about Karston's vocabulary right now. He will often repeat words, seemingly with the knowledge of what he's saying, but I'm not sure he'll retain it. For instance, when we ate out Saturday, I asked if he wanted french fries. He said French fries! quite happily, and then ate four. (Hey, that's a meal-time success with Karston!) But does he remember today that french fries are called french fries? I don't know. (He's only eaten them four times in his life, so it hasn't been reinforced either.)

On the other hand, he is stringing together words that he knows into sentences. Some concepts don't need complete sentences. Dada! Juice! will accomplish what he wants. However, he said the same phrase yesterday and today while grabbing his father's leg after chasing him down: I got you, Dada! I'm sure he knows what he's saying when his timing is that accurate. And of course, in that sweet little voice, you know what he's saying is right on target on more than one level.

So the vocabulary may be hard to pin down, but he has advanced from words to sentences. Add a few more words, and we'll really have some communication!

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Night Terrors

Last night we had our first experience with night terrors. At 1:24 AM, Karston started screaming. He was blood-curdling and crawling to the top of the bed. Not matter what we tried, he wouldn't wake up. (You're not supposed to wake up a child having night terrors.) After twenty minutes of screaming with his eyes firmly shut, he woke up. He was in my lap. In an instant, he stopped screaming and opened his eyes. When he looked at me, he smiled and said Meow. So I called him my little kitty, patted him, turned out the light (the lower lip stuck out), and settled back in bed holding him tightly. He did it again for a couple minutes around 6:30 AM, but it didn't last as long. I would definitely say that night terrors are way worse on parents than on the child, because Karston didn't seem to mind at all, and we sure did.

Whew. We were staying at my grandmother's house (we were in Mountain City for her funeral), and moving stuff kicked up 30 years of collected dust. We were sneezing and blowing noses, and Karston's sleep breathing did not sound like his normal. So we're hoping that this experience with night terrors was caused by sleeping someone else (dusty), and that we don't do this regularly.

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Strongman

About a week ago (Daddy says two weeks), Karston was watching Curious George. George wanted to be big enough to ride the roller coaster, so he was asking for advice. The strongman told him to lift weights so he could grow big and strong. At this point, Karston wandered away from the TV, to his tinker toys. (We approve! Toys do beat TV.) Then we noticed that Karston had put together several constructions of two round tinker toys with a bar between them, and was lifting them. He was even grunting softly while lifting his "weights." So Karston wants to grow big and strong ... and he was paying more attention to the TV than we thought.

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Mess!

We decided to punch holes in the house (adding skylights and windows), and the carpenters started on Monday. In particular, the stairs are covered with bits of drywall and other debris. While Daddy was carrying him upstairs (who wants the toddler walking on that?), Karston kept pointing down to the steps and crying, Mess! mess! Yep, he sure knows a mess when he sees one.

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Best Playschool Day Yet!

We've been hoping for this day: Karston had a good day at playschool! Instead of crying for Dada when we left and again at pickup, Karston was playing with a little girl who copied his full body laugh, head leaned back, belly sticking out, ha ha ha. He said Bye bye to his teachers, too. And he didn't cry for Dada all afternoon either. We're thinking that this weekend of playing with other children, even 1 year older and 1 year younger, made a world of difference. Now he knows about kids playing!

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Beach

The beach report ...

On Saturday, Daddy and Karston went to the beach with Jen and her two girls ages 3 and not-yet-1. Since it was drizzling when they got there, Daddy huddled under the pier with the two oldest, Karston and Nadia. Whenever it cleared for a minute, they ran out, with life preservers on, to stick toes in the water. One wave knocked Nadia over (Daddy caught her); she was a big brave girl about it and kept playing. Karston thought the water was a bit cold but he wanted to be close to the action.

The weather was nicer today, so Opa, Grammy, Daddy, and Karston got in the boat with Jen and her girls. Nadia has been talking about last summer's boat ride and playing in the tidal pool ever since. Yes, she remembered a trip when she was 2! Obviously we all wanted her to do it again since she liked it so much! The boat ride and the tidal pools were the expected hit. Karston liked the tidal pools better because the water was warmer, and of course no one got knocked over. The real excitement came when it was lunchtime, time to head back: the boat had taken on quite a bit of water because the drain plug wasn't plugging, and at the same time, the bilge pump failed. Yes, two failures you don't want to see at the same time! With much coaxing, it started and even got home, but it was the don't-slow-down-for-any-reason trip back. It wasn't uneventful, but it turned out fine.

Mommy slept well, and now I feel like I've got this cold mostly kicked. The kids had a great time playing at the beach. Successful weekend!

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Curious Karston Goes to the Beach

Karston's favorite bedtime book for the past several weeks is Curious George Goes to the Beach, so Daddy took him to the beach today. I'm just getting over a cold, so I stayed home. I'm sure we'll have a report on Karston and the beach soon! I hear that he liked the beach, but the water was too chilly for him. Life preserver or no, Karston staying out of the ocean is fine by me!

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My Chair

Some days you start off with one plan, and end up with another.

This morning, we planned to take Karston to the Museum of Life and Science to play. (This part of the plan worked out well.) I've started calling that museum the Children's Country Club because we see so many parents and toddlers playing there. I can tell we're all members so that we don't pay admission each time so that we don't mind leaving early for nap time. It's really a children's club! Oh, and some of the museum parts are nice too. Karston enjoyed the playground, the farm animals, the explore-a-caboose, and especially the train ride twice around the grounds. After our train ride, we had a nice lunch in the cafe, and Karston even ate most of a banana while we were there! He didn't have much breakfast this morning, so I'm glad he ate some lunch. We all had a pleasant time at the museum.

The second plan turned out differently. We planned to buy some shorts for Karston since he didn't have any generic shorts in his dresser. At the store, we found tons of girls' clothes and almost no boys' clothes. We found plenty of outfits with long pants, and many heavy outer layers. But shorts for this 90+ degree day? *sigh* We finally found one red knit pair that we got. While Daddy was searching for shorts and I was chasing Karston, Karston found a small chair. It's a blue elephant wearing a pink party hat, and it's a chair for very small rumps. Karston has a very small rump, and he looked so proud sitting on this chair! Once he found it, he didn't set it down. I had to lift Karston and his chair up to the counter to scan it for check out. Then he ran out of the store carrying his chair, looking for a place to set it down while I made sure he stayed out of traffic. Driving home, Karston held on to his chair; even though he fell asleep, he still wouldn't let Daddy take it away. During his nap this afternoon, he kept one hand on his chair. He's calling it Sue (maybe Zoo?). So we wanted shorts, and we came home with Sue the blue zoo elephant chair.

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What Does the Animal Say?

This weekend, we noticed that Karston has a vocabulary of animal names and sounds. We hadn't tried to teach these to him, but he has picked it up. He would say an animal, or point to one in a book, and then make a sound. So far, we have five animals in the repertoire.

• What does a cat say? Our cat Linus is loud, so Karston meows loudly. MEOW! MEOW! MEOW!


• What does a dog say? Arf! Arf!


• What does a snake say? Ssssss


• What does a cow say? Moo


• And Karston's favorite that he has known since he was very young, What does a lion say? ROAR!

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Nutella

Sharif (at work) sent Daddy home with some Nutella (the chocolate-hazelnut spread) for Karston on Monday, so after Karston told me that he was done with dinner this evening, I thought I would see how he felt about Nutella.

Oh my.

Yes.

Nutella is a winner.

I decided to give Karston some Nutella spread on a vanilla wafer because it seemed like a handy Nutella delivery mechanism. His vanilla wafer needed many refills! After the mess was all spread and done, the vanilla wafer was slightly soggy but intact while most of the Nutella was inside Karston. It's a real calorie wallop too! Afterwards, Karston ran around outside like a toddler on a sugar buzz, and we were glad we weren't inside with that much energy bouncing off the walls. Hopefully his full tummy will help him sleep well tonight; if not, I did find childrens Maalox at Target this weekend. We may have found that source of pure calories we've always wanted to shovel into Karston!

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First Day of Preschool

Karston went to his first day of preschool today. This preschool has a 2:1 ratio for two-year-olds to teachers! They say it makes the outings much easier. Oh, and preschool has lots of toys! Initially, Karston put his head into my neck and moaned; he's been doing that since Wednesday when he sees other people. As other toddlers showed up, he thawed out. When he saw the Thomas the Tank train set, he was ready to play without being hugged at the same time. We stuck around for a short while, but when we tried to leave, Karston gave a loud call for Da-da while I made my escape to work. So my little boy is growing up, going to preschool, spending time without his family, playing with other toddlers.

The most remarkable part is the other end of the story, when Daddy and Mary came to pick him up. When they arrived, all of the toddlers were sitting nicely in their assigned chairs at the short tables eating Cheerios. Karston's spot had his name in a purple square. He was looking down at his Cheerios and eating them. Yes, my child who doesn't eat! After about a minute he noticed he had visitors and said Da-da but continued to sit and eat along with the other docile 2 year olds. Yes, my child who will stop eating for any reason, my child who is crazy about Daddy! After several more minutes, Karston invited Daddy to join them at the table. Then they went to play with toys, but no big Daddy hug. The teachers said that there were many meltdowns this morning, and that they expect many more next week, but obviously the kids get over it. Karston seemed quite comfortable in what must be a well-disciplined setting. All of the kids looked happy and well-behaved. Those teachers definitely know some secrets to success! It'll be interesting to see how he changes.

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Dod

Over the past week, Karston has switched from calling Daddy Da-Da (with a smile) to just plain Dad (with an imperative). It's often followed by a call for his juice sippy. He pronounces it "daahhh-D" so it sounds a lot like Ajax calling Duckman "Dod."

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Okra Boy

All of the fried okra eaters I know (myself, I don't like it one bit) say that the best fried okra in town comes from the Wal-Mart deli, so we go there for Karston. This afternoon when I was checking out, the clerk Bessie said, Oh, he's the okra boy! Whenever we're near the deli counter, Karston says Okra okra okra, sometimes quite loudly, until he gets some. Since the okra is already weighed and priced, I let him eat it right away, and I pack juice so that he can wash it down. Today, Karston even told me that his okra would be hot-hot, so he would blow on it (puff, puff). Sure enough, that's what he did, even in the checkout lane when Bessie spotted him as a regular, the okra boy. Okra boy is a dubious honor, but at least Karston asks for and eats a vegetable.

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Pediatrician: Two Years

Karston went to the pediatrician this morning, and the visit was very quick (out in 40 minutes!) and easy.

Vitals are 21 pounds 4.4 ounces (still not on the CDC chart, but on a similar trajectory so the doctor says he's fine), 31.25 inches tall (also not on the chart, but much closer to the 5th percentile), and 19" head circumference (around the 25th percentile). His weight-to-length ratio is in the 10th percentile, so he is tall for his weight even though he's light. His body mass index (which applies starting at age 2) is just over the 10th percentile mark too.

One of the child development questions the doctor asked was "does he line up blocks?" and the answer was "oh my, yes!"

In other words, it was pretty boring, but for a routine checkup, that's good.

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Peanut Butter and Banana Muffins

Getting Karston to eat can be challenging, but really fresh food is a good start. He ate fresh-from-the-deli fried okra this morning, after refusing day-old then several-days-old fried okra this past week. When we got back from the store, Karston ate 2/3 of an unpeeled banana after turning his nose up at the 2/3 of a banana he started eating a few days ago.

So here I was this afternoon, with most of a banana that the kid wouldn't eat, and that I didn't want to throw it out. (A lot of my cooking starts this way: better make something before it goes bad.) I found this recipe for Peanut Butter and Banana Cookies that I decided to try. However, what I had only looked like 1/2 cup of banana, so I had to modify the recipe to cut it in half. (I can't follow a recipe anyway.)

2 Tbs margarine, softened
1/4 cup peanut butter, warmed
1/2 cup bananas, mashed
1 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 cup unbleached enriched flour
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup Splenda
1/2 tsp baking soda

I preheated the toaster oven to 375°F, and covered the tray with tin foil. I melted the margarine (I used Blue Bonnet Light with half the fat because that's what I have) and mashed in the banana pieces. Then I stirred in the vanilla, and I couldn't resist a shake of cinnamon too (I love cinnamon). I added a scoop of peanut butter (I just guessed at a quarter cup of Smuckers Reduced Fat Natural Style). Then I sifted into the bowl the flour, sugar, splenda, and baking soda (I actually measured these ingredients). I mixed it with my immersion blender because the peanut butter was still cold and unworkable. Next time, I would warm the peanut butter with the margarine and just mix it with a fork so there are a few banana bites and a few peanut butter bites. I don't know if that will taste better, but I'd like to try it. I'll probably also try adding 1 Tbs molasses too.

I made one batch as cookies on the toaster over tray. Since that's my only toaster oven tray, I put the remaining batter in my silicone mini muffin pan (after spraying it). I baked them for 15 minutes in the toaster oven, but 12 minutes in a regular oven is probably right. I got 11 cookies from the first round and 12 mini muffins from the second round. After his nap, Karston put down one cookie and two-and-a-half mini muffins very quickly. When it's very fresh, Karston likes this recipe! Since it's a small recipe now that I could probably cut in half again, it's just right to dole out small fresh batches as long as we have a little bit of banana in the house. Which we don't, right now.

Cooking, Recipe, Toddler

Two Chocolate Doughnuts!

Most of Karston's words are much more distinct now. He used to say Ah-sha but now he says Outside. Okra (ahk-rah) and ice cream (ice cweem), two favorite foods, are more distinct now. A couple of words are still baby talk, though. He still says Ah-dah for again, and I heard Hah-dah for play recently. He still says shah-shah for chocolate.

This morning, Karston ate chocolate-covered doughnuts. The chocolate coat keeps them fresher longer, too. When he went back for seconds, the tastiest doughnuts were on the bottom, of course. Karston dug out two doughnuts, one for each hand, and looked at us with pure delight! Holding both arms out, one chocolate-covered doughnut in each hand, with a huge smile, Karston clearly said, "Two Shah-shah" before plowing food in his face.

We caught him counting to three a couple months ago. He walked up to the dishwasher, and tapped one - two - three doors past the dishwasher before opening the cabinet door to the trash can. If you're taller than the kitchen counter, the trash is in the first cabinet to the right of the sink; but if you're Karston's height, you need to count to the third cabinet door past the dishwasher. Karston really did seem to be paying attention to Sesame Street when the number of the day was two, and it seemed to soak in. He's had the concept of counting to two and three for a while, but now he knows the word for two is two! We were impressed!

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