October 31

Well, Halloween 2006 gets filed under the lukewarm category. Corbin neither loved it nor hated it. This morning when I took him to daycare, he was extremely clingy and cried a lot after I left. Was it because some of the other kids and teachers were dressed up? He didn't seem bothered by that. Maybe it was because he had diarrhea all day and felt sick. We'll never know.

After school, we got home about 5:00 and ate supper. Mommy and Daddy got into their costumes first, which Corbin didn't seem to mind. Putting on his Murray costume was equally okay. Trying to take pictures was NOT. First he wanted to play with the camera, then he just got tired of standing against the wall. Understandable, I guess.

At the city Halloween carnival, I was surprised at how small it was. The Easter egg hunt was so overcrowded, I had assumed that this would be similar. There were probably ten booths with games for older children, all sponsored by local companies. They did have a nice little pumpkin patch set up, and Corbin enjoyed picking out a pumpkin for Daddy to decorate. We then got a balloon and cookies. The tractor taking people on a "hayride" really intrigued him, but twice when it was our turn Corbin freaked out and didn't want to get on after all. That was fine with us, since it was already cold.

So we went home and walked next door to knock on our neighbor Barbara's door. She gave Corbin a handful of nickels, which was great. Tomorrow he can wear his costume to school. It really turned out well, though I should have saved myself a ton of hours by just purchasing the $15 licenced shirts. Oh well.

ready for halloween!

We had a super-busy day. First Mommy attempted to iron on the Wiggles logo for Corbin's Halloween costume, only to discover that the colors weren't bright enough. Then we took a bath right after breakfast and washed Corbin's hair. When it had air dryed a little, he sat on a stool in the middle of the living room and let Mommy cut it while he watched a video. For the most part, he was very tolerant, though I would have liked more time to work. The only part I cut was the back and straightened out the sides. So it's still all fluffy above his ears, to his Daddy's dismay. But I think that if we cut the sides shorter, they'd still flip up anyway. After that we had to vacuum the floor, which got Corbin all worked up. He really, really wants to use the vacuum cleaner by himself, but it's just too heavy. So he gets frustrated and cries a lot, nor does he want Mommy to put it away. Finally we got out of the house and went to four different stores looking for a replacement plain red long-sleeve shirt, plus Office Depot for different iron-on sheets. After lunch and a nap, we spent an hour and a half at the park. He played in the sandbox only after much coaxing, and didn't stay very long. But he did sit in his stroller for ten minutes while Mommy walked all the way around the lake. Corbin was very interested in the ducks, and kept quacking back at them. It was very cute. Then we tried three stores in the mall looking for red shirts again, and finally found one at the last store we tried. Figures! Then we came home and decided to try putting the new iron-on over the failed one, which seems to have turned out fine. It'll last through one night, at least. So now I get to take the red shirt back. :-/

Corbin was very good-natured about all the running around we did, but he was fairly clingy and defiant at times. Mostly just ignoring Mommy's instructions to come here or don't touch that or whatever. Maybe he didn't weather Daylight Savings Time as well as we thought.

using the potty!

Corbin has now used the potty once on each of the past four days! As long as we know when to suggest it to him, he's agreeable. Only peepee thus far, but still a great big step. :-)

He's still not really old enough to be completely potty-trained. For example, he can't pull his diapers up and down, nor can he even wash his hands in the sink (we need to find a bigger stepstool). But hopefully we can at least stop changing diapers six times a day. Save some money.

I hope it's not just a passing fad that he'll get tired of!

growing up at last

Over the last couple of weeks, I've been struck by how much older Corbin seems. A large part of that is probably due to his increased verbal skills. He's generally talking more and we can understand almost all of it. His behavior has also dramatically improved, in line with Burton White's theory that consistent parenting between 18-22 months results in a cessasion of testing authority and consequences. It's about time! These days, he generally obeys, though we do have to remind him often to "do what Mommy says" or occasionally threaten spankings. But he's much less rebellious and defiant, although we've also learned to manipulate him better. It's easier to prevent incidents now that we know what they are likely to be, and thus vary our approaches to keep him from defaulting to a crying fit. The best example is when he first wakes up in the morning, and Mommy insists on changing his diaper before he gets down. That used to be a major ordeal every single day, but now he's resigned to the fact that this is inevitable, and we walk through the door ready to placate him with a bottle of milk or promise of playtime if he cooperates.

He also looks older, it seems. Maybe he's lost a little baby fat, or maybe he's just gained a couple inches. We've had to keep him in 24-month pants for this winter, simply because of the length. There's not much room in the waist, though, so I hope they last all season.

This past weekend Nana and Papa Cole came to visit. Corbin was very excited and acted a little hyper the entire time. I'm sure it's a rush to get so much attention. On Friday, they took him to the State Fair. They rode on one ride, but Corbin keeps talking about the animals and the waterfall. He lasted until about 1:30 before he crashed for a nap. Then on Saturday they went to Gymboree and the mall, two of Corbin's favorite things to do. Saying goodbye didn't seem too traumatic, but he kept asking about them from the moment he woke up the next day.

Corbin's been behaving extremely well at church the past few weeks. He sits quietly and mostly still, spending a lot of time in Mommy's lap just watching what's going on. It makes me glad that we're including him at this age, as hard as it's been at times. Now he knows what's expected of him and how to cope with it. We're still taking him out during the sermon, but I think he could probably handle the additional time.

His birthday is coming up fast, and I've been rather frustrated with the toy selection for this age. A lot of it is for younger toddlers and the rest is really for preschoolers. There's some great pretend-play stuff made for girls, but it's all very pink. We've updated his Amazon list, though, as best we can. Part of the problem may be that he's not obsessed with any one particular thing, like cars or even music. Not wanting any large floor-hogging toys also limits the selection.

Anyway, the moral of the story is: Corbin is a lot more fun now! :-)

finally gets in the carseat himself!

I couldn't possibly count the number of times I've hit my head (or Corbin's!) while getting him into and out of his carseat. Those days are over at last! Now he can climb into the seat himself, and get out with only a hand to hold on to. It's great! I still have to buckle him, but that's okay.

Today we went to the mall so I could use our "Gymbucks" before they expired. When we renewed our Gymboree membership, they gave us a $25 coupon to their clothing store. I found a pair of warm pajamas, then let Corbin pick between two shirts. To my surprise, he didn't want the red one with a large fire truck on the front. Instead, he chose the plaid one. Odd. We also got a shirt at Children's Place and a nice vest that I paid full price for (normally I just wait for a sale, but I didn't want to gamble with his size being gone). Corbin was actually really good to shop with. He never ran out of a store, and generally did as he was told. :-)

Yesterday we had a picnic at the park. I was really impressed with myself for managing that, but Corbin didn't seem to think it was a big deal. Oh well, he still had fun on the playground.

He's been asking to be carried a lot in the past couple of days. I'm not sure if that's because he's been fighting the same cold as Greg and I, or if he's genuinely tired of walking, or just needing some affection. We don't mind, but he sure is getting heavy! I tried to convince him to ride piggyback, but he didn't try it for more than a minute.

Sunday we went to lunch with people from church, and the restaurant was so slow! It was probably 1:00 before we got our food, 2:30 before we left, and 3:00 before we got home and took a nap. Surprisingly, Corbin was the best-adjusted kid in attendance. He was rather lethargic during his normal naptime, but he still slept a full two hours after we got home. That night we had our first small group meeting, where he stayed up playing until 8:00, and wasn't in bed until 8:45. Again, he did very well with the change. We weren't happy about changing his routine, but Sundays have always been different anyway. Hopefully he can sleep in on Mondays if he needs to.

This morning it was raining, which still fascinates Corbin. He can sit at the backdoor and watch the rain for a long time. Unfortunately, that also means no playground time at school. But he did say goodbye to me this morning without crying, woohoo!

A Typical Evening Without Mommy, by Daddy

Corbin and Daddy are getting to spend a lot of time together the past few months because Angelique's seminary schedule and church responsibilities take so much of her time, and being a 4th year medical student is about the best job ever. We've settled into a routine for Wednesday and Thursdays when Mommy is late coming home.

Corbin's newest trick is climbing in and out of his car seat all by himself. He still needs help getting his seatbelt on and off, but he just keeps getting more and more independent. His teachers at school and church always tell me that Corbin is so smart, that he knows the words to songs and sings along, and he rarely has a bad day. Of course, that makes me so proud of him.

Today after school we went to Kroger to pick up milk and bananas. Corbin loves to ride in the race car shopping carts, but they were all taken when we got there. It's amazing to me how long a simple steering wheel will keep him occupied. After a brief protest, we were on our way in a regular cart. Corbin likes to pick out all kinds of fruits and veggies. I wish his mommy had such a healthy interest in produce. He also wants to help when we go through the self checkout line, but he's just not quite capable of scanning that gallon of milk no matter how hard he tries.

We went for a walk around the block after dinner. Corbin pointed out all the sprinklers that were running. We learned that some sprinklers make water go 'round and 'round, while others go back and forth. Then we had to go to Ms. Barbara's house next door to see if Sadie could come outside, but they weren't home. Ms. Barbara does have some pretty flowers though. We took this picture a couple of weeks ago.

Bedtime routine has shortened a little. Once he gets into bed he wants to go straight to sleep (usually), so all the books are read on the couch and we only pray and hug once he's in the crib. Lately we've been reading "Go Dog, Go", which Angelique thinks was the first book she read on her own. He has been protesting his toothbrush more and more lately, and I'm at a loss for what else to try. I mean, is it really possible for an almost two year old to be still? Oh well, we'll keep doing our best.

first card game

Last week I bought a set of colors-and-shapes cards for Corbin to play with. I pulled out only the red and yellow ones, which have six shapes each. So we've been playing "Memory" with these 12 cards. Corbin is really quite taken with it, asking to play over and over. But he totally doesn't grasp that there are rules. :-) Although he lets Mommy and Daddy take their turns, can say whether two cards are the same or different, and remembers where the matching shape is more than half the time... he just doesn't understand why he can only turn over two cards. And when he's remembered approximately where a card is, he proceeds to turn over many cards until he finds the one he wanted. It's rather cute, if annoying that he doesn't always listen to instructions. Oh, well. I'm sure it's good for him anyway.

Today we spent probably 20 minutes pretending to put his Care Bears down for a nap. That's the first time I've seen him show any serious interest in this kind of social play. Of course, he had to get in on the action, too. Which was cute to see him lay down in his crib and close his eyes, but really kind of missed the point of "taking care" of the dolls. I tried to pretend to change the Care Bear's diaper, hoping that Corbin would learn to relax a little about his own diaper changes, but he didn't seem to understand that my mime motions were representative of changing a diaper.

He's had trouble falling asleep today. Probably because his Daddy let him sleep in. But what's cute is to listen to him talk to himself in his crib. He sings a lot, usually the ABCs, but today it was also the Wheels on the Bus. And counting, of course. But recently he's started calling out for "Mommy" and "Daddy" by name, which is harder to resist!

Oh, and someone has taught him to peepee into his bathwater before he gets out. Which I suppose is better than on the sheets before bed, but surely if he can intentionally go in his bathtub, he can choose to use the potty instead? Seems to me that it's defeating half the purpose of taking bath at all!