How we rung in the New Year

Walt and I were home together on New Year's Eve.  We had cereal with milk for breakfast (Quaker oatmeal squares, his favorite,) did some playing, took a little mid-morning nap, met Daddy at Perkins for lunch, went grocery shopping, took a mid-afternoon nap. video chatted with Baba about a million times right in a row.  At one point he asked (repeatedly) for his "doo doo" which I finally figured out meant "kazoo."  He's kind of a kazoo prodigy.  It was a pretty good day, but he was very goopy and sick.  Bad cold.  He seems to have had it since November 25 or so, coinciding with a whole series of new (painful) teeth.

After another shopping trip (with Daddy this time, so Mommy could get some work done) we all settled in for a delicious dinner featuring several flavors of homemade boneless chicken "wings" (or, as Sean likes to call them, "wyngz.")  Walter chose a banana appetizer, his third banana of the day. (He still doesn't care for fruit in general, but he loves bananas.  I think it's because I sing a song about them and he gets to do his banana dance. "All the babies love banana ... All the babies love banana ... banana!  Walter loves them (banana) Mommy loves them (banana) (etc.) Ba-nan-a, Banaaaaaaaanaaaaa!")

Anyway ... when Walter asks for a "nana" we always comply if we can.  He got through about half of it before he lost interest.  He'd had a few goldfish crackers, too, and some orange juice.  He'd been taking a break from eating and I was just about to start him on the chicken when he threw up.  We all took it in stride right away: I cleaned up the chair while Sean grabbed Walt, got him out of his clothes and started the shower.  Sean was testing the water temperature when Walt, sans diaper, pooped a mighty poop upon the floor.  That was a little unsettling for the baby, but we took that right in stride, too, with Mama on floor clean up and Daddy getting the babe into the shower.  Once in the shower, Walter perked right up.  We got him dried and diapered and lotioned and dressed and figured he'd play for an hour or so and maybe even eat a little something before bed. 

But he didn't want to eat, or play. "Beh," he said. He had to repeat himself a few times, with gestures, before we got it.  "Do you want to go to bed?" asked Sean.  Very emphatic nod, big smile, pointing to the bedroom: Yes! Put me to bed, please. 

This was a pretty unusual request from Walter. I think it shows great emerging self awareness and maturity.

So Walter went to bed and Sean and I improvised a candlelit chicken wyngz dinner with sparkling grape juice.  We went to bed and woke up briefly at midnight when Hank and some other neighborhood dogs barked goodbye to 2012 and hello to 2013. 

The first day of the New Year found the four of us together, stuck in the house all day except for very brief outings for Hank and Sean, braving the very very cold weather. It was another day of sneezing, snuggling, napping, and playing with toy cars.  Wonderful, exhausting, funny and goopy.  Not a bad way to start the year.