Nothing Could Be Finer Than Christmas Time With Connor

It was a fine day celebrating a second Christmas with Connor. He was all smiles and joy as he explored his wondrous new delights; dishes and books and tools and flashing lights and pop gun. Connor doesn't get frantic or overwhelmed, he just moseys around picking up one thing after another and checks it out. He shared with me, and then he shared with Christian and he shared with Christian and then he shared some more. Christian was definitely the fave this Christmas day.

The cutest thing was he received Home Depot toddler tools from both sets of Grandparents. He was in tool heaven. Tools buzzed, whirred, snapped, stretched and clamped for most of the afternoon. And Connor was all smiles. That boy loves to push a button.

Nothing could be finer than Christmas time with Connor.

Christmas Gift

I selected a small collection of books for Connor's Christmas from my book shelves. All of them needed to be the right size, color, and maturity level. It was fun, and reminded me of a conversation I had with a fellow colleague at work several weeks ago.

She asked, "What are you getting your grandson for Christmas?"

Now I know enough about human nature to know that was an invitation for me to ask her what she was getting her granddaughter for Christmas. So I did.

"Oh, I'm not sure. What are you getting your granddaughter for Christmas?"
"I'm getting her the cutest little pink electric car."
"Well, I'm not doing nearly that for Connor. I'll get him a book."
After a gulp or two, she said, "Well, well, that's a nice gift also."

...And it is.

Babysitting December 20,2010

Typical male, days before Christmas and Roger was desperate to do some shopping. I hadn't seen Connor for a month because my energies had been otherwise engaged; Ian's car, leaky faucet, and taking Claire to the doctor and for test appointments, so I volunteered for babysitting duties.

I was afraid Connor wouldn't remember me after a month furlough so I took a cookie along to sweeten the deal. He remembered me but was still reluctant to leave the day care and the peanut butter and graham cracker treats behind.

After he had his cookie and healthy grapes snack from Granny, we got down to the serious business of playing with his new Thomas the Train train set. He was so dang cute. If he wasn't already in my heart he would have choo-chooed his way in on Monday. When I deserted him and sat down on the couch for a spell he would come get me by my finger and gently lead me back to the train. He was so dang cute.

He don't talk much but he sure do communicate! Finger pulling or waah waahing he let Granny know what is what and what is going on and what isn't to his satisfaction.

The other memorable thing he did was carry his snack tin around and then stand on it, bounce on it, wiggle back and forth on it to make it squeak. He is so dang cute.

Christmas is going to be so much fun watching The Connorman discover the goodness of the season in all it's forms.

Playdate Thursday November 25, 2010 and December 2. 2010

Missed playdates can be fun when Connor and Daddy come to Granny's house on Friday after the missed Thursday playdate. Ostensibly they came over because Connor's school was closed the day after Thanksgiving and Roger had the day off, so Roger was going to help sort out my storage room. Alas we played instead.

First we had a grand breakfast at Patty's Eggnest, one of everything, then we came home and watched Connor explore.

I had a music box that enchanted him for a good long time. The most enchanted I have ever seen him except for when he discovered his dad's wrenches, but the music box was a grand second. The only thing that would have made it better would have been if he was able to wind it up himself. He kept trying, and trying, and trying but his little fingers just couldn't manage it.

This music box has a dancing butterfly affixed by a magnet, so as the music box played the butterfly danced. Connor's eyes could not have become any rounder or expressive. The music box was grand entertainment -- until it wasn't. Twenty minutes he watched, wooed, wondered and absorbed and then he explored.

Connor wandered my condo and checked every shelf, nook, cranny, button, control, picture, table, seat, nick-knack, pillow, blanket, chair, plant, fan, plug, bowl, paper, book, DVD, string, door, door knob, escape route, VCR, machines, pens, sticks, sculptures, canes, boxes, bags and package of crackers. Even the container of miscellaneous toys; little stuff, premium's from McDonlds of years past, wore out Matchbox cars, plastic Easter eggs, that sort of stuff couldn't compete with his delight in wandering, wondering, absorbing, and exploring.

Making our world his world.

Playdate Thursday December 2, 2010 was just missed. Missed playdates are no fun.

Roger came to my house and fixed my leaky faucet instead. I'd worked over time all day, and Granny just pooped out. Silly Granny. And I had a grand Christmas hat to give him, a hat that I just know is going to delight him, when I get it to him. which wasn't last night, but will be soon.

Can't wait to present him his Dr Suess Christmas hat. Soon, soon, soon.

Playdate Thursday November 18, 2010

No new photographs due to equipment failure. Did you know cameras need charged batteries?

Connor and I have a fairly mundane routine. I pick him up at school, I drive him home, I sing to him a little, I let him lead me through the garage and inside the house. There he goes one way to start his granny snack, and I go another to let Brandy out, then he lets me look at him for the rest of the afternoon.

And sometimes we cuddle.

Connor and his gang had returned from his Great Grandparents Seventieth Wedding Anniversary Party. Ask Mom and Dad to show you some of the photo's. Connor is so dang cute dancing to the mariachi band and checking everything out in typical Connorman fashion.

His new word was blink or blienk or bloienk, anyway, something like that for when he threw his Captain Crunch cereal for Brandy to go chase. He would throw, bloienk, and laugh. His other sound effect words are "woo" with the big ole eyes and the pushed out lips and "uh oh" for every thing else.

I saw his eyes go all buggy with the woo woo woos when he was showing me the neighbors spectacular Christmas light display.

Yesterday for the first time when I picked him up from school he got his own stuff out of his cubby and helped me help him put on his jacket and shoes. He is so dang cute.

Connor also had a soft baby chicken friend all cuddled up to him. I've never seen him with a "baby" before, but he liked that chicken. He showed me "chickkie's" eyes and sometimes the nose, mouth, ears, and feet. On the flip side of cuddly Connor was the Connor who laughs out loud when ever I crashed his Thomas the Tank engine for him and made it land on it's nose. I can still hear him laughing and laughing and laughing. He does like a thing to crash.

Except him, Connor shed a scared tear when I asked him to bring me my purse not realizing that it was hanging on the bar stool, when he tugged the whole bar stool crashed over. The bar stool missed his head but still pulled him over when it went down. Falling bar stools are not funny.

Playdate Thursday Novenber 11, 2010

This playdate wasn't exactly a playdate, it was more like babysitting. Since the daycare was closed due to Veteran's day I was able to spend the day with the dude while Mom had a playdate with her friend Amy.

And dude he was. He climbed, ran, threw, played, read, crawled, expressed, and explored. Throughout the day he sung, jabbered, cried, watched, and experienced his world expand.

New to me was his ability to wind up his Thomas the Train Engine and watch, or more precisely, listen to it unwind. Over and over and over and over. He threw balls, cars, other toys, and the Thomas the Tank Engine just for the joy of throwing -- it seemed. Just for the joy of being alive -- it seemed.

New to me was his ability to use his chair as a tool. He sat in it. He pushed it. He lugged it across the room to use someplace else. He turned it upside down to use the seat as a winding up surface for Thomas. He stood on it. He used it as a step stool to crawl over the arm of the chair. Luckily he wasn't into throwing chairs -- yet.

New to me was his ability to watch a children's cartoon TV show. He would stand mesmerized in the middle of the floor and watch some animated action. Better for this Granny, he would sit in my lap and watch, mesmerized, some animated action all snugly and warm and down low and still and quiet.

And then he would be off to some other enticing activity.

Throughout the day he played with his toys, lugged his toys, pushed pulled and threw his toys. He lugged his diaper bag, emptied his diaper bag, filled his diaper bag. He carried his green Halloween bucket, he filled the bucket, wore the bucket as a hat, squashed the bucket, and then he would pull it open just to squash it again.

No playdate picture, today was work, the best kind of Granny work.
It was a regular work day for Connor.
Explore, explore and then explore some more.

Playdate Thursday November 4, 2010

Connor, when he felt good, before his crankiness crept in. We couldn't figure out if he was hurting, getting sick, or if he was just plain cranky. He wasn't over-joyed to see his Granny like he usually is when I picked him up at daycare. Shannon said he had been a little "off" all day. He didn't want the pretzels I had snagged from work for him, he fed those to Brandy. He didn't want his diaper changed. He didn't want his vegetables. He didn't want milk. He liked the musical interlude when daddy and I were sharing some online music. He snuggled quite a bit in Granny's lap. He discovered he could drink water out of a regular glass, but Granny wouldn't let him play in the water. Yep, Connor was just a little "off."

He did like playing with the camera and took a pretty good picture of his Mom.

He had a sheet of stickers from a magazine that entertained him. I thought I would have to show him how to pull them off, but the wee smart guy was way ahead of me. By the time I washed my hands he had seven peeled off and was working on the eighth. It is amazing the "games" a little guy can figure out to do with stickers. He scrunched them all up in a wad and stuffed them inside one of his ball toys. He tried to feed them to Brandy along with the pretzels. He moved them from one couch to another and then back. He handed them to Granny. He stuck them to himself. He stuck them to Granny. He tried to feed them to me. 

He was looking at a picture of a woman and I asked him where the shoes were and he showed me. And the eyes. And the purse. 

I taught him to high-five with his foot instead of his hand. I discovered Connor is a high-fiving wonder.