Nothing Could Be Finer Than Reading Time With Connor

I arrived at Connor's house and he was all happy to see me, but then he turned and ran away. I thought, well I guess he wasn't that happy to see me. What I didn't know is he was running to collect his books and was waiting for me at the couch with the collection I had given him for Christmas before I was even in the house. AFTER he had his little treat from the treat tin we commenced to read.

We read Pat the Bunny, and Pat the Bunny, and Pat the Bunny again until he moved on to The Polar Bear book, The Big Red Barn book, the Nursery Rhyme book, the Foot Book, the Blue Truck book and also more than once the I Want a Pet book. He sat in my lap one book at a time. We would finish one and he would dash off to put it away and bring another one. NOTHING could be finer than reading time with Connor.

His nose had miraculously dried up and I was there for two hours and didn't wipe it once.

I fell right after his 2nd birthday party so I didn't blog about it, but the party was wonderful; sweet, cute and loving. He was surrounded by family that loved him.

Here are a few photo's of the event:

Grandma Fortener and Connor
and the menfolk...

Playdate Thursday January 6, 2011

The many faces of Connor: Beauteous child.

Connor had his two year old medical check up, so I met him and mum at his house. He smiled when he heard me before he even saw me, he was waking up from a wee nap in the car when low and behold, there was granny.

He opened his personal treat tin granny carries to find the expected treat inside and munched his cookie. He tried, in vain, to open his banana and after a wee head start from granny he munched his banana too, sort of. He wasn't too impressed with the nana, but he did like peeling it. Can you munch a banana? Anyway, half of the banana was left un-munched, as was most of his chicken and peas dinner, however he did discover he could use the end of the banana as a glue stick for picking up peas. Not that he ate them, he just liked sticking his banana on them and picking them up.

Checking out his world one bit at a time, oh the things you can discover when you aren't interested in eating peas.

Mom left for her personal training class and dad wasn't home yet so Connor and I had some delightful, wonderful, superb one on one time. He scoped out his new Christmas puzzle and put it together with Kingly, no Princely confidence about seventeen times before he wandered off to explore boxes, bags, cars, binoculars, tools -- lots of tools. Then he "finger pulled" me to his books and we checked those out -- thoroughly.

Then he did his wonderful "bag" trick. He pulls any bag with a strap on it around and about, I think the heavier it is the better he likes it. He kept trying to open his mom's computer bag but it was smarter than him. Granny's bag and the lunch bag and the diaper bag he mastered a long time ago and can open like Houdini. The new bag tonight that he got his hands on was daddy's camera tri-pod bag. What a delight, it had two straps on it. He hissed at his mom, held on with all his strength, and told her a very firm NO when she tried to take it away from him. He scored that round.

He kept Brandy in line; kept telling her to "stay" or "no." Connor's job at 5:30 pm is to feed Brandy. He missed just a little bit when he dumped the food into Brandy's food dish so he kept walking around pointing to all the tidbits Brandy was missing, telling her where they were, then he started picking up the little bitty nubbins and taking them to Brandy's dish. Connor likes order in his world.

Except for the two-thousand or so toys strewn about, those he pretty much left strewn, but Connor and granny read, snuggled, crashed cars, sung, nibbled and pretty much played the evening away. Next stop on the Connor express is his big two year old birthday party scheduled for Sunday. I can't wait. Christian will be there so granny will just watch from the sidelines.

The faces of joy, of wonder, of concentration, and confidence. What's a granny to do except love the child.

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.