Do you remember when the Brother P-Touch label maker hit the scene? My office became a sea of those white and black labels – every thing that would stand-still had a label and I think at some point even some of my basic office tools like ‘stapler’ and ‘calculator’ got labeled just for good measure.

Well evidently the apple does not fall far from the proverbial tree. Texas and I spend approximately 20-30 minutes roundtrip each weekday in the car. These moments used to be filled with singing and ‘talking’ to each other – the occasional snapped photo at a stop light. Now this time is filled with a non-stop stream of informative labeling of all objects in his line of sight. A typical ride sounds something like this…..

Car….car…..bike….car…..truck….bird…..car…..dada?…..car….quack-quack ….cloud….car…..car….moon…..car…..dada?…..baby….mouth-mouth (when removing his pacifier to explain what it is to me)….car….bike…..e-i-o……bird….car….car….car…..bird….dada?…truck…..bird…..car…..car…..mama…..mouth-mouth….car….car……car….

Yes, yes, it is cute – perhaps cuter on Friday afternoon than on Monday morning but cute nonetheless.

I have recently taken to asking anyone I think might know anything about children if they think my tot it out of control…obviously the real question is  am I  out of control (insert disappointed sigh here).

Today at the pediatricians office Texas spent the entire 20 minutes in the waiting room: NOT using his inside voice, running from one side of the room to the other, locking the front door so people could not get in and out, and taking all the books from the tables and stacking them on the floor – this all in between darting to the fish tanks yelling ‘ISH’ every five seconds.

I realized after asking the lady at the front desk if he was ‘normal’ and if she had ever seen another child act like this that I was bordering on neurotic. Why did the reassurance of the 60-something lady who copies my insurance card and runs my credit card make me feel better? Of course I did not stop there…once we were back in the exam rooms my charge pulled a foot stool from under the table and repeatedly jumped off of it while the woman was trying to take his temperature, he escaped from the room so quickly that he made it all the way down the hall and somehow into the file room before I could catch him and spent his downtime inside the room trying to lick the table, chairs, stool, cabinets, door, etc…..

When the doctor came in after he got the all clear on his ears I asked him if I was doing something wrong…..if Texas was too wild or out of control….he of course smiled and patted me on the back and said ‘all toddlers are different, you just got a high-energy one – you could have gotten a slug – trust me he is much more fun than the slug toddlers’……it was like a huge weight was lifted off my shoulders – and then the doctor had to tell Texas to stop licking the exam table.

Sometimes it is just better knowing what’s coming than not.

Case in point: Texas was running a low-grade fever and drooling like a mad-man all day Saturday – I figured teething….. but….. a little before midnight Saturday night he wakes up with 103. 7 fever?! We work to get it down until almost 2 am and I wake up Sunday morning dreading the nightmare of a day taking care of a super sick kiddo but low and behold….he wakes up yesterday chipper and jovial with no sign of a fever?!

I am not complaining mind you – the healthier my charge is the better my world turns but the kicker is that I just got an email from Z saying he has 102.9 temp…so the ‘knowing what’s coming’ part is that if history serves us well (which less face it – it usually does) I will begin to feel bad in less than 12 hours and be faced with a high fever and all the glory that it brings.

As luck would have it – I am in town this week and don’t have anything on my calendar tomorrow but a dental appointment – would be a shame to miss that.

Life with a toddler is a constant education in the butterfly effect…the idea that one small action can have long-term and wide-reaching impacts. For instance, last weekend we went on an overnight trip to Papa and Nana’s new house in the hill country – it is a 2-hour drive and my tiny charge somehow managed to stay awake through the entire ride and then for the remainder of the day. To put this in perspective this is the first time since he was born 638 prior that the child has not slept for at least 2 hours during the day. Last night was Wednesday night – 4 days after said sleep disturbance  occurred. The concept of normal sleep still alludes my tiny tot……he fought bedtime for an hour and was wide awake an hour early this morning (which means 4:45 am). We were able to keep him somewhat sedate until around 5:35 am by allowing him to poke us in the face repeatedly identifying facial features (‘mama nose’ …’dada eye’…) and also allowing a tiny car to

This leads me to believe either the new house in the hills has some kind of long reaching anti-sleep mechanism attached to it that haunts all toddlers who visit or that overnight trips however well prepared and executed are a bit much for my guy 🙂

Most likely due to the litigious nature of our society I am now well-versed in the  ‘accident report’. My tiny charge is not yet two but if he has a school file holding his various official documents it would by this point be overflowing with reports on his various injuries sustained during the hours of 7:00 am and 5:00 pm each weekday.

These reports range for incidents like…

Texas was bit by ‘a friend’ on the cheek this afternoon while struggling for a toy or…

Texas received a rug burn under his chin by sliding across the astro turf on the playground at outdoor time today

Quite possibly the most troubling reports are of course the ones that feature my child as the aggressor…

While climbing the stairs today Texas bit ‘a friend’ on the left hand – it did not break the skin but there was mark…

Some days when I arrive to pick up my charge the front desk is covered with accident reports and other days a lone sad report featuring toddler angst sits awaiting a dutiful parent’s signature. It makes you wonder what creates the ebb and flow of the feast or famine phenomenon that is preschool aggression and clumsiness.

I blame the astro turf.

 When I think of childhood smells I think of A & D ointment, baby powder and animal crackers…I recently realized that when my son looks back on childhood aromas he will have a totally different olfactory recall…his world is filled with natural and organic products at every turn. 

His soap, shampoo and bubble bath are California Baby and smell of lavender and roman chamomile and his high chair cleaner, the stuff I mop the floors with and glass cleaner are all from BabyGanics and you guessed it they smell like lavender too. I don’t think of this is as a negative thing – just something curious to ponder. I once knew a man whose mother always smelled like lilacs and to him the smell always felt like home and motherhood and safety – will lavender remind my someday adult male of clean toilet bowls and a freshly mopped floor? Just something to consider.

Enough Said…..

Yep….it’s Valentine’s Day. Of course my Valentine for-life now that I am a mommy is my little charge – nimble and quick with a giggle he lights up my days and nights. Near or far he makes everything in my world more beautiful than the day before. He loves me unconditionally even when I serve leftovers two nights in a row or accidentally buy the weird smelling diaper wipes because I am in a hurry.

All My Love. All My Life.  My Texas.

PS – Dada is pretty amazing too but this is a mommy-blog right?!

Well of course I am. I am not sure if these wonderlands of modern children’s apparel are found in other places besides my beloved NorthPark mall in Dallas – if not, boy are you missing out. An entire store full of witty toddler and children’s clothing splashed with humourous quotes, slang and adjustable $50 jeans.

Now before you scoff at the jean part – I will say four simple words to sway you “they lasted a year”. That’s right my friends these perfectly fitting, well made baby jeans fit and held up like none I have ever seen before for an entire 12 months! That is beyond impressive when you think about the fact that he is not yet 24-months old.  Plus the t-shirts are the softest ever and last great too – no fading. Check them out http://www.peekkids.com/store/.

So I am always hot…ALWAYS….without fail. If everyone else in a room is searching frantically for the thermometer and looking for sweaters I am the one peeling off layers and fanning myself with a meeting agenda and refilling my water like I have been trekking through the Sahara. So my voyage into parenting has presented me with a quandary of possible transference. As we all know when your mom was cold you were cold, when your mom was hungry you got fed and when your mom had to go on a family road trip the car pulled over. So, now as I am responsible for another human life and making sure that he is safe and handled with the care he deserves I find myself constantly checking his hands and feet for signs of hypothermia. I honestly do try to keep him warmer that I am comfortable but wake in the night sure that he is smoldering in his footie pjs with no way to escape because he does not yet understand the concept of maneuvering a zipper.