Dragons, Snakes And Other Tall Tales

DRAGONS
Having a son in Kindergarten is endless celebration and fun.  Last week was the Chinese New Year and after focusing on the Chinese culture through books, crafts and  food (attempting to eat noodles and rice with chopsticks), they celebrated the year of the dragon by parading through the halls as the giant beast itself.  This took quite a bit of time and preparation of course....

In full parade mode:  Boy O as part of the dragon body:

Documenting anything in the classroom can be a difficult task for me.  I would call it at best-controlled chaos-and then add in trying to keep Baby O from playing in the water fountain/sink that is just his size.  Two seconds after this photo was taken, I had to mop up a large puddle that Baby O had a fantastic time creating.

The kids had a great time taking turns being the dragon's head during the parade.

Each Kindergarten class walked through the halls as all the other grades stood outside their classrooms, cheered them on and gave them high fives.  It was so loud that even Baby O covered his ears. 

SNAKES 

To the outside world, Baby O looks like a normal toddler (left), but in secret actually resembles the picture on the right.  

               

He will eat like there is no tomorrow and then take a few days to digest his meal.  Daddy O's sister calls it the "snake phase".  Does anyone else feel this way about their toddler's eating habits?



OTHER TALES
Teeth are coming in and being lost at race pace lately.  Baby O is getting the last of his second molars in and teething seems to be remarkably smoother than when the first set made their appearance early  last year.  Maybe this set just doesn't hurt as bad, maybe it's the fact that he can communicate better this time around, or maybe it's the large bottle of Ibuprofen I have at the ready, but we have not experienced the sleep deprivation to the same degree.  Whew.

Boy O lost his third tooth last week.  It had been loose and hanging by a thread for months and as a result, the adult tooth behind it was already half way in.  The tooth came out while he was eating lunch in the cafeteria and if you ask him the best way to pull out a tooth, he will tell you to eat a large chunk of salami.  Best dental advice ever.

Baby O is clearly talented.  He is exceptionally verbal.  He has the vocabulary of a three year old and speaks so clearly that even his pediatrician said she has never seen anything like it.  It will be interesting to see how this gift plays out in the future.  As his parents we are always dreaming big, thinking of future professions as a famous linguist, orator, or maybe a U. N. interpreter.  He's going to need it because although he may be next to incredible with his speech...his skills are lacking in the potty department.  We have done everything we can do to potty train this kid and although he will happily sit on his froggy potty for hours, I just don't have the time anymore.  I'm tired of stickers, M & M's,  making up songs about doo doo and celebrating with poop parties.  Put him on at the right time and everything works beautifully.  But he will not TELL me if he has to go or not.  So, if I look at the accomplishments of my two year old and then into a crystal ball 25 years from now- I see a PhD in linguistics/still wearing a diaper. 
 
At the moment, two out of four of us are under the weather.  Last night I spent four hours in the E.R. with Boy O.  After carefully monitoring his temperature all day, it climbed to 104 degrees at 7 p.m. (with Ibuprofen).  I drove dangerously fast to the hospital where they gave him a dose of Tylenol. In just an hours time he was building forts with the sheets and bouncing off the walls.  He was the poster child for perfect health.  I felt relieved but ridiculous when the doctor walked in to examine him three hours later to say he just had a viral infection and that I could give him Tylenol and Ibuprofen at the same time.  Daddy O officially woke up with the virus this morning and I'm sure that Baby O and I will have it soon.  We are all in our jammies watching the old speed racer cartoons. Good times!