New Snowpants
Greetings to all.
We got a little snow last night and this morning. Before school today, Mom convinced Xavier to try on his new snow pants to test for fit. He has resisted trying them on before this morning.
He was excited to try them on and to go outside, especially since Daddy had already been out shoveling the walks, making pulling the family truckster out of the garage easier and pulling the trash cans to the curb.
He posed for several photos. He had to pose for many as Dad was excited to test out a change to camera settings to see if they corrected an underexposure problem plaguing pictures for some time (was it some obscure setting or was the light meter on the camera dead?)
Happy to report, it was a setting on the camera and not some expensive repair.
Xavier, however, was not so happy to learn he had to take his snow pants off to go to school. He did not even get to feel the cold, frosty breeze on his cheeks. After school, however, he gave them a proper first field test. He decided they made the grade.
Forlorn
Hello to all.
Tonight was the wing Christmas party. Aunt Chelle drove down to overnight with Xavier as no child care was available this year.
Xavier grew more and more excited as the time for Aunt Chelle to arrive neared. He also pulled a chair over to the front window and waited (occasionally) for Aunt Chelle to arrive.
When she arrived and told him it's nap time, then afterward they can play. I've never seen Xavier leap into bed so quickly! They had games and fixing pizza for dinner planned. Obviously, Xavier anticipated great fun and did not miss Daddy leaving.
Well, why Mom and Dad were enjoying a 40s-themed shindig, decent food, good company and free dance lessons, Xavier's expectations did not live up to the dream. Instead of helping fix pizza, he knelt in the chair by the window with a melancholy expression, wanting Mom and Dad to come home.
But I Said Please
Greetings to everyone.
Bedtime for Xavier has grown into something of a monster. In part because on school days he takes a late nap and does not want to get up no matter how much badgering it takes to wake him.
But the biggest issue is Xavier seems to be something of a night owl. He grows more awake as the night grows late. The preferred bedtime for him is 9 o'clock. This means starting about eight thirty on a uncomplicated night.
Xavier has started a massive squirrel campaign when it comes to going down for bed. We'll agree to read two books, he'll press for three and four after finishing the second.
We'll sit a while after reading. He'll sense it's time to move to the bed, then want a banana, or milk, or water or yogurt or anything that gets him out of his room again.
Most recently, after exhausting the food angle, he's added "I have to poop," which requires turning on a light and him sitting for ten or fifteen minutes doing nothing (because it's a squirrel! technique). He has refined this to needing to use the big potty (regular toilet) because his little potty (in his room) "hurts his butt."
Last night, he quietly lay in my lap. I grew all the more confident I had wrangled the last of the squirrels and he was on his way to a restful sleep.
Just before committing to putting him from my lap to his bed, Xavier looked up at me and said, "I want an apple, please."
Tired myself, I told him he had just eaten yogurt (a nightly bedtime ritual), and that this was just another squirrel technique (yes, I used the word squirrel in my explanation of the denial to his request).
Xavier looked at me with a wounded expression and in a forlorn tone said, "But I said please!"