My piece of Heaven

Yiayia and Papa arrived a day after Orion was born. They spent two weeks with us. Apollo is sure that they come here just to be his own personal servants and playmates. As parents, it is such a treat for Melanie and myself to watch Apollo interact with his grandparents. Everyone gets to play cars...whether they want to or not. 

Yiayia, Papa, Apollo, and Orion
8/14/2011

Apollo is actually a funny kid. He knows how to solicit a laugh when he so desires. He spontaneously finds things funny, and has the ability to laugh whole heartedly at himself, when he is involved in a bit of carnage (that leaves himself relatively unscathed, that is). He thrives on the attention he gets for singing

the Alphabet song and the Fish Head song, along with his own repertoire of silly phrases.

Overall, Apollo is a very happy young man. I know I have used the term 'charming' to describe him and his personality in a couple of my past blogs, but it certainly is the best term I can  think of at this point; he really is charming. You have to experience him for a few days to get the full effect.  Apollo insists that everyone should "Be happy!" In fact he demands it. If he even suspects that someone is less than happy he will interject with; "Be happy Yiayia!!" He also likes to check in on your well being from time to time; "How you feeling Papa?"

Apollo's mad face

Be happy!

 Yiayia and Papa were pretty blown away at Apollos extensive vocabulary and his nonstop chatter. They talk to Apollo a few times a week via Skype, however, they were not prepared for the barrage of talking that they experienced during their visit with us. The icing on the cake for Apollo's grandparents, was the "I love you" and "I love you so much" phrases that were freely offered up.

 We seized the opportunity to spend this past Sunday out doors in the perfect weather. It was my plan to gets some pictures of Apollo and Orion with their Yiayia and Papa. I went into this photo session knowing full well that I had a 1 in 10 chance of getting any descent pictures, as the quality of the photo's is directly related to Apollos mood at the time I am taking the pictures. He was definitely in rare form and it was a real task to get him to sit still  long enough to snap a couple of pictures. Apollo really enjoyed making faces at the camera and running off every chance he got. Fortunately, we were able to kick back for a couple of hours in this little park, which afforded me enough time to get a couple shots worth keeping.
  Orion is doing well. He has been making his way through the residual jaundice, and has really perked up. He spends longer periods of time being awake and very alert. He is making up for lost time with frequent feeding frenzies that leave Melanie threatening to switch him to formula.
 Orion graduated out of his size 1 newborn diapers, the day we got home from the hospital and fits nicely in the size 2's. He has already outgrown his newborn size clothing as well.  His remaining umbilical cord, or his "crunchy" as Apollo called it, fell off when he was around 10 days old.  He has also filled in all his wrinkly skin now.
                   The nights have not been too bad yet, at least not as bad as Apollo was by 5 days old.

Apollo and his Mickey Mouse back pack

Don't get me wrong, Orion is waking up and eating about every hour to hour and a half, but the difference is, that he will fall asleep while feeding and stay that way until he wants to eat again.
  Apollo, on the other hand, stayed up late, took a long time to go to sleep and then cried for thirty to forty five minutes after each feeding... all night long! Melanie would pass him off to me and say, "Okay, I did my part, now its your turn...and you need to leave the room with him so I can sleep." Yup, kicked out of bed, and my room, to walk to floors with a crying baby, two to four times a night. Then up at 6:00am to go to work. I would gladly do it all again with Orion, but Melanie and I are both hoping it doesn't come to that. Orion is also a lot more cuddly than Apollo was at this age. He is perfectly content curled up in the fetal position with his ear pressed to your chest. Apollo, in contrast, was always a thrasher.
  I am still in disbelief that we have a new baby. I find myself awake at night, leaning over Orion, listening to him breath, and watching even the tiniest movements. I settle back into bed with the biggest smile on my face with only the twilight of the room to share it with. For a brief moment, all the worries of the world around me are gone. The soft sounds of Orion cooing, and Melanie and Apollo breathing, serenade me back to sleep. I have found my piece heaven here on earth.

Home at last

  We take for granted how the miracle of modern medicine and technology have enhanced our lives. We are so dependent on the technology that surrounds us, that we can't even begin to imagine life with out it. I am simply talking about, electricity, water, housing, not to mention t.v., internet, cellphones, cars, etc. At the risk of sounding too philosophical, we would cease to function as a society if lost something as simple electricity.
  With the birth of Orion, and during our stay in the hospital, my eyes were really opened to how spoiled we are. I watched my son enter this world surrounded by a staff of people specially trained for this one event, in a climate controlled room full of computers, heart monitors, medical equipment, and every creature comfort you can imagine. We had at our disposal, medications and procedures designed to reduce or eliminate most of the pain that accompanies labor and delivery. As soon as the baby comes out, there is a whole team of people waiting to step in if anything goes wrong with the baby. The mother is tended to and doctored up after delivery and is offered pain medications, ointments, and anything else that you can imagine to aid in their recovery. It is nothing short of impressive if you stop and look around the delivery room at all it has to offer.
  I then think about my grand mothers, and great grandmothers, and the conditions that they endured during and after delivery, and the pain that they must have suffered, yet they never felt sorry for themselves, because none of these conveniences were available too them. They did what they had to do to survive and to ensure that their child survived as well.

   Orion developed jaundice after he was born. 20 hours after delivery, his bilirubin count was higher than they like see at this age. The pediatrician made the decision to move Orion to the Intermediate Care Nursery and start phototherapy on him to stave off the build up of bilirubin's and the associated effects of Jaundice. On one hand, you are heartbroken that your baby is going to be separated from you, and on the other hand, you are immensely thankful for the available technology designed to address this very issue. With the use of lights at the right spectrum,  the bilirubin's are broken down to aid the liver in processing and passing them out of the body. Our stay at the hospital was extended by two extra days, while Orion basked in his own private tanning bed. 

  After spending 18 hours in the ICN, they put Orion in an incubator along with his light blanket and light hood, and returned him to our room for the remainder of his stay. We were thankful to have him with us again, even though we could not hold him. He spent three hours at a time under the lights, then we were allowed to take him out for 40 minutes to feed and burp him, and then it was back under the lights. As annoying as this was, the results were undeniable. All of Orion's exposed skin remained pinkish, while the areas covered by his face mask and diaper, had the distinct yellow tones indicative of jaundice. 

  One additional piece of technology that I was impressed by, is the little GPS, alarm bands, that are placed on the ankle of the newborn baby. This allows the baby's location to be tracked anywhere in the hospital. If the band if removed or cut, it triggers an alarm. If the baby is taken near an elevator or stair way, an alarm sounds and security is dispatched  to the infants location.

  Friday morning, Orion was given the green light to return home. We packed our bags, paid our deductible and headed home. Melanie and I were so glad to return home. We missed our family and our bed. We were equally happy to rid ourselves of the nurses that walked in your room 24 hours a day, the minute that you fell asleep.

" I missed you so much"

   I have to say that for myself, the best part of coming home, was being greeted by the sweetest toddler in the world. "Are you home now dada?" Apollo asks. "Yes, we're home now lil' guy"I reply. Home at last.

  

Welcome Orion Cyphus Miles

  Whoa! What a whirlwind! Orion Cyphus Miles was born at 11:32pm on August 1st, 2011. He weighed in at 8 lbs 14 oz, and 21 1/2" long. Fast and furious was the name of the game in the hours proceeding the delivery. I will try to sum up the events of the last week the best I can with out getting too long winded.

The moment of victory!
Orion..fresh out of the oven

    I have to say that Melanie has been amazing throughout this pregnancy. There has only been brief moments of hormonal mood swings, but she has breezed through the months with ease. Even her OB/GYN, Dr Klekman (who's looks and mannerisms are reminiscent of Gene Wilder) told us at our last visit, that her pregnancy has been "text book" and that she should be a role model to show other "at risk" women, that they can have a healthy pregnancy. By "at risk" I am talking about having gestational diabetes, late 30's, and a history of miscarriages. Mel attributes some her healthiness to the near perfect Northern California weather, ample sunshine, and an abundance of fresh produce. Still, no mater your physical state, barring any complications, you will ultimately find your self in labor and delivery.

Proud Parents

  The week prior to delivery brought an increase of contractions coupled with strong nesting hormones. Melanie had an insatiable desire to pick black berries every day and make jam and pie filling. Nine months pregnant, tromping around through thorny blackberry bushes,with Apollo in tow...yup, definitely nesting.
  Friday evening, the contractions were regular enough and strong enough that it warranted a trip to Kaiser to get checked. Melanie was 4cm dilated and 80% effaced. The labor and delivery staff was pretty sure that Melanie would be going into active labor in the next 12 hours. We should have bet money on that one. After a recheck an hour later, we were sent home. By Monday afternoon, the contractions became fairly regular and stronger, but they were not totally consistent, still, they were strong enough that we decided to head back to Kaiser to be checked. 4cm and 85% effaced. We were a little disappointed, especially considering the amount and intensity of the contractions Melanie was having. Melanie disconnected the monitors and got dressed and was letting me know in no uncertain terms how ridiculous this was, while we awaited a consult from the midwife on staff.

   Our mid wife, Loren, a very happy, bubbly blonde lady in her early thirties, entered the room and introduced herself. Looking surprised, Loren said; "Wow, you are already dressed. I wanted to talk to you about something that might make you want to stay in your gown".  Loren explained that they would give Melanie the option to induce, since she was in her 39th week and has had a normal pregnancy. She showed us the graph charts from the monitor that Melanie had been connected to, showing the baby's heart rate and Melanie's contractions. She pointed out an area on the graph where Melanie had a cluster of three contractions, during which the babies heart rate dipped slightly lower than they would like to see. She explained that the baby was not in danger, just that he was slightly stressed during the contractions.

  After an extensive conversation on the pros and cons, protocols and procedures, it was decided that we would stay and we would start off the induction very slowly and naturally. The preparations were made and the paperwork was completed. At about 9pm, the midwife returned and as agreed upon, she started to strip Melanie's membrane. "Wow" Loren proclaimed, "that just pushed you past 5cm." Loren had not even finished the process when Mel's water broke on its own. "Yeah, you were definitely ready to deliver". Melanie was instructed to walk around a bit and then rest, and to repeat the process for the next 2 hours, at which point they wanted to reconnect the monitors and check the baby's heart rate. Melanie's contractions were instantly about 4 minutes apart. We made a few laps around the 3rd floor, and then Melanie got back into bed. After a quick rest, it was back up for two more laps. Contractions were about 2 1/2 to 3 minutes apart. The irony here is that we passed one of the nurses that check us in. It was 10pm and she said, "Look who's going to have a baby on August 2nd." Mel and I were both thinking the same thing; "I wouldn't bet on it!" The contractions at this point were intense enough that we barely made it back to the delivery room. I no sooner connected Melanie to the monitors, than she had a massive contraction that went off the charts. It surprised us both.

  We called the nurse and asked her to recheck Melanie. 5cm and 95% effaced. "That's all" I thought. The contractions were coming fast and hard now. 10 minutes passed, and they checked her again. 7cm and 98% effaced. "Okay" announced the nurse, " I will tell Loren not to go too far, your going to deliver pretty soon!" I think we were both relieved to hear that, however, we knew the worst was yet to come.
  It was now the phase that they refer to as "transition". I have never seen Melanie in this much pain. It was not even close to this bad with Apollo. Mel had her bed adjusted at a pretty steep incline. The contractions were so excruciating that she turned to her side and was literally climbing the bed. I did my part by keeping her cooled off with wet wash clothes and offering her comic relief in between contractions. I tried to appeal to Melanie's competitive nature, by giving her a play by play of the lady in labor in the room next door; room 6. I knew what her progression was since all the rooms monitors are on one screen in each room. The lady in room 6 was in active labor when we checked in and was still in labor when they transferred us to the maternity ward, at 2:30am.
  Transition was really tough. I can only equate the pain Melanie was in with the pain I feel whenever I open my insurance bills from Kaiser; excruciating! At one point, I thought Orion would pop out before the nurse and midwife made it back to our room. Just when I was about to hit the call button, the door opened and in came Loren with a whole team of nurses and equiptment. Loren was dressed in a suit that looked like she was headed outside in a rainstorm. It was go time...From this point onwards, I was overwhelmed with emotions. On one hand, you are empathetic to the pain your partner is in, and you want to burst into tears for them, but on the other hand, you are fascinated with the miracle that is unfolding before you.

Mel and I were both impressed with what an amazing team Loren and her nurses made. They were so supportive, and upbeat through the whole last part of the delivery. They stood there smiling and passed on words of encouragement. "Your doing great! Your body knows what to do. If you feel like you need to push, go ahead and push." It was a very refreshing approach. At 11:32pm, Orion emerged. His head was so coned shaped. All I could say was, "Melly you smooshed his head!" (Is 'smooshed' even a word) He was extremely cone headed, enough that at birth, his head circumference measured 13cm, and he measured 21 1/2" long. 18 hours later, his head was 13.75cm, and his length shrunk to 20 1/2".
  There is nothing more rewarding than taking this new little life into your arms and pressing him close to your chest for the first time; to feel the warmth of his skin, his breath, and the beating of his heart against your chest. I was instantly in love. Welcome to the world Orion!

What dreams may come

Tic, tic, tic, tic...the time is drawing nearer. Melanie is well into her 37th week , which is considered full term. She has been having some pretty strong but irregular contractions.  Ian and Aden will be gone to scout camp all next week, so it is almost certain that the baby will come while they are gone as we will have to scramble to find someone to take Apollo.

Hugging baby brother

  Apollo is very enjoyable these days. The personality is really coming out, along with the attitude. One of the fun developments this month, is Apollo relating his dreams to us. I owe Melanie the credit for this discovery. During an early morning bath, Apollo was talking about some fantastical events, involving family members. It finally dawned on Melanie that Apollo was talking about a dream. She quizzed him about what he saw and he told her all the details. The cool part for me, was that I was able to ask Apollo about his dream and listen to him tell it in his own words: 

  "Apollo, did you have a dream last night?"

"A dream?" he replied.

"Yes. When you are asleep and you see a story, it is called a 'dream'."

"Oooooh! When I sleep, I see something." Apollo answered.

"What did you see?", I asked.

"I see Apollo and dada and the moon, and we fall off the cloud," he started.

"Did we fall to the ground?"

"Nope!", he snapped back. "We flyed away."

"Well, how did we fly away?" 

"We have wings!" he exclaimed.

"Wow!", I said, with excitement, "Where did we fly too?" 

"We just fly around the clouds." Apollo responded, very 'matter of fact' like.

"Who else was in your dream?"

"I see De-duh and the mean brother" (that is Ian and Aden respectively...we will get into the 'mean brother' name later), "They fly to the ground."

"They didn't fly around in the clouds with Apollo, Dada, and the moon?", I interjected.

"Nope. I think brothers were too (s)cared, but we see momma and she was flying around the clouds too! It was really fun!"

  I am certain that Apollo inherited the skydiver gene. There are few things more precious to me than conversations such as this. I loved watching Apollo's face light up when he told me about his dream, and the realization in his eyes that there was a "word" for his sleep stories.

  Apollo is obsessed with cars. His all time favorite movie to date is the animated, Disney/Pixar; Cars. We bribed Apollo last summer, with toy cars from the movie Cars, in a very successful attempt at potty training. He has nearly all the character cars from the first movie. This past month, we took Apollo to see Cars 2. We (by we, I mean "I") made the mistake of buying him a new character car from the new movie. Actually, the car was not the problem; the problem is the pictures on the back of the box with several other cars on it. Once Apollo noticed these pictures, he had to have the cars that he did not yet have. He insisted that we go to the store "RIGHT NOW!" and buy him a car. The power struggle was on. There are three ways you can deal with a toddler; give in, distract, or go to battle. Distraction does not work very well with Apollo, especially if he has his mind set on something, and as much as we wanted to give in, we seized upon the opportunity to teach Apollo some new life skills. We explained to him that, he needed money to buy the cars, and the only way to get money, was to do chores, and earn it. Then it would take him a few days of chores and saving all his money until he had the $3.50 he needed to buy a car.

  This strategy borderlines on going to battle. There were fits and tears, demands and protests, and once Melanie was done, Apollo started in. That was a little joke...the drama was all Apollo...at least this time. Melanie provided Apollo with an empty plastic spice jar and some coins to get his savings started. He then proceeded to pick up his toys, help water the plants, feed the dogs, etc. After completing each task, he would ask, "Can I have some money now? Can we go to the store now?" It took a couple days of walking around with his money jar, asking for money, throwing more fits, and the help of a couple over zealous parents, and Apollo had enough money to make his first purchase. We made our way to Walmart, where Apollo discovered there were bigger Cars toys that he wanted, and was completely appalled that they cost more money than he had.

  All said and done, Apollo bought himself a new car, and learned the value of goal setting, working, earning, saving, and being a consumer. Not that we want him to be a consumer, but all the other lessons he learned are valuable.

  Mel had her 37 week visit with the OB/GYN today. Things are looking good. The baby's head is nice and low, his heart beat is strong, Melanie is dilated to 2 cm, and is 50% effaced. We are mostly ready for the baby. The bags are packed, everything is in order, paperwork is done...If only my dreams were filled with flights amongst the clouds, I might rest easier. Instead, my sleep stories are filled with all things baby. It is exhausting. Still, I look forward to what dreams may come...

The Green Snake with the Sun in it

I am utterly intrigued with the mind of a three year old. The process by which they learn everything from motor skills to communicating, is not only fascinating to me, but it is quite humorous. I love how insightful  Apollo is. I love his choice of words when having a conversation, either to himself, or anyone in earshot. It is fair to say that I am mesmerized by the whole process.

  I did not foresee that at this age, Apollo would reach the point that he realizes he has not yet learned a word that he needs to use to express himself. His method for verbalizing this lack of word wisdom is simple; "I can't say something". You can hear the frustration in his voice at the fact that he does not know the word or words to use. We listen for the cues and try to present the words to him to use. The fascinating part is that he will often know that you are not presenting him with the right word and will refute it with "Not that one!" On the flip side, when he discovers the right word on his own, he will exclaim; "I found a word! I can say something! Hooray!"
  There is another side to the quest for words; Apollo will often assemble words from his limited vocabulary, to describe something that he saw and is now looking for. The challenge as a parent, is to listen to what he is saying, and think in the simplest terms possible, and we can often figure out what he is trying to look for. Two great examples I can offer are from this past weekend at various Independence Day Celebrations. The first story is from July 4th, as we were at the Sonoma County Fairgrounds, at the Red, White and Boom celebration. We chose this event as it has Apollo's favorite band playing at it, for the past two years. We spent last year standing right in the front of the stage with Apollo on my shoulders dancing to the music. The band that I speak of is Wonder Bread 5. This band plays hits from the 70's, 80's, 90's, 00's and today, all while wearing costumes and wigs. They are very entertaining. This year, when Apollo decided it was time to make our way to the front, I scooped him up and sat him on my shoulders and made my way to the front row. Once we got up front, Apollo started  to freak out a bit and wanted to leave. I eventually had to leave and start making my way back through the crowd, all the while, Apollo was going on and on about something that I could not understand. We made it back to Melanie, by which time Apollo was nearly in tears. I finally had to set him on the ground, get down on my knees and ask him to tell me what he wanted...several times. "I want to go to the toy store and get the Queen in the red box, with the button to push with the light on it". After several minutes, I finally realized that he was talking about going to Walmart (we went earlier that day) and getting the toy he wanted (which we told him he could not have) that was a Disney Pixar Lightning McQueen car that was in a red box. The car had a button on the top that when pushed, the hood opened and a little LED light illuminated and the car talked. I was a bit perplexed as to what the trigger was that set him off on this obsessive moment. I thought maybe it was this all boy bands rendition of Katy Perrys, 'I kissed a girl'....no, that wouldn't do it.   It was at that moment, that I realized that it was much simpler; it was the costumes! Wonder Bread 5 was dressed up as 'Toy Soldiers'.

  Or at least that is how Apollo saw them. I am not exaggerating when I tell you, incidences such as this are a daily occurrence. I know it drives Melanie nuts, but I think it is adorable.
   My favorite story of the weekend is the morning of the 4th. Apollo woke up at 7:00am. Trying to avoid a conflict with his mom, he rolls into my arm and whispers, "Dadda, the sun is up. Lets go get breakfast." I drug myself out of bed and was ordered to make pancakes and scrambled eggs.  While cooking up this order, Apollo started asking for the "green snake with the sun in it". I told him, "Apollo, I don't think you have a green snake", "Yes I do! it has the sun in it! Go get it now!" He snapped back.
   This went on for well over an hour. I quizzed Melanie, Ian, and Aden on this. They all agreed, they did not know what Apollo was talking about. Apollo will pretty much call any thing a snake that is long and flexible, so I was playing back in my mind any thing that I had seen laying around that was green and could be considered a snake. But what about the sun? I could not think of what had a sun on it that looked like a snake. Apollo finally found what he was looking for in Aden's room.

 We had spent the previous evening at a friends house. They had a pot luck dinner and we watched the fireworks from their home, courtesy of the city of Windsor.  The children were all given glowing necklaces and glow sticks. Apollo had a pink glow stick, but apparently he saw Aden with a green glow necklace. He found this necklace in Aden's room and paraded it around the house; "See, this is the green snake with the sun in it."
  Indeed, it was. Mystery solved.

The calm before the storm.

Relaxing

 Having experienced an earthquake or two in my day, and growing up in Southern California, there seems to be an eerie phenomenon dubbed "earthquake weather". It is not necessarily something that you can  put your finger on, however, there is a strange feel in the air around you; an unsettling stillness; an all encompassing warmth that feels so good, that you know it is about to be thrust aside with a frigid chill.
  I am only making an analogy here. I do not feel as if an earthquake is imminent, although we are well overdue for a big one. I am simply trying to draw a parallel between "earthquake weather" and "baby weather". It is the calm before the storm. Six weeks and counting. The pregnancy is winding down and all is well. Three weeks until we are considered full term. It is all the "knowns" and the "unknowns" that paralyze you with fear in the middle of the night and then rips you from sleep only to keep you awake while you anticipate the inevitable.

  The nights are quiet now. If left undisturbed, I sleep pretty soundly. It has barely been one year since Apollo started sleeping through the night and what a joyous  occasion that was. We have reset the clocks and the sleepless nights are about to begin again. Will it be another two years? I certainly hope not.
  We have kept Apollo involved with the pregnancy as much as possible. We have talked to him about the new baby all along. He has been to the prenatal visits, heard the heartbeats, seen the ultrasounds, and felt the baby move in his mothers tummy, but it was not until last weekend that I realized he had a better understanding of what is going on, than I thought he would.

  We were at a four year old friend of Apollo's birthday party. Melanie commandeered a friends three month old baby girl and was holding her while visiting with the babies mother. Apollo did not notice for a good hour, as he was busy playing. At some point, he came back to check in with his mom. When he saw Melanie holding the baby, I could see the look in his eyes as if all the pieces of the puzzle began to fit together. The look of understanding soon turned into the look of panic; "What is that?!"

"What is that?"

 I could tell by the look on his face and his reaction, that he thought his baby brother had come while he was off playing. Once we explained that it was someone else's baby and that his mom was just borrowing her and it was not his baby brother, he shrugged is shoulders in a loss of interest and replied, "What ever you say" and wandered off to resume playing. I can't wait to see the look on his face when his baby brother does finally come. Apollo's world will be turned upside down for sure as will ours.
  A few personal observations I have made about this pregnancy compared to Apollo; Melanie is carrying the baby much higher, Apollo had crazy hick-up's by now that kept Melly awake at night, and this baby seems to be a night owl and has one of his most active times of the day around 11:00pm.

33 weeks

Needless to say, I think Melanie looks super cute in all her prego glory. On a side note, Melly is tanner than I have ever seen her. This picture doesn't show it, but if she lets me take a picture of her bare tummy and allows me to post it here, you will see that it is pretty impressive for an Oregon girl with the Ginger Gene. She assures me that the sun bathing is solely for the babies benefit as she is producing Vitamin "D" for him. We are enjoying this last bit of quiet time before the baby comes. With the onset of summer, and all the farmers markets and fruit stands around, we are enjoying the bounty that California has to offer. Melanie has confessed that she has never eaten so much fruit in her life. Melon and bananas are a daily staple around here. Apollo is a banana and melon junkie. He will eat as many as 4 bananas a day along with half a cantaloupe, Crenshaw, or honeydew melon, and an equally large portion of watermelon, not to mention blue berries, and strawberries. It is often a task to get him to eat real protein. Fortunately, he will always eat eggs or fresh sea food, which he prefers to chicken, pork, or beef.
  Melly on the other hand prefers peanut butter and chocolate and feels that one or the other should be included with everything.
I am hoping the baby arrives as close to the due date as possible. I will lament the lost sleep, and the days of no diapers, but will welcome our little gift with open arms and all the chaos that a new born brings, after all, I would not give up one moment of time that I have spent with Apollo...except for changing diapers of course.



  

What not to say.

at Sonoma County Wildlife Rescue  

Summer time...Long days, warm weather, movies in the park, concerts in the park, farmers markets, festivals, camping...by far my favorite time of year. It seems that we are going non-stop once summer hits. With Melanie 33 weeks pregnant, we probably wont be doing a lot of camping until after the baby comes, but we may have to slip in at least one more trip.
  Apollo has been unbelievably charming lately. He talks non-stop. Even walking across the room involves a verbal play by play as if he was a sports caster calling a football game over the radio. Apollo's comprehension level is increasing dramatically now, and you can actually hold a real conversation with him. When asked a question, he will think about his answer before responding. His sense of humor is really starting to shine through as well. Certain words and phrases strike him as funny and he will use them at the right moment, and then burst into laughter.
  One of my favorite things about Apollo, is his ability to do impersonations. This requires a keen attention to details of mannerisms, expression, facial movements, and gestures. He does excellent impersonations of me laughing and chewing gum, many variations of his mom scolding both himself and the teens, and even Ian and Aden acting appalled that they are asked to do anything.

  He even impersonates the boys friend Alex laughing.  Along with impersonations, Apollo is repeating everything he hears, and I mean everything. One of his favorite expressions is "Ah crap!" (thanks Mel). Some of our other favorites are, "What ever you say", "Stop it every guys!" (when trying to curb an argument), "Hush up!", "Do you need a time out? I'm gonna put you in a time out!", "You get your butt over here!", "Remi stemi!" (Calling his dog), "I'm not wasting water! I'm doing the dishes!", "Momma's gonna get really mad", and my favorite of the week; "Brother, you may look like my mother, but your not!" Okay, he had a little help with that one, but it is really cute coming out of his mouth. The problem is that he sees himself at a higher status than Ian and Aden and loves to boss them around, but when Ian and Aden try to tell Apollo what to do, Apollo gets upset, and will tell them to "Hush up! you can't say that to Apollo!"    Of course I do what any parent would do in this situation; back up the three year old. "That's right Apollo, you tell brothers!".
  With all this repeating of words, having teens in the home, friends of teens, and a crabby pregnant lady in the house, you quickly learn all the things that you should not say in front of your toddler. It becomes really interesting when you are in public, at church, or around other adults, and your toddler starts trying out some of his new found words and phrases. The looks you get from complete strangers is priceless!
  This past week, on a particularly hot (91 degree) day, Melanie suggested (demanded) that I take her and Apollo out to eat somewhere with air conditioning and with out teens (as they had worn her down that day)

Getting sprayed in a water gun fight

We found ourselves at Applebee's. Once seated, Apollo spurts out "Buuuuuuutttt!" and bursts into laughter. My eyes must have widened enough that Melanie quickly started in with, "Oh yeah, guess what Alex taught Apollo to say? Apollo thinks it's hysterical." Here's the thing, I will start laughing when I hear this despite all my efforts, which only reinforces this behavior. I think I was mostly laughing out of being uncomfortable that everyone around us could hear...clearly! Diversion, is your only defense in these situations. You quickly bring up a topic or produce an object that you know will spark his interest long enough to get his mind off of the behavior you are trying to change. This was met with only marginal success. Through out our dinner, he must have used the word 'butt' a dozen times, annunciating , using the word in inappropriate sentences, and then bursting into laughter.
  As if this was not bad enough. Apollo started in when we were leaving, this time loud enough for everyone with in 3 or 4 tables could hear what he was saying. Melanie decided that she would stay behind as we exited the store. To paint the picture, Apollo was wearing his sunglasses, arms crossed walking in front of me. "I LIKE BUTT!" "LET'S GO GET SOME BUTT!" "WE LOVE BUTT'S!" "LET'S GO FIND SOME BUTT'S DADA!" You could have heard a pin drop by the time we reached the door...everyone was turned around looking at us. Some laughing, some horrified. I turned to see if Melanie was right behind us, but she turned around and headed away from us, only to find the waitresses hiding around the corner covering their mouths to contain their laughter.....
  Imagine the horror I will feel in church waiting for the inevitable outburst. "My dada loves butt's!" That would be my luck!