a lot and nothing at all

1. More skulls:

Thank you GAP for continuing to keep us in skulls. The boy now has skull-and-crossbones socks. Three pair, though I’m already wondering if I should get more, and in more sizes.

He also now has a GAP skull sweater — cow skull, with horns. Southwestern detail at the shoulders and waist. True to his paternal heritage.

And now there’s a skull/bones t-shirt I’ve got my eye on, and a hoodie.

Am kicking myself for not getting that 3T pair of skull jeans. He’s got two pair of 2T (not that he knows this yet, I just wash and switch and wash and switch) and I thought that maybe by the time he’s 3 he won’t be into skulls anymore. But I’m starting to think that was foolish. There are NO none nicht nada skull jeans on Ebay anymore. Oh where do they all go? GAP, you torture me with your style changes.

2. He grew:

At first, I thought it was a quirk, that he only ever wants to wear his slightly oversize red rain boots anymore. They are cool rain boots. But in fact, his other shoes are all too small. (Insert expletive here.) And then today we went back to the shoe store I’d been to when he’d finally started to WALK and needed to be fitted for his first real pair of shoes — and it was gone. The store that had been in operation, opened by the father, taken over by the son, for 42 years, the customer service we received there that reminded me of the shoe store I’d gone to when I was a kid. All gone.

3. The nap:

We had a good run. Especially while we were on vacation in Hawaii back in September, and for about a month after that. But since then, just shoot me. He would never nap if we’d let him. Except that once in a while, he does nap. Sometimes he surprises us and falls asleep in the car — generally not when we’re driving him around to achieve that effect — could be at 10:30 a.m., could be 3, 4, 0r 5 p.m. But he NEVER EVER EVER takes a nap in the crib anymore (unless he falls asleep in the car and I’m able to transfer him successfully). Putting him in the crib awake is like a signal to him to just start singing and talking and banging around because that is the only thing he does in his crib at nap time. Today he informed me that in fact he does plan to nap at preschool, and he will nap at his nanny share, but not here. Then again, sometimes he talks just to hear himself talk. You know.

We are grateful, knock on wood, spit three times over my shoulder, that he doesn’t pull the same anti-sleep antics at bedtime. He will bargain and wheedle a bit, but he does go to bed. Thank freaking goodness. Amen.

4. OMFG: Preschool! We’re supposedly starting mid-to-late January. I think. The school we picked is a smidge flaky on returning emails and messages in a timely manner. We’re choosing not to worry about this since it is still the holidays, and once he’s in, we’ll be there 3-days-a-week, getting our notes in our file in the box on the back porch and reading the messages on the bulletin board along with everyone else. This topic really deserves its own blog post. And perhaps a book on the subject. How to choose a preschool. Anyone want to hook me up with a book contract? My path was totally nonlinear, manic, half-*ssed, dove in with both feet, swam around in circles, got pulled under twice at least. Montessori, Reggio-based, et. al. The seductiveness of playground farm animals. (The one we picked does NOT have chickens, and as penance, I think we’ll have to finally get some for our backyard.)

At least I don’t have to worry about paying for watching him nap. Unless they do get him to nap, in which case, they totally deserve the money.