I guess we aren't exactly following parenting advice all that well

On Sunday I took the fusspot to the ballet. Living in the big city, you can find wonderful things like a one hour version designed for toddlers (although it was still a good 20 minutes too long for most of the audience). This isn't so much a post about that, as about my rather horrifying realization that this is the very first time that we have deliberately taken the fusspot to an activity sans baby. Sure, she went to daycare for a few weeks after he was born without him. And there have been the odd weekend mornings when the fusspot and JD ran out to coffee without me and baby, or the big excursion to buy her winter coat with grandma while the dumpling napped, but that's about it.

You know all that advice about doing "special activities" with your toddler when the new baby (who happens to be 9 months old now) is born? Whoops.

Needless to say, the fusspot was duly concerned about where baby would be, whether he would miss us, whether he could join us for lunch afterwards (nope), etc. And when asked about the ballet later in the day, she repeated multiple times "Dumpling wasn't there." There is something so endearing about realizing that she just takes his presence for granted in her life, that she finds it normal to find the dumpling in our room in the morning and to have him trail around after her all day. I love that they go to daycare together, and one big benefit of not being able to afford preschool for her next year is the hope that we will be able to keep them together for another year.

There are certainly moments that she is frustrated with him, but given that he cannot yet climb up high she is quite happy to take her toddler-toys up onto the couch or the kitchen table or the desk in her room and have him enthusiastically sit below and watch. We also occasionally use the gate on the kitchen to allow her a space for non-baby friendly activities (like her beloved light box), but that is fairly rare. The one time of day that I still haven't figured out is bathtime, and specifically what to do with the dumpling after his 60 second bath (he is a maniac in the bathtub and I just can't keep him safe for much longer than that. The guy wants to nosedive into the water, climb the porcelain, bang his head into the spout ... and no combination of infant bathtub/bumbo/ring seat seems to contain him) when she wants to play for more time (oh, how I envy couples where both parents are home at bedtime. JD is averaging about one bedtime every 2 weeks at the moment, and that is weekend inclusive).

Speaking of the dumpling at 9 months, we have a big weigh in on Thursday and I am very, very much hoping that he will have gained a pound or two, putting us thoroughly back onto the growth charts.

I love that his favorite toy in the entire apartment is the humidifier which sits on the floor of the fusspot's room. He loves to take it apart, laughs as he drops the pieces on the floor, and is then duly enthralled when you put it back together for him. Even better if it is actually spitting out mist while he's playing with it.

I also adore how our happy guy has absolutely no patience at night. When he wakes up during the night (every night. multiple times. just saying.) he goes from happily asleep to a wail that sounds like I just-learned-of-the-destruction-of-the-temple or the-truth-about-global-warming in under a minute. He has no energy to look around for food or explore, he just lies face down on the mattress wailing until his snack appears.

Sorry, no good conclusion to this post. I just wanted to remember a few things from this big birthday weekend. Kind-of crazy that I have now been blogging for over 4 years.