Golden Pig Tales

I want to vacuum the rug to suck-up the bits of card board that was recycling bits for Ezra’s Recycling Truck that we made Christmas day that are now bits of card board trash. I didn’t vacuum the rug because Ezra pleaded and insisted that the fire truck puzzle remain assembled and on the rug. I really didn’t want to vacuum anyway, and he let me move many other things to begin to cleanup from Christmas, and I didn’t have the talk in me to reason with Ezra to show him I only want to vacuum.  The fire truck puzzle will abide for now, and with the talking of -v- and me then Ezra will probably help put away the fire truck puzzle.

The cleanup from Christmas will continue tomorrow. Maybe we will take the lights and decorations of his tree tomorrow. Maybe we won’t.

There have been times during the past when Ezra has claimed my facial stubble as reason I could not read to him, hug him or do something. He says that I have a bumpy face. I don’t think he liked the rough feel of course stubble or the tickle of the short scruff. Lucky for Ezra, I have been shaving everyday for the past days, so now he has no fear of the bumpy face, and every time he says I have a bumpy face I have him touch my cheek or chin and he feels the smooth shave, which causes him to smile and say, ,,Daddy don’t have bumpy face.”

Christmas is over, except in Deerfield Valley, where the snow day surprise brings back Christmas every time you read it. I just read this book to Ezra, and he asked me if it was still Christmas. I said “nope” but then I wondered when the 12 days of Christmas officially start and therefore end? Maybe Christmas lasts until the tree is gone? Maybe it will still be Christmas every time we read the book? Anyway, I think Ezra liked Christmas, and he liked all his gifts. He has played with each one for at least a little while. The excitement around the garbage truck seems to have subsided a little bit, but not enough so that we have been able to put away all the little bits of “garbage” paper we crumpled all Christmas morning, and the bottle caps we gave him to fill up the truck. I think those little bits of garbage will be with us for a long long time.

Christmas was fun. Ezra got lots of gifts, and this year he was able to open most with his hands. He tore and ripped then he played until he slept. He ate the holiday sweets and food. He read all his new books. He parked all the new cars finding places for each in his many garages around the house.

Ezra has told me, ,,Santa is not coming here.” He told me this while we went to his room to search for his binky and after I told him that Santa would give him a wonderful, great toy if he gave-up his binky. We found the binky. He took it, and said no more about Santa. And I realize why does Ezra need Santa when he has his binky and a loving, extended family?

I think he liked my ceaser salad dinner because he ate it. Ezra even said, ,,Thank you for dinner, daddy,” for the first time.

Yesterday I cut myself on my new bread knife while I was cutting bread. It wasn’t a big cut, and it didn’t hurt very much. I kept it covered up and Ezra asked if he could see it, and I said no. He said “kiss it” and so I kissed my own finger to help make it better. Today I took off my bandage and was letting my finger dry out a bit, and Ezra asked what happened to the bandage. I told him I was going to get a new one, and asked if he wanted to see the owie. He said “yes”, so I showed it to him. He looked at it for a few seconds, and then I got up to go upstairs to get my new bandage. Before I got too far, I heard Ezra say “I’m gonna hug you” and he gave me a nice big hug. I think that was one of the best parts of the whole week!

We took Ezra the otolaryngologist, and the  otolaryngologist said Ezra has one tube in the right ear. The left ear drum without the tube has some fluid behind the ear drum. There is no inflammation. And we noted to the otolaryngologist that Ezra hasn’t complained about ear pain since the last ear infection. The good news is that the otolaryngologist said there is no need now for new tubes in ears.

The best news is that Ezra and I have been enjoying the rest of the day at home. We’ve read books, ran, laughed, danced with Johnny Cash, ate bagels and now he naps to ready for more fun to come.

Ahhhhhh! Ezra won’t wear a diaper, won’t wear a pull-up
But he will wear underpants.
But he won’t sit on the potty. Arrrrrgh!
I wish potty training was done

Ezra’s showing no sign of wanting to pee and poop in anything, but his diapers. And he never wants to change the diapers. Now he wants to wear only a certain type of pull-up diaper that has airplanes on the front, which are new today. The past week he would only wear the pull-up diapers with a police car and a fire truck on the front. There were nights when he threw the same type of diapers with only a firetruck on the front across the room because we had no more diapers with police cars and firetrucks on them. Then tonight he was wearing a diaper with a police car and a firetruck, but then he saw the new diapers with a plane the front and pulled the diaper with the police car and firetruck off in a fit insisting he wear a diaper with the plane on the front. I could only think of how much I hate diapers and wish Ezra would pee and poop in the potty.

Ezra went on a field trip to a Christmas Tree farm on Friday with his preschool. This school featured a hayride, so it was a good trip according to Ezra’s field trip criteria. Each of the kids got to pick out their own tree while they were there. I’m guessing these are the tops cut off of other trees given their size - about 18 inches or so. Ezra showed his to me when I arrived to pick him up Friday afternoon. He was so proud of his tree! We took it home and I put it in a vase of water and set it on our new cabinet. I was thinking that we would go out and pick up a big tree for the house, but maybe this year Ezra’s Christmas Tree will be Our Christmas Tree.

Ezra came home from Trader Joes with an orange balloon. When he arrived, I could feel his joy because Ezra loves having a balloon. He said, ,,Hi, daddy,” with a smile, which for the past days has been the only cheerful greeting he has given me. He was happy for he had his balloon.

Usually, the balloons will be played with for the night then the next day they will lose their air and deflate and then be thrown away by the third day. However, tonight there was no balloon play because he pulled the balloon string,  and the balloon floated across the ceiling to the light. The balloon popped.

Ezra was not happy. He cried. He fussed. He wanted another balloon. He wanted to go back to Trader Joes to get another balloon. He wanted to know why it popped.

While -v- talked to him about the balloon, I began to search for a balloon I thought we might have. I searched and searched and searched and I found one balloon hidden in a junk drawer, and I thought, <This will make him like me more.> So, I took the balloon, and I walked over to Ezra,  and I kneeled, and I blew.

The balloon expanded.

Ezra smiled and shouted with joy against the tears still on cheek, ,,DADDY MADE A BALLOON!”

And then I blew the balloon again to make a big balloon, and the fucking balloon popped.

Ezra complained of pain around the front of the thighs near the knees before bed, and -v- suggested it could be growing pains. After reading the U.S. Intranet and many websites with convincing enough advertisements and sponsors and the same explanation of two year old growing pains, I believe it is likely growing pains. …So, Ezra probably has growing pains and a growth spurt. This would also go with him eating a lot more than normal.

Growing pains are better than ear infection pains which Ezra hasn’t complained of. In fact, he took is last dose of antibiotics today. Though it was easy to give him his medicine for he took it like a big boy every time, it’s good he doesn’t have to take any more. Now hopefully the ear infection pain doesn’t return.

I haven’t seen Ezra since I dropped him off at daycare. He got a ride home with auntie kate and daddy because I had a holiday party to attend for work. This morning we drove by the train yard on our way to preschool and saw the big black engine! The big black engine that will be pulling the train tomorrow morning that Ezra will be riding on. “The big black engine?” he asked. “Puffing and chuffing?” “With the smoke up in the sky?” Yes! Tomorrow morning we are going to go ride the holiday express around the river front, and the big black engine will be pulling the train. So, maybe tonight he will be dreaming of trains!

Ezra has a step stool for bathroom, kitchen, dinning room. During the past, Valerie and i would usually need to carry Ezra’s step stool around from the kitchen sink, the dishwasher, his table, to the chair at the big table, so he could wash hands, unload the dishwasher, let -v- or I sit, or climb to his chair at the big table.

Now he carries his own stool.

Now he carries his own stool to new places like a movable cart in kitchen for fruit or to the drawers for a spoon or the the counter tops for his binky or for the sink in bathroom, to unload the dishwasher, for a seat, to use to step to the big chair.

Now he can get to those places where I thought he wouldn’t be for a couple more months or years.

Ezra woke with a smile today. He ate breakfast, had his diaper changed, got dressed and got ready to preschool without fuss. He got into the car to go to preschool fully dressed unlike yesterday or days before when he was missing shoes or a coat and even one day a shirt because he didn’t want to leave for preschool. But not today. And today when I got home he brought me an orange and peeled it. Then we talked. He had a bath and went to bed with no tears.