Kicking Off 2010

2010 was welcomed with a happy house. Kathy and I were able to go out to dinner together while Kole played with his neighbor friend Meisha. We were home by 8:00, Kole in bed by 9:00, Kathy and I watched a movie (Paul Blart the Mall Cop - pretty funny) then were in bed by the time Dick Clark counted down the Eastern time zone to midnight.
Kole was fighting a bit of a cough as he went to bed, one that made us consider taking him to a doctor since he was going on 5 or 6 days with it, and it was a very wet and phlegmy cough, but he appears to be on the rebound and mend. Overall, 2009 had lots of answered prayers and Kole was a very healthy boy, as were Mom and Dad, for the most part. We braved the Swine Flu scare of the Fall, which may have been the toughest time of all in hindsight. Otherwise, Kole has been introduced to more bruises and scratches as his mobility and reach increase, as does his mischief. He bravely scales chairs and couches and it has become somewhat of a favorite hobby. Only twice to my memory has he miscalculated the stability of his seating and taken a tumble onto the floor. Those are tough lessons for him, and even tougher for the parents. He has an amazing tolerance for banging into walls and tumbling off of toys.
His vocabulary is extremely vast, the problem is that we don't quite know what words he's saying. But, he can carry on an entire conversation, or sing an entire Itsy Bitsy Spider tune mouthing words of some kind in rhythm. 60% of his time spent awake and not eating, he is in a song of some kind. It's a great way to snap out of a crappy day ourselves, just hearing his happy babble around the house.
He loves going outside, and when you appear with shoes he will gleefully hop up on the couch and put his dogs out ready to be suited up. When you put one sock on, he'll sometimes grab the other and attempt to put it on the other foot. When his own shoes aren't on, he loves finding our shoes and putting his feet in them and sliding around the house.
He has graduated past pushing doors shut, and can now grab a doorknob and pull it shut. When a telephone rings, he immediately goes on a hunt for a phone. He has a great understanding for what things will bring scorn from Mom and Dad, but won't quite avoid them - instead just approaches them with caution. Just a few moments ago he approached the Christmas tree again, stuck out his finger and slowly crept it towards a shiny ornament ... all the while with his head turned directly towards me, as if waiting for the bark of disapproval. Once I fire off a stern "NO NO!" he seemed satisfied and merrily went on his way. I believe all the baby books and common sense label this practice "Testing the Parent".
He eats 2 scrambled eggs eagerly with both hands churning like a machine every morning and also loves waffles with syrup, plus Chef Boyardee ravioli (at 17 months old he once finished off an ENTIRE CAN in one sitting!), grilled cheese, and also luckily likes mashed up peas and sweet potatoes. We're normally taking a chance with anything else - including chicken nuggets and hamburgers. He'll gladly gobble them up some time, others he donates them to Maggie. One way or another, he eats like a horse and is still way above average length/height for his age and all appears very normal.
Potty training is not far away, and we've taken some of the prescribed early steps - including putting his training potty out; using the words and associating them with the act of the result (as he's leaning over the coffee table red-faced and grunting "Are you going poopie?" changing the diaper "Pewwie!! Kole made poopie!!", etc.); then maybe most uncomfortably, we are allowing him into the bathroom with us to observe and learn and make the connection himself. Nothing more amusing than letting your kid watch you stand there and pee while he looks up and down, up and down, in studied amazement. All the while, I have to keep a hand free to keep him from playing in my stream. During this entire process is a running play-by-play to further associate the verbal cues. It's a very humbling rite fatherhood, bear to cub : "Daddy's going to tee-tee in the potty! Let's go potty. Okay ... Daddy's going tee-tee ... into the potty. Okay, all done going tee-tee! Yeah!" then I clap and congratulate myself on being a good boy, and for remaining sprinkle-free. I always wonder what precisely is going through his head after he sees what he just saw.
There are days when I come home from work and Kathy is working a glass of wine and has obviously shed a tear or two - while the boy maintains a sly grin of innocence. As is par for his age, he can be a handful. But, Kole is as healthy and happy as can be. He associates well with other kids his age, and after a 5-minute grace period of hesitant shyness he quickly acclimates to any crowd in any setting. He's a voracious eater, a sound sleeper, and engages in toddler horseplay with unabated tenacity. He laughs 100 times more than he cries. He's as healthy as a horse. Some of all that can be attributed to DNA and the blessings of God, but the influence of a wonderful, strong, effective mother cannot be denied. Kathy not only refuses to give herself credit, but just as worse she is in constant doubt of whether what she's doing is the right thing. In my book, and in Kole's I'm sure, she is the Mother of the Year for 2009.
Looking forward to all of what 2010 has in store for Kole, Kathy and myself.