Bonus post

Since that last picture sucked, I figured I'd better put up a better one.

Connor wants Santa to bring him a guitar. I mean, I'm sure there are many things he'd like Santa to bring him, but I used my Jedi mind tricks on him and now when asked "What is Santa going to bring you?" he says, "A guitar!*" I feel certain he won't be disappointed. I just hope dad isn't too disappointed if his son plays lefty.

*When asked any question, his new response is to say "Idon'tknow," whether he knows or not. So if you asked, "Hey Connor, what's the theory of relativity?" he'd say, "Idon'tknow!" but if you asked "What is Santa going to bring you?" he would say, "Idon'tknowaguitar!"

Connor's stage debut

First of all, yes I know this is a crappy picture. The no-flash pictures gave me nothing, and the flash pictures flashed on the heads of people right in front of me instead of the kids. But you get the idea.

In case you can't tell which white, blond-haired kid is Connor, he's second from the left (?) in the snowman sweatshirt.

The program was in the Fellowship Hall at Idlewild, and it was standing room only. First the Unicorns came out and shook instruments and twirled around to Run Run Rudolph- very cute. Then they were "claimed" by their parents and the Toucans came out and jingled some bells while singing "Jingle Bells." They looked pretty amazed by all of the people in the room (except for a couple of kids whom you could tell were used to performing at church or somewhere). None of the Toucans cried- something that can't be said for the Unicorns! And surprisingly, I didn't cry either. Not at the program, anyway. But I digress. After the Toucans were rescued from the stage by their parents, the 3-year-olds (Koalas? It doesn't cleverly incorporate the number so I can't remember it. They should be the Triceratops or the Three-peats or something.) sang a couple of songs- really sang!- and then the 4-year-olds sang (Quadrapeds? Forefathers? I have no idea.), then the two oldest classes gave us the big finale of "We Wish You a Merry Christmas." It was fun, and we figure we will be able to sell the video footage to VH1 someday for this one girl's Behind the Music episode. (She was a pro! Reminded me of Sandra Korpitz.)

Afterwards we went to Huey's and saw at least two of Connor's classmates. It seemed so grown up to be at a restaurant and run into some of your friends! We got home late, so he got to skip his bath. (Meaning today he smells smokey like Huey's. Nice!) As he was getting ready for bed (well, pooping, but that put tears in my eyes for different reasons) he looked at me out of the blue and said, "All those people were clapping! Did you clap, Mommy?" It was too much! So I recreated the times I clapped and why, and he was very happy. And so was I!

Dinos

Miscellaneous conversations with a 2.5 year-old:

The other day, I took Connor to school. Right by our house, I turn one way when I take Connor, and the other way when I don't. I made the wrong turn, but then quickly turned back the right way. Connor said, "We not going that way, daddy."
Me: "Yes, Connor, I almost went the wrong way, didn't I?"
C: "We not going that way daddy."
Me: "Nope, we're going this way."
C: "We not going that way daddy."
Me: ...
C: "We not going that way daddy."
Me: ...
(See, I think sometimes he slips into this Tourette's mode, and I just chose to ignore him, perhaps to impart the fact that it's socially inappropriate to say the same thing more than 3 times in a row. Probably not good parenting, but...)
C: "We not going that way daddy. We not going that way daddy. We not going that way daddy."
Me: ...
C: "We not going that way daddy. We not going that way daddy. We not going that way daddy. We not going that way daddy. We not going that way daddy. We not going that way daddy."

I had in fact turned to stone by that point.

I guess at that point Connor felt he had lost me, with all the silence...
so he said, "Daddy! I talking to YOU! We not going that way!"

Perhaps ignoring him is not the way to go with this.

Another random quote:
After a particularly stressful bathroom episode:
"Daddy, I pooped a dinosaur!"

Where does he get this stuff from?

O Tannenbaum

This weekend we got some Christmas decorations out of the attic. For the first time, Connor was totally into it. So suddenly he's into opening presents (as of my birthday in August, he wasn't interested in them) and enjoying the holidays (mixed emotions about Halloween, but totally into it now!). This Christmas is going to be so much fun!

I was glad I rescued this little tree from the Chockleys- Connor really wanted a tree, and we weren't ready to get a real tree up yet. I found some sports ball ornaments I had bought last year during the after-holiday sales for just such a situation. I threw on some red lights (where did those come from?) and Connor went about the fun task of decorating his first tree. He also had a couple of ornaments Beth brought him last weekend (thank you Beth!) and was excited to make the connection as to what they were for. I have honestly never seen him more proud of himself! When Cullen came over Sunday, Connor couldn't wait to take him upstairs to show him the tree. He lovingly touched each ornament, explaining what it was, and just gazing at the wonder of it. Then Grammy came over and brought Sesame Street and Dora mini-ornaments (those six balls weren't enough!) and we had another big round of decorating. You can see in one picture how he clumped the important ornaments together in the front- the football, Elmo, Dora, and Backpack. (He may have my love for Christmas trees, but not my anal need to space decorations out with a ruler!) Several times since the tree went up, he has turned to me and whispered, "Mommy, can we go upstairs to look at my tree?" I can't describe how much it melts my heart. Adorable!

I can't!

Connor went through a period where every sentence started with "I need. . ." Sometimes there wasn't even an end to the sentence- he didn't know what he needed, but he was sure he needed something. While that's still in his repertoire, it has been replaced in sheer volume by "I can't. . ." This phrase actually means "I don't want to"- maybe he thinks "I can't" carries more weight. An example can be seen in this picture:

Connor, pull your pants up.
I CAN'T pull my pants up!

So a typical evening sounds like this: I can't wash my hands! I can't eat my chicken nuggets! I can't take a bath! I need some candy.

PS- Once I busted out the camera, he pulled his pants right up! When he becomes a teenager? Pwn3d!

5:57 a.m.

Our family had a hard time with the time switch last weekend. No one slept right all week, especially Connor. He got up just before 6:00 a.m. EVERY morning this week. Well, every morning except today, when he spent the night with Grammy and slept until after 7:00. Hopefully that will happen again tomorrow!

Crazy technology stuff

Ok, I've finally changed www.chockley.com so that it points to this page. Easier to remember for everybody. Also, the first link on the right hand side points back to the "old" chockley.com, where those scads of of old pics are. I may still update that site to serve as a sort of picture repository, which I can't really do with blogger. We'll point you over there if we put anything up.

One more Halloween thing

Here's a pic of one of the cool pumpkins Steph and I did. We've come a long way from the butcher-knife smiley face pumpkins, huh?

Halloween

This Halloween has been a bit of a bust. We've had this cool frog costume for months. We've talked about it, jumped around like frogs, made the noises... but never actually tried it on.



Then the time came-- Sunday, there was a Halloween shindig at a neighborhood church. We brought the costume to Connor, and you'd think someone had just shot Dora. He fussed, cried, resisted, and protested in every way he knew how. "No I don WANNA wear da frog!" I mean, this was serious. We pretty much forced him into the costume, and the antics intensified. We tried to speak to him calmly, with promises of candycandycandy, but he was having none of it. We gave it time, to see if he'd get used to it. No dice. He was hysterical. So finally, we relented. We were disappointed, but his will was an immovable force.

The next morning, we tried again, since Connor was supposed to wear his costume to school. Same reaction. So, we sent him to school in just a regular outfit, with the frog costume in a bag, hoping that the peer pressure would overwhelm him into wearing the thing.

Steph picked him up from school, and you guessed it, he had never put the costume on. He did have a big bucket o' candy, which he caressed in the car all the way home. I greeted them at the driveway. There he was, huge grin on his face, one hand in the bucket and another clutching a (still wrapped) sucker. Tightly.

We took him inside, where he immediately started sorting the candy into little piles (where does he get that from?), and began a marathon sucker session.

We somehow managed to force him to take a break to eat some mochacheese (macaroni and cheese) to buffer the inevitable stomach ache. After that, he immediately resumed the intense sorting and sucking.

We tried to entice him into the frog costume once again, with promises of actual trick or treating, and even MORE candy. He had absolutely no interest in that -- the frog costume had by that point become a symbol of all that is evil in the world, and he had all the candy in the world right in front of him. Why leave this nirvana?

Steph and I were just a bit too disappointed over the frog costume, and the refusal to participate in "real" Halloween activities. Obviously, Connor was ecstatic with all the candy. And hey, the Halloween stuff is for HIM, not us, right?

Big brother Connor

As you may know, Connor loves to eat "birthday cake" in any form- this includes cupcakes. Right before eating this cupcake, he calmly accepted the news that Mom has a baby sister growing in her stomach. He gave us the Aunt Bethany look and continued with his dinner. It makes me feel better that he "knows" - I really felt weird about keeping it from him. I'm not going to be good with Santa Claus and the Tooth Fairy and stuff. I feel really guilty when I lie about things to him, even if the truth would spoil the fun!

I used to think that I didn't want to know the sex of my kids until birth. But I'm the type of person who likes to read TV spoilers on the internet, read the chapter titles before starting a book to see if I can guess what's going to happen- I knew I'd never really stay in the dark about this. And the ultrasound has turned out to be a big turning point for me in both pregnancies. Seeing the baby and knowing what the sex is really makes the whole thing more concrete, and changes my whole attitude towards what's happening. Suddenly I want to get a room ready, and I want to think of names, and I want to buy clothes and diapers. All of the negative feelings I had about being pregnant (I'm sick! I'm fat! I'm tired!) are gone and now I'm feeling positive about it. Beth told me she felt the same way after her ultrasounds. (She also had one this week, and she's also having a girl!)

Now if you'll excuse me, I'll be on ebay looking for bedding for the baby's room . . .

Family Jam

So we've finally gotten Daddy to start playing guitar for us. Connor will either sit in front of him on the guitar case paying rapt attention, or play along on the drums or piano. Sometimes Daddy plays songs we know, like Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, and Connor can sing along. I can't get enough of that! He needs his own guitar, because he really wants to play Daddy's. (Santa has already been consulted.)

Random Connor Update

Things I think you should know:

His favorite song is still "Since You've Been Gone," although I think it's just because he knows all the words. He's content listening to the radio or a CD until something he "knows" comes on, and then when it's over he immediately requests "Sinceyoubegone." I guess he wants to keep his monentum going or something. Other songs he knows the words to include "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" and most songs on Transatlanticism. And oddly, "She Will Be Loved" by Maroon 5. (Did Daddy play that one for him?) But usually by the end of any song he can sing along with the chorus- he's a good mimic.

He's learning to talk on the phone a bit- there are now usually 2 or 3 exchanges with the other person (instead of just hello) before he turns to look quizzically at the phone.

After recently celebrating Uncle Shannon's birthday with a cupcake and a phone call, he now thinks every birthday is Shannon's. On Aunt Marsha's birthday he took the phone and said, "Happy Birthday Shannon!" I'm not sure she found it funny. Hopefully he will do better Sunday on Dionte's birthday. (He calls Dionte "my-onte" which makes sense considering most words are preceeded by "my.")

He still loves every sport- shock! We try to watch the Mexican soccer league play across the street on Sunday mornings, and then follow that with a day of football. Baseball is important, too. He likes to go outside to "play bats" - we have various games that involve the baseball bats, but not all of them resemble baseball. Most of them include running the bases, though. Per Uncle Shannon's request, we have watched some hockey. He astutely noted its resemblance to soccer, but is perplexed by the lack of a ball. And I think he'll be much more interested in golf now that Michelle Wie has turned pro. (Or wait, maybe that's Daddy I'm thinking of. . .)

The potty training is going pretty well. He never wears a diaper anymore, even for sleeping. We still have some accidents, but I guess I consider him potty trained. We'll see how it goes when we travel to Nashville this weekend. We will have a potty in car- that should be fun. And might come in handy for me! (Gross! I'm kidding, Chip!)

I am in that stage where I just look fat, so I'm trying to wear maternity clothes to make it obvious that I'm not trying to bulk up before my winter hibernation or anything. I feel pretty good though- the first trimester is thankfully behind me. I go on October 27 for an ultrasound. No, I'm not particularly hoping it's a girl, but I think Chip is. And I know Grammy is. Once we find out, we will start talking to Connor about what's growing inside Mommy's belly and all that. I think he knows something is different, but I will feel better bringing him into the discussion once I have something specific to tell him.

Just a picture

Imelda

Guess what colors we've been learning at school- red and blue! So the red shoes are getting lots of wear.

I wasn't lying- he's rarely without the soccer ball.

D.C.

So I went to visit D this weekend in Washington, D.C. I really had a great time seeing all the sites, eating all the food, drinking all the ...water and stuff. I had never been before, so I was anxious to see all the sights. And I almost did. Really. We were on bikes for a lot of the time, so that allowed us to zip from one place to the next much more quickly than if we'd been on foot. Saw the Lincoln Memorial, Washington Monument, Jefferson Memorial, the Vietnam Wall, the World War II Memorial, FDR Memorial, National Gallery of Art, Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, Freer Gallery, Sackler Gallery, the White House, Capitol Building, U.S. Botanic Garden, Holocaust Museum. All very cool. I was blown away by being inches away from Monets, Renoirs, Van Goghs, and Gaguins. I had no idea all that stuff was there, and it really wasn't that crowded. And FREE! Like everything else listed above. Our tax dollars are hard at work there, that's fo sho.

I liked the nightlife and restaurant scene too. Had some amazing sushi. I really dig the town.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, KNUCKLE SHANNON!

Connor just loves birthdays. Any excuse to sing "Happy Birthday" or to eat birthday cake (or, in this case, birthday cupcakes) and he's all over it. Anyway, Shannon-- enjoy the last year of your life-- I mean, of your twenties.

Football

Sorry we've really sucked at updating this thing lately. Connor doesn't pose for pictures well these days- he either gives us the fake "CHEESE" or he just tries to grab the camera. We'll have to do better!

First football story: Connor watched an episode of Dora where she plays soccer, and now he's all about it. We have walked across the street to the soccer fields a couple of times so he could watch people play- he was thrilled, cheering and laughing. It is fun. Of course, he won't kick his soccer ball the normal way. He has to bounce it first and kick it off the bounce (kind of like he does with the baseball). And let's just say he's not open to coaching yet.

Second football story: Connor's favorite book right now is his NFL counting book (one football! two trophies! three Super Bowl heroes!), I guess because it's football season. During week one when he cheered at the TV he said, "Yay heroes!" (I know- we need to have a serious talk about his priorities. :)) Also in the book are a bunch of helmets, and he and Chip always go over which helmet is for which team. Yesterday we got a subscription offer for SI in the mail, and it came with a bunch of stickers with NFL helmets on them, and Connor sat down and said, "There's the Broncos! And the Cowboys! And the Rams!" I didn't realize the amount of time he and Daddy had been putting into this book lately, so I was pretty impressed. I sure have those boys well trained! And I sure am glad I bought Connor that book. . .

Potty Progress

I tried to take a picture of Connor in his tightie-whities, but I ended up with pictures like this and a crotch shot that I decided was not appropriate for publication. We are halfway through week three of potty training, and he's doing pretty well. On the plus side, he can usually hold his water until we lead him to the toilet. On the down side, he doesn't say, "I have to pee," or anything that convenient, so we're still putting him on there a lot. And if for some reason we wait too long (especially after lunch) we end up with a buttload of poop to clean up. We have seen marked improvement in the last 10 days or so, and I'm pretty happy about it. Considering he's got until March to get potty trained, I think we're on a pretty good schedule!

Bats left, throws right

Now that it's finally under 100 degrees, Connor is obsessed with going outside to play with "the bats and the balls." He still isn't interested in hitting the ball off the tee we bought him. He hits it off the ground, like he's playing golf. If you throw it at him, he'll try to hit it off the bounce, but mostly lets it come to rest on the ground before hitting it. To him that still counts as hitting a pitched ball, I think. When we play with his "inside" bat (pictured) he will hit the ball in the air, since it's bigger than the bats we play with outside.

I'm so glad it's under 100 degrees on a regular basis now! Outside, I've missed you!

And for anyone who cares, I quit taking all the medicine the doctor gave me for my morning sickness, etc., and now I'm feeling much better!

The Big Easy

Even though everybody's probably sick of New Orleans news by now, I just feel the need to say something about it.

Is this really America we're talking about here? Not Rwanda, not Bosnia, but America? It seems so abstract when we hear stories about people's lives being ripped from them in those places. But New Orleans? It's just down the road!

I'm really glad Steph and I took a nice trip there this May, because it'll be a long time before we'll be able to go again. Such a fun city, and so unique. Other than Memphis and Nashville, it's the city I know best and visit most often. For the foreseeable future, I guess we'll have to find another "adult playground." Nothing can quite replace the Big Easy, though.

If you haven't heard it yet, you should listen to this interview with Mayor Nagin here. The man tells it straight. I don't know that I've ever heard a politician speak with so much candor. I'd vote for him in a second.