October 28, 2011 ~ Cars and Stripes

Today was a day of Split Personality Billy. One minute hre would be laughing and the next minute he would be in tears. He sat down on a small ball: tears. Mommy tickled him: giggles. He tripped: tears. Buddy chased a toy: giggles. So, let's just talk about the good parts.

It's the 125th anniversary of the Statue of Liberty, so when the news ran a segment on it, I pointed to the tv and started to explain to him what he was looking at. He paid close attention, taking it all in and never looking away from the tv. I'm not sure how much he understod, but I think he got that whatever it was, it was important.

Then a commercial came on with a dog jumping in slow motion across the screen. Billy pointed and laughed. He just thought that was the funniest thing. That prompted him to want to play with Buddy. So, he started chasing Buddy around the room. He grabbed one of Buddy's toys and tried to give it to him. Then he had me throw the toy for Buddy.

Billy often wants to play with Buddy but is never very successful at it. He wants to give a toy to Buddy, but he doesn't know how to throw yet. When he hands a toy to Buddy, Buddy grabs it and starts to play tug-o-war. This usually ends up with Billy in a heap on the floor. Buddy isn't a strong dog and he certainly isn't trying to be mean. But Buddy only has two speeds- on and off. On is a slow, plodding speed, but he's still a lot stronger than a toddler.

I tried to get Billy to play with his cars since I knew that Buddy would eventually cause Billy to fall down and cry. Last week the cars were his favorite thing. He wanted to push them around everywhere. Today? No Go. He was not intereted. Puppy dogs are just too cool to want to play with other toys.

FInally, I was able to distract him with his Fridge Farm. The pieces are difficult to insert, but he's working on it. It looks like a barn and has animal heads and bums that you try to match up. It sings lots of songs and let's you know when you've made a match or haven't. Only, today Billy decided after a few tries with the matching that he wanted to do something different with his animal parts.

He decided the pieces needed to be in the ice dispenser. They are still in the ice dispenser.

Finally, Daddy came home from his trip. Billy didn't want Mommy. He wanted Daddy. So, Daddy did the bedtime ritual. Apparently, though, Billy only wanted to play with Daddy. He fussed and wouldn't sleep until I went in and did Bedtime Ritual with him. I rocked him with a bottle. Every night I tell him why I am proud of him (or rarely why I'm disappointed) while he gets his bottle. The nI give him lots of hugs and wish him a goodnight. It's nothing special, but it's his ritual and he goes out like a light if I stick to it. He whines if I don't.

So, now he's fast asleep, probably dreaming about dogs jumping in slow motion.