A new exhibit

Biscuit and I learned today how the animals at the zoo feel about being on display.

One of our neighbors came over last week to see Biscuit. She said she never sees him outside and wanted to check in and see how he's growing.

When we go outside to play, we always go in the back yard. It's fenced in. That's where Biscuit's toys are. And that's where my swing is. So it makes sense.

But it didn't occur to me that the neighbors around the cul-de-sac might be interested in seeing Biscuit every once in a while.

So when I got home from work today, I let Biscuit walk to the mailbox with me. Then we hung out in the front yard for a while.

One of our neighbors was cutting his grass, but when he saw us playing, he turned the mower off and came over. He and Biscuit had a nice conversation.

Then our neighbors from across the street stopped by in their van as they were leaving. They had a conversation with Biscuit, too.

Then another neighbor waved at us from his yard. Just a minute later, his wife was walking over to our yard. She said he ran in the house and yelled, "The baby is out! The baby is out!" So she came over to see him.

It was really nice showing off my boy. We lucked out in the neighbor department. We have really nice people living around us.

But man, I sure did feel on display this afternoon. It's like Biscuit and I were the new pandas at the zoo!

No funny videos

You would think that "America's Funniest Videos" would be a safe thing to watch with Biscuit, right? You'd be wrong.

Every time they show people getting hit, he reaches toward the TV and cries.

Every time they show somebody falling down, he reaches toward the TV and cries.

Every time they show an animal making a weird noise, he reaches toward the TV and cries.

Are you sensing a pattern here?

I guess that means no more "America's Funniest Videos."

It must be a duck

The old saying goes that if it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it must be a duck.

My Biscuit baby showed us a little logic of his own.

When he saw seagulls flying, he pointed and said, "Bird. Bird." (Of course, it sounded more like "Buhd. Buhd.")

But when he saw sea gulls on the beach in the edge of the water, they were ducks.

According to him, birds + sky = birds, but birds + water = ducks, even if they're the very same birds.

Makes sense to me.

Feeding Biscuit on vacation

I was pretty disappointed in many of the children’s menus at the restaurants we went to on our trip. The choices were hot dog with fries, chicken strips with fries, hamburger with fries and grilled cheese with fries. No veggies in sight.

So Biscuit’s diet on our trip wasn't anywhere near ideal. I had to give him instant cheese grits at the condo after the rest of us ate a really nice seafood dinner.

The one part he did get to enjoy at one dinner was the dessert … fried strawberries! Yes, I said FRIED strawberries. They dipped fresh strawberries in pancake batter, then fried them, then rolled them in cinnamon and sugar. Jeezy Pete were they good!

Of course, I think the batter … and the frying part … and the cinnamon and sugar sorta takes away the nutritional value of the strawberries, but it was well worth it.

We have a pretty good variety of places to go at home. One restaurant serves mac ‘n’ cheese with sides of black beans or stewed apples. Another place has a peanut butter and jelly sandwich with yogurt and fruit. Another place has a kid-size meat and three or a veggie plate.

I was hoping I was finally done with having to carry a full Biscuit meal in my pocketbook everywhere we went.

I figure the more teeth he gets, the better he'll be able to eat. He's not shy about trying new things, so getting him to eat is hardly ever a problem.

Maybe we can find a better selection of meals for him on our next trip.

Little Jefe

Biscuit got a book for Easter all about how Little Bunny helped Little Chick pick raspberries, then Little Bunny helped Little Chick fly his kite, then Little Bunny helped Little Chick … well, you get the idea.

Jeff thinks it's funny to add even more "littles" to the story, as in ... Little Bunny helped Little Chick pick up his little toys and put them in his little toybox before he got in his little bed.

So when we took a walk on the beach this morning and saw a horseshoe crab on its back, Jeff used his foot to flip it back over. Then we watched it swim out to sea.

Then Jeff looked at me and said, “See, Little Jefe helped Little Horseshoe Crab turn over on his Little Stomach so he could swim out in the Little Sea.”

He THINKS he’s funny!

Trip to Savannah

We spent this past week in Savannah and Tybee Island. Jeff, Biscuit and I and Jeff’s parents left Monday morning and traveled 5½ hours to get to a condo we rented right where the Savannah River meets the ocean.

We spent a day in the Historic District of Savannah, where we took a trolley tour to get our fill of city history. Then we toured a beautiful church, walked along the riverfront and ate at The Pirate House (part of which includes the oldest building in Georgia and is supposedly quite haunted).

We also visited the Tybee Island Lighthouse. Jeff and his dad climbed the 178 steps to the top, and his mom, Biscuit and I stood at the bottom and waved at them. We had enough fun throwing a little football around in the parking lot. Plus, we weren’t anywhere near as tired as the climbers were.

We spent some time walking along the water, where we saw horseshoe crabs, jellyfish and lots of birds. Biscuit wasn’t quite as freaked out by the water. I think it was two things: 1. The water was a whole lot warmer than it was the last time we were at the beach, and 2. Since we were at the mouth of the river, the waves weren’t as big or loud.

As much fun as the beach and Savannah were, I think our boy’s favorite part of the trip was riding the elevator up to the third floor to our condo. The elevator had quite a jump when it took off and when it stopped, so it provided a fun ride and lots of giggles.

Biscuit got a T-shirt from Savannah and one from Tybee Island, and I've started a postcard box for him so he can see the places he's been. All in all, it was a good good trip.

We left to come home Friday afternoon. Biscuit still travels really well, and fingers crossed, I hope that will continue.

Bad pants

Do you think if Biscuit grabs a pair of his pants from the laundry basket and throws them in the trash can, it's a sign he doesn't want to wear them anymore?

Taking a dive

I got to day care to pick up Biscuit this afternoon and saw red marks and a scratch on his face. I guess the teacher saw my face, so she quickly explained that Biscuit had a run-in on the playground.

"A run-in?" I asked. "With who?"

"Thin air," she said. "He was booking it across the playground when all of a sudden his feet shot right out from under him."

I asked her what happened next. I could tell by his face that it couldn't have felt good when he fell.

"He surprised me," she said. "He didn't cry at all. He just jumped up, pointed his finger to the ground and yelled, 'No, no, no!' He yelled at the ground. I couldn't help but laugh."

His face looks kinda pitiful, but I couldn't help but laugh at him, too.

Where everybody knows his name

Biscuit made it through his first week of the toddler room, despite the massive amount of worrying I've done. I realize there was no reason to worry, thousands of kids have transitioned perfectly well from the infant room to the toddler room, but hey, worrying is one of the things I do best!

Friday morning eased my worries, though. Biscuit and I walked into the toddler room and about 6 or 8 kids ran over to greet him. "Griffin. Giffin. Gwiffin. Fiffin." There were 6 or 8 kids and 6 or 8 pronunciations of Biscuit's name!

I told Jeff, "It was just like on "Cheers" when Norm walked into the room."

One little boy even came over with a ball and handed it to Biscuit."Here, ball," the little boy said. "Ball," Griffin said.

I translated this conversation to mean ...

Little boy: "Good morning my friend Griffin. How are you this lovely morning?"

Biscuit: "Just fine, thank you, and you? Shall we run screaming to the other side of the room and play with the ball you just handed me?"

So that's what they did.

I did get a quick half-wave goodbye and a smile. So I figured I could start my day feeling okay.

A proud moment for The Daddy Man

A post from The Daddy Man:

Biscuit got a ride-in car from Santa at Christmas, and I push him around the house in it. We have the perfect circle to ride ... living room, dining room, kitchen, hall, entryway, living room, repeat.

He also has a teething ring that looks a set of keys on a fob. There's a horn button and a button that sounds like a car cranking up.

This morning, I had a proud moment. My boy put the car and the keys together. I was trying to get him ready for day care, and he got away from me. When I tracked him down, he was sitting in his car banging the keys against the dashboard, looking for an ignition hole.

That's my boy!

Biscuit's books

Biscuit loves books.

I think if he had to make a list of his top 5 things so far in his life, it would go:
1. Outside
2. Bananas
3. Books
4. Balls
5. Anything with wheels

He can't always be outside, eating bananas, throwing balls or riding or driving a vehicle, but there's pretty much a book with us wherever we go.

He's picky about his books, too. You can't just grab one and start reading. HE has to pick out what we read.

If you're sitting in a chair, he'll hand his book to you then throw his hands up for you to pick him up so he can sit in your lap. And if you're sitting on the floor, he'll grab his book, turn around and walk backwards until he gets to you, then he'll just flop down in your lap.

The other cool thing is that he's really familiar with some of his books now. He growls at the right spot in his "Cranky Bear" book. He goes nuts as soon as he sees the policeman on the horse in his police book. And when Clovis the Tiger gets ready to jump in the water, he makes a big "SPLOOSH" sound.

Jeff and I both love to read, so I hope his love of books sticks with him.

Sweet Biscuit vs. Unsweet Biscuit

One of the teachers at Biscuit's day care asked me a couple of weeks ago if I was familiar with the story of Samson in the Bible. I told her yes, I remember the story about how Samson was strong and had long hair, but when they cut his hair off, he lost all of his strength.

Well, she said that while Biscuit's hair was still long, he was her usual sweet, little baby. But since we got his locks chopped, he bit a kid and went through a couple of days of hitting. So she said his week of being Unsweet Biscuit was our fault and told us not to cut his hair anymore!

Here's my shaggy, sweet baby and my mean, little short-haired boy!

Big day for Biscuit

My Biscuit baby had big doings today.

It was his first full-time day in the toddler room, and he got to spend his evening with two of our friends while Jeff and I went on a date.

Mama didn't handle the whole day anywhere near as well as Biscuit did!

Biscuit has been in transition from the infant room to the toddler room for a few months now. He's learning to feed himself and has been getting along well with the other toddlers, but he's still a good bit smaller than the other kids in the class, so the teachers have held off having him with the toddlers full time.

But two weeks ago, we got the official letter saying that last week would be his transition week. He would start out in the infant room, then spend most of the day with the toddlers. It worked well, so today was the official move-up day.

I'm not sure why, but it was pretty emotional for me. Just seeing him with all those walking, talking little people in the toddler room was overwhelming. He's moving from being a baby to a little person. And I'm not ready!

I asked about how his days would go, and the teachers told me that he'd get to go outside twice a day (and I guarantee they'll have to fight to get him to come in), they have story time and song time, they learn colors and numbers, they practice manners - please, thank you, etc. and probably his favorite thing, they get to eat at a little table instead of high chairs. He thinks he's Mr. Big Shot when he can eat outside of his high chair!

I was nervous a good part of work today. And it was for no reason at all. He did great. As a matter of fact, when I walked into the toddler room to pick him up, he wasn't ready to go yet. For me, it was a mixture of "My little boy isn't excited to see me," and "Yay! He likes the toddler room!"

The best part for me is that we don't have to carry snacks or sippy cups for him. In the infant room, parents would bring whatever the child could eat. But in the toddler room, they're mostly on the same eating level, so they all get school-provided snacks. Plus, he's learning to drink from a regular cup, so we don't have to send his sippy cups anymore. It wasn't a big deal to provide those, but every morning, we had to write his name and the date on each thing we sent for him. It was a tedious task that we don't have to do anymore.

And for the biggest advantage ... he costs us $10 less each week. The older they get at day care, the cheaper the rate is because they don't require as much hands-on care. Once he's potty-trained, he'll get even cheaper!

Two of our friends volunteered to babysit tonight so Jeff and I could go on a date. They've sat with Biscuit before, so I knew everything would be fine. Last time they kept him, he was getting over a cold, and he was having some pretty severe teething pain, so, they didn't get to play a lot because he just wasn't up for it.

But tonight, he was in a great mood, his allergies weren't too bad, and the weather was nice enough for them to take him outside. I warned them that there might be drama when they made him come inside, but apparently, they had an idea I hadn't thought of. When it was time to go in, they said, "Hey, let's go inside and have a banana." The only thing my baby likes better than outside is bananas, so good call on their part!

Meanwhile, Jeff and I had a nice steak dinner then rambled around the bookstore for a while. It was nice and relaxing, and we made a pact on the way to the restaurant that we wouldn't talk about work at all.

But even though we were having a great time, and even though I knew that everything with Biscuit was fine, and even though I knew that if anything was going on, the babysitter friends would call me, and even though ...

"Jeff, they would call us if something was wrong, wouldn't they?" I asked.

"Yes. They would call," Jeff said. And he didn't say it with any attitude or in a making-fun of me way or anything.

I told him that other than the fact that worrying is what mamas do, I have no idea why that question would even cross my mind. First of all, the chances of anything going wrong are really, really slim. He's with two competent people who have been around him plenty of times before. They know what to do in case of an emergency. And secondly, they wouldn't hesitate to call if they needed us.

But any of you other mamas know exactly what I'm talking about! It's one of those things that comes along with growing eyes in the back of your head and being able to call your kid on raiding the cookie jar before his hand ever touches the lid. It's what mamas do.

Almost-midnight snack

We've had a busy day today.

We gathered a couple of boxes of stuff for Goodwill. Then we ran a few errands. Then we went to our friends' new house to help paint and pull down wallpaper for a little while. Then we grabbed some pizza and came back by another friend's house to pick up a couple of pieces of furniture.

So we've been in and out of the car, and Biscuit has been making the rounds. He played with one of his friends at the first house we went to. Then he squealed over and chased two cats at the second house we were at.

But through it all, he was a little trouper. No meltdowns. No tantrums. No drama. He was a sweet, sweet baby.

Biscuit has been struggling the past couple of weeks with seasonal allergies. This might sound a little crude, but it's been snot, snot, snot! With a bunch of coughing thrown in. We feel so bad for him.

So with all the big doings and the allergies, Biscuit was wiped out by the time we got home. I barely got him in his pajamas before he was falling asleep.

He had been asleep for 45 minutes or so when he woke up crying. I went in to get him, but he wanted his Dada. So Jeff held him for a while in the rocking chair, then Biscuit squirmed to get down. Jeff let him go, and he walked straight to the refrigerator. He pointed, then he walked straight to his high chair. We got the point.

Jeff poured him a sippy cup of water, and we gave him some mandarin oranges. He ate his snack then wandered around the living room playing for about 15 minutes. Then he crawled in Jeff's lap and settled in. Jeff took him to bed, and all is quiet again.

I guess even babies sometimes need the occasional almost-midnight snack.

Saturday afternoon playtime

We spent a good bit of Saturday in the backyard. The Biscuit couldn't have been happier. Even after hours out there, he cried when we brought him inside.

Easter at the beach

We got to spend some time at the beach while we were in Wilmington.

Saturday morning was a little creepy. It was so foggy when we got up that we couldn't even see the boats out our balcony door. We walked across the street to the beach and even standing on the sand, you could hear the ocean, but you couldn't see it. It was really creepy!

We decided to give Biscuit an Easter egg hunt on the beach. He picked up a couple of eggs, but he was more interested in chasing the sea gulls. Needless to say, they didn't like him as much as he liked them.

Biscuit had a hard time walking in the sand. We kept moving him down closer to the water on the packed sand, thinking he would like walking there better. But every time, he would move right back into the softer, deeper sand. I finally figured out that he was freaking out about the ocean. He didn't want to have anything to do with it.

We picked up some sea shells for Biscuit to take back to preschool. One of his teachers said she has a jar of seashells at home that she would add his to. He didn't understand that, but I thought it was really sweet.

We didn't want the Easter bunny to have to find Biscuit at the hotel in Wilmington, so I just decided to pack a basket for him myself. Not smart on my part, I hadn't put the basket in a bag yet when we were still packing.

I was sticking stuff in bags and Biscuit walks into the bedroom and says, "Book. Book." And without even looking, I said, "Yeah, book."

Then he walked out for a few minutes, then came back. "Ball," he said. "Yeah, ball," I said.

This went on three or four times before it occurred to me to see what books and balls he was playing with. And guess what? They were books and eggs from his Easter basket! He had emptied the whole thing. I put everything back in, double-bagged it and stuck it straight in the car.

He didn't seem to mind Sunday morning when he got to take everything back out of it again.

I talked to Mama, and she was telling me about her church's sunrise service. I told her that being able to sit on the sand with the morning sun shining on my face, I didn't need a church to have a worship service. That was about as spiritual as you can get.

The whole wedding/Easter weekend was great. The wedding was beautiful. Our small little Easter celebration was great. It was overall just a good trip.

Oh yeah, and the boy still likes to travel, which is just an added blessing.

Weekend in Wilmington

We spent Easter weekend in Wilmington this year for a friend’s wedding. We had Friday off, so we left early that morning and headed for the beach.

The hotel where we stayed was a place Jeff and I had stayed before, back before Biscuit was even thought about. It’s on the sound in Wrightsville Beach, just outside of Wilmington.

The rooms are nice and big and are kinda like efficiency apartments. There’s a full kitchen and living room, as well as a queen bedroom and a queen Murphy bed in the living room. And since it’s not on the ocean, it’s affordable, too.

At the end of this post, I’ll put in a column I wrote for the paper about the first time we stayed at this place. It was pretty funny.

Anyway, having the kitchen was great with Biscuit. The kitchen even had a dishwasher, and anyone who has a toddler knows that a dishwasher is a blessing … cups, pacifiers, spoons, even some toys.

We had a great view of the sound from our balcony, and thankfully, the railing was really tight, so we could let Biscuit stand on his own while we were out there. And in his current stage of independence, that was a good thing. He learned how to say “boat,” and he already knew how to say “bird,” so he was having a great time out there.

We had the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner Friday night. The wedding was at Aerlie Gardens, only 10 minutes from our hotel. It was really pretty with the flowers starting to bloom, although all of our shoes were coated with pollen when we got back to the car. The rehearsal dinner was at an oceanfront resort at Wrightsville Beach, also about 10 minutes from where we were staying.

Biscuit was wide open the whole night. Poor Jeff was the sole wrangler since I was a bridesmaid in the wedding. Biscuit socialized and just couldn’t find a stranger. He went up to the groom’s dad, who is in a wheelchair, grabbed the wheel and said, “Vroom. Vroom.” I apologized to this man we had never met before and told him that anything with wheels is a car to Biscuit. He laughed and thought it was pretty funny.

When the bride finally made her way over to visit with us, she reached out to hold Biscuit. He leaned out for her to hold him, then he promptly put one hand squarely on her boob. Granted, it’s not a small target, but I still explained to the boy that there’s protocol for that sort of thing and that you have to build up to a boob-grab. Plus, I told him that the groom is way bigger than him and might not like him getting handsy with his soon-to-be wife. I’m pretty sure Biscuit didn’t understand what I said, but I swear, the child looked at me and just grinned!

My 1-½-year-old is already a dirty old man!

We got to spend some time Saturday morning and Sunday morning on the beach. Biscuit wasn’t too sure about it. I’ll share more about that later.

We had to get to the wedding pretty early, so by the time the ceremony rolled around, Biscuit was getting antsy. He had been so good for so long, and he just didn’t want to sit still anymore. Luckily, with the wedding being outdoors in the gardens, Jeff just carried Biscuit around for a while and that seemed to satisfy him.

I guess the excitement of the night before caught up with him, because Biscuit didn’t see too much of the wedding reception. He fell asleep about halfway through. Unfortunately, I left the stroller just outside of the reception tent, and the dew had fallen and made the fabric seat wet, so I had to hold him. I love to hold my sleeping baby, but that 21 pounds gets heavy after a while!

Everyone bragged on how good Biscuit was the whole weekend, and I agree. He had fun meeting everyone, and so did Jeff and I.

------------------------------------

Here’s the story about the hotel:

Greensboro News & Record (NC)-May 29, 2007

Trapped four flights up, but, hey, who cares?

BY KIM MILLS

Personal Adds

I was recently held captive by a sunset.

Actually, I was held captive by a locked fourth-floor balcony door that forced me to enjoy that sunset.

And how did I get stuck on a fourth-floor balcony, you ask? It's my husband's fault, of course.

Jeff and I went on vacation for our anniversary, splitting a week between Wilmington and Wrightsville Beach.

Our hotel at the beach was on the harbor side of the island, and there were plenty of goings-on to keep my attention as I sat on the balcony.

Boats, jet skis and windsurfers were cruising around the harbor.

Traffic was picking up on the bridge as people came over from Wilmington just in time for the early dinner specials.

And employees at the restaurant next door were setting up the patio tables for the dinner rush.

Jeff decided to come out and join me, and before I could tell him to check the balcony door, he had already slid it closed.

"Did you make sure that wasn't locked before you closed it?" I asked.

"Um, no," he said.

I got up and grabbed the handle and pulled. Nothing happened. I moved into a steadier stance, grabbed the handle again and pulled harder. Nothing. The door was locked.

My husband is a calm man. His feathers rarely get ruffled, and this situation didn't seem to concern him in the least.

"What are you going to do about this?" I asked.

"Enjoy the sunset, I guess," he said.

So, if you can't beat 'em (and I was plenty ready to beat him at this point), join 'em. So, I did.

I sat down in one of the rocking chairs and finished my Sprite.

After a little time passed, a nicely dressed couple parked their car across the street and started walking toward the restaurant next door.

Jeff looked down and in a very polite but way too quiet voice said, "Excuse me. ... Excuse me," and got no response.

So, I yelled down, "Hey! Up here on the fourth floor!"

The couple looked up. We explained our situation. And they said they'd be happy to let the hotel manager know so he could come let us in.

Meanwhile, a couple of guys from the restaurant kitchen were taking a smoke break.

One of the guys yelled up, "Are y'all stuck up there?"

I said, "Yep. And if they can't get us down, you might need to send some food up!"

He laughed, snuffed out his cigarette and went back into the restaurant.

Apparently, he felt the need to share the news with his co-workers because a few seconds later, about six other employees came out the back door of the restaurant to stare up at the idiots stuck on the balcony.

I could feel my face flushing with embarrassment, but when I looked over at my husband, the whole experience was put into perspective for me.

He was wearing this huge grin, doing his best parade wave to all the gawking restaurant employees below. The sunset behind him was something you'd see in a photography book. And if all else failed, the restaurant guy was ready to send up some fried shrimp.

By letting go of my worry, I had just experienced one of those moments that I will always remember.

Kim Stacks Mills is down from the balcony and back at her job as day desk chief for the News & Record.

The eyes have it

It’s amazing to me how little kids learn things. I bought Biscuit a book called “Happy Baby Words.” It has pictures of babies, body parts, clothes, toys, food and other stuff.

We’ve been reading the book together, and any time we find something he has (eyes, ears, nose, ball, etc.), I stop and show it to him in the book, then show it to him in real life. I thought this would help build his vocabulary, but until today, I didn’t know if it was working or not.

Jeff and I were playing outside with Biscuit, and I got something in my eye. As I was rubbing the side of my face, Jeff asked what was wrong, and I said, “I’ve got something in my eye.”

Biscuit said, “Eye, eye” and pointed to his eye. I was so surprised and excited.

I made a big deal about it and said “yay” and “good job,” to which he always claps for himself.

Then, he stuck his finger up his nose and said, “Nose, nose.”

I looked at Jeff as if to ask whether we applaud him knowing his nose or tell him not to stick his finger up his nose.

Then at the same time, Jeff and I both went, “Yay! Good job!” and clapped for Biscuit. And of course, Biscuit clapped for himself, too. Good job.

Chewbacca in my kitchen

Discipline is hard sometimes. Especially when Biscuit is behaving in a way that makes me want to laugh my head off instead of scold him.

My baby LOVES outside. So one evening this week, I had to fight him to get him in the house so I could make dinner.

I let him climb the deck steps by himself, but as soon as I opened the back door, he took one step away from me. “Come on. We have to go inside,” I said to him.

He took one more step away from me. So I responded by walking over and scooping him up before he could move again. This, he did not like.

I set him down in the kitchen, and he assumed this whiney, pouty position that was cracking me up.

He bent his knees a little, dropped his arms by his sides, threw his head back and just wailed. He sounded like Chewbacca in “Star Wars.”

“Waaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhh,” he whined and stomped around the kitchen.

I couldn’t say a thing. I actually had to put my hand over my mouth to keep from laughing. I knew if he saw me laugh, that would be my downfall.

Oh how I wish I had video of that moment to show him in about 10 years!

Classified ad

Free to a good home: One grumpy 17-month-old with constant teething pain, occasional tantrums and the bad habit of throwing everything in the floor.

Is up to date on all his shots.

Only wants to eat every other meal and often changes his mind from one meal to the next about what he likes and doesn't like to eat.

Would include his toys, but he'd rather have glass candleholders and remote controls to play with.

Doesn't like to be clean unless he gets to splash all the water out of the tub, soaking the walls and carpet.

Has the cough and laugh of a 30-year smoker, but it's really just seasonal allergies.

Does come with occasional moments of sweetness including open-mouth kisses on your cheeks, cute smiles and some kickin' dance moves.

Serious inquiries only. You've got our number.

Sometimes the stars align

There is some small sense of magic when you see the wheels turning in Biscuit's little head and you realize that he just learned something or that something we've been telling him just clicked.

This morning, Biscuit walked into the kitchen, pointed at the stove and said, "Ha. Ha. Ha." He wasn't laughing. He was trying to say, "Hot."

About two weeks ago, Biscuit snuck behind me while I had the oven door open. Usually, Jeff keeps him occupied in the living room while I'm cooking, but he crept up on me before I knew it. He reached out to touch the oven door, and I grabbed his hand just in time to keep him from getting burned.

"HOT!!!" I yelled. I scared him and he cried, but I told him that he scared me, too. I barely got to his little hand in time. So I picked him up, lowered my voice and said "hot" over and over again until he repeated it after me. I was holding my hand out toward the stove but not quite touching it.

The next day I walked over to the oven, held my hand out and said "hot." Then Biscuit copied me and did the same thing. But we haven't talked about it since then.

So this morning, when he walked in and recalled our "hot" lesson, I was surprised, impressed and proud.

Then this evening, I caught a whiff of a dirty diaper, so I said to Biscuit, "Let's go change your diaper." Usually, this means I have to chase him down, then carry him into the bedroom to change his diaper.

But tonight, I told him we needed to change his diaper, and he got up, walked into the bedroom and stood by the bed. He knew where he needed to be and what was going to happen.

It amazed me.

But then it all comes crashing down ... and he bites a kid at day care and gets written up ... and he pitches a hissy fit in Michael's while I'm trying to buy some cupcake cups ... and he wads up his kids' menu at Chili's and throws it in the floor.

The thing that helps me get through those moments is remembering all those other amazing moments. And so far, we've been lucky enough to have way more amazing moments than crashing-down moments. Let's hope it stays that way!

Not MY Biscuit Baby

Picture it, Harris Teeter, one early spring evening about 6:30. Jeff, Biscuit and I are getting our groceries, and everything seems to be fine.

Then, all of a sudden, for no reason, Biscuit decides that his life is the worst thing EVER!!!

I try talking to him. I make all the silly noises and faces that usually make him laugh. I try to give him a snack from the little container of Cheerios that all moms of toddlers are required to carry in their purses. Nothing worked.

I asked Jeff if he would walk with him and see if that would help. I took Biscuit out of the buggy seat and stood him on the floor. Jeff reached his hand out to grab Biscuit's hand. But before that could happen, Biscuit laid down in the floor and wailed.

I looked at Jeff and he looked at me, as if to say, "Who is that baby and why is he having a tantrum while we're trying to get groceries?"

Apparently, this is not Biscuit's first tantrum. I was informed at day care that Biscuit wanted a toy that another little boy had, so he tried to take it from him. When that didn't work, Biscuit laid in the floor and cried.

It's happened a couple more times at day care and at home. At day care, they put him in a high chair and give him a book to look at. That takes him out of the situation and gives him time to cool down. Plus, he's starting to put it together that there are consequences.

When it's happened at home, I basically step over him and go into another room. I figure any attention I give him will encourage him to throw another fit the next time he wants my attention. And as for stores, we pretty much just remove him from the scene of the crime as soon as possible.

I asked one of the day care teachers if tantrums were common. She assured me that it's a phase that most toddlers go through. Experts think that it mostly comes from frustration of not being able to communicate well and not yet understanding concepts like sharing, plus throw in some teething pain and us trying to ween him off his pacifiers. It all adds up to rough times for Biscuit.

But I'm glad it's a common phase, and I hope it doesn't last too long. Or as I told the day care teacher, "He needs to quit with the trantrums, 'cause Mama don't play that!"

New month, new stuff to write

I have so much to write about that I kinda dread getting started!

So I'll come back to our busy weekend and tell you about our trip to the grocery store today.

Biscuit is usually good in the grocery store. He says hey to everybody and wants everybody to stop and talk to him (I have NO idea where he got that from!).

But lately, I've had a hard time getting through certain parts of the store, namely the produce department and the baby aisle.

My Biscuit baby loves bananas. He REALLY loves bananas. So when I walk through the produce department, and he SEES bananas, he GOES bananas. He starts reaching toward them saying, "Eeee. Eeee," which is his way of saying that he wants to eat the bananas ... RIGHT NOW!

It does not go over well when I try to explain to him that we can buy the bananas to eat later, but we can't eat them right now. He can see them in the buggy. He can even almost reach them if he turns sideways in his seat. But they're just out of reach ... literally and figuratively.

I try to distract him with all the other colorful produce, but he just gives me the stink eye.

Then we move through the rest of the store, and he gets distracted by all the people and other stuff to look at.

On lucky days, we don't need anything from the baby aisle. On the unlucky days, we repeat the produce department performance once he sees the apple juice, puffs and all the other snacks he can eat.

How our trip to the store ends usually depends on who's in line with us and what the cashier is like. If the cashier and people in line talk to him, he's fine. He loves making new friends. But if he's stuck in his seat, in line, with nothing to do but wait, it doesn't take long for him to start getting antsy (I have no idea where he gets his sometimes lack of patience, either!).

Of course, sometimes when he's making new friends at the cash register, I get distracted and have to remind myself to pay attention. This happened a few weeks ago at Target, and I ended up stealing a watch.

I was looking for a dressy watch that looks more like a bracelet, and I found exactly what I wanted for $12.99. I was excited about it, so I put it in the buggy. Then I realized that Biscuit still had on his jacket. So I took it off him and dropped it in the buggy.

We did the rest of our shopping and when we got to the register, the cashier was making a big fuss over Biscuit, and so was the lady in line behind us. I was so distracted that I walked out of the store and didn't even know the total of my bill. I just swiped my debit card, punched in my code and waited for the receipt.

When we got to the car, I started loading the bags in the trunk. I noticed my new watch in the bottom of the buggy. Assuming it just fell out of one of the bags, I tossed it in with the other stuff, put Biscuit in his car seat and headed for home.

When we got home, I took the receipt out of my wallet to double-check everything. I usually sort of add up my purchases as I shop, but the total on the receipt was a little less than I thought it would be. I scanned all the items listed and realized that the watch wasn't on the receipt.

I took the watch and never paid for it. Then I realized that it must've been under Biscuit's jacket, and I never put it on the conveyor belt at the checkout counter.

I immediately started to panic. I was a thief! A jewelry thief! A $12.99 jewelry thief, but still, a thief nonetheless.

I called Target and told them what happened. It took several times to explain what had happened. The customer service rep thought I had paid for the watch but it wasn't in my bag. I said, "No. It's just the opposite. I didn't pay for the watch. I never took it out of my buggy. I thought it had fallen out of one of the bags but it hadn't. I never paid for it."

My voice was getting a little more frantic as I tried to explain what had happened. The voice on the other end of the phone was just as calm as she could be. "Just pay for it the next time you come in," she said.

I couldn't believe she was being so nonchalant about it. I guess she figured that if I was calling to admit what happened that there wasn't much reason to be upset.

The next day, I took the watch to the service desk to pay for it. Again, I had a hard time making them understand what happened. And then, once they figured it out, they treated me like a saint. They made a huge deal about how impressed they were that I came back to pay for it.

I know it sounds weird, but I got mad at them. Don't praise me for doing what I should do. I'm not being some selfless hero, I'm simply doing what I'm supposed to do. The odd thing is that when I've polled several people about what they would've done, I've had mixed reaction of people who definitely would've paid and people who say they wouldn't have worried about it.

So anyway, we've had some interesting times in stores lately. Maybe now that basketball is winding down for Jeff, I'll be able to do my shopping by myself, so I can concentrate on what I'm doing!

Where's Dada?

My Biscuit baby just doesn’t understand the phone. He likes to hear people talk on it when we hold it up to his ear, but he usually won’t talk back, and he doesn’t understand that the people are far away.

The most recent occurrence of this was last night. Jeff had a media op at Duke in the evening, so he called about 8:30 to let me know he was heading home. Biscuit usually goes to bed between 8 and 8:30, but he didn’t seem sleepy at all. As soon as he heard the phone ring, he ran over, pointed at it and started saying, “Mmm? Mmm?” like he was asking if he could talk.

So I picked up the phone, held it to Biscuit’s ear then hollered loud enough for Jeff to hear me, “It’s Biscuit. Talk to him.”

As soon as Jeff started talking, Biscuit’s eyes lit up. He started looking around the room to see where Jeff was. Then he dropped the phone and ran into the kitchen calling for Jeff. “Da? Da? Da?

Then he ran into our bedroom, then to the front door, looking for Jeff. Finally, he made his way back to the living room where I was. With Jeff still on the phone, I tried to explain that Dada wasn’t in the house. “He’s still at work, baby. He’s not home yet.”

Biscuit looked at me for a couple of seconds with a serious look on his face. Then he realized. The Daddy Man was nowhere to be found … and he lost it!

He started crying so hard that his cheeks got red and there were big, fat tears streaming down his face. He sat down in the floor and put his hands on his head, still wailing. Then he laid on his back and rolled back and forth, still wailing.

It took that child 15 minutes to stop crying. He heard his Dada’s voice, and he wanted him RIGHT THEN!!!

Biscuit would not go to sleep even though it was well past his bedtime. Finally, Jeff got home about 10:30. He didn’t even have time to set his computer bag down and take off his jacket before Biscuit was standing at his feet with his arms thrown up in the air, asking Jeff to pick him up.

We always like to put on slouchy clothes when we get home from work, but Jeff couldn’t even change his clothes. Biscuit didn’t want to be set down for any reason. Jeff finally sat down in the rocking chair with Biscuit on his lap, and that baby didn’t go to sleep until about 11:15.

I told Jeff that he was not allowed to call our house EVER again!

Sick baby

Poor Biscuit is already on his fourth ear infection, and he's only been on this Earth for not quite 17 months. I had ear problems when I was little, so if it's hereditary, he can blame me.

But if you want to see the most pitiful thing ever, check out my feverish, sickly baby. He didn't want to sleep, but he couldn't stay awake. He didn't want to be held, but he didn't want to be in his bed, either. Check out his flushed cheeks and mussed up hair. He was feeling bad, bad, bad.

Poor little man.

Best Dumpster Dive Ever!

Okay, technically, it wasn't a Dumpster dive. I found it on the curb in a neighborhood coming home from a baby shower. But I have decided that this sliding board that I brought home was well worth the trouble of forcing it into the car.

Toddlerhood ... toddlerhood

Remember the theme song for the 80's sitcom "The Facts of Life"? I'd like to alter the lyrics just a little bit.

"You take the good, you take the bad, you take them both and there you have ... toddlerhood ... toddlerhood ..."

The good: I went to pick Biscuit up at daycare the other day. When I walked in, he was pushing a lawnmower around the room ... making car noises, of course.

As soon as he saw me, he dropped the handle of the lawnmower and took two steps toward me. Then he stopped and looked back at the lawnmower. I couldn't figure out what he was doing, but then one of the teachers said, "Are you going to put that up before you go home?"

As soon as she asked him that, it's like something clicked in his little head. THAT's what he was trying to figure out ... which do I do first ... run to mama or put up the lawnmower?

I was so proud when he walked back around to the lawnmower and pushed it up against the wall, almost like he was parallel parking it. Then all of a sudden, the four teachers in the room all started clapping and said, "Yaaaaaay!" Biscuit got this huge grin on his face. He knew he had done the right thing.

Then he ran to me, and we went home.

The bad: I have dinner with three girlfriends every Tuesday night, and when Jeff has to work, Biscuit comes with me. Biscuit has been struggling with the time change (who would think an hour could make such a difference?), he's getting some back teeth (which must hurt like crazy), and he's getting over an ear infection (or so we thought).

So after about 40 minutes at the restaurant, Biscuit was done. He started whining and crying and just all-around grousing. One of friends let him walk to the drink machine with her to get a refill. He thought he was big stuff walking on his own through that restaurant. And that helped for a little while.

But finally, I realized, we needed to head home ... RIGHT then.

As I was getting the car unlocked and opening the door to get Biscuit into his seat, he sat down on the sidewalk and wailed. Then when I reached for him, he laid down face first on the concrete. I have never witnessed this before, so I was a little taken aback.

But I knew he was tired and had a sore mouth, so I scooped him up and wrangled him into his car seat as he fought me tooth and nail. Once the car was in motion and the radio was on, he was fine. But boy was it stressful trying to get out of that restaurant and into the car to go home.

I do need to cut him a little bit of slack, though. When we took him yesterday for an ear infection follow-up appointment, we found out that his ear infections weren't any better than they were before he started the 10-day round of amoxicillin. The doctor prescribed a different antibiotic, so hopefully, he'll be feeling better soon.

All in all, we're very lucky. Our boy is in a good mood more often than not, so I guess he's allowed to have grumpy days, too. Let's just hope that those continue to be fewer and farther between.

Balloon Boy

A friend sent me a pretty flower arrangement with a couple of mylar balloons attached. And when Biscuit got home and saw those balloons floating around, he wanted to get his hands on them.

So I cut the ribbon on one of the balloons and tied it to one of his toys as a weight. It was exactly the right height for him to spend a good part of the evening batting at it.

He was having such a good time, I decided to video him doing it. Well, I tried to, anyway.

After I make videos, I let Biscuit watch them on the camera's screen. But the boy has gotten too smart for me. He remembers about watching the camera screen, so now when he hears the little tone the camera makes when I open it, he comes running toward me saying, "Bay. Bay. Bay-bay," wanting to see the baby on the screen.

So the first video is when he figured out I had the camera. The second video is when I made my way around behind him, coughed loudly as I opened the camera, and filmed him without him seeing me.

Hi-Ho Cheerio

A post from The Daddy Man.

I just wanted to go to the bathroom, for crying out loud!

But as I left the bathroom to get back to Biscuit, the phone rang, and it was Kimmy. We only talked for a minute before I made it back into the living room.

But that's all the time it took.

I rounded the corner to see Biscuit, shoulder deep in a giant box of Cheerios. He was helping himself using both hands.

Kimmy called to ask if I would give The Boy some leftover pasta for dinner, but I had to tell her that I wasn't sure if he'd be hungry for dinner or not, seeing how he had eaten several handfuls of Cheerios by that point.

It could've been worse. It could've been a cereal with more sugar ... and he'd still be awake.

Point and laugh

Sometimes you have to just point and laugh. Sometimes, you can even point and laugh while you have the video camera in the other hand!

Biscuit loves for me to build Lego creations so he can tear them apart. In his effort to knock a building over with his foot, he stepped right into the middle of it.

And when you watch the video, it's okay for YOU to point and laugh, too.

Biscuit's Books

Biscuit’s newest word is book. (Without the “k” at the end, of course. He hasn’t found the consonants at the end of words yet.)

He loves his books. And he has 58 million of them.

He brings them one at a time to us to read to him. He hands a book to us and says, “Book. Book.” And we say, “Yes, book,” and open it to the first page.

But sometimes we like to mess with Biscuit a little bit. We’ll open the book and just sit there. Then he starts looking back and forth between us and the book. Then he starts with his question voice – “Uhhh? Uhhh?” Like he saying, "Are you going to read this book to me or what?!?"

We finally give in and read his book to him. Sometimes he makes it all the way through. Sometimes a few pages in, he’ll grab a different book. But as long as he continues to love books, we’ll read pretty much whatever he wants.

Rocking chair car

I'm in the middle of writing a blog post about mine and Biscuit's adventure yesterday, when he comes into the living room, grabs a rocking chair from Jeff's childhood and starts pushing it across the floor making car noises. I'm not sure what type of car he thinks it is, but it makes all the right car noises.

Adventure Saturday

Ever since college basketball started, I've declared that one of these Saturdays, Biscuit and I are going on an adventure. I hadn't made a plan of what that adventure would be, but I just wanted to get us out of the house to do something fun.

The problem was that every Saturday, I would wake up early, ditch the boys to go to the grocery store, come back and get everybody fed, then maybe throw some clothes in the washer and start picking up around the house. Next thing I knew, it was time for Biscuit's nap. So I'd put him in his playpen or his swing and get back to the housework.

Then when he woke up, it was lunch time. I'd make lunch, swap the clothes from the washer to the dryer, find myself something to eat, clear up all the dishes, and next thing you know, it would be time for Biscuit's afternoon nap. Then after he woke up, I would usually say to myself, "Well, it's really too late to head out now," then I'd vow that next Saturday, we'd do something for sure.

Well, yesterday, we did it!

I was halfway through folding Biscuit's laundry when he woke up from his morning nap. So I put down the laundry and got him some lunch. I put the dishes in the dishwasher (and left them unwashed) and left Biscuit's laundry (half-folded on the couch), and he and I headed out the door.

I didn't know where we'd go, but I wanted us to do something outside. The temperature was hovering around 50 degrees, and this time of year, that's as warm as it's gonna get. The ground at the park was too soggy from rain we had earlier in the week, and since Biscuit still loses his balance and falls down every once in a while, I knew the muddy park was out.

So I drove around for a little bit, then it hit me. The Natural Science Center! (http://www.natsci.org/animaldiscovery.htm) They have a small zoo area that includes lemurs, howler monkeys, alligators, birds, maned wolves, an anteater, two tigers, a barnyard area and more. And it's only about 10 minutes from our house.

(And let me go ahead and say it right now ... not knowing where we were going, I didn't grab a camera before we left the house, so I have no pictures to share of our adventure. Bad mama! Bad!!!)

We got there and went straight for the zoo area. A few of the habitats we passed had nothing much going on. The animals were curled up napping or were in the inside parts of their habitats staying warm.

The first habitat with activity was the ring-tailed lemurs. The Biscuit went NUTS! He was squealing and pointing and almost jumping out of his stroller. He loved them. They have long tails with gray and black stripes, and their tails swing around as they jump sideways from limb to limb on the trees in their habitat.

And of course, he called them dogs. All animals are dogs right now. Oh, and yes, he did roar at them, too.

We moved around to the tiger habitat. At first, Biscuit wasn't too excited because one tiger was on one side and the other tiger was on the other side, and they were both just kinda hanging out. But then, the first tiger came over to the second tiger's side and the second tiger didn't appreciate that at all! They started swatting at each other with those giant paws and then the growling started. Biscuit jumped so hard that his jacket hood fell off his head. But then, he joined them and started growling back. Biscuit's growling was pretty impressive for a 16-month-old, but I tell ya what, those tiger roars were intense! I knew they were secured, but still, that sound made my heart race.

Biscuit wasn't as impressed with the barnyard area as I thought he would be. Of course, it would be hard to be impressed after the tiger action we saw.

He roared at a couple of otters. Then he waved to a big cage of rainbow Lorikeets. They were so pretty with their rainbow-colored feathers.

After the Animal Discovery area, we went inside the science center. They have play areas for all different ages. Biscuit's area had a couple of little houses, shopping carts with plastic groceries, and a bunch of other stuff that reminded me of a kindergarten room.

We left there and went to the aquarium, where his favorite thing was the a tank of spiny lobsters. I'm pretty sure he thought the aquariums were TV screens. He wasn't too impressed by them.

Then we went into the Herpeterium. SNAKES!!! He really enjoyed the Burmese python. It was moving around some, and it was big enough for him to really see it. I should clarify by saying that it was big enough that it could have swallowed Biscuit whole for a quick afternoon snack!

As much as I didn't really want to, I took Biscuit into the bug room. They had hissing cockroaches, some humongous centipedes that really creeped me out. But the boy was quite impressed with a red hairy tarantula. He pointed at it, then he reached for it, then he started making his question noise like he was asking to hold it. "Mmm? Mmmm?" he said while looking back and forth between me and Mr. Hairy Legs. Some of the people around us thought this was really funny. I thought it was more than a little creepy and told him he must've gotten the desire to hold that spider from The Daddy Man, because my side of the family doesn't do spiders!

We really enjoyed our day out. We'll have to do it more often, especially as the weather gets better. Plus, the day was so exciting that Biscuit wasn't in the car 5 minutes before he was out! I drove us home and he was still asleep, so Mama got a 30-minute nap, too.

Nice, nice day!

Mommy-mobile

I have a new Mommy-mobile. It's fancier than anything I've had before, and I'm enjoying it very much.

This was my old Mommy-mobile.


















And this is my new Mommy-mobile!













The old car was fun. People always wanted to stop and talk to me about it. And anybody who knows me, knows that talking is something I never shy away from. But we were going to have to buy new special-order tires and have the decals redone, and the only place that could legally do the decals was in Michigan.

So over lunch at a local mom-and-pop diner, we decided to check into getting something new. It all happened so fast. I'm always amazed that I can debate the kind of toothpaste I buy for days, weeks or even months, but the two biggest purchases you'll ever make - car and house - require you to make decisions in a matter of hours!

Jeff picked out the new car. It's a 2006 Dodge Magnum. I had test driven a Magnum at the car show we go to in Pennsylvania every year and really liked them. But when they first came out, they were just too expensive. But now, they've been out long enough to have some nice used ones floating around the used car dealerships. For a 2006, it has really low miles, and Jeff haggled a good price for us. Luckily, we have good car loan options from our credit union.

My brother has three kids, and I make fun of him because they have a minivan. So I go around singing, "My brother has a minivan, minivan, minivan ..." So as soon as he saw the pictures of what we were buying, he started singing, "My sister drives a station wagon, station wagon, station wagon ..."

But hey, it's a COOL station wagon!

Oh, and yes, that thing DOES have a hemi!!

An e-mail from Biscuit

Biscuit has his very own e-mail account. So when Grandma and Grandpa Mills sent him a Valentine's Day e-card, he sent them a thank you e-mail.

------------------------------------

From: Biscuit

To: Grandma and Grandpa
Sent: Wednesday, February 17, 2010 7:07 PM

Subject: Thank you

Hey Grandma and Grandpa.

Thank you for the Valentine's card you sent for me through Mama's e-mail.

When I saw that dog jumping around on the screen, I started flailing my arms around and making all kind of noises. I liked it a lot. Mama played it for me several times, then I cried when she wouldn't play it anymore. She said we had to go visit family, but I didn't like it.

I went on a trip to Georgia with Mama and Grandmama last weekend. We had a good time. We drove to Grandmama's house in S.C. on Thursday evening after Mama finished with work. Then we drove to Georgia on Friday morning. When we got about halfway to Uncle Leon's house, it started snowing. We weren't expecting that at all. By the time we got ready to go to bed that night, it had snowed 4 inches. Mama said snow doesn't last long in Georgia, and she was right. By lunchtime the next day, most of the snow was gone.

Uncle Leon has a little white dog named Luke. He and I got along great Friday evening, but by the time Saturday rolled around, we didn't really like each other anymore. Uncle Leon has baby gates up so the dog can't go into certain parts of the house. So Luke stood on one side of the gate, and I stood on the other, and we hollered at each other.

"Bark, bark, bark!" he said to me.

So I pointed my finger at him and said, "Go, go, go, daw!" Mama says there's a G on the end of that word "daw" but I can't say Gs yet.

We visited all kinds of people Saturday, then we came back to Grandmama's house in S.C. on Sunday. I got to play with Josh and Uncle Greg, and Josh gave me a lawnmower he doesn't play with anymore. Mama said she and The Daddy Man gave Josh that lawnmower for his birthday a few years ago. He played with it for a long time, but now he's too big for it.

Did The Daddy Man tell you we got a new car? I like it. My car seat is forward now, so I can see where I'm going. I rode all the way to Georgia without crying or whining once. Mama seemed very happy. She said kids twice my age cry and whine more than I did. She said she hopes I'll stay that way.

Well, it's almost time for Mama to pick me up from day care, so I better go.

Thanks again for the Valentine's, and I can't wait 'til May to see you.

Love you,
Biscuit

Random Acts of Biscuit

Biscuit is doing some cool stuff right now, so I thought I would share.

Copy cat: Biscuit has started watching everything we do and say ... and he's copying it. The other night while I was sitting in my rocking chair, I took my socks off and rubbed my feet. Guess what Biscuit did? Yep. He sat down in the floor, pulled off his socks off and rubbed his little feet. Then as Jeff was drinking his coffee the next morning, he would take a sip and say, "Ahhhhhhh." Guess what Biscuit did when he took a sip of milk from his sippy cup? "Ahhhhhh!" He's also really enjoying a book called "The Very Cranky Bear" right now. His favorite part is when the grumpy bear roars. So every once in a while, he roars. Today, he roared at a day care teacher. Then he roared at me in the car. Then he roared from his high chair during dinner. Hopefully, the cranky part of the bear won't go along with the roar!

Car noises: Biscuit has started making car noises when he wants to ride in the car he got for Christmas. He also makes the noise when he's playing with cars.

And speaking of car: Jeff couldn't be happier because now Biscuit can say "ball" and "car." What more could a Daddy Man ask for than his son saying his two favorite words? The funny thing about Biscuit saying "car" is that he's just figuring out the "c" sound, so it sound like he's going to start speaking Yiddish or something. He extends the "c" sound, and it sounds like he's trying to clear something out of his throat. "Ccccccccccar."

Eat, eat: Biscuit loves to eat. There are definitely foods that he likes better than others, but just in general, the child loves to eat. When he gets hungry, he'll say, "E. E." (That translates to eat, eat). So you'll say, "What do you want?" And Biscuit will say, "Dat," while randomly pointing at nothing. So you give him something to eat, then you say, "Is it good?" And whether it is or isn't, Biscuit says, "Mmmm."

Double-fisting oranges: My Biscuit baby loves him some Mandarin oranges! I open the little cup of them and rinse off the syrup. Then I put them on a plate for him. As he sees me coming toward him with the plate, his arms start flailing and he makes this "uhhh-uhhhh-uhhh" sound, like he is absolutely going to die if those oranges don't get to him in the next 2 seconds! I put the plate on the tray of his high chair, and he goes to town. He grabs them two at a time, one in each hand, and shoves them in his mouth. Each piece gets chewed about twice and then down the hatch. He even has this little dance he does when he's really enjoying some kind of food. He moves his head quickly from left to right like he has a rubber neck. We named it "The Spoon Dance."

He likes to share: Biscuit likes to feed Jeff and me. When he has finger food, he always holds pieces out so we'll lean over and let him put them in our mouths. It sounds like a really sweet thing. And it is ... until you close your mouth and realize that the Cheerios you just got were already wet. Mmmm. Used Cheerios!

He likes for us to share, too: It doesn't matter how much he has to eat, Biscuit always wants some of what you have on your plate. You can be eating the exact same thing he's eating, and he won't eat it from his own plate, but he'll eat it from yours.

Questions, questions, questions: Biscuit has this noise he makes when you talk to him. It doesn't matter whether you're asking him a question or just saying something to him, his response is always the same. "Mmmmm?" Like he's saying, "What?" He's started doing it even more since he's learning words. Last night, I pointed to the stove and said, "Hot." He said, "Mmm?" I said, "Hot." He said, "Mmm?" I said, "Hot." And finally, he said, "Ha." And I said, "Yes, hot." It's like he has to hear and watch you say it several times before he will attempt to say it.

Ooooo, sparkly!: From the day he could make a fist and grab things, Biscuit has loved anything hanging around me neck. He always plays with my necklaces, but he especially loves my work ID. He grabs it, swings it around, and occasionally chews on it. Maybe one day he'll be able to BUY me sparkly things!

Babies, dogs and horses, oh my: The boy doesn't pay too much attention to the TV unless there's music on. Then everything comes to a halt. Then there's dancing. But the only things that will top music are babies, dogs and horses. Then he flails his arms, starts squealing and runs over to the TV to get a closer look. Of course, sometimes finding these things on TV can backfire. I flipped over to Animal Planet the other night to see what was on, and we saw horses hooked up to one-person buggies running around a rink. The boy saw the horses and went crazy. Then, all of a sudden, the HORSES went crazy. One horse went nuts and threw its rider out of the buggy. Then it took off and terrorized the rest of the horses and riders. People and horses were flying everywhere. And of course, the remote was nowhere to be found. I had to distract Biscuit with toys until we could get the channel changed. Luckily, he's only seen good examples of dogs and babies.

Bed time: When Biscuit starts getting sleepy, he playing with his hair in the back. He grabs a small piece and lets it slide through his fingers. If you're holding him when he gets sleepy, he'll grab your hair and do the same thing.

And speaking of bed time, it's mine. Good night!

Carbon monoxide emergency

A few weeks ago, we had quite a scare when our carbon monoxide detector went off, and we had to call the fire department, which told us we had to leave our house. Luckily, we still have friends who work the night shift, so having to call someone for a place to stay at midnight wasn't too bad. Luckily, one of our friends has a really nice guest room and was happy to let us stay with her. Thank God for generous friends.

Anyway, I wrote a column about it for the paper. Here it is.

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Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Carbon monoxide detector worth the price for your life

By Kim Mills

We got kicked out of our house recently.

Our monthly mortgage was paid. And we weren’t throwing a loud party. Carbon monoxide was the culprit.

A colorless, odorless, tasteless gas required my husband and me to pack up our bags and our 1-year-old and head to a gracious friend’s house to spend the night.

Jeff and I were sitting on the couch, flipping channels, trying to make ourselves go to bed about midnight on the weekend of the big snowstorm, when a woman’s voice rang through our living room.

“Carbon monoxide warning,” she said and then repeated the phrase over and over.

Our first thought was maybe the batteries were dying. So Jeff grabbed a step-stool and changed the batteries. That seemed to quiet the voice, but just as an experiment, I stuck the old batteries in the TV remote control, and they still worked fine.

That was the clincher.

You can’t see or smell carbon monoxide, so the only way to be sure was to call the fire department.

We didn’t call 911 because we didn’t feel that we were in imminent danger, but apparently it’s protocol to run the sirens on the fire trucks anyway.

Jeff had barely hung up the phone when we heard the sirens. I couldn’t believe how fast they got to us, especially with the treacherous driving conditions.

We felt bad for probably waking the neighbors, and we felt even worse for dragging the firefighters out in the snow and ice for possibly nothing at all.

I had to laugh, because as the firefighters entered our house one by one, they carefully wiped their feet on the mat at the front door and lined up on a long throw rug so they wouldn’t make wet boot tracks on our floors.

So they were there to save us from danger, but they were not going to make a mess of it ... literally.

I was starting to get overwhelmed and sort of emotional, realizing that this definitely was not a test of the Emergency Broadcast System. Then I saw a huddle of fully-outfitted firefighters standing at the bottom of the stairs.

I walked over to try to eavesdrop on their conversation only to realize that they couldn’t figure out how to get the baby gate open.

And even after I opened the gate for them, picture someone with all that equipment trying to squeeze through an opening that is clearly not wide enough for him and the oxygen tanks he was wearing on his back.

Comic relief always seems to arrive just in time.

We have gas logs in our fireplace, a gas clothes dryer, a gas water heater and a gas heating unit. And those are the things that can produce a carbon monoxide overload.

The firefighters tested the air near every gas-operated thing we have and found that the readings on the carbon monoxide meter were 29 upstairs and 17 downstairs.

Jeff and I nodded our heads to the meter guy because we had no idea what those numbers meant and didn’t know what else to do. But looking around the room, I could see the firefighters looking at each other, and I immediately knew that those numbers couldn’t have been good.

One of the guys explained that for any reading over 9 parts per million, the house must be evacuated. Apparently, that’s enough exposure to give headaches and even flu-like symptoms.

Could that be why I had a headache all that day and had taken two long naps? I am not a nap person, and my combined naps had added up to several hours.

If it was having that effect on me, what damage could it do to our son?

The firefighters told us that the problem was most likely our gas heating unit, and we would need to have it looked at and fixed or replaced before we could go back home. We had to leave our house as soon as possible. They consider prolonged exposure to 100 parts per million to be deadly.

I know you can’t dwell on things, but every once in a while it hits me. Do you know what could’ve happened if that alarm hadn’t gone off?

The firefighters left about 12:30 am., and even though I considered calling our neighbors to let them know what was going on, I talked myself out of it, thinking maybe they were still asleep.

I was wrong.

We went back to the house the next day to pick up some more clothes, and we were scolded by the neighbors.

“You call us no matter what time it is,” our next-door neighbor said.

“Didn’t you see our faces pressed against the window like the neighbor in 'Bewitched’?” asked a woman who lives on our cul-de-sac.

It’s really nice to know that you have people you can count on. And I have a whole new appreciation of home safety devices, as well.

If you have gas logs, a gas heating unit or anything else in your house that runs on gas, please, please, please get a carbon monoxide detector. They’re not that expensive, and believe me, it’s money well spent.

Kim Mills, day desk chief, is very thankful to be safe and sound back at her home. Contact her at 373-7014 or kim.stacksmills@news-record.com

Parenting in public

Today I had to "deal" with Biscuit in front of a bunch of other mamas. This is the first time that's happened, but I can tell you that it's crossed my mind before about how I would handle it when the time came.

I try very hard not to judge other mamas because you never know what kind of day they've had or how bad a mood the kid is in or maybe even that the kid's personality qualifies him or her to be called "a handful."

But today, I proved to myself that I can do what's best for my son, everyone else be damned! Okay, it really wasn't that severe, but I'm still proud of myself.

Biscuit and I were at a baby shower this afternoon and when the hostesses sliced up the cake, I decided I'd share with him. I put Biscuit in my lap and gave him two small bites of cake. Then he hauled off and smacked me right upside the head. I was so stunned that it took me a minute to realize what happened.

I set him down on the floor and said, "You're done," and of course, he started crying.

I immediately felt my stomach flip as I realized several of the ladies were looking at me to see what was wrong with Biscuit. "He's okay," I said. "He's just mad."

"What happened?" asked a lady I didn't know.

"He hit me so he doesn't get anymore cake," I told her.

"Awww. Poor little man," she said.

"He has to learn." That was it. I didn't go into any further explanation. He hits, he doesn't get anymore cake. It's as simple as that.

I'll go ahead and say that I was proud of myself. I did what I needed to do, and I really didn't care what anybody else thought. I've always had tendencies toward insecurity, so I worried that if other mamas gave me "the look" or they said something critical about how I was handling a situation, that my first thought would automatically be that I was doing it all wrong.

But that didn't happen. I would bet money that even though I was nervous and worried, nobody thought twice about what was going on. Most of the women at the shower have kids. They've all been there. And now I have, too.

And the nominees are ...

I like to watch movie awards shows with Biscuit. The first awards we watched together were the Golden Globes (and yes, he was up way past his bedtime, but that's what happens when he takes a nap too late in the afternoon).

When the show first started, he was busy playing and didn't pay too much attention. But as he got tired, he crawled into my lap and started watching with me.

The next presenters came up, read their lines, then said, "And the nominees are ..." As the nominees' names were called out and the audience started to applaud, Biscuit started clapping with them.

He slowly got the hang of it, so every time the nominees were named, he clapped for them and said, "Yaaaaay!"

I thought it was a one-time thing, but a week later when the Screen Actors' Guild Awards came on, he was right back at it.

So maybe on the day of the Oscars, I'll get Biscuit to take a late afternoon nap so we can discuss the winners and losers. "Yaaaaaaay!"

Buttons everywhere

Almost every toy Biscuit has been given makes noises, flashes lights or plays music. So now, he's conditioned to push or twist anything that even looks like a button or knob.

So imagined how surprised The Daddy Man was this morning when Biscuit joined him in our bed and promptly reached over and pushed the button that is his nipple. Nothing happened. So Biscuit reached over and pushed it again. Still nothing.

That's when he reached over and twisted. "Ouch!" yelled The Daddy Man, and Biscuit laughed because the knob made noise, just like it should.

Then The Daddy Man said, "I don't mind when he pushes the buttons, but I really don't like it when he twists the knobs."

Say what?!?

We were at a restaurant last night, and toward the end of the meal, Biscuit was getting restless. So Jeff and I took turns walking him around the restaurant to keep him occupied.

There was a woman doing the same thing with her almost 2-year-old daughter. But as Jeff started talking to the mom, he realized that she had a heavy accent and her 2-year-old was speaking French. Apparently the were from France and the little girl hasn't learned English yet.

"Bonjour," she said to Griffin. "Bonjour."

Griffin just looked at her, tilted his head and said, "Huh? Huh?" Translation: "Do whut, now?"