Jeremy turned twenty months old last week. I had every intention of posting the monthly milestone marker on time. I actually drafted the whole thing, and then -- to my horror -- cyberspace ate it. When I was in high school, the dog routinely ate my essays for Mr. Rodriguez's English class. (Sure.) Now, every time I lose electronic work product, I fret that it is my bad karma coming back to bite me.Unfortunately, Jeremy had a touch of pnuemonia again this month. We were able to mostly manage his asthma, though, but it is still so sad to see him suffer for a week from what should just be a 48 hour cold or flu.
Jeremy has a new favorite musical. The Sound of Music has taken second seat. To what, you ask? Mary Poppins! We think he has a crush on Julie Andrews. He also is amused by Dick Van Dyke, and dances along with the chimney sweeps to Step in Time. ("Votes for Women! Step in Time! What's all this? What's all this?") Jeremy also grooves to Greased Lightening (Grease) and The Jet Song and America (West Side Story).
A couple of weeks ago, I was in a meeting at work and got the dreaded call from the day care provider. Cell phones are great, but I gulped hard when mine began to vibrate and the screen flashed "Jen's Kid Farm." So I excused myself and stepped outside of the conference room, and quickly answered the call. What I heard through the tiny speaker was Jen laughing and telling me that Jeremy had spent the last 40 minutes dancing enthusiastically to all seventeen tracks on Dig That Groove Baby, an album by the British punk band The Toydolls. Now, Jeremy can hardly go one day without digging to the Toydolls groove, especially his favorite song Nellie the Elephant about a pachyderm that packs her trunk, escapes from the circus and bumbles into the jungle.
Mama Nay is quite happy about the fact that Jeremy will finally wear his bicycle helmet. Last summer I had fantasies of putting my baby in our sparkling new Burley bicycle trailer and pedalling along the greenbelt, only to watch the trailer get dusty because Jeremy would have none of his protective hat. Since then, we have tried to get him to wear his helmet in all sorts of fun ways. No pressure, mind you. (Yeah, right.) But he just hasn't tolerated any hat at all on his head since he was about 7 months old. The last couple of months, though, he has been climbing in his trailer, waving the orange safety flag, and expressing a great deal of interest in the concept. And he must have finally understood that he would be rewarded with a ride in the trailer if he would humor his mama and keep the bucket on his head. As we rode to the park last weekend, I was grinning from ear to ear. Reality was every bit as fun as the fantasy!
Jeremy is starting to develop different names for Barb and me. We have generally called me "Mama" and Barb "Mommy." But the poor kid is shrouded in confusion because we can't get our mother names right most of the time. So, he has generally just said "ma" or "mamamama" regardless of who he wants. But recently we have noticed that he says "mamá" with a decided French inflection when he wants me. So, I guess I am "mamá" and Barb is "máma."
