"I smell something!"

The Gremlin pushed his trains into the living room the other day - he's super excited about Thomas, and all the things that go with it. He was leading, of course, with the one that made noise. Daddy foolishly bought "James" (his favorite, according to the Gremlin) not realizing it not only lit up, but also made "chuff chuff" noises when the wheels turned AND (even better!) made whistle noises when you pushed the button on the top of it.

James was immediately followed by Lady (the Gremlin's favorite, according to him), who was purchased when the 'Baba Fairy' came, but that's another story (specifically, the one before this). Right after lady was Percy (his favorite - are we seeing a pattern here?), and another train came along with the coal cars.

Well, James' train came in, and immediately had to "park." Of course, the parking moved depending on where Mommy and Daddy were, and today, it was right behind my feet. After a brief, but logical discussion of where to park ("James has to park there." "But my feet are there." "Okay, move them!" "That was not a nice way to ask, and I was here first." "Please move them?" "Buddy, I was here first. You need to get used to sharing things and space with people." "WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"), the Gremlin calmed down and decided to try his other train. ("Coal car has to park there." "Sigh.")

Attempting to plead his case, the Gremlin scaled the couch to show Daddy that they were both at the same level. Halfway up the couch, the Gremlin froze. He smiled, and dropped into his father's lap.

"Daddy."
"Yes?"
"I love you sooooo much!"
"Thank you, buddy, I love you too."
"Daddy."
"Yes?"
"Daddy, I smell something." Uh-oh.
"What do you smell?"
"Chocolate." Dang!
"Really?"
"Can I have some pleeeeeeeeeease?"

That's right, he smelled Oreos on my breath, and managed to score cookies out of it.

New Trains

So we had an interesting experience last night. We have been agonizing over an upcoming milestone for quite a while - the Gremlin relinquishing that age-old item of comfort and security: the pacifier.

These fonts of power had been a cornerstone to both the general comfort, and sleep cycle of the Gremlin - they worked overtime as an all-purpose tool. Won't stop crying when you put him to bed? Pacifier. Scrapes his knees and won't calm down after Mommy kisses it better? Pacifier. Want him to be quiet in the car? Pacifier. Want to know how crayon got on the ceiling? So do we.

So two days ago we began telling the Gremlin that because he was such a big boy, he was going to have to give his pacifiers to the Pacifier Fairy who would come and leave him a toy in exchange. We were planning on doing this sometime in early to mid-October, and began telling him last week in preparation for the monumental task that we felt we were about to face.

So last night he looks at his mother and says, "I ready. Here are ba-ba's (pacifiers). Ba-ba Fairy going to bring me a TRAIN!" This was news to the Ba-ba Fairy who hadn't even been able to go look at what trains were available yet. The Ba-ba Fairy made it to Timeless Toys just before closing time while Daddy stayed home and watched the Gremlin (aka played Fallout 3 and tried to keep a running dialogue to ensure consciousness as the Gremlin isn't allowed in the room while Fallout is on due to language. Both mine and the game's). The people at Timeless Toys were so gracious about keeping the store open just a few minutes later and helping the Ba-ba Fairy pick out a train that she purchased a track set as well. (And though it is doubtful this will ever be read by them, thank you so much again!)

And then, at bed time, the ritual occurred. The pacifiers were put in a bag (he insisted on "Lisa's Bag" from the Blue Sky Bakery across the street), and left right outside the front door. After bedtime there was a bit of trepidation from the Ba-ba Fairy about leaving a Thomas set right outside our door until it was pointed out that the only other person who might even see it was our 30-ish neighbor, and even that was doubtful because he usually uses the back door.

The Gremlin went to bed without any pacifier-related issues and he awoke early and content in the morning. He had been playing with his toys until both parents were up, and finally, when both were awake enough to process where the coffee grounds went and get that started, we reminded the Gremlin that the Ba-ba Fairy leaves treats when things like pacifiers are given up. He excitedly ran to the door and tore open the package.

"Oh, I'm not sad anymore!"

Empathy

So the Gremlin - as devious and frustrating as he is -- contains a surprising ability to empathize with anyone over anything. Case in point - my wife broke one of her prized Mexican fruit bowls this afternoon. She was pulling a pan out from the top of our pot rack when a lid that was on top of the pan she was moving slipped down and landed cracked the medium sized green bowl into 4 nice pieces.

The Gremlin, more surprised by the sound than anything else, jumped and looked over at his mother. It was only after she gasped and picked up the broken bowl and pieces that the ear-splitting Cry of Despair started. And then the Gremlin chimed in too. Even when his mother was only mildly upset, he started bawling:

"I WANT MOMMY TO FIX IT RIGHT NOW!" he wailed, tears streaming down his face, his sad little finger pointing at the offending pieces. It was only after we'd promised him we would get some Super Glue and put the pieces of the bowl back together that he finally stopped bawling.

Computers

I suppose it was inevitable, with a father who worked in IT, for the Gremlin to start picking up on computer terms, but a few weeks ago, the Gremlin entered a whole new world: the internet. He walked up to his mother the other day and said:

"I want to go to PBSKids.org."My wife was so astounded that she booted up the computer and went to the site, where the Gremlin was able to play games featuring characters like Clifford and Curious George. Now it's a regular occurrence for the child to have 'internet time' with mommy.

Love

So my wife played an unfortunate game with the Gremlin the other day. She should know by now that playing him, you always lose.

"AJ, how much do you love daddy?"
"Five!"
"Um, okay, out of how many?"
"Five!"
"I see. How much do you love mommy?"
"Two!"

I'm hoping she talks to me today - yesterday was very quiet in our house.

No Head Start For You!

So today, the Gremlin visited the Taste of Chicago. After scarfing down two ears of corn, a hot dog, and some funnel cake, the Gremlin returned to the Family Village to wreak some havoc. After staying in the "bouncy house" for so long that one of the directors had to come over and ask that he get out, the Terrible Two Year Terror spotted his second favorite thing: free stuff.

He barreled over to the table and began talking up the woman behind. Once his mother caught up with him, she found out that the woman was an official of the Head Start program in the Chicago Public School System. Upon finding out the age of the Gremlin, she began talking about Head Start, and how it worked and how it would be beneficial. During the boring conversation, the Gremlin had one goal: schwag.

He really wanted one of the toys they were handing out, and was pointing to it insistently. Finally, after realizing that his mother was more concerned about his education than the once-in-a-lifetime possibility of getting a free toy, he chimed in.

My Wife: "Hi, sorry about him grabbing like that."
Head Start Advocate: "Oh, it's no problem, we're here to attract kids about his age."
My Wife: "Yeah, I've heard of Head Start, but never really knew what it was. What do you do?"
Head Start Advocate: "Head Start is really for kids to start to get the basics - the alphabet, numbers, and things like that." It was at this point the Gremlin realized that the focus was no longer on the toys, and he'd have to speak up if he wanted it.
The Gremlin: "A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z, 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10. Please I can have that?"
Head Start Advocate: "Oh, well, we also teach other things like potty training, and-"
The Gremlin: "I go peepee in the potty! PLEASE can I have that?"
Head Start Advocate: "Oh, well, I guess you're a little old for our program, then."
The Gremlin: "I two and half. Now I can have that? Please?"
Head Start Advocate: "You're two? I don't think you want that honey, it's for five to seven year olds. Here, you can take a look at it."

She handed my wife a form at the same time she handed him the toy he wanted. It was a clear cube, with an arced piece of metal or plastic going to opposite corners, forming a dip. In the middle of the arc, was a single hole. On one side of the arc was a metal ball, the purpose being the cube can be rotated to get the ball into the hole in the arc.

Head Start Advocate: "He's two and he's already potty trained?"
My Wife: "Yeah, he did it himself, he'd get really upset if we didn't take him to the bathroom when he had to go - he refused to go in his diaper."
Head Start Advocate: "That's extremely impressi-"
The Gremlin: "All done!"

He set the cube on the table, the ball resting in the hole, and started looking underneath the sign they'd draped over the table. The Head Start Advocate took the sheet out of my wife's hands and said,

"Just put your email address here, you'll receive information on the Gifted Programs offered by the City."

AJ At The Fire Station

It was a glorious day for the Gremlin. Not only was he able to go downtown on the train, but then he had his class, and even after that the Gremlin went to lunch with Daddy! It was an amazing and exhausting day, that got even more amazing.

Coming back from the fountain where he lunch with Daddy, the Gremlin was looking around and saw a recessed area surrounded by scaffolding. It intrigued him, and he was determined to see what was in ... oh look, a bus!

They were almost up to the bus when he saw it out of the corner of his eye. The Fire Truck. He leapt towards the shiny red and black vehicle, causing his father (whose shoulders he was on) to arc violently over and almost crack both their heads open. Once he was on the ground, he immediately sprinted towards the open bays, stopping just short of actually going in. He was so excited he was breathing in huge gasps, and even more so after a young fireman waved the Gremlin in.

"Come on in!" If only the fireman knew what he was getting into, he may not have been so welcoming, however the Gremlin was ecstatic and wasted no time in running up to both. He stared up at the black and red behemoth, his head just barely coming up to the top of the tire.

It was here the fireman made his egregious error. He asked the Gremlin if he wanted to sit in the truck and play with the lights. The Gremlin put all of the athletic prowess he contained into climbing up the truck as fast as he was possibly able. The fireman was so impressed, he let the imp climb, and got in on the passenger side - leaving the keys in the ignition.

And it was the little string that hung from the ceiling that did it. As the Gremlin climbed up to get to the fireman and where he was pointing, he grabbed onto that string for support, letting the full blast of the horn echo throughout the station and into the city.

"Whoa!"
"Hey!"
"Oh!"
"Ha!"
"What's that?!"

The blast of the horn was immediately followed by a rush of firemen, and the Gremlin stared as they slid down the pole and came through various doors to see what the commotion was. Of course, he thought this was a noise that *made* firemen, so before the poor young fireman who put him in the truck could reach over and pull the keys out (as he was attempting to talk to the firemen next to him to explain what was going on), the impish boy let another blast trumpet through the station.

The chaotic scramble that followed was hysterical to the Gremlin, who giggled as he watched the various firemen attempt to reach him and the horn, only to do such interesting things as trigger the lights, siren, and some odd hissing noise that we weren't able to place.

We left the fire station shortly after, the Gremlin even getting a coloring book given to him by a real fire man! Of course, now he thinks that he can climb into any old fire truck he sees on the street, but that's a story for another week.