Fireman Lost

I haven't been able to stop being upset about this.  I think I'm more upset than Limelet.  We accidentally left his fireman outfit (jacket and helmet with moveable visor) at the park last night (9pm), and of course it was gone this morning when we went back (8am).  He loved that thing, even wanted us to bring it up to the bedroom so he could sleep with it nearby.  He would dress up in it and sit watching his fireman video, while holding his toy fire truck.  He wore it for hours every days lately.  He'd go in the back and spray water from the hose while wearing it.  He's been asking for it today, of course.  "Da fireman stuff?"  I've been avoiding letting him see that video.

 

I haven't been able to find a replacement set online anywhere.  This year's versions seem to be cheaper and flimsier (already).  The helmets have no visors, etc.  I got it from Rite Aid last year.

 

Who would take a little kid's stuff like that? I know that's a dumb question.  But I'm just so ticked off about it, and can't seem to let go of it. 

 

Especially since a few weeks ago when I found a pretty dang expensive hand-held video game I turned it in to public safety, even though Limelet loved it.  It wasn't ours! 

 

I went back today and put up some signs, though I'm sure nothing will come of that except probably dirty prank phone calls on my cell.

 

Stupid me losing stuff.  Stupid people taking stuff.

Random Bits

It's been such a long time since I wrote anything, but not because nothing's happening.  It's because everything's happening!

 

Last night was a record five nights in a row of good sleep!  !! !!!  The previous record was three.  I think this is partly because we've given in fighting against the late naptime at daycare, and started putting Limelet to bed late.  Like 9:30 or even 10.  It's sure better to do that, than put him to bed at 8:30 and have him wake up from 11 to 3, which was happening a lot.  That was especially hard because I was finishing out my contract at work, and the last few months were the busiest and most tiring.  (This is my first week "off.")

 

It's been hard to discern which sleep disturbance has been from what, since he's been sick so often.  Generally speaking it's been a big deal if he's had three or four days in a row in which he's not been sick, which is suspiciously similar to the number of nights in a row he's had good sleep.  In the past four months alone he's had four (4!) ear infections requiring antibiotics, that week-long horrible GI thingfor which we went to the E.R., hand-foot-and-mouth, and at least one upper-respiratory infection that lasted three weeks.  I spoke with another woman leaving the daycare yesterday who complained of the same thing: "my grandson never got sick at all until he started daycare this year, now he's sick constantly and they're planning to put tubes in his ears."  Which, incidentally, Limelet's doctor mentioned last week when we were in for the fourth ear infection.

 

Limelet has undergone another developmental jump in the past couple of months, and has grown very interactive in his conversation skills now.  It's also clear that he remembers things that he couldn't describe at the time.  For example, he remembers songs from videos he saw months ago and never sang before now, when he's become big on singing.  Even as we have tried to shelter him from violence, some kid's videos and cartoons nevertheless have shooting.  He doesn't know what a gun is, but calls them "explosion tubes" at this point.  Which is fine, because he thinks an explosion is something fun, like fireworks.

 

The other night when he was awake from 10 to 2, I was very tired (as you might imagine.)  At midnight, as Limelet was happily sitting up reading a book in the night light, I yawned and said, "Limelet, it's midnight.  Mama's turning into a pumpkin!"  Startled, he turned and looked me up and down a few times with a serious and expectant look.  I burst out laughing, because I realized that lately he's gotten the concept of something "turning into" something else, and imagined I was literally turning into a pumpkin.  Characters in videos sometimes turn into other things, after all.  I had to explain to him quickly that I was not, in fact, turning into a pumpkin.

 

Limelet has also become very affectionate lately, and gives us kisses and hugs when he's feeling especially happy.  Or sad or scared, which is pitiful.  For example, the other day we were at the playground, which was very busy.  I was crouched down by Limelet, who was standing on the ground pretending to slide down a sliding pole ("Like a fireman!")  I heard TheLimey shouting and looked up in time to see a Big Kid (probably 10 or so) sliding straight down at us.  I shouted at him to watch out, and that he should look down before he slides, as I snatched Limelet away from the pole.  Well, Limelet thought that we were shouting at him and that he'd done something wrong, since I snatched him away while shouting.  Poor little thing.  It took us a minute to realize that he was still shaken and quiet, and when I picked him up he hugged me and tentatively kissed me.   However, after I explained that we were not shouting at him, but shouting at those big boys to stop jumping on Limelet's head, he perked up immediately.  It was clear that he understood the explanation, because a minute or two later he walked a few steps away from us and shouted "Stop, stop!" in the direction of the big boys.

 

Oh, and a while ago, we got him a toy tool set.  He was hammering on the doorframes around the house, and wanted TheLimey to join him.  "Daddy, ham with the hammer?" Hee.  There was some other similar construction that we laughed about, but I forget it.