A Day in the life of Boone

The following paragraphs are the events of October 28. It will give you a taste of what our boy, Boone is all about.

Calder HATES it when the bus arrives and he isn't ready. This should be a good thing, except the bus always arrives 5 -10 minutes before the pick-up time. We are the first stop and our bus driver doesn't want to be late. She has made it very clear that Calder doesn't have to come out until the designated time, but Calder will have none of it. As I went down to help Calder that morning and avoid "The bus is here and I'm not ready meltdown", I carefully shut the gate as I left Lawson playing at the toy box. A couple minutes later the bus arrived and we were rushed to get Calder's mitts and toque on. Right on cue and in the middle of the panic, Boone arrives in the entrance way to give Calder a send off. We tell Calder we love him as Boone helps close the door. I turned around and grabbed Boone's boots to put away and I heard a thump. I quickly glanced back. . . Boone left the gate open and Lawson was sliding head first down the stairs. I drop the boot and in some crazed super mom move manage to stop her descent before her head hits the tile. Lawson was still fairly distraught and decided she needed to wail in my arms for a bit (justifiably, of course). Boone, without hesitation, came over and began his apology. You honestly can't get mad at the kid. He really was a smooth talker  sorry!

Not long after I put Lawson down for her morning nap, the plumbing and heating guy arrived. We were getting a heater put in our garage. It is marvelous.  Boone came around the corner to meet him wearing only his underwear. I wish I could say that Underwear Boone or Naked Boone, for that matter, were a rare thing, but I cannot. The plumber had a laugh and I went into the garage to show him what we wanted. Thirty seconds later the garage door opens and Boone begins to walk out. I tell him there was no way he was coming out because it was WAY to cold. Dejected, he hung his head, turned around and headed into the house. A minute later Boone opened the door again. This time he was wearing rubber boots and his winter coat. At this point I gave up. Boone joined us in the garage, winter coat and gitch.

I often shower when Lawson is sleeping. I am much more efficient at getting ready without her on my leg or in my bathroom drawers.  I also typically put on a show for Boone. Mama needs some peace. Apparently, on this particular morning, Boone wasn't interested in Paw Patrol, because as I was putting shampoo in my hair he joined me in the bathroom. Boone chatted with me for a bit as I tried to convince him to go watch Paw Patrol. Mama really needed her peace. Boone wasn't interested at all. In fact, he was so disinterested that he actually closed the bathroom door and locked himself in. Genius. Why hadn't I thought of a locked door? Any opportunity for solace was long gone, so I rinsed out my hair and opened the shower door to grab my towel. As Boone saw me get out he immediately pulled his underwear off and started wiggling his butt singing, "Shake your bootie." I asked him to shake his bootie out of the bathroom and dried off so I could get dressed. Later as I pulled on my socks I realized Boone was eating something.  Rather confused, since he hadn't left the room, I inquired. He immediately opened his mouth so I could see green mush and pointed to my Aloe Vera plant. Sigh.  I go to put on make-up . I hate it when Boone is around for this portion of my morning routine because he also has to put it on BY HIMSELF. When he finally left I was able to I curl my hair. My relief lasted a whole 5 minutes when Boone came back in requiring a snack. He asked for apples and peanut butter dip (equal parts peanut butter and yogurt). I let him know I would be right there. Three minutes later I came out to this. Apparently, I took too long. Boone decided to forgo the apple and yogurt components of his snack and eat peanut butter right out of the jar.

Later that morning we headed to Costco. I took my eyes off Boone for a few seconds to undo Lawson's car seat and he walked into traffic. I announced that he WOULD NOT be walking anymore that morning in public and put him in the cart beside Lawson.

When we got home from Costco I unbuckled Boone and started to unload. Lawson immediately started wailing in her seat, but I figured after the morning's slide down the stairs it was safer to her to cry in her car seat than risk being in the house alone with Boone. Our house is a bi level. In order to save time, I brought in all the groceries and set them at the top of the stairs so that I could put them away with the gate shut. I swear it took under 4 minutes to unload and get Lawson, but when I walked upstairs chaos had erupted. A pound of butter was somehow standing up on its end and our dog, Cleo, was chowing down on it. As I was scolding Cleo, Boone tried to help me by carrying the milk over to the fridge. It was much too heavy for him, but he lifted it up and walked with it to the fridge. I feverishly scrambled as I envisioned it crashing to the floor, breaking, and having 4L of milk to clean up. With Lawson in one arm, a pound of partially eaten butter in the other, I sprinted toward Boone. Thankfully, I got there before any major catastrophe. Crisis averted. 

I took a deep breath. Well, I actually took a couple and as I did I looked at the butter. The paper was all pulled back. . . Not in a "sharp dog teeth" kind of way, but in a "tiny, little, delicate finger" kind of way. Boone opened it for Cleo?! What the heck?!  Well, that was partially true. My brother had a better look at it later that day and there were two distinct set of teeth marks in it. Cleo's and Boone's. Boone had opened it, but to gnaw on it himself. Apparently, once Boone had his fill he passed it off to Cleo.

I spent the afternoon in the kitchen where Boone repeatedly tried to eat the raw meatballs I was making. In an attempt to distract him, I let him play in the sink. I think you know how that ended. I moved on to making cookies and Boone kept putting his nose to the bowl and breathing on the batter. Like heavy breathing. He then had to help me roll the cookies into balls. Unlike Calder, who gets quickly bored helping make cookies, Boone has endurance. After a half dozen or so raw cookies were eaten by him I threw in the towel. Dinosaur Train would be left to parent Boone for the next hour.

With Halloween only days away we did a trial run with costumes when Calder got home from school. Boone randomly became naked. Boone then took to carrying around a carved pumpkin in a bucket all evening. This exhausting day was capped off with Boone puking his guts out having been struck down by the flu. Did I mention Hugh had a hockey game that night?

January 2016

Boone and cousin, Nash

Boone still likes running around in his underwear, loves to tell us "Yer butt hanging out" when we don't have clothes on, angrily and feverishly points at things when he is mad, would have multiple baths a day if we let him, can occasionally count to 10, knows that B is for Boone and will argue with you if you show him the rest of the letters (he truly believes B is for Boone), has identified D is for dad and L is for Lawson, continues to love play doh, gives hugs, kisses and snuggles freely, tries to sing songs with us like "you are my sunshine" and the alphabet song, is enthusiastic about going to the rink with Calder, loves any kind of treat, and is generally our happy boy.

Boone is beginning to transition away from naps. He has them most days, but can easily go without. That being said, he will fall asleep in the van any time after 10 am if he is strapped in his car seat for more than 5 minutes. He is TERRIBLE at going down at night. He can be up until 9 pm fooling around on days where he has napped. We have considered cutting naps all together, but on days when I get Calder from from school for hockey Boone can have a serious meltdown without a nap. He ends up falling asleep in the van and waking him to go into the rink causes a 45 minute to an hour apocalypse. Did I mention I am single parenting on those days? Other people try to help me, but I have to nurse Lawson, so that is limiting and Boone won't go for anything else (iPad and treats included. . . believe me, I've tried). Hockey is almost over and we will see where we go from there. We would like to keep him in the routine of napping. It came in handy with Calder, because he knew that if he napped he could stay up late, which gives us the freedom, on occasion, to stray from the 7 pm bedtime.

Boone is a good eater. Like his older brother we have to beg him to take a bite, but our "try everything" rule has led to him eating almost anything. His favorite things would definitely be noodles and rice. He likes meat, but devours green beans and broccoli. Boone has started declaring "I win" when he is finished his plate. This is always accompanied by feverish fist pumping.

Boone gets into trouble, but he is a charmer and kind hearted. We wouldn't change a thing!

Happy Thursday!

Oh, and be careful if you lend Boone your lip gloss. Not only has Boone been known to eat butter by the pound, he also eats those eos lip glosses by the ball.