August 15, 2002. Aaaaaaacccckkkkkk! It's been almost three months since my last update of Stephen's pages, and I am very sorry about that. Heat and freelance work have conspired to make it difficult for me to get anything else done... mostly heat, nowadays. We have an AC in the computer room (upstairs, on the third floor), but that keeps it merely bearable, and not actually pleasant, on hot days. I sure hope the weather breaks soon!
Stephen has added a lot of new words, which I have, of course, not added to his vocabulary page. He has a word for just about everything now, and is getting better about expressing himself verbally, though if he is upset, he still acts before speaking -- typical toddler, no doubt. If he is scolded, he finds the nearest horizontal surface, and bonks his head on it in shame. Not hard, of course -- just enough to make a noise and let us know he's penitant. Sigh.
Last weekend, Stephen had his first visit to an amusement park (unless you count the visit I made when he was a 24-hour-old zygote three years ago!). He was very good about it, despite the incredible heat, large crowds, and dearth of rides he could actually go on! There were a few rides for toddlers, including a bus that went up and down in big circles (scared him), little teacups (loved them!), very small Ferris wheel (happy-making!), and a small roller-coaster (ambivalent, but not too scary). He rode around in our new backpack/stroller combo, which was cool, and we slept over at Mom & Bob's the night beforehand, which was fun for him (not so much for me, as my air mattress sprang a leak and I slept on the floor!).
What else? Hmmm. He's incredibly picky about food, subsisting on granola bars, pasta, cheese, grapes, peas, and corn, with some bread and "bee-gahs" (burgers) thrown in on occasion for variety. But he's still nursing, and gets a vitamin, so I guess we're okay. It's been so hot, I haven't taken him to the library very much lately, but we do walk around air-conditioned places in Portsmouth and Newington! His favorite store is still Best Buy ("Buss Buy!" he says, whenever he sees anything with their logo on it), but he also enjoys the kids' section at Barnes and Noble, playing at Toys R Us, and running away from me at JoAnn Fabrics. He is still a lover of entropy, and can change a clean floor to a toy-covered one in mere minutes. He has far too many toys, especially little ones! He likes playing in his various tents (regular, space shuttle, and now BUS!), putting together tracks for his wooden trains, watching "Toy Story 2" over and over and over and over... and playing with his TS2 toys. He loves to play with our neighbors, one of whom has a new baby -- even when they're not home, he wants to take me to their apartment, saying "Baby? Baby?" Pity they're moving soon... guess we'll have to work on a sibling!
He dislikes it when I sing along with songs that are playing on the radio/CD/TV/video, having his teeth brushed ("No teef! No teef!"), loooong car trips, going to sleep early, and generally not getting his way. I'm sure I'm forgetting things, because it's becoming a pretty long list! Such is two, I suppose.
I really ought to be better about updating this page. Maybe when the weather gets better. Here is a whole slew of new pictures -- months 25 and 26, and months 27 and 28. Hugs and kisses to all from Stephen!
Previous Stephen updates: May 2002; April 2002; March 2002; February 2002; November 2002.