Musical Lesson

This past week, two significant events have occurred in Chase's life:

1. He graduated to the older infants classroom at school where he is the only child under the age of 1. It has been a good move for him -- the class is much more regimented in terms of specific play time, specific meal times and specific nap time. From about the second week of life, he has demonstrated that he does much better on a schedule, and the move to his new classroom has made a world of difference both at school and at home. He is more content and seems much happier. He has made leaps in his development (although that could be coincidental). He has started pointing at things and when you tell him what the object is, he smiles signifying that you have done exactly what he was requesting. We can also tell that he's trying really hard to learn how to stand on his own and to walk. He will let go briefly and stand on his own (I think 3 seconds is the current record) and grins like he is the most capable little dude in the whole world. He will walk across a room as long as you hold onto his hands and the focus you see written all over his face is incredible. He is babbling more, starting to wave hello and goodbye, and I would swear I've heard him say a few words (hey, bye, mama, dada and Ry-ry). It has been a fun week.

2. He graduated to the big boy car seat. He still has to sit facing the rear of the car and after one weekday incident and four additional incidents over the course of the drive to and from Chicago for Cody's graduation, we have determined that he shares my motion sickness gene. Poor guy. We are hopeful that this will cease when he can sit forward-facing when he turns one.

As a result of #2, he has developed a new hatred for the car (and believe me, he has never been a huge fan of the car). This morning was no exception and after about 3 minutes of screaming and crying on the drive to school, I thought I might have a mental breakdown. Following Riley's advice, I turned on the radio. Mumford & Sons was singing "I Will Wait", a song I like anyway, but that brought a new-found happiness to my life this morning when the screaming and crying from the back seat immediately turned into Riley slapping his knees as if they were drums, Chase squealing in delight, and both boys giggling. My only regret is that I couldn't see either one of them in my review mirror because I am certain the smiles on their faces at that moment would have been worth every single second of the crying and screaming (Chase) and resultant whining (Riley) I've had to endure on that 6 minute car ride for the past 7 months. That's the amazing thing about being a parent -- one great moment erases hundreds of less favorable ones.