The Real Vamps of Leander

Forget fictional vampires like Edward Cullen, I know where the real vampires lurk in our neighborhood: our local daycares. Yes, it's true, Cameron suffered his first biting attack from another child at daycare yesterday, although when the director called, she affectionately referred to it as a "love bite." Apparently, Cameron's teacher was busy preparing lunch when the other child bit him on the forearm, so the teacher's not sure if the attack was provoked or not. I was: A) doubtful that Cameron provoked the attack, B) relieved to hear the little vamp's bite didn't break the skin, and C) surprised at how small the teeth mark was on Cam's arm. Anyways, he cried for a minute and then wanted to eat lunch, so I guess he wasn't traumatized!

I also deduced it must be policy not to reveal the identity, or even the gender, of the biter. Both when the director called and in the formal incident report they gave me, all that was mentioned was "the other child." The director assured me that "the other child's" parents would be notified that he/she bit another child and that they would monitor behavior to see if there is a repeat pattern between "the other child" and Cameron. Little vamp.

I know I'm biased, but I think Cameron is such a sweet little boy, and it makes me a little sad to think he's going to start learning bad behavior like biting. I just hope I don't get a phone call soon, saying that Cameron is the biting offender.

Last night, it only felt apropros to read "The Tooth Book" by Dr. Seuss for Cameron's bedtime story. Mike, his ever-witty self, spontaneously added a final verse to the book, "And when you're not tough enough to make a fist, a mean kid will bite you on the wrist." Another teachable moment by Dr. Graves.

Daycare Update

This week marks Cameron's third week in part-time daycare. He's still adjusting, but I think he's slowly getting used to it. When I pick him up in the afternoon, he seems pretty happy, although he also seems very relieved to see me. Mike, on the other hand, may be the one who's having the most difficult adjustment. He tells me every day he hates dropping him off, because he can't stand Cameron's screaming when he leaves. He hates being the bad cop, while I get to be the good cop. What can I say? I guess I'm the Phil Dunphy in this relationship. :)

Last week, Cameron's teacher gave us an update, which I thought I'd share with you:

"Cameron is getting much more comfortable exploring the classroom (without his blanket!) and interacting with the other children on his own. We had a messy lunch today, but he loved the sloppy joes. :) He enjoyed reading books, playing with the animals with some of the other boys, and is very interested in all of the toys on the manipulatives shelf. Just a few pictures to show how he's doing - I know drop-off can be tough, but we're making lots of progress and seeing more smiles every day. He's a really sweet boy, and we're so glad to have him. :)"

Funny side note: this was Mike's initial response to reading the report, "This picture makes it look like we're sending our child to a nudist daycare."

He Survived

Cameron started daycare today. Things haven't been boding well for this day - when we've taken him to the child care at church or gym recently, the workers have had to come find us because he's crying. In fact, it was seeming like 45 minutes is about his threshhold of tolerance for strangers, so 5-6 hours at daycare seemed daunting. Needless to say, we were a little wary about what today would be like. It was a little tenuous, but he survived.

Mike dropped him off around 11:00 AM this morning. When he left, he said Cameron started screaming immediately. This made Mike feel very sad. On the contrary, I get the fun job of picking him up, so I arrived at the daycare around 4:15 PM. As soon as I opened his classroom door, I heard him crying. And it was that hoarse crying, so I knew he'd cried and cried and cried today. The teacher said he had just started crying right before I arrived because he saw other parents pick up their kids. She said he cried off and on the entire day. When he wasn't crying, he explored a little and also tried to steal other kids' animal crackers at snack time. (Our kid is THAT kid!) The teacher gave me a daily report, and on the section that said, "Today, I seemed to be...(fill in the blank)", she wrote, "Happy!" Does this look like the face of a happy child to you?!?


When we got home, things went from bad to worse for the poor kiddo: not only did he fall off our bed and land awkwardly on his neck, but he also dove face first into one of his plastic cars. All in all, a rough day! Now he gets one day to recuperate tomorrow before heading back to daycare on Wednesday...

The Uperman Legacy Continues

When Mike was a little boy, he loved Superman. Except he couldn't say his s's, so it was really Uperman who was his hero. Here is a six-year-old Mike doing his best Clark Kent impression:


And twenty-five years later, the Superman, er Uperman, legacy continues with the next Graves male:

Here's Cam running through the kitchen faster than a speeding bullet:

Big shout out to Jack Schaber for the awesome hand-me-down!

Spring is in the air. Well really, judging from my allergies, Oak is in the air. Nevertheless, isn't it a great time of year? The weather is nice. The seasonal holiday candy is perhaps at it's peak (if candy hearts were available there would be no contest here). The NBA playoffs are in full bloom and Phil Jackson is pontificating about rebirth. Hope springs eternal. That was before we went to an Easter egg hunt yesterday!

Let's back up a few steps though. Mindy has been super excited about the Easter festivities this weekend. Cam has an Easter ensemble that was purchased over 2 months ago.

She has written out an itinerary that includes a local Easter egg hunt, church service, and Sunday brunch. Then earlier in the week she discovers that there are multiple Easter egg hunts planned in our area. This leads to the decision that she wants to hop from one Easter egg hunt to the next over the course of our Saturday (a plan she affectionately refers to as the "bunny hop", sharing her joke with everyone she talks to and awkwardly pausing for anticipated laughter). Anyway, the first leg of the "bunny hop" is scheduled for 10:15. As per usual, we are running late and arrive at the park just as things are supposed to get started. Allow me to describe the events.

We walk across the park toward a mass of people surrounding multiple roped off areas. Suddenly an air horn goes off like a siren, followed by intense screaming and little bodies flying everywhere. It was kind of horrifying. I have to think that any WWII veteran in attendance was on the ground in the fetal position at this point. Mindy rushed off with Cam into this mass of humanity to "hunt" for eggs. (Side note: Why do they call this egg "hunting." It seems like there is very little gamesmanship involved in this pastime. In fact, it seems much more like a job for the Hunter's sissy counterpart: the Gatherer. From now on it's called Egg-Gathering in my book. Either that or litter removal). Anyway, Cam has no idea what is going on. But Mindy successfully blocks out a few children and collects some chocolate "treats" that nobody is going to eat. Mission accomplished.

But the fun is not even close to over. Guess who is going to be at the park this afternoon. That's right - the Easter bunny. The excitement in the air is palpable. The length of the line is awe-inspiring. There was no doubt in my mind that there was a major let down waiting for us at the end of this line. When we got there the bunny-man looked, well, defeated. It's really sad to see a large person trapped inside a stuffed animal sitting alone in a lawn chair. Even more depressing was the sight of his high-top Nike's poking out from beneath his furry ankles. Although I do have to say that the idea the Easter Bunny was ready to play some hoop got me fired up. But then the thought of the Easter bunny crossing me over and raining jumpers over me with his soft paws made me think maybe that match-up is really just a no win situation.

But, we thought we'd give Cam a chance to make up his own mind about the Easter bunny. We walked up to the human-rabbit with little fan-fare and gently handed over our son. It took Cam about 2 seconds to realize that this was in no way okay. He began crying and violently trying to free himself from the disturbing creature's clutches. As a psychologist, I deem this a rational response. I quickly walked up to retrieve my son and that's when it happened: the Easter bunny spoke to me. For those of you who are curious, the Easter bunny's voice is deep and clearly has southern roots. In fact, he sounds a little bit like Billy Bob Thornton. And the Easter bunny is very wise. He speaks in proverbs. This is what he said: "Some day's you're popular. Some day's you're not." And that was all. I left that lawn chair a better man.

There was one other experience of note at the park. The organizers promoted it as a "petting zoo", but it was more like a portable prison of farm-animal torture. It consisted of an assortment of bunnies, chickens, and goats in a caged off area. From a distance this looked cute. When we got in there, again I found myself deeply saddened. What was so sad? Oh I don't know, maybe it was when I approached two bunnies and found them cuddling together, eyes closed, shaking in pure terror. Then I looked around me to see a bunny being picked up by his ears and a chicken who was about to have his head twisted off by a toddler. This must be the worst fate imaginable for a non-violent animal. In all honesty, maybe these animals should seriously re-think there passive ways. It might be time to just bite somebody and get their "tour" over with. Cam enjoyed torturing the animals though, so that was nice.

Well we didn't actually do the "bunny hop" this Saturday. We hung around talking with friends, while Cam explored trash cans and attempted to take every one's eggs (actually, this is a much more sporting game then the original gathering). We watched the lines die down and the shaved ice machine (no jokes about this - just delicious) depart. We watched the Easter bunny get led away like a blind person. Then to the total shock of the child onlookers, the Easter bunny removed his head, got in a Ford Taurus, and drove away. In Billy Bob Thornton's defense, I'm sure it was going to be a long day for him. We walked to the car with a clearly tuckered out Cam fighting to keep his eyes open. All and all, it was a really fun morning!

The Time Has Finally Come

It's official...Cameron starts daycare on Monday, May 2. Mike and I are actually looking forward to it - we think Cam is now old enough to really enjoy a change of environment and interacting with other kiddos his age. He is going to start out part-time, so he'll go on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. This will let Mike do some more work during the days and start the transition to scheduling clients earlier in the day, so hopefully he won't have to work until 9:00 PM anymore.

The pros and cons of daycare:

Pros:

• Cam will get a change of environment and get to consistently hang out with other kids his age.
• Cam will experience new things he might not otherwise at home with us.
• Cam will learn some social skills. I'm hoping this means he will watch what other kids eat and consequently start eating more table food.

Cons:

• My mom and dad are leaving to summer in Tennessee. :(
• We now have to pay for daycare.
• Daycare = germ fest.

Bottom line: we know Cam will like it. And I'm sure it will provide us with lots of material for this blog. :)

Cam's a Survivor

Cameron survived his first assassination attempt today. His would-be assassin? An unlikely party in the form of an 8-lb. toy poodle: my parents' precious pup, Lizzie. When Mike dropped off Cam at my parents' house this afternoon, Lizzie "greeted" him by jumping on his back, propelling him face first into the pointy part of the brick porch.

Mike witnessed it all, and this is how he described it to me: There's no doubt in my mind this was an intentional act. I saw it happen in slow motion. Lizzie ran up to Cameron, deliberately looked at the bricks, and then jumped up on Cam. I saw how her front legs were bent at first and how she extended them with full force once she made contact with Cam's back. This was followed by a twirling scissors kick and a gleam in her beady little eye.

Apparently, there was another incident later in the day. Somehow Cameron pinched his fingers in a drawer in the kitchen island. I'm convinced Lizzie was the mastermind behind that one too. I'm wondering if Lizzie was avenging Reilly for the attack on his life last 4th of July?

Here is Cameron's war wound. At least now he has street cred in his library class.