Haven't done that in a long time!

I just returned from working in our Del Mar store. I haven't actually worked a shift since before Corban entered my life- I did work a "Free Day" event, but I was in the back the entire time so I didn't work with customers. I forgot how fun it can be talking with happy people getting a delicious treat. I also don't remember being nervous working in my own stores! We got our new POS system in my last month of working and I never got comfortable with it...and today proved that!

Thanks to Liz and Dan for watching Corban while his mom and dad worked together. Sounds like they had lots of fun. I don't know about everyone else, but one of my favorite things about having other people watch him are the stories they have to tell when I pick him up. It is so fun for me to hear what amusing things he did for them, and that they are just as a amused as I am when he does it for me. Tonight they told me about him playing with the lid to his bottle- scooting it along the floor, banging it into the walls, and keeping himself entertained for a while. Every once in a while he would "pop up" in front of Dan, as if too see what he was doing- Corban would come around to the side of his computer and just watch him. Now, for us he is usually reaching for the keyboard, but maybe I wasn't aware of something Jared has taught him. He apparently also wanted to jump in the tub with their boys during bathtime. I forgot to mention that bathtime is one of his favorite things to do. In fact, just the other day when I allowed him to crawl up the stairs, once he reached the top he continued on into the bathroom and pulled himself up to the tub. He then just stood there, looking in at the empty tub, and the bath toys. It took remembering I had just changed his diaper and we had another meal to go through to prevent me from just throwing him in the tub that very minute.
Liz also shared with me his way of "playing" with a turtle she gave him. With actions she described his way of throwing it here and then there, and then back over here...it makes me wonder how much this child is learning from Nika. This reminded me of his playing with a little plastic bottle I had to give to him on Saturday. He had found the bottle on the stairs and once he got ahold of it I couldn't take it away. It was hard enough just "borrowing" it for a couple of seconds so I could empty the contents (massage oil) before he was drinking it. Anyway, he has been carrying this bottle around with him everywhere. On the tile you hear the scraping noise as he slides, smack, slides, smack, slides, smack. The "smack" is his other hand completeing the crawling movement. As he was doing this across the kitchen floor and Jared and I are observing, Jared gets his attention, to which he tries to come quickly. In the action he loses the bottle, but it takes him a few steps ahead to realize. So we see the wheels turning in his head as he stops, turns around, finds the bottle and then gets side tracked and just plays with the bottle, banging it on the floor, here and there. When he looks up at us again, the entire process is repeated- crawling towards us, loses the bottle, stops, turns around, picks up the bottle and starts playing again. Too bad I don't have this on video because it is much better than what I can describe in words!
So while I am on my favorite subject, let me share with you a few other things about Corban. He has 6 teeth! I was really nervous about 4 weeks ago when his upper teeth were coming in, but not the center ones. I feared him looking like a Vampire, though that may have made a great Halloween costume. It was only a few days after they had broke the skin that I could see the center ones pushing their way through. Jared said today that they are crooked. I am not so sure about that, but let's hope not!
He is becoming partial to his mother. If I am around, Jared has a little bit of trouble getting him to go to bed, or to be calmed down. As long as he doesn't see me he is fine. It is nice having him want to come to me- who can resist that charming smile as he reaches towards you! It is one of my favorite things during the day when he decides he wants me to pick him up. He is usually off doing his own thing, but he does reach a point where he wants me. This is when he will come tug on my pant leg and "ask" for me to pick him up.
Speaking of doing his own thing, I wonder if I am creating a problem for the future. During the week I really do allow him to have a lot of time for himself to crawl around and explore anything and everything he can reach. I occasionally come across items I have to move because he really shouldn't have them within reach. So when it comes to Musikgarten on Wednesdays, church on Sundays, or anytime when I need him to sit quietly, it is practically impossible- he wants to be down, independently exploring. Is this normal, and how can I best teach him to be able to sit with me.

Well, Jared just arrived home after finishing up closing duties alone...since I got to pick up Corban and come home after close. I am going to go be his girlfriend :)