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So, I'm good to go now on Christopher's spotlight. He's finally over his illness and back to taking naps which makes him a much easier person to be around.
First up, Ella's nickname for Christopher is Tophie and/or Tofu, and Christopher doesn't seem to mind being called by them one bit. Although when he refers to himself, he says "I'm Christopher." And he has no problem making introductions. He often walks up to strangers and tells them his name, and usually introduces me as well. He is very extroverted which is both charming and frightening. A few weeks ago while riding in the cart at Costco in the crowded freezer section an elderly woman accidentally bumped our cart ever so slightly. Christopher responded to this affront by yelling, "Hey! You don't bump me!". That was completely embarrassing.
Whatever Christopher is feeling comes oozing out (and he feels things in extremes!) so he is either the sweetest boy in existence or a total beast depending on the day or hour. But those sweet-boy moments melt my heart. He expresses a lot of love especially to his family, and Michael in particular. So far, Christopher has yet to lose his patience with Michael. Even when Michael is screaming and demanding, and the rest of us have totally had it, Christopher will talk to him in a gentle voice and try to calm him down. I've never seen anything like it; I may need to take lessons from him.
Here's a video of Christopher talking and playing with Michael:
Christopher is a runner. It's probably his favorite past time. He runs laps around our tiny apartment and through my parents house a few times each day. He likes to be active and "play sports," as he calls it. We're enrolled in tumbling at the rec. center and he eats it up. I think I'm going to have a busy 15+ years keeping up with him.
Another thing Christopher loves is singing. He's memorized loads of songs and sings them over and over again. Here's one:
The real version is here, if you're interested:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fZ9WiuJPnNA
A few more random tidbits about Christopher is that he's obsessed with bugs, gingerbread cookies and the movie My Neighbor Totoro. He's a very motivated boy and wants to learn and grow up as fast as he can. On his good days, He makes us look like awesome parents by teaching himself all the colors, sign language, memorizing books and more. On bad days, well, he makes us look really, really bad.
I listened to this a little while back and couldn't help but think of Christopher (although the opening story made me feel really grateful for my life and my kids!).
http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/521/bad-baby
It's funny to me how I can have two sons and they are so opposite. Michael is our zen baby and Christopher is total chaos. But the cool thing is that they adore each other, and that makes me so happy for them and me. Kids really are awesome!
