9.29.2005
Then there were two...
Well now...he's getting teeth like crazy now! Two that I can see, but he doesn't really let me into his mouth, so I can only guess at what else is going on. For the most part he is in pretty good spirits, though he does get moody here and there. I took some pictures this morning, and I will try to post them today sometime.
9.27.2005
And, we're off!
I knew something was up yesterday, but I attributed it to his poor napping. He slept on the way home, which was nice. But when we got there, he was inconsolable. He would crawl a foot or two and then fall face down on the floor and just cry pitifully. I was trying to get something for him to eat, but he wouldn't let me stop holding him, which is very unusual. Then, I sat down and gave him some food, and he LITERALLY started shovelling it into his mouth with both hands. I'm usually lucky to get 5 or 10 bites in him at dinnertime, and even less than that on a bad napping day. But he was going to town! Peas were flying in every direction. He even let me give him bites of food off a spoon in between his devouring.So, he was a little happier after his belly was full. So I sat down on the floor with one of his "O Baby" yogurts (which are quite good), and he helped me eat half of that also. After that he took his last bottle and I went to change him. So the yelling resumed, as it does for the last diaper/clothes change of the day. And what do I see gleaming in the depths of his tiny screaming mouth, but a shiny protrusion on his bottom gums. Ah ha! A reason for the insanity of late, I felt so much better! Especially since he had gotten up FOUR TIMES the night before. I was tempted to start Ferberizing him (aka the "cry it out no matter what" method). But now at least I know what is going on.
Actually, he did better last night, and this morning we were back to the normal sweet boy I missed so much.
Now, didn't I make that sound exciting?! All for a little tooth :)
9.19.2005
Good weekend
I have to say, this weekend went pretty well. We went and visited my sister up in northern VA on Saturday. He did good considering it's about 90 minutes each way. Of course it's easier when my Mom is in the back seat playing with him.
Other than that, we spent most of the weekend at home just chilling out. I fully expect any day now he will just start running around instead of crawling. Even in my dreams he is walking already. He really is getting close. He can stand now for a minute or two at a time, and his balance is getting better. I was thinking this morning that I can't wait until he is ready to go outside and run around. I can picture him all dressed warm in his winter clothes, trying to catch the leaves as they fall, or chasing after the cats (well, he already does that, but so far they can outrun him being as he is still on all fours).
And of course...he wore his jersey this weekend again, and you can see that the Steelers had another great victory. They play the Patriots next week, so I'd better start having him wear it maybe Wednesday or so. I have faith...but it doesn't hurt, right!
This morning I let him play with my sunglasses on the ride to daycare. I flipped the rear view mirror down for a second to see what he was up to, and he was trying to put them on the way he's seen us do it. It was so funny! Then he put them on top of his head the way I do. I just started laughing, and he always gets a kick out of that. He has a real sense of when he's being funny already. If you genuinely laugh at him, he will just kick his head back and join in. He loves to entertain!
Little milestones...every day I see them. It's 90% being proud that your child is growing and learning, and 10% sadness at seeing them leave their old ways behind. Well...some days it's more like 50/50, but if you look at things that way you'd go crazy. It's fascinating to see his personality develop and wonder at the kind of person he will become. It's like you get a few more puzzle pieces every day.
Of course, with all progress there is a little back-stepping. He's back to waking up twice a night again. And when I say "wake up", I mean he immediately stands up, holds the crib bars and screams at the top of his lungs. I have become the expert at doing things in the middle of the night now. I think I log more time in now than I did months ago. Sometimes he just wants to play, other times he is hungry or wet. I guess the experts would scold me for not letting him cry it out yet. I will, sometimes, if it turns out that nothing is to his liking. And then I do the dishes or something and try not to think about the shrieks and wails coming from the other room, and hoping he's not waking Andy, too. I have to wait, you see...or I can't turn the monitor back on in the bedroom. Sometimes he quiets down, and I go curl up in the warm bed again, get comfortable and try to wind down, finally feel like I'm slipping off to sleep...and WHAM! ..he gets a fresh burst of energy and finds it in his heart to yell for another 10 minutes.
I have to admit, for the first few months, I just looked at these night time 'visits' as a few additional minutes I get to spend with him each day. It was my way of coping, I guess. But now we're going on a year, and sometimes it becomes hard to find my 'happy thoughts'. And just when I get to the breaking point, he'll have a few days in a row where he makes it all night, and I forget all about it.
I guess that's what it all boils down to - the good times outweigh the bad. Even on the days when that may be a 1:10 ratio, I'm still to the good. He's kinda special that way. All it takes is a pair of sunglasses, and I'm right back on track...
Other than that, we spent most of the weekend at home just chilling out. I fully expect any day now he will just start running around instead of crawling. Even in my dreams he is walking already. He really is getting close. He can stand now for a minute or two at a time, and his balance is getting better. I was thinking this morning that I can't wait until he is ready to go outside and run around. I can picture him all dressed warm in his winter clothes, trying to catch the leaves as they fall, or chasing after the cats (well, he already does that, but so far they can outrun him being as he is still on all fours).
And of course...he wore his jersey this weekend again, and you can see that the Steelers had another great victory. They play the Patriots next week, so I'd better start having him wear it maybe Wednesday or so. I have faith...but it doesn't hurt, right!
This morning I let him play with my sunglasses on the ride to daycare. I flipped the rear view mirror down for a second to see what he was up to, and he was trying to put them on the way he's seen us do it. It was so funny! Then he put them on top of his head the way I do. I just started laughing, and he always gets a kick out of that. He has a real sense of when he's being funny already. If you genuinely laugh at him, he will just kick his head back and join in. He loves to entertain!
Little milestones...every day I see them. It's 90% being proud that your child is growing and learning, and 10% sadness at seeing them leave their old ways behind. Well...some days it's more like 50/50, but if you look at things that way you'd go crazy. It's fascinating to see his personality develop and wonder at the kind of person he will become. It's like you get a few more puzzle pieces every day.
Of course, with all progress there is a little back-stepping. He's back to waking up twice a night again. And when I say "wake up", I mean he immediately stands up, holds the crib bars and screams at the top of his lungs. I have become the expert at doing things in the middle of the night now. I think I log more time in now than I did months ago. Sometimes he just wants to play, other times he is hungry or wet. I guess the experts would scold me for not letting him cry it out yet. I will, sometimes, if it turns out that nothing is to his liking. And then I do the dishes or something and try not to think about the shrieks and wails coming from the other room, and hoping he's not waking Andy, too. I have to wait, you see...or I can't turn the monitor back on in the bedroom. Sometimes he quiets down, and I go curl up in the warm bed again, get comfortable and try to wind down, finally feel like I'm slipping off to sleep...and WHAM! ..he gets a fresh burst of energy and finds it in his heart to yell for another 10 minutes.
I have to admit, for the first few months, I just looked at these night time 'visits' as a few additional minutes I get to spend with him each day. It was my way of coping, I guess. But now we're going on a year, and sometimes it becomes hard to find my 'happy thoughts'. And just when I get to the breaking point, he'll have a few days in a row where he makes it all night, and I forget all about it.
I guess that's what it all boils down to - the good times outweigh the bad. Even on the days when that may be a 1:10 ratio, I'm still to the good. He's kinda special that way. All it takes is a pair of sunglasses, and I'm right back on track...
9.15.2005
Is it Thursday already!?
This week has gone by so fast! I guess in part to the fact that I got to spend Tuesday playing hooky with the little guy. Without going into gory details (and believe me...I could) he had a little stomach virus and bad diaper rash. So they nicely suggested at daycare that I try to keep him home and get it cleared up. I will try not to point fingers at the fact that they fed him baked beans and spaghetti & meatballs on Monday when I asked them not to let him eat anything but crackers and rice cereal until he felt better. So, needless to say, even though he was feeling better Monday morning, he got worse again in the afternoon. Oh well. I could think of worse things than taking off a day of work to spend with him.
So now he is feeling much better, I think. He's getting very good at standing on his own now without holding on to anything. I can see steps in the near future. And I have to admit - I'm a little scared. This guy is tremendously sneaky and mischevious! I love that about him, but it will call for some creative parenting, I believe.
Already, I'm learning to let him think things are his idea. The last bottle of the day has always been a challenge. For a long time, he refused to take it unless he was in his crib with his blanket. Then I got him weaned off that, and he would sit in his little car seat in front of the tv (whether it was on or not) to take it. Sometimes he would even assist in holding it, but not often. NOW, I am not allowed to hold it at all. I have to hold it in front of him as un-suggestively as possible, and he will push it away about 20 times screaming and kicking until he decides that I have given up. Then he will grab it himself, plop it into his mouth and drink the whole thing. Really...I just don't know what he's thinking. At first, I would just offer, and when he pushed it away, I put him to bed and let him cry it out. Then I would wait 15 or 20 minutes and try again and repeat. After 3 hours of this, I finally had to try some different things. Why, oh why...won't he take the bottle if he's thirsty?? He will cry his hungry cry and I just feel terrible listening to it.
Now I know many people will think - well, if he won't take it, then he just doesn't want it. But that really isn't the case! He wants it so bad that he gets so angry and it's like he can't remember what he wanted in the first place.
What I REALLY think is that he just likes messing with my head. He's smart that way. And I think it's working - I can tell by my writings here lately that I'm probably losing my mind a little bit each day.
I think that's just called Parenting.
So now he is feeling much better, I think. He's getting very good at standing on his own now without holding on to anything. I can see steps in the near future. And I have to admit - I'm a little scared. This guy is tremendously sneaky and mischevious! I love that about him, but it will call for some creative parenting, I believe.
Already, I'm learning to let him think things are his idea. The last bottle of the day has always been a challenge. For a long time, he refused to take it unless he was in his crib with his blanket. Then I got him weaned off that, and he would sit in his little car seat in front of the tv (whether it was on or not) to take it. Sometimes he would even assist in holding it, but not often. NOW, I am not allowed to hold it at all. I have to hold it in front of him as un-suggestively as possible, and he will push it away about 20 times screaming and kicking until he decides that I have given up. Then he will grab it himself, plop it into his mouth and drink the whole thing. Really...I just don't know what he's thinking. At first, I would just offer, and when he pushed it away, I put him to bed and let him cry it out. Then I would wait 15 or 20 minutes and try again and repeat. After 3 hours of this, I finally had to try some different things. Why, oh why...won't he take the bottle if he's thirsty?? He will cry his hungry cry and I just feel terrible listening to it.
Now I know many people will think - well, if he won't take it, then he just doesn't want it. But that really isn't the case! He wants it so bad that he gets so angry and it's like he can't remember what he wanted in the first place.
What I REALLY think is that he just likes messing with my head. He's smart that way. And I think it's working - I can tell by my writings here lately that I'm probably losing my mind a little bit each day.
I think that's just called Parenting.
9.12.2005
Not a coincidence!
I'm POSITIVE that the reason the Steelers kicked SO MUCH butt yesterday is because of that little guy wearing his Roethlisberger jersey. And he already has a perfect passer rating! Coincidence? Of course not!(I do have to send a shout-out to Shalon and apologize for saying bad things about Big Ben - he did do a really good job!)
Okay...well maybe that's a stretch. Partly because he spent almost the entire game in the bathtub (off and on) and not even wearing his jersey much. I gave up on it somewhere in the first quarter. Poor guy must not have liked what he was eating, either that or has some little stomach bug, because he had bad diarrhea. So instead of enjoying the game, which I had looked forward to all week, I spent it changing diapers while he screamed. He was so sore that I just started letting him run around naked, and I just threw him in the tub whenever he made a mess (approximately every 5 minutes). It really was funny to watch a little naked baby running around the house. He kept stopping to pose, like he knew how cute his tushy was. Plus he had the cutest look on his face, like he'd found some wonderful freedom in life. I had to laugh the one time he stood up and peed...with those chubby legs he looked like one of those cherub water fountains you see in the movies.
But I'm sure you guys don't come here to learn that kind of stuff. You know...I remember last football season he used to do this same thing. No matter what, something would always come up during the games. Not normal things that I could work around, but matters that would divert my entire attention. It's only three hours a week! You'd think he'd throw me a bone now and then.
I think it's all part of his dark sense of humor. Like the way he looks at you before heading off in a direction, to judge your response. If it looks like you don't want him to go there, he immediately zooms as fast as he can in that direction. If you look pleased at his choice, he figures that it must not be that interesting and goes in search of better destruction. I have toy boxes in almost every room in the house, and most of them go untouched these days. I even have one in our tiny kitchen, so I can manage to make a meal or do dishes now and then. Even then, it's no easy task. He always bee-lines for the shelves so he can try to drop heavy cans on his feet. So most of my plastic spoons and spatulas are on the floor so that he can have a "new" toy to bang on things. I've just given up, and wash them when I need to use them.
His other new favorite toy is a deck of "Dora the Explorer" cards my Mom got him. He's figured out how to open the deck, so we get to play "52 card pickup", with me being the butt of that joke. Somehow from one sitting position, he can make the cards fly as much as 20 feet away. He dumps them out, then swishes his arms around frantically in them while they shoot away on the hardwood floor. It's great fun for him...for about 30 seconds. Then I have to round them all up so he doesn't try to stand on them and fall. But those things must multiply when I'm not looking, because days later I am still finding them in strange places. I look at the cards, some missing, some crumpled and bent, and the adult in me just screams at an incomplete, unplayable deck of cards. But then I see them through his eyes, and I know that some 'rules' are just meant to be broken. He has plenty of time in life to do things the 'right' way. I want him to be always be able to look at the world from a fresh angle, and not just follow the crowd.
I can see that his little mind is starting to churn this week. He seems very interested in how things go together now. It's all about what fits inside what else. He likes putting things in the bed of his little plastic dump truck and pull them out again. Or grabbing blocks and putting them in cups. He is really concentrating on how things fit together now. It's so neat to watch his neurons firing brightly! He's catching on quick now! His dad and both grandads are good with building things and mechanical thinking, and I can see that in his eyes. He's a very busy, very driven little boy already. And though he's a bit of a handful sometimes, I wouldn't change that for a second. It will carry him far in life!
Okay...well maybe that's a stretch. Partly because he spent almost the entire game in the bathtub (off and on) and not even wearing his jersey much. I gave up on it somewhere in the first quarter. Poor guy must not have liked what he was eating, either that or has some little stomach bug, because he had bad diarrhea. So instead of enjoying the game, which I had looked forward to all week, I spent it changing diapers while he screamed. He was so sore that I just started letting him run around naked, and I just threw him in the tub whenever he made a mess (approximately every 5 minutes). It really was funny to watch a little naked baby running around the house. He kept stopping to pose, like he knew how cute his tushy was. Plus he had the cutest look on his face, like he'd found some wonderful freedom in life. I had to laugh the one time he stood up and peed...with those chubby legs he looked like one of those cherub water fountains you see in the movies.
But I'm sure you guys don't come here to learn that kind of stuff. You know...I remember last football season he used to do this same thing. No matter what, something would always come up during the games. Not normal things that I could work around, but matters that would divert my entire attention. It's only three hours a week! You'd think he'd throw me a bone now and then.
I think it's all part of his dark sense of humor. Like the way he looks at you before heading off in a direction, to judge your response. If it looks like you don't want him to go there, he immediately zooms as fast as he can in that direction. If you look pleased at his choice, he figures that it must not be that interesting and goes in search of better destruction. I have toy boxes in almost every room in the house, and most of them go untouched these days. I even have one in our tiny kitchen, so I can manage to make a meal or do dishes now and then. Even then, it's no easy task. He always bee-lines for the shelves so he can try to drop heavy cans on his feet. So most of my plastic spoons and spatulas are on the floor so that he can have a "new" toy to bang on things. I've just given up, and wash them when I need to use them.
His other new favorite toy is a deck of "Dora the Explorer" cards my Mom got him. He's figured out how to open the deck, so we get to play "52 card pickup", with me being the butt of that joke. Somehow from one sitting position, he can make the cards fly as much as 20 feet away. He dumps them out, then swishes his arms around frantically in them while they shoot away on the hardwood floor. It's great fun for him...for about 30 seconds. Then I have to round them all up so he doesn't try to stand on them and fall. But those things must multiply when I'm not looking, because days later I am still finding them in strange places. I look at the cards, some missing, some crumpled and bent, and the adult in me just screams at an incomplete, unplayable deck of cards. But then I see them through his eyes, and I know that some 'rules' are just meant to be broken. He has plenty of time in life to do things the 'right' way. I want him to be always be able to look at the world from a fresh angle, and not just follow the crowd.
I can see that his little mind is starting to churn this week. He seems very interested in how things go together now. It's all about what fits inside what else. He likes putting things in the bed of his little plastic dump truck and pull them out again. Or grabbing blocks and putting them in cups. He is really concentrating on how things fit together now. It's so neat to watch his neurons firing brightly! He's catching on quick now! His dad and both grandads are good with building things and mechanical thinking, and I can see that in his eyes. He's a very busy, very driven little boy already. And though he's a bit of a handful sometimes, I wouldn't change that for a second. It will carry him far in life!
9.09.2005
9.08.2005
Travellin' Trio
Last weekend was Brent's first big trip to PA, since he's old enough to realize what's going on a little better. I think he had a good time. The travelling itself was a little rough on him, but two days later we're almost back on track. There's a few bugs floating around at daycare, and I think he was fighting one of those the last part of the weekend.
But I'm glad we all got to visit with family. He's at such a wonderful age right now...still cute and cuddly, but energetic and brightly curious about the world. He has some mischevious tendencies, but overall he really is such a good boy.
I'm still fighting a little bit of the flu myself, but hopefully I'll have some new pictures soon. Tonight is the start of football season. I can't wait to try out all his new Steelers outfits!
But I'm glad we all got to visit with family. He's at such a wonderful age right now...still cute and cuddly, but energetic and brightly curious about the world. He has some mischevious tendencies, but overall he really is such a good boy.
I'm still fighting a little bit of the flu myself, but hopefully I'll have some new pictures soon. Tonight is the start of football season. I can't wait to try out all his new Steelers outfits!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)