Gametes In Love

S2, as of two days ago, is crawling. Tummy off the floor moving. It just took me two days to get it on video, because every time I tried he’d stop what he’s doing and just look at me. Silly monkey!

But today we got him to perform… for food. Figures, all I needed were Puffs to bribe him. Puffs are his Kryptonite — you simply can’t utter that word in his presence without him going nuts.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EZYJycffteI]

With this new-found development, I am now never, ever alone. Because S2 is constantly on a Mama hunt too. I’ll go to the bathroom and 2 minutes later there will be a blabbering baby poking his head through the door. Good thing he’s cute 🙂

Can you spot the troublemaker?

G has figured out that two triangles make a square. And two squares make a rectange.

meanwhile, S2 has figured out that shapes are delicious (triangles are best)

G and Gappa discussing the details of their week

… and nose picking

Monkey man

My very own 2-headed monster

6am

Belly slides

Tall towers

Long Lego snakes

G’s version of stadium seating

Bedhead

Didn’t I just do the 8 month post last week?

This has been an interesting month. S2 is no longer my “go with the flow” kinda guy. I mean he is, for the most part, but he’s also eager to tell me when something is not going his way. Like that “not a toy” toy he was just licking all over (for example daddy’s flip-flops): it’s the end of the world that I just took it away. It’s a bit startling for me, because his personality to date has been so mellow, and chill. Now that he’s coming into his own, it’s an adjustment.

G and he still get along swimmingly. Now that he’s mobile, though, I expect to be singing a different tune next month. Still, I’m in awe with how much G cares for his brother. It’s the little things he does: like giving S2 his lovey, when S2 is being fussy. I mean, those loveys are a HUUUGE deal. I see it as the toddler equivalent of taking the shirt off your back to give to someone else. S2 in turn adores his brother too. Now he’s following him around and trying to get into all his toys.

Night-time is quite a tease around here. He has slept from put-down until about 5:30am. However, he’ll do it once or twice, and then continue to wake up 2x/night for weeks to follow. I’m giving him a reprieve until his first birthday, and then we’ll start some sleep-training. It won’t be pretty, so I’m hoping he’ll get into the habit of falling back asleep on his own without having to execute on that operation.

Lastly, I’m noticing that this child is a sucker. He loves his paci. Perhaps a bit too much? He falls asleep best when he’s sucking on… something. When he’s upset, his paci helps him out. I’m surely not a help here, because I encouraged this behavior. Now I’m starting to wonder how long to encourage it before I start to wean him off. I keep thinking “once he learns to self soothe to sleep”, but then I wonder if that will be too late. I don’t need 2 kids with a hefty need for orthodontia.

Anyhoo… some fun S2 stats:

Weight: 18lb 8oz

Height: 28″

Favorite activity: same as last month: drool, lick and chew anything that he comes in contact with

Favorite toy: anything that is NOT a toy

Number of teeth: 0 (my nipples thank you, God)

Sweetest moment: smiling at his older brother (G loves this by the way)

Naughtiest moment: 1) trying to roll off the changing table; 2) refer to favorite activity above and use your imagination. btw, have you ever seen anyone try to eat a stroller wheel before?

Important milestones: Army crawl. Check!

S2 now scoots himself around. G will quickly discover to hide his toys.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eN7gxEUup_8]

(a certain unnamed parent): [fart]
S2: hahahahahaha

Uhmn… yeah.

It’s crazy to think that it’s time to forever retire our infant car-seat. I swear it was a week ago that we brought our wee little boys home in it.

However it’s becoming a monster to lug around with a 19lb munchkin, so it’s about time we move onto the next thing.

This time snuck-up on me so fast. G took forever to get out of the seat. Since he gained weight so slowly, he was about 1 when we moved him into the convertible seat. I was so excited to finally “graduate” away from the bucket seat. Now, this transition seems melancholy in comparison. It’s the “this is my last baby” syndrome, for sure.

S and I spent a couple of mind-numbing days car-sear shopping and stalking friends’ car seat setup. We wasted a perfectly good date night at Babies R Us one evening coming to the conclusion we just can’t fit 2 rear-facing car seats in my car. I drive a Fit, and the only way to get a convertible seat RF behind the driver (because let’s face it, there’s no such thing as “middle” when there’s a convertible seat in that vehicle) is if the driver’s seat is pulled up all the way forward, and it’s not reclined in any way. I just can’t drive like that, and God forbid S tries to drive it — he’s have to have his knees around his ears.

So the next logical thing (past buying a different vehicle) was to consider turning G around and transitioning our search to forward-facing seats. I had, initially, hoped to keep G rear-facing until the recommended 35lbs, but at his rate of snail-paced growth, that was going to be another year from now. S2 on the other hand would be reaching the weight-limit for the carrier within 2 months. Not adding up. Ultimately we chose the Nautilus for G’s next seat. We narrowed down the patterns we liked down to 2, and let G pick out which one he wanted. He chose this one <-

So… let’s take a moment of silence to bid adieu to the seat that represents the age of an era… and a short stroll down memory lane. I’m going to try and find it a good home, since it’s in great condition and has 2 years of life left in it.

S2 coming home

G partying out

My peanuts ain’t peanuts no mo 🙁

Yeah, it turns out some things are not common knowledge, and as a parent I’m finding myself having to state the obvious. You know… things like:

“G please do NOT bounce the ball off your brother’s head.”

I know now why gray hair happens.

My children are genetically engineered to be tummy sleepers.

Milk, it does the body good!

Brotherly hugs

Playtime is so emotional

Yummo grapes

Best part of a week-end.

Yeah, well, today is Tuesday, but it’s the first day of the work-week, so close enough 🙂

Monster Hat

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VJQ7Sq1mGIU]

S2’s first swing (at the park)

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EZWG3m8SVVY]

What an awesome morning looks like. Sorry! It’s dark.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5u42Q3iCX9c]

This fortress is for brothers only

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rhqm4ZFGGxE]

I’ve decided that the difference between a “tear your hair out” evening as a single parent, and a “hey, I feel pretty good about my parenting (survival) skills” is 30 minutes. 30 minutes of child-free time. This isn’t “relax, zone out” time, mind you. It’s time to: get dressed from work clothes into evening home clothes; prep baby milk bottles for the following day; prep dinner and set the table. These tasks may not seem like much, but you’ll be surprised how long they take, and NOT having to worry about them when 2 kids are with you offloading emotionally from their day makes a big difference. I wish I can do them after G goes to bed, but being the late-bird he is, he’s not in bed before 9:30, and still insists you snuggle with him, meaning that I fall asleep right along side him at 10 and NOTHING gets done past that point.

S has had a business conference since Wednesday. While it’s in the city and he’s been coming home every evening, by the time he comes in both kids are in bed, which is more or less the equivalent of being alone.

So I’ve been bailing out of work 30 minutes earlier than usual. I come home, drop off my bags (because carrying a purse, pump, diaper bag, milk bottles bag, infant carrier AND toddler, all at the same time, is NOT fun, despite how amusing it appears), and do all the items I describe above. Then I turn around and grab the kids. We come home, wash hands and go straight to dinner. And you know what? By the time we’re done, I actually have 20 minutes to play with both of them AND rinse diapers, instead of scrambling to get those other chores done. Now… if I can only figure out how to actually “cook” with all this, I’d be set. I’ve been relying on take-out, or warming-up frozen foods. Not ideal, but again, survival mode here.

I’ll say that these last 4 days haven’t been bad. G has really helped out by actually being in pretty good spirits and NOT throwing tantrums and testing me every five minutes. S2 has actually give me 2 good nights of only waking up once. It’s as if they got the memo that mommy’s needs them to cooperate at this time.

So yeah, we made it through Saturday. I have about the same number of gray hairs, and am not ready to sell the kids off to the highest bidder. I’d say that’s a win 🙂