Gametes In Love

As in ‘What happened to month 12’? I’m pretty sure that my internal clock thinks its only mid-November. This last month really went by super fast. What happened? Who stole time?

S2 spent the last month perfecting his waddle. He now maneuvers like an expert at lighting speed. He even attempted running, but that ended momentarily with a face plant. None the less, this little Speedy Gonzales is giving me a run for my money. I’m learning to pee at lightning speeds because I can’t keep him out of trouble long enough to properly use the restroom.

S2 loves to climb. I caught him trying to scale his closet the other day. Really if anything level is at knee height or below expect him to climb it. I’m pretty sure he’s part goat, and I’m blaming gene splicing at the clinic.

Overall though he remains a sweet, cuddly dude, who’se face lights up when he sees a loved one walk into the room.

I am just a little bit concerned about his lack of words. I know that technically I shouldn’t because 2 years of age is when the first analysis of speech is assessed, but G had 4 words by the time he was 1, and I’m still anxiously awaiting number one. S2 HAS had several ear infections over the last 2 months and despite 3 separate antibiotic regimens in a month’s time, at his check up he STILL had fluid in his ears. We are addressing this (with yet another antibiotic) and it is improving. Dr. M suggested that his speech development is impacted by these ear infections, which of course is now making me even more paranoid about them. I think we’re another ear infection outbreak away from seeing an ear, nose and throat specialist. But here’s hoping that we’re done with the year infections for awhile.

Onto some stats…

Weight: 20lb 14oz

Height: 29″

Favorite activity: climbing

Favorite food: Puffs, Mum Mum crankers, and recently Oh-sies (aka cheerios). Glad to see he’s expanding his repertoire 🙂

Favorite toy: He really likes to chew on G’s (new-ish) Thomas break-down train

Number of teeth: 2

Naughtiest moment: sticking his hands down the toilet. Gross!!!

Important milestones: first attempt at running

Man, this has been one busy month! S2’s developmental milestone calendar has been quite busy. Monkey learned to crawl, pull up, figured out how to go over stairs, is taking a step or two while holding himself up AND sprouted a tooth. He’s even starting to let go and is testing his balance. It’s really felt like every other week he’s gone for some new feat. Trouble, I tell you. Trouble, all around.

His crawling, is fast! He’s a determined little bugger too, and has figured out how to go around his obstacles. If I stand in the way between him and the objects he shouldn’t be playing with, he swerves in a different direction. He cackles too when he sees that you’re after him and picks up speed, ‘cuz of course, chasing him away from digging his hands in the cat’s water bowl is clearly a game.

Trying to contain him is hard too. With G, our step up from the living room into the hallway was a very effective deterrent for quite a while. I could close the kitchen door, and know that he wasn’t going anywhere. Not so w/ S2. He figured out how to traverse the step within days of crawling. We’re trying to keep the kitchen & dining room doors closed, but when G sees that his brother wants to get in there, he’s happy to oblige and opens the door for him. A bit too helpful, he is. His reasoning was sound: S2 wanted to get in. How do you explain that that’s exactly what we were trying to avoid? Child-proofing with a toddler around is certainly going to be interesting. I want G to be able to have access to the house, because he (for the most part) knows what’s OK and what isn’t. S2 doesn’t.

S2 is also manipulating his go-go gadget arms skills. The little stinker has already figured out that if he raises himself on his tippy-toes he gets an extra inch or two of reach. Really, Kid, you are too smart for us!

He has proven that he’s able to do an 8hr stretch of sleep, yet is un-interested in sleeping past 4am. ARG!

Lastly, I should note how much this kid loves to eat. He’s so indiscriminate to food, it’s kind of awesome. And man, can he put it away. The other day, he ate a size 2 jar of baby-food, several handfuls of Puffs AND an adult size fillet of fish (from fish and chips), batter removed. Yeah. He loves him some fish, and apparently he went nuts for spaghetti at school today too. I’m pretty sure by the time he’s 1, he’ll comfortably transition to daycare’s hot lunch program. I’m about to move him up to size 3 foods, but it’s really a formality since he seems to do fine with grown up food cut fine.

Weight: 19lb 11oz

Height: 28″, but it’s not an accurate measurement, because he won’t sit still long enough for me to measure him.

Favorite activity: pulling up to stand on… stuff

Favorite food: puffs. Be ready to be attacked at the mere sound of the word

Favorite toy: music table

Number of teeth: 1 (with another one around the corner)

Naughtiest moment: 1) pulling on the plumbing lines of the toilet; 2) chasing after Neko

Important milestones: Crawl; Pulling up Stand; First tooth

6 years.

2 kids.
1 cat.
1 (finally finished) home.
1 job change.
2 new cars.

Love you, babe.

[vimeo http://vimeo.com/27277720]

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

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

Our little teeter-tot has been at it for a few weeks now, but I think end of last week he really got his sitting-groove down.

I still don’t trust him quite enough to NOT get overly excited and thrash himself backward, so I keep a pillow behind him to buffer any potential fall. And it will be awhile before I sit him down on hard tile. But… HE SITS!!!

This has been the milestone I’ve been waiting on forever. Forget the crawling/walking bit – I’m not eager on those in the least (this time around), but sitting, ah, what a relief. Let’s see – I can put a baby down so I can go to the bathroom, screw on a sippy cup top, you know… USE both of my hands?

He’s also enjoying this new perspective on the world too. He can look around more, reach out for toys. All in all good, clean fun. And good photo opportunity too: something at least different from “Here’s S2 lying on his mat, and here’s S2 lying in his swing, and here’s S2 lying on his activity mat… again”. So, once I dust off the swanky camera and re-point it toward my brood, there will be some nice pics to come. Until then, woe at the “will have to do” of the iPhone cam 🙂

Woa! Halfway to one already.

This has been an exciting month. In it, S2 has began to roll from belly to back (but won’t do it for me), started inchworming while on tummytime (or more realistically wants to get off his belly enough that he shuffles and kicks his legs enough to propel him forward, and he’s discovered the fun reaction he gets when he nuzzles his head on other ladies’ chests. I call this last one practice for motorboating later on. Ms. C is quite amused by this morning routine. Or perhaps not.

His smile is incredible! It’s that full on, toothless baby smile that makes you forget anything is wrong in your life. I’m pretty sure the ‘You are my sunshine’ song is in reference to babies when they smile at you like that.

S2 loves his paci: it’s his biggest source of comfort. I’m happy and worried about this. I’m glad he has something that I know will work, especially at 4am in the morning, but I dread having to break him away from it, as well as the possibility of a second orthodontics fund.

Over this past month S2 has also discovered his feet. For some reason he doesn’t seem to notice them when he’s NOT on the diaper changing table, but when he sees them he stares at them with great admiration.

He’s still not sitting up on his own just yet, but he’s making good progress. He can last 1, maybe 2 seconds sitting on his own before falling over in a random direction of his choice 🙂 The photo above for example: not-held. Of course, the frames immediately following are of him crashing to the left.

Of course, this month was the month S2 started eating solids foods. And he likes them. He polished off a whole jar of squash this morning. I’m not sure I know how to deal w/ a kid that actually likes to eat. But I like it. Keep on, little man!

Weight: 16lb 2oz

Height: 25.39″

Favorite activity: Bouncer and watching the moving wall fish aquarium at school.

Favorite toy: His little bee from First Years

Sweetest moment: Did I mention big baby smile yet?

Naughtiest moment: Motorboat, motorboat, where are you?

Important milestones: Rolling over from belly to back. Started on solid foods

Let the record show that I am formally filing a complaint against time and it’s rushed passing of 5 months.

S2 is a happy, mellow, go-with-the flow kid. He’s been a dream, and his smile just melts my heart. That huge toothless (for now) grin just kills me. I can’t wait to start seeing more and more of his personality develop.

He’s recently learned how to blow raspberry (well, maybe “learned” is a strong term… more like discovered he can) and takes advantage of this. It’s funny to watch, but not so awesome when you’re trying to give him his nightly Prevacid, or give him a bottle :-/

He’s holding himself so much better these days. I’m working on his sitting skills. Granted, this is influenced by my desire to be able to take his bunny blackmail… err, I mean costume photos and not have to photoshop our arms supporting him. I’m happy that he’s doing things at his own speed though, so I clearly can’t rush him either.

This past month he had his first bout with sicky meds, after being attacked by the Pink Eye/Trush double whammy. He did awesome though and kicked both germs to the curb pretty fast. All while being in excellent spirits. I wish him to be like this with any illness, for his sake (and of course ours).

We were also treated to a few nights of him sleeping through the night. While I’d love for him to sleep past 5:40, the fact he was able to go from 7 ’till then isn’t shabby. Of course those events seemed to be a tease since we haven’t had an uninterrupted night in quite a while, but it’s promising to know that he’s capable of going for that long.

Another interesting development is his increased fascination with food. No, we haven’t started solids with him yet, but if he had any say in it we’d be starting tomorrow. He stares at us eating with great interest. I’m pretty sure if he had more coordinated control over his arms, he’d be pulling my food-loaded utensils away from me. So as far as child-led weaning, he’s giving me the signs. I ideally would like to wait until he turns 6 months old to introduce food, especially since he’s a 37-weeker, but I have a feeling I’ll cave in another couple of weeks. My first food choice for him? Sweet potato. Food mess here we come!

Weight: 15lb 4oz

Height: 25″

Favorite activity: Bouncer. He got his first taste of it last week-end and is in love.

Sweetest moment: Any time he just relaxes and falls asleep in my arms after waking up crying. I love knowing I bring him comfort.

Naughtiest moment: spitting out meds while making farty sounds with his mouth. This does not bode well for solids time either

‘Cuz sometimes you just need a little drool…

My little duder is not a newborn anymore. No, I haven’t been living in denial over how long the “newborn” stage can really last, the way he holds himself, looks at you, and even his size… there’s just no denying that S2 is now an infant. Pretty soon he’ll be my crawler and then toddler. Ugh, so not ready for any of that.

This month has been a lot of change for him.

Daycare, for starters. He’s done SO well. He adjusted right off the bat, and is loving the teachers in his room. His favorite, right now, might be Miss J. She’s young, super sweet, and amazingly pretty. S2 looks at her like she’s the best thing since sliced bread (well… once he’s old enough to know what that is anyway). He just gazes into her eyes lovingly and grins. I have to admit, I’m a wee-bit jealous. When I pick him up at the end of the day, sometimes he gives me a grumpy look as if mad that I’m taking him away from her. The toddlers come over during the day to give him hugs and kisses. While the germaphobe in me shudders at the thoughts, I’m so glad he’s loved. Overall, I couldn’t have asked for an easier transition and a more loving environment for him to be in.

He’s also a full-on crib sleeper now. Naps/bedtime, it’s (almost) all in his crib. He’s still swaddled, but sleeping really well there.

His temperament is still very even-keeled. He’s very mellow and chill and goes with the flow we throw at him. I am so impressed with that.

Weight: 13lb 11oz

Height: 24.75″

Favorite activity: play-mat at daycare. That things has some fancy lights that just mezmerizes him.

Sweetest moment: Cooing when he sees me in the morning and kicking his legs with excitement

S2. Aka The Lint Collector. Aka Mr. Stinky Fist. Aka Cutie Patoot. Aka Monkey. Aka Munchkin… is now 3 months old.

Man how time flies. He’s still a very chill and cuddly kid. His smile, makes me smile, and his biggest grins come on the changing table. The kid loooves him some nekked time. Either that, or he’s enjoying knowing that he’s found a sucker to clean up his muck 🙂

I still have no idea what color his eyes are. He’s my little trickster that way. I know that eye color can remain in flux until the age of 2 for some kids, and I think he might be one of them. I mean look at this: What color would you say they are?

They could be brown, but in clear light they look gray…. ish? Then there’s a bit of green fleck too. Honestly, they look slate, but “slate” is not an option on passport applications, so I called it quits and called them hazel. Genetically though, there’s a 50% chance they’ll be brown. He likes to keep me guessing, and I don’t know why I’m so impatient to find out.

We still don’t have a formal schedule with him, and it’s actually been good. We have patterns that we stick to. He’s normally up for the day between 5:30 and 6:30, but he’s normally chill in his swing until 6:30 even if he doesn’t go back to sleep. I appreciate that SO much, because while he might be ready to call it a night, an extra hour of sleep goes a long way for mom. We do the eat/sleep routine until early afternoon. He takes two naps in the morning. One of them is short (about 30min or so) and the other a heroic 2 hour. The fun is that you don’t know which one will be the long nap. He likes to switch it up on me. What is certain though, is that if we’re out and about, THAT will be his long nap. You know… so that when we’re home we can spend more quality time together when he’s awake, and I don’t get a chance to do my chores as well 🙂 Now that he’s started daycare, I’ll be curious how his patterns change in the next few weeks. I expect the first week to be hard as he adjusts to sleeping in a louder and more exciting environment.

Weight: 12lb 8oz. He’s got little rolls on his chubby legs and it is stinkin’ cute.

Height: 22.5″

Favorite activity: Singing “The Wheels on the Bus” and “The Itsy Bitsy Spider” w/ mom. I get lots of smiles when the spider climbs up his belly.

Sweetest moment: Laughing in his sleep the other week. It was too cute.

My biggest question for him right now is what his personality will be like. I keep looking for clues every day. I hope he’s fun(ny) like his brother… or at least has a similar sense of humor.

I love every inch of this little guy.

And just like that a month has gone by. Someone is going to have to talk to me about the physics of time passing (and getting older), because this feels like one of the quickest months ever.

But it’s been a good month. S2 has been growing well, and he’s spending most of his time sleeping. I’m not objecting to that, since I have the 2yr old version, which, in contrast, doesn’t sleep nearly as much as he should. So I’m enjoying the sleepy time now for as long as it lasts. Little Dude these days wakes up twice between the hours of 9pm and 6am: once between 12 and 1, and another between 3 and 4. He’s typically up for the day between 6 and 7, and if I get him early enough, I can do a feed and go back down for a snooze until 8. We’ve been sharing a bed for all but 2 nights this past month, but we’ve recently started having night-time naps in the swing (next to our bed) too. And Sssh, I’ll tell you a secret — this past month has conditioned me to actually like having a baby sleep on my arm. Last night, after S2’s 12am feed, I wanted baby cuddles, so I just kept him in bed with me. I’m still planning to get him in his own room soon, but at least I’m not as freaked out as before.

Reflux did rear it’s ugly head in this little guy as well. After the hell we lived through, and put G through,  we were on the lookout since day one. We started treating it right away. S2 is on a Prevacid/Zentac cocktail right now, and we’re weaning off the Zentac. Hopefully S2 won’t be on the meds for as long as G, but we’ll see.

Speaking of G, I am amazed how well he’s taken to his brother. I was so afraid that his reaction in the hospital was indicative that he wanted nothing to do with S2, but it hasn’t been the case at all. G walks over to his brother when he’s crying, and tries to help him get his paci. He pushes (gently) on his swing to calm him, and generally wants to help with baby care. Last night he even “helped” us give S2 a bath. He’s proving to be an amazing big brother and I’m so proud of him in that regard. I know that we’re only a year? maybe two, away from “Mommy, tell him to stop bugging me” screams, and breaking up wrestling fights on the living floor, so I’m hoping this sweet trend will last as long as possible.

Anyway, some baby stats…

Weight: 8lb 12oz.

Favorite activity: Sleeping. This happens to be mommy’s favorite activity for him too 🙂

Sweetest moment: Cackling in his sleep the other day. He had the most awesome, almost evil-ish laugh falling asleep. I so hoped he’d do it again because I was a step away from my camera to record it. Oh well.