Pushing His Weight

While at Costco yesterday, Daddy took LR to play in the area beyond the registers while I checked out. They headed down the hallway to the bathrooms and found one of those big metal palette carts to push around. It had two palettes on it and he rolled it about 30 feet. Then he found another one with a Whirlpool Duet washer and pedestal on it. Daddy reports that LR put his back into it, grunted a few times, and started rolling the cart. He pushed it about 5 feet before Daddy pulled him away from it. I know he had a mechanical advantage, but the kid is freakishly strong.

I know it's just a few weeks past Xmas, but I went to Toys"R"Us and got LR a plastic basketball hoop to give him something active to do indoors during the winter. I've also found a baby gym that's open in the afternoons, so that will help. LR picked it the concept of putting the ball through the hoop in no time. Now everything goes through the hoop: balls, cars, food, plastic animals, etc. I like his enthusiasm.

Daddy seems to officially have a name. Not "Da-da," but "Ga-ga." LR knows how to say the D sound, but for some reason he won't use it. Sometimes instead of "doggie" we hear him say "goggie," so there must be some confusion there. Anyway, Daddy's the first one of us to have a name. It's just so cliche.

Daily Specials

New Food: Cabbage
New Sign: Strawberry
New Stunt: Getting down from The Learning Tower. While I made dinner this evening, LR practiced getting down out of the tower by holding onto the top bar, sitting down, and scooting his butt off the ledge. He hangs for a second before he lets go. I think he can just feel the ground with his toes (or maybe sense it in a Jedi sort of way). Here's what it looks like.

Fake Laugh

LR had a tough time waking up from his nap Sunday afternoon, but I was in the middle of my nap too, so he joined me out on the couch for a little while. We've been working on getting him to nap without a bottle for 2 weeks now. You'd think it would get easier. He cries for only a few minutes for the morning nap, but in the afternoon it's hit or miss. Today he cried for 20 minutes before settling down.

Between naps, LR and I went to his first "Music Together" class. I was a little irked when we arrived because the directions to the karate studio where the music classes are held were poor. The teacher immediately pulled out an acoustic guitar which LR went right up to and wanted to play since Daddy lets him play one at home. I had to drag him away a couple of times. LR then danced in the middle of the circle and spun around until he fell down. I'm pretty sure he really enjoyed it. He also actually interacted with another little girl. She would hold out an egg shaker to him, he would take it, and then laugh his fake laugh. By the time she had handed and he had taken half a dozen eggs, his forced, fake laugh had me and the mom next to me laughing.

Putting 2006 in Perspective

This evening Daddy looked up from the dining room table and said, "we have blue spots on the ceiling." I looked up and sure enough, a spatter of purplish-blue spots dotted the ceiling above the table. I started laughing and he asked, "blueberry yogurt or red wine?" Is there really any question?
How our lives have changed...

In other news, LR slipped and whacked his chin on the coffee table last night. He split his chin so that it was just shy of needing stitches. The cut was about a quarter inch and clotted relatively quickly, so we decided that scars will be the tattoos of his generation and he'll look cooler with them. In actuality, it was so close to his bedtime, that I thought he'd be more traumatized by a trip to the ER than by a tiny scar when he's older.

Word List

A bunch of people have asked me recently about the number of words LR says. I have hand waved that he says a dozen words and signs 2 dozen. Yesterday I sat down to actually think about it and found he knows a lot more than that. I broke them down into 3 lists: sign, spoken, and understood (neither signed nor spoken). The spoken words are often clarified with a sign, so we're glad he's using sign language as well. Otherwise, "car" sounds like "cold" and "bath" sounds like "ball." Oh, and "hungry" and "big" are new signs this week.

Sign Words

water	plane	train	car
cold	bath	sun	bear
cat	hungry	dog	elephant
zebra	lion	more	again
boat	finished	fish	pancake
butterfly	hot	milk/bottle	corn
teeth	ice	ice cream	cheese
ball	Elmo	big

Spoken Words

bottle	cold	train	car
bath	cat	dog	more
again	boat	corn	teeth
ice	cheese	ball	Bob
big	elephant(noise)	fish	pancake
butterfly	chair	bib	hot
cracker	bus	bike	kick
bowl	cup	dip-dip	beep-beep

Understood Words

no	play	outside	food
Mommy	Daddy	Gigi	pizza
give me 5	Cheerios	throw	blanket
sit	animal	monkey	cow
guitar

So I guess it's a few more than a couple dozen.

Tower, Train, and Acrobatics

I broke down and bought "The Learning Tower" for LR which arrived on Saturday. Daddy put it together and LR is just a fan of climbing out of it so far. Hopefully he'll get the idea that it's to keep him at counter height with me while I'm cooking.

I pulled out the Brio set we bought him for Xmas again yesterday and he loved playing with it. We had it on the coffee table for a while, but I ended up moving it onto the floor so that he'd be able to reach all the way around the track. He's not great at keeping the train on the track, but he certainly loves trying. He also says "train!" each time the commuter train goes by our house and he's started signing "plane" when he hears a plane going over. I think those are his favorite signs right now.

Yesterday we saw him sign "water" for the first time while splashing through a huge puddle. We had to go to the rugby practice field so that I could install a new lock on the field box. It was raining and Daddy decided there was no way LR was going to stay dry, so he let him walk ankle-deep into a large puddle. As he walked into the puddle he put his hand to his mouth and clearly signed "water." Then he made it halfway through and stopped and signed "cold." That was when I realized that I didn't want to go into the puddle to get him, so Daddy and I vigorously coaxed him to the other side of the puddle. He made it but was irritated when we wanted to get him into the car. Apparently the 40 degree and rainy weather agrees with him.

This last picture is of LR from this evening. He's practicing his circus tricks. At first we thought we should stop him from doing it, but he was so careful that about it, that eventually I grabbed the camera and snapped this photo. After going up and down half a dozen times he bored of it and moved onto something else. Was fun to watch though!

Snowball Fight!

Well it wasn't actually a snowball fight. Daddy threw the snowballs, LR just received. Oh, and LR ate any snowballs he found. We got close to 2 inches of snow today (which is nothing compared to the many feet our family in Denver got this week) and made the most of it by taking LR out onto the deck in his snowsuit. It was a great test run of the suit and it worked really well. Going to have to get some boots, but I'm waiting until there is promise of more serious snowfalls. We took a bunch of pictures of LR wandering around the deck, eating the snow, getting pelted by Daddy, and then eating more snow. Even after coming in the house I let him keep one mitten on so that he could continue to eat snowballs. He ended up with a red upper lip and a very runny nose, but he didn't seem to mind. He also used the same sign for snow as rain and since I can't remember the real sign, I'm going to let it stand.

We started the day with a belated Xmas with our friends and their son King in their brand new house. We watched LR to see what he could get into, but luckily he didn't find the stairs or the low-hanging blinds until it was almost time to go home. The rest of the day was pretty quiet since Daddy is recovering from a cold. LR tried to divide his time evenly among his new toys. Each one was stood on in turn and since they all held up under the stress I'm assuming that's one of the official tests that toddler toys must go through.

Hair Cut

This is what happens when Costco's low prices on Norelco products collide with the mommy instinct to keep kids neat and tidy.


Short hair! Well at least it's all the same length now...

Take that, Santa!

LR had his 15 month appointment yesterday. He got 3 shots, so wasn't thrilled, but he recovered quickly. He weighs 26 lbs. 3 oz. and he was 31.5 inches long. That puts him in 75^th percentile for weight and 60^th for length.

As we left the pediatrician's office we noticed a women who had her arms full with one toddler and had two slightly older children, a boy and a girl, in tow. She was busy getting the youngest into the car while the older boy was hanging around the back of the minivan. Think of the back of the minivan like a clock and the winshield wiper as the minute hand. The wiper normally rests at 3 o'clock. As we watched, he reached up and grabbed the wiper and pulled it to 6 o'clock. Like spitting in Santa's eye...

We laughed and turned to look at our angel sitting happily in the car seat. "Lucky," we thought, "to have such a good kid." Of course, that's just the thinking that produced Uncle Corbin and me, the spirited second children after easy-going first children.

Merry Xmas!

We had a lovely, small Christmas with Daddy's Dad, Grandad Y. We were expecting our friends and their son, but they all came down with a stomach bug, so we told them, "Merry Christmas, and please don't come over." They completely understood. We're going to celebrate with them next weekend.

LR loved all his nice toys and Daddy and I discovered that we bought a lot more cars for him than we thought we had. His stocking was stuffed with Matchbox and Tonka cars. In the pile of gifts were 2 dump trucks and a train set from Brio. He's in car heaven. Fortunately, Grandad bought him a piano on a mat that rolls up for storage. So far he likes dancing to the demo music and crawling across the mat. Every once in a while he'll poke at the keys. That may be a toy we put away for a few months, but we'll see. We also had to baby proof the giant wooden cart full of wood blocks Grandad gave him. LR can get it really moving since it's on casters and he dinged one of the kitchen cabinets before we got our hands on it. It's going to be a great toy though.

One of the things I picked up at Costco for him was a Baby Einstein plush chair and he loves that. The back of the chair is the body of a large caterpillar. He does somersaults over it, sits on it, rests with his head on the "balls," as he calls them, which are really the body sections of the caterpillar. He loves that he finally has a chair of his own. When I ask him where his chair is, he smiles and goes right to the caterpillar.

LR is now a big fan of the piggy back ride. He's just getting to be big enough and holds on to us (sometimes) while riding on our back. When he got tired of being in the stroller today, I put him on my back and carried him until my arms got tired. Then Daddy put him on his shoulders. He sings with every step like he used to when we bounced him to sleep, "ah... ah... ah... ah!"

The Lake, Take 2

Last night we let LR open Gigi's gift. He really got into ripping the paper off. He loved climbing on the box too, so as soon as he unwrapped it, Daddy shored up the box and gave it back to him for climbing. LR loved the animals and played with them a bunch today. In fact, he signed "fish" for the first time today. We've signed it to him so many times over the past year that I assumed he had decided that he didn't need to sign it back to us.

Today I decided to take the same path on our run. I thought I could just jog by the lake, but as I crested the hill, the lake came into view and LR squealed with excitement. Ok, glutton for punishment maybe, but I thought it would be cruel to skip it. So, we stopped at the shore and I let LR get out and play along to shoreline again. I still had to keep him from stepping into the water, but he did a slightly better job today. I gave him an LR-sized branch to play with hoping that he could stick it into the water and play without actually having to stand in the water the way he likes to when throwing mud and rocks. What helped more was that he was interested in digging with the shovel. He's never played with one before, but seemed to know exactly what to do with it. Scoop mud and throw, right?

A very messy 15 minutes later, I dragged him away from the water. More tears, but I took him through a small section of woods and into an open grassy field. (Learning from previous mistakes, I knew a few laps around the grass would solve the muddy shoes issue.) There was a small slope which he played on for a long time. He was practicing running up and down it. I would say "up, up, up, up, up!" and he would walk up the slope. Then I'd call "down, down, down," and he'd coming running back down. It's the first time I've seen him close to running. Like a nervous skier, when he'd start going too fast, he'd veer off to the side and point his toes uphill to stop the momentum. Sometimes he fell, but he definitely enjoyed it. I got this last picture of him as he wobbled down toward me. The blur in his hand is the magic yellow shovel from the other day.

Side note: It's a lake, not a pond as I wrote in the last post. It's the Lower Mystic Lake. Oh, and I love, love, love the last picture in this post.

Not a Bath

Today I went for a run with LR in the stroller. I wanted to see just how "all terrain" it was. So I ran down to the pond and found some shoreline where LR and I could play. As soon as I took him out of the stroller I realized my mistake. He ran to the water's edge and then tried to walk out onto the pond. He claimed it was a bath and that he could go ahead and get in. I took off his mittens and let him touch the water to see how cold it was. We said and signed cold for a few times. Then he picked up some mud with a rock. I picked up a good sized rock and threw it into the water a few feet away and said "spuh-loosh!" That made him giggle, so he tried it and I made the same sound. His giggles got louder and I'm sure he could have done that all day, but he kept trying to walk into the pond and I kept having to dissuade him. Eventually, I got tired of the game and picked him up to take him back to the stroller. Poor kid started crying and if it hadn't been for the little, yellow, plastic shovel we found on the shore, he probably would have been inconsolable. When I got to the stroller I realized that I didn't want his muddy shoes inside the fleece footmuff. I thought at first I could wipe them off, but I ended up just taking them off and putting them under the stroller. Then I didn't want to put his mittens on over his muddy hands and in retrospect I should have because his hands were very chilly when we got back. About halfway back I checked on him to see if he'd forgiven me, but the stony glare was enough to tell me that he was still furious that I hadn't let him stay there forever. I am, however, thankful to the little kid who left the shovel and I promise that next time we go to the pond, I'll leave a little plastic bucket or shovel for the next child to find.

Y-I-M-O-Y-I-N-E-S

We spell "Yimoyines" together every time we come in the door because we have a wooden sign with the letters of our name painted in bright colors hanging on the inner door to our apartment. It doesn't matter if my arm is about to fall off from the weight of our Little Rugger, he won't let me get upstairs without spelling our name. Daddy ran through it with him tonight when we came in from dinner with our friends. Sometimes it's a really nice, welcoming way to enter the house.

A New Way to Shop

Last Friday LR and I went to a playgroup in the afternoon with 4 other moms and their kids. It was a ton of fun and the host had a slew of toys that we'd never seen or played with before. For me, it was like test driving a bunch of toys before buying. I watched him pull carts, play with doors, try to take apart the kitchen, etc. I left with a much better idea of what to get him for Xmas. At one point the hostess' son climbed into my arms while I was sitting on the floor and stayed there hugging me for twenty minutes. At first I thought he must have mistaken me for his mother, but it turns out he's just a cuddler. I thought, "how nice it would be to have a cuddler." LR's not really a cuddler. Climber, sort of. Monkey, definitely, but not a cuddler.

Speaking of being a climber, today I came in from Costco, set him down on the safe side of the gate along with a 12 roll package of paper towels. While taking off my coat, LR climbed onto the paper towel package and smiled at me over the top of the gate. The gate was only up to his waist, if that. *sigh* Still hoping he hasn't really put 2 and 2 together on the whole "how to create a stepstool" thing.

He's latest fun noise to make sounds like gasping for breath followed by wheezing. Since my mother and brother had/have asthma, I obviously find it hoo-larious. My blood pressure went through the roof no less than 3 times today. I'm curious if he's doing it now just to see my eyes bug out of my head. Oh, and he took a digger while trying to climb into the many boxes around our house and now has a big bruise in the center of his forehead. That's okay though, it compliments the yellowish one above his eyebrow.

Grandparents Weekend

We had a great visit this weekend from Grandad K and Grandma Nese. They flew in Friday night and spent Saturday and most of Sunday horsing around with LR. He was more than happy to show them his new tricks and they brought him the infamous TMX Elmo for Xmas. He was wary, but obviously liked Elmo's laughing. He tries to press the foot or the belly to instigate a wiggly routine, but he often steps back when the dance begins. Grandad said it might be a toy to put away for a few months and we might do that.

Sunday LR got into the football day groove with Daddy's Patriots shirt. Look at that game face! Unfortunately, the Pats didn't fare so well against the Dolphins, but it didn't keep LR from being enthusiastic. While taping the game, we drove the grandparents out to their plane. I wish I had had the camera. From the time we drove onto the tarmac to unload the luggage, LR was signing and making the sound for plane. I don't know that I'd ever seen him use the sign so clearly. We all took turns chasing him away from the propeller of both the grandparents' plane and the plane parked next to them. He enjoyed running under the wings and forcing us to duck walk after him. He can move now too, so duck walking quickly was more of a task than it's been before.

Blankey

Picture above is of LR at Daddy's office holiday party. He ran into a cube and started answering phones - a natural businessman. "If you could get me those TPS reports, that would be great."

All of my siblings and I had security blankets. My older brother and I had a single security blanket which we loving called "blankey." I believe my brother still has his, but I lost mine in sixth grade during a sleep over. I still have the faded matching pillow on my nightstand. My mother thought she was staying a step ahead with my younger brother by making two identical red bordered blankets for him, one for trips and the other for bed. Her new system broke down when he ended up wanting both all the time. My step-mother tried a different strategy and bought sixteen similar but not identical small blankets so that my little sister would never be without. She was right, my sister wasn't attached to a single blanket, but certainly wanted more than one "wuggie" at a time. She often wanted 4 or so in the crib and more than one in the car.

When LR came along I didn't know whether or not he'd want a pacifier (he didn't), a snugly toy (no one in particular), or a blanket. He actually took to his blanket because of my fears, not his. I started putting the blanket crocheted by Gigi in the crib for warmth before he was coordinated enough to free himself should he get tangled. I chose the crocheted blanket because it had holes in it for him to breath through. I guess it worked because twice I went to him in the middle of the night with the thing wound tightly around his head. It scared me, but not enough to take it out of the crib. (Just enough to buy a video monitor!)

The blanket spends most of the day in the crib, but on occasion he brings it out with him after a nap. Especially if he's feeling like he didn't get closure on that nap. So he drags it around the house and lays on the floor with it. To put him to bed, I often start with just the bottle. Halfway through he'll push it away. I ask him if he wants his blanket and he smiles. I put him into his crib, he grabs the blanket, stands back up, and I pick him up again. We go back to the glider and he takes the rest of the bottle, all the time working his arms like a taffy pull, manipulating the blanket over and under, then inside out and over the head. He loves sticking his fingers through the holes, stretching the blanket, and despite my fears that it wouldn't hold up under the abuse, it's yet to unravel a single thread.

As a backup, I've added another blanket, crocheted in similar colors by my mother's Australian cousin. He's accepted it as an alternate when his main one is in the wash, although when presented with both he always chooses Gigi's first. He hasn't insisted on both yet. On top of that, Gigi is making a smaller version of his current blanket for travel. I think we've got our bases covered, but like my younger siblings, I have no doubt that he'll outsmart us at some point.

Disney (cont.)

To pick up where we left off, on Sat night we went out to dinner with Grandparents H, Grandad Y, and Uncle Corbin. LR showed his distaste for the restaurant by refusing the food and scrambling to get out of his highchair. We tried to distract him, but he was having none of it. Daddy and I took turns taking him outside to run around while everyone finished their meals. I know Grandparents H were surprised since he'd been awesome at meals up to that point... with the exception of barfing right after his first bowl of mac n' cheese at Disney.

Sunday we all got up nice and early and headed over to the car rental. Daddy, LR, and I drove across Florida to Tampa to see Gigi and her family. LR recognized Gigi right away and gave her a great big smile and a hug. It was too short a visit, but we had a great time on the playground near her house and running around with all the toys Gigi borrowed from Daddy's cousins. LR stayed completely entertained and couldn't get enough of her dogs. He stood next to Gigi's two terriers yelling "doggie!" for approximately the first 10 minutes we were there. Gigi put the dogs out on the deck for their safety for the rest of the visit. At one point, LR got ahold of Boomer's tail and Boomer turned and snapped at him. We were a little more careful after that. Boomer hasn't been feeling well, so it was probably better that we not let LR abuse him while we were there.

On Monday we visited Gigi's family, but unfortunately all the fresh food we gave LR at Gigi's house caused a nasty case of diaper rash and he cried most of the time we were visiting. Luckily, LR got to meet his great grandparents before he got upset. Once we discovered the problem, we slathered LR with ointment, but he was still unhappy for the next half hour or so. We took him home and popped him in the bath and he was back to his old self. It was a rough day though. Later that night we headed back to Orlando and dropped off the car. LR was pretty cranky that night and none of us slept well since we had to be up at 5am to catch our flight home. The shuttle that took us to the airport was packed with sleepy kids, teens, and parents, all with hoodies pulled up over their heads while they tried to sleep during the pre-dawn drive. LR was alert and happy to yell out "cah, cah!" for each and every car we passed and "ba, ba!" for the buses on the drive. I'm sure of seat neighbors were none too pleased, but it was tough to contain his enthusiasm for vehicles. He slept the whole flight home and we spent the rest of the day recovering.

To clarify an earlier post about LR's kicking skills, I'm serious, he likes to dribble the ball when we go to the park. Grandma H said she thought I meant he ran into the ball and inadvertently sent the ball forward from his feet, knees, or belly. She was surprised during our Disney adventure to see him purposely kick a ball across the room. He also says "kick" when he kicks a ball. It's his only verb. I took him out in 30 degree temperature yesterday to kick the ball around the fields opposite our house and he had a great time. He didn't try to get his hat or mittens off either and it was our first try with the hat. I realized two things though: 1. mittens will need to be washed after each outing and 2. always carry tissues! I should have learned #2 from my mom.

Pictures from our adventures will be posted soon. I probably didn't convey what an awesome time we had in my attempt to just get down the events from the trip. LR was overwhelmed some of the time with all the new stuff, but otherwise it was a great vacation.

Side note: Yesterday I came home to LR licking the gate at the top of the stairs. Then he licked everything he could find the rest of the day. I guess it's better than the biting he's been doing for the past few weeks.

Disney, Cars, and Ice Cream

So on the Tues before Thanksgiving, Daddy, LR and I boarded a plane for Orlando. Unlike our flight to Denver 2 months ago, we packed plenty of new books and toys to keep LR occupied. He slept for the last bit of the flight, but probably enjoyed the matchbox cars Daddy had picked out for him most of all. They managed to lose the red car inside the seat in front of them. I guess there was a hole in the seat pocket. Oh well.

LR warmed up to Grandma and Grandad H right away especially when they pulled out a toy train and plane for him when we got to the room! So many hours of fun! Who needs Disney? (He also very much enjoyed turning on and off the TV while we were trying to watch something. The TV always went back to the Disney tour channel, so it drove us a little nutty) We settled in a spent out first night in the Saratoga Springs resort. Wed we all went to the Animal Kingdom and LR picked up a couple of new signs for animals on the safari ride. He saw and signed "elephant" which he accompanied with an adorable elephant sound. I admit that I don't make a particularly convincing elephant sound, but when I heard him make the same sound, I knew what he meant. It's true what they say... I know exactly what LR is saying and signing, but to someone else, I'm sure it sounds like he just says "ca" and "ba" all day. He signed "zebra" and "tiger" when he saw them and even brushed his head for "lion." I was pretty surprised by the number of words/signs he connected to animals that day. We wandered into the kiddie ride area called "Dinoland," but LR really didn't like the looks of the Dumbo-like triceratops ride. He held on tight and tried to get us to go as far away as possible from the mysterious flying, blue monsters. I guess it would be pretty scary to a toddler.

On Thur, we hit the Magic Kingdom and first ran to Pirates of the Caribbean. We got on the ride quickly. LR was a little overwhelmed during the scary, dark first bit, but as soon as we got to the boats and the town, he was fine. Next we went over to fantasy land where we planned on spending most of the day. LR enjoyed the teacups and then we rode Peter Pan. We finished up with Buzz Lightyear which LR definitely liked since he got to press buttons on the car console. The grandparents sent us into a quick movie on our own while they wandered around with LR which was very nice of them. He napped for a short period in the park, but the strollers no longer recline the way they used to, so he napped a little awkwardly. Not sure why Disney chose to go with these poorly designed strollers, but I'm sure there's a reason.

Mid afternoon on Thur, we decided to take a break and have some ice cream. LR made his most impressive leap when he adapted his sign for "ice" to make a new sign for "ice cream." For "ice" he would point to his mouth and tap his teeth which is not actually the sign for ice, but I know what he means, so I don't have any interest in correcting him. The sign for "ice cream" is a pretty simple mimic of licking an ice cream cone. LR heard the similarity in the word and started licking his pointer finger which he usually used to tap his teeth with. At the same time he makes the "eh, eh" sound as if licking something. It's very cute and very clear what he's talking about. Since learning the sign he's asked for ice cream every day since. I'm such a pushover that he often gets it...

Friday, the grandparents gave us our early Xmas gift and sent us into Epcot on our own for a Segway tour of the Lands. It was awesome. We trained for a half hour and then we entered the Lands before they opened to the public. Segways are really amazing and easy to use. We loved every minute of it. LR apparently had a nice day with the grandparents and had no complaints when we got home. We we arrived, we all decided to test out the resort pool and thanks to a very friendly toddler entry point into the pool, LR loved it. The water was bathtub warm and he took to it quickly. Unfortunately, the air temperature was pretty cold and the wind made it downright chilly when we got out of the tepid water. Still, it was a great introduction for LR.

Sat we hit the pool again in the morning and then Daddy met up with Grandad Y and Uncle Corbin for a round of Disney gold. The grandparents, LR and I hit Downtown Disney and LR and I got to take a ride on the small carousel and the kiddie train ride. LR wasn't sure about the carousel, but loved the train. "Train" is still one of his favorite words and signs.

Still more to talk about with the trip, but I'm done for tonight!

I owe, I owe

I know, I owe you all a giant blog post which covers the past 2 weeks. I'm working on it. In the meantime, here's a picture of LR and me on the teacups at Disney World during our Thanksgiving vacation to Florida. This is a picture of the beginning of the ride. By the end he was smiling, I promise, but that picture wasn't as good of me. :)

Family Weekend

On Friday Daddy's brother K and his wife J drove up from NJ to stay with us for the weekend. It was beautiful and still light out when they arrived, so we headed out to the park where they got to see LR enjoy the slides and swings. He was happy to get out of the house and they got to stretch their legs a bit. Then Daddy's other brother (also K, so we'll call him Uncle Corbin), came in late, so didn't get to see LR in the evening. LR had an awful night that night and we got very little sleep. I gave him Motrin, so I'm not sure what the problem was. Luckily it didn't seem to affect him too much on Sat.

LR got to play with his uncles and aunts all day. We walked to the grocery store and hit a playground on the way. He was well behaved until he woke up from his afternoon nap. Then he was a little whiny until bedtime. The loss of sleep finally caught up with him, but still, he's easy to distract so he was never fussy for long.

LR now points to his teeth and says "tee" every time I open the bathroom door. He loves to brush his teeth and gets irritated when I take it away from him after 5 or 10 minutes. I hate the way he gags himself intermittently with it, but I love his dedication to oral hygiene. I sign "finished" and then we rinse the toothbrush off and I pry it out of his ridiculously strong little fist. So like the bath, I now sign "later" to him each time he asks for it. I let him brush first thing in the morning and then at night after the bath. Today I even gave in and let him brush after lunch.

LR showed off his dribbling skills, both oral and soccer. He says "kick" when he kicks a ball... or toy car... or person. I don't remember the sign for "kick," but he wouldn't be looking at me anyway when he kicks a ball, so I'm not worried about it. He's actually drooling a little less than last week, but I don't think that molar has completely come through yet. I can feel it just under the surface which must still be bothering him since he woke at 4:30 this morning. Hoping for slightly more sleep with fewer interruptions tonight.

Pa-pa! - It's not what you think

I had to go to the cell phone store yesterday because apparently cell phones don't do well when saturated with drool. Who knew? Anyway, LR and I walked into the store and he immediately ran to the kid-friendly height display cabinets and started pulling out all the packaged accessories. As I redistributed his war chest, he started signing "phone" by touching his middle finger to his cheek. So while LR overwhelmed me with his brilliance, Sprint underwhelmed me with their customer service. I was told to wait while one staff member fixed a computer and the other completed a task for another customer who obviously wasn't present since I was the only person in the store. Why do cell phone companies continue to punish customer loyalty? I don't get it. Guess I have a "kick me" sign because I signed up for another 2 years. *sigh*

So the Dr. Seuss pop-up book now has its own word. We don't have "ma ma" or "da da" yet, but this special book gets "pa pa" for "pop-up." He wants to read it all the time now and it's definitely showing some wear-and-tear. I may have to add it to my pile of board books that will need replacing before baby #2 comes along.

After 3 nights of restless sleep for all 3 of us (LR kept waking up for 2 hours on average), we finally figured out that he was in pain. I gave him a dose of Motrin before bed last night, put him to bed at 7:30 and I didn't hear from him again until 6:30 this morning. Awesome! Had a play date with his same-age friend R today and R's mother showed me that he had just broken a molar. I checked LR's mouth and sure enough, his back right gum is super swollen. That accounts for the horrible sleep. More Motrin tonight and fingers crossed.

Mostly Pics

We had a great day in the park yesterday and we got a lot of good pictures. So I'll skip the editorial today, except to say that his new sign and word is "clock."

Seriously, a soccer star in the making. He loves dribbling the ball around the field. Can't say I blame him.

Signing "car" because a car just drove by. His hands should be fists, but he's keepin' it real, yo.

Tickle wars with Mommy.

Come this way, Daddy!

Signing "ball" for the camera since we'd just put it in the wagon.

Listening to the water. Daddy got this pic of LR at his most peaceful. He's totally content to rest his head on my hand this way with his ear submerged. I've blogged about it before and thought you might want to see it. It's really adorable.

It's a big world out there, my friend!

Bigger Steps

LR had a great morning with the nanny yesterday and when I got home we packed up and headed out for lunch with his friend R and R's mom. LR gets restless in restaurant highchairs. I can't keep him entertained with food or toys. R on the other hand could sit in his seat endlessly. R's mom, much more prepared than I, handed out toy cars to both boys. LR decided he wanted the bigger car, so traded with R. R didn't seem to mind.

After lunch we hit Old Navy and picked up a few rugby shirts for LR. It's not just that we love the sport, he just looks adorable in them. While shopping I realized I was starting a migraine. It was mild, so we took our time checking out and getting back to the cars. I let LR walk in the parking lot a bit, but he found a shopping cart he wanted to push and when I finally had to pick him up, he had a hissy fit. By the time we got to the car he had recovered. At home I took some migraine meds and we played for awhile. The headache intensified, so I turned on the TV and asked LR to play by himself. He kindly obliged. Then I tried to get him down for a nap 3 times. He finally went to sleep and I took more meds. He woke up an hour later and when I went to get him, the head rush was intense. I brought him back to the couch where he fell back asleep in my arms. I called Daddy and asked him to come home to help me. After hanging up, I put LR on a blanket that had been sitting on the floor and ran to the bathroom. Luckily LR stayed asleep and Daddy arrived ten minutes later and sent me to bed where I passed out while they had dinner. This is the first migraine (with the exception of the spinal fluid leak post delivery of LR) that made me throw up.

While being sick in the bathroom I couldn't stop thinking of what I would have done if he had been awake. What do you do if you physically can't take care of your child? It makes the prospect of having another baby even scarier. My doctors have given me the go-ahead despite higher than normal counts in some of my Lupus blood work. If I flare while pregnant, how can I take care of LR? When I talked to R's mother later in the day she said I should have called her and she's probably right. I have a lovely woman downstairs with her 3 kids and plenty of nice neighbors. I realize that I don't have much of an emergency plan in place and that we should probably think of one.

On a lighter note, LR is still impressing us with more signs and words each day. He's signing "phone" and "train" now. He touches his cheek for phone and he wrings his hands for train. Our phones can also act as walkie-talkies, so I've been calling LR and chatting with him from a room away. He doesn't talk back much, but he does listen.

In the bath this evening, he put his head on my hand on the surface of the water again. He stayed there for awhile and then moved on to something else. A few minutes later he did it again, but all by himself. He got on all fours and put the side of his head in the water. Daddy and I watched in amazement as he turned his head and blew bubbles for the first time and then put his ear back in the water. I'm going to look into swimming lessons this weekend. I don't want to miss this opportunity, this small window in time when he's not afraid of the water.

He amazed me this evening during book time before bed. I showed him a book I had been saving until he's older a few days ago. It's a Dr. Seuss pop-up book. It goes through 7 different Dr. Seuss books and is beautiful, but he's too aggressive with the delicate pop-ups, so I let him touch just a few of the sturdier pieces. He loves it to death and has wanted to see it every time he spies it in the bookshelf the past few days. I put it away this morning hoping he'd forget about it for a little while. At bedtime I read him "Each Peach Pear Plum" and then "Jamberries." Then I pulled out "Hop on Pop." Halfway through the book he turned toward his bookshelf, signed and said "book, book." I assured him I was reading him a book and finished it. He turned to his bookshelf and signed again while whining. I let him off my lap and he toddled over to the shelf. I realized he wanted the pop-up book, but it wasn't until I sat down that I realized he had recognized the drawings from "Hop on Pop" as Dr. Seuss which reminded him of the pop-up book. Cool, no? Or is it more amazing that Dr. Seuss drawings are that recognizable. Either or, it was a neat moment and both Daddy and I have seen big leaps in cognitive development recently. In other words, he's wicked smaht!

Sick But Happy

LR napped for a total of an hour on Monday, a half hour in the morning and another half hour in the afternoon. It certainly wasn't enough, but despite the runny nose and (I suspect) sore throat, he was pretty happy. Tuesday was better, but he still didn't sleep much during the night. I slept even less. Last night was great. He actually slept through and seemed to be recovering today. It was a mild cold and all 3 of us got it, so it was virulent but not vicious.

LR has picked up a few new signs in the last few days. He seems to have a handle on zebra, giraffe, and book. He says "ba" for bath, bottle, ball, and book, so the signs help me differentiate. Today he stayed underfoot while I tried to make a pasty (meat, carrot, potato pie). If I'm anywhere else in the house he's fine playing by himself, but as soon as I try to do the dishes or cook, he's grabbing at my legs and - this is new - biting my jeans. Biting has gone from a game to a more serious call for attention. Not sure what to do about it, but hoping it's just a phase and will go away soon.

About a week ago he started picking up the books next to our bed and thumbing through them. They're my "Chronicles of Narnia" paperbacks and he's generally very gentle with them. He runs his thumb across the pages of the first one he picks up and then tries each one in the series in turn. A born reader? We hope so.

It's Samba Time

LR's latest obsession is the samba CD we got as a gift during our one year baby group reunion gift swap. Actually, it was a music set which came with a maraca, a tambourine, castanets, and a whistle. He loves track 2 on the samba CD so much that he signs "again" just as the song finishes so that I'll play it again. I put it on repeat and must have heard it a dozen times today. Usually he likes to dance by himself, but apparently the samba is a partner dance and he insists on being held while wiggling and squiggling in our arms. He also kicks. Makes the dance extra fun.

Speaking of his love of music and dancing, last night we walked with our friends D&H and their son King J to a pub in Davis Sq where we listened to a bluegrass band play for an hour. We got there early to have some food and were definitely given the stink-eye by a few patrons. I felt out of place bringing a stroller into the pub and was afraid I had the wrong night or misunderstood my friend who had told me about the band. Luckily other families started to appear within twenty minutes. The band was wonderful and LR spent most of the time standing and dancing in front of them. The lead singer tried to give him a high five, but he ran away. It was very cute. We sat next to a dad who leaned over and asked Daddy what our son's name was. Turns out the six year old sitting next to him had the same name. We thought our name choice was pretty unique and since this is the first boy I've met with the same name since LR was born, I feel pretty secure in our decision.

Today we had a play date with our friend and her son R. R was having a rough day so he was a little fussy which rubbed off on LR a bit. They had a little spat over the walker, but once R's mom put it in the bedroom it became a non-issue. The boys sat and shared Cheerios, sippy cups, and toys. They're just doing parallel play, but it's still fun to watch them interact when they have to. We found out that they both like to hang out in the laundry room. Not sure what it is about that room that draws them. Anyway, toward the end of the visit, both boys were starting to get tired, so R's mom sat them down to read. They were totally engaged and I managed to snap a quick picture of them enjoying Pat the Bunny.

After his afternoon nap, LR was super cranky. Inspired by his friend maybe? We don't know, but he spent some quality time by himself behind the rocker in his room. Don't know why he decided to hide, but Daddy and I thought it best not to disturb him. He was rediscovering all the noises his walker makes. (I've had the sound turned off on it for a month now.) He watched me come in and take the picture, but didn't seem phased and didn't come after the camera for once. Not sure what was going on this evening, but the bedtime routine was tough. He cried when Daddy put him down, but then all of a sudden the crying got super intense. I was afraid he had hurt himself, so I went in to see what was wrong and I found the problem immediately. I opened the door and stumbled into his blankey on the floor. If there were any lingering questions about his attachment to the blankey Gigi made him, they're gone now.

Listening to the water

LR has been so much better this week. Last week the Roseola really bowled him over. This week he was a gem. Today we went to a play group after I got home from work. He enjoyed the new toys more than the company of the other kids, but it was good to see how he interacts when he has to. For example, if another toddler was standing between him and the toy he wanted, did he gently push the child aside, or did he just try to march through. So many choices... He and his friend R ran around stealing push carts from each other. He also found a great egg maraca. He also discovered the hostess' broom! It wasn't anywhere near the other toys. Is it a family thing? His cousin Bud is obsessed with mops and brooms.

At the playgroup I asked other moms about switching from bottle to cup. Some said it was easy, others have yet to try it. I got my opportunity to try as soon as we got home. He took most of a bottle and I thought he was tired, but he perked right up and played for another hour. Finally he seemed tired enough to nap, so we read in the glider in his room for awhile and then I rocked him. He struggled to sit up, so I turned him away from me, but kept him in my lap. He leaned back and within a few minutes was asleep. I put him in the crib and he slept for an hour and a half. Hoping we can cut out at least 1 bottle a day to start with.

After his nap he was a little cranky, but recovered quickly and played with his cars which he always accompanies with car noises now. He's trying to figure out the difference between cars, trains, planes, trucks, bikes, and boats. He was hungry well before I got dinner on the table, so I handed him crackers while I was working in the kitchen. His pronunciation of cracker isn't bad. Sometimes it's "crack" and sometimes we get a second syllable out of him. He kept signing and saying more, so I hurried along his veggie corndog which he meticulously dipped in ketchup with every bite. Ketchup dipping is new this week. We started with some home fries last week and he sort of got the concept, but often ended up sticking his whole hand in the ketchup and then licking it off. Tonight he demonstrated mastery of the condiment skill. It's one of those gateway skills, I'm sure.

At the end of dinner LR saw the ice in my water glass and signed "cold." He picked that sign up in the grocery store yesterday when I handed him a bag of frozen peas, corn, and carrots. So now he uses the "cold" sign for ice. I gave him a small piece of ice and he chewed on it. I don't mean he gummed it like babies do. He used his front 4 teeth and bit through the pieces of ice. It was gruesome to listen to. Once he finished that piece he asked for more. I gave him two more pieces before I offered him a mango popsicle. He tried it but wasn't so interested in it. He'd like to stick to his unflavored popsicles, thank you very much.

After dinner I asked what time it was and he signed "bath!" Bath time is more interesting now because he wants to rest his head on my hand in the water. He puts one ear to my hand and I put my hand just under the surface of the water. I'm guessing that he likes the sound of the water in his ear. He keeps his mouth open so that water comes in a bit, but he doesn't put his nose or eyes in, just chin, cheek, and chin on one side. Then he'll pick his head up and switch sides. Not sure what made him start doing it, but I'm fascinated by his fascination with the sound of water.

He seemed wide awake at 8, so Daddy started the bedtime routine at 8:15. He still wasn't sleepy, but Daddy put him in the crib anyway. I think he just crabbed himself out (20 minutes later). Not a great end to the day, but the day itself was great.