Monday, April 27, 2009
baby lumber jack
In college we would sometimes satisfy our late night munchies with a trip to a diner just outside of town called Fort Lou's. My friend Lilly would often order the "Lumberjack Special" which was an obscene amount of food, something like four pancakes, four eggs, bacon, sausage...the works. This morning little Eddie had a huge appetite and his breakfast reminded me of the Lumberjack. He ate pears, oatmeal, yogurt and avocado with a whole cooked egg yolk. Typically he just has oatmeal with bananas for breakfast so when he plowed through his pears and oatmeal and wanted more food I was shocked. He needs fuel for all the moving around he is doing!
Friday, April 24, 2009
discovery
As Eddie's mobility increases he is discovering more and more of his world at home. Over the past few days he has discovered the following: the air vents in the floor, the garbage can, the fireplace and the nozzle that opens the flue, the humidifier in his room, the humidifier in mommy and daddy's room, Marty's cage and the nylon straps on Marty's cage and the underneath of his crib, his high chair and kitchen counter stools. He has found a new appreciation/love for Marty as he can crawl over to her and grab her (surprising, he actually "pets" her and rarely grabs her fur hard) and sometimes she will respond by licking him and then he laughs. Sometimes she gets annoyed and walks away. He also likes our shoes and slippers, and since I view these items as being pretty dirty I try to make sure all the shoes are picked up and placed in a basket we have by the door. But I am sure that before long he will discover the basket too.
raising an introvert
Am I raising Eddie to be an introvert? I cannot help but think this as I pick him up off the floor of the library and carry him out the door past the other mothers and smiling babies. He just was not happy. We sit there in the room waiting for class to start and instead of showcasing his newly acquired baby skills of crawling and patting and sitting up from being on his stomach, he just sits there and stares and sucks on his toy. Five minutes into the class and he is fussing and crying. I look at his eyes and the dark circles under his eyes, getting redder by the minute, and after listening to two books be read, I decide that we are out. Must go home for a nap. Today at music class a similar scenario arises - the fussing, the eyes and the sitting there like a lump sucking on a rubber airplane - and yet I am compelled to stick to it and stay for the entire class solely because we attend with my neighbor and her daughter and I didn't want to bail on them. I repeat, "somebody's tired" and "somebody's gotta take a nappy." And yet when we come home Eddie just wants to play. Is he really becoming a full-out homebody, or is it my own sense of self that is projecting this feeling upon him?
As the weather warms up (today is a balmy 80 degrees - crazy!), I intend to get out with him more and more. The addition of Marty the dog has made doing so more of a challenge because she hates to be left home alone, as in barks and whines whenever I leave. But I am slightly concerned that Eddie will be uber-introverted...never a positive thing in my opinion because social ineptitude is likely. Translation: he will be made fun of as a kid. And yet of course his thoughtfulness, focus and sensitive nature will be characteristics that I expect will remain throughout his life and shall be treasured...at least by those who love him.
As the weather warms up (today is a balmy 80 degrees - crazy!), I intend to get out with him more and more. The addition of Marty the dog has made doing so more of a challenge because she hates to be left home alone, as in barks and whines whenever I leave. But I am slightly concerned that Eddie will be uber-introverted...never a positive thing in my opinion because social ineptitude is likely. Translation: he will be made fun of as a kid. And yet of course his thoughtfulness, focus and sensitive nature will be characteristics that I expect will remain throughout his life and shall be treasured...at least by those who love him.
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
officially crawling...
Eddie started taking his first official crawls yesterday, April 21. When motivated, usually by a toy, he can get to anything he wants. Check out this video as we tried to capture his movement:
Friday, April 17, 2009
a future full of bruises
Eddie is a wild one. He has his first official bruise on his forehead from banging around in his crib. I realize that it is the first of many ailments and wonder how I will handle my son getting hurt throughout his life, my precious baby. He has already slammed his mouth on his high chair and has hit his head on the floor several times from tumbling over while sitting, and naturally he starts to cry and yet stops the minute I pick him up and kiss him. Amazing - a mommy's kiss truly has the power to heal. He is growing up. 8 months tomorrow. Here is an update on our wild one:
His attempts at crawling have progressed into a commando type stomach crawl. He can get to anything he desires now. He likes to maneuver himself over to his toy basket in his room and take out his toys one by one. His favorite items right now seem to be his hot air balloon, which used to be his mobile, a shapes puzzle from his Aunt Evie, a small rubber airplane bath toy and his red crab, blue crab. He also really loves books, especially the non-board book books - the board books he bites and sucks on, but the paper pages he likes to scrunch and rip. What is it about ripping paper that seems to thrill him? He loves the different textures of chairs, rugs and floors in general - his new thing is that he goes onto the wood floor and likes to pat and hit it. Sometimes he even puts his mouth to the floor. He also loves straps, like any nylon straps such as those on his changing table (which we have hidden now) and on his high chair. He is really grabbing at anything and everything now. You have to be careful what is within reach because he will try to snatch it. The funniest is on the changing table how he squirms, rolls over and grabs his lotion, wipes, diaper, everything. It has made changing him into a full out process. In the morning when I dress him I place him on the floor and let him play while doing so and sometimes it takes up to 45 minutes to get him fully dressed.
He smiles all the time and shows off his seven big teeth. He smiles at Marty, kisses, cameras, songs, amongst other things. He has started to grind his teeth, which is a pain-wrenching noise and sort of worrisome but I think it is just because he likes the feeling or the sound it makes and hopefully it is just a phase. He doesn't do it in his sleep, thankfully. In the past I wrote that it takes a lot to make Eddie laugh - that you have to earn a laugh. That has changed. Now he laughs a lot more frequently and sometimes even at himself. Tonight after his bath he farted and then laughed at himself - typical boy! Right now the things that make him laugh the most are when his dad takes his toy cars and vroom them over his body, when his dad tosses him in the air or hangs him upside down (ah, boys and their rough-housing) and when his mom does "itsy bitsy spider." He is officially ticklish.
He still flaps his hands around like lobster claws, especially when he is excited and sometimes while he is eating his solids or when he wants to eat. He also seems to find comfort in having his wrist flexed, like when he is up on his hands in crawling position, typically his right wrist will be flexed so that his palm is not on the floor, but rather the back of his hand is (you can see this in the most recent video posted). He sometimes does it with one of his hands while nursing too. The other thing he does with his hands now is bang, pat and hit, as in bang and hit his toys around (and his spoon on his dish), and splash in the bath. He carries this skill over into nursing time too, which is sort of funny because it seems like he is hitting my boob, but of course I know that he is not trying to hurt me. Speaking of hurting me, one question people have asked me is whether he bites me while nursing. It has only happened twice and both times made me sort of jump, but in general, no, he doesn't bite me, thankfully. I have noticed though that I can feel his teeth when he feeds during the middle of the night - it is usually towards the end when he is falling asleep but still trying to stay latched on. It is one reason that I am a tad thankful he is starting to sleep through the night more...although I must admit that the night feedings are a special time, a bonding time that I have thoroughly cherished.
He likes to eat, but he likes to play more...so feeding time often gets interrupted by his playing. He has recently eaten mango, hard cooked egg yolk, apple, celery root, potato, tofu and yogurt. I re-introduced yogurt and mix it with banana and he now likes it. Tofu is a no-go for now. I mix the egg yolk with avocado and he likes it. He really likes avocado and so I think I could mix anything with it and he would eat it. He typically eats 4 meals a day: breakfast is oatmeal with bananas or yogurt with banana or mango; then a veggie like squash or sweet potato or peas with a grain like rice or barley or millet; then another veggie and avocado; then avocado and a fruit. I am excited to start meats, poultry and fish...I am excited to introduce more foods and have more options to feed him. He drinks water with his meals - he drinks out of this silver cup that was mine when I was a baby. I have tried a sippy cup but all he does with it is chew on it and cannot seem to get water out of it...so I tried to drink from it and realized that it is way hard - these new "no spill" sippy cups should be re-named sucky cups because you have to suck so hard to get any water out at all...and hence, they suck.
Our Eddie is still our bomba, sometimes bomby and now I have been calling him tot-ie a lot...not sure why but maybe because he is looking more and more like a tot, a toddler, no longer like a little newborn.
His attempts at crawling have progressed into a commando type stomach crawl. He can get to anything he desires now. He likes to maneuver himself over to his toy basket in his room and take out his toys one by one. His favorite items right now seem to be his hot air balloon, which used to be his mobile, a shapes puzzle from his Aunt Evie, a small rubber airplane bath toy and his red crab, blue crab. He also really loves books, especially the non-board book books - the board books he bites and sucks on, but the paper pages he likes to scrunch and rip. What is it about ripping paper that seems to thrill him? He loves the different textures of chairs, rugs and floors in general - his new thing is that he goes onto the wood floor and likes to pat and hit it. Sometimes he even puts his mouth to the floor. He also loves straps, like any nylon straps such as those on his changing table (which we have hidden now) and on his high chair. He is really grabbing at anything and everything now. You have to be careful what is within reach because he will try to snatch it. The funniest is on the changing table how he squirms, rolls over and grabs his lotion, wipes, diaper, everything. It has made changing him into a full out process. In the morning when I dress him I place him on the floor and let him play while doing so and sometimes it takes up to 45 minutes to get him fully dressed.
He smiles all the time and shows off his seven big teeth. He smiles at Marty, kisses, cameras, songs, amongst other things. He has started to grind his teeth, which is a pain-wrenching noise and sort of worrisome but I think it is just because he likes the feeling or the sound it makes and hopefully it is just a phase. He doesn't do it in his sleep, thankfully. In the past I wrote that it takes a lot to make Eddie laugh - that you have to earn a laugh. That has changed. Now he laughs a lot more frequently and sometimes even at himself. Tonight after his bath he farted and then laughed at himself - typical boy! Right now the things that make him laugh the most are when his dad takes his toy cars and vroom them over his body, when his dad tosses him in the air or hangs him upside down (ah, boys and their rough-housing) and when his mom does "itsy bitsy spider." He is officially ticklish.
He still flaps his hands around like lobster claws, especially when he is excited and sometimes while he is eating his solids or when he wants to eat. He also seems to find comfort in having his wrist flexed, like when he is up on his hands in crawling position, typically his right wrist will be flexed so that his palm is not on the floor, but rather the back of his hand is (you can see this in the most recent video posted). He sometimes does it with one of his hands while nursing too. The other thing he does with his hands now is bang, pat and hit, as in bang and hit his toys around (and his spoon on his dish), and splash in the bath. He carries this skill over into nursing time too, which is sort of funny because it seems like he is hitting my boob, but of course I know that he is not trying to hurt me. Speaking of hurting me, one question people have asked me is whether he bites me while nursing. It has only happened twice and both times made me sort of jump, but in general, no, he doesn't bite me, thankfully. I have noticed though that I can feel his teeth when he feeds during the middle of the night - it is usually towards the end when he is falling asleep but still trying to stay latched on. It is one reason that I am a tad thankful he is starting to sleep through the night more...although I must admit that the night feedings are a special time, a bonding time that I have thoroughly cherished.
He likes to eat, but he likes to play more...so feeding time often gets interrupted by his playing. He has recently eaten mango, hard cooked egg yolk, apple, celery root, potato, tofu and yogurt. I re-introduced yogurt and mix it with banana and he now likes it. Tofu is a no-go for now. I mix the egg yolk with avocado and he likes it. He really likes avocado and so I think I could mix anything with it and he would eat it. He typically eats 4 meals a day: breakfast is oatmeal with bananas or yogurt with banana or mango; then a veggie like squash or sweet potato or peas with a grain like rice or barley or millet; then another veggie and avocado; then avocado and a fruit. I am excited to start meats, poultry and fish...I am excited to introduce more foods and have more options to feed him. He drinks water with his meals - he drinks out of this silver cup that was mine when I was a baby. I have tried a sippy cup but all he does with it is chew on it and cannot seem to get water out of it...so I tried to drink from it and realized that it is way hard - these new "no spill" sippy cups should be re-named sucky cups because you have to suck so hard to get any water out at all...and hence, they suck.
Our Eddie is still our bomba, sometimes bomby and now I have been calling him tot-ie a lot...not sure why but maybe because he is looking more and more like a tot, a toddler, no longer like a little newborn.
sleepy beepy
Eddie has been sleeping a lot lately. It all started this past weekend at Nanni and Gramps' house when he took two 3 hour naps in one day, something that he has never done before. This week he has been taking a nice solid nap in the morning, typically lasting for two hours and then he takes a good afternoon nap for 1.5 - 3 hours. Of course this is a good thing, and I hope it is a development that is here to stay. But it has sort of wrecked havoc on our class attendance. We were supposed to attend a library class on Wednesday at 11 a.m. but had to pass on that one when he fell asleep at 10 a.m. and didn't wake up until noon. And now today we should be at music class right now but he has been sleeping since 10:30 a.m. and is showing no sign of waking up soon. So I am sitting outside with the laptop enjoying this 65 degree day as the sun beats down on Marty and me.
Regarding nighttime sleep, he is also improving in that department too. He is still not consistently sleeping through the night, but does it every so often. On Thursday evening we put him to bed sort of early, around 6 p.m. because I went out with some friends, and Eddie said he played for a half hour and then cried for a half hour or so and fell asleep. When I texted him around nine o'clock the message said "Eddie is sleeping...Marty is crying" - my loyal dog is a basket case when I leave! And when I got home at quarter to 10, he was still sleeping soundly. Around 4 in the morning or so I naturally woke up and was a tad perplexed that little Eddie had never arisen to eat throughout the night. And then when big Eddie got up for work at 5 a.m. I told him so. So he went in the baby's room to check on him and gave him a little nudge. No movement. So, naturally being the paranoid first-timers we are, he gave him a bigger nudge to be sure he was still alive, and he woke up and starred at him with the most bizarre confused expression. Luckily he didn't seem too perturbed that we had awoken him and he (and I) got up at that early hour and started our day. Today he slept through until 4:30 a.m. and then I fed him and he went back to bed until almost 9 a.m. So, maybe he is growing or something...or as Dr. Weissbluth says, "sleep begets sleep"...maybe the good solid nighttime sleep means that he will take longer naps throughout the day.
Regarding nighttime sleep, he is also improving in that department too. He is still not consistently sleeping through the night, but does it every so often. On Thursday evening we put him to bed sort of early, around 6 p.m. because I went out with some friends, and Eddie said he played for a half hour and then cried for a half hour or so and fell asleep. When I texted him around nine o'clock the message said "Eddie is sleeping...Marty is crying" - my loyal dog is a basket case when I leave! And when I got home at quarter to 10, he was still sleeping soundly. Around 4 in the morning or so I naturally woke up and was a tad perplexed that little Eddie had never arisen to eat throughout the night. And then when big Eddie got up for work at 5 a.m. I told him so. So he went in the baby's room to check on him and gave him a little nudge. No movement. So, naturally being the paranoid first-timers we are, he gave him a bigger nudge to be sure he was still alive, and he woke up and starred at him with the most bizarre confused expression. Luckily he didn't seem too perturbed that we had awoken him and he (and I) got up at that early hour and started our day. Today he slept through until 4:30 a.m. and then I fed him and he went back to bed until almost 9 a.m. So, maybe he is growing or something...or as Dr. Weissbluth says, "sleep begets sleep"...maybe the good solid nighttime sleep means that he will take longer naps throughout the day.
Monday, April 13, 2009
my first easter
woke up with the sun. got into bed with mom for awhile and made a poop. got a new diaper but stayed in my pjs - I like to stay in my pjs. went downstairs and saw all the doggies. belle on the couch with aunt evie. ate oatmeal and bananas. played with Nanni. went back to bed and slept for three hours. put on my new sweater vest. dad called me Carlton. watched Gramps read the paper. ate my first egg yolk - mom mixed it with breast milk so it tasted good. played on the floor for awhile and worked on my upper arm strength. got to play with the forbidden fruit, the remote control. almost crawled. sat in my high chair and played with my toys. Nanni gave me a cookie. Mom took it away. I whined. Nanni gave me another cookie and I got pink sugar on my nose. Nanni let me play with pussywillows. listened to Marty cry because she had to stay in a cage while Belle got to roam around. watched Belle play with one of my toys, a penguin named Mo. took a good two hour nap. woke up and everyone was sitting around a table; I got to sit by the table too. we ate. I ate sweet potatoes. got dressed in a bunny suit and sat with my easter basket. everyone took photos of me. went outside for an easter egg hunt with Belle. was more fascinated by nature than the plastic eggs - touched tree branches, boxwood bush leaves and got my white socks dirty standing in the soil. back inside on the floor and played with some new toys that the Easter bunny gave me. watched the Masters. took a bath in the soaking tub. read a little Goodnight Moon. fell asleep. it was a good day.
here comes peter cottontail...
Happy Easter! We are still at Nanni and Gramps' house in WI but wanted to upload a quick image of Eddie in his bunny suit with his Easter basket...more to come.
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
Video of the Week
We've been taking small videos of Eddie trying to crawl all week to share with you...this one is our favorite because it shows off his physical skills and of course his adorable personality.
Sunday, April 5, 2009
through the night
Well, Eddie did it. He slept through the night for the first time, going to bed at 7 p.m. and not waking up until slightly before 7 a.m. We will see if this habit sticks.
Friday, April 3, 2009
a chill pill
I am internally repeating an expression from my own childhood: take a chill pill. I know that it is only normal to be uptight, obsessive and super anxious about your first child and everything that accompanies their development, health and overall well-being. But I am trying to listen to my inner voice and relax a tad. This winter I have been sort of paranoid about illness, wanting Eddie to stay as healthy as possible, naturally. And overall he has been really healthy. The two times so far that I have questioned his health in terms of having a cold, I am still uncertain whether he really did have a cold. Even just a few days ago when I wrote about his snotty nose, I thought I was confirming him having a cold, a.k.a. upper respiratory infection, but then after talking to other parents, it seems like he hasn't really had a cold after all. His slight cough could just be him clearing his throat. And his slight runny nose was honestly really slight...in comparison to the other runny nosed babies I see. Ok, onto my reasoning for the "chill pill" prescription.
The other day we went over to my neighbor's house. Her daughter, Nia, was born a week after Eddie. So we call them boyfriend and girlfriend and have been trying to get them together more. Nia is Cindy's third child and it is so apparent in the way she is so lackadaisical about everything - in a good way. We went over there and I brought a toy - Diggity Dan Dog - because I know that Eddie cannot go for a minute without mouthing something and I didn't know what baby playdate etiquette is: do you allow the other baby to saliva all over your kid's toys? Of course I wanted him to play with Nia's toys for the experience of newness but I wasn't sure if it was appropriate if he was drooling heavily and had had a runny nose this week. Cindy had also commented on Nia having a runny nose - she blamed it on the teething. But Nia's "runny nose" was nothing like Eddie's little boogers and crusty upper lip after naps. Her nose was releasing some royal snot, in the yellowish, greenish form. And Cindy would just clean it away with her hand or grab a tissue. Wow. I have never even touched a tissue to Eddie's delicate skin - we always use cloth diapers or wash cloths to whipe his face - so when she just did the deed with a harsh paper tissue I was a bit in awe. And the babies just played on, sucking on and biting all of the toys, of course sharing saliva, and hence germs. In the moment, I was totally okay with it and enjoying the commotion of a busy household with three kids and their friends. What was I going to do, refuse to let our kids interact because of some snot? It was only retrospectively as we returned home that I thought about what we had just experienced and how if I had let myself over analyze the germ-filled situation I could have inhibited a beautiful encounter. I thought about what I would do when the time comes for us to invite another baby over for a "play date" and what I will do afterwards, after our guest has saliva-ed all over our toys. I thought about this as I walked downstairs to our laundry room and added Diggity Dan Dog into the wash - after all, Nia did hold him for a bit. I hope that one day I can be like Cindy, a confident mother of many youngsters who juggles playdates, potty accidents, snotty noses, mounds of laundry and random small parts to various toys that somehow end up in small crevices throughout the house. Some day I will be chill. For now, I am a paranoid first-timer reminding herself to take a chill pill.
The other day we went over to my neighbor's house. Her daughter, Nia, was born a week after Eddie. So we call them boyfriend and girlfriend and have been trying to get them together more. Nia is Cindy's third child and it is so apparent in the way she is so lackadaisical about everything - in a good way. We went over there and I brought a toy - Diggity Dan Dog - because I know that Eddie cannot go for a minute without mouthing something and I didn't know what baby playdate etiquette is: do you allow the other baby to saliva all over your kid's toys? Of course I wanted him to play with Nia's toys for the experience of newness but I wasn't sure if it was appropriate if he was drooling heavily and had had a runny nose this week. Cindy had also commented on Nia having a runny nose - she blamed it on the teething. But Nia's "runny nose" was nothing like Eddie's little boogers and crusty upper lip after naps. Her nose was releasing some royal snot, in the yellowish, greenish form. And Cindy would just clean it away with her hand or grab a tissue. Wow. I have never even touched a tissue to Eddie's delicate skin - we always use cloth diapers or wash cloths to whipe his face - so when she just did the deed with a harsh paper tissue I was a bit in awe. And the babies just played on, sucking on and biting all of the toys, of course sharing saliva, and hence germs. In the moment, I was totally okay with it and enjoying the commotion of a busy household with three kids and their friends. What was I going to do, refuse to let our kids interact because of some snot? It was only retrospectively as we returned home that I thought about what we had just experienced and how if I had let myself over analyze the germ-filled situation I could have inhibited a beautiful encounter. I thought about what I would do when the time comes for us to invite another baby over for a "play date" and what I will do afterwards, after our guest has saliva-ed all over our toys. I thought about this as I walked downstairs to our laundry room and added Diggity Dan Dog into the wash - after all, Nia did hold him for a bit. I hope that one day I can be like Cindy, a confident mother of many youngsters who juggles playdates, potty accidents, snotty noses, mounds of laundry and random small parts to various toys that somehow end up in small crevices throughout the house. Some day I will be chill. For now, I am a paranoid first-timer reminding herself to take a chill pill.
10 to 6:40 and 7 to 4
These past two nights have been the longest stretches of time that Eddie has slept through the night. Two nights ago we put him down around 6:30, he woke up to eat around 10 p.m. and then didn't wake up until the morning! Last night he fell asleep around 7 p.m. and didn't awaken for a feeding until 4 a.m. I hope this is the start of something consistent, even though with sleep it seems like things are ever-changing. I am no longer waking up every three hours in a panic when I haven't heard him awaken and so it also means better sleep for me too!
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