4-14, Discovered someone's following...

Me and my Shadow: Frank Sinatra and Sammy Davis Jr.

My Shadow

By Robert Louis Stevenson 1850–1894

I have a little shadow that goes in and out with me,

And what can be the use of him is more than I can see.

He is very, very like me from the heels up to the head;

And I see him jump before me, when I jump into my bed.

The funniest thing about him is the way he likes to grow—

Not at all like proper children, which is always very slow;

For he sometimes shoots up taller like an india-rubber ball,

And he sometimes gets so little that there's none of him at all.

He hasn't got a notion of how children ought to play,

And can only make a fool of me in every sort of way.

He stays so close beside me, he's a coward you can see;

I'd think shame to stick to nursie as that shadow sticks to me!

One morning, very early, before the sun was up,

I rose and found the shining dew on every buttercup;

But my lazy little shadow, like an errant sleepy-head,

Had stayed at home behind me and was fast asleep in bed.

Silver Linings

It's been busy here, hence the no posting. I have about 6 drafts of stuff, most of which will be deleted because they are no longer relevant. I am still not used to that...everything changes pretty much weekly. The text I just deleted from the original "Hump day" (now renamed "Silver Linings"), was a blurb about Monster's first days care center experience, where he was going to stay while I taught at the center. That only happened for a week...which led to him slung up on my hip for the next week, and now this week it was sitter time, and next week it is a whole other arrangement (fortunately the final one, we need consistency!).

The last written post was Weaning, and now that's done. I'd like to brag that he's weaned in a week, muh haha ha! Kidding...I'm done with weaning. It wasn't working out and my gut says "no". Over any book or advice from whoever, I have come to trust my gut the most. The unpublished draft before weaning, was all about his sudden love of solids, which is out the door this week. I love that "This too shall pass", but not in regards to the positive changes.

After a long spell of waking at 7 am, (from the preferred wake time of 9ish) he's again sleeping in. Unfortunately, I'm not. We're all laid up with some mucousy sickness and after popping up for an early feeding, I couldn't get myself back to sleep, although it is much needed. I guess I get to have blog time, but then again, I wonder who is actually reading, besides Melissa and some spammer in China. All I know is that the quick and easy version of putting him down at night is over for now, usually it's followed by catching up on work or house cleaning that didn't get done all day, and the nights have gotten long and tiring, so I must enjoy the early morning calm now.

While he was growing more independent, he's back on my hip a heck of a lot these days. My left arm is seriously protesting the ongoing 20 lb Monster work out. Fortunately it worked up to 20lb. slowly over the past year, right? Silver linings...trying to find them! Although, a comment on this...Dr. Sear's remarked on how it was interesting children developed clingy behavior relative to becoming mobile. This suggests that mother nature kind of has a system of checks and balances for her little ones, making them  weary of wandering off once they are able to actually do so. It's the best way to appreciate the cling, IMO.

 I see this checks and balances system pop up a lot...Stefan has a way of avoiding dairy when I haven't caught it in food  plus his extended nursing leads me to believe his body "knows" what he needs. He still has a strong gag reflex and a tongue that just won't cooperate, but very few teeth,  making solids a challenge. I wonder if more teeth prompts the gag reflex and tongue action to leave. I'm keeping my fingers crossed on that one.

Now, just a blurb on recent things he does, for my baby journal part of this blog. I suppose it should be a separate post, but if I don't get this all accomplished in one entry, I don't think it will get done in the near future. I've already forgotten major details I never thought I would, like we we started Stefan in the crib full time...I thought it was 6 months yesterday, on more careful consideration, I think it was 11-12 months. Anyway...

...He's just started to figure that he can climb. Watching him attack stairs is absurd, since he just throws his foot up on them with a straight leg, usually at a precarious angle, not possible for any one to take on stairs without mommy hands to hold on to. His second climbing feat: the child's rocking chair. "Dear Stefan, please pick something with a stable base! Love, Mommy" I couldn't get my camera on quick enough before he realized what I was doing. He looked like a ballet dancer with his leg out stretching on the chair. He refuses to walk without assistance, still ever cautious, but I heard I was the same way.

He's become a lot more communicative, though I think I'm the only one who understands him. Then I feel like I'm crazy when I tell Sean what the baby is "saying" and Sean thinks I'm putting words in his mouth. I'll happily continue with my delusion, since I'm with him practically 24/7 and Sean, nor anyone else who thinks I'm crazy, isn't. So he stops whining when I guess what he wants. He knows all about his teeth, hungry belly, mommy milk, diaper,  random objects (he has a fixation on the phone, blinking lights and buttons and knows where each and everyone is around the house), and occasionally he throws in pointing to his head. [I wonder if he has migraines like me, :( .] He almost says "yes" and he says, "hello" when the phone rings. When I sing little phrases, he mimics the pitches sometimes.

He's become more aggressive with the cat, poking at him a lot more, pulling his tail and legs, pushing him off of things when he doesn't want him there or when he thinks the cat should take a sip from the tub faucet. The cat only drinks from the tub faucet, it's just that Stefan makes the kitty get into the tub more efficiently.

He's become more opinionated, arguing with me when I take things away, and then throwing a fit. Bring on the toddlerhood! I've come to terms with his baby toys being fun for only a day or two, especially when bottle openers abound. They are much more interesting and usually metal, which sounds better when it's smashed on the coffee table. Speaking of smashing, I've showed him how to play the drums! I don't know what I was thinking, but he holds the sticks and taps on my drum pad, and does this all on his own now. He has even learned to throw the sticks like a true Rocker. Check the video I've posted.

Final tidbit: He LOVES Miso! And tofu. And some seaweed. Onion is the other favorite. Luckily Miso soup contains them all. We now order him his own bowl when we have sushi takeout. I was sick of him eating all of mine! If he isn't constantly presented with a full spoon, he throws a fit.

So that is all I can recollect right now. The squawker is up anyway...

STTN

Sleep Through The Night. Dirty little words. A coveted goal, if unreached by a certain age (usually at only a couple months old parents start this brag), your a Parent Fail. I used to fess up how he didn't STTN, and how he took hours to put down some nights, and yes, I am a firm believer in parenting to sleep. Then I'd receive a litany of advice focusing around letting him cry, ignoring xyz, etc. Now, especially at a year, I just lie... "he sleeps soundly. All the way, every night."

The truth is that he wakes, usually 1-2 times now, and half the time, he has fallen back asleep before I poke my head in to see why he's crying. That is a fabulous transition from waking every two hours, not much more than two months ago. Once we moved away from co-sleeping, we were both able to get more solid hours of sleep. I'll brag about how that transition occurred in a future post. Some nights, he doesn't wake at all until the early morning. Most mornings, if it's light out when he's up, I coax him into bed with me for the feeding and squeeze an hour or two more sleep out of him: it's beautiful! The best part, even better than STTN, is that for about 3 nights in a row, plus a few more prior, but not consecutively, he has gone to bed with NO, I repeat NO fussing. Please don't let that jinx me!

A wise friend, who happens to be a colleague and my boss says, "It's not who they are, it's where they are." It's so amazing that where they are changes over night. I'll never get over that!

Hurray for snow days!

We've officially had enough snow days for me to catch up on work (I have had my current lessons prepared for a couple of weeks now), house (I'm ahead of the dishes!), and paying attention to baby (instead of fighting him to occupy himself while I accomplished the aforementioned). Even cooler, tomorrow is a snow day that I won't have to wake up at 6 am to decide if it is safe to drive, or fret over being down on the shore while snow accumulates, and I actually get to have it be a snow day without all that other stuff hanging over my head. I have 2 goals: write a work blog entry and chill with the baby. Oh yeah, and recuperate from this stupid cold. I actually got Stefan to nap with me today, it was beautiful, and restful. Enough about my accomplishments. I'm so psyched I am in front of a computer in a timely fashion to record Stefan's accomplishments.

Recently, I think he's either been signing "milk" or waving. The jury is still out as he doesn't do the hand motions enough to attribute to either. Which ever it is, it's a new development and either would be cool.

Today he started voluntarily walking while only holding one of our hands. Another step toward independence, and cleaner hands.

Today when I asked if he was hungry and wanted food in his belly, he pointed to his stomach. I did it a couple of times, same result:). Then while we read the 12 days of Christmas (illustrated with Anne Gedes babys) we found a baby putting a mallet in his mouth. I drew Stefan's attention to it and he too pointed to his mouth.

He's started trying to put socks and shoes on by himself. OK that only means touching them to his feet, but I'm excited he knows where the clothing goes.

That is all I can remember for now. Time to have a snow night!

The Eves

Thanksgiving Eve, aka Scott's birthday, Stefan developed his "hunch back" crawl.
 
The Eve of his birthday, he started saying, "Dad"...a lot.

Christmas Eve....nothing.
But, 2 days later, he started eating on his own. Since then, I've relinquished the spoon, stripped stain-able clothing off of him, and let him go to town on what ever the special is for the night. Shepard's pie is still a fav. and now tacos are at the top of the list.

New Year's Eve, he discovered potato chips and played with a new cat.  So nothing new, but he hung out fabulously well at our friends' house well past normal bed times:), which certain people can attest to being a great accomplishment.

Pooh Corner

(A delayed post from November)

I had been camping out on the couch all week, battling my first sickness of the cold season, not likely my last either. Stefan was forced to entertain himself quite a bit over this time. He had just started standing while holing a few days ago, and now for the first time, practiced walking back and forth carefully along the coffee table. Now was the time where he'd be free of mom's hovering, although I think I was more excited about that than he was. He grew tired of this game and got himself to the floor (via Mom), and headed over to the fire place to bash something I'd rather him not bash.

A side note: a couple of days ago, mid "pulling up" to stand at the coffee table, he had gotten stuck. He was still not able to completely pull himself up alone yet, which worked out, because the random position in which he was stuck became his crawling pose; arms in a traditional way, one leg folded in front of himself, aligned in an odd perpendicular fashion, the other leg, straight with no knee touching the floor, propelled his weeble body forward from his foot. BASH BASH BASH!!!

Oh yeah BASHING...so Stefan was over at the fireplace doing dangerous things, Sean was on the couch next to me, not getting up to stop him from doing dangerous things, and I was too sick to be alive.

"Stefan, go get Pooh." I moaned. I had no idea where Pooh was, and nothing like that had ever worked to occupy him before, but I figured I'd give it a shot. I knew he knew what "Pooh" was, but don't know if he could see Pooh (although that would make this whole thing even more cool, as object permanence, what is needed to know something exists when it is out of sight, occurs around a year old or later, and he was a little early for that). He crawled away from the fire place and all I knew is that he stopped bashing, but not what he was off to do next.

About a minute later, I heard the high rattle of his favorite stuffed bear. I was ecstatic, he found Pooh! Thank you Stefan...it was the best cold medicine ever:)

1 Year

My biggest problem with not having time to get on here is all the little things you've been doing, that have been so cool to catch you doing, that I forget by the time I can get to a computer. Lets see if I can remember any, and hopefully I'll be better about getting these here.
At one year you...
are blooming a great little personality,
babble "dad" a LOT...and I caught you once babbling "mom" without crying or wanting milk, too!
are more independent than ever,
find all sorts of ways to play with all sorts of things, like, right now: pens and glue sticks (why do we bother with flashy toys?),
scribble,
love walking,
could crawl across CT if I let you,
love finding Daddy when I tell you...OK not that hard, we all know he's in front of the computer 22/07
love the cats, especially when they are involved in your crib, really love Sabrina, as she tries never to be involved with you,
refuse to brush your 6 teeth, though you used to love it,
insist on feeding yourself with our spoons, regardless of what actually makes it into your mouth,
have started eating dry foods more, and trying more solids recently,
love flipping the pages of your book, so gently as to not rip them, and watch my fingers point to the words I read you,
try to figure out every button, screw, random hole, and door on every little thing,
put toys "in"(!!!!!), with more regularity!!
wave "bye,bye" every so often,
have marvelous conversations with your hands (though that has been going on for a few months now),
have marvelous babble conversations with me:) you're going to be such a great talker!
point to what you want, and you want a lot, apparently,
added "r, s" to the "L,d,m" list of consonants, and long "i and e" to the "a, o" list of vowels,
Love hanging with Dad, especially when he walks all around with you.
...and I suppose that is all I can think of now, besides, it's time to play!!

The Evolution of Stefan Man

Bipedal Movement...Check!

Modern humans are unique in the primate world because of their bipedal movement. That is, they walk on two feet instead of four. The earliest known primates to walk on two feet were Ardipithecus and Australopithecus, who lived anytime between 3.0 and 3.9 million years ago. These species often lived on the fringes of forested areas, gradually moving closer to the wide open grassland plains of Africa. These early hominids will eventually evolve into the modern Homo sapien, or humans. (I hate merely cut and pasting, but in the effort of time, I've gone and done it from an easy to understand location. From Link.)

Note: Stefan started out sitting on the mat playing as he does every morning while I cook breakfast/clean the kitchen. I turned my back to rinse the french press and viola! OK, he didn't WALK there, in this particular picture, as he needs to hold on to things (well Mom, Dad, or the bathtub are the walking assistants in his mind), but I'm impressed with the locomotion. At this point, it happens only occasionally, so it's a pleasant surprise when he's not where I've left him!

Use of Tools...Check!

Using tools has been interpreted as a sign of intelligence, and it has been theorized that tool use may have stimulated certain aspects of human evolution—most notably the continued expansion of the human brain. [I LOVE the brain!]

Paleontology has yet to explain the expansion of this organ over millions of years despite being extremely demanding in terms of energy consumption. The brain of a modern human consumes about 20 watts (400 kilocalories per day), which is one fifth of the energy consumption of a human body. Increased tool use would allow hunting for energy-rich meat products, and would enable processing more energy-rich plant products. Researchers have suggested that early hominids were thus under evolutionary pressure to increase their capacity to create and use tools.^{[51] 
(A little more dense reading at Wikipedia.)}

^{So you have to imagine the actions, but Stefan is using the remote control to pet the cat (one day, I will figure out how to link to video, maybe depending on privacy of sites involved). Poor kitty! He only made contact once, and it was really gentle! We're giving Stefan a hockey stick ASAP...he LOVES using things to do things. Spoons fly cheerios around the table and ultimately onto the floor. Sticks are perfect for outside poking. Cords are just stiff enough to reach and pull off limits coffee table items. So now the radius of Stefan has grown to include what ever grabbing tool he has. OH YEAH..DUH! He now can feed himself (or me) with a spoon, with assistance. Dad took some time off of work to breakfast with us while Stefan ate oatmeal...THE second awesome thing of the morning!! He didn't spit out the solid chunks of food...so psyched! I love when things suddenly click:).}

Dead-ends and Extinct Evolutionary Branches...check!

This one I can paraphrase. Humans are the end of the chain, and we've broken Stefan's mold! I love the little booger, but 2 of exactly him...let's save that for Wonder Woman. Mom, I've got a kid like me (so far). I guess that isn't saying much at 11 months, not like I expect him to keep it clean around here, but he is such a tornado! It's obvious where his play places are in every room from the shredded papers, toys askew, and general chaos. So much so that I'm bothered by the entropy. Although he prefers playing with one toy, the rest of them are strewn about the room after he's "cleared" them out of his way, so he can play with that one specific toy he's in the mood for.

Milestones Age: 8 months

Happy Day, you're 8 months today, despite wearing 12 month clothes! Enjoy all these monthly celebrations, Monsterino!

You Can:

• look to make sure someone is paying attention to your antics.
• roll all over.
• sit well unassisted.
• go well from sitting to laying.
• rock while enroute to laying on your tummy, crawling is around the corner...yikes!
  
• almost pick up small things with your thumb and finger.
• hold both of your feet in both of your hands and clap or suck your toes (many people wish for this amount of flexibility).
• push up assisted to standing.
• stand and play holding onto surfaces.
• clap objects.
• slap.
• give occasional "5's".
• play for extended time on your tummy, though you still complain.
• Communicate with sound, non-verbally.
  
• follow where I point.
  
• know the words "cat/kitty", "Daddy", and "Mommy" when said to you.
• babble m, n, l, d, and g words. You're starting to put consonants at the end of your vowel sounds, like "add" which will easily become Dad:).
  
• turn lights off, and sometimes on.
• almost drink from a cup.
• make sounds while you inhale.
  
• pounce on your toys.
  
• look for interesting toys, people, or animals when they make noise out of sight.
  
• stand without anyone holding you for a couple of seconds (this is your favorite game now).
  
• still love most your first toys, the jingle rattles! But you also really enjoy paper, paper tubes, bags and boxes.
  
• cough/make other sounds to get others to look at or imitate you.
• show separation anxiety, but I'm never too far away!
• try to use a spoon and tooth brush, though mommy helps with the spoon as it is usually full of food!

*Red developmental actions are more commonly seen closer to 12 months.

With your 2 teeth you eat cereal, banana, peach, broccoli, squash of many varieties, avocado, bread, and cheerios (just got one in your mouth by yourself!) though most days you choose not to, despite my persistence. You have also tasted water, watermelon, pickles, Popsicles, juice and beer, and enjoy every one of them. Mostly you're still drinking milk and you still have that darn allergy (Mommy really wants a slice of pizza!!!).

You have a battery of scientific tests for everything...first you observe, then bend in for a closer look. Next you pick up the object, wave it, tap it, clap it, and lick it, not necessarily in that order. The licking is my favorite part because it isn't just a general suck, but rather a little taste with the tip of your tongue, then you think and make a face based on the taste, and perhaps give another little taste before moving on to the next test.

The Cambridge House was your first "eating out" experience. We were there when you were around 4 months, for a few minutes and you were great. Then, after summer camp, you Dad and I went for appetizers and a beer. Everyone loved you!

You have been taking music classes all summer. First we did some Peek-a-Boo I Love You, which now you're favorite song. Then came Sign and Sing. You still don't sign, but I hope you'll show us some soon! Also, you've been attending all my FVB and Torrington Symphony concerts. They are less fun for you since I'm in the band and not with you and they all occur right at your super fussy bed time.

You take 2 naps a day, on average, some days it's 1, others it's 3...most of which you go down for without much fussing- it's wonderful. After you wake and eat, we play blocks/toys, go swimming, play outside, go for walks on the trail or in parks around here.

A couple of weeks ago, you were hanging with the older kids at summer camp, and you taught classes with Mommy:). When you were sad, the kids would sing to you. When you napped, they tiptoed around the class and whispered. Everyone had fun watching you hold the recorder and suck on the end, or play with cheerios. You were very well behaved the whole two weeks!! Mommy is excited you did so well since we will be teaching Kindermusik together in the fall.

PS I have been compiling all this information for a couple of weeks...it has been a lot. Just when I finish adding information for the day, I shut down the computer, and realize I forgot 3 more things, some of which you weren't even doing when I started writing this. I find it amazing how quickly you change and grow. As I type, you're going through a growth spurt...constantly eating (OMG when will you get my supply up and calm this down!), sleeping weird hours (yesterday an almost 4 hour nap!), and your behavior is on a roller coaster this past week- a good one with mostly ups, actually.

Baby Drinking Games

While I won't say I didn't have the taste of beer in my mouth when I thought of these, no babies were harmed or drunk in the creation of my games. Also, I don't condone playing so many baby drinking games that you lose or forget you have a baby.

The Original Baby Drinking Game
It involves about 10-12 colorful 3-D shapes: specifically 2 of each color and shape, which make for a multitude of game possibilities and provide a little bit of a challenge. If that isn't an option, blocks work just fine, though using more than 10 will keep it interesting. And don't forget the baby...if you have, you're too drunk to continue.

Directions aka the non: Stack the blocks, drink for every block stack before Baby destroys your tower. Drink extra for double color or shapes. Chug 1/2 a beer if pieces are stacked in rainbow order. Chug if you use all the blocks before Baby destroys them. Once the blocks are knocked down, it is the next player's turn.

So the easy version (aka. to drunk to keep track the above, but not too drunk to forget or lose the baby)...start stacking, if player one can stack pieces before the baby knocks them over, the player wins the round, and subsequently has to drink. Once the pieces are knocked down, player 1's turn has ended and it is player 2's turn. This one can be spiced up with the following version...

Speed round/ Sudden death: Player 1 has 1 minute to stack all the blocks into one tower. If player 1 does not succeed, player two has 1 minute to do the same. The player that stacks a tower using all the blocks first is the winner.



Variations
Stack many small piles according to shape before Baby can get them. IF the shapes fit into a container, fill container before Baby starts removing them. Build a pyramid before Baby destroys it...and so on. Get the point?

Yes, this is what I do with my weekends;)
There are educational benefits to baby, but I'm much too drunk to remember them;) Just Kidding DCYS, I'm sober.

Pickles and Watermelon...are you pregnant? Or How we're taking a step back in BLW

Stefan was getting along famously with avocado and cereal until this week. It all started with some peaches. Fresh, ripe, soft, organic peaches. Stefan hates them and mommy learned that if you keep trying to convince a baby he wants what you're giving him, you may end up with a lap full of puke. Good gag reflex, Stef.

No problem, lets go back to bananas. Fresh, ripe, succulent, organic banana. Nope, now those are on the "gag until he pukes" list too (no I didn't learn my lesson the first time...or rather, I'm persistent).

Ok, no problem, lets just go back to our old buddy avocado...but, mark my words, mommy is making it thick- you need new textures! Blat!! Even after I thinned it out! That's now on the list. Ok, but how could we go wrong with rice cereal....we could. On the list. He had no clue what to even do with cheerios.

A side note: he still salivates over my food, like bacon...so maybe he's just ticked that I get the good stuff;)

In my efforts to be a sassy mommy, I gave him my pickle- just a hint on his lip. Viola- he loved it. Just like he loved water melon the other day- however that is kind of prone to being bitten with Mr. Tooth and chokable chunks come loose, which cause him to gag, then puke, and really has little nutritional value, so don't count on it too soon, Kid.

And just what is BLW and why does all the current food refusal effect it? Baby Lead Weaning, where basically we skip pureed food and head right to solids when he's developmentally ready. However I got a little bored and started him with some solids that could be easily mashed- by my definition, ones that he could eat if left to his own devices.

To be ready for BLW, baby has to exhibit certain signs...sits upright unassisted well, gag reflex lessened/gone, and able to pick up things with a pincher grasp. Then, healthy food is served in pieces that can be held in a fist. Baby experiments more with the new morsels than eats them, is able to explore on his own, and isn't forced to eat foods he don't want. He's not eating for nutrition, but rather for experience. Also, it prolongs the amount of time he receives breast milk, as he isn't filling his belly with solids quite yet.

So, in an effort to work on his gag reflex, I've been thickening his current food, without success. And I think we've worked backward in solid food, but it seems the other babies in his cohort on a forum I read kind of have done the same thing, so we'll just wait this out. Two steps forward, one step back...