Photos of a Second Child: An Open Letter to My Baby Boy

Today I wrote a post that is an open letter to Z. Since it is not really a story about Z, and really a letter to him, I posted it over at Sarcasm 101: Photos of a Second Child: An Open Letter to My Baby Boy

Eleven Months

Hello! Sorry I've been away for a while. Left the kids alone with my mom for a week while Daddy and I vacationed in the Caribbean. Didn't have any adorable Ant stories to tell you while we were gone. So now I'll just get you updated on the latest Z milestones and then we'll be back on track. Deal? Alrighty.

Z turned ELEVEN months old a week ago today. Wow. Since last month he is talking up a storm. He's almost got a couple "real" words under his belt, but mostly he is in love with just talking to himself. He goes on and on as though he has full thoughts he is expressing. He kinda' says, "Ma" and "Da" and "Ba", but I think he's just barely got an idea that those mean something to us. He does say, "up" a lot lately. I think he just likes to make the "p" sound, but Daddy picks him up whenever he says it, so maybe he'll catch on pretty quickly.

Z now has 6 teeth fully visible in his little mouth and they are adorable. He got his first haircut on Saturday. He sat on Daddy's lap and all went very well. (Flik was not a fan of his first haircut, oh so long ago.) When Z crawls, it still looks as though he doesn't have full use of his legs, but boy does he do it fast. He is cruising around the furniture and is so eager to let go that he stretches as far as he can to get to the next piece of furniture. But he is not standing on his own yet.

He is still sleeping through the night, but has been waking up lately, crying for 3-5 minutes, and then falling back to sleep. He still sleeps with a pacifier which may never get taken away. Mommy still hates that we didn't take it away when he was four months old, but has no intention of fighting that battle right now.

Z is an amazingly happy little guy. He naps well, eats well, and is pretty much smiling whenever he is awake. We really couldn't ask for a better baby.

OK, here's the run down of Z's 11 month stats according to the authors of the What to Expect... book series. At 11 months a baby...

... should be able to:

• get into  sitting position from stomachcheck
• pick up tiny object with any part of thumb and finger
  check
• understand "no"
  check

... is probably able to:

• play patty-cake (clap hands) or wave bye-bye
  doesn't play patty-cake. does clap hands. doesn't wave bye-bye.
• walk holding on to furniture (cruise)
  check
• point or gesture to something to get needs met
  um.... gesture, yes. point, no.

... may possibly be able to:

• pick up a tiny object neatly with tips of thumb and forefinger
  How neatly?
• stand alone momentarily
  no
• say "dada" or "mama" discriminately
  um.... depends on who you ask. Definitely says it. We are divided on the "discriminately" part.

... may even be able to:

• stand alone well
  no
• indicate wants in ways other than crying
  no
• roll ball back to you
  Roll ball? Yes. To me? No.
• drink from a cup independently
  um... We haven't given him any cups yet.
• use immature jargoning (gibbersih that sounds as if baby is talking a made-up foreign language)
  That's what it sounds like to me. Check?
• say three or more words other than "mama" or "dada"
  no
• respond to a one step command without gestures ("give that to me")
  no
• walk well
  no

OK. One more month of What to Expect updates. (I'm not sure who's happier about that: you or me.)

When Flik Grows Up: Age 4

Flik: Do you know what I'm gonna' be when I grow up?

Mommy: No. Do you know?

Flik: Yes. I'm gonna' be three things.

Mommy: Oh yeah? What?

Flik: A policeman, a worker, and a fireman. Isn't that cool?

Mommy: Yes. That is very cool.

Flik: But I don't know if my boss will let me. Do you think my boss will let me do three jobs?

Mommy: I think you can do whatever you want. If you want to have three jobs, you can do that.

Flik: Cool!

Mommy: So what kind of worker do you want to be?

Flik: A road worker. You know, the workers who fix the roads. You know why?

Mommy: No. Why?

Flik: Because then I can use the jackhammer on the road. Wouldn't that be cool?

Mommy: Yep, that would be very cool.

Flik: But you know what? I'd want to do the steamroller, too. Do you think my boss would let me do the jackhammer AND the steamroller.

Ice Cube Painting

Over the Fourth of July weekend, I decided to try out an idea I saw on a blog a while back that looked kinda' fun. The idea was ice cube painting and the pictures looked pretty cool. I even pinned it on Pinterest.

Here's the basic premise: freeze ice cubes, each with a few drops of food coloring in them so that you have colored ice. Then, just spread out some paper and let your kids "paint" with the ice. Here's how it worked out for us.

Step 1: Create colored ice. We just added food coloring to water.

 

Note: The color will be all over your hands before you even start "painting". Do not wear good clothes for this project.

Step 2: Lay out paper. We used the paper that came with our Melissa and Doug easel, so it was on a roll.

Step 3: Paint

Note: This activity works better if your kid just likes to make crazy shapes and colors. Mine wanted to make a rainbow. This medium doesn't really lend itself to detailed drawings. Also, by the end, you will end up with a heap of soaking wet paper.

When we were done, I didn't want to let the pretty colored ice cubes just melt in the bowl, so I grabbed a white rag from our cleaning bin and let him spread the left over ice cubes out on it to melt.

Once all the ice cubes melted, the rag looked pretty cool.

The resulting "art" from the paper painting did not look even that appealing.

So this project is more about having fun with colored ice than in the beautiful art that results. But the kid had fun, so it was a success.

Two things I might try differently next time:

1) The rag part of the project was the least interactive, but looked the coolest, so I might try it with clothing dye and do it as an alternative to tie-dying a T-Shirt.

2) Instead of food coloring, I might try to freeze water mixed with plain old kids tempura paint, which is water soluble. We might get better colors both during and after the painting process. But boy will it be a mess, so we will dress appropriately.

***

This post inspired by Pinteresting IRL.

Ten Months

Z is now ten months old and one day. Have I mentioned recently how fast this is flying by? Oh I have? Sorry.

Today was a big day for him. He finally pulled himself up. He has been just about ready to do it for weeks, but he'd get up on his knees and decide he wasn't all that interested. Today, while he was supposed to be napping, he was crying instead. He usually cries for about two minutes when I leave his room for his nap, but today he was still crying after ten. And since he didn't seem to be calming down, I went in to see what was up. Turns out... it was Z, standing in the corner of his crib, looking like he may not be entirely sure how to sit back down. Ahhh. So we've reached this phase have we?

Anyway, here is my obligatory run down of Z's 10 month stats According to the authors of the What to Expect... book series, at 10 months a baby...

... should be able to:

• stand holding on to someone or something
  check
• pull up to a standing position from sitting
  Yay! A day late, but I'm giving you the benefit of the doubt.
• object if you try to take a toy away
  check
• say "mama" or "dada" indiscriminately
  still no "mama," but just about every other syllable
• pay peekaboo
  Boy does this kid love peekaboo. While he's getting his diaper changed, he'll put his pants over his eyes and lift them up himself repeatedly as long as I keep saying, "peekaboo."
• exchange back-and-forth gestures with you
  I have no idea what this means. That he gestures with me? Sure. I guess.

... is probably able to:

• get into a sitting position from stomach
  check
• play patty-cake (clap hands) or wave bye-bye
  Hmm. Unobservant mommy alert. No bye-bye. Not sure if he claps his own hands. He bangs on mine all the time. Not quite the same thing.
• pick up a tiny object with any part of thumb and finger
  Still clumsy, but yes.
• walk holding on to furniture
  no
• understand "no" (but not always obey it)
  He looks when I say, "no." Does that count?

... may possibly be able to:
Oh no, here we go. The part where I wonder why I even include these.

• stand alone momentarily
  no
• say "dada" or "mama" discriminately
  no
• point to something to get needs met
  no

... may even be able to:

• indicate wants in ways other than crying
  no
• "play ball" (roll it back to you)
  No. But boy does he love playing with balls. He holds them, looks at them, rolls them on the ground, crawls across the room to get it, and starts over. He can amuse himself for quite a while with a single small ball.
• drink from a cup independently
  no
• pick up a tiny object neatly with tips of thumb and forefinger
  no
• stand alone well
  no
• use immature jargoning
  no
• say one word other than "mama" or "dada" discriminately
  no
• respond to a one-step command with gestures
  no
• walk well
  no

*sigh* Oh well, at least he's cute. :)

You Want Me to Go to Sleep, Right?

Flik has been taking longer and longer to fall asleep at night. He's 4 1/2, doesn't nap, and has a 7:00 bed time. But lately, he's been falling asleep closer to 8:30. Maybe it's that it's still light out, maybe it's something else, I don't know. As a result, we have begun to let him read books in bed and view it as quiet time before he goes to sleep. However, he is now calling for us more and coming out of his room on occasion, where before he knew perfectly well that coming out of his bed, much less his room, was not allowed. Now he sits on the end of his bed where he can see me sitting on my bed in my room. He will occasionally call out that he wants me and/or Daddy to join him or that he wants to sleep in our bed. Tonight he called out something from his room and I responded to him not to yell because his brother was sleeping. So of course he took that to mean that he should come into our room where he could speak at a more reasonable volume. (Not what I had in mind.) When he arrived in our doorway, he proceeded with the following argument:

Flik: You want me to go to sleep, right? 

Mommy: Yes. 

Flik: And you want me to go to sleep quickly and easy, right? 

Mommy: Yes. 

Flik: Then the best way to get me to go to sleep quickly and easy would be for you or Daddy to come sleep in my bed OR if I can sleep in Mommy and Daddy's bed. BUT!!! Since you and Daddy can't fit in my bed as easy, it is really best if I just sleep in here.

This would normally be the point where I try very hard not to laugh while I sternly tell him to go back to bed, but he was just to darn funny. So instead I grabbed my iPhone and pointed it at him. Since he knew instantly that I was recording him, he kindly proceeded to repeat the above argument for me so that I could get it all on video without even having to ask. (Oh the things he's willing to do for me when he's in bed time stalling mode.)

Sadly, once he was done, he was sent back to his room and to his bed. But he did get a Mommy escort and an extra story out of it.

Mr. Math

I adore watching my kids growing up. I marvel at every accomplishment and every new skill mastered. I have done this from my very first days as a Mommy. I loved watching Flik as he would stare at his hands, clearly checking them out for the first time, realizing that they were a part of him. As I watch, I am always impressed, amazed even, at what they are able to do. So even though Z, at nearly 10 months, is still not pulling himself up and toddling around, I still watch him sit up or zip across the room on his belly with pride. What I generally don't do is translate my amazement at their abilities into a belief that my kids are "special." I figure all moms are amazed at what their kids can do, which is why all moms think their kids are little geniuses. But the other day, Flik did something that blew me away. He is generally a pretty good reader given his age. Meanwhile his number abilities seem about average. He can recognize the digits, but can't write them without looking at them. The other day I noticed he cleverly went and stood by the analog clock to write his numbers so that he could see what he wanted to write. He can now tell you what a two digit number is (3-4 is thirty-four), but has trouble remembering that twenty-ten is not what comes after twenty-nine.

Anyway, earlier this week, I was in the room with him and our nanny and Tiff said, "Let's show Mommy what we learned!"

Tiff: What's 2 plus 2?
Flik: 4 (No counting. Just memorized.)
Tiff: What's 3 plus 3?
Flik: 6
Mommy: Great job, Kiddo! What about 1plus 1?
Flik: 2 (pause) Mommy, can I have some of your Diet Coke?
Mommy: Um, no.
Flik: Please!
Mommy: I'll tell you what. You can have a sip if you tell me what 8 plus 5 is.

He looks down at his fingers. He makes two fists and begins opening them one finger at a time. He gets to ten and his brow furrows. I suggest, "You can borrow Tiff's fingers if you need to."

Tiff holds out her hands. He looks over at her hands and then sits back down. He closes his fists and begins opening them one finger at a time again. 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8. He stops. He closes his hands. He opens fingers one at a time again, stopping at five. "Thirteen," he announces. Tiff and I look at each other having no idea how he figured out how to do it that way. I give him a sip of my Diet Coke. Two, in fact. (I was impressed.)

A couple days later, I wanted to share the story with Daddy, so I took out my camera to record it. This is the second time he has been asked this question in three days, but I am still impressed.

Where do I get my "kid genius" T-shirt?