Little Man seems to think he's a very Big little man, and occasionally does not want to be reminded that he cannot run around with the toddlers at the library or launch himself across the living room at his toy basket. We just have to let him go and be there to catch him--literally and figuratively--when he falls.
Mommy! He looks at me with big eyes when we're at the children's section of the bookstore and there's big kids running around before story time starts. Do you see all these kids!?!
"I see them," I tell him, out loud. I am one of those mothers who rambles to my child in public.
Can I play with them? Sitting up, his little legs start kicking and toes start wiggling. His fingers open and close and his wrists wiggle--a sure sign that he has words to say and just can't figure out how to get them out.
"Not yet," I say. "Soon."
But...but...I know I could! If I could just walk!
"You'll be mobile soon enough," I tell him, and I stand him up, holding him firmly. He bounces where he stands and makes his "ooo ooo ooo" noise. He reaches up for a little boy that runs past.
Mommy! His eyes say. I can do it! I can play with them! And he attempts to push himself out of my arms with a jump, but I'm ready for it.
"Soon enough," I repeat to him, smiling at the other mothers who are now watching my baby make his words and wiggle around in excitement. I scoop him up and head out of the children's section. His little hand finds a handful of my hair and he squishes his fingers in it and lays his head on my shoulder. All those thoughts and attempts at independence have worn him out.
"Soon enough," I say one last time, and kiss his drooping eyelids.
He looks up at me one more time. Okay Mommy. And he drifts off to sleep.
Thursday, January 27, 2011
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
No Such Thing as "Over Tired"? Another Mommy Myth Busted
You hear parents say it all the time when their child gets fussy: "Oh, he's over tired!" or, "she's just over excited". Meanwhile, their kid is on the floor screaming bloody murder and you want to shake the parents for whatever act of bad parenting has led to that heinous noise.
I'm here to tell you: don't judge the parent too harshly. I now experience, almost on a daily basis, the phenomenon known in parenting circles as Over Stimulation. Yes folks, "over-tired" and "over-excited" do exist--and sometimes, as a parent, you don't know it is happening until it's too late.
Our first real experience with over stimulation came at Christmas, when Husband's parents arrived late in the evening. Little Man was THRILLED at being the center of attention and showed off all his skills--sitting up, babbling, and tearing at the wrapping paper of each new holiday gift that was offered to him well past his bedtime. He had a blast. That is, until he had a total and epic tantrum in which there was no comforting him. I'm sure my in-laws thought he was a complete hellion while I frantically tried to assure them, over his screams, that he wasn't always like this.
Since then, we've seen over-excited several times--usually when new friends arrive between dinner and bedtime. But I have started to notice that when we do something fun and exciting early in the day, like story time or a puppet show, there needs to be a significant amount of quiet time at home that afternoon. No TV, no new friends--just some quiet play time on the floor with mom and dad.
Our Little Man thinks he's a little bigger than his age bracket, and he loves the noise and attention he gets in the outside world brings. But Mommy knows best--even the biggest Little Man needs his quiet time to avoid an over-tired melt down.
I'm here to tell you: don't judge the parent too harshly. I now experience, almost on a daily basis, the phenomenon known in parenting circles as Over Stimulation. Yes folks, "over-tired" and "over-excited" do exist--and sometimes, as a parent, you don't know it is happening until it's too late.
Our first real experience with over stimulation came at Christmas, when Husband's parents arrived late in the evening. Little Man was THRILLED at being the center of attention and showed off all his skills--sitting up, babbling, and tearing at the wrapping paper of each new holiday gift that was offered to him well past his bedtime. He had a blast. That is, until he had a total and epic tantrum in which there was no comforting him. I'm sure my in-laws thought he was a complete hellion while I frantically tried to assure them, over his screams, that he wasn't always like this.
Since then, we've seen over-excited several times--usually when new friends arrive between dinner and bedtime. But I have started to notice that when we do something fun and exciting early in the day, like story time or a puppet show, there needs to be a significant amount of quiet time at home that afternoon. No TV, no new friends--just some quiet play time on the floor with mom and dad.
Our Little Man thinks he's a little bigger than his age bracket, and he loves the noise and attention he gets in the outside world brings. But Mommy knows best--even the biggest Little Man needs his quiet time to avoid an over-tired melt down.
Friday, January 21, 2011
Happy Half Birthday!
A lot can happen in six months. It seems like just yesterday we were strapping Little Man in his car seat for his very first ride home...and now those same car seat straps are straining as we wrestle him in before going on an adventure.
Some stats on our baby boy on his sixth month birthday:
--He weighs 23.6 pounds and is 27.5 inches long. That's the 99th percentile for weight, and 90th for height. And for those of you who miss the days of produce comparisons, he weighs the equivalent of 2 average size pumpkins.
--He wears size 18-24 month clothes. That is, when he wears clothes. His favorite state of being is naked.
--His favorite toys include a play rotary phone, an elephant that makes a crinkle sound, and anything that has buttons and Daddy plays with, too.
--He's still working on the sleeping thing, although it has gotten better. He's averaging 9 hours a night, waking up to eat after about 6 hours. We finally got the boppy out of the crib, and now Little Man sleeps most happily on his tummy.
--Speaking of tummy, he can get there from his back, but is still perfecting the tummy to back roll. I know he can do it, because occasionally I'll look down at him and he'll be in a different position than where he was a moment before. He's just very stealthy about it. Another one of his stealth moves: he manages to pull himself into a sitting position when he wakes up from a nap. I've never seen it, but I know when he does it because I hear him on the monitor, snuffling around and then making his happy noises.
--He's a great eater. He loves his mealtimes, and eats all different types of baby cereals, apples, bananas, peas, sweet potato, and squash. Squash is his favorite. He hates carrots, and removes them from his mouth with his hands when I feed them to him.
--He loves music. His two current favorites are Prince's "1999" and the classic "Wheels on the Bus". He's obviously very well rounded.
--He has an uncanny ability to mimic his father's expressions and mannerisms. He's a little clown in training.
--He's genuinely a happy baby. He's a confident, inquisitive little creature and he changes every day. It is so wonderful to see him so healthy and advancing in his life, but all those changes are a little bittersweet too. So we're trying to enjoy every little moment--even the ones that happen at 3 AM.
Happy Half Birthday, Little Man.
Some stats on our baby boy on his sixth month birthday:
--He weighs 23.6 pounds and is 27.5 inches long. That's the 99th percentile for weight, and 90th for height. And for those of you who miss the days of produce comparisons, he weighs the equivalent of 2 average size pumpkins.
--He wears size 18-24 month clothes. That is, when he wears clothes. His favorite state of being is naked.
--His favorite toys include a play rotary phone, an elephant that makes a crinkle sound, and anything that has buttons and Daddy plays with, too.
--He's still working on the sleeping thing, although it has gotten better. He's averaging 9 hours a night, waking up to eat after about 6 hours. We finally got the boppy out of the crib, and now Little Man sleeps most happily on his tummy.
--Speaking of tummy, he can get there from his back, but is still perfecting the tummy to back roll. I know he can do it, because occasionally I'll look down at him and he'll be in a different position than where he was a moment before. He's just very stealthy about it. Another one of his stealth moves: he manages to pull himself into a sitting position when he wakes up from a nap. I've never seen it, but I know when he does it because I hear him on the monitor, snuffling around and then making his happy noises.
--He's a great eater. He loves his mealtimes, and eats all different types of baby cereals, apples, bananas, peas, sweet potato, and squash. Squash is his favorite. He hates carrots, and removes them from his mouth with his hands when I feed them to him.
--He loves music. His two current favorites are Prince's "1999" and the classic "Wheels on the Bus". He's obviously very well rounded.
--He has an uncanny ability to mimic his father's expressions and mannerisms. He's a little clown in training.
--He's genuinely a happy baby. He's a confident, inquisitive little creature and he changes every day. It is so wonderful to see him so healthy and advancing in his life, but all those changes are a little bittersweet too. So we're trying to enjoy every little moment--even the ones that happen at 3 AM.
Happy Half Birthday, Little Man.
Friday, January 14, 2011
Sometimes, Motherhood Ain't Pretty
Today I experienced the phenomenon I have previously only heard about: pooping up the back.
Usually Little Man gives us plenty of reason to believe he is filling up his diaper. The faces, the noises--all surefire signs that a visit to the changing table is inevitable. Today, however, he was a very stealthy pooper. I didn't notice anything amiss until after he'd eaten his lunch of pureed sweet potato and I was lifting him up out of his high chair.
Poop. Everywhere. Um, ew.
I ask you, what good is a diaper if it doesn't contain that stuff? The kid might as well have been wearing a tissue tied around his tushie. We had a mess on the changing pad. On his pants. On his onesie. On me. And all the way up his back.
The result? An impromptu bath in the sink, a new shirt for Mommy, a whole new outfit for Little Man, and a big load of laundry that had been practically soaked in stain spray.
To be fair, I have never been peed on.
Usually Little Man gives us plenty of reason to believe he is filling up his diaper. The faces, the noises--all surefire signs that a visit to the changing table is inevitable. Today, however, he was a very stealthy pooper. I didn't notice anything amiss until after he'd eaten his lunch of pureed sweet potato and I was lifting him up out of his high chair.
Poop. Everywhere. Um, ew.
I ask you, what good is a diaper if it doesn't contain that stuff? The kid might as well have been wearing a tissue tied around his tushie. We had a mess on the changing pad. On his pants. On his onesie. On me. And all the way up his back.
The result? An impromptu bath in the sink, a new shirt for Mommy, a whole new outfit for Little Man, and a big load of laundry that had been practically soaked in stain spray.
To be fair, I have never been peed on.
Monday, January 10, 2011
Snow Baby
For the second time in Little Man's short life our city is experiencing winter weather. We had a white Christmas with just a little snow, but this morning we woke up to 3 or inches covering the ground outside. Everything is closed, and we are enjoying the rare snowstorm from the warm and snugly comfort of our home.
We bundled up Little Man this morning and took him outside to experience the snow--believe it or not, we had a snow suit someone had given us before he was born that I had stowed away in the back of his closet just in case. Zipped up and hood on, he was so snugged up that he toppled over whenever he tried to sit up.
On the whole, Little Man was pretty unimpressed with the snow--although he did like the snowball his Daddy made for him. I think the idea of propelling balls of frozen stuff across the parking lot appealed to his manliness on some level, even as a 5-month-old. We showed him our cars, all covered in snow, and Husband built him a little snowman on the hood of his car. All the excitement wore him out, and he is now sleeping in his swing.
He won't remember it, but we took lots of pictures so we can show Little Man what he was like when Mama pulled out the unlikely snow suit and made him a Snow Baby.
We bundled up Little Man this morning and took him outside to experience the snow--believe it or not, we had a snow suit someone had given us before he was born that I had stowed away in the back of his closet just in case. Zipped up and hood on, he was so snugged up that he toppled over whenever he tried to sit up.
On the whole, Little Man was pretty unimpressed with the snow--although he did like the snowball his Daddy made for him. I think the idea of propelling balls of frozen stuff across the parking lot appealed to his manliness on some level, even as a 5-month-old. We showed him our cars, all covered in snow, and Husband built him a little snowman on the hood of his car. All the excitement wore him out, and he is now sleeping in his swing.
He won't remember it, but we took lots of pictures so we can show Little Man what he was like when Mama pulled out the unlikely snow suit and made him a Snow Baby.
Sunday, January 9, 2011
King of the Shopping Cart
Since the advent of Little Man sitting up, I decided it was time he move out of the car seat and into the front of the cart on shopping trips. Nana got him a handy cover that goes over shopping carts and restaurant high chairs, so on our last trip to Whole Foods, we left the car seat in the car and I plopped him into the front of the cart. I wasn't sure how he was going to react, so I had a very short list and was prepared to fly out of the store in the event of a meltdown.
I had nothing to worry about. Little Man adored sitting up in the cart and looking around at everything. He enjoyed it so much that I took another couple of laps around the store. He flirted with everyone who came near us, and made his words at all the pretty colors, shapes and smells. Since then we have taken several trips in the cart, and each time he has seemed to enjoy it more.
The only downside of our new shopping arrangement is that it is now easier for other people to touch him. When he was strapped in his car seat, people had to really work to get their germy hands on him. Now--much like his small town Mama--he makes eye contact and grins at everyone. And people find his mop top of curls absolutely irresistible. I imagine I'll be having the "stranger danger" talk with him sooner rather than later.
Another step to independence. Before long he'll be sitting in those shopping carts shaped like a car, and then he'll be running up and down the aisles ahead of me, helping his Mama pick out groceries. It's funny how the little changes make you think of the big picture.
I had nothing to worry about. Little Man adored sitting up in the cart and looking around at everything. He enjoyed it so much that I took another couple of laps around the store. He flirted with everyone who came near us, and made his words at all the pretty colors, shapes and smells. Since then we have taken several trips in the cart, and each time he has seemed to enjoy it more.
The only downside of our new shopping arrangement is that it is now easier for other people to touch him. When he was strapped in his car seat, people had to really work to get their germy hands on him. Now--much like his small town Mama--he makes eye contact and grins at everyone. And people find his mop top of curls absolutely irresistible. I imagine I'll be having the "stranger danger" talk with him sooner rather than later.
Another step to independence. Before long he'll be sitting in those shopping carts shaped like a car, and then he'll be running up and down the aisles ahead of me, helping his Mama pick out groceries. It's funny how the little changes make you think of the big picture.
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
Holidaze
Happy New Year! This time last year, Little Man was the size of some teeny-tiny seed, floating around on the inside. Now, he is a 24 pound tank of a baby, a little over 5 months old and an absolute joy to spend time with. Isn't it funny the difference a year can make?!?
I completely fell off the blogging bandwagon during the holidays. It never ceases to amaze me how busy one can get doing nothing but taking care of a baby. As the song goes, there were parties for hosting, marshmallows for toasting, and caroling out in the snow. There was also a nasty bout of RSV that hit the whole family just before Thanksgiving and stuck with us right through Christmas.
Baby's first holiday was a success. There were loud, boisterous moments, like dinner with my husband's large family, where Little Man sat up in my lap and "read" the menu. Husband's company Christmas party was especially fun, because last year, that's when we broke the news to everyone that we were expecting. He was the center of attention, feeding off all the noise and energy and flirting with all the ladies. My mom and I took him to a large mall in the area and watched his eyes get bigger and bigger with each decoration he saw.
And then there were the quiet, sweet moments: Christmas eve, when we opened presents as a little family of three for the first time. Putting out Oreos and Coke for Santa, and letting the baby "stand" by the tree to get a good look at the ornaments before going to bed that night. On New Years eve, Husband and I were so wiped out by the season's festivities that we went to bed long before midnight. But Little Man woke up for his middle of the night feeding just minutes before the clock turned over, and I welcomed the new year in watching my beautiful little boy doze in my arms. New Years Day was spent at home in pajamas, quiet and peaceful and full of family play time. It was, all in all, everything I expected and more.
Happy Holidays, everyone, from myself, Husband, and the biggest Little Man around. What will 2011 hold for my own little fairy tale? Stay tuned for the next chapter.
I completely fell off the blogging bandwagon during the holidays. It never ceases to amaze me how busy one can get doing nothing but taking care of a baby. As the song goes, there were parties for hosting, marshmallows for toasting, and caroling out in the snow. There was also a nasty bout of RSV that hit the whole family just before Thanksgiving and stuck with us right through Christmas.
Baby's first holiday was a success. There were loud, boisterous moments, like dinner with my husband's large family, where Little Man sat up in my lap and "read" the menu. Husband's company Christmas party was especially fun, because last year, that's when we broke the news to everyone that we were expecting. He was the center of attention, feeding off all the noise and energy and flirting with all the ladies. My mom and I took him to a large mall in the area and watched his eyes get bigger and bigger with each decoration he saw.
And then there were the quiet, sweet moments: Christmas eve, when we opened presents as a little family of three for the first time. Putting out Oreos and Coke for Santa, and letting the baby "stand" by the tree to get a good look at the ornaments before going to bed that night. On New Years eve, Husband and I were so wiped out by the season's festivities that we went to bed long before midnight. But Little Man woke up for his middle of the night feeding just minutes before the clock turned over, and I welcomed the new year in watching my beautiful little boy doze in my arms. New Years Day was spent at home in pajamas, quiet and peaceful and full of family play time. It was, all in all, everything I expected and more.
Happy Holidays, everyone, from myself, Husband, and the biggest Little Man around. What will 2011 hold for my own little fairy tale? Stay tuned for the next chapter.
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