After weeks of frustration (with much LOUD yelling and crying at all hours), Adlai rolled back to front yesterday. And just as it says in the baby books, having accomplished this developmental milestone, Adlai finally decided to sleep. Of course, he didn't decide to sleep until 10 am this morning. Will he sleep tonight? That would be nice. We'll be up really early tomorrow to take Adlai on his first flight - a gathering of the Rocket Commanders.
Jon
Matthew
Brad
Jeff
Simon
Andy
Adlai
Jon
Matthew
Brad
Jeff
Simon
Andy
Adlai
Adlai started laughing today and now he does it all the time. You smile, he smiles, you laugh, he laughs; it's pretty great.
While Simon and I were out puddle stomping this afternoon, a breeze blew a group of leaves past and Simon asked "What are the leaves doing? Why are they walking like a family?" And he has been up in the middle of the night for the past two nights asking for his "brown bunny". Having not cared about the one brown bunny he owns since last Easter, we were not sure what he was talking about. Today we got out the bunny which Simon insists is the Easter Bunny and now they are inseparable. The Easter Bunny's name you ask? "Hanukkah".
Simon had a check-up this morning with Dr. K. We decided to schedule it to ask a number of questions: 1. Is there anything we can do to get him to sleep more?, 2. Why does he make that odd breathing noise?, 3. What are we doing wrong when it comes to potty training?, and 4. Is it OK for him to eat as much as we do? Because these days he eats a lot - even broccoli, beef, and salmon.
Dr. K. wasn't entirely helpful except to assure us that Simon is a normal healthy boy and time will cure most of our issues. As far as size goes, Simon is now in the 96th percentile for weight (43.5 lbs.) AND height (42.5 inches). That makes him perfectly proportional yet huge. When it comes to potty training, what we are doing wrong is pushing Simon into something he's clearly not ready to do. And so we had our final mention of potty training in the house today. We've promised Simon that he can go when and how he wants and we will be proud of him for his successes, 'nuff said, chapter closed, THE END. So we may be getting rid of the diapers a long time from now but we're pretty sure, in the end, it isn't going to matter.
Speaking of feeling bad, I lost two longtime friends this week. I normally wouldn't mention such a thing here but to prevent future friend loss I'd like to clarify a few things. This blog and the blog of Simon are about our babies. We do and can, in fact, talk about other subjects. For example, I'm particularly fond of mobile devices, design, gardening, travel, "Lost", and "Heroes". And sometimes, when you read a blog, you feel like you've "checked in" with a friend when in fact your friend hasn't heard from you in, oh, say, months. If you're reading this, why not send email (havamarie at yahoo), call, give me a chance to clarify when I've said something stupid. And, finally, please don't assume that these pages full of our bragging rights include everything - they really don't.
When Simon saw me upset today he said "I'll tell your friends, 'Don't hurt Mama's feelings!' And then I'll take them away and they won't hurt you anymore." And then he took me outside and we kicked the ball around to make me "happier and happier". And, you know what? It worked.
Adlai doesn't have any symptoms of being ill besides another small vomit this morning. He has, however, come down with some severe anxiety when people are around. The more people around him, the more anxious he becomes. He was very displeased with being at a very busy Fresh Choice yesterday and he fluctuated between upset and calm-yet-serious this evening with our visitors. As soon as they left he was full of bubbles and smiles.
Adlai woke up in my arms at 6 am this morning, sputtered a few times and then vomited. He had trouble sleeping last night (hence the sleeping in bed with his parents) which we now, of course, suspect was due to a stomach ache. We turned on the lights to clean up the mess and Adlai was completely drained of color. After a few seconds of pondering a rush to the emergency room, Adlai saw Daddy and gave him a big smile. His color eventually returned and Simon gave him a bath to remove the Eau de Stomach Acid.
Last night, instead of going back to sleep after a midnight snack, Adlai decided it was time to play. He scooted his way up the bed and bonked his head on the wall before Matthew dragged him back down and he scooted his way up again. Oh what fun! I'm just grateful it was Matthew in charge until 3 am and not me.
Adlai, also known as "Mr. Bubbles" after his talent for drooling long strands of sticky bubbles, turns out to be a very happy baby. He enjoys looking at patterns, being outside, music, taking baths, and watching Simon. We used to wonder if Simon turned out to be so rough and tumble because Matthew enjoyed bouncing him, throwing him into the air, and rolling him on the ground. Turns out Simon's "danger boy" antics are not Matthew's fault. The same stunts don't work on Adlai, our much more cautious baby.
This morning Adlai woke up, looked me in the eyes, smiled, and uttered a drawn out yet completely clear "Hi!"
Adlai has been working so hard on back to front rollovers that we neglected to try front to back. We put him on his belly this morning and he rolled over again and again.
Three cheers for Adlai!
Adlai is really really really close to rolling over. He can make it from his back to his side but can't quite get the final push to his front to work out.
More news as events warrant.
Simon wanders into our bedroom at 6:30 am where sleeping was happening.
Simon: "Can I have some juice?"
Hava: "Why don't you have some water - it's in your room."
Simon: "Can I have some juice?"
Hava: "Later. Have some water."
Simon disappears.
Simon reappears holding his four stuffed animals and an expensive bottle of wine.
Simon: "Can I have some juice?"
Adlai can't quite figure out how to get the top half of his body to roll with the bottom half. When the top half and the bottom half start working together, he'll be rolling over. In the mean time, he has started to scoot up when on his back by digging his heels into the bed/floor and pushing. When he's really enthusiastic, he can move about a foot in five to ten minutes.
Adlai: Cries.
Hava: Jumps out of bed, confused. "I need to get the stuff."
Matthew: Jumps out of bed, confused. "What stuff?:
Hava: Shuffling into the hallway. "The umm stuff. The thing for his mouth. The MILK!"
Matthew: Shuffles quickly to the fridge.
Hava: Reaches Adlai. Realizes she IS the milk.
Matthew: Reaches fridge. Can't find milk. Goes to Adlai's room.
Hava: Standing in doorway still realizing she is the milk and not sure what to do about it. Scolds Matthew for not understanding the situation.
Matthew: Goes back to bed. Dreams of replacing wife.
After an initial four hours of sleep, Adlai spent the rest of the night waking every two hours with an insane desire for milk. My nap will be had later - or not if it remains warm and sunny.
On the Simon front, over the past few days, we've seen a renewed abilty to use the potty (for no. 2) and toilet (for no. 1). He has also been (mostly) sleeping through the night and has started drawing representational art (his hair "when it is long", treasure maps, etc.). We told him a long time ago we'd take him to Disneyland when he has been in underpants full time for a week. After Adlai was born and Simon was "challenging" we were starting to think we might make it to Disneyland some time in 2010. (The Disneyland thing, along with almost everything else, has proved not to be a big incentive. Simon is using the toilet for stuffed characters from Blue's Clues - already on order.)
Adlai has been working on some new moves over the past few days and tonight he perfected the routine. When he's tired he places his right hand on his forehead, makes a fist, drags the fist down to his right eye and rubs his eye back and forth.
Adlai has been giving smiles and coos to everyone this weekend. The mobile is still his favorite thing on Earth; he even laughs when the animals stop moving and waits patiently for a while, as if they are trying to fool him, before becoming upset. His new hair appears to be coming in brown and his blue eyes are stunning.
Simon and Adlai went to three parties this weekend. Simon had a good time at all of them but it was dining with the over-40 crowd which delighted him the most. It's strange to watch him interact with the different groups. He's calm, comfortable, polite, and happy around adults. He's full of energy, noise, and often disappointment around kids. He hasn't had any problems with pushing at school lately but, when he was, the pushing mostly seemed to occur when he was disappointed with the push-ees behavior. Not sharing makes Simon REALLY angry as does another child yelling at him or telling him he can't have something he's already playing with. We adults? We actually like to share our toys.
One week a year Matthew stops playing with the three-year-old crowd and celebrates his adulthood by hanging out with gamers at the Game Developers Conference. That was Wednesday thru Friday of this past week. We know we're very fortunate to have *both* of us around for Adlai's first few months. I'm not sure how most people manage when they have two children and are immediately in charge of both by themselves full time. It's terrifying - especially after this week.
Wednesday things went really well. I managed to be domestically inclined while making sure both boys were entertained without the use of the DVD player. We walked around the neighborhood and went puddle stopping. We played "Mama's Kitchen" - a new made-up game where we call each other "Sir", order using a bell, and are sickeningly polite all through lunch. We picked up Grammy from the train in the late afternoon and went birthday present shopping for friends before a trip to Simon's favorite restaurant, Cafe Yulong. At the end of the day, I really wanted an award.
It was Thursday when everything fell apart. All I had to do was get Simon to and from school on time, let him relax in front of some Blue's Clues, and feed him some dinner. Simple! Unfortunately, he was exhausted when I arrived at school in the afternoon and refused to leave with me. With Adlai in the front carrier, I couldn't pick Simon up so I had to coax him to stand and then drag him to the car. Once we were home I took Adlai out of the car and Simon took off down the street. Yelling at him didn't work so I opened the house, dropped an already crying Adlai off in his car seat and ran after Simon. By the time I caught up with him he was turning the corner about ten houses away. With a burst of energy I grabbed him and we both fell to the ground. To put it mildly, we were not happy with each other after that. Imagine the worst; screaming, yelling, tears. Simon told me to go back to work. It was a new low.
Friday was better. I should mention that Simon has been going to sleep at 7 pm and waking up in the morning between 4 and 6 am since Wednesday so most of the problem has been extreme exhaustion. By Friday at 9 am he was so tired that he could hardly stand. DVDs were watched. MANY DVDs were watched. And then Simon's sitter came over for a few hours to play with him which cheered him immensely. We even made a surprise dinner for Daddy at "Simon's Restaurant" of "meatlow" (meatloaf - one of Simon's new favorite things).
Today we attended a birthday party for two friends and left at Adlai's second nap time (12:30 pm) to drive Simon to sleep. Both boys slept until 3 pm. It's after 9:30 pm now and Simon still can't fall asleep because of that nap but at least he isn't likely to be up before the sun (although the sunrise this morning was spectacular).
Tomorrow we'll be celebrating at another birthday party just before meeting up with a group of friends for dinner. Monday we're celebrating Simon's sleeping through the night fourteen times with a trip to Chuck E. Cheese.
Adlai continues to be a happy and, more importantly, happy-to-be-sleeping baby. He's also starting to drool.
Today Adlai started blowing raspberries.
Today Adlai turned two months old. There wasn't much fanfare - just the traditional boppy photo shoot. He is working really hard at rolling over using his legs, has grown out of his 0-3 month clothes, and is pooping five of fewer times a day. The upside of this is that he rarely poops at night (when he does the lights have to come on which makes it hard to get him back to sleep). The downside of this is that his diapers almost always fail to contain the explosion. He is also spitting up more these days. Hooray for laundry machines. His schedule is solidifying a little; he eats twice in the night, wakes up for the day between 6 and 7 am (although I can often get him to sleep until 8 by snuggling) and he always naps at 9 am and two or three other big chunks during the day. He goes to sleep for the night between 7 and 8 pm.
I haven't lost any weight lately despite a healthy diet and vigorous exercise routine, still have a light linea negra on my belly, and am starting the post-pregnancy shed. My super healthy head of hair is not looking or feeling so nice and will be clogging our new pipes very soon. Ahhh, isn't the aftermath of pregnancy great.