Friday, November 16, 2007
late late late
I uploaded some neat pictures of Elias and Graham on Halloween and at a couple of the Smithsonian Museums in Washington, D.C. almost two weeks ago, but I have been too lame/busy to say anything about it here. I correct that mistake now.
Wednesday, November 7, 2007
Graham Update #2
Well, we once again missed Graham's birthday. He turned 4 months on Saturday and we celebrated with a trip to DC to ride the Metro and see the Smithsonian, an event which I will blog about at a later date. Today we went to the doctor for his four month checkup.
Here are his stats:
Weight: 14 lb, 2.3 oz (32nd percentile)
Height: 25.25" (61st percentile)
So he's up 2 and a half pounds and 2 inches from his two month checkup!
For comparison, Elias was 14 lb, 5 oz and 25.5" at this age.
As the doctor was checking out his joints (grabbing his legs and moving them in big circles) and otherwise poking and prodding him, she commented on how calm he was. Truly, there is a huge difference in temperament between Graham and Elias at this age. Elias was a fighter and loved hands-on attention. The baby books always say you should put your baby in bed "drowsy but awake" to help them learn to sleep on their own. The people who wrote those books never met Elias. "Drowsy but awake" would turn into "angry and not going to sleep" as soon as his back hit the crib mattress. We had to hold or rock him to sleep every night until he was almost 18 months old. Graham, on the other hand, will happily lay in his crib cooing until he drifts off to sleep on his own, or sometimes with the help of his aquarium. I didn't know babies could do that until I met Graham! Though Graham loves attention like Elias did, he doesn't need to be right on top of me all the time. People posit that Graham is so relaxed because John and I, as experienced parents, are more relaxed, but I think this is an insult to Graham as an individual who has preferences and desires of his own.
Anyhoo, other things Graham is doing now: sucking on his fist and/or fingers, making oohing and ahhing sounds, sitting up for a couple of seconds when propped up, and grabbing at toys (so he can bring them to his mouth and suck on them, naturally). He's full of smiles and laughs, especially when his big brother is doing something goofy like dancing around on his bed wearing a bicycle helmet. He still wakes up a couple of times a night to eat, but goes right back to sleep with no problem and will usually sleep until 7 or 8 in the morning, so its not too bad.
After the post about Graham rolling for the first time, he took a short break from it, only to start up again last week with a vengeance. He is still going front to back, but is getting closer to doing back to front. He can get up on his side from his back, tantalizingly close to making it all the way over, but hasn't figured out he needs to move his bottom arm out of the way so he can complete his roll. Elias, in his usual contrary way, learned to roll back to front first, which is the opposite of what most babies do. The problem was that he hated being on his tummy, so he would roll over, then cry until someone came along and flipped him over onto his back.
NB, I don't mean to come off as negative when I talk about Elias. He reached most of his milestones early precisely because he was disgruntled much of the time. He wasn't happy laying in one position, so he learned to roll. He was mad he couldn't reach the toys so he crawled and then walked. He was frustrated we couldn't understand what he wanted, so he learned to talk. Being chronically dissatisfied can sometimes be a good thing!
Here are his stats:
Weight: 14 lb, 2.3 oz (32nd percentile)
Height: 25.25" (61st percentile)
So he's up 2 and a half pounds and 2 inches from his two month checkup!
For comparison, Elias was 14 lb, 5 oz and 25.5" at this age.
As the doctor was checking out his joints (grabbing his legs and moving them in big circles) and otherwise poking and prodding him, she commented on how calm he was. Truly, there is a huge difference in temperament between Graham and Elias at this age. Elias was a fighter and loved hands-on attention. The baby books always say you should put your baby in bed "drowsy but awake" to help them learn to sleep on their own. The people who wrote those books never met Elias. "Drowsy but awake" would turn into "angry and not going to sleep" as soon as his back hit the crib mattress. We had to hold or rock him to sleep every night until he was almost 18 months old. Graham, on the other hand, will happily lay in his crib cooing until he drifts off to sleep on his own, or sometimes with the help of his aquarium. I didn't know babies could do that until I met Graham! Though Graham loves attention like Elias did, he doesn't need to be right on top of me all the time. People posit that Graham is so relaxed because John and I, as experienced parents, are more relaxed, but I think this is an insult to Graham as an individual who has preferences and desires of his own.
Anyhoo, other things Graham is doing now: sucking on his fist and/or fingers, making oohing and ahhing sounds, sitting up for a couple of seconds when propped up, and grabbing at toys (so he can bring them to his mouth and suck on them, naturally). He's full of smiles and laughs, especially when his big brother is doing something goofy like dancing around on his bed wearing a bicycle helmet. He still wakes up a couple of times a night to eat, but goes right back to sleep with no problem and will usually sleep until 7 or 8 in the morning, so its not too bad.
After the post about Graham rolling for the first time, he took a short break from it, only to start up again last week with a vengeance. He is still going front to back, but is getting closer to doing back to front. He can get up on his side from his back, tantalizingly close to making it all the way over, but hasn't figured out he needs to move his bottom arm out of the way so he can complete his roll. Elias, in his usual contrary way, learned to roll back to front first, which is the opposite of what most babies do. The problem was that he hated being on his tummy, so he would roll over, then cry until someone came along and flipped him over onto his back.
NB, I don't mean to come off as negative when I talk about Elias. He reached most of his milestones early precisely because he was disgruntled much of the time. He wasn't happy laying in one position, so he learned to roll. He was mad he couldn't reach the toys so he crawled and then walked. He was frustrated we couldn't understand what he wanted, so he learned to talk. Being chronically dissatisfied can sometimes be a good thing!
Tuesday, November 6, 2007
October Round-Up
Sorry I haven't written much lately, Graham has been going through a phase where he wakes up every half hour after being put to bed in the evening, so I haven't had much time to update the blog. But he seems to be sleeping well tonight (knock wood), so I'll attempt to update you on what's been going on in our lives.
Uncle Gerald came to visit for a couple of days at the end of October. Elias thought his uncle was so much fun, especially after Uncle Gerry presented him with Spencer the engine (one of Thomas' friends) made out of LEGOS!!! Elias and John fought it out over who got to play with the set, but Elias won, by virtue of not having to leave the house - and the Legos - to go to work every day. Graham was also pleased, in his own quiet way, with the teddy bear he received as a gift.
After Uncle Gerald left, we took the boys to get pumpkins. We went to Clark's pumpkin patch, because they have a free hayride from the parking area to the pumpkin patch. Elias was beside himself with excitement when he saw the tractor that would be pulling us to the patch and chattered happily for the duration of the ride. Daddy helped him pick two big beauties, and Elias rode in the wagon with them on the way back to the tractor. Graham kept warm strapped to mommy in his baby carrier, and even managed to stay awake for most of the trip.
Halloween was uneventful. On the 30th, Elias got to dress up in his giraffe costume (thank you, cousin Samuel and auntie Cheryl!) for school. Our neighborhood is lousy for trick or treating, so though Elias dressed up again on Halloween night, he came only to our door to trick or treat. I went outside with him and explained what he needed to do and what would happen. He knocked on our door and yelled, "DADDY! I WANT CANDY!!" John prompted him, "What do you say, Elias?" and apparently mistaking his father for the etiquette police, Elias politely added "PLEASE?" After another reminder, he managed a weak "Trick or treat!" and happily collected his lollipop.
Graham (as a lion) and Elias with their jack o' lanterns.
Uncle Gerald came to visit for a couple of days at the end of October. Elias thought his uncle was so much fun, especially after Uncle Gerry presented him with Spencer the engine (one of Thomas' friends) made out of LEGOS!!! Elias and John fought it out over who got to play with the set, but Elias won, by virtue of not having to leave the house - and the Legos - to go to work every day. Graham was also pleased, in his own quiet way, with the teddy bear he received as a gift.
After Uncle Gerald left, we took the boys to get pumpkins. We went to Clark's pumpkin patch, because they have a free hayride from the parking area to the pumpkin patch. Elias was beside himself with excitement when he saw the tractor that would be pulling us to the patch and chattered happily for the duration of the ride. Daddy helped him pick two big beauties, and Elias rode in the wagon with them on the way back to the tractor. Graham kept warm strapped to mommy in his baby carrier, and even managed to stay awake for most of the trip.
Halloween was uneventful. On the 30th, Elias got to dress up in his giraffe costume (thank you, cousin Samuel and auntie Cheryl!) for school. Our neighborhood is lousy for trick or treating, so though Elias dressed up again on Halloween night, he came only to our door to trick or treat. I went outside with him and explained what he needed to do and what would happen. He knocked on our door and yelled, "DADDY! I WANT CANDY!!" John prompted him, "What do you say, Elias?" and apparently mistaking his father for the etiquette police, Elias politely added "PLEASE?" After another reminder, he managed a weak "Trick or treat!" and happily collected his lollipop.
Graham (as a lion) and Elias with their jack o' lanterns.
Monday, November 5, 2007
Goodbye, Diapers!
OK, Elias will still be in a diapers for a while, but the headline news for today is that he pooped in the potty for the first time!
We've been taking it slow with potty training, since we figure that its way easier to wait until he's ready to potty train than it would be to try to impose it on him. We're very big on 'easy'. He first peed in the potty a long time ago, but it was really an accident of timing. For the past couple of weeks, though, we've been sitting him on the potty and he's able to pee on command. He likes to squeeze out a few drops, then try to empty the basin into the toilet, then squeeze out a few more drops, etc. etc., but we're working on having him save up his urine for periodic prolonged pee sessions.
This morning I went into his room when he first woke up, and he said to me, "I need a new diaper. I have poop in mine." I checked his diaper, and there was no poop, so I asked him if he wanted to use the potty. He ran into the bathroom and sat down, saying he had to "make pee pee", but nothing came out. I gave him a few more moments, and he stood up a little and produced aforementioned poop.
He still won't tell us when he has to use the potty, and as I said, it doesn't seem like he tries to hold it until he gets there, so we have a long ways to go. But this was an encouraging first step.
Yay, Elias! (Or should that be 'Go Elias!'?)
We've been taking it slow with potty training, since we figure that its way easier to wait until he's ready to potty train than it would be to try to impose it on him. We're very big on 'easy'. He first peed in the potty a long time ago, but it was really an accident of timing. For the past couple of weeks, though, we've been sitting him on the potty and he's able to pee on command. He likes to squeeze out a few drops, then try to empty the basin into the toilet, then squeeze out a few more drops, etc. etc., but we're working on having him save up his urine for periodic prolonged pee sessions.
This morning I went into his room when he first woke up, and he said to me, "I need a new diaper. I have poop in mine." I checked his diaper, and there was no poop, so I asked him if he wanted to use the potty. He ran into the bathroom and sat down, saying he had to "make pee pee", but nothing came out. I gave him a few more moments, and he stood up a little and produced aforementioned poop.
He still won't tell us when he has to use the potty, and as I said, it doesn't seem like he tries to hold it until he gets there, so we have a long ways to go. But this was an encouraging first step.
Yay, Elias! (Or should that be 'Go Elias!'?)
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