Merry ChristMoose!

Pretty quiet

Not a whole lot to post about recently... Robert is still working on standing and walking, but he doesn't seem to be in a big hurry to take off.  We did have a funny moment today when I was sitting at the Green County Garden Club's cookie walk today with a woman who is the mother of 4, grandmother of 8 and great-grandmother of 9 who said that she had never seen a child eat like Robert.  I guess it was nice to have my suspicions confirmed...

Lots to say

Robert will be 14 months on Tuesday, and I've found that when kids turn one year everyone wants to know if a. ) they are walking and/or b.) if they are talking.  Well we've had a big week here on both fronts.  Just this week Robert has learned to stand on his own, and even took a few tentative steps.   He is definitely on the slow side on walking, but Rob was 15 months before he walked alone, so I wasn't worried.  Plus, when you are in the 98th percentile for height and 75th for weight, that is just a lot of mass to move around.  But I think the peer pressure at school has got to him, and he's trying to catch up with the big kids.  He also really started verbalizing this week.  Here's a partial list of Robert's words, with the grown up translation:

Da (socks)

Do (Dog)

Do (Down)

Do (Duck)

Da (Dad)

Nnnnn (Sound doggie makes)

Nana (banana)

Oh ah ah ah (Sound monkey makes)

Dada (Dad, or Doggie, or Down NOW!)

Bu (Book)

Mama (Mama, I want, help, It's dark, come get me...)

No No (I'm going to touch something I shouldn't)

Uh oh (I just threw something on the floor and want you to pick it up)

Fortunately, the signing rounds out his needs.  He signs "eat," "drink," (I just figured out what that was-- he points his finger at his mouth, instead of making the ASL cup sign) "all done," "more," "banana," "brush teeth," "wash hands," and  "dog" reliably, and sometimes "apple" and "water" (which looks a lot like his "drink").  We're going to continue with the signing because he really seems to like it, and it turns out that I do too.  There is a huge school for the deaf in our neighborhood, and it would be great if Robert could make use of that resource as he gets older.

 

A day in the life...

Sometimes it seems like the days, weeks, and even months fly by without me even noticing.  How can so much time pass without me seeming to get anything done? I think we all know who is to blame, but gosh, it seems incredible that the days fly by so fast.  Especially since sometimes the minutes just drag on and on (how long until nap time?!?)

So, (and I realize this is scraping the bottom of the blogging barrel) here is a typical Saturday in Toddler land.

3:30 AM-- Drag self from nice warm snuggly flannel sheets to go put Robert's binki back in and rock him back to sleep.

4:30 AM-- Ditto.  Glare at Rob who seems to just sleep through the crying.  Shut bedroom door to so as not to hear Robert cry anymore unless he is super-upset.

7:15 AM-- Wake up.  Realize it is 7:15 and no crying.  Try to decide if I should get up and get some stuff done, or sleep some more.

7:16 AM-- Hear Robert start to make waking up noises.  Decide that I REALLY wanted to go back to sleep.

7:17 AM Pray Robert will go back to sleep.

7:29 AM Get up, go downstairs and graciously allow Rob to fix me breakfast. 

7:50 AM  Suggest to Rob that since he went to so much trouble to fix me breakfast that he should go change Robert's diaper and get him dressed while I eat my breakfast.

7:51 AM Can't believe that worked.

8:00 AM Feed Robert breakfast, get him dressed (Rob did the diaper, but not the outfit), play downstairs with  him.

10:00 AM Send Rob and Robert out to Costco to do some household shopping while I decorate for Christmas.  Turn up Jay-z's Black Album since I don't have to explain to Robert why he has 99 Problems But a Bitch Ain't One. 

12:00 PM Feed Robert leftover corn and turkey for lunch.  

12:30 PM  Naptime. Change his diaper and realize I'm out of cloth diapers. Put him in a 'sposie. Robert is really tired and goes down immediately. I hum "It's the most wonderful time of the day" to the tune of that Christmas song.  More decorating.

1:40 PM  I decide I should take a nap.  

1:45 PM I decide I can't sleep.   Stuff clean diapers so we have them for after nap.

3:00 PM.  Robert wakes up.  I install newly-cleaned diaper and rejoice that his one 'sposie of the day coincided with the dirty diaper of the day.    

3:15 PM Next-door neighbor and her 13 month daughter come over to play.  Robert hits Lily over the head with a puzzle piece, Lily dumps Robert head-first out of his rocking chair.  In other words, a normal day.  

4:00 PM.  Neighbor heads home.  I look at the clock and realize that there are still 3. hours. till. bed.  Try to tempt Robert with toys instead of banging blocks into window.  Fail, and send Robert to time out.  

5:30 PM Forget the research about kids not seeing TV until they are 2.  Find Little Einsteins on ON DEMAND.  Get more interested in it that Robert is.

6:00 PM Feed Robert dinner.  Spinach ravioli with salmon in dill sauce and peaches.

6:30 PM Bath

6:45 PM Diaper, PJs, 2 stories (The Going to Bed Book and When Mama Comes Home Tonight)

6:50 PM Find Paci, Douglas, Put Robert in bed.  Leave room, make it down 3 steps before the crying starts.

7:00 PM  Go back up stairs, sing song, pat tummy.  Leave again, and listen to crying 1/2 way down the stairs.

7:02 PM  All's quiet...

7:20 PM Eat a grown up dinner with no food thrown, cut up into microscopic pieces, or stuck up anyone's nose.  

8:10 PM Start watching WVU's last home game.  Too tired to do anything else....

So, that folks, is why nothing is done around here.  Pretty sad, I know.

 

Happy Thanksgiving!

Pictures will have to wait until we get home to unload the camera, but suffice it to say that we are all now as stuffed as the turkey.  Robert ate so much food that he resembled Tempelton.  Maybe that's why it's 9:30 and he still not asleep?!?

Anyway, hope everyone else had equally as good food, and far superior sleep.  This year we are thankful for so much, including YOU!

A fun evening

Monday was a big day. We went to the farm to see Grandma and Grandpa Madison and Great Aunt Carol. Despite not taking a nap, Robert did very well and had a lot of fun playing with Tucker (Grandma and Grandpa's dog). He also got to play with wooden blocks for the first time, though Mama and Aunt Carol had more fun building towers and knocking them down than Robert did. I wish I had gotten a picture of Robert putting himself into the box that the blocks were in-- it was pretty funny. Needless to say, he didn't fit.

Then, last night, Aunt Ann and Uncle Jonathan came to visit, along with Jonathan's dad, Al. Al is a great favorite, and we don't get to see him nearly enough. Needless to say, Robert took to him right away. We had fun playing with him and getting some cute pics, and he did very well staying up through dinner and then went to bed in about 2 seconds. Which was nice, since he decided to go to bed right before dessert, and I wanted that cheesecake!

This I'm pretty sure about...

My next-door neighbor (who has a daughter Robert's age) and I were discussing things we tell pregnant people now that they should or shouldn't have/do for the baby.  So I started thinking that maybe I should share the things I have learned this year.  I do so in the full recognition that I didn't believe anything that people with kids told me before I had Robert, but this kind of knowledge is so hard won that I (and every other mom) feel compelled to share.  So, here is the first in what may be a regular list of things I'm pretty sure about...

• Crib skirts are totally not worth buying. In fact, the whole bedding set they try to sell you is an enormous waste of money.  You can't use the crib bumpers (no, really, put them down.  they are death-traps.), you can't use the blankets (see above) and the skirt is totally worthless once you lower the crib mattress.  So buy to knit organic cotton sheets at BRU, and spend that $200 on something else.  Like...
• The annoying plastic toys that sing songs are going to be your kid's favorite toys.  Yes, you swore you wouldn't have them, that they are cheap and tacky and you wouldn't look at them sitting in your living room.  That you weren't going to have a bunch of toys that require batteries.  Until you realize that your kid will sit in the car for 2 hours if he has his little LeapFrog Animal Alphabet Discovery Ball.  And then it goes to the top of the list of things you would save in a fire. 
• Rechargeable batteries are the best thing you can give new parents.  For the first 6 months we had 2 recharging stations going at any one time.  
• Nipple confusion is something that men who don't want to get up in the middle of the night to feed babies made up so that new moms have to breastfeed 24/7.  Give the baby a bottle every now and then so he'll be able to go back and forth.  Oh, and a little formula won't kill the kid either.  Don't let anyone tell you otherwise.  

I'm sure there a bunch of other stuff, but hopefully we'll get some new pictures of Robert downloaded so you don't have to listen to me pontificate about parenthood.   

What a difference a year makes...

This is Robert, a year ago today:And two pics from the last couple of weeks.  I can't believe how the time flies:

(Sort of) Missing My Moose

So, Rob and Robert have been out of town since Thursday.  This is the first time I have had more than 48 hours (and that only once) to myself since Robert was born.  For someone who is used to being alone with some regularity, this has been a huge and not entirely welcome change.  So, I have to give props to Rob and his folks for spending this weekend with the baby so I have had a little time to myself.  My dissertation, the house, and my sanity all thank you.

I was a little nervous and guilty about how this weekend would go-- would I miss the baby?  Would I *NOT* miss the baby?  Would 4 days be enough?  Too much?  I guess I needn't have worried.  I've got done most of what I wanted to do, and am really looking forward to the boys getting home. 

Just another baby blog...

I can't believe I have succumbed  to the pressure, but here goes my first attempt at a blog.  The idea that anything in my life would be of any interest to the greater world (even to friends and family) is sorta inconceivable, but, hey, all the kids are doing it.  And, if nothing else, it is a way to share baby pictures!

For those of you playing along at home, Robert just turned 13 months.  The relationship between toddlerhood and adolescence has been suggested many other places, and let me add my hearty agreement.  My sweet, placid, good-natured baby-- well, who am I kidding, he's still there, but he gets temporarily kidnapped by a tantrum-y, moody, unpredictable toy-thrower who bites.  Hard.  He continues to be huge-- 98th percentile for height, 75th for weight, which makes him taller than he is fat, I guess.  (Thank God for his daddy's genes!)

Ok, as a reward for listening to me blather on, here are some new pics...