Cooper thinks his train set is super cool, and I agree. He very much anthropomorphizes the train cars, which is particularly funny to me because I'm the one that insisted on getting Cooper a couple of little boy dolls and some tiny cute people figurines- and yet he pretends his trains are people and narrates their adventures as they apparently do things like eat lunch, get cold, take naps, etc.
Today I overheard Cooper in his room while he was supposed to be napping, "This one is the mommy train car. It's name is Leigh. It gets snacks for all the kid trains."
I'm glad my avatar train car is so thoughtful and prepared.
Saturday, January 29, 2011
Almost to 1
I'm in shock at the apparent rushing of time. Why the rush? But here we are, almost at Grant's first birthday. Wasn't I just pregnant a little while ago? Didn't Grant fit into a sling, like, yesterday?
But no. My big fast baby has turned into a big fast miniature toddler. He walks! He runs (poorly)! He uses Cooper's high chair to climb ONTO THE KITCHEN COUNTERS! He waves Bye-Bye to his adoring fans at daycare, every afternoon! He says Doggie, Dada, and does the "motor" sound for any sort of vehicle (boat, car, truck, helicopter) toy that he can find.
In some ways, he is still very little. He still really needs three naps a day. He still only has legitimately slept all night about three or four times. He still likes to nurse at least 4 times in a 24 hour period. And his habits of sucking his thumb when he's nervous, and collapsing in a heap on top of his favorite blanket, are so dang cute.
And Cooper, oh man, he's getting funnier, and more fun, by the day. His latest favorite phrases are "I LOVE IT!" and "That makes me so happy" and "This is how we do it." He applies all of these quite liberally to his day, usually all at once, so you might catch him saying something like, "Cheese with lunch? I LOVE IT! I want to cut it, with a knife, like this, this is how we do it... Momma, cut it like this, in big pieces. I LOVE cheese in big pieces. That makes me so happy."
We spent a week in Utah recently, and poor Cooper was an utter mess without his regular routine, schedule, day care staff, etc. He had a near nervous breakdown during the one day of fancy ski-area daycare, but in the end he survived and the staff was kind to him. We did have fun as a family, and Grant was adorably unflappable as always (you could see it in his eyes at the ski-area daycare, "Oh! New people! And new babies! I like these new toys, this is going to be fun. Bye Mom!"), so it was just a small glitch in the big picture.
But no. My big fast baby has turned into a big fast miniature toddler. He walks! He runs (poorly)! He uses Cooper's high chair to climb ONTO THE KITCHEN COUNTERS! He waves Bye-Bye to his adoring fans at daycare, every afternoon! He says Doggie, Dada, and does the "motor" sound for any sort of vehicle (boat, car, truck, helicopter) toy that he can find.
In some ways, he is still very little. He still really needs three naps a day. He still only has legitimately slept all night about three or four times. He still likes to nurse at least 4 times in a 24 hour period. And his habits of sucking his thumb when he's nervous, and collapsing in a heap on top of his favorite blanket, are so dang cute.
And Cooper, oh man, he's getting funnier, and more fun, by the day. His latest favorite phrases are "I LOVE IT!" and "That makes me so happy" and "This is how we do it." He applies all of these quite liberally to his day, usually all at once, so you might catch him saying something like, "Cheese with lunch? I LOVE IT! I want to cut it, with a knife, like this, this is how we do it... Momma, cut it like this, in big pieces. I LOVE cheese in big pieces. That makes me so happy."
We spent a week in Utah recently, and poor Cooper was an utter mess without his regular routine, schedule, day care staff, etc. He had a near nervous breakdown during the one day of fancy ski-area daycare, but in the end he survived and the staff was kind to him. We did have fun as a family, and Grant was adorably unflappable as always (you could see it in his eyes at the ski-area daycare, "Oh! New people! And new babies! I like these new toys, this is going to be fun. Bye Mom!"), so it was just a small glitch in the big picture.
Friday, January 14, 2011
click!
Grant is rapidly learning to talk, which amazes me. Isn't the classic paradigm that the second child, especially if it is a boy, doesn't say a word until 18 months? Not at my house. He's remarkably attentive to what we say, and says all sorts of interesting multisyllabic babble in response to events and things we say to him. His only word that is firmly placed in the true language realm is "Doggie," as he says it whenever he sees the dog, and often while pointing to the dog. But he also says "Dada" upon request, and if you ask him to say "Mama" he laughs at you (truly) and says "Dada" and then laughs again. Every time. So I'm quite sure he understands what he is doing, and that it is somehow funny. Grant also does the "motor" sound when he plays with cars or trucks, and can very nicely imitate a clicking sound for his amusement. When he's in the right mood, you can have an entire sound conversation with him.
Grant: Bbbbbbbbbbbbbbrrrrrrrrr...
Me: (click)
Grant: (click) (click) ba ba ba
Me: Say Mama!
Grant: (heeeehh heeeh) DADA! (heeeehhh heehhhh)
Me: You are being silly. Say Mama!
Grant: (hheeehhhh) DADA!
Me: OK, say Dada.
Grant: DADA!
Me: What's this? Is this your shoe?
Grant: Da da ba ba bbbbbbbrrrrrrrr squeeee! DAW-GHEEE!
Me: Who is this? Is this the doggie?
Grant: DAW-GHEE! DAW-GHEE!
And so on.
Grant also is teaching himself to run. This is a violent and painful process, but he's hellbent on it, so I'm just trying to make sure that he doesn't poke out an eye. It is also pretty funny to watch, although the push-pull between laughing at the kid, and comforting him when he face-plants, is pretty tough.
Cooper is having some adjustment issues with Matt's new schedule, and for whatever interesting reason, has decided that the best thing to do now that Matt isn't home for dinner four nights in a row, each week, is for Cooper to not eat dinner. I am displeased with this. A cranky hungry exhausted toddler that refuses dinner is not really who I want to spend my evenings with. I'm hoping that as Cooper adjusts to the new schedule, this will improve greatly. In the meantime, I'm trying not to get freakish about forcing him to eat, and the folks at daycare informed me that he's eating very well there, so in the big picture I'm sure it will be fine.
Grant: Bbbbbbbbbbbbbbrrrrrrrrr...
Me: (click)
Grant: (click) (click) ba ba ba
Me: Say Mama!
Grant: (heeeehh heeeh) DADA! (heeeehhh heehhhh)
Me: You are being silly. Say Mama!
Grant: (hheeehhhh) DADA!
Me: OK, say Dada.
Grant: DADA!
Me: What's this? Is this your shoe?
Grant: Da da ba ba bbbbbbbrrrrrrrr squeeee! DAW-GHEEE!
Me: Who is this? Is this the doggie?
Grant: DAW-GHEE! DAW-GHEE!
And so on.
Grant also is teaching himself to run. This is a violent and painful process, but he's hellbent on it, so I'm just trying to make sure that he doesn't poke out an eye. It is also pretty funny to watch, although the push-pull between laughing at the kid, and comforting him when he face-plants, is pretty tough.
Cooper is having some adjustment issues with Matt's new schedule, and for whatever interesting reason, has decided that the best thing to do now that Matt isn't home for dinner four nights in a row, each week, is for Cooper to not eat dinner. I am displeased with this. A cranky hungry exhausted toddler that refuses dinner is not really who I want to spend my evenings with. I'm hoping that as Cooper adjusts to the new schedule, this will improve greatly. In the meantime, I'm trying not to get freakish about forcing him to eat, and the folks at daycare informed me that he's eating very well there, so in the big picture I'm sure it will be fine.
Monday, January 10, 2011
I talkin'
A few days ago at dinner, I interrupted Cooper while he was holding a side conversation with himself (he does that) and he got all mad at me.
Cooper: I usin' a fork, eatin' my din...
Me: Cooper, could you...
Cooper: HEY! Mom! HEY! Stop talkin'!
Me: Um?
Cooper: I talkin'. Not your turn, my turn. When I done talkin', it'll be your turn, ok? OK? Ok. That's better.
Sassy! But he was right, I suppose. It was rude of me to interrupt him while he was talking to his dinner. And evidently, I need to be a bit better about asking him to stop talking, because his mimicry isn't at all flattering.
Cooper: I usin' a fork, eatin' my din...
Me: Cooper, could you...
Cooper: HEY! Mom! HEY! Stop talkin'!
Me: Um?
Cooper: I talkin'. Not your turn, my turn. When I done talkin', it'll be your turn, ok? OK? Ok. That's better.
Sassy! But he was right, I suppose. It was rude of me to interrupt him while he was talking to his dinner. And evidently, I need to be a bit better about asking him to stop talking, because his mimicry isn't at all flattering.
Saturday, January 1, 2011
2011
Grant's birthday is in early February, as you know, and that makes me feel like it is coming right up. I mean... this is JANUARY. February is the next one! I can't believe my little buddy will be one year old, so soon.
Grant has been surprising us lately, mostly by growing teeth when he has no business doing so. He's got 12 of the darn things now. Why? No rush, buddy. It isn't like you are eating steak every night. But there he is, growing more teeth again. At this rate I think we'll be done with teething by May.
He's also walking faster, better, and did I mention faster? He's quick. This week he figured out how to stand up from a sitting position in the middle of the floor, so now he's unstoppable. For a while he had to crawl to something that would help him pull up to a stand, but nope, that's over. Now he gets up like a big kid and just walks off.
Grant is also a climber, and may in fact be more of a climber than his brother was. I've already found Grant: standing on his toy garage (quite remarkable), in the process of climbing onto the top of our house heater by way of an adjacent coffee table, standing on my nightstand at 5:30am, and of course, standing on the little art table chairs in Cooper's room. Gotta keep an eye on that kid.
And Cooper. His ability to hold a conversation and explain himself has grown by such leaps and bounds lately. He'll tell me almost anything, and is getting SO much better at controlling his often explosive and difficult emotional ups and downs. He's even starting to cry less, which is a relief for all involved. Turns out telling Cooper he doesn't really need to cry unless he's sad or hurt, for the last YEAR, is finally paying off. He'll tell me "I gotta go settle down in my room with my blankie" or "I fusstated so I no gonna cry" or "I got hurt so I need to cry" or "I got scared and I gotta cry" between sniffles, gasps and/or sobs. It is awesome to be able to finally understand what is driving him- and to actually be productive in fixing or helping the situation. It is a lot easier to be empathetic to a little boy that is telling you a toy fell down and he got scared, rather than a little boy that is screaming non-stop for no apparent reason for the tenth time in an hour. Sometimes, I have to laugh at him for why he's upset (like being so mad at not being the one that put the cap back on the orange juice jug- THE INJUSTICE!!!) but hey, laughing is so much better than getting mad at a miserable child.
Last but not least, I remain blessed by my napping kings. Cooper still takes a 3 hour afternoon nap almost every day, and Grant still regularly naps 3, yes 3, times a day. Grant's naps are typically 2 hours in the morning, 2 hours around noon, and 45 minutes at around 5pm. No wonder Matt and I are still capable of keeping the house in some sort of order and clean state.
2011 is going to bring us into having to little kids that walk, talk, and eat fruit leather by the box. As Cooperstar Raddow-see says, "That'll be great."
Grant has been surprising us lately, mostly by growing teeth when he has no business doing so. He's got 12 of the darn things now. Why? No rush, buddy. It isn't like you are eating steak every night. But there he is, growing more teeth again. At this rate I think we'll be done with teething by May.
He's also walking faster, better, and did I mention faster? He's quick. This week he figured out how to stand up from a sitting position in the middle of the floor, so now he's unstoppable. For a while he had to crawl to something that would help him pull up to a stand, but nope, that's over. Now he gets up like a big kid and just walks off.
Grant is also a climber, and may in fact be more of a climber than his brother was. I've already found Grant: standing on his toy garage (quite remarkable), in the process of climbing onto the top of our house heater by way of an adjacent coffee table, standing on my nightstand at 5:30am, and of course, standing on the little art table chairs in Cooper's room. Gotta keep an eye on that kid.
And Cooper. His ability to hold a conversation and explain himself has grown by such leaps and bounds lately. He'll tell me almost anything, and is getting SO much better at controlling his often explosive and difficult emotional ups and downs. He's even starting to cry less, which is a relief for all involved. Turns out telling Cooper he doesn't really need to cry unless he's sad or hurt, for the last YEAR, is finally paying off. He'll tell me "I gotta go settle down in my room with my blankie" or "I fusstated so I no gonna cry" or "I got hurt so I need to cry" or "I got scared and I gotta cry" between sniffles, gasps and/or sobs. It is awesome to be able to finally understand what is driving him- and to actually be productive in fixing or helping the situation. It is a lot easier to be empathetic to a little boy that is telling you a toy fell down and he got scared, rather than a little boy that is screaming non-stop for no apparent reason for the tenth time in an hour. Sometimes, I have to laugh at him for why he's upset (like being so mad at not being the one that put the cap back on the orange juice jug- THE INJUSTICE!!!) but hey, laughing is so much better than getting mad at a miserable child.
Last but not least, I remain blessed by my napping kings. Cooper still takes a 3 hour afternoon nap almost every day, and Grant still regularly naps 3, yes 3, times a day. Grant's naps are typically 2 hours in the morning, 2 hours around noon, and 45 minutes at around 5pm. No wonder Matt and I are still capable of keeping the house in some sort of order and clean state.
2011 is going to bring us into having to little kids that walk, talk, and eat fruit leather by the box. As Cooperstar Raddow-see says, "That'll be great."
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