Just Powers

William turns 11 months old today.

Unfortunately, his “monthly” updates seem to be as sporadic as his ability to sleep through the night. I try to keep up with them, but something about having two (just one thing Jen?) prevents me from doing them as regularly as I would like. Will, when you are reading this in years to come, please know that my lack of posting is a reflection only on my inability to stay awake past 9:00 PM these days and is no reflection on your awesomeness in any way.

Things have been moving pretty fast in Will’s world in the last month or so. His sleep is still pretty much a disaster. He sleeps through the night every once in a while, but mostly is up repeatedly. In the last week or two he has only been getting up once a night, which has been a cause for celebration (if you don’t count waking up at 5:00 AM as a night wakening. Which, really, I do.)

His sleep is something we have worked hard at fixing but have finally realized that in the end he will sleep when he will sleep. He knows how to sleep, he can go down “drowsy but awake” (curse you sleep experts) and really doesn’t rely on any sleep crutches. He just happens to like a little midnight snack. I will be very very happy when he does finally sleep through the night, because clearly being sleep deprived for almost A YEAR is not one of the “pros” of parenting.

He started eating baby food at around six months, but we quickly realized that he has a super crazy gag reflex and could not tolerate any texture in anything. If he got so much as a half a grain of rice in his food he would look at us in dismay, his face would turn bright red and he would gag repeatedly until he threw up the offending interloper in his erstwhile smooth dinner. This was especially annoying when it happened at the end of a meal.

I was beginning to worry a little that he might still be eating baby food when he was five, but about two weeks ago he started eating Mum-Mums a wonderful little rice cracker that dissolves in his mouth before he can gag. He was so psyched about those that he moved on almost immediately to Cheerios, with great success. Yesterday he ate an entire meal with his fingers - mac and cheese, carrots and string cheese. It took me longer to cut it all up than it took him to eat it, but we were both thrilled. We are going to give him some steak next week and see how he does.

Back on January 4, he stood by himself for the first time, but I couldn’t get him to do it again for weeks. Recently, he got back to it and is now adept at getting himself into a standing position without holding onto anything and getting himself back down to the floor when he realizes he wants to go somewhere. Could walking be far away?

Similarly, he started rocking on his hands and knees months ago, but never could get any forward movement (although he was like lightening going backwards.) Two weeks ago, finally, he started moving forward. Within a matter of days he could move faster than I could and now I have to move with the speed of Lindsey Vonn to get things out of his way.

He adores his big sister Emma, despite her recent penchant for lying on top of him until he is rescued and she is sent to time out. He also loves the dogs, who he calls “duh duh”, and the cats, who he takes huge handfuls of, when they will let him. He has the most lovely smile and is a huge flirt, something that just gets funnier and cuter as he gets older and more aware of what he is doing.

Emma said to me yesterday “Mama, I love William.” Ditto.

STANDING!!, originally uploaded by Justpowers.

Will stood by himself for the first time today. I think I let go of his hands because my fingers were turning purple, and lo and behold he stood all by himself for at least 5 seconds before he lurched forward. It wasn’t a chance standing, it was a definite balanced-on-two-feet-holy-crap-I-can-do-this standing. When I did it again he stood for even longer and got a huge delighted grin on his face. The third time I was able to snap this photo just before he fell.

Of course I know that this is the end of the world as I know it. He has already shown that he is, and will continue to be, more interested in getting into trouble than Emma ever was. This is not a kid I can leave alone in a room for even a second. Even now, only crawling backwards, he can find any number of things to put in his mouth, pull down and rip apart in just a matter of seconds. Once the walking begins…ai ai ai…I don’t think we even own enough gates to keep him out of trouble.

Emma turned three years old today.

It’s hard to know what to write really. She amazes, delights and frustrates us every moment of every day.

Last week she picked up a towel we were using as a door mat by the front door to soak up rain and mud. Mike asked her three or four times to put it down. She ignored him and instead shook it, spreading dirt and leaves all over the living room. Mike was understandably, um, annoyed and in a stern voice reprimanded her for not listening. She continued to ignore him, making him more and more mad, until she finally said in the calmest, sweetest and most sincere voice “Ok Daddy, I’ll stop. I was just being a goofball.” I looked up at Mike, who had been fuming, and we both had to stifle a laugh.

Out of nowhere the other day she said to me “Do you know what I want to talk about? I want to talk about a short nap. I want to take a short nap so I can watch Dinosaur Train.” Dinosaur Train replaced Thomas the Tank Engine this fall as her favorite show on television and she is rewarded with being able to watch 30 minutes of it after she takes her nap. This was a deal we struck recently after weeks of her refusing to take a nap left her weepy and whining by 5:00 PM every day. When Emma is weepy and whining, mommy is weepy and whining, so something had to be done. Dinosaur Train to the rescue!

Some of our favorite Emma-isms at the moment:

What is happolling? (happening)

It is so much bun. (fun)

Where’s the mokinintrol? (remote control, of course)

No bones at the table Daddy. (phones)

Things she loves:

Dancing - one day I took her to the mall and as soon as we walked in the doors and she heard the music playing overhead she started to spontaneously dance with joy. She especially loves to put on a princess (see below) dress and talk one of us into dancing with her to “I Could’ve Danced All Night.” I guess one of these days we should formalize her dancing and get her into lessons, but for now we are enjoying her enthusiasm and passion.

Reading - this girl loves books. And she loves “snuggling on the couch” and reading together. I think that started last year when I was on bedrest and I couldn’t do much else with her. However it started, it is a habit I am happy we got into.

Macaroni and cheese - I am pretty sure she would eat mac and cheese for every meal if I would let her. I used to be able to get her to eat homemade mac and cheese and could even sneak a little butternut squash in the recipe every once in a while to make sure she got her veggies for the day. A few months ago she informed me she liked the yellow kind and now will only eat boxed mac and cheese with nary a squash in site. *Sigh* The biggest problem with the Kraft mac and cheese of course is that Mike and I have to eat it with her sometimes - like for her third birthday dinner for example.

People - Emma loves to be with people. We have been working hard lately at getting William on a regular nap schedule, hoping it will help him sleep through the night. Unfortunately this means we are housebound from about 9-11 in the morning and 1-3 in the afternoon while he naps. The other day we went to an open gym session at a local gymnastics center and when we left and I told Emma we were going home she became almost inconsolable, crying to me that she didn’t want to go home, that she loved being out and doing ‘bings” and that she wanted to play with someone. It just about broke my heart and made me realize how bored she must be, home with me so much of the time. This is the challenge of having two I guess - figuring out who needs what, and how on earth you can give it to them. Something to work on I suppose.

Her bear-bear - this is a pretty sad looking little white bear head on a piece of white blanket lined with yellow satin. It was the thing she chose a long time ago to be her comfort object, especially at bedtime. When we realized she had chosen it, we ran out to Toys R Us and bought two more. Now she rotates between the three, switching them only when I am able to sneak the used one out for a freshly washed one. Every once in a while she will find one in the wash and grab it, laughing as she says “two bear-bears!!” She doesn’t suck her thumb and was never very interested in pacifiers, but I don’t really know what she would do without “sumping to chew on” as she says when she is asking for her bear.

Waffles - Eats ‘em every day. Eggo Nutrigrain waffles. She can get them out of the freezer, out of the package and into the toaster before I have even poured my first cup of coffee. If she could reach the syrup on the top shelf her father and I could probably stay in bed and get a little extra shut-eye.

Dinosaurs, Rocket Ships and Princesses - Thanks to Dinosaur Train Emma can tell you about all sorts of dinosaurs that I had never even heard of prior to about three months ago. She has decided her favorite is Tyrannosaurus Rex, and she loves to talk about Giganotosaurus, Deinonychus and Ornithomimus - but that Spinosaurus scares the heck out of her.

She was an astronaut for Halloween this year and as part of the lead up to that we got a couple of books about space out of the library. The books were far far too old for her but they had some good pictures so I got them. She was fascinated with the space shuttle, the training the astronauts go through and especially the pictures of the moon landing. She started planning a trip to the moon and asked me if she could wear her sparkly shoes when she went. I told her of course she could, and asked when she was planning on going. She told me when she was six and a big girl. Once Halloween was over we thought she might stop talking about rocket ships and astronauts, but much to our delight she is as interested as ever.

And what three year old girl living in America isn’t obsessed with princesses - Disney or otherwise? I loved princesses as much as the next girl when I was growing up - my favorite thing to wear when I was four was a “long dress” so I could twirl and dance around - but I am far from being the princess type now. Upon learning I was having a girl, I am pretty sure one of my first thoughts was, oh Lordy, please don’t let my kid be obsessed with princesses. Obviously I realize now that I would passionately adore my daughter no matter what she was obsessed with, but I have to say that the dinosaurs and rocket ships make the princesses much more palatable, even enjoyable, for me.

That’s our girl in a nutshell. She is spunky and determined and musical and challenging and sweet and passionate and loving and we are having more fun watching her grow than we ever imagined we could have.

Happy Birthday sweetie. We love you.

7 Months old!, originally uploaded by Justpowers.

(a couple days late)

You know how when you are driving somewhere for the first time it seems to take forever? You are completely fixated on the directions and making sure you don’t miss a turn, and the trip seems to take a really long time? Then, on your way home, the trip seems to go so much faster? You sort of know the way now and can look around a little bit, and you aren’t so worried about making a wrong turn.

That is how it has been for me having two kids. Maybe it is because I am not as worried about the milestones this time, or maybe it is that I simply don’t have time to worry about them, but these six months with Will have completely flown by. Every time something milestone-y happens I think to myself, “Wow, are we there already? He’s already rolling over? Wasn’t he just born for gosh sake?”

Will is, in fact, rolling over these days. Lots and lots. Way more than Emma ever did. She did it once and was all “Ok, did that. What now?” and hardly ever did it again. In contrast, Will seems to be thinking “Are you KIDDING me? I can DO that? Rock on.”

He is huge. HUGE. I know I say that in every update about him, and we don’t have six month measurements yet, so my evidence is merely anecdotal, but believe me. Huge. We just bought a new car seat for Emma, so that Will can start using hers, because we are pretty darn sure that when we have him weighed in two weeks he going to come very very close to the 22 pound weight limit for his current seat. I will keep you posted.

Which actually brings up a question for me - what exactly do you do with a non-walking, not- quite-sitting-up-on- his-own infant who no longer fits in his infant carrier? Where do you stash him when you need a few extra minutes to do something before you leave the house? Emma didn’t outgrow her infant carrier until after she was walking, making transporting her oh-so-convenient. Right now I nurse him, put him in his car seat, he falls asleep, I get ready to go, I carry him to the car and he keeps sleeping. Once I don’t have the handy dandy infant carrier, where exactly do I put him in the morning before we leave, when I still have a million things to do so we CAN leave? If anyone has an answer please let me know. Otherwise I will just have to let you know what we come up with. Maybe a strategically placed bungee cord…?

But I digress. Will! He is very active and continues to be very strong. I can definitely see that in the months ahead, as he becomes more mobile, I am going to have to keep a very close eye on him. He is just beginning to sit up on his own. I stay close by to spot him but he can stay sitting for a good minute or so before he teeters to one side or another. He hasn’t started crawling or even scooting, but he is happier during tummy time these days than he ever has been. Of course, the rolling makes it much more interesting.

He loves to smile and has become a huge flirt when we are out, batting his spidery lashes and flashing a full-face smile at anyone who stops and talks to him. We recently started him on solid foods and he seems to have gotten the hang of eating pretty quickly. He loves apple sauce, as well as rice cereal and peas, as long as there is plenty of apple sauce mixed in.

His sleeping patterns have been a little wacky. He went from seriously considering sleeping through the night a month ago to being up every two hours. Prior to a few weeks ago he was sleeping 6-8 hours between feedings and twice went for 12 hours before waking up. His pattern these days seems to be about four hours between wakings, although in the last week or two there have been a few nights (far too many) where he is up just about every two hours. We have been successful at transitioning him into his crib though. Baby steps I guess.

It is interesting to note that we had similar issues with Emma when she was the same age. We have never been the “cry it out” types, even though we made a valiant effort with Emma, plus we now have a slumbering pre-schooler to think of, something which was not a factor when we were trying to get Emma to sleep. I would rather be up all night long with Will than deal with a cranky sleep deprived Emma in the morning.

I am going to talk to the doctor about this sleep thing when we see her in two weeks. My second-time-around mommy instinct is telling me though that this is nothing to get too worried about, that he will be sleeping through the night solidly by the time he is eight months old, just like Emma was, and that someday, probably not too far in the future, I will be wishing for the nights when I got a few extra minutes to snuggle with him in the quiet dark.

Will’s basic attitude these days seems to be one of sheer wonder. He approaches the world with a jovial curiosity and is delighted by most of what he encounters. Almost as much as those of us around him are delighted by our encounters with him.

Emma is 32 months old today.

I seem to be doing her “monthly” updates more on a quarterly basis these days, so it looks like it is that time again. I mentioned in my last Emma update that she was starting to show a little more ornery-ness than we had previously seen with her. That ornery-ness has continued for just about the last four months, but finally, just in the last few weeks, it is starting to feel like we have made it through somehow, like we are over the hump, that we have won this challenge and, at least for now, won’t be voted off the island.

She still challenges us of course, but all parties involved seem to have come to some sort of understanding, and most of the time things are pretty peaceful. Like any pre-schooler worth their salt, she wants to do everything herself, and to her credit there is a lot she really is able to do herself. When she can’t do something, usually a simple “nope, that’s a mommy/daddy job” explanation is all that is needed to head off a full-on tantrum.

So without further ado, here is what Emma has been up to in the last four months.

29 Months: April
Even though this was Emma’s first full month with her new baby brother she stayed busy with lots of activities. On Easter Monday the whole family went to the White House Easter Egg Roll, which Emma still talks about. In addition to going to Sasha and Malia’s house, Emma’s Aunt Lexi and puppy Mowgli came for a visit from New York City. After that, Grammy and Grampy visited for a week and took Emma to meet Thomas the Tank Engine at the B&O Railroad. To round out a month of visits, Emma’s Poppy came from Florida and spent a week hanging out with her.

30 Months: May
May was pretty low key, as Mike went back to work and I tried to figure out how to take care of two kids at the same time. On Mother’s Day Emma’s Gama came over and we had a quiet lunch at home. The next week we went to the 2009 Taste of Wheaton and Emma rode on a mini ferris wheel with Daddy and played in a moon bounce under Gama’s supervision. She did have a little bit of a sleep regression this month. There was about a week in there where she simply refused to sleep. She would scream and cry and get out of bed repeatedly, and we had no idea what to do. Finally, with the guidance of my best buddy, fellow mom and social worker Kate, we developed a plan of action - to put her back in bed consistently with no discussion or emotion. The first night I did this for two hours before she fell asleep. The next night was 45 minutes, the next was 10 and it has been smooth sailing ever since. Thanks Kate!

31 Months: June
Emma started play dates this month with the kids who will be in her preschool class in the fall. She met and hung out with 9 of her fellow classmates including Hugo, Carter, Kaylie, and William among others. She was shy at first but each week got more and more friendly and now looks forward to going to the park with her “school friends”. Later in the month we went “down by the bay” - to Oxford, Maryland on the Eastern Shore - to hang out at Gama’s house with Gama, Aunt Emily, Aunt Jocelyn and future Uncle Chris, and her other Uncle Chris. She had a great time and loved seeing everyone.

32 Months: July
Emma continued her school play dates this month and spent lots of time at the fountain in downtown Silver Spring. We went down by the bay again, just us this time since Gama was out of town. Towards the middle of the month I had my gall bladder out so Emma got to hang out with Gama and then later with Grammy and Grampy. On the last Sunday of July Emma decided she wanted to wear underwear. For good. We let her put on the underwear knowing full well that any excursion into potty training must include weeks and weeks of accidents and embarrassing situations. Much to our relief she has had a few accidents but basically the whole experience has been stress free for everyone involved. And she has a serious collection of underwear now, which includes such classics as the Disney Princesses, Thomas the Tank Engine, Elmo and Hello Kitty.

The thing that amazes us daily about Emma are the words that come out of her mouth. She remembers everything and is usually able to articulate what she thinks and feels in a way that many adults I know are not able to. This morning I told her we were going to get some medication for Moose and she said to me “Can I get a lollipop there? Last time we got medication for Moose I got a chocolate lollipop there and then I dropped it on the ground” a statement that is 100% accurate and occurred weeks ago.

When we were having the sleep issues with her back in May Emma told me she got sad when we left and she couldn’t see us anymore. I told her that whenever we weren’t with her she could see a picture of us in her head and it would help her feel better until she could see us again. She has remembered that and now talks about it all the time, in various situations: “Gama, we went down by the bay, but you weren’t there, but I saw you in my head”, “When I am at Miss Kathy’s I am sad when I can’t see you and daddy, but then I see you in my head and I feel better”, “Grammy and Grampy, you have to go home tomorrow, but when you go I will see you in my head.” I don’t think she has figured out that it melts my heart every time she says something like this, but I remain completely amazed that she seems to understand the concept that the memory of someone can be almost as soothing as the actual person can be and that she is emotionally secure enough to put that concept to work for herself.

Mike and I joke these days that the only thing left for Emma is to learn how to drive. That’s a stretch of course, but it does seem as though the person she is now is pretty much who she will be for many years to come. It is shocking at times to realize how fast our baby grew and learned and developed but so gratifying to see her in action every day. Even with her challenges, Emma is one of my favorite people in the whole world.

Ten days ago Will turned four months old.

He had his four month check up last week and measured 15 pounds, 8 ounces and 25 1/2″ long. Sixtieth percentile for both, so not GINORMOUS, but to us he seems huge. He is already in 6 month size clothes, which amazes Mike and me since we are so used to Emma who didn’t fit into 6 month stuff until the day she turned 6 months old. He seems to have lost most of the hair he was born with, but there is a new layer growing in underneath, so at least he isn’t completely bald.

His favorite toys are the johnny-jump-up thingy that hangs from the door frame or his activity center. Oh, and standing. He loves to stand and has been doing it for at least a month. He hates to be alone however, no matter what toy he is in. If everyone leave him he gets furious and cries until we return. And speaking of furious, he seems to have a wicked temper. He doesn’t get mad very often, but when he does, there is no mistaking it. He turns bright red and his eyes get wide and he screeches in a way that makes him sound like what I imagine a baby pterodactyl must have sounded like. It makes it a little hard not to laugh at him frankly, and I usually do. So I guess we have that to look forward to in his toddler years. Great.

Most nights he sleeps about 8-9 hours at a stretch before he wakes up to eat. He is still co-sleeping with us, but we have begun to transition him to his own bed. He now takes one nap a day in his crib. Sometimes it is an hour long, sometimes just 20 minutes, but the point is to get him acclimated to it, so that when we start putting him in it at night he is familiar with the smell and feel. His other nap of the day is usually on the fly, in his car seat, while we attend to some activity or outing for his big sister. Not recommended I guess, but what else can we do.

My surgery this month was a little stressful for both of us, since I couldn’t nurse for 24 hours afterwards, and then was only able to because I had stopped the vicodin they gave me to kill the pain. He seemed a little desperate during that 24 hours, sucking down as many bottles as we would give him, maybe hoping one of them would turn into the mode of conveyance he was used to? In any case we both survived.

He is all smiles these days - watching us all in complete amazement as we live our lives. The person he loves to watch more than anyone is Emma, who, he seems to understand, is his people. He stares at her while she dances or sings for him, and then he breaks out into a huge grin. He is laughing and babbling more lately too, which elicits much laughter and babbling from those around him, and so on and so on.

He is snuggly and squishy and loves to kiss and hug and none of us can imagine what our family was like before he came. We love you Will!

William is three months old today.

He seems huge to us - at his two month checkup he was 23 1/2″ long and 12 pounds, and he has been wearing his 3-6 month clothes for at least a month already. Most of his clothes sized at strictly three months he has outgrown. He wore size NB diapers for a couple of weeks after he was born but has quickly moved through the 1’s and 2’s and now can only comfortably fit in the size 3’s. I know all of this is pretty typical, but Emma was such a peanut, so this is a whole new experience for us.

He remains incredibly good natured and happy. He cries when he is hungry or in pain, but otherwise sits calmly in his car seat watching us all. In the last month he started smiling up a storm and now has full on cooing conversations with us. I swear he is going to laugh out loud any day now.

He seems to us to be super-strong. He hasn’t rolled over yet, but can bear all of his weight on his legs, and enjoys it - making me think we might have another early walker on our hands. He has had amazing neck control for a couple of months and as a result has already spent some time in the Bumbo seat as well as his johnny jump up.

He usually goes to sleep at around 9:00 or 10:00 at night and is up once during the night at about 3:00 or 4:00, then wakes up for the day when we do. We are still co-sleeping with him and plan on transitioning him to his crib one of these days, but he is so darn snuggly that I find I actually enjoy having him sleep with us. He is a good sleeper though and doesn’t fight going to bed or going back to sleep at all.

The snuggly-ness is one of the best things about our Will. Also, the fact that he seems to adore us as much as we adore him. There is nothing like the toothless grin and loving gurgles of an infant to make a person feel appreciated.

We love you Will!

Today marks the end of Will’s first month as a member of the world. Up to this point he has proven to be incredibly mellow and laid back, but lest the karma gods think I am mocking them, let me say that I am sure he will start crying inconsolably any minute now.

He is incredibly snuggly, and spends most of his awake time staring with big bright (blue?) eyes at whatever enters his field of vision. He really only cries when he is hungry and often makes snorting/trumpeting noises that remind me a of a tiny little pachyderm.

He eats A LOT, which is good for him, if slightly tiring for me (and also makes it really hard to finish thank you notes…). He was 7 lbs. 3 oz. at birth, 7 lbs when we left the hospital, 6 lbs. 13 oz. at one week and 7 lbs. 6 oz. at two weeks. No doubt the constant eating will translate into a big weight gain at his one month check up this Friday, I will keep you posted.

We got what really really looked like a smile at about 3 weeks and he already has crazy-good head control and an iron grip. He loves lights and just in the last couple of days has started tracking people and objects with his eyes.

His sister seems to still be pretty fond of him, and we of course adore him. He’s a keeper.

Emma turned 28-months old yesterday. In the last month or so, we have seen an all-new, not necessarily improved, Emma. It’s as if someone reminded her she is two-plus-some and she really needs to do her part upholding the image that two-year olds have around the world and get crackin’ on that “terrible twos” thing.

Maybe the arrival of a sibling is partially responsible for sparking the newfound ornery-ness, but I kind of think we would be experiencing similar changes with or without the new baby. The difference would be that Mike and I would not be distracted, exhausted and hormonal as we try to deal with her.

When I can look at the situation from FAR FAR outside of myself, and think of this phase as her job, something she has to do to develop appropriately and move to the next stage of person-hood, I can feel almost proud. “Man, she is so good at finding opportunities to be independent!” “Wow, she is really skilled at questioning authority and finding her own way of doing things!”

Unfortunately, I am very rarely FAR FAR outside of myself these days, and when that little stinker puts her foot up on the table during dinner – despite my REPEATED warnings not to – my eyes begin to bug out of my head and I begin to speak in tongues and she smiles at me as if it were the funniest thing ever and then announces she would like to go into a time-out… well, those are the moments I have trouble feeling especially sane, let alone proud.

But she is very proud to be a big sister, and every morning comes into our room and wants to see her “baby bruvver”. She especially likes to hold him “on the sofa” and always offers to hold his hand during a diaper change. She loves to give him sweet gentle kisses and lots of hugs. The good news is that she doesn’t seem to hold Will responsible for his arrival at our home, the bad news is that she does hold me responsible from time to time. A few nights after we got home from the hospital she threw a book at my head – an act she seemed to find as shocking and upsetting as I did. As things start to settle down, though, she seems to be forgiving me, and our relationship is getting as back to as normal as possible. When she isn’t putting her feet on the table.

Oh – and she can now count to 11 (before she skips to 14, 16, then back to 6) and can ALMOST sing the entire alphabet, although she likes to jump to the “Now I know my ABC’s…” part after the letter L or so, so we sing it with her to keep her on track.

There are times when Emma does something particularly, shall we say, rebellious? independent? – and she gets a little twinkle in her eye. Sometimes I swear I can see a 14-year-old version of herself in there somewhere, and it completely terrifies me…