Friday, March 25, 2011

Ghee

If you think I'm talking about clarified butter, you're wrong. Ghee is two things around here. It's Everett's beloved blankie, made by his Grandma; and it is also "give". If Everett is handing you something, he is probably also saying "ghee".

I find it extremely cute that he calls his blankie "ghee" (it's the end of the word blankie). I thought I was going to be in extreme trouble this morning when I snuck it into the wash only to be spotted as he watched the laundry tumble. "GHEE!!! GHEE!!! GHEE!!!" It took a little while before he moved on to something else, but I was worried the entire 40 minute cycle plus dryer time was going to be a traumatic episode for us both. Haha!


Tuesday, March 22, 2011

"You Need to Walk the Kid"

It isn't uncommon for Eric to compare parenting these first 17 months so far to training a dog.  Granted, neither of us have actually trained a dog, I think he's right.  I mean, think about it.  We teach them tricks, obedience, and to pee in the appropriate place.  Good behavior is rewarded with praise and sometimes treats.  They are playful, so darn cute, and have the energy of twenty or more adults. There have even been a few times when I have caught myself patting my leg when asking Everett to "come" which usually follow with a palm to the forehead "geez! What am I doing?". 

So I can't say I was surprised when Eric's solution to my most recent parenting dilemma was "I think you need to walk the kid."  You see, as a walker of 2 months or so, he is very interested in walking.  Not all that interested in riding in the stroller.  NOT interested in listening to directions like "take my hand", "come here", "walk with me", etc.  Not a recipe for safety in my book.  So Eric's idea was to practice walking together and following directions with walks to the mailbox a few blocks away.

So reluctantly, I did.  With the stroller, because I wasn't willing to carry him several blocks if he was unwilling to follow direction.  Much like a puppy, he is interested in all the rocks and twigs along the way.  We had some good parts with stretches of walking straight ahead appropriately as well as some rough spots that involved an obsession with a hole in the sidewalk and then crying and obstinance at not wanting to come to me, hold my hand when crossing the street, etc.  I must say having the stroller was brilliant as it was a consequence to not following direction.  I guess I'll keep persevering in this frustrating task with my eye on the prize.  Though puppies aren't great at taking walks, they learn quickly!

If any of you more experienced mamas have any advice on teaching skills like following direction and listening, I'm all ears!  If it's just a matter of getting a little older, please tell me!  :)

Sunday, March 20, 2011

Rocky Mountain National Park

We had a great visit with Lauren and Sarmad last week.  It was a bummer that Sarmad had to work during the day, but we understand as Eric is often on the other end of that situation.  We did lots of fun stuff, one of which was a hike at the beautiful and snowy Rocky Mountain National Park.  For a pregnant lady at altitude, I will say I found it really challenging to keep up.  But we all survived!  We were hoping to see a frozen waterfall; however, it was frozen AND covered in snow. 

We were probably trying to put his mittens on or something.

Everett and Aunt Lauren (and Dad)

Lauren standing on above mentioned waterfall.

Ev and Dad


Pointing and probably saying "what's that?"



Dad, Everett, and Aunt Lauren
You can probably tell now that I mention it, but we were putting Everett on his feet very gingerly (and placing him by rocks and such).  He had a trip to an Urgent Care earlier that day for what was probably a bruised tibia.  He wasn't bearing weight well on one leg after an accident going down a slide (a really cool one) the previous day.  We were afraid he had a fracture, but the xrays looked good.  Thank goodness - I didn't really want to find out what two days driving home with a kid in a full leg cast is like.  A little Motrin later, he was great. 

Fish Face!

Everett loves to say hi to the fish and feed him first thing in the morning.




Don't worry, we've added some rocks and a plant by now.  :) 

Ev's Bike Shop

Maybe he'll let Dad work there someday. 




What's really perfect (and unintentional) was that he was wearing his t-shirt with a toolbelt drawn on it...the unfortunate part is that it didn't show in the pictures.  And I didn't think to make it show because I didn't realize it until now.  Sorry!

Saturday, March 19, 2011

No Nap! I'm Having Too Much Fun!

Everett's relationship with the Pack and Play (portable crib) is SO over. We basically drove it to Colorado and back with very little use. Admittedly I give in quickly in a hotel with neighbors to listen in on Everett's protests, but he even persisted his refusal at Lauren and Sarmad's house when given 20-30+ minutes to work it out on his own.

So we discovered the joys and challenges of co-sleeping. We definitely can see the appeal much more than we previously did; though, perhaps less active children kick their parents less during their sleep. Within minutes of laying down with him on a regular mattress, he was out cold. (Moving him to the pack and play then seems like a great idea, right? Success rate perhaps 30%. Success rate at staying there until morning probably 10%.) It's also a positive when you're forced to take a nap during the day in order to get him to. :)

Everett enjoys being crammed in a space when sleeping --perhaps a trait leftover from the womb. He often sleeps the short length of his crib though he is taller than that. So when the three of us were sleeping in a bed, we often looked like an H with him in the middle. One of us would get the sweet end (his head) while the other would get the dangerous end (his kicking feet) causing us to sleep in a defensive position. It was so worth the kicking though to be able to wake up and see Eric and Everett cuddling. I really wish I could have taken a picture, but you can understand the flash would not have made anyone happy. My favorite, and the most hilarious was Eric and Everett cheek to cheek, Everett's head upside down and body along the headboard (feet in my face). I also got to wake up and find myself a cheek part of this human puzzle in a following night. Last night he kept smooshing the top of his head into my belly and unknowingly against his brother. It was mostly sweet, minorly uncomfortable. Haha!

Oh, and another fun aspect of all this was getting to see what he is like first thing in the morning. Last night, when at a hotel that had an aquarium in the lobby, his first word upon waking was "fish!" But most other nights it was "what's that?" sometimes with the added effect of grabbing Daddy's nose. It's a fun game we like to play, but there is an added element of hilarity when being woken up with it.

So did we create a monster? Now that we are home he protested for 20 minutes, Eric went in for awhile, then he protested some more, and now he's sleeping peacefully (and alone!) in his crib. I'm sure he'll be back to normal in no time. ;)

Saturday, March 5, 2011

16 Months

Well, time has flown. Everett is 16 months old. I thought I'd do a brief "where we're at" post so we can look back and remember these fun times.

-Everett is VERY into being outside these days. He asks for his "saww" (socks) and "shoo" (shoes) and then walks over to the back door. He sticks his finger in the crack between the door and the frame, looks at us, and says "side?" At one point it was "pside?" (please outside?). Crying always follows if we are unable to go outside at the moment.

-Which reminds me...he uses "please" and "thank you" signs. He sometimes confuses which one he is supposed to say, but he knows it's one of the two. He verbalizes please sometimes, which comes out peas.

-He is very verbal. More of it comes out as real words every day. Yesterday he said his second sentence. "Oh no! Where'd it go?" He really likes to drop things and say "oh no!" with his hands upturned in classic uh-oh fashion. I think this is so cute. His first sentence was "where is Dad?" a week ago when I got him up in the morning as Dad usually does that. The words are awesome, but his babbling is still so hilarious. "Diddle, diddle, diddle" is one of our favorites.

-He is really sweet. He has started blowing kisses and is starting to get the hang of kissing faces, though it's still pretty difficult for him. He nuzzles his head on the cat every now and then and nuzzled his head against our friends' newborn recently. He gives hugs when he feels like it, which is getting to be more frequent. He likes to carry around his Elmo and Cookie Monster and gets really excited when he sees Elmo on TV.

-The separation anxiety is strong these days. This has been very difficult for me as I am unable to leave his line of vision without him crying. I am trying to do this more little by little to help lessen it, but it still really stresses him out when either of us leave. This also includes Grandma, Grandpa, and Aunt Lauren. I have been trying to leave him in the daycare at the gym, which only lasts about 10-15 minutes after which he is crying so hard he can barely breathe. And we plan to start looking for a babysitter before little brother gets here, so we will see how that goes.

-He has a long attention span for figuring out how things work. Particularly in a dexterous fashion. For example, this morning he spent a good amount of time working on how to get the straw of his cup to open and close. Often he will work on something, get frustrated, cry, and keep trying until we take it away. We had to take away a ring that his hand just wouldn't fit into because he kept trying and crying.

-He's a really good walker, but not a great listener yet. What a combo! hah! He really wants to walk when we are out places, but he doesn't exactly stay near me or following directions like "come here", "hold my hand", etc. It seems like evolution would have made this happen in the opposite order, but I guess that's just how we learn. I really don't want to become one of the moms with a leash on their kid, but I certainly understand it now and rescind all previous judgment. :)

Tuesday, March 1, 2011

24 weeks and 31 years

Thanks to my wonderful sister for babysitting, Eric and I had a really lovely dinner out for my birthday.  So here is little brother at 24 weeks...and me at 31 years.  ;)

Happy Ayyam-i-Ha!

Ayyam-i-Ha is a special time for Baha'is.  It is a time of charity and gift-giving and is a preparation for the Baha'i Fast, which is from March 2-20.  You can read more about it here

For Ayyam-i-Ha this year, my parents and sister came to Austin.  We had a great time together, and Everett is sad now that they have all had to go back home.  We were very excited to give him a balance bike now that he is an experienced walker.   We have to hold the bike for now, but I imagine it won't take long for him to get the hang of it.  A balance bike is a bike with no pedals.  The purpose is for the child to learn bike balance early; therefore never needing training wheels or a tricycle which can be a little dangerous.  You can imagine Eric is excited.  :)

Here are a few fun pictures from the weekend.

In the first two photos, Everett is wearing his new "hat".  We wanted to make sure he would wear the helmet before we gave him the bike.  He has been anti-hat for awhile, but was really excited about this one.  It took a little encouragement, but he likes to wear it for many different occasions now.  I love how extra adorable it makes his already adorable cheeks.  haha!  And of course that it protects his precious noggin.



Opening presents with Grandpa


Grandma turning him into a gamer

He asked to wear his "hat" and climbed into Elijah's (friends' new baby) carseat