Entries Tagged 'The First Year' ↓

Atlanta Trip!, originally uploaded by bburbank.

It has been shamefully long since I’ve written and I could write a novel about the past couple months, but instead I’ll just write some quick highlights.

Talking! You are talking so much and now integrating awesome little phrases into your vocabulary like “I’m coming!” and “That’s awesome!” and “Where are you?” I love it.

Interests! I now understand the parental need to support a child’s interests. It is so terribly exciting to witness you starting to like things. I mean, you’ve always liked things a little bit. You had pigeon and Yo Gabba Gabba before. But now you have little obsessions and you can vocalize your feelings and you get really excited about things! You do a fist pump type “yessss” that makes my life complete because, more than anything else, I just really want you to be excited by life and passionate about your interests. Right now you are obsessed with Finding Nemo. You want to watch the movie every day and you carry around the DVD pamphlet inserts, studying the pictures and showing me all the characters. “Look, Nemo.” “Dori.” “Shark.” It is the summer of aquariums, so this new Nemo adoration is timely…and maybe even why you like it so much. We went to the Atlanta Aquarium with Bubby (amazing!) and to Sea World with Alex (So fun!) and we’re going to the Florida Aquarium with Mike this weekend. I can’t wait to see your face when we go there now that you know all about fish. You even point to lion fish and say “lion fish.” The other day at Amaya Papaya you said your equivalent of triceratops “a-tops” and another mother was very impressed.

I remembered my Mom immediately buying me a violin as a child when I mentioned an interest. My interest was shortlived and I always felt like Mom jumped the gun a bit buying me that violin. Now I understaqnd it. It is so exciting to see you expressing interests in things and, as a parent, I just want to jump in the car and get you an aquarium and Nemo toys and books. I see these parents of olympian teenagers and wonder how they can give up everything and move their children close to the best gyms and coaches. I’m beginning to understand how that’s possible.

Sense of humor! Sometimes I just stare at you and make a funny face and you crack up laughing. I can’t wait until you’re telling jokes and have serious silly times.

Imagination! I now watch you take a dinosaur and chase us around the house yelling “roar.” You will play with your train set by yourself and make Buzz ride on the train.

Singing! You are breaking into song and it is awesome. You mostly sing songs from Yo Gabba Gabba. “Naptime, naptime, go to sleep go to sleep.” “Run run run, it’s fun fun fun, now FREEZE!” “ABCs” You’re picking out letters you know and you were counting the fish in your bathtub unprovoked last night!

You are also entering a bit of a terrible two stage. You have a lot of temper tantrums, throwing yourself to the ground and fake crying when you don’t get what you want. We’ve had some all-out battles lately that are not fun. Generally, though, you are very happy-go-lucky and bravely face whatever new adventure comes your way! You’re spending a lot of time with family and friends. Pops comes over about once a week and takes you out for milkshakes and swimming. You h ave recently hung out with Melanie and Calina, Silvio, Jack, and Alex, Bubby and Uncle “Agam” and Grandma Pony riding ponies.

Helping! You are helping me now! Every day you help me unload the dishwasher and cook dinner. I’m amazed at how much you help me with dinner. You can go into the pantry and get me an onion or put cut up vegetables into a pot. You help me stir and yesterday you pointed to which mini muffin hole I should pour our popover batter into and then you poked gruyere cheese into each hole. It was fun!
You’ve been pretty healthy except for that dang eczema that won’t go away. You have a dermatology appointment next week. We’re hoping it’s not food allergy or asthma related.You’re about 35 inches tall and I’ll have to weigh you soon.

Yep, right now dinosaurs, trains, and all animals, especially alligators and sea creatures, rule in this house. I know these obsessions are brief, but it’s exciting to see you excited by the world and its many wonders.

I can’t believe it, but I have a two-year-old birthday party to plan!

Mini GQ Model, originally uploaded by bburbank.

This nineteenth month of yours was a roller coaster ride. You were the most difficult, but the very most fun you’ve ever been this month. The beginning of the month was a bit of a trial. You were sick with a perpetually runny nose, a high fever, and you refused to sleep. I paced the house for 45 minutes at a stretch with you on my back at 1am trying to coax you to sleep despite your every effort to get out of that backpack and watch more television. You would get an idea into your head and HAVE to have it or you would flip out. I normally just try and let your tantrums run their course and patiently try and figure out what you wanted. These times, however, I knew exactly what you wanted and you weren’t allowed to have them and that made you very, very angry which, in turn, made me very very exhausted and frustrated. After a few days of many tantrums at the grocery store, in the carseat, and before every single nap or bedtime, we made it through and you just stopped doing it. It was a phase that I’m glad has abated for the time being. I had to admire your persistence. You would punch into the air pointing at the thing you wanted shouting “this this this.” It would have been amusing if it hadn’t been past midnight.

Those few days taught me that patience is the ONLY way to get through the difficult times. Your Dad actually taught me that. He is extremely patient and level headed and that has helped me when I get frustrated. One trying evening he just came into the playroom where I was pacing and turned on the Yo Gabba Gabba soundtrack and patted us both on the back and walked along with us until you fell asleep. It also helps to know that phases go as suddenly and reliably as they appear, so remember the light at the end of the tunnel.

Then, after that first trying week of your nineteenth month you have had the time of your life! Your personality is shining through brighter and brighter every day and you are just a joy to spend time with! Some highlights:
- The last week of April you discovered words big time! You are saying so many new words and even phrases and can repeat every letter in the alphabet! I love to see how proud of yourself you are when I clap for you after saying new words.
-I feel better able to play with you because of this new level of communication. We can sit and play with blocks together. You can pick out colors and shapes.
-We have tons of new Buzz Lightyear paraphanalia thanks to Bubby and a Toy Story toddler bed waiting for me to get brave enough to allow you to sleep in. You LOVE your new Buzz things and point out all the Buzzes in the room to me and say “Buzz Buzz Buzz” as you point.
- We’ve been cooking and cleaning together. I especially love it when you help me empty or fill the dishwasher. The other day, as you handed me spoons and forks you lifted them out of the tray and up to your mouth and pretended to lick them, then you laughed. Your first little joke! It was awesome. You’ll even put the silverware into the silverware drawer all on your own. I didn’t even ask you to!
- Out in the backyard you pretend to sniff the ground like Leela does. You like to find sticks and poke them through little holes in the fence. You like to crouch down and watch the little ants crawling around. You run around in circles and try to make yourself dizzy.
-I watched Yo Gabba Gabba with you yesterday and you actually made all the funny faces. I had no idea you could do that. I got off the couch halfway through the show and looked back at you and you patted the couch cushion next to you, asking me to come back and sit down. It’s easy to get caught up in chores and other tasks. Sometimes you just want me to plop down and watch a show with you. It made my heart squishy.
- You are obsessed with books and I’ve been taking you to the library weekly to get a huge pile of books because I get tired of reading Dug the Dog, I Love Dinosaurs, and Jumpy Jack and Googily, even though they are great books. You love any book by Rachel Isadora and you like Eric Carle’s simpler books.
- Daddy got you a Magnadoodle today and we have never seen you so attached to an activity toy. You don’t want to ever stop drawing on it. You don’t ever want to let go of it. I had to basically rip it from your hands to get you buckled into your carseat. You insisted on carrying it into the restaurant yourself. You wouldn’t let us touch it. Geesh! I’m glad you like it, though. It’s a good toy.
- You love water activities and had a lot of fun in Calina’s wading pool the other day. I have been leaving you at Calina’s house once a week and letting Pops babysit you once a week and you are doing better and better with that. You seem to both have a harder and harder time saying goodbye and more and more fun once I’m gone. It has been great for me to get out and work at the museum twice a week. I’m having a lot of fun with it and feel good teaching the kids and earning a little extra spending money.
- You love choo choo trains, Wow Wow Wubbzy, Buzz and Woody still, making the dog run around the house like crazy, practicing walking up and down stairs without holding on to anything, running around the house naked, especially right before bathtime (the other day you accidentally peed a little on a rug and ran into the bathroom where I was getting your bath ready and said “Oh noooo” and grabbed yourself. I said, “uh oh, Jho, show me what happened” and you ran over to the spot on the rug and showed me. I was actually so proud of you for knowing that that was not correct and then for telling me! I hope you continue to do that for all other infractions in your future! Maybe it’s about potty training time?!?
- You’ve been playing dress-up with my shoes, my mardi gras beads, and various hats. You are obsessed with shoes and know that we aren’t allowed to go outside without them so you make sure to have them on and make sure that I put my shoes on, too. You’ve discovered the refrigerator and are also obsessed with it, driving me crazy opening and closing the fridge or just standing with it open while you peruse the offerings. Usually you just want “Juuush”
-You love to sing twinkle twinkle, pat-a-cake, open shut them, and the abc’s.
-It messes with my head to think about being your Mom and you being an actual person who depends on me to keep you safe and love you and teach you and make sure you grow up to be the best man you can be. I have to stop sometimes and force those thoughts into my head so that I’ll realize what an awesome and amazing relationship we really have. I have a lot of fun hanging out with you, little buddy. You are good company and a fun friend!

Sleep., originally uploaded by bburbank.

We’re both getting more of it. I am so happy about your recent ability to make yourself fall asleep. And I really like this extra sleep. Hopefully this falling asleep on your own and sleeping through the night with one 2-4 hour afternoon nap is not a short-lived phase, but something that’s here to stay for awhile. You’re doing pretty well without milk and froggy and blanky seem to be pretty comforting nighttime companions. You’ve been getting up between 7 and 8:30am, going down for a nap between 11:30 and 2:30 and then going to bed around 9:30 or 10:00 each night. That is working out great for us and it’s nice to be on a bit of a regular schedule.

You are eighteen months old now and I am really enjoying this age. You are communicating so much more with me and understand so many new things. You are such a big boy. We had to get you size 7.5 Wide shoes today at Stride Rite and you are almost 36 inches tall and 30.8 pounds! We still battle your eczema  a bit and you wake up with the occasional high fever which I think may be a result of the new molars coming in (you have three of the four back molars now). You are wearing between a size 2 and 3T and love to examine what is on your shirts each day…especially when you get to wear your Buzz Lightyear or Sesame Street shirts. I realized recently that it is often those stupid details that I want to remember and that I forget. I need to keep better track of what sizes you wore when and what ailments you have at what age…that sort of thing. I also want to keep better track of some other things:

Things you love: Buzz, Woody, and Mr. Incredible, soft pillows…especially the new “big boy pillow” we let you sleep on now, running around the house chasing (and sometimes hitting and pulling on Leela), sitting in various chairs, playing outside picking little flowers, picking up acorns, examining small objects, playgrounds, especially going up the stairs and down the slide again and again and again, reading books like My Name is Dug and your frog pop-up book, doing your “barnyard dance”, pat-a-cake, twinkle twinkle, and itsy bitsy spider, climbing up on the bed and jumping on your Dad, playing a modified hide and seek, being surprised, wiggling, stomping, being tickled, communicating effectively and then getting praised, saying animal sounds, playing a variation on Simon Says, felt boards, playing with toy phones, blowing kisses, feeding me from your dinner plate, sitting in my lap and letting me read to you, holding small things, riding in your backpack and in the car carts at the grocery store, magnets on the fridge, putting on your shoes (probably because it signals that we’re going somewhere), helping me with house chores (emptying or filling the dishwasher and opening or closing drawers being among your favorite chores). When I give you something you want and asked me for you clench your fists with excitement and grin and sometimes laugh. It’s awesome. When you don’t get what you want or something is frustrating you like something not fitting into a container or some container not opening for you the way you want you get very Hulk-like and grunt real loud and bang the object down. You are a lot like me! (Something I’m noticing about parenting…you parrot my actions and bring attention to mannerisms I didn’t know I had like when you started saying “okay” and I realized how many times a day I say that word!)

Things you don’t like: When your nesting cups don’t nest properly, when I don’t provide a toy you’ve asked for promptly enough, when it’s been too long since your last snack, when you wake up in the backpack after having fallen asleep in there (same goes for carseat), when we turn off Yo Gabba Gabba before it’s over, when we won’t let you get down and run through a store, sweet potatoes and broccoli, when other people pick you up besides me, when I won’t let you chase the dog any more

Favorite foods: Bananas still win. You take the hugest possible bites. Grapes are probably next favorite, although crackers are up there. I mean, honestly, ice cream would win above all but you don’t get to have ice cream very often. You love oatmeal in the morning, strawberries, and pretty much any fruit. You like tomatoes and cheese and you’ll tolerate avocado. You don’t eat many vegetables willingly (unless hidden) but you will eat just about any vegetable if it came out of soup. Weird. Broccoli is still really iffy, but I discovered tonight that cauliflower is acceptable. You like spicy foods and you do not appreciate potatoes unless they come in french fry form.

Favorite places to go: Any playground, the library (some days at the library are better than others), anywhere outdoors, especially if you are allowed to run wherever you want. Theme parks are fun but exhausting. You like going over to other people’s houses, but you don’t want the other people to pick you up and you don’t want to be left alone with them until you are good and ready,

Words you often say on your own: uh-oh, okay, ou-T, Daddy, dog, look, up, moo, quack, baa, Buzz, yes, no, ouchie

Words you reliably sign: cat, dog, more, please, thank you, I love you (blows kisses), hello, goodbye, banana, cracker, frog, sleep (you sign and say sssss…it’s adorable), bath, eat, drink

Words you have said when prompted: please, car, off, down, Leela, Mom, Jack, ….pretty much most words I try to get you to say you try to say now, even if you don’t actually use them or necessarily know what they mean. You also know many, many more words than you ever try to say. I can ask you to point to a bird, an octopus, a zebra, an elephant, all the Yo Gabba Gabba characters, some colors, almost all your main body parts, some shapes, etc. and you point at them.

It’s fun to watch you starting to interact and play with other kids and interact and communicate more directly with me. You are really exploring what your body can do, randomly trying to turn in circles or walk backwards or jump, randomly trying to rhyme words or make up syllabic rhythmic patterns, mimic the way we talk on the phone or sit in a chair or sing a song. (We’ve been putting a song to everything we do so you can get used to our schedule. You sing “away” when we put the toys away. Tonight in the bathtub you sang “away…okay…be-bay.”

I also feel like we’re getting to know you and your quirky mannerisms and your likes and dislikes more and more each day. You like to be praised, but you don’t necessarily need us to notice what you do. You are very independent and often seem to question why you have to do something that is asked of you. You can be very focused and almost have tunnel vision if something interests you. After library class you are not interested in socializing with the other kids…you run for the door so you can explore the rest of the library. Books are pretty much your favorite things next to holding Woody and Buzz. You have a very expressive face that gives away all your emotions…your latest face being very quizzical where your scrunch up your nose and your eyebrows and look very concerned and confused. You are very caring and thoughtful and like to help me do things. I broke something the other day and you came over and stood over the shattered remains nervously, sort of seeming concerned that I was upset. You kept saying with your scrunched up face, “oohhhh….okaaaaiee….okaaaaiee” as if you were trying to make sure it was okay and that I knew it was okay. You also have a mischievous streak. You run and run and don’t look back. You test your boundaries and often seem to love the attention you get when you cross a known boundary. You do not scare easily and seem to be adventurous. And you are so sweet and loving and awfully adorable and people seem to just really like you! I know I do!

You just happened to learn to blow kisses for Valentine’s Day! It makes me so happy. I am very sappy this Valentine’s Day. You are so cuddly and sweet and communicative all of a sudden and it’s so fun to watch you learn how to say new things every day. You especially love to say animal noises and you said please for the first time the other day. You are eating your oatmeal every morning with a spoon all by yourself. You are climbing EVERYTHING, even trying to climb from the floor onto the dining room chair and then the table. Scary! You sing your Toys Away song with me “aaaaway” You are obsessed with Buzz Lightyear and are showing growing interest in Clifford the Big Red Dog. You still adore Yo Gabba Gabba and books, especially any book with Peek a Boo games in them. We go to the library and the park for picnics and we took you to the art museum where you made your first collage. You like to climb all over your dad and you want me to hold you all the time. And if my back could do it, I would hold you all the time. You looked over at me and just blew me a kiss this morning and it was the best Valentine’s day gift ever. We love you, Jhonen!

Hey look at that! 11 months old and trucking. Well, stumbling.

boating!, originally uploaded by bburbank.

Just got back from a trip up to Maine to hang with Chris and Leslie Stiles. We were up there celebrating their first anniversary (and belated celebrating their wedding, which we couldn’t attend as you were about to get totally borned).

On this trip we learned that you would like a pet lobster, and that you hate boating but love the water.

Jho and his blue balloon., originally uploaded by bburbank.

Yesterday Jhonen and I went to the grocery store. In line, as usual, Jhonen bewitched the grocery clerks with his big blue eyes and the clerk asked if he could have a balloon. A million Mom thoughts ran through my head. Should a ten month old have a balloon? What if he’s allergic to latex? What if it pops in his face? What if it floats away and he gets mad? He’ll just want to suck on it…is that bad? Still, I said he could have it. What Mom doesn’t want free entertainment for her kid at the grocery store, even if it only lasts for a few minutes.

The older gentleman bagger went to guest services and returned with a blue Publix balloon and Jhonen was transfixed. He stared at it floating and bobbing in the air and got a huge grin on his face. I tied the blue string to the side of the cart and he reached for it and pulled it close. To my surprise, he didn’t immediately put his mouth on it, but stared at it and held it. I got distracted by the groceries and finding the car in the parking lot, so I didn’t notice until I reached the car that he was clutching the string in his right hand with his left arm around the balloon holding it in a hug. For some reason this was one of the sweetest, most adorable thing I’d ever seen him do. It was just one of those amazing Mom moments. I realized that all my worries and fears almost stopped me from giving him this little treasure. I realized the joy of providing not just the necessities of life to a child, but the happiness and fascination of everything the world has to offer. I realized how much fun it will be to experience even the silliest of little moments with him, to see a balloon in a new way….his way.

It’s funny, because one of my best memories of Leela involved a balloon, too. Ben and I had returned home with her as a six-week-old puppy and Ben’s Mom had brought by an It’s a Girl balloon to celebrate her arrival. Leela took great interest in the balloon and was sort of excited by, yet fearful of it. The next thing I knew, she had the balloon string in her mouth and was tearing around the apartment with it swinging wildly behind her. She had arrived, all right!

It sort of illustrates their personalities, too. Leela confronted that scary balloon, then conquered it. A job well done. Leela, our determined, stubborn, obsessive, happy dog celebrated with her proud victory lap.The minute I got Jhonen in his car seat and handed him the balloon, he grabbed it and all the way home I watched him bopping it and flailing it around in the rearview mirror. His blue balloon showed him at his tenderest cuddliest clutchiest sweetest best and then at his silliest rowdiest destructive exploringest, too.

The last few weeks I swear you’ve gone from being a baby to being a kid. Every day I wonder how much of what you do and how you behave is motivated by your stage of development or by your personality. If your recent activity reflects elements of your personality then this is what I can glean about you so far:

If you want to do something then you throw your all into doing it, whether or not you should. You flail your arms excitedly, throw yourself to the floor dramatically, make wild animal sounds crazily, and laugh heartily. You don’t hold backa single emotion. You are very social and curious about others, especially other kids.  You stare at them at the park and reach out to grab any kid that comes near you. You like silliness as long as it’s not too over the top. You love playing games and being mischeivous and now enjoy playing with Leela. You like to see different places, but don’t particularly like the journey there. You love anything having to do with water - swimming, baths, sippy cups, fountains. You are daring, funny, and active.

It will be an interesting experiment to see how your personality manifests in comparison to your stages of development over time.

p.s.  I know that you’re a happy kid. I know that I help foster that in you. I know you are well tended to, but I hope I’m meeting all your physical and mental needs. I look at the bathtub I haven’t scrubbed or the floor I let you crawl around on and I feel so guilty and self-conscious, like everyone is thinking what kind of terrible mother I must be to let you do that. I have a really hard time knowing what is safe and how to protect you versus how to let you be a kid and learn things on your own. I guess that will be something I have to face as long as I am a mother. I hope I’m good enough for you. I’m definitely trying, and when I make a Mom mistake I am sorry and I take note of it so that I can continuously do better for you.

Courtesy of our new iPhone 3GSes, we can take (crappy quality) videos and just post them from wherever we are. In this video, Jho is attempting to kill his Cookie Monster, who just will not stay dead, no matter how many times you kill him.

About every two months I find myself saying, “This is my favorite age yet!” I hope that continues for the rest of your life. You are 8 1/2 months old now and you have become so much fun. People call you an old man in a baby body and say you have wise eyes. You have a sense of humor now and sometimes we have pillow fights and just laugh and laugh and act crazy. And other times, after you finish eating, you look up at me and smile a close-lipped smile and you just sit on your boppy peacefully. Those two extremes, from wild, fun, and silly to peaceful, calm and sleepy are my favorites.

You have started swim lessons with your Aunt Jenny and I’m impressed with your progress. You seem like a well-adjusted kid who can just roll with whatever is thrown your way. That’s important. I hope you continue that trend. You have spent some good time with your family lately. You really love spending time with them. You LOVE playing with your Dad, especially when he flies you through the air. Bubbie likes to sing to you and play piano with you. Nana likes to babysit you so your Dad and I can go see a movie together. Uncle Adam loves to make you laugh by scratching you with his scruffy beard or shaking his head at you. For some reason you like that. Oma was in the hospital and you really cheered her up with your visit. We also visited Granny Lori at her office and she was so happy to see you. I think your Pappy is pretty pleased with you, too.

Now that I’m not working at the gelato shop anymore it has been fun to get a little routine going for you. It is helping you to take regular naps and that has allowed me to write and make books and bake and read. When you are up we go on walks around the neighborhood with Leela, we play on the floor in your room with your toys, we give you morning baths, we swim in the pool or go on little adventures like our last one to Dinosaur World for “Uncle Jack’s” birthday party. We’ve gone to Disney World, seen the ocean, gone bowling and miniature golfing, all sorts of stuff! It is really fun to talk to your Dad about how we’re going to show you anything and everything we can. We’re planning our first big family trip coming up.

I love to watch you learn (standing up, eating new foods, sit down gracefully) and explore (try to eat the shoes on the shoe rack, chase the dogs, go from room to room) and make new sounds (ma ma ma, ba ba ba). Good work so far, kid.