Signs

Den is in Fort Wayne, IN. It's a quick trip, as he'll be back Wed. afternoon, so these are for him...

Den told me to turn off the computer at 8:30. Why are the computer and I still connected at 10:30?


Signs Ed may be teething...chewing on anything and everything in sight. Nanny thinks he is getting his incisors. We can tell he is uncomfortable. When I came in the living room, he was just sitting there, with this ball in his mouth, gnawing away.
He is even sticking the plastic Easter egg in his mouth -- for once I can't wait till the Easter stuff comes out in stores (I suspect shortly after Valentine's Day), as I want to buy Ed a bunch of giant plastic Easter eggs. Talk about a cheap thrill. I suspect he will think he's died and gone to heaven. He has a couple eggs now, but our supply is gradually being eliminated through various household accidents.

He takes his nebulizer for asthma every night (kind of looks like an oxygen or pilots mask). Lately, he wants mama and then dada to try the meds too. When Den wasn't home tonight, he put the mask up to my face and said "mama" and then he put into the space to the side of us and said "dada". But what really cracked me up was when he took one of his ducks and then sheep and decided they too needed a couple puffs of the meds.

Ed is starting to recognize letters and numbers. Den and I are completely blown away by this. The g'parents are not, I don't think. I grew up hearing my parents say that us kids could read by the time we were 3, and now I see how (besides that my dad's job at the time was teaching teachers how to teach kids to read...follow that?). Eddie recognizes the letter 'E' in multiple contexts and 'D' for daddy. He is starting to get 'R', 'G' for g'parents, and 'M' for mommy in multiple contexts. He definitely knows the number 1 and sporadically knows other numbers. Unreal. Professor g'pa says it will likely take at least a year before he will be able to read in the true sense of the word.

As gifted as we think he is, I'm sure the doctor will have a reality check for us at the 2 year apt. about something he should be able to do by now, but doesn't. For now, it's just fun to watch him soak everything up.

Lunchies

Went with a friend and her 2 kids to one of our favorite museums. It has a huge indoor open area in which to run with a fountain to make it interesting and a nice sized indoor play space filled with toys for kids. We thought it would make a great outing and also serve us well in the 20 degree day. She takes them into the City much more than I and they have a whole routine we got to experience. We stopped at a Starbucks for kids hot chocolate. I had no idea. They actually make hot chocolate in these little cups and it's supposed to be much cooler than adult hot chocolate. Eddie drank a whole kid sized cup (fashioned from mine) in a regular cup and didn't spill a drop. I was so proud.

At the museum, Ed stuck pretty close to home the whole time, chosing to sit right by me. As we sat there, I watched the difference in how kids play, how their parents react to when their kids do something wrong (ignore, address and forget, or enforce) and then I heard a word that made my head spin: lunchies. Around 12:30 all the parents started gathering their kids for lunch and these parents, both of them were using 'lunchies' and other baby talk words to converse with their kids.

We passed over a nanny because she used baby talk with Eddie and I just couldn't stomach it. I wonder at what point these parents transition to normal words and how difficult it is for the kids to unlearn 'lunchies'.

Speaking of lunch, Eddie is eating like a teenager. At breakfast I was starved and relized too late I gave him an insanely large bowl of cereal. He ate the whole thing. Then he asked for seconds AND thirds. For lunch, he ate an entire peanut butter and jelly sandwhich and 1/2 a banana. I know sleeping a lot (which he's been doing) and eating a lot are signs of a growth spurt. At this rate, he's going to shoot through size 2T and move straight to 3T. I suppose if he were really eating like a teenager, he would have gone through 6 sandwhichs and several pieces of fruit. He sat at the table in a regular chair, I'm not sure he could peer over the top of the table, but he kept pulling down pieces of sandwhich to eat, it was really cute.

23 months, the month before 2

How did this happen? How did Eddie go from a baby to almost 2 years old? It's one of those rehtorical questions, but one I'm asking almost daily.

Ed is starting to eat at his little table--I kind of use it as a treat and he usually does quite well. Here he did a great job at b-fast, even barely spilling a drop as he drank from his cereal bowl in his glow-in-the-dark dino PJs. They come in all different sizes, but I think stop short before my size.

Auntie M and Uncle K gave Eddie some pots and pans for xmas, and now I'm going to have to get him some fake food. He likes putting his crackers in the pots and pans and eating from them--good habits like eating straight from the pan have to be cultivated early in life lest he waits until college.

This is our TiVo remote. Den came in from getting Ed's meds together to find Ed as you see him.

Below, we got our first accumulating snow of the season on Sun. By the end, we had maybe 1.5 inches and then some freezing rain on top of that. Den swears we have had flurries in the last month or so, but this was the first time I'd noticed anything white. This was also the first time since last year (not in Ed's memory banks) that Ed had seen snow.

At first he didn't want to go out, then he decided if he had his favorite outdoor balls it would be okay, and finally, he cried big crocodille tears when Den brought him in. I think they would have stayed out longer if Den had been wearing more than a thin pair of running shorts and a fleece.

Ed got his first 2 cups of hot chocolate, one after each snowy outdoor adventure--I think I've created a monster. He tilts his head back and in less time than I am able to make my own cup is able to drain the cup and ask for more. I just give him a half-cup of Ovaltine each time, slightly heated. He watches me drink hot tea and chocolate and always wants to drink from my cup. I tell him its hot, but occassionally he is so persistent I let him touch the mug and then put it to his lips. Recently that hasn't stopped his interest.

Note: He does have snow boots, but they don't seem to fit--or be a good design for a toddler--the velcro keeps coming undone--and they are Land's End. They are about his size, so I don't quite understand. I think I need to leave the snowboots and hat and glove purchases to g'ma Wisc.--I think she's got a little more experience than I in preparing kids for wintry environs.

Den and I have been marveling lately at how much Eddie is learning. It is impossible to keep track, as I have in the past of all the new things he learns each day. It used to be that it would take days or weeks of working on something before it was mastered/accomplished--like sitting up or lifting his head. He is also experiecing so many 'firsts' I can't keep up with that either.

It's fun to watch and patriciapte in his learning. As Den said the other day, he now knows more words than we could count--many of them recognizable to anyone in earshot. Next time you talk to him, ask him to say 'appitizer'--I guarentee you'll chuckle. He has added the 'happy birthday' song to his songlist and in general seems to be thriving. I'll be interested in what the doctor says next month at his next check up.

Good to get away...good to be home.

This is the view from our room. We also had a city view off to the left of this picture of Old San Juan, located about 1.5 miles away.

I'll put up a couple more of the best of the Puerto Rico photos in another post. G'parents Ohio took their photos and left--I'm sure they took a handful. G'parents Wisc. didn't take any pictures...the long way of saying, the picture taker is back in action and we once again have photos of Eddie--from today.

We celebrated Christmas with g'parents Wisc. tonight. Ed was up to his usual present opening antics, tearing off piece by piece and then when he found something to his liking, complete obsession.

The other photo is one of the last you'll see with Ed on my lap for a while, as I'm running out of lap space.

So we left on a 6:45 am flight on Sat. Jan. 13 and were supposed to get in late on Wed. the 17th. Our pre-child vacations tended to be intense, with days crammed full of hikes and activity from morning until night. We ate Chips Ahoy and Pringles for dinner. Post-child, it involves getting dinner by 6 or 7 and an early night--to be greeted by an earlier morning. Lots of breaks for naps and nutrious meals. This was a hybrid of the 2--taking it very easy, with lots of breaks and bottles of water, while occasionally overdoing it and having to lay down to rest. Sleeping in until the screaming toddler in the room next door woke us at 5am and continued to scream until 8am, almost constantly (only one morning) and then eating dinner at 8:30 and 9pm.

It was a great anniversary/babymoon trip and we are eternally greatful to the g'parents, all 4 of them, for making it possible. I knew we'd miss Eddie, but for once, I got to experience what Den goes through every time he goes away. Every child I saw, I thought about Eddie and wondered how old they were. Every playground, or child-related thing I saw, I thought of Ed. The first 2 days, I was quite homesick for him. Yet at the same time, I thought of what a treat it was to get to sleep in, not carry a stroller and diaper bag, and eat when we wanted, where we wanted, and what we wanted.

It helped that every day when we called to check in on the g'parents there was a whole lotta hootin and hollerin' going on. Ed could almost without fail be heard singing in the background and happily playing. G'parents seemed to be having a good time. I had spent the week before writing out detailed instructions on how to give him his medicene, his favorite foods, and in general what he is used to. We did a medical release and the whole bit--basically the g'parents could run the house with the instructions I left. We didn't expect them to follow any of it--except for the medicene part, but it made the control freak in me feel better to have them know what Ed was accustomed to.

I was thrilled when we returned that Ed greeted us so warmly--a sign that he wasn't angry for leaving us with first one set, and then the other set of g'parents. And apparently the transfer, with the 4 adults on hand that love Eddie almost as much as his parents went well, with no one tugging at Eddie's limbs.

As I mentioned, we were supposed to come home on Wednesday. While enjoying a relaxing lunch in an outdoor cafe on a side street (watching a man who appeared to be off of his meds pace up and down the street, limbs flying and with the occassional spastic utterance), Den got a call on his cell. While he was talking to Delta, he got several more calls from Delta, trying to reach him. Our flight that evening had been cancelled due to weather in Atlanta and we were to be rebooked on the 8am flight the next day. That's when the scurrying began. The next 24 hours were not overly relaxing, as we searched for a hotel, sat in rush hour traffic trying to get to the airport all in vain to see if Delta could get us a good deal on a hotel, handed in the car and in general tried to tie things up.

More later...

We're Back

Will post more this evening when I've dug out. Ed had a great time with the g'parents (both sets) and didn't seem to mind that we were gone. Flight home was cancelled and we had to stay an extra day--darn.

Is this short enough?

Look at the form on this shot! I'm no expert--heck any athletic abilities Ed has surely aren't from Den and me, but he sure looks good here.

Ed was having a good time throwing the balls up the stairs.
Here's some closeups of his haircut. He's got at least 5 haircuts under his belt by now. For some reason, when he goes with dad it's fine. When he goes with me, it's tears, etc.

Dad requested a short haircut.

Here he is preparing to throw a spiral--and has thrown several nice spirals (purely by accident of course).

Wun...Twoooo...Three FOUR

I've been listening to this for about 10-15 minutes. We put soft cloth blocks in Ed's crib and 2 of them make sounds when you press on them One counts in this slow, drawn out way, 1-4. The other is a duck quacking. I can also hear Ed throw the cloth blocks out of his crib. He couldn't fall asleep tonight.

Den is on the road again...this time to Austin, TX for the week. I'd very much like to visit there someday, but decided Puerto Rico was a better option. That's right, we're going to PR and leaving Ed with the g'parents.

It sounded like a good idea at the time and it seemed so far away when we planned it, but now that it's here, I worried. I'm stressing about how Ed will do with us gone--he was pretty upset about Den leaving this morning. Also, what happens if we die in a plane crash, or since Den says a car crash is statistically more likely, what if we die in a car wreck on the island?

To complicate things, Ed is coming down with a cold. Ugh. What perfect timing. He seemed to have been healthy for almost a month, so I guess it was about time. Just have to hope he gets well by the time we leave. I hate when he gets a cold because he doesn't like getting his breathing treatment each night, and then when we have to give him 2-3 more during the day (that each take longer to administer) to help him breathe, you can imagine how much more difficult it can be to get him to hold still. You don't want to let him get too upset/freaked when he already can't breathe because then it gets worse. Yet if he doesn't get the additional breathing treatments, we could end up in the ER or doctor's office again and either place is not a fun place to force a child to get a nebulizer, which is about all they'll do. So how to get him to get the treatments at home without complete meltdown?

Presuming we still go, both sets of g'parents are splitting the duty, with one set leaving shortly after the 2nd set comes in.

Check this photo out, besides that Ed has the 'I can't breathe through my nose' look, he has matched his animals up with those on this mat. He seemed perplexed about there being no pigs or chickens on the mat, but was happy to improvise. He also wasn't sure what to do because there was only one horse on the mat and he had 2. He kept pointing to the toy barn he has and then to the barn on the mat, saying 'barn' each time.

When he looked at these pictures, he wanted to have a couple taken of him with the balls, hence the first photo.

From Balls to Animals

Lately Ed is just cracking us up. I wonder what of these pictures illustrates nature and what are nuture (being that kids pick up even the most subtle things that we don't even notice).

I bought Ed this toy that comes with 5 balls. You press the red button and air blows through, blowing the balls out while it plays one of eight songs. He's really liked it at other people's homes, and I could resist no longer. I was prepared that more than just the balls would go in the chamber. So far, nothing has gotten stuck, but he really likes to put tissues down there and watch them fly out. Sometimes he holds them and watches them hover as the air comes out the top. Reminds me of a little scientist, evaluating what happens with each thing he sticks in the toy. He also likes putting plastic Easter egg halves in--I think they are almost more entertaining than the tissue.

Ed has also moved on from balls...not by a long shot, but has expanded to animals...in a big way. He loves taking his animals all over the house and setting them up in different ways. Not sure if you can tell in this photo below, but he has lined them up in a circus parade kind of way. I'm sure education professionals would have something to say about it, but he trots them around the house, setting them up in different formations, having them whiz down the ramp of his toy garage and as you'll see in the next post, stuffing them down his shirt.

This last bottom picture blew me away. He matched his animals with those on one of those pop up toys. He had the chicken up in the row too, but I was just blown away that he decided to match the animals in that way.

Herding Animals

Ed has long done this with balls, but he loaded his shirt with as many animals as he could find and then came running into the kitchen. The animals you see on the table were in his shirt (and you can see how full it is still).
Look what I found!
What else is in here?

Woohee, look what I did!

Pick a card...

Bought this table and chairs yesterday for Ed. As if Auntie M needs further amunition for her argument that we don't let Ed out of the kitchen...

I'd been looking for a while to find something with the right dimensions., ie something that would fit at the end of the counter. Ed is still a little too short to get into the chairs very easily, but he's close. He's playing with his shape flash cards that his old nanny bought (and drilled him in).

In other news (and the real reason I'm posting), WE GOT A NEW NANNY!!!

Just in time too. Whew! She starts tomorrow (that's Wednesday). Irony is we didn't even find her using the nanny agency. She seems like a good mix of our first nanny and another nanny down the street whom we really like.

She speaks both Spanish and English (and her English is very good). She came here from Argentina with a family to be their nanny. She worked with them for 15 years, then raised their daughter's children. She has similar longevity with her previous families to us, so we're thrilled. What a huge relief...now the worry about her running off with my babies can begin :)