infantsight

Christmas, part II

2011-01-05T19:49:00.001-08:00

Christmas part 1

2011-01-04T07:35:00.000-08:00

I just uploaded all of my Christmas and birthday pictures and discovered that we took lots and lots! It will probably take a few posts to get everything in, thus the part 1.

First part: getting the tree and decorating our house in PA. We have started letting Jamie have the camera sometimes, and I dare you to figure out which of these were his!

Enjoy!

Scissoring

2010-12-04T06:35:00.000-08:00

Around the house

2010-11-27T08:40:00.000-08:00

I can't believe it's been almost a whole month since I posted--Jamie is growing and changing so fast, and three years old, unbelievably, is almost upon us. We are working hard on potty training and he is having fun playing pretend. This morning we played with bristle blocks, which he fashioned into a nightlight, then into a talking car (I was the talker), then he "went to sleep" under a blanket, got up, went to the store ... he's really using his imagination all the time. He loves puzzles now, too, and pretending to go to the airport.

Halloween 2010

2010-10-30T16:32:00.000-07:00

Halloween is technically over for us, since WashPa had its trick-or-treating extravaganza tonight. We are exhausted but boy, do we have CANDY! Jamie trick-or-treated yesterday at school (at the local mall) and then he trick-or-treated again today in the neighborhood and we're basically set until next year. I'll put as many photos up as I can right now and try to add more later.

Time Out

2010-10-13T17:39:00.000-07:00

I'm posting this from a conference away home, which I'm missing very much--so in a sense, I'm in a time out. But some of these pics are from a recent time-out Jamie had (still very cute) and some are just around the house.

Keeping busy

2010-10-03T13:05:00.000-07:00

One day last week we were out somewhere and someone observed, "He's certainly a busy little boy, isn't he?" We laughed nervously--keeping Jamie busy is a challenge but generally one we enjoy meeting. Some of the things we try don't work out so well (turns out he's too young for Candyland) but he loves to help Daddy bake cookies!

This year I actually bought Jamie's costume almost a whole month in advance. A first for me--I often plan Halloween costumes out a month or two ahead but I almost never actually buy the materials in advanced. Jamie told me he wanted to be a pumpkin (and let's face it, if I'd asked him at any other time he might have wanted to be a bat, or a kitty cat, or an owl) so I started looking for pumpkin costumes online and I decided I should probably buy early to get what I really wanted. The costume came this week and Jamie was happy to model it for me.

Playdough

2010-09-25T20:26:00.000-07:00

Jamie's newest love is playdough...

New pics!

2010-09-12T14:27:00.000-07:00

Actually, an old pic (from June) & new movie from today.

mowing

2010-05-08T08:12:00.000-07:00

Late April Fool's

2010-04-08T10:59:00.000-07:00

Easter!

2010-04-07T09:19:00.001-07:00

What we've been up to

2010-03-06T15:53:00.000-08:00

Whew, it looks like the snow is starting to melt at last. We've been going a bit stir crazy here, but Jamie, I think, has had a great time in the snow, building a snowman, drinking hot chocolate, practicing putting his "glovies" (mittens) on all by himself, and learning a million zillion nursery rhymes.

Our dear friend Barb gave us a book of nursery rhymes for Christmas that really awakened Jamie's interest in the genre, and we've been feeding it by reading that book to him and the others we had already. He loves to sing nursery rhymes and act out the motions. He's actually singing a little bit now, as opposed to just shouting. He loves music and dancing as much as ever and Daddy has taught him the different between classical ("clas-kal"), jazz, and opera ("op-ra"). Hopefully soon we will get him something to really play, but until then we sing and dance along to CDs and the radio.

The movie shows Jamie singing one of his current favorite nursery rhymes. Several of the pics show us watching TV--blame it on the weather and the fact that Jamie's easiest to photograph when he's sitting down!

Just saying

2010-02-16T19:09:00.001-08:00

I don't have any pictorial evidence of this, but I told my sister and she said that I should post this to the blog. Tonight, Jamie and I were lying in my bed (yes, sometimes we do that) and he said to me, "Gee whiz, it's dark in here!" He repeated himself: "GEE WHIZ, it's dark in here!" I disagreed, pointing out that we could see each others' faces, which calmed him down a little bit. Then he nursed and fell asleep a few minutes later.

This is the beauty of putting Jamie to bed via our bed: we can turn the lights off. We haven't been able to turn the lights off in Jamie's room for a few months now, since he's (clearly) afraid of the dark. Also, it takes about a quarter of the time for him to fall asleep in our bed, these days, that it does in his room. Ever since Christmas, he's been afraid of the dark, and he prolongs my leaving with requests for drinks of water or one more story. So the remark about how dark it was in our room was right in character. I just didn't realize that he knew the phrase "gee whiz" and exactly when to use it.

21 inches

2010-02-06T18:59:00.000-08:00

"There's a lot of snow out there!"

2010-02-06T13:47:00.000-08:00

So said Jamie this morning when we threw open the front door to see if the newspaper had been delivered (not a chance). Between yesterday and today we got somewhere between 12 and 24 inches--I really have no idea. Here are some pics I took early this morning, which I'm putting up at my sister's request.

We hope to get some snow photos with Jamie in them soon, but we don't have snowpants for him, so today we kept him indoors. We're all a little stir crazy . . .

Just some pics

2010-02-01T20:03:00.001-08:00

Back at last

2010-01-26T18:16:00.000-08:00

We've had a few traumas since the last post, namely that Andrew's computer was stolen and we lost almost all of the pictures and videos on the hard drive. Maybe that WAS the trauma--we didn't have anywhere to put the pictures until his computer was replaced (he has a laptop, but my desktop is at work), so we were kind of out of commission. But we're back now, with lots of changes to report. I'll just talk about the most recent here:

1. Hair: Jamie got his first haircut. He loved it! He loved getting his picture taken and repeatedly said "cheese" for the camera. He had been asking for a haircut for over a month. Right before Christmas he told us, "hair too long!" and repeatedly brushed his bangs out of his eyes. It took Mommy awhile to let go of the golden locks, however.

2. Talking: Jamie is a Talker. And yes, it does bear capitalizing: he talks all the time, narrating everything that's happening as it happens, repeating scraps of nursery rhymes as they occur to him (tonight it was "Simple Simon met a pieman going to the fair. . ." before dissolving into giggles), and just generally standing up for his rights, as he sees them.

3. Weaning: We're trying. Jamie is now the only person I've ever known who requests "a little sip" when he knows there's not time for a long nurse. This is going to be much harder than the haircut, I foresee, but we've got to do it. At this rate, he'll be potty trained before he's weaned.

4. Potty training: We are not trying in any organized way, but we do ask Jamie if he wants to go potty before baths & when he wakes up in the morning. He has a big-boy potty and a Dora potty seat. He prefers the potty seat because it's Dora and because he can flush, which he vastly enjoys. He also likes to say "sssss" before going, which I think is hilarious.

Christmas tree!

2009-12-01T19:15:00.000-08:00

Since I'm going out of town for the rest of the week and into the weekend, we got a Christmas tree a little early. As usual, we went to Candle Tree Farm. Jamie had a pretty good time going for the tree, but even more fun playing on an old tractor by the tree-shaker. Later, Andrew surprised me with some Christmas Peeps. The snowmen met a mysterious end at the hands of a hungry mommy and a blond baby this evening . . .

Thanksgiving +

2009-11-26T19:10:00.001-08:00

Jamie and the Jack-o-Lanterns

2009-11-01T17:33:00.000-08:00

Happy Halloween!

2009-10-31T16:18:00.001-07:00

Great weekend, mediocre pictures

2009-10-25T19:35:00.000-07:00

It's really no secret in my family that my mother takes great pictures--so I'm hoping she'll see these and email me some to add to the blog. Last weekend I went home to Missouri to meet my new nephew, Beto. He was born on July 7, 10 weeks premature after my sister had been on bedrest for about 6 weeks. he was 3lbs 8oz and he's now broken the 10lb mark. He smiles, coos, and sleeps for 6-7 hours at a time--at night, no less. He's an awesome baby. And apparently I came back to PA with just one picture of him (just ignore that tired-looking woman in the far right in that pic--nothing to see there) . . . I did take pictures of my other nieces and nephews--Braden, Lily, Sarah, and Lane--who played with both Beto and Jamie. Jamie spent an ecstatic afternoon at my sister Wendi's house out in the country, picking apples and pears, riding the four-wheeler and basking in the family love. Also there are some bonus pics of my cute sis Kerri drinking coffee and Wendi playing football with her 12-year-old son, my wise & sweet nephew Lane.

Fall activities: carving pumpkins, laundry, vacuuming

2009-10-13T17:57:00.000-07:00

Or should I say "Bacuum?" because that's how Jamie says it. Bacuuming is one of his favorite things to do, and as with all of his favorite things, he likes to do it nearly ad nauseum. Last Thursday night he spilled the kettle corn Daddy had purchased at the farmer's market, then happily cleaned it up. When informed that it was time for dinner, he had a meltdown that neither of us could believe . . . he actually remembered being angry about the "vacuum situation" a whole hour later, when, after dinner, he told me "sad-mad bacuum." (We are trying to teach him to express his feelings, so when he's upset, we say, for example, "are you sad & mad about so-and-so?" and he usually feels better just by expressing his feelings). I took several pictures before the meltdown as he was using the hose attachment and the regular vacuum.

This weekend we were lucky enough to connect with our friend Sinikka, her daughter Katri, her two-year-old son Elias, and their friend Kisa. They came over so that Daddy could carve a pumpkin, which Elias appreciated more than Jamie, as you can see in one of the pics. A good time was had by all, though Jamie did have another meltdown when he couldn't sit right next to Daddy while he wielded his "huge knife," which Jamie would have loved to touch. Elias enjoyed Jamie's rocking cow, which of course made Jamie appreciate it all the more (unfortunately no pics of that conflict).

And finally, in my family we have a photographic tradition--one that's pretty common, actually. We take pictures of our littles sitting in or on things that they'll soon be unable to fit inside of or on top of: laundry baskets, for example.

Simmons Farm

2009-10-06T19:06:00.000-07:00

This weekend brought cooler weather, so Jamie is now in his footie pjs again--so snuggly. On Sunday we went to Simmons Farm to take advantage of all the cool fall activities. We opted not to buy a pumpkin yet, but Jamie played in the cornbox, wandered around looking at pumpkins, and examined goats, ducks, and chickens up close.

Making pancakes

2009-10-02T18:12:00.001-07:00

Tale of two pictures

2009-10-02T17:36:00.000-07:00

The top picture was taken on October 20 of last year. The second two were taken today. I can't believe how much he's changed and yet how much he was the same person last year. Andrew says it's like watching a blurry image come into focus. But I think these images are pretty sharp.

Jamie watches a Good Night Moon video and talks back to it

2009-09-10T19:51:00.001-07:00

Summer Compendium--August

2009-09-09T19:00:00.000-07:00

Summer Compendium--July

2009-09-09T18:55:00.000-07:00

Summer Compendium--June

2009-09-09T18:48:00.000-07:00

There are quite a few pics from this summer I haven't posted. Andrew suggested I put them up all at once here, without too much commentary. For now, there probably won't be any, but I hope that the images will speak for themselves to some extent. I'm dividing them by month to make them more manageable.

Washington County Fair

2009-08-23T14:27:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we drove to the Trolley Museum, parked, and for $2 each (not including Jamie), rode to the Washington County Fai r. We didn't go on any rides because Jamie's too little; instead, we looked at the agricultural exhibits, drank lemonade, ate ice cream, and got supper to go. Jamie's favorite part was definitely the "Farmer for a Day" exhibit. He played in a cornbox (like a sandbox, but filled with dry corn), got to handle "real" farm produce, and saw some baby chicks! Other animals he viewed with probably more fear and respect were cows, goats, & pigs--he likes seeing animals in person but I think he's always surprised when they're bigger than their pictures in his books.

We also saw tractors, motorcycles, haybailers, and lots of cars. We collected several balloons, which Jamie let float up into the air, much to his surprise and chagrin. Once we got our supper, which was ribeye steak sandwiches and cheese fries, we rode the trolley back to the parking lot. We were very pleased that Jamie ate cheese fries on the way home, because in general he sticks to the three food groups: oatmeal, yogurt, and grilled cheese sandwiches. It was a great time and we'll definitely return next year.

Talking, and toilet paper

2009-08-21T19:45:00.000-07:00

Given his parentage I guess it's no surprise that Jamie's teachers at daycare recently referred to him as a "jabber-jaws." He's really enjoying practicing his vocabulary now and repeats everything we say, then tries himself to use it in a sentence of 2-3 words. This is adorable.

Less adorable are the temper tantrums that we've been dealing with on a more regular basis--mostly having to do with his need for independence. A few days ago, I helped him screw on the lid of his sippy cup. He was in his highchair or otherwise I'm afraid he would have launched out and started beating me up. He literally gibbered with rage and, I'm sad to say, it was hilarious. I've included a picture of him being told that to the "special roll" of TP that we allowed him to play with was "all gone" (a phrase that he often hears quite calmly, though not in this case).

Dancing

2009-08-04T19:17:00.000-07:00

Jamie loves to dance, especially to the Thomas the Tank Engine theme song (we order it from PBS Sprout On Demand). In these two videos, he realizes that the song is ending in the first, then says "gain," (again) to ask me to replay the opening credits so he can dance again. Each video is very short, so I thought I'd post them both. Bonus: pics from the weekend.

Orange suit

2009-08-01T09:41:00.000-07:00

I love this suit on Jamie! So cute. In the top pic he is pretending that the pack of cards he's holding are a phone and "talking."

Pics!

2009-07-26T18:13:00.001-07:00

Jamie's so much fun these days, though he's increasingly hard to keep up with, especially when he decides that he's going to do something against my or our expressed commands. One game he plays is called, colloquially, "dumpin' ". Jamie learned the game from Daddy in the tub, where he likes to "dump" water out of a cup while explaining what he's doing. He's progressed from dumpin' water to dumpin' freshly washed clothes and mail. And unfortunately for my reputation as a disciplinarian, instead of getting him down right away, I snapped a pic. Other "games" include dressing up in Daddy's shoes and climbing from the ottoman to the chair.

Round-up

2009-07-16T19:11:00.000-07:00

We were out of town for vacations--Andrew and Jamie went to Missouri with his folks and I took a cruise with the girls (meaning 3 of my four sisters; one stayed home to have a baby). We celebrated the 4th in PA, then went our separate ways. I missed Jamie so much--it was just crazy--even though I had a great time. When he saw me again when we were all back home last Saturday, he smiled as though he'd never seen anyone so wonderful in his whole life, took a deep breath, and said, "Mickies!" (That's his word for milkies). He's still nursing but I think we're going to start winding down. I'm not sure how, though: he nurses when I get home from work, after supper while we watch a video or read bookies, and then before bed. And then of course when he wakes up. I've read a few startling suggestions online about using lemon juice and band-aids to trick Jamie into thinking my milk has gone sour or is otherwise no longer unavailable, but I think he probably wouldn't believe me, or I'd cave into his demands. Still thinking . . .

Coloring!

2009-06-29T18:08:00.000-07:00

For Anna

2009-06-25T19:48:00.000-07:00

My sister wanted me to post this picture since I told her all about it--that I got Jamie a Bam-Bam t-shirt because "bam-bamming" is one of his favorite things to do now, especially at dinner.

Mine!

2009-06-23T17:56:00.000-07:00

Yes, Jamie is in that phase--everything is "mine!" He uses this word not just to designate that he owns something, but also that he wants something. In this video, you can hear him say it as he walks/runs up to the TV and turns it on. Then Daddy distracts Jamie with a new favorite game they have, playing wheelbarrow.

Within the last week or so Jamie has experienced a growth spurt in terms of physical development and verbal development, as well. He loves to try out new words and even sometimes two-word sentences. This weekend, at my parents' house and surrounded by dogs that he wasn't familiar with, he said "doggie out" to indicate that he wanted the dogs to go away. He loves to run now and obviously, to walk on his hands with Daddy's help for very short periods of time.

It's no wonder, I think, that he sometimes has pretty extreme emotions. This is especially clear at bedtime. Every night we go upstairs for a bath and then we have "bookies and milkies in the chair," i.e. rock and read and nurse until he falls asleep. When he doesn't want to go to sleep, he asks for more and more bookies, and tonight, as I tried to explain to him that it was time for sleepies, he pointed forlornly to the bookshelf and said, "bookies, bookies, bookies." He started to work himself up into a real crying jag, and I almost caved, but I didn't and he was asleep about 3 minutes later. We aren't always so lucky, but generally Jamie's emotional storms blow over pretty quickly, so the key is just to stay cool and not be too embarrassed when he throws himself down in the airport or some other public place and starts screaming in frustration.

Overall, though, this is an amazing time for us and for Jamie. He's funny, he's willful, he's in motion continually, and he's talkative. All of the hard work doesn't seem quite so hard these days. . .

New pics before leaving

2009-06-14T08:54:00.000-07:00

I'm on my way to a conference -- in DC until Wednesday, then we're heading to Missouri for a long weekend; my sister is in the hospital and we're making a flying visit. So rather than dropping out of sight unexpectedly, dear readers, now you know that we won't be posting for a week at least.

Talking

2009-06-10T09:49:00.000-07:00

In this video, Jamie says "stars" and "books" pretty clearly. At least I think so . . . .

Summer stuff

2009-06-09T19:52:00.000-07:00

Like his buddy Arch, Jamie has a lawn mower, which he calls a "mon mowe." It's easy to tell what he means, though. Last week we were walking past a guy loading up his lawn mower onto a truck bed and Jamie pointed to it and said "mon mowe!" The guy said, "sure, buddy," and kept on moving, like it was no big deal that Jamie said something clearly enough for a stranger to understand it. The nonchalance!--and I was bursting with pride.

At the suggestion of my friend Lillian, I made a list of all the words Jamie knows and can actually say (although she made no mention of making the list during a meeting, ahem). I'll post the list soon and it's not that interesting, but in the category of "cute things kids say when they're learning to talk," Jamie doesn't say kitty cat. He says "cat-kitty." And every animal that he can't identify is always called a cat. I guess Sammy is his nearest frame of animal reference.

Boy in motion

2009-05-21T18:48:00.000-07:00

Backlog of pics

2009-05-19T18:53:00.000-07:00

Bathtime

2009-05-06T18:12:00.000-07:00

It's a ritual meticulously observed every night. As you can see, it has several silly components.

Just some pics

2009-05-03T16:19:00.001-07:00

Happy Easter!

2009-04-12T17:52:00.000-07:00

Grandma K sent a little money for Jamie's Easter gift, so I bought him a nifty balloon with it. He loves it! It's kind of squished in the pic here. We let him run around in his Easter outfit all day church and dinner--actually, he couldn't fit into his pants because they were too big, so he wore jeans instead. But we think he looked great anyway . . .

After school snacks

2009-04-10T07:56:00.001-07:00

Strolling

2009-04-06T18:15:00.001-07:00

Friends, and other

2009-04-05T20:20:00.000-07:00

We had houseguests this weekend: Will, Hasana, and their delectable son Emmett. I was a bit under the weather with pinkeye contracted via Jamie's daycare, but it was wonderful seeing old friends and enjoying the weather. Stayed up late this evening watching Little Dorritt . . . more soon, I hope.

Friday night quiet

2009-03-27T19:32:00.000-07:00

A hectic week, but all's well that ends (pretty) well. Jamie has moved from the infants' room to the one-year-old room at daycare. He took it in stride, but it was hard on Daddy, because Jamie now goes in a bit earlier and consequently no longer takes a morning nap most days. Jamie loves his new environment--better toys, and apparently, better food. Today he tried some ravioli--or at least the filling. He still resists things that he think might choke him, but I think the ravioli will win the day. (The grilled cheese sandwiches certainly did. And he was very dubious about those initially, as well. )

I love Friday nights--a time to come back together and just relax with Jamie. After dinner we hang out in the living room and he plays and we talk and watch him. As usual, he played with his favorite toy, the school bus that Grandma K gave him when she and Grandpa K visited last month. He loves it, and these days, he's started to dance to the little song it sings. The video I'm posting shows him and the bus in action--it's a little dark and blurry in parts, but the best part, the end, is pretty clear.

End of the weekend (sigh)

2009-03-22T19:37:00.000-07:00

Jamie is finally starting to eat more adventurously. He's still wary of swallowing something he hasn't tried before, so he will often chew up something new to taste it, then spit it out (i.e. grapes), then do the same thing over and over. As the kids say, whatev. We're just happy that he's trying new things and then actually eating them for a second and third time. His favorites definitely fall into the fruit category: grapes, strawberries, dried cranberries.

He's also powering around as fast as he can--trying to run, with sometimes very scary results. He falls all the time! but he loves climbing and exploring. We went outside today to do some yard work and he tried to explore a woodchuck's den, which we did not allow and which resulted in a screaming tantrum.

We see quite a bit more of those lately. The most spectacular occurred in Seattle at a Cheesecake Factory, with Jamie walking back and forth across the table between us, screaming and crying, because he was a) tired and b) bored. I ended up leaving early to spare the ears of our neighbors, while Andrew hurriedly finished his dinner and boxed up some leftovers for me to enjoy once Jamie went to sleep. We've also seen some of the classic lying down behavior, which is very hard not to laugh at, honestly. When a one year old throws himself on the floor, it's just freaking funny. As long as you're in the privacy of your own home, of course . . .

And finally, we're still nursing. We love it and it's been very hard to give up. Sammy likes to join Jamie and me while we nurse and participate in the lovefest. All during my long drives home I think of getting into the nursing chair with my two boys and just letting the cares of the day seep out of me. Snuggling is definitely the best cure for stress, at least for me.

I hope the fact that I find this totally cute doesn't mean I'm a terrible mother

2009-03-19T07:10:00.000-07:00

Back after conference hiatus

2009-03-18T19:29:00.001-07:00

Last week the K-Ms traveled to Seattle for a conference, so getting ready for it and recovering from it have pretty much precluded posting lately. We also haven't been doing much picture-taking because Jamie is on the move so much now that he's walking confidently. He's also learning about the word and head gesture for "no." I hope that I can get him shaking his head on film soon . . .

2009-03-06T05:00:00.001-08:00

2009-03-05T07:05:00.000-08:00

Just playing

2009-02-14T18:02:00.000-08:00

Jamie & I are on our own this weekend because Andrew's at a conference in Chicago, so I've tried to do some new fun activities while it's just the two of us. On Friday after I picked him up from daycare, we went to the public library. I am a librarian and that's the first time we've been there together. I'm pretty sure it's the first time I've been there since Jamie was born. (The library where I work houses the children's collection, so I usually check out books from there for Jamie, or Little E, as my sister Kerri calls him). The children's section was pretty cute (though nothing like the cool children's section in the PL back in MO), so we'll go back for sure. There's no programming during weekends, or evenings, when we could attend, so we won't be going to storytime until the summer when Daddy can take Jamie.

But we did check out some neat books, one of which Jamie picked out himself. I have read this book for Jamie about 20 times in the last 24 hours. Each time I pick it up, and he sees me picking it up, we have to stop everything and read it. When he sees it, he picks it up, and ditto. And we have to read it a few times in a row . . . because it's about TRUCKS, his favorite, favorite thing. Likewise cars.

I had always wondered if I ever had a son, would he be drawn to "boy things" on his own? I don't know much about boy things myself, and Andrew, while emphatically masculine, isn't too interested in things with wheels or that make noise (though he does really want a motorcycle, he also wants a piano). Jamie might be taking after his paternal grandfather in terms of an interest in things mechanical. We'll see. In any case, right now, if it has wheels, he's fascinated, and he does seem attracted more often to "boy" toys than "girl" toys--if the toy has an intended market. The purse I got him for Christmas was not a big success, though he does like the cloth coins from the coin purse. The car, truck and plane set, however, were hugely popular and remain so, though now they're in competition with his firetruck.

Today's adventure was a trip to the big mall down the road, because it has a snazzy children's play area. When Jamie saw it he got down on all fours and crawled as fast as he could to the nearest thing to climb on, which I think was a big baseball. He had a blast and quickly gravitated to kids about his age, though sadly he was the only one crawling. Everyone that looked to be about his age was walking, sigh, though of course sometimes he walked. In any case, he got along pretty well with the other kids, and the ones a few years older were really sweet to him--letting him monopolize the tunnel where these pics were taken. He crawled back and forth a few times while I was taking these pics.

I'm also including a video showcasing my attempt to get him to walk to me--and also shaking a bottle of beans a la Archer. I apologize in advance for the babytalk--I didn't realize I still did it. In tomorrow's video you'll hear me talking in my normal voice . . .

Happy Valentine's Day, Grandma Paula!

2009-02-11T07:38:00.000-08:00

Jamie loved the Valentine Andrew's mom sent him becuse it was shaped like his favorite thing--his red firetruck. He tried to play with it just like he plays with his truck and almost ripped it up, so now his "other truck" is on our mantel.

Post-sickness update

2009-02-09T20:13:00.000-08:00

We've had about a week of Jamie-sickness. Last Friday Jamie came home and had a temperature of 101.5 or so (last Friday meaning a little over a week ago). We gave him some baby Motrin and he woke up his normal happy self, but on Monday he got kicked out of daycare because he was running a temp again--101.4. We got him into the doctor that night and an ear infection was diagnosed. He got antibiotics and of course we started him on breathing treatments again because his breathing was affected, too--I guess it always will be when he's sick no matter what else is going on. He didn't wheeze at all, but he coughed a lot, so that's a symptom we have to watch for now.

Monday night, Tuesday and most of Wednesday passed in a whirl of temperature-taking, mingled with frantic trading off and going to work while the other person stayed home to take care of our sick baby. Through it all Jamie was languid and hot and tired. Wednesday afternoon he literally lay on me for about two hours, nursing on and off, dozing on and off. Then I went to work in the afternoon and sometime before I returned later that evening his fever broke; by Thursday morning he was hungry, active, and cheerful. We were so grateful to have our healthy boy back!

Then on Sunday morning about 6am, he threw up and he continued to do so until mid-afternoon. The only thing he could keep down was breast milk, so he nursed whenever he wanted. Around dinnertime, though, he seemed to be a little interested in eating, so he had a few bites of sandwich and then was done for the night. He went to bed without nursing at all--he wanted Daddy, not Mommy. I was sad but also relieved that he was feeling better. Through all of the throwing up he was mostly himself, just a little low energy.

We took him to daycare today and he was fine--ate quite a bit and tonight had a good supper as well, went to bed quickly and seems fine. But it was a long and tiring and worrisome. We're just trying to get back to normal now. We're scaling Mt. Laundry with some fear but determination, for example, and late today Andrew finally was able to buy groceries--no time for housework with a sick boy to worry about. And obviously no time to update the blog . . .

Some pics to show off his beauty, which doesn't seem to diminish even when he's not feeling so well.

Itsy Bitsy Spider

2009-01-27T18:27:00.000-08:00

Jamie has started to "act out" the Itsy Bitsy Spider song when we sing it. This video is terribly fuzzy, but I'll post it for now until we get a better one.

I mentioned earlier that Jamie is rapidly becoming a toddler. He is very often clingy--he loves Daddy to hold him while he cooks dinner (obviously this is also a ploy to see Daddy cook dinner, but still.) He cries loudly and stops as soon as we pick him up--a clue, we think, that he's not that upset. Sometimes he "fake cries," looking up at us as he does it to see our reaction. And then there are times when he wants us to step away and let him be Jamie, all by himself. Since he's not really walking yet, this kind of attitude is weird.

And he totally wants what he wants! In the peekaboo video, you can kind of see a bit of that--he wanted the camera, badly. He wants his truck, or his car, and often, testing his powers, he wants us to bring it to him, or sometimes he still wants us to feed him foods that he can manage himself if he chooses to. I can see that toddlerhood's going to be a wild ride.

When we were home for Christmas my sister Wendi observed that Jamie has his Daddy wrapped around his little finger. With Daddy, Jamie gets to touch all kinds of things Mommy won't let him touch--as the photos show, I hope.

After and before shot pics

2009-01-22T17:59:00.000-08:00

The second picture was taken of Jamie right before his 5 shots were given and the top pic later that evening, when he was fully recovered. It still makes me a little sad looking at the pre-shot pic. He was so happy and just a few minutes later he was screaming in pain and anger. I held him down while he had the shots, so he was quite angry with me and only Andrew could comfort him. Even later, when I was admitted back into his good graces, he & Daddy remained pretty tight . . .

Peekaboo

2009-01-21T14:26:00.000-08:00

Jamie's favorite way to go wild before bed is to play many, many games of peekaboo . . .

Inauguration Day pics

2009-01-21T07:57:00.001-08:00

It's wonderful to me to think that Jamie will grow up in a world where Barack Obama's presidency will just be part of his life, something to take for granted--well, maybe not take for granted exactly, but it will be part of his childhood history the same way Nixon's resignation was part of mine. Well, maybe not that either . . .

Jamie is morphing into a toddler at record speed, all except for the part where he walks. He does take a few steps at a time, but walking is not his preferred method of getting around--he still crawls most of the time. However, his verbal skills are improving all the time --he says "kitty cat," "car," and "keys" (of course only we can understand) and he tries to tell us things--I wish we could understand what he was saying. He's very consistent in using certain sounds for certain objects, so it's clear he knows what he means, anyway.

His favorite toys have wheels on them. He now owns two cars, two trucks, and a plane that he rolls around. The newest acquisition, pictured above, is his current favorite. Andrew had to use duct tape to the ladder to keep it on the truck so that Jamie can use it for a handle. I meant to get him a Fisher-Price bus like the kind that we gave Archer for Christmas, but I couldn't find it and thought the truck would be an acceptable substitute. It is, but look for a yellow bus in the next month or so (depending on my cash flow).

He went to the doctor for his 1-year visit and, sadly, had to get 5 shots. He was a mess afterwards but recovered pretty quickly after an extended nurse and plenty of hugs. Here are the stats: 22 lbs, 13 oz, 30 inches long. We have to get a new carseat this weekend--he's outgrown his infant seat.

More soon, I hope. There's lots to tell: naps are changing, his need for independence interspersed with seriously clingy behavior, peekaboo, authority, wow.

These pics were taken yesterday, btw.

Post-holidays update

2009-01-04T19:34:00.000-08:00

Our holidays were good but difficult. My father had a heart attack on Christmas Eve and so that shadowed our celebrations.

Just think of all the cliches you've ever heard about realizing Christmas isn't about presents, it's about love--and you'll know how I felt when I heard that my father had no heart damage and was going to make a full recovery.

That's all for now; just some pics until the next entry.

Getting the Christmas tree . . .

2008-12-17T17:11:00.000-08:00

Turned out to be kind of scary. I slipped and fell--while holding Jamie. I guess, as they say, bumbles and babies bounce. He was fine and I was merely sore for a few days.

Vroom vroom

2008-12-16T18:49:00.001-08:00

Standing up

2008-12-15T03:42:00.000-08:00

Going to bed (Mommy, that is--Jamie's already there)

2008-12-13T19:30:00.000-08:00

But I'll just post some more pics and one video before I do. I have some of Jamie standing that I need to upload, but I just took them this evening and they're not on the computer yet, just on the camera.

Jamie is loving practicing standing on his own and is starting to be interested in taking steps on his own, too. If he wants something he tries to get it, and if he's already standing when that happens, he doesn't automatically drop down on all fours like he did last week. Now he steps out and, of course, falls after one or two steps, but he appears to be on the way to walking.

He is now eating "solid" foods again--after a weeklong strike in which he only ate cereal and milk, he graduated to yogurt, which he ate exclusively for two weeks straight. Now he's on green beans and rice--stage 3 stuff, from a jar, but he's also sharing very ripe bananas with me and today he had some crackers for a snack. It's not as if we haven't tried these foods before, but for some reason they are currently acceptable. He also will eat applesauce. We're trying to be cool about the pickiness and just be thankful that he's not still on an all-liquid diet.

Now that Jamie's 11 months old, I've begun thinking even more about weaning and I'm definitely going to stop pumping around his birthday. He just loves nursing, though--so much so that last night I dreamed that he said his first word (which technically, I guess, he already has--he says Mama and Dada all the time to us and seems to know the difference). It was "nurse . . ." and he does know what it means when I ask him if he wants milkies. He goes wild and starts making his hungry noise and nothing else matters.

So I don't know when he'll be fully weaned. I suspect it will be awhile. It's so snuggly and sweet when it's just us at home, or even around friends who are also nursing or who have nursed. I can see, though, that soon we'll be getting the weird looks when we nurse in public--he's getting to be so big now. But like everything else in Jamie's development, it will happen when it happens and Jamie seems to know when he's ready for the next step better than we do. Right now he's very attached to both of us, especially me. It's like he's in love and he follows me or Daddy around everywhere, always wanting to be picked up and cuddled and kissed. He's quite shy around people he doesn't know unless they let him warm up to them slowly--he puts his head on Daddy's shoulder, for example, and makes eyes at whoever is admiring him, then starts talking and relaxes. So until this period of really intense attachment and separation anxiety passes, I think it might be counterproductive to start doing serious weaning. I am trying not to nurse him every time that he wakes up from a nap on the weekends, and since he is down to two naps a day, and he's also very cheerful when he wakes up, it's not too difficult.

However, I am pushing cups at all opportunities. Jamie gets a drink of water with every meal and with his snack. He apparently is very interested in another baby's pink cup in his room at daycare, so I am going to buy him one tomorrow for his very own. He has a green cup and an orange cup, but pink is what he wants, and so that's what he'll get if he'll drink from it!

Well, I've been rambling away instead of going to sleep, but there hasn't been much chance for a chatty post in awhile, so perhaps it was time.

More soon. I hope.

Just some cute pics

2008-12-10T04:37:00.000-08:00

Jamie is so beautiful! We can't get enough of taking pictures of him, though we've been unable to post lately as I've been out of town for a conference and then, of course, doing the unpacking-laundry-email thing. So just a few until the weekend, when I'll have more time to give an update on what Jamie's been up to lately.

Post-Thanksgiving note

2008-11-30T19:28:00.000-08:00

We didn't take any pictures at all over Thanksgiving. We were too busy driving back and forth across Missouri to remember to take pictures whenever we arrived at the destination of the day. But we had a good time--we flew into Kansas City and headed across the state to Andrew's home town, stopping in Columbia briefly so that Jamie could meet our friend Andy. We spent Thanksgiving in DeSoto, Missouri, where Jamie met most of Andrew's extended family--they have a big dinner every year. Then on Friday we drove back to Kansas City in time to go to dinner with my youngest sister Anna and her husband Alberto. His parents were visiting from Puebla and we hadn't seen them since the wedding, so they got to meet Jamie (they call him "Jaimito") too. Jamie is a big hit with strangers--he's at an entertaining age, and he loves to meet new people, even flirting a little bit sometimes. True, he was a bit clingy as we entered each new environment, but overall he did really well, saving his meltdowns for the privacy of our rental car.

Jamie is crawling, standing, and cruising easily these days. He likes to practice walking while holding Daddy's hand. He's developed his own sign for "more," too; we had tried to teach him the ASL sign, but he modified it significantly and just flaps both hands vigorously when he wants more cereal or more books or more . . . you get the picture. He amplifies his demands with a vigorous scream if we aren't quick enough to comply, which is startling, to say the least. He likes to play patty cakes and to "wash his hands," which is his version of clapping. And on Thanksgiving Day as we were leaving, he waved bye-bye to everyone!

These pics are pre-trip. He looks less and less like a baby these days, and I do miss my tiny man. I'm just trying to enjoy him as much as possible as he is now, though--thank goodness for breaks so that we can reconnect and really spend time together.

Play Ball!

2008-11-21T04:40:00.000-08:00

Jamie's discovered a ball that I got at a conference in the spring. He loves it when we roll it to him and then he throws it back to us. His aim isn't always all that it could be, as this slightly vertiginous video shows, but he still has lots of fun. This and his nesting cups are his current favorite toys, and Sandra Boynton's Horns to Toes is his favorite book. All I have to do to get his attention is say, "We have two handy hands, and our fingers count ten," and stops whatever he's doing and looks at me, then looks around for the familiar lilac cover. He actually pulled it off the bookshelf for himself this week.

(This week's entry comes with a bonus pic of Jamie as little brother Randy in the classic movie A Christmas Story.)

Red Hat

2008-11-13T19:49:00.000-08:00

Just a few more pics

2008-11-12T07:01:00.000-08:00

Andrew's book party was the first gathering at our place we've had since we moved in here in July. Our apartment could only hold a few, so it was fun to gather so many people together. Also we served fabulous Halloween cupcakes. Apparently one of the little girls, who shall remain unnamed, actually ate 6! They were delicious, though--a bakery in Mt. Lebanon made them.

More pics--Andrew's book party and Jamie

2008-11-10T20:21:00.000-08:00

So almost two weeks ago we had a party to celebrate Andrew's book being published. Lots of kids and friends there. And about a week after that Jamie and I went out and played in the back yard.

Eating issues

2008-11-08T17:02:00.000-08:00

Both of our computers, our camera, Jamie, Andrew, and I have all been sick lately, thus the extended hiatus. One of the computers and our camera now appear to be working, so I have a backload of pics to upload.

Last Sunday Jamie threw up on and off all day. We thought it was because he was upset--sometimes he makes himself spit up when he's angry, but when Andrew started throwing up Wednesday morning we knew that probably Jamie had been sick as well, since he also started refusing solid foods.

Then I got sick. I have a nasty cold and sore throat. I can't sing Jamie to soothe him at bedtime, I can't really talk on the phone, and I generally feel sorry for myself.

Jamie seems better other than a bit of hoarseness, but he has continued to refuse solid baby food. In an effort to keep him interested in solids, we've stopped the baby food. In the last few days we have given him pretty much anything we can think of and a few of my rules have of course gone by the wayside. We just put it on a plate and let him poke at it for awhile:

1. Chicken noodle soup (cut into small pieces)
2. mini waffles--whole and cut into pieces
3. frozen mango chunks
4. applesauce
5. cheerios
6. grated cheese
7. watered-down apple juice in his straw cup
8. formula in his straw cup
9. chicken sticks (you know--the jarred toddler stuff)
10. diced carrots
11. cut-up green beans
12. mashed squash in one of those thingies that they can hold and suck on
13. peas in one of those thingies that they can hold and suck on
14. diced peaches

He loves the juice. He had fun destroying the the chicken sticks, carrots, and peaches tonight. He ate a little of the green beans and the cheese. He refused everything else with the classic baby gesture: closed mouth, face turned emphatically away from the food.

Tonight I just encouraged him to play with his food and hoped that he'd accidentally put some of it in his mouth.

In the words of Patrick Henry, I have not yet begun to fight. The main thing, apparently, is not to freak out. Right?

Any advice?

9 month checkup

2008-10-25T08:46:00.000-07:00

We went to Jamie's 9-mo. appointment last week and here are the stats: he's 29 inches long, 21lbs, 10 oz. 75 % in both cases. I think he's actually started to lose a little weight because he's moving around so much, though I may be imagining things. He gets 3 solid meals a day and all the milk/formula he can drink, but he's always on the go. He's added climbing the stairs, standing and cruising, and some serious babbling to his list of things to do each day.

On Thursday Jamie looked right at me and said "Mama." We think he did it on purpose. We aren't counting it as his first word yet, but he's done it since, and again, it looks like he's referring to me, although it's hard to tell as it's one of his favorite sounds to make when he's babbling. He also knows lots of other words, like "kitty cat," "Daddy," "cereal," and "Puffs" (sigh on that one) . He's not super interested in feeding himself all the time, but he likes to eat Puffs by himself, as well as pushing them to the floor, and he loves grabbing the spoon from our hands and taking it the rest of the way to his mouth. He drinks from a cup, too--but not a sippy cup--he can't seem to get the hang of those. Based on our friend Cindy's experience, we went out and got him some straw cups, which he loves. We also keep straws around and he loves to drink water from them. No juice yet, or cow's milk. Just water. I am trying to be careful about giving him foods he might be allergic to, since Andrew has allergies and asthma, as do many of my nieces and nephews. The only thing I'm allergic to is poison ivy, but I'm not assuming he'll have my immune system, even though he is breast fed.

Speaking of which, I'm starting to think about weaning. I'm really tired of pumping at work. Also, of course, I've had several instances with people knocking on my closed door and instead of waiting for me to get up and let them in, continuing to knock and/or peeking around the little sheet of paper I've taped over the glass opening in my door. It doesn't bother me, but it embarrasses them when they realize what I've been up to. I don't think that Jamie will be weaned right at 12 months. We'll be traveling over the holidays and besides, we both really like it. It's so wonderful (now) to snuggle in with my boy and sing and rock and hang out. I don't want to stop too abruptly, but I do plan on eliminating pumping around the 12 month mark, anyway.

Here are some pics and I also plan to post a video at some point today. Jamie laughs when I sneeze, so I'm pretending to do it in the video. That's what you'll hear in the background, along with the Itsy Bitsy Spider.

Thursday pics

2008-10-16T05:13:00.000-07:00

Wednesday pics

2008-10-15T08:21:00.001-07:00

Enjoying the weekend

2008-10-05T18:32:00.000-07:00

Jamie, Andrew & I had a nice, quiet weekend, though calling Jamie "quiet" these days is a bit of an understatement. He's on the go all the time, it seems. He's learning to feed himself, as two of these pictures show, and exploring (tentatively, it must be admitted) table foods, mostly fruit. He likes to pull himself up on anything, especially Mommy and Daddy's knees. He likes to practice walking and standing up holding one or both of our hands. He crawls very quickly, though, so that's his favorite way to get around. As you can see from these pics, getting him dressed and undressed has become a major chore . . . I felt lucky to get him down to his boots before he took off, at which point I couldn't resist grabbing the camera!

Reveling in the cuteness

2008-10-02T19:55:00.001-07:00

Jamie loving on Sammy

2008-09-30T09:47:00.000-07:00

I sound very worried in this video . . .

Dance of the white bucket

2008-09-28T12:10:00.001-07:00

Jamie has lots of cool, educational toys, but he really loves an old white plastic bucket I gave him for his nesting cups. Likewise toilet paper. Likewise Daddy's new shoes.

Safety worries

2008-09-20T05:35:00.000-07:00

Now that Jamie is crawling pretty well, it's harder to get pictures of him because he doesn't really sit still. He likes to be on the go: chasing Sammy, trying to pull up on the stereo speakers, trying to get the computer cords, grabbing the camera string, chasing his furry balls that his aunt Kerry gave him . . . anything with motion and preferably anything with motion that scares the crap out of me. This weekend we need to procure a TV stand that doesn't tempt Jamie--right now we are using a repurposed coffee table and the bottom level is too close for comfort. We thought about putting a quilt or something over that bottom level, but then we wouldn't be able to use the remote controls, so that's out. Also, I have refused to let Andrew unpack the rest of our books until we have secured our bookcases to the wall. Jamie has already begun pulling toys and books from his own little bookcase in his room, and constant vigilance is required because he could easily pull that over on himself. So far, the only other bookcases we have are confined to the guest room/office, which I am planning to gate off. We need several gates, as well, which we have not yet purchased, but need to do ASAP. It's a weekend of babyproofing, folks. We have done some stuff: we've taken away the coffee table, hidden most electrical cords behind furniture, put in plastic plugs in outlets, but now it's time to finish.

I feel that we are very lucky to have escaped serious accidents up to this point, but there's only so far luck can take you with a mobile and fearless baby racing around everywhere. I have been thinking about this for months, but Andrew and I haven't been able to agree on when was a good time to get this done, so it's been put off. Unlike our usual dynamic, which is that I'm more relaxed and Andrew's more worried, I was ready to babyproof when Jamie started sitting up and Andrew thought we could wait awhile. But now is clearly the time.

One thing I'm not sure about, though, is the crib; last night I put Jamie down for the night and he popped up about five minutes later. When I went in to check on him he was standing up in the crib, holding onto the rails. That really scared me. We have dropped the mattress as far as we can, and the rails were up, so I don't think he could climb out, but I do worry about this. Thoughts, anyone?

And finally, Sammy. This week he got to Sammy's tail before I could and pulled it. Sammy jumped away and hissed indignantly, but I feel that it's just a matter of time before Jamie gets scratched. Much as I dread this confrontation, and hope to avoid it, I think it will happen eventually. I'll just keep some Neosporin handy and stay vigilant.

Jamie and Daddy Dancing

2008-09-17T09:49:00.000-07:00

Jamie crawling some more--with suprise ending

2008-09-14T19:01:00.000-07:00

I took this video to show off Jamie's fast-developing crawling skills, but at the end he pulls himself up--at first I tried to help him, but he succeeds on his own, ultimately. I was pretty surprised, as you can hear at the end of the video.

The sleep training went very well this weekend. Jamie took to it like a champ and all 3 of us got more sleep than we had in weeks.

More teeth

2008-09-11T04:43:00.000-07:00

Jamie was being a royal turd yesterday . . . he had two toddler-sized meltdowns in the space of about two hours, which alarmed us. At least until suppertime, when he opened his mouth wide for an infusion of green beans and showed me that his top two front teeth had broken through.

Jamie Hugs Mommy

2008-09-10T06:22:00.000-07:00

During the day I like to look at the blog because I miss my boy. Here I asked Andrew to film him hugging me so that I could think about his little arms around my neck. Since isn't feeling well he's extra snuggly.

BTW, no sleep last night again. Ferber this weekend.

Still stuffed up, but better

2008-09-09T17:32:00.000-07:00

That's the short version of the early part of this week. Jamie got prednisone Saturday and Sunday and he's still clearly congested, but the terrible raspy breathing has departed, at least for now. Also, he's sleeping better--last night he only woke up 3 times. I think things are looking up.

More to say, hopefully soon, but for now I'll just post these pics taken over the past few days. Jamie is enjoying trying to stand now. He loves to say and hear us say "ma ma ma," and coos with delight when we read about the goat saying "maa maa" in The Very Busy Spider. He also likes to say "k-k-k-k" when we say "kitty cat," or just when he's talking to himself.

Croup

2008-09-07T13:48:00.001-07:00

Jamie has been sick this weekend. On Friday morning he could hardly breathe, taking deep, noisy and scary-sounding breaths, so I stayed home from work and took him to Dr. T, who diagnosed croup. Jamie had a breathing treatment (we had already given him albuterol at home, but this was different) and prednisone, then I had to take him to the hospital so that he could get an x-ray. Everyone at the hospital loved all over him, but he was tired and cranky and we got home and took a gigantic nap. That was the last good sleep either of us had this weekend. Jamie has been waking up 4+ times a night and hardly sleeping during his naps. We are all wrecked. (I dread the thought of going to work like this--but of course I will, and I'm sure it will be fine.)

But there's still fun to be had, as I hope this somewhat fuzzy video shows. The unrequited love affair with Sammy continues--but I think that Sammy's taken to flirting with Jamie . . . see what you think.

Crawling?

2008-09-01T18:03:00.000-07:00

Jamie has progressed from dragging himself around on his belly to crawling, though he's still learning. This is a crab-crawl, I think.

+ reading with Daddy!

Go Bucs!

2008-09-01T05:35:00.000-07:00

One thing I love about living in the Pittsburgh area is that the Pirates suck almost as much as the Royals do! Jamie looks great in black and gold, doesn't he? I bet he'd look equally cute in royal blue (hint hint, Grandma & Grandpa K).

Jamie's first unrequited love

2008-08-30T04:59:00.000-07:00

This video is a little longer than usual and also a little dizzying as I followed Sammy and Jamie around the room--but it's pretty funny. Or at least, Andrew & I think so.

Thanks for the pics, Wendi!

2008-08-29T11:32:00.000-07:00

Pics of Krista's visit

2008-08-28T07:13:00.001-07:00

Jamie sits himself up!

2008-08-27T16:26:00.001-07:00

Cute picture of Noël and Jamie

2008-08-26T20:00:00.001-07:00

Since Noël (who usually writes these posts) hasn't had a lot of time to post lately due to her work schedule, I thought I would just post one cute picture of both of them I took this afternoon. Jamie is looking more and more like a little boy every day, as I'm sure you can see from this picture. Enjoy.

More fambly pics

2008-08-19T10:24:00.001-07:00

Sarah feeding Jamie while Maddie waits her turn

Braden, Maddie, and Jamie
Lily holding Jamie with Sarah

Jamie and the birthday girl

Fambly

2008-08-18T17:31:00.000-07:00

So the weekend before last I went back to MO with Jamie so that we could celebrate my youngest sister's 30th birthday. The whole family turned out: Anna (the b-day girl) and her husband Alberto, of course; my sister Mary, my sister Kerri and her husband and kids, and my sister Wendi and her husband and kids--and my parents. Altogether we were 10 adults, six kids, and two dogs.

The first pic is of all of us at Anna's birthday dinner at the local El Maguey (it used to be the local McDonald's).

Grandkids: Lily, Sarah, Maddie, Braden, and Lane is holding Jamie.

Dad & Mom

Braden, Anna, & Jamie

And this is just the tip of the iceberg, folks. My cousin Krista stopped by on her way home from Penguins ice hockey camp (she was the only girl there!) and had lunch with us on Saturday. Jamie remembered her from our visit to VA, I'm pretty sure.

More soon.

Carrots Everywhere!

2008-08-16T06:41:00.001-07:00

Listen as Jamie smacks his lips . . . .

Watch as his face gets oranger and oranger . . .

Laugh at how besotted we are with our son!