The Blow Off

In one episode of Sesame Street, Big Bad (a wolf, of course) huffs and puffs and blows everyone away on Sesame Street whenever he is mad because he doesn't know a constructive way to express his feelings. So for the past month, when Karston wants us to stop, or wants to change to another game, he blows at us. (He sometimes says I'm Big Bad in the same game, so I think he did get this from Sesame Street.) It's really very funny, so unfortunately we laugh first instead of reiterating the lesson to tell us how he feels.

Ah, fffffffffffffffffffffffff!

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Eight Hours

Guess who in this house slept for eight hours last night?

Sorry, that's a trick question because there's no wrong answer because we all slept for eight hours! Actually, us parents woke up a few times expecting one boy or the other to call for us, but it didn't happen. We were awake for naught! At a mere nine weeks old, Cale slept for eight hours in his crib while Mommy got eight luxurious hours in our own bed! Bliss.

As a matter of fact, I woke Cale up this morning just to be sure he was OK. He didn't like being woken up, but he'd tolerate it since it was immediately followed by breastfeeding him. Two minutes after that, Karston called for Daddy to get him up. (He can get out of bed on his own, but where's the fun in that?)

We hope this is the start of a trend!

The Tube

I think we're making good progress on potty training. The actual potty, not so much, but Karston announces when he needs to go, and then goes when he is prepared. This almost always means in his cup, but this evening Karston showed us an ingenious if disturbing variation. He used the cardboard tube from a used-up roll of toilet paper to pee in the big potty standing up. (I told Daddy he was setting an example Karston couldn't follow.) The disturbing part was, of course, us wondering how long a wet cardboard tube would hold together. It lasted long enough to be thrown away to remove the temptation to try it again ...

The Routine

Daddy and Karston left for the coast yesterday morning. Since babies don't have normal (that might be pushing it) skin until 2 months, and sunscreen is listed for 6 months (at best) and older, we stayed home. I burn too easily, even with sunscreen, and I don't want Cale to get a sunburn either. Cale and I are having a perfect weekend! We both agree that early Beatles songs are good kids' music. We played the Standing Game, where Cale stands, I provide balance, he smiles at me, and I smile back. Sometimes we skip the tiring standing business and just do the smiling part for the Smiling Game. The Ooga Game is the latest, where Cale says oo ga to me, I exagerate the same sounds back to him, and I repeat his sounds and expressions while he's smiling and cooing. Once he gets tired of making sounds, I repeat the best ones to his great delight. We like our games.

The most important lesson I learned on this toddler-free weekend was not how to play the games that Cale loves, though. I watched for his subtle signs, and I have found his routine! What I learned from this quiet time is that he prefers a two-hour daytime schedule, plus or minus half an hour. He's happiest alternating between two hours awake and two hours asleep. He likes to nurse every two hours too (like I said, it's roughly every 2 hours. This schedule is delightful! Just knowing I get those breaks from baby carrying is a wonderful notion! Today during my breaks, I took a shower, I washed the dishes, and I used both my sewing machine (my good buddy) and my embroidery machine (usually my nemesis, but a success today). What a perfect weekend!

Cale really enjoys me following his lead for the daily routine, and I enjoy knowing that I can finish what I was doing in two hours. Everyone's happy. And playing games, nursing, or going for a baby-fascinating walk outside. Just perfectly happy. We had two very pleasant days for Mommy and Cale.

Pediatrician: Two Months

We all went to Cale's two-month well-child checkup this morning. Karston told us all morning that he wanted to see the doctor, but as soon as the doctor came in, Karston covered his eyes.

Cale's specs this time are 23.75 inches long (75th percentile), 12 pounds 15.8 ounces (75th percentile), and 16 inches head circumference (60th percentile). Starting with his one-month checkup, Karston never had a measurement at or over the 50th percentile, so these big percentile numbers are surprising to us. In fact, Karston was four months old before he was about the size Cale is now.

After seeing Cale try it on my lap, the doctor tested Cale's standing trick for himself, where Cale stands and looks around while someone provides balance by holding him under his arms; his head wobbles a bit, but he loves it. Karston loved this routine at that age too, although his head was steadier and his hips were wobblier so I called him baby Elvis.

Cale got his next round of vaccinations at this appointment. He didn't like the three shots, but he wasn't too upset about it either, which was surprising given that he was very fussy this morning. Karston's been fussy too, so I wonder if 29.22 inHg is not a good barometric pressure for my boys (sinuses?). I can't tell if my headache is from hearing some kid screams up close, or from something else. I'm all worn out already, and it's still morning. Whew. At least Cale agreed to take a restless nap, and Karston cheered up after scooby snacks (that's what we call vanilla wafers now) and juice. I'm sure the day will be better for all of us after lunch and a nap.

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Happy Cale

Cale enjoys standing, with his feet on my lap, his legs straight and steady, his hands on my shoulders to provide balance, his head looking all around, and his neck sometimes a bit wobbly. He now has a recent addition to that trick to let us know how much he likes it: he looks me in the eyes and then gives me a huge toothless smile! We both enjoy that!

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Opa

After dinner, Karston brought out his Legos to play with Daddy. Daddy, help me build. -What do you want to build? hmm Help me build Opa! That could be tough. -I can't build your Opa. Thinking. Help me build Grammy? Same problem. -Sorry, I can't build Grammy either. More thinking. I want to jump; help me build Evan. Not that feasible either, so it was time for redirection. Since today is their anniversary, would you like to talk to Opa and Grammy on the phone? Of course Karston loved that idea! He did an excellent job telling them about his fishing exploits, but was less successful showing them his toolbox. Happy anniversary! Your grandson loves you.

Two Months

Cale is two months old today! (That means his skin should be that of a child, not of a newborn, now.) Cale really does look older, too! We spent the afternoon playing with Dan and Amy before they move next weekend. Cale liked being outside, so we practiced letting someone else hold him (he accepted it for the most part, a pleasant change from the recent all-Mommy trend). Karston enjoyed having a larger audience view his dancing, and sitting on furniture in the front yard. Say, he could be a good redneck if he likes that. Pretty good birthday.

Read The Kitty Book!

Tonight, Karston asked Daddy to read the kitty book (again). It's not actually a book, but a card that Will's mom sent us. Actually, she sent us two cards with two sets of hand-me-downs (thanks, I enjoy not shopping for clothes that won't fit in three months), and Karston loves both kitty cards. He also told us Wednesday afternoon, I need two kitties. At first we thought he wanted our cat Linus to have a companion (Linus likes being an only kitty since he doesn't get beaten up anymore), but then we caught on that Karston was talking about these two cute cards. I guess as long as the artwork is appealing, with words, it's his kind of book.

If he likes kitty books now, it's time to read him Space Kitty by Geneviève again. That's definitely his kind of book too: appealing artwork that speaks to his love of kitties, telescopes, the moon, and books!

I Need a Cup!

We fell off the potty training wagon after Cale was born, but Karston seems interested again. (Whew!) We're letting him set the pace and tell us what he wants when. This week, he has used the toilet three times, telling us when he wanted to use it, and being ready to go. However, he really prefers to use a cup, actually a laundry powder scoop. We use those scoops as bath toys too. He took a bubble bath this evening, and seeing his cups must have reminded him of something else. After a bubble bath, Karston goes on his naked run, running away from us through the house, usually shouting naked, I'm naked as he goes.

I was reading Cale his bedtime book while Karston was on his naked run. He stopped to cuddle with us on my lap a few times, possibly to warm up. And let me tell you, when your naked potty-training-in-progress son on your lap suddenly puts his hands down there and says, I need a cup!, you're ready to fly into action to save your baby, your lap, and your carpet from that spray. Naked Karston made it to the cup in time at least four times this evening. I suspect he has excellent control since the time to get him to a cup varied, but we didn't want to test those limits. Not when he's naked. He also seems to have a good awareness of when he's ready to go since none of those were false alarms. We've had false alarms before, but none recently.

I'm glad potty training is progressing again. Maybe we'll be back down to one child's worth of diaper changes soon.

Cale's First Word

While hiccuping this morning, Cale said his first word! (I'll say that again later when Cale means to say the word.) He very clearly said Okra! We wouldn't be surprised if Cale likes fried okra, a good southern dish, as much as his big bother and his father, but it's way too early to find out.

Moving Up

Monday afternoon during the small break when both boys were napping, I moved the straps on Cale's cat seat up from the lowest setting to the next higher setting. He fits in his car seat, now that the straps are above his shoulders!

Another sign that Cale is growing is what we did yesterday afternoon. We returned a case of 216 size 1-2 Pampers Swaddlers diapers, and bought some size 2 diapers. I knew that Will's mom had to exchange diaper sizes when he grew quickly, so she gave me the idea. I know size 1-2 diapers say they fit up to 15 pounds and Cale only cracks 13 pounds when he's dressed, but I've learned not to get hung up on diaper weight ranges, except as a suggested starting point. Makes sense instead to buy what fits. (That's why Karston wears size 5 now; he certainly doesn't weigh 27+ pounds.) Since Cale looks like he could use more crotch depth than size 1-2 offers, it's time to move up a diaper size as soon as we use the last four 1-2's later today.

Babies sure do grow and change faster than toddlers, and Cale is bigger than Karston was at this age. No wonder I bought too many of the smaller diapers: my experience isn't helping!

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More Fishing

This morning we bought Karston his own fishing pole (he hasn't set it down yet). Guess what he wanted to do after his nap? You got it: he wanted to go fishing! He doesn't cast the line yet. Not casting sounds safer, although we got some safety hooks (Target carries them) for the day when he does want to throw the hook in the water.

Karston caught six fish this afternoon!

He made sure to touch each one before the release, and he even released one of them all by himself. I don't know where he picked this up (wanting to fish, and being good at it), but he seems to be a regular little fisherman.

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Cale is Annoyed at Mommy

I have seasonal allergies, my nose is running, and I'm coughing. I'm not supposed to take anything if I can help it, because medication transfers to breastmilk and Cale doesn't need that exposure. In the case of antihistamines, most of the ones that dry up the nose are likely to dry up breastmilk to some extent too. So I'm hitting the tissues instead of the medicine cabinet. Both this afternoon and this evening when I coughed while Cale was nursing himself to sleep, he woke up startled. He's not even two months old, but I know an annoyed look when I see one!

Finally, this afternoon I set him down in his crib for his nap. I had been coughing repeatedly, and I knew he couldn't fall asleep with me and my cough around him. He wanted to fall asleep on my lap, so his eyes flew open when he touched the crib. He saw me, got that annoyed look again it's that Mommy who coughs too loudly, and closed his eyes. If I'm his only choice, the crib looks good!

This evening I opened the loveseat that folds out into a bed, and I'm going to sleep there so that I'm farther from Cale when I cough. I can tell by the way he's rustling right now that he's annoyed with me again. I'm so sorry I'm annoying my child at such a young age, but that dry tickle cough just won't be stopped. I'm not proud of this. Poor baby.

Fish Day, Lake Overlook style

Cale has discovered two new reasons to cry (not just hungry, poopy, or lonely): when he's so painfully tired, and when he has "fuss farts" (Karston had those too). Cale let out a loud wail late this afternoon, and unfortunately woke Karston up from his nap about half an hour too early.

So Karston needed hugs after his nap. Once he was ready to say anything, he mumbled about fishing. We don't know where he picked that one up. Anyway, after Daddy made sure he meant fishing, they headed down to the lake. They put on life preservers and hopped on the pedal boat. Daddy tossed the line in, but didn't get anything; he's caught two fish in the five years we've lived on this lake so that wasn't surprising. Next Karston dropped the line in and in short order caught his first fish! He's not even three years old yet, and he's caught his first fish! He got a large-mouth bass about ten inches long. We're impressed.

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The Sensor

When Karston was an infant, we would talk about his tilt sensor. When one of us would say, Oh, his tilt sensor went off, it meant that Karston was asleep until we leaned over to set him in his bassinet. His ability to wake up within a split second of setting him down (to give our backs a break) was remarkable.

Enter Cale, a better sleeper. He has a body heat sensor. We can set him down, and he'll stay asleep or even fall back to sleep ... but only up to about ten minutes, sometimes less than one minute. He won't cry until you've got your hands on something else, and then, oh yes, it's time to pick up Cale again. About the time Cale notices he's not snuggled up next to your body warmth, he wakes up. He does nap better with a hat on and covers tucked in around his tummy, so this alarm might actually be a temperature sensor.

Next Round of Clothes

Karston wore clothes pretty much by his age, maybe even a month later since he slipped off the weight chart at 9 months. Karston has stayed below the 5th percentile for weight ever since, and has been in low percentiles for height. He's slim for his height, and short for his age, so I've been surprised that the age ranges on clothes match when he wears clothes so far.

Even though I know Karston is small, I still didn't expect to bring out the 3-6 months clothes for Cale by the time he was one month old. Now I understand why! The Gap size chart for kids says 3-6 months corresponds to 12-17 pounds and 23-27 inches. Cale's already 12 pounds and 23 inches! So I need to ignore the age on clothes label for Cale in order to get clothes that fit him. Old habits die hard, but it makes more sense seeing it on a chart now. I have a little boy and a big boy ... you'll have to tell from context when I mean size or age!

More Chocolate

This morning Karston got some Hershey's Kisses from Mimi's retired next-door neighbor. (I hope he practiced his new, occasional skill of saying Thank You, but I was afraid to ask since the rest of his behavior wasn't going to win a good prize.) He ate those before and instead of lunch. Mkay, some days are like that, although we wouldn't intentionally feed him chocolate for lunch. Now we get to the embarrassing part ... after he polished off that chocolate, he headed right back next door (oh great), and hauled in a box of Hostess Twinkies and a box of Hostess chocolate chip muffins. I can feed my own child, but I prefer to offer healthier choices first. Yikes. At least Mimi got those boxes out of sight before he lit into them. At least Karston still likes and requests real food like cheese, sausage, fried okra, and bananas.