For his part, Cale was very talkative today, trying out his inflections, and being happy and cute.
Technorati Tags: Toddler
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Letters
For the past week, Karston has been very interested in his books that teach the alphabet, especially Chicka Chicka Boom Boom. The last two-page spread has all the letters, uppercase and lowercase. Karston points to the letters, moving from left to right (although he jumps around not strictly top to bottom), and names almost all already. I'm impressed how quickly he is learning his letters, but I think he enjoys listening to stories so much that he's motivated to read. He also likes watching Super Why! and Sesame Street. Fun times ahead!
For his part, Cale was very talkative today, trying out his inflections, and being happy and cute.
For his part, Cale was very talkative today, trying out his inflections, and being happy and cute.
Sunday, July 27, 2008
About Three
Thoughts on having a three-year-old around ...
Karston loves his safety scissors, an early (by more than a month) birthday present. The danger is that you must look at what he's holding when he says I want to cut! his birthday kite no longer has streamer tails ...
He's really interested in tools and repairs. He often says, I want to fix it!!! and you'd better be ready to let him help you. He said his playhouse, a birthday present that Karston and Daddy built with tools (all screws received finishing taps from Karston's plastic hammer), needed two door handles, inside and outside. Karston picked out the handles he wanted. He instructed Daddy where to drill, and he screwed both handles in all the way. Oh, and now that he has a playhouse, he doesn't build castles in his sandbox, he builds playhouses. And still laughs while kicking them down.
Karston also has a strong sense of identity. Last weekend in his cousin's play, he played a monkey, but he kept saying no, I Karston! -Who's Mommy's jumper? No, I'm Karston! -Who's Daddy's little helper? No, I'm Karston! -Who's Cale's big brother? Even that's not enough to get him to budge.
Karston loves his safety scissors, an early (by more than a month) birthday present. The danger is that you must look at what he's holding when he says I want to cut! his birthday kite no longer has streamer tails ...
He's really interested in tools and repairs. He often says, I want to fix it!!! and you'd better be ready to let him help you. He said his playhouse, a birthday present that Karston and Daddy built with tools (all screws received finishing taps from Karston's plastic hammer), needed two door handles, inside and outside. Karston picked out the handles he wanted. He instructed Daddy where to drill, and he screwed both handles in all the way. Oh, and now that he has a playhouse, he doesn't build castles in his sandbox, he builds playhouses. And still laughs while kicking them down.
Karston also has a strong sense of identity. Last weekend in his cousin's play, he played a monkey, but he kept saying no, I Karston! -Who's Mommy's jumper? No, I'm Karston! -Who's Daddy's little helper? No, I'm Karston! -Who's Cale's big brother? Even that's not enough to get him to budge.
Twenty - Love
Karston and I were jumping on his trampoline this afternoon. He fell on his back and laughed so I could see all of his teeth. Yes, all: all of his teeth are in. #20 snuck out! I counted just to be sure. Luckily he's been joining Daddy for tooth brushing. He used to dislike it, but now he'll usually do a good job himself, and doesn't mind when Daddy does a touch-up.
Karston and Cale really love each other. A thunderstorm just came through, and both boys woke up. Cale is nursing. However, when he heard Karston cry, he stopped nursing and started crying too. Cale really looks up to his big brother! For his part, Karston is always saying I want to ____ baby brother, where the verb is often hug, hold, kiss, see, or read with. Karston would be perfectly happy to be in charge of all of Cale's care. He even wants to inspect used diapers visually. Karston was really disappointed that he couldn't nurse Cale, but we explained his ta-ta's, like Daddy's, weren't big enough to have food. I think he finally felt better knowing Daddy has to miss out too. (with two sharp teeth, I don't think they're missing out.) So now Karston will occasionally tell me I have really big ta-ta's, and he's not sure why we laugh so much about that. We're very proud of our boys for getting along so well already.
Karston and Cale really love each other. A thunderstorm just came through, and both boys woke up. Cale is nursing. However, when he heard Karston cry, he stopped nursing and started crying too. Cale really looks up to his big brother! For his part, Karston is always saying I want to ____ baby brother, where the verb is often hug, hold, kiss, see, or read with. Karston would be perfectly happy to be in charge of all of Cale's care. He even wants to inspect used diapers visually. Karston was really disappointed that he couldn't nurse Cale, but we explained his ta-ta's, like Daddy's, weren't big enough to have food. I think he finally felt better knowing Daddy has to miss out too. (with two sharp teeth, I don't think they're missing out.) So now Karston will occasionally tell me I have really big ta-ta's, and he's not sure why we laugh so much about that. We're very proud of our boys for getting along so well already.
Thursday, July 24, 2008
Pediatrician Mega-Visit
Karston and Cale went to the pediatrician this morning. Their regular doctor is on vacation, so we saw another doctor they've seen. She's very thorough. Cale was fussy (tired), and wanted to nurse, so Karston went first.
Fully dressed with shoes, Karston weighs 26 pounds and is 34 inches tall. (He didn't like getting measured one bit.) His weight is below the 5th percentile while his height is well below the 5th percentile. We discussed his cradle cap (it's not uncommon, not alarming). Amy knows a little girl who was also very small, a light eater, and a fitful sleeper until her celiac was diagnosed. Since that also describes Karston, I wanted to check him for it. Karston had his blood drawn to check his endocrine levels as well as to check for celiac. Daddy held him during the blood draw, and Karston was very brave. He watched four tubes fill with his blood at his elbow, and he didn't flinch at all. Then he got his vaccination shot in his leg. When the nurses were done, Karston said, Ouch! Ouch! Somebody poked me! He didn't enjoy it, but as always, he was a little trooper about it.
Next up, Cale had to wake up for his examination. He didn't enjoy that, but he tolerated it well enough. Cale weighs 15 pounds 9.6 ounces (I was sure he would hit 16 pounds, or more, to meet the rule of thumb to double the birth weight at four months, but he's close) and is 26 inches tall with a head circumference of 16.75 inches. When Karston was nine months old, he was only a little larger than Cale is now, at a mere four months old. Cale is 60th percentile for weight, between 75th and 80th percentile for length, and 50th percentile for head. I described Cale's sad fussy days to the pediatrician, and most of it rolled right off of her until I got to what I thought was an odd but unimportant factoid, that he often has dark green poop, but the standard yellow poop only happens on good days. Green doesn't necessarily mean a bad day, but yellow does mean a good day. Since he's exclusively breastfed (one attempt at formula so far, to which he made icky face and cried until I got there to rescue him), that's apparently surprising. The doctor suggested allergic colitis, and to eliminate dairy from my diet. Milk is the most common cause of infant colitis (followed by soy), and since I'm lactose intolerant, dairy seems a very likely culprit. I don't mind cutting out milk and ice cream so much, but I will miss cheese and yogurt. Although Cale is quite interested in our food, she said not to introduce anything new until we get a handle on the colitis. I think Cale wants rice cereal! But he can wait, at least as long as my supply can keep up with his demand. Cale also got his vaccinations, also not happy about it but he bounced right back.
All told, this visit was longer than any two previous visits combined, but we covered a lot of ground with a very thorough pediatrician.
Fully dressed with shoes, Karston weighs 26 pounds and is 34 inches tall. (He didn't like getting measured one bit.) His weight is below the 5th percentile while his height is well below the 5th percentile. We discussed his cradle cap (it's not uncommon, not alarming). Amy knows a little girl who was also very small, a light eater, and a fitful sleeper until her celiac was diagnosed. Since that also describes Karston, I wanted to check him for it. Karston had his blood drawn to check his endocrine levels as well as to check for celiac. Daddy held him during the blood draw, and Karston was very brave. He watched four tubes fill with his blood at his elbow, and he didn't flinch at all. Then he got his vaccination shot in his leg. When the nurses were done, Karston said, Ouch! Ouch! Somebody poked me! He didn't enjoy it, but as always, he was a little trooper about it.
Next up, Cale had to wake up for his examination. He didn't enjoy that, but he tolerated it well enough. Cale weighs 15 pounds 9.6 ounces (I was sure he would hit 16 pounds, or more, to meet the rule of thumb to double the birth weight at four months, but he's close) and is 26 inches tall with a head circumference of 16.75 inches. When Karston was nine months old, he was only a little larger than Cale is now, at a mere four months old. Cale is 60th percentile for weight, between 75th and 80th percentile for length, and 50th percentile for head. I described Cale's sad fussy days to the pediatrician, and most of it rolled right off of her until I got to what I thought was an odd but unimportant factoid, that he often has dark green poop, but the standard yellow poop only happens on good days. Green doesn't necessarily mean a bad day, but yellow does mean a good day. Since he's exclusively breastfed (one attempt at formula so far, to which he made icky face and cried until I got there to rescue him), that's apparently surprising. The doctor suggested allergic colitis, and to eliminate dairy from my diet. Milk is the most common cause of infant colitis (followed by soy), and since I'm lactose intolerant, dairy seems a very likely culprit. I don't mind cutting out milk and ice cream so much, but I will miss cheese and yogurt. Although Cale is quite interested in our food, she said not to introduce anything new until we get a handle on the colitis. I think Cale wants rice cereal! But he can wait, at least as long as my supply can keep up with his demand. Cale also got his vaccinations, also not happy about it but he bounced right back.
All told, this visit was longer than any two previous visits combined, but we covered a lot of ground with a very thorough pediatrician.
Sunday, July 20, 2008
Talkative
Cale was very "talkative" today, making primarily vocalic sounds with varying inflections. I'm not sure what this means, unless it means he's eager to communicate verbally. His balance when he stands is remarkable so at this point, I wouldn't be surprised if he were early for walking and talking.
Friday, July 18, 2008
Four Months
Hey, Cale is four months old now! He's right on target for weight. The rule of thumb is to double your birth weight at four months of age, and Cale should be there. He weighed in at 15.9 pounds fully dressed on Wednesday, and he's been nursing like he wants to be sure he is not below his sixteen pounds today! He's got two teeth, but he's also still drooling and chewing like a teething baby so he might have more very soon. Like his Mommy, Cale's hair gets lighter when he's been outside in the sun. Unless he hurts, Cale is thankfully still a good sleeper too. He sleeps 5 to 7 hours at night! Karston usually has at least one night a week where he wakes and wants a parent before Cale.
Karston has generally worn clothes by the age on the label. Since Karston was eight months old before he weighed 16 pounds, some of my size expectations are off. Cale's already wearing size 3 diapers (so was Karston at this weight, but he was twice as old!). Just after Karston's birthday, I washed the 6 to 9 month clothes for Cale. Well, now he's large enough that I actually need to retire the 3 to 6 month size clothes too!
Cale is changing, not just growing, all the time. He has added peek-a-boo to the list of games he likes to play. Well, other people say he likes peek-a-boo, but he's very scared when Mommy hides, so I don't know that firsthand. He loves watching that baby in the mirror, especially if he can practice standing on the counter at the same time. He's ticklish in more places now, at least for me. I'm pretty good at finding ticklish spots. He has more personality too, making more expressions, showing more feelings, enjoying more people. Oh, and he took his first walk, just like Karston did at this size: scooching the infant backpack across the floor. Pretty stable kickstand! And he loved it. He wanted us to see what he could do, he was so proud. Time to move up to the larger baby backpack.
Karston has generally worn clothes by the age on the label. Since Karston was eight months old before he weighed 16 pounds, some of my size expectations are off. Cale's already wearing size 3 diapers (so was Karston at this weight, but he was twice as old!). Just after Karston's birthday, I washed the 6 to 9 month clothes for Cale. Well, now he's large enough that I actually need to retire the 3 to 6 month size clothes too!
Cale is changing, not just growing, all the time. He has added peek-a-boo to the list of games he likes to play. Well, other people say he likes peek-a-boo, but he's very scared when Mommy hides, so I don't know that firsthand. He loves watching that baby in the mirror, especially if he can practice standing on the counter at the same time. He's ticklish in more places now, at least for me. I'm pretty good at finding ticklish spots. He has more personality too, making more expressions, showing more feelings, enjoying more people. Oh, and he took his first walk, just like Karston did at this size: scooching the infant backpack across the floor. Pretty stable kickstand! And he loved it. He wanted us to see what he could do, he was so proud. Time to move up to the larger baby backpack.
Sunday, July 13, 2008
Second Tooth
As if the first tooth isn't enough to disturb a baby, Cale's second tooth is coming in already. He gave me a big smile while I was fixing lunch. I could see the entire top ridge of his first tooth, and about half of his second tooth. Needless to say, anything Cale grabs goes into his mouth for chewing.
With his new teeth bothering him, Cale seems to be spitting up after he eats more than usual. He's not sleeping through the night as well as before, but he stills sleeps for 5 or 6 hours at a time. Getting him to sleep with his teeth bothering him is a challenge for all of us.
But Cale has a wonderful personality in spite of his new teeth. Last night, I thought he was fussing to nurse back to sleep, so I sat down to watch a funny movie. Instead, what he wanted was to lie on my lap and to look at me. He smiled when we made eye contact, and he started to laugh when I stroked his hair. Yes, I love this baby! He's clearly in some pain, but he smiles when he gets my attention, and actually laughs despite his pain when I cuddle him. A delight even when he doesn't feel well!
With his new teeth bothering him, Cale seems to be spitting up after he eats more than usual. He's not sleeping through the night as well as before, but he stills sleeps for 5 or 6 hours at a time. Getting him to sleep with his teeth bothering him is a challenge for all of us.
But Cale has a wonderful personality in spite of his new teeth. Last night, I thought he was fussing to nurse back to sleep, so I sat down to watch a funny movie. Instead, what he wanted was to lie on my lap and to look at me. He smiled when we made eye contact, and he started to laugh when I stroked his hair. Yes, I love this baby! He's clearly in some pain, but he smiles when he gets my attention, and actually laughs despite his pain when I cuddle him. A delight even when he doesn't feel well!
Friday, July 11, 2008
First Tooth
Wednesday, when Cale was chewing on my hand, my knuckle felt that he was chewing harder than just baby gums. Thursday he wasn't interested in his chilled teething rings, but Friday he was. Guess what peeked through on Friday, undeniably present? Yep, Cale has his first tooth, his lower right incisor.
Yes, this is early for a first tooth. Then again, he's big for his age. Karston was 7 months old, and had his first teeth, when he weighed what Cale weighs now. Cale is even showing the classic first sign of readiness for food: he intently watches us eat. I expect he'll be an early water too. Maybe he'll give Karston lessons on How To Eat.
Yes, this is early for a first tooth. Then again, he's big for his age. Karston was 7 months old, and had his first teeth, when he weighed what Cale weighs now. Cale is even showing the classic first sign of readiness for food: he intently watches us eat. I expect he'll be an early water too. Maybe he'll give Karston lessons on How To Eat.
Tuesday, July 08, 2008
Who Eats Bananas?
Some mornings start way too early for us parents. Daddy was tired, but plying his new trick of feeding Karston a banana for breakfast while Karston is distracted by Mickey's Clubhouse. Remember the tired part. As I walked by, Daddy paused his feeding to talk to Mommy before blearily turning back to put the banana in an open mouth. Only the closest mouth that agreeably opened up for banana was Cale's! I made Daddy stop right away, but Cale didn't seem to mind at all. I think he even liked the taste of banana, but he doesn't know about chewing yet.
Friday, July 04, 2008
Three Years, One Day
Karston received more presents this evening when family came over to watch fireworks over the lake. He's not entirely clear on when he has a birthday, especially since he has been getting presents before, on, and now after his birthday. A year is so long when you're only three years old! In the immediate term, the stickers were a hit! However, he really enjoys all of his books, so I expect those will get lots of love too. He thinks having people visit, opening presents, and watching fireworks is a lot of fun!!!
Technorati Tags: Toddler
Thursday, July 03, 2008
Cale's Fever
The weather was very hot today, so it was hard to say if Cale were too hot. Just in case, we stripped him down to diaper (and socks, a funny fashion statement). When the temperature dropped this evening, Cale stayed hot, though. Finally, after several ear temperatures around 99.5 degrees, we took his temperature a little before 10pm and got 100.4. Then we called the nurse advice line (no other symptoms of a cold like nasal congestion or troubled breathing, regular number of wet diapers, no neck weakness, no new or unusual foods in my or his diet). If he doesn't develop new symptoms, we'll call tomorrow for a Saturday appointment.
What I learned is that you worry if Baby is under 12 weeks old with temperature over 100, or Cale's age (barely over 12 weeks!) and over 101. Since his weight is in the 14 to 21 pounds range, he gets 80 mg tylenol now (it was 60 mg after his last vaccinations). So I gave him a dose of tylenol and let him nurse to sleep. Cale woke up almost immediately, wanting to flirt with me, happy, and then he pooped. Pooping makes him happy.
You know, last night was a challenge: 1 hour in his crib, 4 hours asleep on me, 1 more hour in his crib, 2 more hours on me. Whew. Although that wouldn't have been unusual for Karston, compare that to Cale sleeping 9 hours straight through the night in his own crib the night before (and that's not an isolated incident!)!
What I learned is that you worry if Baby is under 12 weeks old with temperature over 100, or Cale's age (barely over 12 weeks!) and over 101. Since his weight is in the 14 to 21 pounds range, he gets 80 mg tylenol now (it was 60 mg after his last vaccinations). So I gave him a dose of tylenol and let him nurse to sleep. Cale woke up almost immediately, wanting to flirt with me, happy, and then he pooped. Pooping makes him happy.
You know, last night was a challenge: 1 hour in his crib, 4 hours asleep on me, 1 more hour in his crib, 2 more hours on me. Whew. Although that wouldn't have been unusual for Karston, compare that to Cale sleeping 9 hours straight through the night in his own crib the night before (and that's not an isolated incident!)!
Karston Is Three
The birthday present round-up:
Karston lost his belt already.
He got a toy front-end loader yesterday, to get him ready for a certain pedal vehicle on order.
He has 2 new books: hey, the original Curious George books are much longer!
He has more sandbox toys.
He has whistling straws, and we still don't know how an unobstructed tube makes a reed-like whistle!
He has a squeeze-powered flashlight, all pump powered so he can forget to turn it off and it doesn't matter.
He actually ate his Spongebob cookie! He rarely eats that many calories at one time, and this after dinner!
And the timing on this order was serendipitous, but Karston is sure the double stroller is for him. He jumped and danced for joy about getting such a large box delivered on his birthday. Daddy had to assemble it on the spot so Karston could go on a test stroll right away.
Ho Wat Fun.
Karston lost his belt already.
He got a toy front-end loader yesterday, to get him ready for a certain pedal vehicle on order.
He has 2 new books: hey, the original Curious George books are much longer!
He has more sandbox toys.
He has whistling straws, and we still don't know how an unobstructed tube makes a reed-like whistle!
He has a squeeze-powered flashlight, all pump powered so he can forget to turn it off and it doesn't matter.
He actually ate his Spongebob cookie! He rarely eats that many calories at one time, and this after dinner!
And the timing on this order was serendipitous, but Karston is sure the double stroller is for him. He jumped and danced for joy about getting such a large box delivered on his birthday. Daddy had to assemble it on the spot so Karston could go on a test stroll right away.
Ho Wat Fun.
Three Years Old
Karston is three years old now! My mother joined us for dinner, and for a few presents. Karston definitely understands presents this time!
Shortly after Cale was born, I filled out a survey about Karston's language skills, so it's very obvious to me how much he has learned, vocabulary and sentence structure, just in the past few months. Just in the past two weeks, Karston has switched from saying Mimi to saying Mary (too bad; I think we all liked Mimi). He has also started saying please, thank you, and sorry frequently. I planned to start my campaign for manners in about 6 months since I thought that was developmentally appropriate, but I sure don't mind if he picks it up now!
One of his early birthday presents was a pair of safety scissors. Oh my, does he love cutting paper! No wonder his preschool teachers were impressed with his fine motor skills! Another early present was a belt. He's been fixated on putting on Daddy's belt, usually on Daddy. So when he asked, Hey, where's my belt?, he got another early present. When he got sprayed by the hose recently, he wasn't worried that he and his clothes were wet. He was deeply concerned that his belt was wet! Luckily that was easy to fix.
Shortly after Cale was born, I filled out a survey about Karston's language skills, so it's very obvious to me how much he has learned, vocabulary and sentence structure, just in the past few months. Just in the past two weeks, Karston has switched from saying Mimi to saying Mary (too bad; I think we all liked Mimi). He has also started saying please, thank you, and sorry frequently. I planned to start my campaign for manners in about 6 months since I thought that was developmentally appropriate, but I sure don't mind if he picks it up now!
One of his early birthday presents was a pair of safety scissors. Oh my, does he love cutting paper! No wonder his preschool teachers were impressed with his fine motor skills! Another early present was a belt. He's been fixated on putting on Daddy's belt, usually on Daddy. So when he asked, Hey, where's my belt?, he got another early present. When he got sprayed by the hose recently, he wasn't worried that he and his clothes were wet. He was deeply concerned that his belt was wet! Luckily that was easy to fix.
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