Mama!

Cale went to a car show late this morning with Karston, Daddy, Opa, and Grammy. When they came home for naptime, on the final turn before our driveway, Cale started chirping Mama! Mama! Mama! Of course, once he saw me, he ran off to play with toys, but I heard he was glad to come home to Mama.

Whump!

Last night, a sad-but-funny thing happened. When Cale cried in the middle of the night, I brought him to bed with me and cuddled us both back to sleep. Cale was asleep, but still very squirmy, so he was rolling all over the bed. I placed a pillow barricade on one side, and me on the other. Well, on one particularly active roll, Cale rolled up and over the pillow, and WHUMP! he fell off the bed. I was pretty sure I knew what the Whump that woke me meant, and Cale's cry from the floor cinched it. I scooted across the bed surprisingly quickly, especially since I'd been asleep. Even so, by the time I got to him, Cale was asleep again. In fact, his breathing was more even and he was less restless. My first thought was to bring him back to bed, but after looking at him for a while, I decided to leave him where he was sleeping better. Plus he couldn't fall off the floor. So I built another barricade so that no one could walk near him and accidentally step on Cale. Then I happily went back to sleep for an uneventful rest of the night.

Here Go

As you know, small children love when they know what comes next. This evening when Daddy got a beer, Cale happily ran to get a beer huggie. (That's what comes next, Daddy gets a beer then he puts it in a beer huggie.) When Cale ran back to Daddy holding up the beer huggie for him, he distinctly said Here go. More words! Cale is so expressive with pointing and grunting that I wasn't sure when he was going to expand his vocabulary. He seems to pick up more from adult conversation than I would expect, but he doesn't seem to want to contribute to the conversation yet. He's happy swinging from the refrigerator handles to let us know he wants juice, and he's happy pointing to the TV screen when he wants to watch a cartoon to wind down. Who needs to talk? So I was thrilled that he had something to say!

All Trained

Some milestones you can't see at the time, only in hindsight. We started bugging Karston in June to finish potty training, and he kept putting us off for the entire month of June when not a single poop went in the potty. On July 1st, he started using the potty for all elimination, and only one poop went in the pull-ups instead of the potty that week. He's been perfect ever since. It's as though turning four flipped the potty training switch. Karston didn't have any problems even while we were in Wisconsin without his travel (folding) potty seat to reduce the size for his tiny hieny! Now I understand what my mother meant: I can plead all I want (or not!), but he's only going to potty train on his schedule.

When we started this journey, I felt very lost about how to start potty training. Now I understand why. You just start explaining what you're doing when Cale walks in. Then once Cale knows that by heart, you hold him over the potty. (Monday he peed mere seconds after Daddy stopped holding him over the toilet. He needs more body awareness yet.) Cale's really excited when he gets to flush, so I think we'll have some motivation there. Other than explaining and then letting him try ... well, that it how it works. Since 18 to 24 months is considered the ideal time to start (unless you practice elimination communication before the child is six months old -- also good, but the early months were a rough period trying to get a handle on Cale's multiple allergies and go back to work), I think we'll start on Cale while we're home for the winter holidays. We've started the explaining now, and once Cale learns a few more words, I think he'll be ready.

Seventeen ...

I can't believe my little baby Cale is already seventeen months old (and about 21 pounds)! He's been walking for just over 2 months, and in fact he's been running for most of that time too since he really wants to chase after Karston. He's sure that's where the fun action is! He went from walking to confident walking to running in no time. Cale knows he's supposed to wear shoes to go outside, so he will often bring you his shoes ... then your shoes one at time ... often more than two shoes ... you know, just to be sure you have enough shoes to wear that you will take him outside to play! He loves to chase our pets outside, kick up the leaves, splash in the water, and play in the sand. Outside is wonderful!

About two weeks ago, Cale started initiating games of peek-a-boo, where he's the first one to cover his eyes. He's always so happy when we start to play peek-a-boo with him, so when he moves his hands slowly away from his face he has an enormous smile. It's great! I don't know how long he's going to like this game, though, because sometimes he will cover his eyes first and then wander around hoping someone will say PEEK A BOO! That approach is destined for boo-boo as much as peek-a-boo.

Cale also loves the game of flop, where he flops on top of Karston, and then Karston wiggles out and flops on top of Cale, and so on. Cale almost always starts the game of flop with Karston, and he almost always loses once his larger and heavier brother gets excited. A few weeks ago, we had lunch with Missy who said that her brothers also played the game of flop, but that it looked too painful to her. I agree, Flop looks like it devolves from game to painful quickly. Must be a "brothers" thing.

Cale still adores taking baths, too. When he hears the water running, he now starts pulling at his clothes and he's very helpful when you take his clothes off. But he's also impatient, so before you set down that outfit, he's already tugging at his diaper or running towards the tub. He has also learned about the post-bath Naked Run from Karston, so he expects at least one naked lap through the house between his towel drying and his fresh outfit. If Karston finishes the bath at the same time, Double Naked Run is twice as fun for Cale! We have to be careful, though, because he has his bath before bed, and when Cale's tired, he falls down for no apparent reason. Usually his rear end is padded with a diaper, but not on a Naked Run. I still remember Karston's pained surprise when he fell on his bare bottom during an early Naked Run.

Cale's still a great eater too, eating everything in sight without regard to his allergies. On those days when his mouth is faster than my snatch of the allergens, we get through the night with gas drops. Cale is also very fond of his water sippy at night, something we've done for about three weeks now. When he wakes up in the night, he's almost always either gassy-fussy and needs gas drops, or he drinks his water and conks out again. For the most part, Cale is great sleeper. Yes, we feel fortunate! That's why I'm so pleased to have simple solutions for the exception nights of poor sleep. However, growth spurts and teething don't have easy fixes, and Cale just needs to be cuddled those nights.

Cale hasn't added a lot of words in the past several months. He's getting better about pointing to what he wants (and in the morning before breakfast for the past week, he points to the TV to watch cartoons *sigh*), and we all know that swinging from the refrigerator door means that he wants his juice, so I can understand why he doesn't feel the need to add more words. He talks about Mama, sometimes Dada, and most often Emma our dog. Karston and our kitty both get distinctive squeals of joy so they don't need names. Cale still asks for juice (or zeus) and okra. Yes, all the boys in this house love fried okra, and I still can't stand the stuff. More for them!

Cale's still holding at 16 teeth; those final molars haven't come in yet. Still, 16 teeth when he was 16 months old is a gracious plenty.

The Dietician

Daddy and I talked to a registered dietician today about Karston's eating for the research study with a goal of healthy weight from a healthy diet (Karston may be in a distinct minority for needing to gain weight). The take-home points for us to try are:

1. no more bribing -- I didn't like it anyway, and it takes forever to get him to eat two bites of good food so he can have a potato chip


2. announce meals in advance -- After we take a bath, we're going to eat dinner.


3. "this is it" -- Karston can eat what we're eating, or he can eat a pbj, and that's it (and no cajoling or bribing)

So we'll see how that goes.

Home Again

Whew, after a whirlwind trip, we're home again! We got to see all of the Smiths, even though we left shortly before the Smith reunion this afternoon. The boys had a great time! Karston woke up this morning and asked what fabulous adventure were we going to have today: the adventure of coming home! The Milwaukee airport is great if you arrive early because the boys did not want to leave the play area. And luckily the return flights were less harrowing than the first leg of our departure ...

Fish Day

The big day, Fish Day!

This morning, we watched the Fish Day parade with cousin Jenny and her daughter Lola, and with Karston's entire NC cousin family. Even our friend D'nardo and his family showed up! Cousin Dana was part of the motorcycle brigade leading the parade. The parade highlight, of course, was watching the Shriners in those funny little cars! (Cale fell asleep in the backpack; so much for a parade.)

This evening we hiked over near Saint Mary's Gardens and watched the Fish Day fireworks. We could have gotten closer for a better view, but I think we did better farther away. Karston thought some of the booms were too loud despite lots of sound blocking by the intervening trees. Karston did enjoy the visuals, though! He was the one who convinced us we had to go out again, so he could watch fireworks. Cale enjoyed the first few fireworks, but then decided it was dark, he was comfy on my lap, and *yawn* he'd just fall asleep right there. When Cale wants to sleep, it doesn't matter how loud it is.

Bay Beach

For today's excursion, we met up with our NC relatives (yes, I know we could do that at home) and cousin Mike, and went to Bay Beach in Green Bay. What a great amusement park! Even though it tried to rain on us a few times, we had a fabulous time! Karston enjoyed the carousel (twice) and the train ride. Of course he also enjoyed chasing the sea gulls while we were eating lunch, so he's not too picky about his fun. The bayside view was fabulous, so we watched the rain storms roll in before dashing to shelter just in time.

Wisconsin is having a cool summer, and this morning was particularly crisp. Karston asked us repeatedly, Is it winter here? and even is Santa going to come soon? I know it's a cool Wisconsin summer, but it's hardly winter. However, summer in NC is much hotter, so I understand how Karston could think this dramatic temperature change meant winter.

Is it winter now?

All Cousins

This morning we went to the new playground on the bluff in Port Washington. I have to say, it exceeded expectations for everyone in our family! Very nice. Cale liked the musical toys since he likes to pound, and he liked trying to catch up to Karston. Karston saw so many wonderful play areas that he was moving quickly! Karston didn't want to leave, ever.

This evening we met all of the Schmit cousins at Kathy's for a cookout. We realized all of the first cousins were together for perhaps the first time since they were kids. Pretty great that everyone would come together like that, really makes us visitors feel special. Karston and Cale think Kathy has the greatest backyard! I think the sandbox was their favorite, but they both enjoyed climbing and swinging too ... and we didn't mention the pool because they would not have gotten out of the water and we would not have been able to have adult conversations.

A Tale of Two Flights

We flew to Milwaukee today, by way of Cinncinnati. The first leg of the flight was grueling: the kids were so full of energy that we chased through airports and snagged them all over the plane (ok, just within arm's reach of our seats). They had more squirming in them than is really fair to discuss. My only moment of peace was when I went to the bathroom in the Cinncinnati airport. As soon as I turned the corner and couldn't hear him, Cale started to scream. Apparently he even went for seventeen seconds of screaming without pausing for breath. As soon as I rounded that final corner on my return, I knew that was my baby screaming so I jogged back to the fray. We're sure everyone, not just Cale, was glad that I came back as quickly as I could and that it wasn't soon enough.

So of course they both fell asleep as soon as we got on the second plane. Boom, they were out, we could breathe, and suddenly the world seemed bearable and even civilized again. No comparison.

Once we got to Milwaukee, we headed to cousin Chris' house for a quick sandwich (build-your-own, perfect to let me avoid allergens without driving everyone around me crazy asking about ingredients) and then saunter over to the park for an open-air concert. Once again, the boys ran around like dervishes, but in an open park it didn't beat us down the way it did on planes and in airports. So the first half of the day was painfully excruciating, and the second half was pleasantly relaxing.

More Pointy ...

Cale's upper canine teeth have been slow to come in; they're still just points between his front teeth and his molars. This morning, I felt the lower left canine tooth's point, and this afternoon the lower right joined it. I mentioned that Cale seemed out of sorts to his pediatrician, but she couldn't find anything wrong. She did say that canines can be very worrisome teething. The picture now is a double whammy: a growth spurt, and all four canine teeth pushing through. This is why Cale isn't sleeping as well, and wants to cuddle calmly.

Doughnut Math

Karston didn't want to eat breakfast this morning, even though we made banana-blueberry-guava pancakes shaped like Mickey Mouse. (Cale ate two pancakes.) Finally Karston said he would eat doughnuts, so Daddy gave him some. A while later, Karston asked me for more doughnuts. Since the goal is calories, I opened a new four-pack of miniature doughnuts for him; since he had already had some although I didn't know how many, I only put two in his elephant cup from the circus. Karston looked in and said, Mommy, that's not enough. I want four doughnuts. Put in two more!

That's 2 + 2 = 4 right there; pretty good concept!

Black Butterfly

The boys really wanted to play outside this evening, and were out a little later and darker than usual. Karston was chasing fireflies when Look, a black butterfly! It's so pretty, it makes my heart go (hands clasped over heart) thump, thump! Chasing fireflies is an excellent summer evening activity, but enjoying natural beauty is even better!

No Allergies

Karston was stalled for a long while on potty training. #1 was ok, overnight was ok, but #2 was keeping him in diapers. Karston doesn't have a regular elimination schedule because he doesn't have a regular eating schedule. Other than avoiding refined sugar after 8 pm, we just do what we can to cram calories in whenever he's willing to eat. Cale eats twice as much as Karston on most days; Cale eats more than that when he's on a growth spurt like this week, and Karston eats less than that on his poor appetite days. Karston seems to eat more when he drinks mango juice, especially when it's not 100% juice but something with HFCS. That's the opposite of what I intended to feed my children, but I'll do what works. Anyway, we're on a streak for total potty training! The key is that he wants to wear underwear now ("like Daddy"), and we keep track so we can start to bug him about 24 hours later (unless he hasn't eaten much, in which case we wait until after a real meal). This would be so much easier on a schedule! Fabulous prizes for success are also helping.

Today's fabulous prize was Karston's first-ever ring pop, the lollipop on a ring! Blue raspberry! Karston was dancing for joy, and probably dancing from the sugar too! Then he came over, Mommy, does this have allergies in it? As the mother of a child with multiple allergies, I read all labels, so I knew the answer: no, it doesn't. So Karston, the proud owner of his first ring pop said, Here Cale, try this! He knew to check for allergens, and he shared with his younger brother spontaneously! Sure, Karston had most of his ring pop, but Cale sure did follow him around looking for more licks, and Karston kept sharing (and singing and dancing). Cale discovered lollipops from Karston, although he doesn't get them as often since he eats well, and he loves 'em.

Water

This morning, Cale could hardly wait for me to get out of the shower. He took one step into the shower, but wasn't thrilled that his foot got wet. We know talking to young children builds their language skills, so I had a conversation about it. Look at all that water in here! And it got your foot wet, I'm sorry. Oh, where did all that water come from? Cale looked up at me very seriously, somewhat quizzically, and pointed to the shower head.

Yes, yes that is how the water got into the shower stall. I'm not going to explain rhetorical questions to my fifteen-month-old, but nor did I think he was following me that closely. Cale understands a lot more of what we say than we give him credit.

Swimming and Fireworks

We went to Opa and Grammy's to swim and then have a birthday lunch with family. Since Karston's birthday falls on a holiday, he gets to spread his birthday out. Plus he can always see fireworks for his birthday! Karston started talking about seeing his cousins as soon as we told him they would swim at Opa and Grammy's too. I'm not sure what made him happier, seeing his cousins, swimming, jumping on the trampoline, getting more presents, or getting to blow out candles again and again! He lived it up for sure. Cale enjoyed kicking around in his baby float until he got splashed, he enjoyed trying to jump on the trampoline a few times, and he puffed with Karston to try to blow out those birthday candles.

This evening we went to see fireworks at the Poulton's. Karston liked seeing the fireworks, but he said they were too loud (they weren't particularly loud). Next year we should bring hearing protection for him. At least this year he got into the fireworks; when he was a baby, he wanted nothing to do with it. So I was quite surprised that Cale enjoyed the fireworks! He did jump in my arms, startled with each explosion, but he laughed and clapped and pointed to the fireworks too!

FOUR

Karston is four! He blew out his candles last year, but this year he wanted to blow them out repeatedly. We only lit his four candles four times, explaining that we were done at four because he's four. He accepted that logic better than the argument that our smoke detector couldn't take much more (and nor could we).

We started telling him his birthday was coming a few weeks ago, and brought it up again yesterday. He's made the association between birthdays and presents because after we mentioned his birthday last night, he started putting toys in a bag saying he was Santa Claus and he was bringing presents. Direct from birthday to presents, although a bit fuzzy on the origin.

I'm not even sure where to start, but we've all had a wonderful four years together!

Helpful

This evening while we were getting ready for bed, I said Cale and I would sleep on the air mattress tonight. (The room's bed is just too hard for my hips and side-sleeping.) Daddy said, Oh, we'll need to inflate the air mattress some more.

Cale understands a lot more of what we say than we give him credit. He toddled right over to the air mattress as soon as he heard that, he put his mouth to the valve, and he puffed!

Oh.

The Crab

We had a tasty dinner (I had mango crab cakes, yum!) with an outstanding view and a great breeze this evening at the Tower Bar. When we came down the stairs to pick up our double stroller, Karston noticed two holes in the ground in the natural area (rocks and plants) around the tree base. Karston grabbed Mary's hand to go investigate with him. (He's fascinated with holes in the ground right now. I would make jokes, but he wouldn't get them at this age.) Karston bent over to peer down the farther hole when a hermit crab scuttled out just into view! Karston screamed loudly, impressively loudly, AAAH! A CRAB! I'm sure the whole restaurant knew that Karston was surprised by a crab. In fact, the cook came out of the close-by kitchen to make sure he was ok. Karston also quickly jumped behind Mary and peeked around her knee at the crab who scuttled back down his hole. He pointed to the closer hole, Mary, what's in that hole? She replied, I think that crab's friend lives next door to him. Karston very confidently said, Well that crab is no friend of mine!

We're still laughing about that. Eek, a crab, no friend of mine! You never know what you're going to hear, and sometimes it's quite funny.