Pediatrician Call

I'm really impressed with our new pediatrician. She called me twice with Karston's lab results. Yes, the doctor called me! I called her back this afternoon. Karston's blood work was all normal enough, but we may want to re-test thyroid in a month. She asked if reflux might explain Karston's poor appetite and consequent small size, and that really started me going. She said to start with children's Maalox, so we will. Before I told her that he often eats only one food at a time, sometimes only one food per meal (and rarely snacks between meals), she said that reflux children often do not like texture changes. That describes Karston perfectly, and then I was really on a roll. Karston won't eat egg yolks when he eats hard-boiled eggs because it's too much of a texture change. I've been thinking about it all day, and I can only come up with two foods that he eats with more than one texture. He will eat chocolate-coated doughnuts and bread with jelly. I think he'll eat the starch just to get the sweet treat. So that reflux guess of hers just sounded as reasonable as possible, especially with her suggesting a dietary characteristic before I mentioned Karston does that. (So thank goodness for the first pediatrician being on vacation; I'm keeping this one!)

Since I was talking to her, I complimented her on the allergic colitis diagnosis for Cale. After two days dairy-free (meaning I didn't eat dairy products to transfer to Cale), he was a differently pooping baby, and happy about it too. It's hard to avoid dairy; I ate a small amount of cheese yesterday for lunch (and had to pick some cheese off my lunch today, but hopefully I removed enough). Guess what? Cale was a lot more uncomfortable today after I ate dairy yesterday, and he reverted back to the old poop pattern. It wasn't much cheese, I'm surprised it set him off, so I need to be much more vigilant. This is going to wreak havoc on my lactase levels since I barely produce enough for as much as I love cheese and yogurt. If I eat zero of those foods for as long as Cale's nursing and he nurses over two years like Karston, I may never be able to eat dairy after that either. It's worth it for Cale to be more comfortable, though. It's also possible that Cale has more than one allergy. I had had a lot of soy the day before one very fussy day, and I had had a lot of eggs before two other fussy days. I wouldn't rule those out entirely either. But before this pediatrician suggested that I eliminate dairy from my diet, I had some every day. So perhaps I should have be surprised he had good days!

Anyway, she suggested a followup visit in a month, and I think I'm a convert. She's sharp and caring.

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.

Technorati Tags: Toddler

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.

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.

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.

Technorati Tags: Baby, Toddler

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.

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.

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!

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.

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.

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!!!

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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!)!

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.

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.

Three Months!

Cale turned three months old today! Cale woke up this morning about 2 hours after his exact birthday (meaning he cried quietly for me about 5 AM). While carrying him, I noticed that I was holding him low, with my highest hand just on his lower back. And Cale wasn't leaning into me; he was sitting upright in my other hand, unsupported. So he has much better trunk and neck control now, at least when he's fully awake. He even turned around to see where we were going once we were almost there, so he also has a good awareness of his surroundings.

I noticed this morning that his face looks more mature to me now. I think I can see glimpses now of what he'll look like later; he doesn't look just like a baby. Karston's dark hair fell out and grew back blond; Cale's hair is getting lighter so I suspect he has my photosensitive hair.

Cale added a new "word" this evening. He has said oo-ga a few times before and has been absolutely delighted when I repeat it back to him, but this evening he said ahg-ee. I said it back to him, and he laughed, so I kept saying it while tickling his belly, and he kept laughing ...

Cale started laughing more this week. His laugh still sounds unusual (you can tell an infant larynx isn't in the same place as an adult larynx, but it's in a good place for feeding without choking), but instead of a ha-ha, I've been able to coax him into laughing much longer twice this week. In fact, this evening he laughed so much about ahg-ee that he got hiccoughs! Nothing beats the pure goodness of a baby's laughter.

Of course he's getting bigger. He weighed 14 pounds a couple weeks ago, and he's now wearing size 2-3 diapers because size 2 is now a bit tight. It helps to look back, so see how much he has grown up already!

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Too White

Yesterday, Karston wouldn't eat jasmine rice for dinner, after asking for rice, because it was too white. (He likes rice from our Mexican restaurants and brown rice.) This evening, he also complained that vanilla ice cream was too white, but I started feeding it to him anyway. In no time, I was getting seconds on vanilla ice cream for him. When it's ice cream, he doesn't cry too white for too long.

Karston also danced just a little while the live blues band played, mostly with a little girl named Sophia. They had more fun with high five, though.

Cale got a very mild case, but his first sunburn. He kept lolling his head over to the side, and Daddy had a hard time protecting Cale with a sun hat when he put his head that far over. His neck must not get sore from this because he does it all the time. Cale's been remarkably agreeable (his usual self) for having a sun burn on his face.

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!

Technorati Tags: Toddler

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.

Technorati Tags: Toddler

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.

So Big!

Cale has grown so big so quickly! He already looks much older to me. And he has a plump little belly to fuel his growth. I can tell it's not my imagination about his growth because I washed the box of 3-6 month clothes, and they fit much better than the 0-3 month clothes. Yes, the 3-6 month clothes are a little long, but that was true for Karston too ... at 3 months! I'm just not sure where Cale got all of this growing when he's never had formula. Then again, yesterday at dinnertime, Cale wouldn't let me do anything for almost two hours so that he could have a nursing binge; I had a tough time getting my dinner, or doing anything else.

Weigh-In

Both boys had baths this evening, and we decided to weigh them after their baths. Karston was running away from clothes laughing, so he weighs 24.1 pounds naked as a jaybird. We didn't want Cale to get cold, so his 11.6 pounds includes a fresh diaper and romper. This means Cale now weighs more than our cat, and Karston weighs just more than twice as much. The rule of thumb is to triple birth weight after one year, so shortly after that, Cale's weight will match Karston's. I can imagine my just-over-one-year-old weighing more than my almost-four-year-old...

Sweet Son

This morning Daddy told Karston that Opa and Grammy were coming over this afternoon (I wasn't sure about getting him excited that early). Karston thought about it for a pensive moment, then said, I love them. Tonight was the last class so Daddy will have me around in the evening after this to help get the two boys to bed.

Tummy Time

Karston always hated tummy time, and didn't get much of it. (He also walked before he crawled.) So I was concerned about tummy time for Cale. Sure enough, he doesn't like tummy time on his play mat. However, a couple weeks ago I found a tummy time that Cale likes. When I need a cat nap or I'm waking up, I put Cale on my belly. (I can't sleep soundly on my back, and I have to be exhausted to fall asleep on my back. But I can be drowsy on my back until I wake up. Cale enjoys our tummy-to-tummy time. He will push up, lift his head and look around, and even move short distances. Hey wait, that is tummy time! Cale is getting regular tummy time now that I know the no-tears trick. Today, Cale did something new for tummy-to-tummy time: he rolled from tummy to side, watched me for a bit, and rolled over on his back! I think he's young for the rolling over skill, but he is strong. Although Karston's neck control, even on Day 1, was much better.

Right now, both of my boys are asleep on my lap on the sunroom couch. We came in the sunroom to watch the hail storm (temperature dropped 20 degrees quickly!). Cale nursed, then fussed to be cuddled upright until he fell asleep. He knows I've been trying to set him down all day so I can take a shower, so he was peeking for the longest time to check that I'm still holding him. Karston started snuggled up to Daddy, but curled up to me to "watch baby brother." As he got more comfortable, he slid down and fell asleep. (He napped in the bedroom doorway because he knows not to wake Cale during naptime, but he wants to see him. Karston is a dear!) I'm jealous of Daddy's freedom to walk right now. Myself, I'd be showering, but otherwise I'd probably be doing what he's doing, quick cleanup and light housework. Not that most couples are jealous of who does the housework ...

Initial Velocity

We've made "initial velocity" jokes (like the Internet joke to get pigs to fly), but today he outdid himself. The diaper change after today's fountain, Cale had a poop that shot right out the back of his diaper. Thank goodness we have a washer, a water-efficient washer at that, and solar-heated hot water. We do laundry quite often thanks to Cale.

I filled out the previous load with Karston's 3-6 month clothes. These outfits are a bit large on Cale, but not by much. These clothes are easier to put on him, so our one month old is wearing size 3-6 month clothes now. Such a change from Karston!

Karston watched the Backyardigans (his request) this evening. He's got rhythm and he dances to polka music. Must be his Wisconsin heritage!

Thumb

Cale discovered his thumb today. Actually, Daddy says Cale started to suck his thumb yesterday evening, but he was really intent on sucking today. I think he sucked his thumb, with fingers wrapped over his own face, for half an hour while he was in the Baby Bjorn and I was running errands around Main Street! A good thumb keeps 'em happy and quiet.

Cale's One Month

Cale had his one month well-child checkup this morning. He weighed 10 pounds 14 ounces (60th percentile! we now have a child who weighs on the charts!), still 22 inches long (75th percentile), and head circumference just below the 75th percentile. The doctor wasn't concerned about his sniffles or his baby acne. So we got a clean bill of health in very short order.

Headed to Eleven

I weighed Cale after a diaper change, but dressed (tomorrow at the doctor's, it'll be naked weight). He weighed 11.4 pounds! Margot down the street is 12 weeks old today and 12 pounds; Cale is 4 weeks 2 days old and 11 pounds. And he's only had breastmilk to do it. Wow. I expect he will never be as difficult about food as Karston.

Last Friday was a gorgeous day, so we walked around the neighborhood just to be outside. Cale was wide awake for three hours of mostly outside, then he nursed fitfully for three hours, then thankfully he fell asleep. I think it was life-changing for Cale. Ever since then, when I hold him near a window with a view, he lurks for the window. Cale was fussy this morning, but he went silent and looked all around with gigantic eyes as soon as we went outside. Since Daddy and I love the scenic day hike, I think Cale will fit right in with the family.

The other thing Cale has been doing for about a week is trying to stand up whenever he's alert and awake. Karston started this around 6 weeks, Cale 3. Karston was a stronger infant, especially for head and neck control, but Cale is no slouch when he wants.

Speaking of Cale, he's asleep now, so I need to take this opportunity to go to bed!

Cale History

I found this online mention of Coach Cale Keller, football coach at Apopka High School in Florida from 1939 to 1941. This could actually be my Cale's great-great uncle Cale Keller, since the Keller family lived in Florida then (before this branch moved to Wisconsin). Cool! And here's another cool Cale mention.

Scooby Snacks

We're always trying to get Karston to eat, since he will often eat very little, and he doesn't weigh much for his age. Since he ate a good dinner, we let him have an ice cream sandwich afterwards. Later this evening he wanted to watch Scooby Doo, and he asked for a Scooby Snack when Scooby Doo got one. Quickly we offered him a vanilla wafer, something we have that looked like what was on the TV screen. He ate it! Then he ate four more! I can't believe our Eatless Wonder had most of a Mickey Mouse hamburger, then 1.5 ice cream sandwiches, and then 5 vanilla wafers! Just remarkable. He probably won't eat for the next week after that, but what a surprise!

In contrast, Cale is eating well: he weighed 10.3 pounds after his bath. Yes, that's naked weight! So he has gained over 2 pounds total in the three weeks after birth (exactly three weeks in 5 hours), and that's from birth (not from the low point of his hospital discharge weight). Like they say, if you have two children, they're completely different.

Technorati Tags: Baby, Toddler

Daddy's Helpful Boy

First thing this morning, I checked my email and sent a few quick replies. Karston had some questions about my laptop screen. What's this? It's email, Karston. Email Daddy, miss you daddy. Hmm, where did he pick up that email is communication? Does he really know what email is?

Then I started to move back into my office after The Great Water Heater Flood three months ago. The repairs are finally done! Cale was asleep, and Karston was playing and talking to me. (I can safely keep an ear on Karston the Narrator without watching him.) Karston said, Want that! pointing to the picture of Daddy on my desk. Daddy!!! He looked closer. Where Mommy? I took the picture, dear. Where Daddy? He's at work right now. Karston gave me his dark thundercloud frown for a couple minutes, then said Want Daddy, want Daddy home. Then, Want this Daddy!, and showed me the picture in case I had any doubt who he meant. He's very serious about his Daddy.

He's also very serious about helping. I sent him to check on Cale several times while I was in my office, and he came back quickly with the report of baby brudder sleeping. Once Cale woke up, he was hungry of course. Karston asked, What baby brother doing? He's nursing. Yeah, nursing on ta-tas. Then Karston unzipped his romper, pulled his onesie way down, and showed me his chest saying, Karston ta-tas. Then ... Baby brother want Karston ta-tas? Yes, Karston is a very sweet, very helpful boy! I had to explain that only Mommy ta-tas have milk. But I know Karston would help me if he could!

I think Karston just had the easiest nap this year. I was set to tell him it was quiet time, and he should do quiet time in his room when he told me Want bed. I asked him, Do you want to go to bed? Yeah, want to go to bed. He walked to his room, he climbed his ladder, he climbed on his bed, he pulled the covers back, and he flopped down. Sure he made noise and sat up to play for the next ten or fifteen minutes, but I didn't have to do anything! I did check on him after some of the noises, but he wasn't crying so I just rubbed his back. If only all nap times and bed times could be that easy! However, it was so unexpected to me that you can guess this isn't the normal routine of books and snuggles.

Technorati Tags: Baby, Toddler

On to Nineteen

Karston's been a little fussier lately. I know a second molar, tooth #18, started coming in the month before Cale was born. However, yesterday afternoon he was drooling, and Daddy asked him if his mouth bothered him -yeah, did he have a new tooth -yeah. Karston opened his mouth wide when asked, and sure enough, there's another molar, tooth #19, coming in. Only one more baby tooth to come!

So right now, when Karston is fussy, we're not sure where to place the blame. Teeth? Not the youngest baby in the house? Or that runny nose he and the other boys in the house (Daddy and Cale) have? Rough!

Last night, I taught class again for the first time in a month. First was Spring Break, and then I lined up three guest speakers so I could be out for the standard two weeks of postpartum recovery (and not knowing when Cale would be born, I scheduled one just before his due date and two after; Cale was born the day before the first guest lecture). An evening with two children who need to go to bed is tough enough that I didn't want Daddy to face that alone so we asked his parents to come over. Karston did have a crying spell, but mainly he was so excited to play with Opa that nothing else mattered. He played as hard as he could, and he slept pretty well, too (after the bedtime struggle)!

Cale slept well while I was out, and responded well to Grammy by falling back to sleep. Apparently he wasn't thrilled with the bottle (his first taste was cold breastmilk; Karston prefered cold food so of course Cale doesn't), but he drank some, and we were both ready for him to nurse when I got home from class.

Crash and Honk

So Buzz says boys need nicknames.

For Karston, I think Crash fits. We don't know where he picked this up, but Karston loves crashes. He'll crash his wooden trains. He'll head right for you, grab your leg, and say crash!!! oh-so-happily. Karston likes the word and the action, so I think Crash fits him for now. (Hopefully he'll outgrow this, oh, say, before he gets a driver's license.)

Cale is a very vocal baby. He coos and snores when he sleeps. He purrs and hums when he nurses. He makes a lot of sound for someone so young. I think Honk fits right now; it goes with Crash on one level, and it describes one of the funnier sounds he makes.

So if I gave them nicknames, and I just use their given names, I would pick Crash and Honk. Subject to change as they do!

Cale's Two Week

This morning we went to Cale's two week well-baby checkup. His stats are 9 pounds 7.1 ounces (up two pounds from his lowest weight ever!), 22 inches long, and 14.5 inches head circumference (or 50%, 90%, and 25%). Other than that, a routine doctor's visit: he looks fine!

Cale nursed in the children's waiting room until the nurse called us. After a pretty good feeding on one side, before the switch to the other side, he had his eyes wide open, his mouth open in a circle, and he was bouncing his head off the breast instead of nursing. I had a sudden flashback: although I had forgotten for the past 2+ years, Karston used to do that head bouncing (I called it breast tenderizing) with the exact same expression. I had an overpowering sense of déjà vu ... probably because I have seen this already! Yes, these boys are related!

Technorati Tags: Baby

Going Up

Last month, while I was hugely pregnant, we had lunch with several of Daddy's coworkers. One of them, Alan, remarked how small I was, which seemed odd given how huge I felt. Then he said that his youngest was delivered (by C of course) two weeks early at almost 12 pounds. The punchline? That four-month-old already weighs 23 pounds, more than Karston weighs at age 2.5!

On the other hand, Cale's weight is going up respectably. After a diaper change this morning, I put him on the scale and Cale weighed 9.5 pounds!

Cale Goes to Work

Now that Cale's a big ol' two weeks old, I took him to work with me so I could go to a big meeting. He didn't cry until I was leaving (than goodness I have an office now, not a cubicle).

I got to eat breakfast easily because Karston wanted to hug baby brother so they sat on the couch together to watch Sesame Street. Karston was a little unsure about going to playschool this morning after two weeks off (Spring Break, not because of Cale), but he loved it again by the afternoon pickup!

Bath

Cale's had a couple of sponge baths so far, of course, but this evening he had his first baby bath. Now that Cale has lost his cord stump, he's cleared for baths. He wasn't sure about it at first. In fact, he started to cry. I assured him that baths could be fun, that he would love baths with his big brother when older. Cale stopped crying, so I kept telling him stories of bathtume fun. Easy!

Motivation

I knew Daddy would be home from work during Karston's nap. So when Karston asked me after lunch, where Daddy is?, I said, He's at work, and he'll come home once you fall asleep for your nap. Karston played with Legos for another five minutes, and then he climbed in bed on his own! I reminded him that he had to sleep before Daddy came home, and he curled up on his pillow. Wow! Easiest nap ever! Daddy is a powerful motivator!!!

Newborn to Infant

Cale just lost his umbilical cord stump during his nap. The good news is that we can now dress him in onesies instead of tees. His tummy should stay warmer during this springtime cool snap. The bad news is that I think it hurt. Cale was fussing quietly and kicking vigorously. He had a few drops of blood on the diaper I changed. Now he's cleared for size 1 diapers on all levels: weight, and not needing the umbilical cut-out. So our littlest boy is growing up!

Love

We've often said of Karston that he is All love, all the time. Today he showed one aspect of that several times. While I was holding Cale, Karston asked to hug baby brother. When I let Karston hold Cale, he very seriously said, I love you, baby brother. Yes, Karston is full of love.

After N

I put the last size N diaper on Cale earlier this morning, and I just put on the first size 1. By weight, he's been ready for this change, but we like the umbilical cut-out of Ns until the cord stump falls off. We used two packs of Ns with Karston, so we bought two for Cale. I think Cale goes through more diapers, and he still has his cord stump, but it's time for 1s because he's had a couple of leaks recently. Cale nurses well in clusters, then sleeps well for many hours. Karston never did that. So Cale has some diapers on longer ... and leaks. So we'll just fold down the top of his size 1 diapers for now.

Super Cale!

I don't believe this, but Cale just tried to sleep through the night! He's only 10 days old, and he hasn't even reached 11 pounds (when babies are supposed to be metabolically capable of sleeping through the night). Cale finished nursing at 11 PM, and he started rustling a little before 6 AM. Wow!!! Of course I was in pain by them. If he keeps this up, I am going to have to get up in the middle of the night to use the breast pump! This might also explain why he nursed constantly yesterday and I wasn't allowed to set him down for any length of time, not even 5 minutes. I'm just amazed ...

Playing and Weighing

Karston doesn't have playschool this week (Spring Break), but he really needs a normal routine to balance out the big change of a baby brother. So we improvised! This morning, Daddy and Karston went to visit Nadia and Tasha (a year older and a year younger). Nadia was just as excited as Karston about a playdate, and they had a grand time playing!!! Karston saw play-dough for the first time. After a morning of play that couldn't be beat, Daddy took Karston over to Mimi's house since that's where he goes after his regular playschool mornings. Karston was very happy to hear about Mimi, and insisted that only she could get him out of his car seat. When she did, Karston snuggled up under her chin as he does when he's very tired. Yeah, he napped right away, and slept well. Then he ate well. We all were very glad Karston had such a great time playing, and followed his routine. That's got to help him adjust.

Cale weighed 8.5 pounds this afternoon with a fresh N diaper, a tee, and a hat. Karston reached Cale's birth weight of 8 pounds just before he was 3 weeks old, and he was 9.25 pounds at his one month pediatrician's visit. So what took Karston between three weeks and a month to weigh, Cale has done in 9 days. Of course it helps to start with an extra 1.5 pounds at birth!

This evening I nursed Cale and cuddled Karstpn to get them both ready for bed. I can't have more children because I barely have room on my lap for these two! I enjoyed our snuggle time.

Best Big Brother

We were pretty confident that Karston would be a good big brother because he is so sweet and loving. This evening's diaper change proves it. First, Karston had to help. (This was not particularly effective help as I noticed later that the diaper was not pulled over Cale's butt.) Second, Karston said No shoes! when he noticed Cale didn't have on his slippers. So Daddy said, Can you find his slippers? Karston ran from the room, and returned 30 seconds later with those slippers, saying Put shoes on! Karston's very helpful like that; Cale's lucky to have him as his big brother.

Easter Eggs

Karston and Daddy decorated Easter eggs this evening. (Karston doesn't know Sunday was Easter.) Karston says he likes the aqua blue eggs best. He even ate most of the two hard-boiled eggs that he peeled! Of course he loved putting stickers on his eggs, and you've never seen a hollow chocolate bunny disappear so quickly! We're happy that he ate so much in the evening (often means we get a better night for sleep when he eats well), and that some of it was healthy (although the ingredients for the Palmer's bunny weren't scary; fast food is way worse). Happy Easter Monday!

Diapers

Cale's not quite to the one week mark, and he's already gone through the first 40-pack of size N diapers. Weight-wise, he's ready for size 1 diapers, but we like the umbilical cut-out of Huggies N until Cale's cord stump falls out. He's a pooping wonder! We change a poopy diaper pretty much every time he nurses. We always knew (by nose) when Karston had a poopy diaper; we have to look to know with Cale. I stand by my original theory about Karston: he must have gotten my lactose intolerance, and that's why Karston had colic.

Easter Delight

Karston's playschool meets on Tuesdays and every other Thursdays. Now that he loves going to see mo' babies, the Tuesday-only weeks are very sad. And March: last Thursday was part of their Easter holiday, and this week is Spring Break. Playschool follows the county schools' schedule. So Cale's birth day was the last day of mo' babies this month! Ouch.

For Easter, we had lunch with Daddy's extended family: parents, sister's family, and cousins visiting from Las Vegas. Although the other children are much older than Karston, he had a ball playing with them. Two of his cousins are pretty blonde girls, and that makes Karston flirt. And I'd have to say that a trampoline is universal. Karston was laughing pretty hard! He really needed a good dose of playing with kids. He went well past naptime, and seeing him play that happily was worth it. Plus Karston loves his new super-soft Easter bunny that's in bed with him right now.

Mimi's Here!!!

Karston was totally delighted this afternoon when my mother came over. Karston hopped down from his seat where he spotted her car through the window, beamed, and started yelling Mimi's here! Mimi's here! with joy. I guess he likes her! She barely got to see Cale, or my grandparents who were here to meet Cale, because Karston monopolized her time. I'm glad she made Karston's day (and that she got him down for a nap with much less trouble than we've had lately). I think he needed time with his Mimi.

We had a great time introducing my grandparents to Cale. Newborns don't have any good tricks, but he was awake to make a few good faces and to nurse before passing out in a "milk coma" again.

No Teeth

This morning, Karston was playing with his Spogebob toothbrush (his front teeth are very clean, but we did not make much more progress than that). Karston wanted to brush Cale's teeth, but I showed him that Cale doesn't have teeth. Karston was very surprised, and had to tell Daddy, baby brother has no teeth!

This afternoon, we took Cale to his first well-baby pediatrician visit (the three day visit). He has lost 7% of his body weight, checking in at 7 pounds 8 ounces now. However, he also appears to be gaining weight already, so the pediatrician isn't worried. And, as the doctor pointed out, we're a lot more calm this time around; I said that's just sleep deprivation.

Where did he go?

Karston seems to have a pretty good handle on pregnancy (baby in Mommy's belly) and he knows Cale, our new baby, is part of the family, but I think he's missing some subtle points. This afternoon he stuck his head under my shirt and felt all around. He said ta-tas!!! when he got there. But after a quick inspection, Karston looked at me and asked, Where did baby go? I quickly showed him where Cale was sleeping. Thank goodness there's no return policy like that!

Welcome Cale!

At 2:55 AM on March 18th, we welcomed Cale Spero Keller. He is 7 pounds 15.8 ounces and 21.125 inches long, with 13.875 inches head circumference (or roughly 90%, 50%, and 25%). His hair already has blond highlights; Karston only turned blond after six months. Unlike Karston, Cale yelled at birth and turned red, so his initial Apgar score was a 9. Based on his first two hours, Cale doesn't nurse as readily or as easily as Karston did at this age, but I'm hoping he'll learn.

Technorati Tags: Baby, Pregnancy

I'm Karston

Today we dropped our station wagon off at the body shop to have the bumper painted. We had Karston with us, and he decided he needed to talk to our Automotive Cosmetic Specialist, Lisa. I was carrying Karston, and he leaned towards Lisa saying, Hi! to her until she said Hi back to him. Then Karston tapped his chest and said, I'm Karston. Lisa said, Well hi Karston. Then he leaned over, tapped my belly, and told her Mommy has baby in tummy, as if it weren't obvious to everyone who could see me! I think he wants everyone to know that he understands pregnancy.

One-Eye

As you know, there's a total lunar eclipse tonight. Since it's a bit chilly outside, Daddy set up the telescope in the living room, looking through the skylights. Karston loves telling you when he sees the moon (Moon! Moon!) in general, and he enjoys looking through the telescope too. He calls it "one-eye" because you close one eye and put the other eye to the monocular. (He also says one eye when one eye is hidden, say by his jacket hood.) Tonight he's very excited (that's why he's up late, sigh), Look at the moon hide! He's paying much more attention to the eclipse than I would have expected from someone who isn't even 32 months old, but I suppose he's curious about everything!

Technorati Tags: Toddler

See My Fanny?

I don't know where he got this, but Karston now has three words for his derrière. When he needs a fresh diaper, he'll sometimes tell you that his butt hurts. When he's giving you a tour of the body parts he knows, he pats there and says hiney. This weekend he added a funny one where he would find one of us, turn around with his back to us, say see my fanny?, and wiggle his fanny at us. When he did that to me on Saturday, he had unfastened his diaper on one side, and needed his diaper pulled back up into position. When he did that to Daddy on Sunday, he needed his diaper changed. But when he did it a couple times today, I think he just wanted to make me laugh. And it worked!

I have no idea where he learned this, but it's very funny to watch. If we can get him to do it on demand, I'll try to get a video of it.

Technorati Tags: Funny, Toddler

How Was Your Day?

I teach a class Wednesday evenings, so I get home late, sometimes after Karston has gone to bed. Last night I tiptoed into his bedroom, and (oops) he was awake. He sat up in bed, Mommy! To undo that damage, I quickly hopped in his bed to demonstrate how to fall asleep. He started to talk to me, Mommy, I sat in Sue! I fell down! I got a boo-boo, boo-boo on leg. I snuck away later, and as I fell asleep in my own bed, I realized what Karston was doing. Karston was telling me about his day! He's heard us go through "How was your day, dear?" enough that I guess he figures that's what you do when someone comes home. I like this habit! It fits well with being his own narrator, too.

Technorati Tags: Toddler

The Narrator

Karston has started narrating himself. Mommy, I fell down. Mommy, I got up. I'm running! When he's narrating, I know exactly what he's doing even when I'm not looking at him! Plus it lets me know what he thinks he's doing, and I like this insight. I chase the kitty. ROAR! I close the door. From his narration I have also learned that he knows more words than I thought. Sometimes he repeats what we say, and I wasn't sure if he knew the meaning; now I know he understands. We've cut out TV shows that we find funny but inappropriate now; we knew it would need to happen sometime.

Earlier this afternoon, Karston was very concerned that an outlet in his room had two different child-safe covers, one milky-white and one clear. He dug through the drawer for another milky-white outlet cover, and let me know that the clear cover had to go. Well, the clear one was very tight, so I told Karston that I needed to get some tools. I went to get a plastic slotted screwdriver, and Karston also trotted off. He came back with the small blunt orange pliers (fairly safe) that Daddy lets him carry when Karston says he needs tools. He definitely like tools! I pried the clear outlet cover off, and Karston picked it up with his pliers saying I take away. He wants matching outlet covers in the same receptacle, and he wants to help any time tools come out. He was in Daddy-only mode yesterday morning until he saw me with tools ... too tempting! Tools! I help! I help! He picked up all the small screws while I installed a switch on his diaper wipes warmer (I don't see why it has to run all the time).

So he's his own narrator, and he loves tools.

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LEGOs

Karston has been playing with Legos a lot this week, the regular-sized Legos for age 4+. He's very serious! The Legos are a bit small for him, but he keeps trying. Mimi says he tried to play with Legos with his Tigger gloves on, but that didn't work well. When we moved into our house, we found some old Legos from the Fort LEGODERO set (although there's only one figure, a bandit, left). Now that he's seen those, he barely looks at the Lego duplo size anymore, and until this week, he loved that size.

Toddler

Sledding

Daddy took him out in the snow (all one inch of it) this morning to pull him around on the sled. Karston was worried about falling off the sled at first, but he started smiling after a few runs.

An hour later when it was time to warm up inside, Karston reluctantly come in to tell me that snow is fun and to make sure I saw his sled (orange! orange! and pointing out the window). Snow is more fun when someone in our house is that happy about it!

Technorati Tags: Toddler

Full of Beans

This evening, Karston's parents were trying to convince him to wind down by sprawling on the couch. Actually, we were exhausted and wanted to go to bed, but cuddling on the couch will often get him to wind down for bed. So we're on the couch and Karston was ... running circles around the couch, laughing. I told him he was full of beans! The next many laps around the couch were running, laughing, and repeating full of beans! He proved my point thoroughly ...

Technorati Tags: Funny, Toddler

Snow

We got an inch of snow today! Although it isn't the first time that Karston has seen snow, it's the first time he's seen snow(a) that he might be old enough to remember, and (b) that actually covered the grass. He really wasn't interested in clothes today (until bath time, and then he wanted his clothes on), so we didn't take him out in it. (*ahem* To be honest, that's the royal we; I have no interest in going out in the cold if I can help it, but I'm sure Daddy will give him a tour of snow if he'll bundle up.) Speaking of, I bet the cat would like to come in now ...

Night-night!

Technorati Tags: Toddler

So That's Christmas

We weren't sure what Karston would think of Christmas this year. On Christmas Day yesterday, he enjoyed opening presents at home with his parents and his Mimi. He especially liked getting more wooden train tracks right after he asked for mo' twacks, and getting two Thomas engines and a Percy. Going to see his cousins was fun until nap time (I wanted to nap too, but I was driving so I stayed wide awake). He likes Christmas trees, especially if the lights are on, and he likes taking a tour of the ornaments. It's another opportunity to ask what's this?, although he tells everyone in sight which ornaments are trains!

However, Christmas clicked today. When Karston saw that his new toys were still here, still under the tree, that made it make sense to him. He had even more fun playing with his toys today! For his bed time story, he asked Daddy to read The Night Before Christmas, and he said ho ho ho every time he saw Santa in the book. So next year, he will definitely understand Christmas (at least the part with the presents). Too bad he has to wait 364 days after that concept to do it again!

Technorati Tags: Toddler

What's This?

We had a number of conversations that started with What's this? today. I'm sure it could get old soon, but right now I'm loving it! What's this? -It's brown rice, dear. Brown nice. Yeah, brown rice! Brown rice. Sometimes he would correct me. What's this? -It's a door, dear. No, this! (pointing more insistently) -It's our front door. No, this! (tapping door handle) -It's a door handle. Handle. Yeah, handle. It's a handle.

Lately it's been hard to say how many words he knows. He'll repeat some of what we say, but we don't know if he knows what he's saying. Then out of the blue, he'll rattle off a complete sentence that he clearly means, and we wonder where he learned all those words! Add some what's this? to the mix, and I expect his vocabulary to take off like a rocket! He knows what he's asking, he knows what he wants to learn to say, and there's no stopping his language now. So far, it's a lot of fun to teach him what he wants to learn!

Technorati Tags: Toddler

Rest

We thought we might do three parks in four days at Disney, but we decided to let our feet recover, to kick back and enjoy the resort. That's a much better plan! We had a nice omelet on-site for breakfast. We took the bus to Epcot so we could ride the monorail to Magic Kingdom; Karston loves trains! We had a quick lunch at the Contemporary Resort. I was hoping to see uniquely modern decor and maybe get some ideas, but it was the cold and sterile version of contemporary. So we hopped on the monorail again, to catch a bus back to our room for Karston's nap. For dinner, we had reservations at Shutters restaurant. Good food, and everyone working there was so nice to Karston! We had a relaxing day to recuperate today, so that we can head home refreshed tomorrow before jumping back into the work week.

Technorati Tags: Toddler, Travel

It's a Small World

Today we went to The Magic Kingdom. That's the Disney experience! We got there early, just as they opened, and had no trouble getting on some of the popular rides. We had lunch at Pecos Bill, and all I'm going to say about that is Don't get the beef there! Less said, the better. We timed the afternoon just right for Karston's nap, so he was not fussy. After the nap, we came back to Magic Kingdom. We had a Pinnochio dinner (much better than Pecos Bill's beef that I still tasted all evening), and Karston enjoyed the Magic Kingdom so much, he didn't want to leave. It got dark, he loved the parade. It got darker, he cuddled with me during the fireworks. We didn't leave until after 10 PM because Karston was so involved in the experience! I think we'll sleep well too.

I'm saving today's highlights, as you might guess from that synopsis.

This morning, Karston woke up and asked for Mickey. He's never asked for Mickey before, but we quickly determined that he wanted to watch Mickey Mouse cartoons while we ate breakfast, and then go to the park to see Mickey. Wow, Disney catches 'em quickly!

Absolutely the best ride in Magic Kingdom, if you ask Karston, is It's A Small World. We rode it three times, and each time Karston had more fun than the previous time. Cinderella's Carousel was good, Dumbo's Flying Adventure was OK, and everything else whatever. He rode in my lap for the first trip through It's A Small World first thing in the morning. For the last trip at 10 PM, he announced, Karston sit in middle! and he sat between us.

However, that leads into the gotcha that got Karston. The line for the Pirates of the Caribbean had been long, so when we saw a short line late in the evening, we headed in. The boats for this ride are exactly the same as the Small World boats, so Karston announced that he was sitting in the middle between us. First you go through a misty face of Davy Jones, and Karston buried his face under my arm. Then the boat drops abruptly and passes between two ships firing cannons at each other! Karston gave up his seat to jump in my lap and hide his face in my chest for the rest of the ride. Pirates of the Caribbean is no small world!

Technorati Tags: Toddler, Travel

Mommy's Disney Birthday

Today is Mommy's birthday. Going to Disney (somewhere warm!) is a great present for me.

Several times today, one of us, usually Daddy, would ask Karston if he wanted to tell Mommy Happy Birthday. Each time he gave the same loud answer: NO!

We went to Pepper Grill for breakfast again, for the same reasons as before: more menu selections with fruits and veggies. The fancier menus just didn't tempt us. After breakfast, we went to the hotel where we'll stay the rest of this trip, the Caribbean Beach Resort. We had to check in at next resort to get our park tickets, and going to one of the parks was our plan for today. So we shuffled our bags to the transfer station and got a taxi (faster than waiting for the Magical Express transfer). When we got there, our room was already ready (surprising when the resort is full!). Caribbean Beach Resort feels exactly like the sort of place we like to vacation. Ah, how relaxing!

If you want to follow along, you can look at Google Maps for Walt Disney World to locate the various attractions.

We headed to Animal Kingdom today because it's new and we've never been there. I don't want to say anything bad about it, but it really made me appreciate the NC Zoo. We've got a really good zoo that holds its own with Animal Kingdom for animals, botany, and playgrounds. Go Zoo! Animal Kingdom does have The Tree and town replicas. The architecture was cool and different, and it was worth going once. Africa was mostly walks, although we did get on The Safari Ride before I saw the sign that said expectant mothers should not ride. I was fine, but Karston needed some snuggling. Oh, and as expected, Fast Pass is really nice! I'm not fond of lines.

We finally had lunch at Pizzafari. I had a hard time finding food that I wanted to eat; it all sounded so greasy and unhealthy, and I just didn't want an upset tummy. We notice the customers weren't as large at Pizzafari as the other restaurants we saw at Animal Kingdom, so all of us there were looking for healthier food.

In the Asia section of Animal Kingdom, we took the Maharajah walk. Karston was either a zombie in his umbrella stroller, or he crawled up on me to fall asleep. He's so often a Daddy's Boy, but when it comes to pure comfort and a missed nap, Mommy wins. That was a nice birthday present of love from my toddler! But you know ... just say NO! to saying happy birthday to Mommy (Karston said so)!


We took a break, and went back to our room for a nap. Ahh ... vacation naps are just plain delicious!

We had dinner in the food court since the restaurant wait was long and we were hungry. Then we took Karston to the playground. The playground at Coronado Springs said 2-6 years old; the playgrounds at Caribbean Beach all say 5-12 years old. So although we like the feel of Caribbean Beach, Coronado Springs has some strong points on the playground, and on a slightly nicer room. Karston still went on the slide with Daddy although he was less sure of himself, and then asked to swing (most of us would call it a hammock, but it's just another kind of swing to Karston). Then Karston spotted a baby chair, a small chair his size, in the chair line-up on the sandy beach, so we watched egrets walk by lake-side from beach chairs. I thought that was a good birthday evening right there.

We were getting Karston down to bed when I started to wonder, What is that rattle? Guess what it was? Well, let's just say I have never on my birthday watched fireworks through palm fronds in a teeshirt! Or walked around outside barefoot on my birthday! The only thing I missed for this birthday was talking to my mother, breaking a long and wonderful tradition. Then we ate some chocolate cake by the pool. What a wonderful birthday!

Technorati Tags: Toddler, Travel

Going to Disney

Well, we made it Walt Disney World! We packed light (I think). OK, it's only 4 days, but our bags are only 32 pounds! I packed in less time with less stress thanks to TiddlyWiki Packing (and I use TiddlyWiki D3 for GTD).

So this morning, we all flew to Orlando. The flight attendant said to Daddy about Karston, He couldn't look any more like you! And when we got on the bus to go from the Orlando airport to Coronado Springs Resort, the bus lady said to me, Look at that belly! Guess it's obvious that I'm pregnant now.

We got to Coronado Springs about 1:30 PM. Our room wasn't ready until 4:30 PM, but the wait was not at all annoying. We started with lunch since we hadn't eaten yet. The on-site dining choices didn't offer very many veggies with the meals, and we went to the place (Pepper Grill) with the highest veggie chances. I was one of the lighter women there, especially in the over-30 set; oddly that makes me want to lose weight. After lunch, we went to the Dig Site and Explorers' Playground. Karston mostly wanted to slide again and again and again.

We're staying at Coronado Springs one night; it's pretty nice, reasonable size room (we won't be in there much, but we're not sliding around each other and there's room for two suitcases). Oh, and I saw a new (to me) hotel feature: the alarm clock radio had an MP3 line in! I can see how that's popular in the iPod era. The hotel store was actually useful because they had beer!

We had large salads for dinner, so on the way back, we walked the long way around the lake to try to walk some of it off. Karston said no playground, go to house, so we went back.

When we got back, Karston noticed where I burned my arm on the oven last week. He grabbed my arm, pointed, and said boo-boo! When Karston says boo-boo (especially when there isn't one!), he wants to kiss. I knew it would hurt to have him kiss my burn, but he's such a sweet child that I asked him if he wanted to kiss Mommy's arm to make it better. He said, No! Gross! Until that moment, I had no idea that gross was any sort of deterrent for him! If I say something is gross, he doesn't slow down at all; I just figured that's how boys are. But if he thinks something is gross, well that's another story.

Daddy got annoyed that we weren't asleep yet, but he's the one snoring loudly. Gee, I wonder why everyone else is awake? Thumper (meaning Cale) kicking Karston doesn't help him sleep either; I think the snoring only bothers me so I packed ear plugs. Since my waist has disappeared, I don't need a pillow under my waist to straighten my back, so that does make sleeping in a hotel easier since I don't have to request more pillows.

Especially with the delay getting the room and how nice the grounds were to explore, I'm really glad we didn't try to do more today! I think it would have been stressful for no reason. Oh, and I want a surry bike! You can rent surry bikes here, and they look very cool! Some of them are four-passenger in a two-by-two configuration; Mommy and Daddy could sit next to each other on a bike, and we could both be pedaling too. Interesting idea.

Technorati Tags: Toddler, Travel

They're Gone

Karston's has been kissing us a lot lately (thank goodness he's not sick!), and he really is very sweet. Take today for instance.

Daddy needed to go to work this afternoon, and luckily his parents came over for lunch so they could watch Karston; but when Karston woke up from his afternoon nap, only Daddy was home. Daddy picked him up for his post-nap hug. Karston pointed to the kitchen, then to the frig for his juice. After drinking some juice, he looked around and said in a forlorn voice, They're gone, his first words after his nap. We're guessing Karston had a wonderful time playing with his grandparents before his nap!

Technorati Tags: Toddler

Under 30

Well, Karston is 29 months today ... and my, the changes are fast! He's talking and running and playing full-bore. Today he really wants to kiss and to play with his wooden trains, especially to re-design the track layout. By my measurements, he's almost 34" tall (between 5th and 10th percentiles), weighing 22.8 pounds fully dressed but with a fresh diaper (still not on the charts but following the curve), and 19" head circumference (25th percentile). He's getting taller quickly, mostly in the legs, but not gaining much weight.

Technorati Tags: Toddler

Not at 5AM

On the list of things parents never want to hear their children say, this isn't too bad and I'm sure I'll hear worse. Nevertheless, this is not what I wanted to hear Karston say at 5:18 AM this morning!

I woke up when I heard him call Mama! Mama!, and I hopped out of bed. In the shadowy hall, I saw Karston reaching out for me, and then he said what I didn't want to hear ...

Mama, I'm awake!

Yep, he was wide awake, and according to Daddy he had been since 3 AM! Ugh. I feel a bit disoriented after last night. I wonder if he'll let us sleep in this weekend ... probably not. I can take a nap with him, but if he continues to wake up after only 5 to 6 hours of night-time sleep, that might signal the end of the afternoon naps.

On the other hand, Karston is getting better at communication. He said exactly what he meant, quite clearly, even if I didn't want to hear it.

Toddler

Monkey On

This morning, Karston bawled about Daddy leaving for work. (I guess he got used to having both of us around over the long weekend holiday!) That made his nose run, so we went to the closest bathroom (and laundry room) to wipe his nose. He saw his Monkey See, Monkey Do costume, what he wore for Halloween again (his choice!), on the drying rack. That made him stop crying to say Monkey On! followed by Monkey Hat On!

So Karston went to the grocery store this morning as a monkey. He smiled at everyone in the store, so it took a while when clerks and customers were drawn in by my Monkey See, Monkey Flirt child. I even ran into Val, Cheryl's sister, and her 1-year-old daughter Sydney, sending the cute factor through the roof! He's a great little monkey.

Toddler

Pronouns

Karston understands pronouns!

While I was changing his diaper, he was reaching for a teddy bear almost out of his reach. Since he wasn't going to give up on his teddy bear grab, I moved his changing table closer to it. Karston gave me a startled look! I reassured him that the world was normal and said, I moved you. He looked at me, nodded, and said, you moved me. Notice how he switched the pronouns properly? Often he'll repeat our sentences, and we weren't sure if he were just aping us, or if he understood what we were saying and agreed by repeating. Since he understands pronouns, now we think he understands even more than we thought.

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Thankful

Although he's sick right now, I am thankful for a toddler who lets me know when he wants to blow his nose. You know the kids with totally gross noses? Karston doesn't want to be one of those. When his nose starts to run, we hear him yell Nose! Nose! until we wipe it. He's pretty good about letting us wipe his nose, too. Remarkable!

Also, Karston seems to want to potty train himself. Karston asked for his potty this evening, and then did one of each in it. So he knew in advance, he asked for it, and he used it! It's slow going, but he might just train himself. That's easy on us! I'm thankful for that too.

Technorati Tags: Toddler

Hungry

Karston lost weight while he had croup, but he's back up to 22 pounds again. In fact, he's been eating well for the past several days, and might put on even more weight!

Our normal Monday morning routine is that Karston and I go to the store and buy whatever we're going to eat this week. We usually go to the Wal-Mart. I know that's awful, but it is literally five times closer to our house than any other store, and I don't want to spend all day driving around. Shopping's one of my least favorite activities. Our local Wal-Mart has a claim to fame, though: the deli makes the best fried okra. I don't like fried okra, but my husband and my grandparents do, and they all agree that the absolutely very best okra comes from that Wal-Mart.

Karston wanted okra as soon as we stepped in the store, but I did non-perishable shopping first, and then worked my way through food. He asked for juice early, and finished off his sippy early. (I don't go to the store without bringing a full sippy cup.) He still wanted okra when we got to deli and was almost done, so I got a quarter pound.

He ate it all before I checked out and wanted more!

Keep in mind, all I did after the deli was walk quickly through produce, so I got to check out shortly after he started eating fried okra.

By the time I got him more okra, he wanted juice. I took the lid off his sippy, and he downed what was in the very bottom, so I bought a can of juice too. He downed more than half of a can of juice! Didn't touch the second quarter-pound of okra though. I guess I'm not surprised.

I went through self-checkout both times because I saw one with no line. In all the noise from Karston about what he wanted right now, I forgot to scan my Pampers coupon for $1.50 off (oops). We've been having diaper leaks lately, and I know that's often an indication that it's time to move up to the next size. Since Karston's only 22 pounds and size 3 diapers say they run until 28 pounds, I didn't think it was time for size 4, but I notice that size 4 diapers start at 22 pounds. That's what Karston weighs! Sometimes we've even started on the next size a pound or two early, so all signs point to buying size 4 diapers instead of size 3 diapers.

After the food binge in the store, and the juice binge in the parking lot, we drove home (4 minutes!). By the time I unpacked the groceries, Karston had poop in his pants (he said that), so I changed him and set him on the bed to continue to fuss while I went for his toys.

He was asleep by the time I got back, and we hadn't done any of our getting-ready to nap routine!

I think this was a successful trip to the store: I wasn't hungry while I was there, so I wasn't tempted to buy any snacks; Karston was hungry, he told me what he wanted me to buy (like bananas), and he plowed down some serious calories (I'd guess 500 calories or more, all at once).

Technorati Tags: Toddler