Catch It

Cale started a new (to him) game this evening: he said Catch it, found the kids' catcher's mitt (with velcro) and soft fabric ball, and yes, started playing catch. He would rather hand you the ball than throw it, but he can throw a ball straight in front of himself when he does throw the ball. He just beams when he catches the ball, which means Daddy made a good throw since Cale doesn't lean over to catch it. But still, Cale said catch it and proceeded to play catch with Karston and Daddy! It's enough to make any Daddy let Cale stay up just a little later, for a father-son game of Catch.

Giraffe

I just learned the most remarkable little thing about Cale! He was on beyond tired this evening after I had washed up and was ready to start the final segment of his evening routine. I tipped him over to get kisses from Daddy and Karston, and Cale waved bye-bye to them. Then we walk away from the reading room and into the hall where Cale turns off the light for me. We go into his room where he again turns off the light. When I remember (unlike tonight), the nightlight lamp is on so we can see. Usually what happens next is that Cale hands me the Boppy, yanks his giraffe off the hook, and climbs up to nurse to sleep. This evening he stepped on Boppy and pointed to the door. I told him we were going to stay in his room. He climbed into the chair and looked at the night stand. I asked him if he wanted his juice, no reaction. I asked him if he wanted a tissue, no answer. He was just looking and murmuring Hmm in his thoughtful tone. Then he ran over and peeked up his crib, and motioned for me to look too. Nothing interesting that I could see (I was afraid that he had seen a mouse or a bug!). Then he moved Boppy and looked at the floor where it had been, at which point I realized that he hadn't seen something go under his crib, but instead he was looking for something ... where was his giraffe? Aha! He was still clinging to his giraffe last night when I put him to bed, and I hadn't put it back on its hook. I showed Cale his giraffe before putting it on its hook, and I got a huge grin! So apparently that silly giraffe schtick I started about two months ago (at first, giraffe would get to "nurse" while Cale was climbing onto Boppy) is now a critical part of his routine. Once he held his giraffe, he was ready to nurse, and he fell asleep right away.

Cale is still saying new words all the time. Yesterday he said Nose! when he grabbed my nose. Daddy heard Cale say food when asked if he were hungry. Cale was trying to open a jar that he held out to me when he said help, but even better than that, when I started to make Cale-allergy-safe chocolate banana brownies (they're more cake-like than you'd think, but Cale says he'll eat them; Karston only tried one bite), Cale ran after me saying help you! Yes, Cale really is that adorable. He only has a few words, and even fewer phrases, but one phrase is a very sincere help you! And he knows the difference between asking you to help him, and asking to help you. And that's just one day's worth of new words. He doesn't use all his new words on subsequent days, but given that he understands everything we say, I think his vocabulary's (going to be) fine.

Preschool Parent-Teacher Conference

I was really surprised that parent-teacher conferences start in preschool, and that all of us parents just quake when the preschool director says she wants to see us. It's preschool! Lighten up! I think we're all scared of her because she's right, and she's honest (by which I also mean refreshingly direct). This conference was individualized, and for the parents of rising kindergarteners.

In this parent-teacher conference, Ms Hardee said Karston's fine motor skills are outstanding (we both laughed because that's so obvious, but it's on the skills list). Karston should practice drawing top-to-bottom and left-to-right to prepare for writing. He also needs to be able to work on an activity without individual attention. He does solo craft activities at home while I make dinner, but at preschool he won't draw without an adult coaching to him. Almost everything else, he's in good shape to do well in kindergarten, and to do well on the end-of-year tests (like the face drawing test).

I am still offended, just in general, not about his preschool, that little kids (K-2) get actual factual homework! I don't think I can face assigning "homework" to Karston, although that would count as kindergarten preparation. I think he should get outside and play too!

Phrases

Yesterday's new word was book. Cale walked up to the bookshelf with children's books, pointed, and said Books!

Today he had two-word phrases for us. I asked him rhetorically, Who needs a diaper change?; he looked me in the eye and said I do. I was so impressed, I made him say it again for Daddy even though he gave me this look of "you heard me the first time, so what's your problem?" Several times this afternoon after grabbing his juice sippy, he announced I juice before sucking down some juice.

Pediatrician

I noticed we hadn't scheduled an 18-month checkup at Cale's previous checkup, so we went this morning. Cale is now 33 inches tall, just 4 inches shorter than Karston although Karston looks taller than that. Cale weighed 23 pounds, 0.8 ounces with a hat size of 19 inches. (Those specs are 50th percentile, except his weight is the 10th percentile on my charts. That seems odd given how much he eats and how round his belly is, so I don't think he really should weigh any more.)

He got a mostly clean bill of health, except that he had some fluid behind his eardrum. It's not an ear infection, but if it doesn't drain on its own, we need to do something about it. Not only does that fluid increase his chances of an ear infection, it also muffles his hearing. Muffled hearing could explain why he hasn't been talking as much (if he can't hear well, he doesn't know what language sounds to imitate!), and since that's a skill he should be working on now, we may need to clear his ears for him. I suspect he started talking less when his ears filled up, and I am looking forward to that road block removal.

His doctor wanted to see his ears in a couple weeks. Since at his age he gets his flu shot in two doses a month apart, we'll do both follow-up items in a month.

Blow It Out

Now that we're past Halloween, Daddy and Karston brought in the daddy pumpkin, took off the press-on face pieces, and carved it. When they were done, they put two LED "candles" in it, set it on the kitchen floor, and turned off the lights. Cale walked over to see what was going on. Oh, he saw the pumpkin! He immediately got on his belly in front of it and elbow-walked until he was nose-to-nose with the pumpkin. After studying it intently, Cale went "puff" on the LEDs. He was sure they were candles, and Karston's birthday candles made a huge impression on him. He spent quite a while trying to blow out these candles. (We didn't have these LED candles that you can blow out.)

Tip Toe

Cale's done this a few times in the past week: he says tip toe and then walks around on his tippie toes with a huge grin.

Word of the Day: Apple

Cale was listening to me when I told Amy last Wednesday that he was talking less now because he was so effective at pointing and grunting. (Karston often translates his cries. He'll calmly say, Cale wants juice, like he did this morning. Karston's usually right, too.) The very next day, Cale ran up to me with a plastic fish and said FISHIE several times very clearly. Cale also said pat, pat, pat à la Little Einsteins while patting himself shortly after that. I'm sure he knows I want him to learn to talk.

Yesterday at the grocery store, Cale pointed to the hot dogs and said emphatically Haa Daww. Trailing consonants need not apply, but that was hot dog. He said it again when we gave him hot dogs for dinner last night too.

This evening at Opa and Grammy's while I was holding him, Cale said APPLE! as soon as I picked up an apple. He only took a few bites, but he said apple at least as many times as he chomped on the apple.

For a long time, Cale's vocabulary was in a holding pattern with Mama, Dadda, juice and okra (favorites), Emma (our dog), toy, and the poly-functional this. Then he added Here go, shoe, a mumbled version of Toodles and Cheers when watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, cracker (replacing most consonants with t's for tatter; like most small children, he's better at vowels), and then Up there, but not much more.

Now new words are popping up! Fun!

State Fair!

We went to the NC State Fair today (on Daddy's birthday, no less, with gorgeous weather)! We walked all over and had a great time.

In the North Carolina agriculture building, Karston and Cale each had a sample of fresh peanut butter. After Cale cleaned his popsicle stick of peanut butter, he looked looked up at Stan longingly, and pointed woefully at the empty end of his popsicle stick. Yeah, he got a fresh peanut butter delivery for that cuteness! Who needs words? I was proud of Karston who did the taste test between regular and unsweetened (no molasses) because he picked unsweetened as the tastiest! He's right, the jar of unsweetened just-peanuts peanut butter we brought home is mighty tasty! At the fair, Karston ate french fries, chocolate ice cream, peanut butter, and drank chocolate milk. Cale, of course, ate everything we offered him, and he really wanted that chocolate ice cream too! (Milk allergy said no.)

Both boys loved the merry-go-round, so we'll need to take them to the Christmas carousel again this year. I had to pry Cale's fingers off the pole when the ride was over because he wanted to stay on that horse forever. Karston wanted to ride it again, and the second time, after he made sure I was hugging him securely, he even let go of the pole to wave to Daddy! Karston and I went on another spinning ride (spinning apple chambers on rotating arms ... which inaccurately reminds me of school when I learned that the polhode rolls on the herpolhode), but it wasn't as good as the merry-go-round. Most of the rides were for children over 42" so we skipped those.

Karston wanted to play one of the fishing games. Since Cale looks up to his big brother, if Karston had a fishing pole, Cale had to have a fishing pole! Karston caught two, Cale caught one, and Karston selected a plush pink pig as his prize. I asked Karston if his pig could fly, so of course the answer was YES. Pigs fly when you ask a kid if the fun new stuffed pig can fly.

After all the playing, the kids conked out in the double stroller (thankfully, we brought long not wide). We went to kid-boring exhibits, and then trekked over to the petting zoo. Karston had been asking to go to the petting zoo at the fair for several weeks, so we went. We woke Karston up, he was groggy, but he thought animals were worth waking up. I stayed with the sleeping Cale. When Karston and Daddy came out, Karston was over his grogginess and was excited to tell me all about the animals. He got to feed the animals! The cow slobbered, the goats wanted more food, and the animals nibbled food right out of his hand! So we left the fair very much on a high note.

As we were leaving, Karston said he wants to go again next year. (He knows it's annual!)

Wake Up Jump

This morning at 4:14 am, I woke up when Daddy said Karston??? and I wondered why he said it like a question. Karston said, Hi Daddy, I came in here two times before, but you didn't wake up, and I wanted you to sleep in my bed. OK, so that's why Karston's here, but why the question? Then Daddy asked, Karston, were you jumping? -Yes Daddy! I was jumping next to you.

I can just imagine the early morning fog in a darkened bedroom, and that thought, Is that my child jumping just in front of my nose at the edge of the bed? There are some aspects of parenting you just can't expect in advance, and I think this is one of those!

Nineteen

Cale has added some new moves: when you mention dancing, Cale will grin and carefully step around in a circle. So when Mickey Mouse says it's time for the Mouse-ka Dance at the end of a Mickey Mouse Clubhouse episode, Cale starts dancing if he wasn't already.

I gave Cale a haircut yesterday. In the front, because he wouldn't hold still, it's ... ah ... not my best work, but at least it's out of his eyes. In the back, because he would hold almost still while watching Karston or Daddy, I did a respectable job. At least he's got enough inherent cute to overcome a bad hair cut.

I think Cale is regressing on his vocabulary. He's learned that point and grunt is faster than adults trying to figure out what he's trying to say. He still babbles all the time, providing his own running commentary, voice-over narrative, and laugh track to his playing. But words? Pointing is faster.

The other regression recently has been sleeping. Cale used to sleep through the night, then he needed 5am cuddles, then 4am, then wide awake around 5am, and now he doesn't sleep well at all on his own. However, he's also been eating just about non-stop during his waking hours, sometimes eating more in a day than I do, so I think he's having another growth spurt. This cheers me up, because he goes back to his good sleeping habits after the growth spurt, so I should be allowed to sleep through the night again some time soon. I'm looking forward to that! I don't mind getting up at 5-something in the morning anymore, but I'm happier about it if I've slept.

Cale has started playing with Karston more. Early childhood play is more adjacent than together, but we've noticed that they play together now. More fun!

And all this just in the past month, between turning 18 months old and 19 months old.

Cousin Mike

We went to the coast this weekend because cousin Mike was in town. We all had runny noses and weren't at our best, but we were happy to see Mike. This morning, Karston woke up quickly, stood up tall in bed, raised his arms, and announced Next time cousin Mike is here, I will be this tall!!! Those were his first words upon waking up this morning.

Hunchback of Notre Maison

One of Cale's goofy new tricks is to walk around with his shoulders hunched so far forward that his back curves a lot. I call this his hunchback look, and he always has a huge smile to go with it! He hunches his shoulders for his "sneaking up" walk, but you can see a grin that big coming for quite a ways.

Peek-a-boo, on the other hand, has been foremost in his book of tricks for a while. Monday Cale walked smack into the cabinets because he was playing peek-a-boo with no one in particular, covering his eyes while walking. Oops! Better watch where he's walking!

The Allergy Cry

Just in case other parents are wondering, I can describe Cale's cry when his intestinal allergies are hurting him. He cries like I've abandoned him, when I'm actually hugging him closely and cuddling him. The inconsolable, abandoned cry is the allergy cry. This morning's crying was accompanied by some really smelly gas, also pointing to intestinal discomfort as the cause of crying.

I'd rather sleep, but not this morning I guess.

Eighteen Months!

Ah, a year and a half! Cale has been walking for three months now. I actually can't remember when Cale couldn't walk now. He's so confident, he loves to walk and run. When he's tired, he still falls down for no reason, and he cries because his pride is hurt. What I like about the walking milestone is that a child's features really begin to develop. Instead of the pudgy baby face (which is adorable, don't get me wrong), you can catch glimpses of what's to come. I'm sure it's because all that exercise causes new toddlers to lose weight and to put on muscle. (A testament to walking?) In fact, Cale even regressed in diaper sizes. We moved up to size 5 diapers just as Karston potty trained (so they were in the same size diapers for an instant!) so the diapers could fit comfortably around Cale's big belly and chubby baby thighs. He's still got quite the belly, but he has slimmed down overall, so we've gone back to size 4. At first I was worried that he would quickly return to needing size 5, but it hasn't happened since he started walking. Good exercise! (Actually, it's exercise because Cale runs when possible, and he throws everything into it.) Anyway, the walking has caused Cale to look like a sweet little person, not like a sweet baby anymore. What I remember with Karston is that he seemed very much like little person (also sweet) by the time he was 2. Part of it is the facial features coming clearer as the baby fat recedes, and part of it is having an opinion at your kneecaps everywhere you go. Cale wants to wear his Spongebob Crocs all the time now, and he likes to try on all the other shoes too. He likes Karston's sneakers with the velcro fasteners because he can get them on all by himself, and he manages to shuffle around in my slippers too.

Cale hasn't added too many words. He says Here go as he hands you something. He's hilarious when he says Hmm in a thoughtful pondering tone he must've picked up from adults, while wandering around looking for trouble. He tries to say cracker but it comes out more like tah-toww. Like most children his age, he definitely knows the word NO, and he likes to practice it over and over again, not always with intent. More when he's practicing than when he means it, it comes out as a meow sound. What's funny is Karston following him saying Yes right back to him. Cale loves cats! He loves our Linus, Mimi's Plain, and Opa's Kitten. In turn, these cats are more patient with him than I would ever expect. He can scoop them up any old way, carry them, and chase them while screeching with joy. He also practices saying his own name, very Southern drawl style, Kay-ooh-ayy-ell.

Cale's pattern recognition is expanding. He used to know we were starting the bedtime cycle when Daddy put on Boppy and started reading books. Now when Cale's tired, he goes to Daddy's closet and selects a sleep shirt for him to put on first. (Unfortunately sleep tee-shirts aren't on hangers, and Cale is disappointed when Daddy doesn't put on the nice Hawaiian shirt he picked out.) He's always so happy when he can tell a routine has started.

He's gotten a lot better at feeding himself. In fact, since Cale likes food, we're more likely to be trying to get a spoonful of food into Karston's mouth, since he's not fond of eating. In fact, Cale strongly dislikes being fed. He'll peel a banana and eat it, he'll eat rice with a spoon, he'll gobble crackers and cereal by the handful. He's a good eater, and he likes variety. He will switch between different foods and flavors at the same meal, and he seems to prefer the spiced food that we eat instead of the plain food we prepare for Karston (since Karston, if he will eat, certainly prefers single foods without toppings, sauce, or seasonings).

My how time flies; Cale is a great guy!

Juice

This afternoon a neighbor with two girls about a year older than our two boys came over to play. Our house was LOUD, but the kids were so into playing and running that they needed only the smallest bit of adult attention. Maria read the paper and I made dinner, in fact. The youngest girl asked me for some juice, so I listed her choices of papaya and pineapple. She looked downright worried. I remembered we had a pack of small bottles of grape juice in the pantry (white grape, non-staining). Oh yes, grape juice would do. And we realized that we have so consistently selected "fun" tropical choices to offer our boys that they think mango, passionfruit, pineapple, and papaya are normal juice choices. Hey, the last two have digestive enzymes that might help bad tummies!

Cale and Karston weigh about 22 and 27 pounds. The not-at-all-fat girls who are a year older weigh 33 and an amazing 56 pounds! So a 5 year old neighbor girl weighs TWICE as much as our 4 year old Karston! At least he's eating better most days, more variety of better food.

James

This weekend we went to the coast with friends whose son James is 3.5 months older than Cale. You might expect that Cale would be most interested in James, but actually Karston was all about James. During naptime: when is James going to wake up? Luckily Karston slept for much of the drive home (Daddy and Cale are staying a half-day longer), but when he woke up, there was an hour of Where's James? to play. Once Karston was more awake, he told me James was in a black truck with his parents, and he'd like to play with James again soon.

Splashing

We went back to the state park today. Today the boys were less interested in walking the trails themselves, so we decided to take an easier hike than we had originally planned. Karston wanted to go on the trail with the swinging bridge, so we picked that one. Well, not too far past the bridge, you loop back to the river again ... at a wide, shallow spot! Oh my, there were so many kids splashing in the ford! We had no idea this was The Spot to take your kids on summer days!

The trail has a turn and hill just before the ford, so the people already splashing in the ford can't see you coming. One woman who was putting her dry shoes back on remarked to Daddy that she saw something bright on the trail and had no idea what it was at first. The "bright" item she saw was the light blond hair on my boys, blazing in the sun. I think she saw Cale first since he was standing tall in the backpack on my back. Daddy didn't think towheads were that unusual (nor do I, not that it's very common to be as blond as these), so he had no idea what to say. "It's called hair" didn't seem right.

The kids were more interested in trails and hiking on the way back: the ford energized them.

Cale on the Trail

We made Cale-safe blueberry pancakes for breakfast this morning. Cale loves blueberries in all forms! He lit into these pancakes, which were a rich golden color from the natural apple cider from the farmers market, quite happily.

After putting a good breakfast in the boys, we went to discover a nearby state park. The first discovery was how close it is to our house ... close enough we should have visited long ago! Cale was hilarious on the trail: with every toddling step, he grunted, hooted, or otherwise made sound. I decided, after laughing, that this was great trail behavior so that both parents could locate Cale on the trail without looking. Karston was showing off how fast he could run, also good for audible locating. I didn't expect both of them to walk the trail the entire (short) time, but they did. Good hikers! We'll be back soon!

Pancakes

My favorite Farmers Market had a pancake breakfast this morning, with a side of reading children's books about pancakes. So of course we went! The vendors are so sweet there! At the very first booth, the gentleman let Karston select a zinnia (orange), and the lady asked me if we knew about the pancakes and books. Oh yes, I said, that's why Karston's here. then I had to explain that actually Cale is allergic to milk and eggs, so he can only eat the pancakes I make special for him. Oh dear, she said, and very sweetly offered me some edamame for him. So then I had to say soy was on Cale's list of allergies too. She agreed that it's fortunate I cook (bonus that I enjoy it).

Then we discovered The Worst Thing In The World, according to Cale: pancakes that he's not allowed to eat. Oh, he cried! So we walked back to the car for juice and less temptation. One of the other shoppers, who was either very cautious or had overheard my allergy conversation, tried to distract Cale with his car keys. Brave man, to let a DangerBaby like Cale touch his keys, but Cale wasn't interested in jingling keys this time. So after having me read the ingredients, he offered Cale a chunk of the artisan flat bread he had just purchased. Cale cheered right up for that treat! Keep in mind, we had all just eaten, not that that matters to Cale. I'm not sure of the decorum of hugging strangers at your local farmers market, but everyone there was so sweet to our boys!

Karston ate half of a huge pancake, and we enjoyed green beans with dinner.