Clair takes a stand

Tuesday night, we had to lower the crib mattress in Clair's room. I've observed her pulling up on the crib bar and getting on her knees, but Tuesday when I got home from work, Michelle said she came in to get her up from her afternoon nap and Clair was fully standing in the crib, leaning on the crib bar, giggling like a mad woman.

Clair is 7.5 months. By contrast, please note that we didn't have to lower the crib mattresses for C and D until they were 9 months (Cary) and 9.5 months (Dean). Even if you adjust for their prematurity (5 weeks), she's still ahead of them.

 Does she not know that she is my baby girl? She is supposed to go through this baby-stage SLOWLY. Darnit.


Oh, and just for good measure, please check out this video of Clair's crazy-crawl just ONE DAY after I posted the one of her not getting anywhere:

(Please ignore the room. The couch pillows -- made into an "airplane" -- are piled up by the front door. And I did not notice that Lester's slipper was so gross until AFTER I watched the video. Don't call CPS on me. Thanks.)

Anyway, since this day, she is literally unstoppable. She rolls and "crawls" away from me when I'm changing her diaper, and shrieks with excitement at the fun of it. She gets to corners of rooms and eats things I didn't even know were there. She grabs the cat. She attacks Cary and Dean's Lego buildings. She nearly falls to her death, scurrying to the edge of our bed. She's going to give me a heart attack!

(P.S. Cary and Dean also were about 9/9.5 months when they started doing things that resembled crawling.)

I told you this girl was going to run circles around her brothers. I just didn't know she'd actually be running so early. :-)

In other news, Lester's birthday was a resounding success! He was happy; the kids (stuffed full of cake and ice cream) were happy. And we still have the weekend family picnic to come. So the celebrations continue!

Best part of Daddy's birthday party: Trying to put an entire balloon in my mouth. Yum!

Yay!

Clair's quirky crawling attempts

I like to move it move it. I like to move it move it!

Of my three children, Clair (as an infant) has been the most energetic and active. She moves even when she sleeps. A LOT.

I get a total upper-arm workout just trying to hold her in my lap.

Clair has been mobile for weeks. She can get almost anywhere she wants to go, using a combination of half-crawling, downward-dog, slithering and rolling.

But lately, she has been trying hard to really, actually crawl.

It's not going well.

Her attempts to crawl are hysterical. Poor thing just can't figure out what to do with her knees. She'll move one knee an inch, and then, instead of moving the other knee, she keeps trying to stand on her feet. She does better on the bed, and when she's got bare legs and feet.

But please check out her funny little half-crawl when she's slipping and sliding along the floors in her sock-feet (I'm having trouble embedding videos for some reason):

Watch video

She is too funny! 

Cary's off the market.

I have been shamed by my Mom.

Last night on the phone I complained to her about Cary's early wakings and pre-dawn whininess.

I don't understand, I (also) whined. It's not like he wants to play or be held. He just whines and whines for no reason.
She asked me if I fed him when he woke up at 5 or 5:30.
Well, no, I replied. He's on a schedule. He and Dean both eat at 7:30. It's been this way since they were half-past-newborns.
Ummm, hellllo! she said. Cary is moving around now. He's probably moving every waking minute, isn't he?
I had to admit that he was, in fact, moving every waking minute. And even some of his sleeping minutes. That kid is constantly on the go.
Well, since he's more active, he needs more to eat, Mom said, in a reprimanding tone that sent me back to my middle school days. He's burning more and more calories all day. Babies don't just whine at 5:30 a.m. for an hour for nothing.
Hmmph.
Picture me chagrined.
I couldn't even argue with her.
Well, I guess that could be it, I finally mumbled. I hadn't thought of that.

Then I felt immediately like the WWM (world's worst mother). I ignored my child's hunger whines in order to keep him on a schedule! Then, I tried to sell my child on the black market simply because the poor thing was hungry.

I'm pretty sure this gives me the International World Title of Absolute Positive Hands-Down WWM.

So today, when he woke up at 6 (not 5 or 5:30, yay!) he played for awhile with Lester and when he got really whiny at 7, we just fed him. No questions asked. I almost cried. Could it really have been that simple? My little baby was ...hungry. Ugh! I wish I had the last couple days to do over again.

So, no more worrying about the schedule. Cary eats when he's hungry. That's just it.
For the nanny's sake, I hope he's not too off schedule during the day now. It makes life easier for her (having to do it all on her own) when things are somewhat predictable and when both boys eat and nap at roughly the same times.

But other than for that reason, I'm not going to stress anymore about that darn schedule. I have learned two valuable lessons:

1) Babies' needs should always, always come first. Especially when we're talking about them being hungry! (Gracious, I can't even believe I had to be reminded of that! I really am ashamed.)

2) Even at 37 years old, I still need my Mommy. :-)

Dean is making progress!

Dean crawled a little more today. He's still not proficient, but for someone who really just started yesterday, I'd say he's pretty good!

Pretty soon, he'll be keeping up with Cary, whose army crawl is getting faster and faster by the day.

I went today, in fact, to look at safety gates for the doorways and stairs and decided that they're just too expensive. Not to mention the fact that I couldn't tell which one I really needed, and how much work it would take to assemble it and get it operational. I wonder if any parents have made do during the crawling/cruising stage without gates? Can I wait (and just use the laundry basket) until they're truly toddling? And which ones should I buy? Is it safe to get them from a Craig's List or some such?

Anyone have tips?

Tomorrow, my goal is to get video of Dean crawling. Wish me luck!

Edited 2/13/11 to include VIDEO of Dean crawling! :-)

Nine is fine!

So far, nine months is pretty darn good.

Cary stood up in his crib for the first time this morning, and tonight, Dean took two little crawling "steps!" (I'm not sure what else to call it...) Two different milestones on the same day!!!

In between these two exciting moments, Dean gave me a zillion hugs, Cary pulled up on me and kneeled into my torso, so he could chew on the buttons on my shirt. Dean and I made a game out of stacking blocks for him to knock down, which he found hilarious; we read two stories and sang a bunch of songs, including "Kookaburra" (one of their favorites). Dean turned his head toward where the telephone usually is every time it rang, showing just how smart he is and Cary splashed in the bathtub with such vigor, I got all wet and didn't care one bit. Lester made Dean laugh and laugh during the boys' bedtime bottle, just by touching his nose, and Deanie even leaned in to give Lester four kisses in a row! Cary snuggled in to me and looked like an angel drinking his little bottle and both boys fell right to sleep without fuss or struggle, leaving Lester and me a Friday night to eat Chinese food, watch TV and just spend time together.

If this is what 9 months is going to be like, I say bring. it. on!

The boys were so awesome today, Lester and I are planning to try to go out for family breakfast tomorrow morning. Let's hope we're not pushing our luck. I'll keep you posted.

Physical therapy times two, part 2

So the team came out today and played with Dean on the mats on the floor, checking out his little legs and posture and ability to (sorta) get around, and the result is: Dean has a little bit of high-muscle tone, and has some slight alignment issues around the hip area, and can, in fact, benefit from physical therapy. So now he'll join Cary and Kristie in their weekly sessions!

I'm not upset by the news, although I was secretly hoping that they would say otherwise. But now that we know, I'm happy we've found out early and will be getting him the tiny little push that he needs to get over this hump. I've seen how well PT has worked for Cary in a very short time. So I'm thankful my Deanie will be joining in the fun. Plus, Kristie's so great, I was often a little sad for Dean that he didn't get to play with her as much as Cary did.

Also, we have to retire the Jumperoo. Which does kinda stink, because Dean SO loves that thing. He'd marry it if he could. Oh well. I guess it's a good thing, then, that he's been falling in love with the phone lately. That should help him get over Ms. Jumperoo.





The good news from the assessment: Dean is age-appropriate for all things cognitive, social and emotional. And in fact, the teacher (one-third of the team) said that the rapt and enthusiastic way Dean responded to the book, "Opposites" by Sandra Boynton, could be a PSA for why it's never too early to read to kids. 'Cause gracious he loves that book. Almost as much as theJumperoo. But not nearly as much as the phone.

Physical therapy times two

Cary has been in physical therapy since October 1. A team of assessors called him "low-muscle-tone," and signed him up. Kristie, the physical therapist, worked with him once a week in our playroom, helping him learn to roll and sit upright and tolerate Tummy Time with minimal tears.

I watched Cary get gradually better and better, thanks to Kristie's help and guidance (we worked with him, using her advice, in evenings and on weekends). And I nearly cried when on January 10, she left me a note saying, "Cary is age appropriate now. Yay!"

He was doing so well, we arranged to have the team of assessors come out to review Cary's case, and take another quick look at Dean, just to make sure he was still doing well.

With the good news about Cary, however, came some not-so-good: Although she was not technically supposed to work with Dean, Kristie did keep one eye cocked his way during her sessions with Cary. For months, she saw nothing out of the ordinary, except perhaps that Dean was about a month behind in hitting some, but not all, milestones. This was not too surprising, since the babies were born 5-weeks early.

But this week, she left me a note saying, "Dean -- noticed in standing left leg turned out and right held in flexim (bent). No bouncer until team comes out..."

Apparently, while Dean was bouncing happily in the Jumperoo (one of his absolute favorite things to do), Kristie noticed something weird about my Deanie's legs. Awww, poor, sweet little Deanie. :-( And apparently, the Jumperoo is not good for babies with weirdness in the legs!

I won't find out until the team comes tomorrow just what it all means. I'm a little worried, but not too much. After all, Cary may be the first to move around, but Dean can go from tummy to sitting and Cary can't, which just goes to show that babies develop different skills at different times, depending on the individual baby. And Dean is rocking on all fours and scooting backwards on both his tummy and his bottom. In other words, he's starting to become more mobile. So I don't think he's really all that delayed, and I doubt the weirdness that Kristie saw will be anything serious.

Still, I'll sleep lightly tonight, I'm sure, waiting for his assessment. And I'll pray, as I always do, for both my babies' health, happiness and well-being.

We are unsuccessful when it comes to catching mice...

...But one of our extra-large glue traps, hidden away under the dining room armoire, was successful in catching one Cary Davis this morning.

ACK!

We had to pull his little body off -- with force (that glue is serious!) -- and he cried and seemed afraid, poor little not-a-mouse! :-(

We washed him good, but I won't have peace today until I know he's toxic-glue free.

Here's what we have to do to keep Cary contained. Wonder how long this will last!


Note to Davis parents: BABYPROOF the house, pronto!!

The Japanese are on to something!

This morning, Cary was doing his army crawl around the house, stopping every now and then to squeal with delight at his newfound freedom.
Poor Dean was scooting backwards and turning in circles, so I stopped reading "Bunny My Honey" and began working with him to help him get on his knees.
(This takes considerable effort as Dean resists manipulation of any kind. Little stubborn sweetie!) Eventually, I noticed out of the corner of my eye that Cary had been still for quite a while.
Wanna know why? He was playing happily in a puddle of puke! Lovely.
When I went to clean him up, I found the source of his tummy-troubles: He had eaten leaves that were tracked in the house from outside. I guess leaves don't mix well with Enfamil Premium. :-)

Lester is always saying that we should take our shoes off in the foyer, and not walk through the house after coming in from outside -- for this very reason. But we live in a tiny Baltimore rowhouse; our foyer is the size of a postage stamp! You have to do Cirque du Soleil-like yoga poses to get your shoes off in there!

But I guess we'll have to start doing that, so as not to track leaves and other gross things into the house for Cary to nibble. Either that, or step up the housekeeping. I don't see that happening anytime soon, so yoga-poses in the foyer it will have to be.

Namaste.


BONUS: Cute picture of babies in hats made for us by Lester's good friend Stan's mother. Thanks, Mrs. Donaldson!

Move it along, kids. Move it along.

So since I have learned my lesson about boasting about STTN, I won't discuss last night at all. (Clever folks will read through the lines there...)

Instead, I'll talk about how my babies are MOVING. Ack!!

It seems that overnight, Cary and Dean have gone from loathing Tummy Time because it meant they were stuck in one spot, forced to do push-ups to see what was going on, to now being mobile.
I'm not ready!

Cary -- who we thought would be slower to move -- is creeping and slithering all over the place, like a giggling, diapered salamander. He can get from one end of the room to the other, pivot and go back again in seconds! It's amazing. He can't technically crawl, but he's up on his hands and knees constantly, rocking and rocking. He'll be crawling soon, I know it.
I'm not ready!!!!!!!!!! (Did I say that already?)

Dean, on the other hand -- who we thought would be all over the place by now -- has been surprisingly slower to move. He learned to sit up before Cary, and since then, he's been content to do just that: sit. He'd reach for toys and books and me and Cary, all without actually moving his bottom. It was quite amazing how far that kid could reach without toppling over.
But just yesterday I noticed that he is able to move around a few feet -- all while sitting on his bottom. I think they call this "scooting." He can only move backwards, and turn himself around, but using those few skills, he's able to get a bunch of places. Yesterday morning, I turned away for a minute and he was off the playmat, sitting in the middle of the living room floor. I was amazed!
And last night, he scooted himself backwards, underneath the Jumperoo, where he proceeded to yelp for help. Soooo cute!
So, he hasn't changed his MO. The kid still likes sitting! But he's just figured out a way to move while sitting. You gotta hand it to him. He's determined to be himself!


Here's a clip of Cary doing his "foxhole slither," and Dean sitting.