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!

Waaaaay down in the hole

The post's title is a phrase from the theme song from "The Wire," which Lester and I watched faithfully when it was on. Especially since both of us at one point worked at The Sun, and live in Baltimore.

But the title is in reference to the way my two sweeties look now that Lester has lowered both their cribs to the lowest rungs!!

I don't like it!!

I know I sound like a whiny brat, but seriously. Could my babies be any farther away? They might as well be in a well or something. Ugh. And I had to take away all the bumpers, because they're pulling up now, and could potentially hang themselves on the decoration -- no matter how cute it is.

So they are now in naked, drab cribs, waaaaaay down in the hole. I have to literally stand on tippy toes, and strain to pick them up.

I really, really, really don't like this! Waaaaaaaaaaaaahhh!!

It was so much better when they slept like this (both fitting in the Pack 'n Play!):

Or even better (napping on the sofa next to Mommy):

Or EVEN BETTER (This always brings tears to my eyes! They're in preemie clothes for goodness sake!):

But now they're big 9 and-a-half-month-old babies, who are pulling to stand (Cary) or pulling to kneel (Dean) and safety has to come first, right?

Excuse me while I go crawl way down in my own hole ... and cry. Time is moving way too fast, and my babies are moving too far away. Already.

Dreams, teeth and other weirdness

Do babies have bad dreams?

Last night, Dean suddenly screeched in his sleep twice and then ....silence. Ten minutes later, he screeched again, just once this time, and then silence, again. I went in to check on him and he was asleep in his crib, like an angel, clutching Lovey the Puppy.

It was so weird.

Of course, a sudden screech from your babies' room in the middle of the night is startling, to say the least, so *I* had a hard time going back to sleep after that. I kept wondering, "What was that all about?" He must've been dreaming about something. What could it be??

Here are my ideas, based on what I know about Dean:

1) He found an awesome toy to gum, and Cary army-crawled over to him and snatched it away.
2) He fell over in his crib (or in the Pack 'n Play or on the floor) onto his back and tried, like a turtle, to sit up, but couldn't. (This actually happens at least twice daily).
3) He was forced to sleep without his blanket or Lovey the Puppy.
4) He was desperately trying to pick up Puffs off the floor, but his pincer grip just wouldn't quite work.
5) Cary took his toy, and in the process, pushed him over so that -- again -- he was unable to sit up AND he had no toy. (This might actually have been it, folks. This would have to be Dean's ultimate nightmare.)

Meanwhile, I finally snapped a photo of Cary standing in his crib! It's taken me days to catch him in the act and all I had handy was my stupid iPhone, which takes crappy pictures:

Check out how Dean is looking at him like, "Hey! How does he DO that?"

And also, I would like to point out that my babies -- who will be 10 months old in two weeks -- STILL have NO TEETH! How the heck are we supposed to start introducing meats and actual table food, if they have NO TEETH!! More weirdness for me to ponder!

We see the doctor on the 3rd -- I'll ask him about teeth and baby dreams while we're there.

Happy Friday!

Standing on his own two feet

Guess who was standing up -- on his two little PJ-padded feet -- leaning on the crib bar, hollering loudly for Mommy and Daddy this morning?

Cary Davis.

We've found him kneeling before, but never standing. Yikes. This is all happening fast!

Guess it's a good thing we lowered the crib mattress last night. (Thanks, God, for the nudge! You're always right on time.)


(Photo of him in the playroom, standing.)



(He's so pleased with himself!)


P.S. Happy 9-month-birthday Dean and Cary!!! The boys have now been outside in the world longer than they were inside of me. Sigh. Excuse me while I go cry my eyes out. Thanks.