Sleep update

I thought I would give an update on William's sleeping habits these days. The good news is, things are so much better than they were 3 months ago. For the most part, he wakes up once in the night for a bottle. I know that at this age, he's supposed to be able to make it through the night without one, but I'm okay with the status quo for now. And anyway, for the last several weeks, he hasn't been taking a bottle until somewhere between 4 and 5 in the morning, which is pretty good. But for the last couple of weeks, he's been waking up around 11:00 or 12:00 and needs a little help going back to sleep. "Help" may mean all I have to do is put his pacifier back in his mouth, or it may mean that I have to pick him up and hold him for a minute and then put him back down. Last week, I brought him into bed with me a few times after these wake-ups, and then I'd put him back in his crib after a little while, but then I got to thinking that this wasn't such a great idea, especially since I think he might have started enjoying sleeping in the bed with me. Sooooo--I nipped that in the bud, as much as I enjoyed it, too. So last night, he woke me up around 11:00, and I went up to his room, but it turned out that he wasn't awake--just cried out in his sleep. He did it again at 3-something, but again, he wasn't awake--just cried in his sleep. He didn't take his bottle until 4:45 and then slept until 7:50! I'm hoping this is a pattern.

His sleep has managed to work itself out so far without me having to do anything drastic (as in, let him cry, which isn't really drastic. I'm just a big wuss.) and I'm hoping he'll just naturally start sleeping all night without waking me up. I'll just play it by ear. I know this is crazy, but I actually love holding him in the night. This doesn't mean that I wouldn't love to get 8 straight hours of uninterrupted sleep. I just know that this time when he is little and wants to be held is flying by so quickly. In the middle of the night, I really appreciate how precious he is, and I take the time to just enjoy holding him. Okay--enough sappy stuff.

As for naps, he's taking great naps at home on the weekends. But since he changed classrooms, he's only been catnapping. But today, he didn't go down for his first nap until 12:30 and he slept an hour and a half. Then he fell asleep in the car on the way home so I let him sleep for half an hour. We'll just have to see what happens tomorrow. On the weekends, he's been taking 2 naps--the first one may last an hour, and the afternoon one has been more like an hour and a half and sometimes 2 hours. It's giving me a taste of what it's like to have a good napper! It's amazing how much a person can get done in an hour and a half.

Okay--it's off to bed for me now. Wonder what William will do tonight. If one thing has held true for William since he was born, it's the fact that he is still the most inconsistent baby I know!

Get up, stand up

William seems to be fitting into the mobile infants classroom extremely well. In fact, I think he thinks he can walk now like all the big kids in his class. He pulls himself to standing and then lets go and tries to turn around. He always seems surprised when he falls. Tonight, he spent all of his time trying to stand up on anything he could find. This included the diaper bag (which kept falling over), the sofa (where he succeeded), the coffee table (couldn't quite reach high enough), the laundry basket (kept turning over), the oven (how can I stop that one?), and mommy's legs. He only fell a few times, fortunately without any crying, scrapes, bumps, or bruises. On his daily report sheet, his teacher wrote, "I now think I'm a big boy. I climbed the obstacle course, pulled up on everything and walked with the push toys." No wonder he fell asleep drinking his bottle tonight!

Here are a few pics of him tonight:


He's also eating really well at daycare. He eats people food now like lasagna, sloppy joes, chicken, broccoli, potatoes--basically anything that soft enough to let him eat. It's a whole new world! On Saturday we had lunch with friends and they made turkey burgers with spinach and feta. They were really good and I broke off small pieces and gave it to William and he gobbled it up. So far, there really hasn't been anything--people food or baby food--that he has refused to eat. This probably means he will be a notoriously picky toddler. I guess I should enjoy it while it lasts!

He crawled!

William crawled on all fours today! I put him on the floor in just his diaper, and I guess dragging himself around that way was a little uncomfortable, so he got up on his knees and actually crawled. I didn't know he could do that. I also saw him get from lying down to sitting up. He's been able to get up on his knees for a while, and sometimes he gets to sitting on his butt that way but it's always sort of been by accident. Today, though, he deliberately got on his knees and then pivoted to sit on his butt. So yay! Two milestones I thought he might just skip.

We had a really good day today. This morning we went and looked at the house. It's definitely dated but has a lot of potential. But Ed didn't like it. So I think we're going to have to look at many more houses before we have a better idea of what we can get for our money. So after our morning trip to see the house, William fell asleep and took a one-hour nap. And then my friend Ruby and her daughter Katherine came over. Katherine is 6 months old and is just gorgeous. William showed off his independence by occupying himself with his toys and with a pot in the kitchen. Katherine wasn't very impressed, but in William's defense, it looked like she was coming down with a cold. After they left, William and I took a walk, then played, and then he went down for a long afternoon nap. I got to take a nap, too! Finally we played some more, had dinner, took a bath, and went down for bed. It was just one of those really good days when everything works out the way you expect. I love love love the weekends. I wonder if I would like them as much if I was a stay-at-home mom.

Tomorrow is lunch with some friends and then over to Ed's parents to celebrate Mema and Pepa's anniversary. I'm sure William will be beat by the time we get home. I probably will be, too. If I'm not too tired, I'll try to post some pics before I go to bed tomorrow night.

House hunting

Ed and I want to buy a single family home in the not-too-distant future, so we've started looking around, trying to figure out where we want to live, what we can afford, what we're going to be able to buy. Before we had kids, I would have been totally into the house. But now that we have William, I'm more swayed by things like how good (or bad) the public schools are, the feel of the neighborhood, how short my commute to work will be, and the size of the back yard. As long as the house is livable, if everything else falls into place, I'll take it.

Ed, on the other hand, is holding on to his desire for the mack daddy house. He wants something that's fairly new, has big rooms, and a huge yard, and a workshop would be icing on the cake. No such place exists within our price range that's anywhere close to being commutable. (I know that's not a word, but I'm in a hurry. I want to finish this before CSI.) So I'm wondering how many houses we're going to have to look at before he goes with something? He's not good with decisions like this, and I'm forseeing a lot of frustration on my part, because he's not going to initially like anything we look at. So I'm going to have to use some pretty intense powers of persuasion if I see something I really like.

We're looking at a house on Saturday morning that's in Alexandria. It's actually just a few doors down from my cousin. It would be really cool to live so close to her. It's a split-level, which Ed hates, and the bedrooms aren't very big. The master bath is pretty outdated, and so is the family room. But it has a nice big, fenced back yard, the neighborhood is great with lots of families, the elementary school is fantastic and within walking distance, and it's an easy commute for me (not much longer than my current commute), and not bad for Ed, either. Of course, I've already sold myself on it, and Ed is very skeptical, so I doubt this will be the one for us. We had planned to move this summer anyway. But part of me thinks we should try to get something now because demand is going to go up in the spring and prices are going to bounce a little.

Well, this was a boring post, and I've written nothing about William. I knew I'd do it one day. Eight months isn't bad!

The State of the Hahns

Tonight's State of the Union Address has inspired me to write my own "state of the Hahns" address.

The state of the Hahns is confident!

The past year has brought incredible upheaval to our once-staid and uneventful lives. We began the journey of terror, confusion, elation, and utter joy that is parenthood. Though turbulent and completely unpredictable, we find ourselves--8 months later--able to function at a level of competence that we once thought impossible. We are actually confident in our abilities as parents--confident in ourselves and confident in each other. Where we once flailed in despair, we now nod knowingly. Where we once cried in exhaustion (okay--where I once cried in exhaustion), we now sleep soundly (almost soundly anyway--that might be a bit of an exaggeration). Where we once threw up our hands to the baby gods, we now dispense knowing advice to new parents. We have come a long long way.

The state of the Hahns is happy.

William has brought us more joy than we ever knew was possible. He is a very alert baby, and we know this because this is what almost every stranger who has laid eyes on William has said about him. It has become a running joke with Ed and me. He is energetic and happy and slightly dramatic. He has hit all his milestones right on time so far. He's not ahead of the pack, but is certainly not behind. He crawls (well--army crawls), pulls himself up to standing, practices the pincer grasp, eats people food, and cries whenever I leave his sight. He has a smile that lights up a room, and we are happy that he smiles often.

The state of the Hahns is strong.

Though we have faced many challenges as a couple since William's arrival, we have come to depend on each other in many new ways. Our partnership has evolved and deepened, and while we sometimes disagree, we compromise and respect each other. We are still each other's best friend--even more so now than this time last year.

The state of the Hahns is fantastic.

There is always room for improvement, however. This year we are searching for a house and hope to move in late summer, if not earlier. I would like to weigh less and Ed would like to weigh more. As the weather warms up, I think we will both be making more of an effort to exercise and enjoy the outdoors with William. I hope we'll be able to take a family vacation with just the three of us. And we hope to spend lots of time with both of our families.

The state of the Hahns is blissful.

Thinking back to this time last year, we were blissfully unaware of how much our lives would change. Of course we expected our lives to change, but you simply can't anticipate what it's really like. For us, for me, although it is scary and overwhelming and difficult and exhausting, it is more rewarding than I ever thought possible. It is like being in love every single day--that beaming, can't stop smiling feeling. We feel so incredibly fortunate every day for William. For his health and his happiness and his love. I can hardly wait for next year's State of the Hahns to see where we are. But at the same time, I hope it's a long year so we can savor every minute that we have together with William.

Snow!

We finally got some snow here and it was very pretty. I walked around with William in his bunting for a little while, but I didn't get any pics of him. Maybe next time. He liked it, though, and liked to watch the flakes fall onto my jacket. I did get some pics of our back patio though:


William had another good day at daycare, although he hardly slept at all today. Maybe he'll sleep all night tonight. He's back to his pattern of getting up once a night for his bottle, although when he wakes up is all over the place. He's also been waking up around 10:30 or so crying, and I put his pacifier in his mouth and he usually goes right back to sleep. I shouldn't complain. It could be a lot worse. I know at some point, I should take away the bottle, and I guess I'm supposed to get him off the before-bed bottle, too. But I guess I'm assuming that he'll stop taking that bottle when he stops drinking bottles--probably around 1 year. I don't know--drinking that before-bed bottle is the only way he winds down most nights. And even then, he doesn't always wind down. He squirms all over the place and plays between bouts of drinking the bottle.

Anyway, not much else to report. Our meeting with the daycare director went well. The lead teacher and infant coordinator were both there, too, so that was helpful. I've voiced my concerns and they've addressed some of the more glaring issues. So now I get to step back and just give them a chance to do their jobs and implement some of the changes we've talked about. When I went to the meeting today, I peeked into the classroom and William and 3 or 4 other babies were sitting around a teacher who was playing with a toy with them. William was on his knees and reached up a few times to touch the toy, and all the children were really fascinated by the toy and the teacher. It was so cute, and William looked so grown up. When I went back, he was standing up holding onto the teachers hands. He looked very content, so I didn't disturb him. It was hard not to go in and give him some lovin', but part of being a good parent is knowing when to let go.

Okay--that's all for tonight. I'm going to try to be asleep by 10:00 p.m.

Three posts in one

I've been thinking all weekend of what to blog about, but have only gotten around to actually sitting down to blog now. So here are what my blogs would have been:

Friday night:

Friday Nights

I love love love Friday nights. When we get home from work, I don't have to worry about bottles for the next day, or lunches, or what I need to remember to bring to work and daycare the next day. I don't even have to wash bottles if I don't want to. My usual routine is to pick up William, arrive home (usually by 5:30 or so), change my clothes, play with William until 6:00 (if I get a moment, I might sneak into the kitchen and put the dirty bottles in the sink to clean later), get William's dinner ready, put him in his high chair, feed him (this can take anywhere from 10 to 30 minutes), get him cleaned off, put him down to play (half the time, daddy is home by then, so he'll spend time with William), clean up dinner dishes, wash bottles if there's time and daddy's home--by now it's about 6:45 or so--draw William's bath (if daddy's home, he does the bath), undress William, bathe him (bath takes about 10 minutes), dry him off, dress him in pjs, make bedtime bottle (if daddy's home, I'm cleaning up and making the next day's bottles while he gives William his bath and gets him ready for bed), give William his bottle, put him in his crib and say goodnight (usually around 7:15), then get dinner ready for Ed and me while cleaning up if I didn't get a chance before and making the next day's bottles if I didn't get a chance before. (If Ed's home, he sometimes gets dinner ready while I'm putting William to bed.) We usually eat dinner around 7:30 or 7:45, and then Ed cleans up from dinner and then I make sandwiches for the next day (maybe 3 nights out of 5) and try to get everything together for the next day, and by then it's usually around 8:30 or so. So then I go downstairs and I might blog, or Ed and I hang out, or watch T.V.

Sooooo . . . the reason I love Friday nights is because all I have to do is play with William, feed him, daddy gives him his bath, and I put him to bed. And then Ed and I can just eat a leisurely meal and hang out, and I don't have to prepare anything for the next day. It's such a relief!

And to update his daycare situation, I think Friday was his best day yet, which proves he's adapting very well. I still have a lot of concerns about the classroom, but myself and two other mothers are meeting with the director on Monday to go over some of our issues. There are 3 more 9-month-olds (actually a few weeks older than William) entering the room over the next month, and I'm anticipating a lot of difficulties for everyone, so I want to make sure we're all on the same wavelength.

Saturday night:

Standing Tall

William is a standing fool now. All he wants to do is get on his feet. He's now figured out how to stand up in his crib. It's too cute. When I put him down for his Saturday afternoon nap, he pulled himself to standing twice before he finally lay down and went to sleep. It was kind of cute. He's so proud of himself when he gets up. Here's a picture of him on Saturday:



Sunday night:

Sleepover

My cousin's boys (William's second cousins) spent the night at our house last night and I think William had a blast. Joey is 11 and Jimmy is 8 and they were so good and so much fun to have over. They must have worn William out because he slept until 6:15 this morning (after waking up briefly around 11:15), and then went back to sleep after his bottle until 8:30. And then he napped for 2 hours and 15 minutes this afternoon! I got to nap, too, and it felt sooo good. So here's a picture of William with the boys:


Okay--Desperate Housewives is on. Gotta run.

Much improvement

William's day was much better today, thank goodness! He took two 1-hour naps, and played pretty well, and didn't get stepped on or smushed by the older babies. I visited him during lunch and he didn't fall apart when I left, so that was good. What a relief. I hope by Friday, he'll be pretty well adjusted. Maybe I'll be better by then, too.

I went to a board meeting (the daycare's board of directors) today because I decided that if I'm unhappy with how things are operating there, I need to get involved and advocate for my child. And I know this is just the beginning, so I might as well dive right in. I already have two projects I would like to start on. First, I want to write a hand-out for parents about what to expect when their child moves to the mobile infants room. This information is crucial for parents, and yet there's no "introduction" or orientation for parents to the new room. My second project is to update the center's Web site. It is woefully out of date, and I don't think it would take too long to update it. So I'll be looking into both of those "projects."

Okay--off to bed. (And to watch the rest of American Idol.)

Rough transition

William's first day in the mobile infant room was a rough one. I didn't anticipate how hard it would be for him or for me. It felt like my first day back at work all over again. I stayed in the room with him this morning for 2 hours, then I went back for an hour at lunch, and then we went home for the day at 3:15 after they called me to tell me he was crying inconsolably.

I know he's still not feeling great, so that was part of it. And I think his separation anxiety has kicked in, which just makes things that much worse. And throw in the fact that he's been home with me for five days and he's in a new room with new caregivers and a new routine. It just sucks, but I know we'll adjust. He did take two short naps, so at least he was able to sleep a little. And he drank his bottles. So that's somewhat of a relief.

I think I was just a little overwhelmed by the older and bigger babies. These kids are walking around, some of them are talking, they sit at the table and eat people food, some of them even follow directions. They love to snatch toys out of each others hands. And this morning, one of them fell directly on top of William and he got rug burn on the side of his head. Just wasn't the best way to start the morning. I almost started bawling right then, but I managed to hold it together until I walked out of the building. Then I cried all the way to work and called Ed and bawled on the phone to him.

Well, to end things on a brighter note, William has started dragging toys around with him when he army crawls, and it's really cute. Today he brought a ball into the kitchen, but it's kind of a big ball and he kept rolling on top of it. It was so funny to watch him. I'll try to get some video of him doing it tomorrow. Hopefully tomorrow, I'll be able to report that things went a little bit better.

What kind of puppy are you?

This is one of those silly surveys, but it's kinda cute. Here's my results:

You Are a Golden Retriever Puppy

Tolerant, fun-loving, and patient. You are eager to please - and attached to your Frisbee.

What Breed of Puppy Are You?

I don't know about the Frisbee, but I'll take the rest!

William had a really good day, even though he's still pretty sick. We went to the doctor's office this morning and he has a pretty bad ear infection. And he's still very congested and is coughing and sneezing a lot. Last night he woke up at 12:30 and took a bottle and went back to bed, but then he woke up again at 4:30, took a bottle, and did not want to go to bed. After trying to get him back to sleep for an hour, I gave him Tylenol and brought him to our bed as a last-ditch effort and it worked! He actually slept in the bed with Ed and me until about 7:15 this morning. So after going to the doctor's office, we went to breakfast with Mom and Chris, and he was great, even though I had to hold him on my lap. (It was a really small diner with no room for high chairs.) Then we dropped Mom and Chris off, and just as we got home around 11:45, he fell asleep. Then he slept until 2:00!!!! That's 2 hours and 15 minutes!!! He's never napped that long before. Kind of crazy. Then he fell asleep again around 5:15 for 30 minutes. And then he was asleep at 7:15 for the night. I'm glad he got a lot of rest today because tomorrow he's going to daycare, and unless one of the infants is out sick, he'll be spending the day in infant mobiles. It's times like this that I'm soooo glad he's in a daycare right by my office.

Here are some more pictures from this weekend. I was right about him pulling up to his feet before too long. He's now going from knees to feet. It's a whole new world from that level!

Family, eating habits, and 8 months old

Baba and Uncle Chris are visiting this weekend (my mom and brother). So far, William has done really well. I think he's getting over his croup, although the last two nights weren't great. Friday night was the worst of it. He was running a slight temperature on Friday and into Friday night, and although his cough sounds better--not that barking seal sound--he's still coughing a lot at night. I think I'll try to take him to the doctor's tomorrow if they're open, just to make sure he's okay and that his ears are clear. He's been fussy at home--just not wanting to entertain himself for very long. He's also been on a bit of an eating strike, which is driving me crazy. He'll eat about 3 bites of food, and then he gets all cranky and fussy and won't eat any more. I don't know if it's the food he's protesting, or just being stuck in the chair. Hopefully this is just a phase. It will be very interesting to see how he does in the mobile infants classroom when he sees all the other kids eating. They eat table food like spaghetti and chicken nuggets. And they all sit down at the same time.

Yesterday, we went out for breakfast and lunch and William ate some pancakes at breakfast and he gnawed on a french fry at lunch, and ate some chicken from my chicken tenders. So maybe there is hope. He also loves Cheerios. Although I think that's more for the entertainment value than because he actually likes eating them.

William turned 8 months old yesterday. To celebrate, he spent a lot of time getting up on his knees and then trying to pull up onto his feet. He succeeded several times, which of course, made him smile from ear to ear. Here are a few pics. This one was from a few days ago. This is now his reaction when I pull out the camera. He makes a beeline for it, hoping I'll let him have it. Not likely!


Here he is being appropriately solemn at the World War II memorial.


And here he is after pulling himself to his knees for the 15th time. It never gets old!


My goal today is to get some good pictures of William and Baba! Wish me luck!

Croup

Last night William woke up at 2:30 a.m. sounding like a barking seal. He drank a whole bottle, but couldn't settle back down, so we were up for over an hour. After trying to lie down with him in the bed, and trying to get him to settle in his crib on his own and listening to him bark every few minutes, and after walking around the house with him a few times, I finally found the Tylenol, dosed him up, and stood by his crib and put his paci back in his mouth every time he coughed and spit it out. Thankfully, he finally fell asleep and slept until 7:00 this morning. I knew that the barking cough indicated some kind of illness, but it wasn't until I woke up this morning and looked it up that I realized it was croup. I called the doctor and they confirmed, so William and I stayed home today and probably will tomorrow, too.

Staying home is hard work and wears me out much more than going to work does. It's so hard to keep William entertained at home, not to mention get things done around the house. My neighbor invited us to a play date at the park, but since he has croup, I declined. If I was a stay-at-home mom, I think I would have a lot of play dates and spend a lot of time at the park.

The timing for William's sickness couldn't be worse. Now he won't get these days to transition to the new classroom. We'll just have to hope for the best on Monday. Hopefully the teachers will be really sensitive to his age and ability. Today he pulled himself up a lot, and he pulled himself onto his feet on the activity garden. I wonder how long it will be before he's really steady on his feet and can balance himself. Time will tell.

Movin' on up

William is moving to the mobile infants room this week. Mobile infants are usually between 9 and 15 months, give or take a month or two. He's moving a little earlier than was originally scheduled, and actually rather suddenly, but I think he's ready. They had planned to transition another baby first, but that baby has been out on vacation and sick over the last month and isn't ready to move. But the center already gave his crib to a new infant that started this week. So William will be in the new room full-time starting Monday. He spent a lot of time in the room today and will do that again tomorrow and Friday.

I think he likes the new class but it is very different from the infants room. There are 12 kids total, and most of them are walking and seem 3 times as big as William. When I went to pick him up today, I sat down on the floor with him and 3 kids came up to me and tried to sit in my lap and tried to hug me and wanted me to read them stories. It was super cute, but also a little overwhelming. I have a feeling William is going to get stepped on quite a bit. But he can hold his own. Apparently he likes to pull hair. Guess that's 'cause he doesn't have any!

I'm a little worried about how he'll nap in the new room. And I don't know how he'll do with mealtime. They have regular schedules in there, and hopefully, William will gradually get acclimated to the routine. It might even do him some good. He's still not crazy about eating solids. He's off and on--some days he eats great and some days he wants nothing to do with it. Maybe it will be good for him to see other kids sitting at a table eating with their hands.

Okay--off to bed for me. William slept until 6:00 a.m. again last night! He did wake up briefly around 12:30, and I put his paci back in mouth, and he went right back to sleep. Yesterday he slept until 5:00 a.m. So maybe this really is a trend!

Hard work pays off

I think I mentioned in an earlier blog how William has been working for a while on pulling himself up, and that this milestone seems to be taking longer than previous accomplishments. Well, the hard work is paying off because today, he seems to have gotten the hang of pulling himself up onto his knees. For I while he was working at it with his upper body but couldn't seem to get his knees under him. But now he's figured that out, so there's no stopping him! It's a little more nerve-wracking now because there are even more opportunities for him to fall and bang his head. Here's a picture of him on his knees (notice the bruise on top of the bruise on his forehead!):

Now that he's mastered getting up on his knees (well, almost mastered anyway), I'm sure it won't be long until he's trying to stand. He's not very steady on his feet, though, so hopefully, we have at least a week or two before we get there! (She's says half-jokingly!) I'm also still waiting for him to get himself from his tummy into sitting position. He's trying, so I'm sure that won't be long, either. In another month, he'll probably be moving into the mobile infants room. I think he'll enjoy it over there.

So other than pulling himself up, we're also working on introducing more table food. He's pretty good with the baby foods (pureed stuff), and he's also great with Cheerios and Zwieback toast, but he's not so sure about textured stuff. I made some butternut squash for him the other night and just mashed it up instead of putting it in the blender, and he did okay with it, but wasn't really begging for more. Tonight I mashed up an avocado (which I've tried before) and minced some chicken breast. He was not digging either one of those choices, and didn't want the butternut squash tonight, either. I will keep trying, though. I might try the baby food meat varieties, but they just seem so gross. He'll probably like them, though. Maybe I should try introducing some of the stage 3 baby foods. It's amazing how quickly you go through the stages, though. It feels like we were only eating stage 1 foods for a month before we went to stage 2. So I guess it shouldn't surprise me that we're ready for stage 3. I don't even know what the stage 3 foods are!

I also forgot to mention in my last post that on Friday night, William slept from 7:30 p.m. to 6:00 a.m. without waking once. But I woke up at 2:30, then at 5:00, and then just tossed and turned until he woke up at 6:00. It's so frustrating. Saturday night and Sunday night, however, he was back to waking up once for a bottle. But maybe we're getting closer to going all night consistently. A girl can dream, right? Speaking of dreaming, it's off to bed for me.

Clark

Every day, as I'm going about the business of being a mom, a wife, an editor, a chef, a housekeeper, a daughter, a sister, and a friend, I'm constantly thinking of things that I could blog about. Unfortunately, those thoughts seem to exit my brain as quickly as they enter, and by the end of the day, when I sit down to blog, I can never remember what any of those thoughts were. One thing I have been thinking about lately, however (and I've had this thought more than once over the last several days, which is probably why I'm remembering it now), is our cat Clark. Here is a picture of Clark that I just took this minute:

Clark is a Manx, which is a breed of cat that has no tail. Ed got Clark from the shelter when he was just a kitten, before I came into the picture. When I met Ed, Clark and I hit it off great. He is a very playful cat, and is very loving with Ed and me, but as he has gotten older, he has developed a bit of an attitude, especially with strangers. In fact, he's quite ornery, and he likes to let people know who's boss by reaching out to swat at them. You'd think that since he doesn't like strangers, he'd just avoid them. But no--whenever we have people over, he has to make his presence known, and lull them into a false sense of security, as if he's a nice, sweet kitty, and "sure--go ahead--reach out to pet me." Then bam! "Don't think so."

Anyway, as I've said, Clark is very loving towards Ed and me, but we were slightly concerned at how he would react to William's arrival. And we were especially concerned about the day William became mobile and could "chase" the cat, and reach out and grab the cat. Well, let me just say, we have been very pleasantly surprised.

Now don't get me wrong. Clark has definitely been playing the role of jealous older brother. Since William's arrival, he has demanded much more of our attention. He meows a lot more these days, and wants us to sit with him while we eat. (We indulge him with more attention, but we both draw the line at sitting next to him while he eats!) He follows me all over the house, and he knows when I put William to sleep, because as soon as I close William's door (and this is for both naps, and at night), he's right at my feet, waiting to get loved. Every time I sit down at the computer, he jumps up on the desk (as you can see in the picture). And when he really wants attention, he sits outside William's door when William is asleep and meows. And these are just a few examples.

At the same time, however, he has accepted William as one of us and has shown more patience than I ever expected. Early on, I thought William's crying would freak Clark out, but it didn't seem to bother him at all. I thought Clark might try to claim William's room as his own by choosing places like the changing table or the glider or the crib as his sleeping spots. But he hasn't gone near any of them. For a while, he slept on the bed in William's room, curled up on the quilt that I put at the end of the bed (the quilt that came with the crib bedding set), but I figured that was fair enough. And he never insisted on sleeping in the room when William was in it. And best of all, I thought Clark might try to swat at William if William ever reached out and tried to grab Clark. But so far, (and there have been several attempts on William's part, and a few successful attempts at that) Clark just gets up and gets out of reach. William will see Clark lying down, and he'll get a big grin on his face and he'll make his way toward Clark, and Clark will see him coming, and he won't move until William gets right up to him. It's so funny to watch them.

I always praise Clark lavishly when he does this. And of course, I try to be right beside them when William approaches Clark. As he gets older, we'll work very hard on "gentle," open-handed petting. But in the meantime, I hope that Clark will continue to remove himself from the situation. I'd like to think he knows that William doesn't know better yet.

Clark is an affectionate head-butter, and this morning, as we were playing on the floor (William, Clark, and I), Clark head-butted me and then head-butted William. It was sooo cute, and William didn't even realize what had happened 'till it was over. But he got a huge grin on his face and dragged himself toward Clark as Clark deftly stepped out of reach. I am as proud of Clark sometimes as I am of William!

Good timing and pictures

William was in a great mood when I picked him up at daycare today. He was pulling himself up on the activity garden, and seemed quite proud of himself when he saw me. I love seeing him so happy and busy at daycare. It makes being a full-time working mom so much more fulfilling. And I love hearing the other parents say that William is such a happy baby. Busy and happy!

I forgot to mention that I took him to the doctor on Thursday for his flu booster and to follow up on his ear infections. His ears cleared up, thank goodness! And I never even had to get the antibiotic prescription filled. And he didn't cry at all when he got his shot. I was distracting him by running and place while saying, "Doh-doh-doh-doh-doh." It's quite funny. You have to be there. He loves it. While he was getting his shot, I also realized how aware he is of what is going on around him. The nurse laid him on the table and I held his arms down while the nurse held his legs and gave him the shot. William watched what the nurse was doing the whole time. Right when she gave him the shot, he looked at me with a troubled look, and that's when I started in with the "doh-doh-doh." Good timing on my part, I must say.

Anyway! Here are some pics from the photo shoot we did for our holiday cards. It was so windy that day, and since we set up the camera on the tripod, it was almost impossible for us to get William to look at the camera. Here are a few that didn't make it:


Every time we tried to get his attention, he would look at us instead of the camera. So we finally settled on this shot. I thought it was too cute.


And we got a few of just him. So I picked one of those for the card as well. Gotta love the drool!

Constant Motion

William is a child in constant motion. I went to visit him at daycare today (actually, to give him a dose of Tylenol because he was pretty cranky) and I held another baby for a few minutes who is about 2 weeks older than William. This baby just sat in my arms, motionless, and I couldn't get over how different it was than holding William. William is hardly ever content to just sit still. As soon as I pick him up, he's twisting and turning, trying to get into his favorite position, which is facing out, with my arm clamped against his ribcage. In this position, he can grab his feet, or whatever else I might be holding, or he can lean forward and attempt to grab whatever is in front of us. On the few occasions that he lets me hold him facing me, he'll bury his head into my shoulder and scrunch his legs up, or grab my hair or face. And then it's never long before he's twisting around again.

On the floor he's the same way--busy busy busy. And never content in one place for very long. He's most interested in the things that he shouldn't play with, of course, and in getting through the doors that he shouldn't get through. He loves electrical cords of all kinds. And if he sees an open door--the door to the hallway with the cat food and litter box, for example, or the bathroom door--he makes a beeline for it. He does this at daycare, too--always heading for the open door in the back of the classroom that leads to storage room.

All of this energy and curiosity makes for one adorable and charming baby. But it also makes me fear for our future. As I gave him his bottle tonight, he twisted and turned and grabbed the back of the chair and played peek-a-boo with himself in the mirror and gave me hugs and kisses that turned into hair grabbing and biting and arched his back and screeched and laugh. And as I tried to calm and contain him, I couldn't help but think, "Is he going to turn into a hyper-active toddler? Will he be the 2-year-old that bites? Will he be the pre-schooler who won't sit still? Will he be the first-grader that the teachers want to put on Ritalin?" I know I'm jumping the gun just a bit here, but I can't help but wonder if there's something I should be doing now to prevent future "problems." How do you redirect a spirited baby's energy?

At any rate, I laid him in his crib and put his paci in his mouth and put his blanket over him and I swear, the child fell instantly asleep. In his sleep he doesn't look quite so formidable. I think the trick is to take each challenge as it comes, and don't go borrowing trouble. For now, it's enough to keep the electrical cords away and the hallway door closed. And to get enough sleep and take care of myself so that I can have enough energy to keep up!

Happy New Year!

Wow--it's 2007. 2006 was definitely a year to remember! Nothing changes your life more than kids, that's for sure. But I have never been happier. I have a wonderful, funny, handsome, smart, capable husband, and the cutest, sweetest, most precious baby in the whole world. We have our health, a nice place to live, good jobs, wonderful daycare for William, supportive families. We can't ask for any more than this. I mean it when I say we have truly been blessed.

Our weekend went pretty well, and mine's not even over. I have tomorrow off, too, to honor President Ford. (Gotta love working for the government!) Thank goodness--I can definitely use the extra day just to decompress a little.

Girls' night on Saturday was a lot of fun. Good food, good company, and good shopping! What more can you ask for? We got to the beach (Fenwick Island--I guess it's between Ocean City and Bethany or Rehobeth) around 1:30 so we had lunch (I got a crab cake sandwich) and then went shopping at the outlets. I bought William some clothes at The Children's Place and Little Me. Then we went back to the house and hung out a little, had a drink. Then went out to dinner (I ate spiced shrimp). Then back home, another drink, more chatting. I went to bed around 11:00--missing William and Ed like crazy, of course. And no--I didn't sleep through the night. I tossed and turned a lot. We finally got up around 7:45 and then went out for breakfast. And I finally got home around 2:00--Just before Ed and William got home. I was sooo happy to see them. William seemed confused at first to see me, but he had just woken up. After a few minutes, he was really happy and I got lots of smiles and kisses. Yay! And it looked like Ed took great care of him, of course. William apparently woke up twice in the night and drank a bottle both times. So not too bad. (At least that's what Ed told me.) And I know Ed's family loved seeing him and William on their own.

We went to my cousin's house yesterday to celebrate New Year's Eve. My cousin's boys got Wii for Christmas, so Ed enjoyed getting spanked in Tennis and Bowling by the 7-year-old. Anyway, William did great, and we gave him a bath and put him to sleep in the pack-n-play at my cousin's, and then came home around 9:30. He was awake for the car ride home (although he was falling asleep at the very end), and then he went right back to sleep when we put him in his crib at home and he didn't wake up until 5:30 this morning. He stayed awake for an hour, but then we all slept until 9:00 a.m.! Can you believe it?

Unfortunately, though, William now has a cold. He's really stuffed up and I think his throat is bothering him. He's still a trooper, though. He took a nap from 11:30 until 1:30 today, and then went back to sleep at 4:30 for about 45 minutes. And then went to sleep at 7:15 tonight. The cold is definitely making him tired. We never filled the prescription for the ear infection, and it doesn't seem like it's bothering him that much, so I hope he's over that. We're going to the doctor on Thursday for his flu booster, so they'll check him then. I have nothing planned for tomorrow. I need to get my car inspected, and there are a few things I need to return. But we'll see how he feels and what kind of mood he's in.

The only other thing to report is that William is making progress on pulling himself up. Ed said he pulled himself to standing on the activity garden today. He also crawled over my legs a few times. He's getting there! This is a milestone where I am seeing a definite progression--rather than just waking up one day to have him show off his new skill. You never know though!

I guess I'll end by stating my New Year's resolutions.
1. Cook dinner more often and plan ahead--be more organized when grocery shopping. ("More often" would be at least 3-4 times a week.)
2. Bring my lunch to work at least 4 days a week (and make lunch for Ed, too).
3. Stop biting my nails. (This is my perpetual resolution--the one I never keep. Maybe this year will be different!)
4. Read at least one book a month.