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Eating & Reflux (year 2, 2006)
Allergies & Getting Big (2009)
September 2009
September 2, 2009
First, a little giggle. Last night, I heard sounds coming from Anastasia's room, so I investigated. Click here to view a video.
Later in the night, around 1:00 am, I heard the Miss calling me. I got up to find the bathroom light on (for the past few days, Anastasia hasn't worn Pull Ups to bed) and her bedroom light on. She wanted me to "cover her up." I'd already explained the night before that she could easily cover herself up, and she shouldn't wake up mommy or daddy to have us do it. I watched as she covered herself up, and I said, "Now it's time to go to sleep."
Suddenly, she began to cry. "But I'm hungry! I want a breakfast bar!"
Me: "No, honey, it's much too late for that. Lay down, close your eyes, think of happy things, and soon you'll be asleep."
Miss A.: "But usually you give me a breakfast bar!"
Me: "That's if you're hungry at bed time. It's in the middle of the night. The best thing for you is to go to sleep." (I knew she was pushing buttons, or I would have fed her.)
Miss A.: "But I can't sleep! My nose is runny!"
Me (wiping it): "Now close your eyes and go to sleep."
Miss A. (suddenly coughing a fake cough): "But I can't! I have a cough!"
Me: "Drink some water, then go to sleep. Good night."
Ugh! Somewhere in there, I also warned her that if she kept doing this every night, I'd put Pull Ups back on her and not let her get up to use the potty in the middle of the night. This sort of nightly routine is why, no doubt, she actually slept at nap time yesterday!
September 2 (part II)
Anastasia is reading!
Since she was becoming frustrated with the process of learning to read (she wanted to read books, not work on words that didn't make up a story), we spent a number of days completely away from reading. Then, this morning I used magnetic letters on the fridge to work on three letter words ending in "at." She did great, and soon she was reading her first story!
At first, she wanted to tell the story by looking at the pictures, but she's getting the hang of it. Here's a video of her first attempt at reading. Unfortunately, my camera stopped before she was done, and I didn't realize it. (For those of you dying to know the end of the story: "Fat, fat cat. Fat, fat rat." Heh.)
She wanted to move onto the next story (with a mixture of three letter words ending in "at" and "an"), but I convinced her to wait until tomorrow :) In the meantime, we've been working with "an" words on the refrigerator. She's so proud and excited - and so am I!
September 4, 2009
Anastasia requested we pull out her GeoTrax train set today. I think Zane enjoyed it more than she did. Here's a video, showing how he "throttles" his hands and wiggles his toes when he's excited.
The kids playing with the train. Zane didn't actually touch until I walked away. Then he tore down the entire train station.
Singing.
Working hard at her scissor skills.
September 9, 2009
I truly have a 21st century baby. Zane waved for the first time. At his auntie. While on Skype. :)
But while he progresses in this area, he lingers behind in eating. He still refuses to feed himself and throws a fit if I try to get him to. He also still wants all his food pureed. Sometimes I can get him to eat a little well cooked, cubed carrot, and he likes those melt-in-your-mouth Gerber crackers and bits of graham cracker, but we've had no luck elsewhere.
With daddy.
I think I need to hand the boy some finger food, walk away, and let him holler. I'm sure I'll have to do it a few times. But I don't know how else to encourage him to feed himself.
Any recommendations? And how about ideas for encouraging him to chew? I've read that once babies reach Zane's age and don't like to chew, it's an uphill battle :(
Anastasia continues to want me to feed her, which probably doesn't encourage Zane in the right direction, either. Lately, I've been amused to realize how much she loves vegetables. With most kids, this would be an excellent thing, but with Anastasia, I have to encourage her to eat fattening foods, too. So I find myself saying, "Do I need to take away your peas so you'll eat your macaroni?" or "When you finish your fish sticks you can eat more green beans." Crazy.
Oh, and by the way, remember how Anastasia used to talk with her mouth shut? Now Zane's doing it, too. My kids are nothing if not unique!
In her royal garb.
September 10, 2009
Anastasia just read her first book! It's a slim early reader that came with our Hooked on Phonics set:
And her brother is finally letting me read a little to him, instead of just grabbing all books away and holding them so tightly I couldn't turn the pages :)
September 14, 2009
We spent Saturday with my in-laws and Anastasia had a grand time:
The Miss ate an amazing quantity of food: two glasses of chocolate milk, three slices of pizza, a pear, half a banana, chocolate birthday cake and ice cream, and some candy. Unheard of!
It was Anastasia's cousin's birthday, and she was thrilled there was a piņata...with a bat. (By the way, my ingenious sis-in-law made that piņata!)
Anastasia's cousins have zip line in their backyard so they can "fly" across the yard. The first time, Miss A. used it while her uncle held onto her legs. Then she insisted on doing it alone. Here she was about five feet off the ground.
Grandpa has an old player piano, and Miss A. listened to every song it played, naming them all. She called this one "The Dreadful Unicorn Goes to the Deep City to Find His Mommy."
With her auntie, all mussed up from playing.
The Miss' cousins helping her into a helmet, so they could teach her how to ride a bike. (She can't ride a tricycle yet, so they did all the work for her.)
Zane had a good time, too. Both kids are still in recovery (which is code for they are currently a challenge for Mommy).
The day before we left, Miss A. discovered she likes vacuuming. (As you can tell by the state of my house, I need all the help I can get!) She's been interested in vacuuming for a long time, but was too afraid of the noise even her toy vacuum made. But on Thursday night, she accidentally bumped into her toy vacuum and turned it on. She freaked out and asked me to turn it off, which I did. A few minutes later, she asked Daddy if he'd help her turn it back on...and then she was vacuuming it with it. She loved it so much, she sobbed at bedtime: "But I just need to vacuum!" The next morning, she took up her toy vacuum again, then asked if it really was cleaning the floor. I told her it picked up a little dirt, but that the yellow vacuum Grandma and Grandpa had given her (because she showed an interest in vacuuming) was real and truly did clean the floor. That was all it took; she wanted to use it right away. She vacuumed for a good hour, and even learned to empty the canister.
September 18, 2009
Zane is pulling up! It's still a lot of work for him, but if we put Anastasia's sippy cup of apple juice toward the rear of the couch, he manages to pull up every time, trying to grab it!
Zane's first time pulling up, September 16th.
One of Zane's favorite things is to sit in front of the window and watch the leaves rustling in the breeze.
What can I say? I have silly kids!
September 22, 2009
Here is Zane drinking from his sippy cup for the first time in earnest. It's just a small version of what Miss A. uses, which is a lot of the attraction. Today I'm going to try giving him a little whole milk in this cup, so I can hopefully wean him away from formula.
Zane still refuses to self feed (or drink), but I did get him to eat some home canned pear pieces yesterday. When I try to give him avocado, either mashed or in tiny pieces, he gives me a look like "What kind of Mommy are you, anyway?" His reaction is the same with bits of banana or thin peelings of apple. However, he will eat two or three bites.
He is constantly trying to pull up and is succeeding most of the time. We just switched him to a toddler car seat yesterday. He can see so much more now, and he wiggled and giggled the entire way to the grocery store. He's also too interested in how his buckle works...
I weighed the kids today. Zane is 26 lbs. 9 oz. and Anastasia is only 31 lbs. and 10 oz. It won't be long and Zane will weigh more than his sissy!
As you can see from the following photo, he also follows his sister wherever she goes:
Mostly, she doesn't mind her tag-along, but she is beginning to discover it's nice to have the sanctuary of her room, where Zane is not allowed unless she invites him.
Anastasia is doing well, although she's going through a really tired, cranky, and crying stage. I almost wonder if the change in weather is the cause. She's heavy into pre-K school work, being strongest in reading and comprehension and poorest in numbers. But we're working on that.
I've been de-cluttering for winter, which she doesn't much care for, although she's gotten pretty good about liking the idea of giving away things to children who have less than she. In my own closet, I found a bunch of antique clothes I thought I'd already sold off. Among them was a Victorian muff and cape of real fox fur. "Oh, Mommy!" Miss A. cried, "Can I have these? Pleeeeeeaaaase?!"
...I let her keep the muff, anyway.
September 20, 2009
Not a whole lot of news here, but Zane is - finally! - chewing foods, especially thin slices of apples, well ripened pears, and crackers. He still has no interest in feeding himself, however.
He just went through a week's worth of sleeping almost all day and all night. He seems to be feeling better now, and I trust that he was just going through a growth spurt.
Anastasia riding her spring horse while Zane pulls up on it. I am careful he doesn't touch the springs, so please don't feel the need to email me on that one. :)
Anastasia seems to be doing the same. For dinner tonight she had two slices of pizza, a couple ounces of cheese, some dried blueberries, and some chocolate milk! Unheard of!
Yes, she drinks chocolate milk pretty regularly now - a few ounces a day. And Zane is beginning to switch over to whole milk, too.
And speaking of feeding issues, I recently updated the "Feeding Tips for Preemies" page with some interesting ideas for older kids. Check it out, if you have a child who needs to put on weight.
Zane with his brand new walker - an early birthday present. He's tried to walk with it once or twice, but he cranes his head to watch the wheels and falls right over. With all the cool gadgets on this thing, you wouldn't think his favorite thing to play with is the wheels...but they are.
Zane can be a real grouch when he's tired, but mostly he's a sweet little guy.
A couple of drawings by Miss A. The one on top is a rocket, the one on the bottom is our family.