Big boat was bad for baby

Tonight, we went out to eat with Grandpa Lowell. We had anticipated an all-you-can-eat fish fry, as well as a wide selection of hamburgers out on the sundeck at Catfish Charlie's, but were unpleasantly surprised that these were no longer options on their menu.

While we were there, a large boat pulled away from the marina and started tooting its very loud horn. 

Sydney freaked out.

He clung to Mike's shirt and shoulders and insisted that he be unbelted from his high chair so that he could be held and comforted.

Someday, he wont be scared by loud noises and will be impressed by them instead. For now, we'll love him for the cute little boy that he is.

P.S. Thanks for dinner (and some fresh berries from your garden) Grandpa!

Observations of an inquisitive 13-month old

Sydney is VERY OBSERVANT! The kid notices just about everything!

PLUG

This afternoon, I was cleaning up all of the extra food and crumbs off of the floor with the Hoover while Mike was entertaining Sydney with a book in the living room. When I was done, I had unplugged it and threw the cord into the center of the room while I was winding it back onto the hooks. Sydney hopped off the couch, went over to the cord, picked up the plug end of it and walked it immediately to the outlet in the wall, showing us that we should plug it in right here.

Seriously? At 13 months, one week and 3 days old - isn't he supposed to notice simpler things like "hey, these blocks make noise when I bang them together?"

MY CHAIR

Earlier today, Sydney stood by the side of the recliner and tugged on Mike's shirt - as if he was trying to pull him out of the chair. Mike stood up and moved out of the way. Then, he ran across the living room to me and pulled on the leg of my capri pants - as if he was trying to pull me over TO the chair. Mike was doing a running commentary - in disbelief that he had just been kicked out of his chair by his little boy. Sydney gave up on my pant leg and ran back to the chair where he patted his hand on the seat of the chair, indicating that he wanted me to sit there and then clenched his hand open and closed a few times with a look of desperation on his cute little face.

We asked him "Do you want milk?"

He nodded his head YES and signed the word MILK.

It sure is nice that he knows how to communicate and that he noticed that we normally sit in that specific chair when it is time to nurse. (I guess he thinks that it is HIS chair, instead of Mike's chair.)

REFLECTION

Then, tonight, when we were breastfeeding for the last meal of his day, he laid in my arms in the recliner, we talked and we gazed into each other's eyes. 

All of a sudden, he started smiling and flirting. I closed my eyes and he started to laugh when I opened them again. We did this for a minute or two, getting the same reaction each time. Then, he quickly brought his pointer finger up to my eyes. 

My observant kid was NOT trying to poke out my eyeballs; he was flirting with and pointing at his own reflection - that he could see in my eyes.

YEP, we have a VERY OBSERVANT kid!

Rides in the wagon (w pics)

A few days ago, when Sydney was fussy from his teeth, we were looking for a distraction to keep him busy so, we loaded his friends - puppy dog, duck, monkey and Elmo - into the wagon and he was taking them for a ride in the house. 

Since it was nice outside, we decided to take all of them outside. Sydney took off down the driveway, wagon handle in hand, and took his friends for a walk. After a short time, we noticed that his friends Claire and Lise were outside as well so, we went to say HELLO over there. His real friends enjoyed playing with his toy friends, too.

On Tuesday morning, at Library story hour, we sang the "Little Red Wagon" song. (Sydney REALLY liked it!)

Bumping up and down in my little red wagon,

Bumping up and down in my little red wagon,

Bumping up and down in my little red wagon,

Bump,

Bump,

Bump,

Bump,

Bump!

Then, yesterday, we went to see Daddy at work because he wanted us to look at some plants for our front yard. While we were there, mommy asked if we could try out the wagon (display) so, Sydney got to ride in the red wagon with big tires and a smooth ride while we were shopping. Syd liked it pretty well, but secretly wanted to drive it himself, I think. (It seems that he is FASCINATED with anything that has wheels... like a true little boy! He likes shopping carts, utility carts, furniture & appliance dollys and fork lifts, too.)

Unfortunately, the wagon doesn't have seatbelts so, Sydney figured out that he can stand up in it. (Probably better when he gets bigger and realizes the danger of standing up and climbing out of a wagon, especially when it is moving.)

Riding in that little red wagon must have made an impression on him since this morning, I found that he had climbed into his little blue wagon all by himself! It was SUPER CUTE! (I dragged his wagon.... MUCH heavier now... into the dining room where there was better light and grabbed my cell phone so that I could quickly take a picture before he climbed out.) TOO FUNNY!

I told Daddy and Sydney that Grandpa Olson BUILT a wagon. Next time we go to Wisconsin, we just might have to try it out!

Walking down the street with his wagon full of 'friends'.

Giving the cars (driving down the street) plenty to smile at.

(Come on... admit it.... he's pretty darned CUTE!)

Sydney takes puppy dog, duck, monkey and Elmo for a ride in the wagon.

Claire and Lise like them, too. (It seems that Elmo is EVERYBODY'S favorite!)

Riding in a real wagon (at Daddy's work) must have made a big impression... since he was SUPER EXCITED to realize that he has his own wagon at home...

Sydney climbed into his plastic toy wagon this morning all by himself. TOO CUTE!

Humpty Dumpty makes him smile

This evening, at swimming lessons, we FINALLY got a few more smiles out of Sydney!

He didn't really want to jump into the pool while we sang "5 Little Monkeys jumping on the bed..." but we dragged him in anyways. (He had played through and protested his afternoon nap today and was tired/slightly uncooperative.) A few activities later, though, we sat them on the wall and sang "Humpty Dumpty" to them. As soon as we got to the "had a great fall..." the parents quickly jerked their children by the hands - into the water.

Sydney smiled.

He thought THAT was kind of fun. (In fact, he liked it every time we did it.)

I feel a little badly for him though.... (because) we sing some of the same songs at the library and I'm afraid that he's getting confused how we keep changing the activities that coordinate with the songs. Man, it's hard work being a kid!

Lack of listening at library

Sydney was NOT a good listener at the library today. While we were sitting in the semi-circle enjoying the activities, he spotted the librarian's tote full of toys and a collapsable tunnel sitting on the nearby table. He hopped up from my lap, ran in front of the librarian, clapped his hands (his sign for MORE... or "I want that!") and pointed towards the toys. She didn't know his sign language and thought he was just clapping that he liked storytime.

Then, while she continued to read a book to the kids, Sydney stood directly in front of her and started making a horrible "EEEEEEEEEE-ow!" screech as he started pointing to the next page of the book; turns out, there was a cat on the next page and Sydney was demonstrating a MEOW to indicate a cat.

I had to retrieve him back to my lap for more activities. 

Thought it was funny how he WAS listening when the librarian said it was now "time for toys"... as he was the first one to run over to check out the tote of toys. (Silly kid!)

If I hide my bowl, maybe I can be done

This morning, we had oatmeal for breakfast. Sydney started off doing well - feeding himself. Then, he started being naughty. He asked for a drink and then dumped it in his lap and on his tray. Afterwards, he took a spoonful of oatmeal, raised his hand above his head and started to fling the oatmeal. Immediately, I scolded "NO!" and grabbed his arm. (He didn't like that.) I reminded him that we DO NOT throw food. Giving him a second chance, he gave me "that look" and the little stinker did it again. Again, I grabbed his arm.... and again, he did not like it. I took away his food; he was MAD!

He was upset that I took away his food AND I had raised my voice at him. A short time later, I gave him his bowl back and he started trying to hide it (the entire bowl) in his lap. 

I wondered if he thought that he could be DONE if his bowl was gone?

Little swimmer blows bubbles

Sydney and Mike enjoyed swimming lessons tonight. Sydney even attempted to blow bubbles in the water.

At one point, he let go of his kickboard and rolled into the water, dunking his face before Mike could catch him. It stopped being fun at that point.

Here, you see THE WALL (mural) that fascinates Sydney each week at lessons.

Like at the library, Sydney is only interested in the toys.

He is still most interested in watching the other kids in his class.

Hmmm, that LOOKS interesting, but I don't think I am ready to try that yet.

What do you mean I have to JUMP to get that ball?

That nice swimming teacher gave me this SUPER COOL duck to play with.

Mr. Independent celebrates Independence Day

We had a party with 9 adults and 4 kids to celebrate Independence Day with the great views of the air show & fireworks from our deck.

Some of our food... everyone brought a dish to pass.

I made a patriotic cake, as well as Eagles (Tailgating) Burgers.

Meet our friend Lucy.

She's 15 months old and SUPER CUTE!

But she gives some MEAN HUGS!!! (She chokes around the neck most of the time and has to be supervised around other little kids. Her parents tease and call her "The Strangler".)

The view from the back as Donna holds Lucy from climbing any higher up the bench.

Just checking out the views...

The frontal view...

LUCY: Oh, man... how I wish that lady would let go so I could climb up this bench!

Hey, Lucy... LOOK, a plane! (Or maybe that one was a bird.)

Jon Husman holds Mr. & Miss Independent - a Patriotic pair!

Sydney is 13 months old. Lucy is 15 months old.

Lucy: Hey, Sydney, I like your straw!

Sydney = Mr. Serious (sometimes)

Sydney enjoys a juice box with (newly retired )Jon Husman... 

... enjoys it EVEN MORE with BIG BIRD on it!

We had a fun day and look forward to celebrating it again next year with our neighbors and friends!

Tales of the tooth with fussy butt and drooling fool

We have a fussy boy on our hands. (To clarify, Sydney is almost NEVER fussy so, this little bit of whininess and fuss is out of character for our little man, but is certainly still manageable; colic would be MUCH WORSE, I'd imagine.) Sydney required A LOT of attention today. He was best when entertained or distracted. 

He slept HORRIBLY last night. He napped for only 1 hour this morning. He napped for less than 30 minutes this afternoon when Mike's footsteps to retrieve his ringing cell phone woke Sydney up. His bedtime has been pushed back a little later each night. 

I felt as if he wanted to breastfeed MUCH MORE OFTEN than normal, feeling as if I would soon start to shrivel, like when you spend too much time in the bathtub. Ibuprofen and Tylenol got us through the day, as well as near-constant attention or playtime.

He kept indicating that he wanted to eat, but as soon as I would bring food to his mouth, he would swat it away. (So, you KNOW that his mouth was hurting him.) Cheerios were our lifesaver today - as he ALWAYS loves those! He has been searching for his teething toys and has been biting and chewing on those a lot today.

Here's what we have so far...

On the top, he has 4 teeth.

On the bottom, he has 3 teeth.

Then, on the bottom, he has a SLIVER of a tooth just starting to poke through the surface, which is one of the front 4. Then, we noticed that one of his 12-month molars is visible just under the surface of his frontal gums, which is his lower left molar.   He doesn't really let us investigate too much inside his mouth anyways so, we're not sure if he has any action going on in the upper deck or not.

And, to go with the slight fuss, he has a stuffy nose, red right cheek and has been DROOLING LIKE CRAZY!!!!! So, yeah... we're pretty sure that TEETH are the culprit!

His loose stools have also gotten better since we discontinued almost ALL FRUIT from his diet for a few days. (He was sad, I'm sure because he LOVES FRUIT!!!) Still soft, but getting a little better each day.... hoping to be back to solid, big boy poop in no time again soon.

Thankfully, tomorrow, we'll have plenty of action to entertain him when we have our 2nd annual July 3rd party. We'll have 9 adults and 4 kids (under the age of 3) and it should be LOTS OF FUN!

Tough day for a new tooth, I think

Sydney woke at 4:30am and screwed around until almost 6am before I got him to go back to sleep. Woke around 8. Napped great this morning and not nearly as great this afternoon. Ate an AWESOME LUNCH - feeding himself with silverware and doing VERY WELL!  At not-so-much for dinner. Played in the sandbox. Took his stuffed animals for a ride in the wagon. Played with the neighbor girls. Nursed and went to bed. Woke up during Mommy's trip to the grocery store and Daddy claimed that he had "tried everything." Had a little helper to put away all of the groceries while Daddy went back to bed again. Asked Sydney "Are you hot?" to which he nodded YES (but his sweaty little body gave him away) so, I took his jammies off of him. Asked him if he wanted a drink and he nodded YES so, he had some water. Asked him if he wanted to eat and he had some Cheerios. Played.... and played... and played. Finally asked him if he wanted some milk, thinking that it would make him tired. NO DICE. Took me up on the offer for milk, but decided it was time for more playing! Played... and played... and played again. Finally, at 1045pm, I carried a flailing little boy upstairs, attempted to give him a hug and put him in his bed. He was mad. Turned on his music box/nightlight and left the room. He cried for a minute and THANKFULLY settled down. It's been A LONG DAY!!!!

Judging from his rosy red cheek and his excessive need to chew and bite on his toys tonight, I am guessing that he has a tooth coming in. Poor little guy... no fun! Hope for a better day tomorrow after some much-needed sleep tonight. (Man, if only they were born with teeth... things would be a lot different!)