Kirk spent nearly all of Saturday in time out. He had a dentist appointment Saturday morning and wanted his daddy to take him. Fine by me, I got to sleep in longer and not get dressed. But while I was chilling with Ronnie, they got home much earlier than I expected. Kirk was so naughty and uncooperative that ultimately the hygienist was unable to do anything. Mr. b was pissed and frog-marched the man into his bedroom for an all-day grounding.
Now, we happened to be quite busy that afternoon so Kirk got let out for stuff like going to book club with Mama, but he knew he was in Big Trouble. We decided that this behavior needs to be treated as a symptom of him getting away with baby stuff that we just haven’t bothered to fight yet. So since he is now big enough to have appointments – doctor, optometrist, dentist – he has to act like he’s a Big Boy. And Big Boys don’t use sippy cups. Yep, we finally got rid of the damn sippies.
Kirk was pretty distraught when he heard the announcement his precious sippy cups were going away. He tried arguing but knew he wasn’t going to get away with jack shit this time round. In fact, by the time lunch was over he had turned it around and was excited to participate in the tossing of the hateful plastic bastards into the recycling bin. And he’s been proudly requesting his drinks “in a Big Boy Cup” all weekend, as though he had any other choice.
One nice side-effect of this all was good behavior in church yesterday. He sat quietly until the children were dismissed, and drew and didn’t make noise or screw around, even as his best friend was decidedly not behaving himself sitting next to him on the pew. And during the social hour after service, his Sunday school teacher came up to me and told me about how well behaved Kirk was and what a great sense of humor he has. The lesson she was teaching? Cooperation. HA!!
I’m not sure how long we can milk this. Kirk knows his blue blankie is the next on the line. For now though, I’m enjoying having so much space in the cupboard, now that the sippies are gone!
Showing posts with label teeth. Show all posts
Showing posts with label teeth. Show all posts
Monday, March 01, 2010
Monday, January 11, 2010
Two Front Teeth
Ronnie still hasn’t gotten any new teeth. Her bottom two cut through on Halloween weekend so it’s been well over two months. I don’t remember Kirk having such a long gap between the first teeth and new ones. I could be making this up but I seem to recall that once they started coming in, it was slow but steady. It’s sort of weird that the little girl is just holding constant like this.
It’s not actually a problem in any way except eating. She wants to feed herself. Badly. It’s become nearly impossible to feed her any kind of spoon food. Doesn’t matter if it’s baby cereal or applesauce she Does. Not. Want. But there are only so many things you can give her that she can mash with her hard gums! The foods have to be firm enough that she can pick them up with her fingers but soft enough that she can still “chew” it. And we can’t just give her puffs and other baby snacks all the time.
Apple slices are actually out. Veronica has figured out how to take bites using just her bottom teeth and then she ends up gagging on too big chunks. But most everything else we’ve given her seems to be working quite well. She loves bread, either slices or rolls, because she can menace it at her own pace. We’ve been going through pretzel rods at a mad pace. She’s down with cheese and scrambled eggs and halved grapes and she’s even been eating her brother’s dinties off his pizza slices! Her aim and accuracy is increasing at a rapid pace and there’s less and less mess in her seat when we pull her out of her high chair. Except, of course, for the times when she doesn’t actually feel like eating and instead just wants to menace…
It’s not actually a problem in any way except eating. She wants to feed herself. Badly. It’s become nearly impossible to feed her any kind of spoon food. Doesn’t matter if it’s baby cereal or applesauce she Does. Not. Want. But there are only so many things you can give her that she can mash with her hard gums! The foods have to be firm enough that she can pick them up with her fingers but soft enough that she can still “chew” it. And we can’t just give her puffs and other baby snacks all the time.
Apple slices are actually out. Veronica has figured out how to take bites using just her bottom teeth and then she ends up gagging on too big chunks. But most everything else we’ve given her seems to be working quite well. She loves bread, either slices or rolls, because she can menace it at her own pace. We’ve been going through pretzel rods at a mad pace. She’s down with cheese and scrambled eggs and halved grapes and she’s even been eating her brother’s dinties off his pizza slices! Her aim and accuracy is increasing at a rapid pace and there’s less and less mess in her seat when we pull her out of her high chair. Except, of course, for the times when she doesn’t actually feel like eating and instead just wants to menace…
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
The Amazing Bundle
I think the biggest adjustment I have to make to Mr. b staying home with the kids is when to feed Bundle in the morning. So far I’ve been able to sneak out of the house in the dark before anyone even gets up. I have my alarm set for extra early so I can go pick the little girl out of her crib and nurse her in bed before I start getting ready. Then I just leave her in bed with her daddy. This works even if she wakes up at 4 or 5 am, too. And then I don’t have to try to pump before I leave or when I first get to work or something else ridiculous like that.
We’re also working on a new bedtime plan. Now that Ronnie is home all day her naps are definitely being curtailed. I think she is fine on only one a day already instead of two still. She takes boobie snoozes with me in the evening when she’s nursing post-dinner. So then when her brother is in bed and she’s still not going to sleep I hand her off to her daddy. Generally I can get her down but she won’t stay down. She’ll sleep in her crib in their bedroom for maybe 30 minutes and then wake up and want more Mama. It’s a fine line but I’m starting to figure out when she’s *actually* still hungry and when she just wants to be held. Since just holding her without sticking a boob in her mouth is not an option in her mind, and I don’t want to be a pacifier, then it’s Daddy’s turn. I make myself scarce and he pat-pats her back to sleep. It’s working pretty well. And getting her used to falling asleep without a boob is good since weaning is looming ever closer.
Veronica’s definitely in a Mama Phase though. As soon as I get home from work she demands that I hold her. Doesn’t matter what she’s doing, eating or menacing, she wants me to pick her up. She race-crawls over to me if she’s not in her high chair and hauls herself up on my leg, begging to be picked up.
It’s just crazy how much she’s grown. I’ve completely failed to keep updating her new accomplishments. Maybe about three (four?) months ago we took down the changing table because we were changing her on the floor more often anyway. She sits up on her own since late September, about 6 and a half months. Just after 7 months she started crawling properly, on her knees with her belly off the ground. From there it’s been exponential. At first she’d pull herself up on furniture to her knees.
And then a week later on to her feet.
She can now easily transfer her weight well enough that she moves along the edges of furniture or can go back and forth between the couch and ottoman or our knees and the chair or whatever. Her bottom two teeth cut through simultaneously Halloween weekend, just a week before the 8 month mark. I haven’t figured out which teeth are coming next but there’s definite movement going on in there again. It’s just been a constant stream of new developments. I don’t remember them coming this rapid-fire with Kirk. There was more of a sense of ebb and flow. He’d have a new trick and then that would last for a while. Then we’d get a slight step back to warn us something new was coming up. I don’t know if this is a girl thing or a second child thing but it’s rather amazing to witness. I had Mr. b lower the mattress in her crib so she couldn’t launch herself over the bar (I’m seriously expecting her to hoist herself into the bathtub while she’s “supervising” her brother’s bath one of these days…) but we’re already talking about getting her a big girl bed. Time to start looking for bunk beds.
I can’t decide if Ronnie is starting to pick up on sign language or not. I haven’t been using it as much with her as I did with Kirk. And I know her father isn’t using it at all. But she keeps doing certain motions with her hands that seem a bit more deliberate than just “Hey cool! These things are attached!” I also don’t remember when Kirk started obviously responding. But it seems like we’ve always been able to communicate with him so it must have been early. I guess it’s time for me to start reviewing archive posts and see how their timing really does compare.
We’re also working on a new bedtime plan. Now that Ronnie is home all day her naps are definitely being curtailed. I think she is fine on only one a day already instead of two still. She takes boobie snoozes with me in the evening when she’s nursing post-dinner. So then when her brother is in bed and she’s still not going to sleep I hand her off to her daddy. Generally I can get her down but she won’t stay down. She’ll sleep in her crib in their bedroom for maybe 30 minutes and then wake up and want more Mama. It’s a fine line but I’m starting to figure out when she’s *actually* still hungry and when she just wants to be held. Since just holding her without sticking a boob in her mouth is not an option in her mind, and I don’t want to be a pacifier, then it’s Daddy’s turn. I make myself scarce and he pat-pats her back to sleep. It’s working pretty well. And getting her used to falling asleep without a boob is good since weaning is looming ever closer.
Veronica’s definitely in a Mama Phase though. As soon as I get home from work she demands that I hold her. Doesn’t matter what she’s doing, eating or menacing, she wants me to pick her up. She race-crawls over to me if she’s not in her high chair and hauls herself up on my leg, begging to be picked up.
It’s just crazy how much she’s grown. I’ve completely failed to keep updating her new accomplishments. Maybe about three (four?) months ago we took down the changing table because we were changing her on the floor more often anyway. She sits up on her own since late September, about 6 and a half months. Just after 7 months she started crawling properly, on her knees with her belly off the ground. From there it’s been exponential. At first she’d pull herself up on furniture to her knees.
And then a week later on to her feet.
She can now easily transfer her weight well enough that she moves along the edges of furniture or can go back and forth between the couch and ottoman or our knees and the chair or whatever. Her bottom two teeth cut through simultaneously Halloween weekend, just a week before the 8 month mark. I haven’t figured out which teeth are coming next but there’s definite movement going on in there again. It’s just been a constant stream of new developments. I don’t remember them coming this rapid-fire with Kirk. There was more of a sense of ebb and flow. He’d have a new trick and then that would last for a while. Then we’d get a slight step back to warn us something new was coming up. I don’t know if this is a girl thing or a second child thing but it’s rather amazing to witness. I had Mr. b lower the mattress in her crib so she couldn’t launch herself over the bar (I’m seriously expecting her to hoist herself into the bathtub while she’s “supervising” her brother’s bath one of these days…) but we’re already talking about getting her a big girl bed. Time to start looking for bunk beds.
I can’t decide if Ronnie is starting to pick up on sign language or not. I haven’t been using it as much with her as I did with Kirk. And I know her father isn’t using it at all. But she keeps doing certain motions with her hands that seem a bit more deliberate than just “Hey cool! These things are attached!” I also don’t remember when Kirk started obviously responding. But it seems like we’ve always been able to communicate with him so it must have been early. I guess it’s time for me to start reviewing archive posts and see how their timing really does compare.
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Chewbacca
Miss Bundle is chewing on everything these days. Nothing is safe from her reaches. And while she doesn’t “properly” crawl, instead swimming across the floor at amazing rates, she has a vast range and gets into everything. Her favorite is paper at the moment. Newspapers, Daddy’s homework, Brother’s art, anything. Straight into the mouth. Chomp chomp.
This has led to the introduction of foodstuffs that maybe would have waited a bit longer. Ronnie still doesn’t have teeth so I don’t have to worry about her actually biting off bits and choking, which makes it easier. I figure if she wants to gnaw on something, a carrot has got to be better than a nasty, germ covered whatever. I’m sure that contributes to the fact she’s currently got a cold with a truly dreadful sounding cough. Our favorite thing to give her right now is a pickle spear. First of all, she makes a funny face as the vinegar hits her tongue. But then she’ll suck out the pickle juice just like she’s drinking a bottle, leaving not much more than just the rind when she’s finally done with it.
I did dig up one of Kirk’s old pacifiers for her to chew on. She hasn’t been interested in using one before, instead thinking that Mama ought to provide a boobie whenever she wants, but as a chomping object it seems to be doing the trick. I wonder how long before she actually cuts a tooth? I can’t remember how long it was for Kirk and besides, every kid is different.
This has led to the introduction of foodstuffs that maybe would have waited a bit longer. Ronnie still doesn’t have teeth so I don’t have to worry about her actually biting off bits and choking, which makes it easier. I figure if she wants to gnaw on something, a carrot has got to be better than a nasty, germ covered whatever. I’m sure that contributes to the fact she’s currently got a cold with a truly dreadful sounding cough. Our favorite thing to give her right now is a pickle spear. First of all, she makes a funny face as the vinegar hits her tongue. But then she’ll suck out the pickle juice just like she’s drinking a bottle, leaving not much more than just the rind when she’s finally done with it.
I did dig up one of Kirk’s old pacifiers for her to chew on. She hasn’t been interested in using one before, instead thinking that Mama ought to provide a boobie whenever she wants, but as a chomping object it seems to be doing the trick. I wonder how long before she actually cuts a tooth? I can’t remember how long it was for Kirk and besides, every kid is different.
Wednesday, November 08, 2006
Again?!
I'm home with feverish Kirk. Again. It's just way too similar to what happened two weeks ago. He was hot all night and tossed and turned and we administered Tylenol every 6 hours. When we got up this morning he was burning. He had an ancillary (armpit) temp of 102.2 so I decided to keep him at home. Of course once the latest dose of Tylenol kicked in he was close to normal.
I feel like he's been to the doctor 80 million times in the last month or so. I decided to just call the Nurse Line. I feel much better about being able to simply keep him under observation instead of rushing him in to a clinic now.
The thing is, I'm 90% sure it's teething, possibly with a small cold thrown in for good measure. But there seems to be a major rift regarding teething: is fever a symptom or not? Doctors, parents, and daycare providers all line up on one side or the other. Kirk has other symptoms that are acknowledged as teething signs--he didn't eat much last night, he's got an excess of drool/snot, he's grinding his teeth, he's occasionally tugging on his ear. Then again, those can also indicate other issues, which is why we took him in last time. But he got a clean bill of health from Doc just last week so I'd be shocked if he's got another ear infection again already.
Molars are supposed to be a major bitch. Last weekend while pushing Kirk in the swing at the park, he leaned back and laughed and I saw that one of his molars had cut through. Interesting timing. So I'm inclined to think that he's working on another molar. I don't remember fever being involved for the front teeth. He was extra bitey, but that's about it. I'm not ready to pick a side but I'm definitely leaning towards fever=teething.
I feel like he's been to the doctor 80 million times in the last month or so. I decided to just call the Nurse Line. I feel much better about being able to simply keep him under observation instead of rushing him in to a clinic now.
The thing is, I'm 90% sure it's teething, possibly with a small cold thrown in for good measure. But there seems to be a major rift regarding teething: is fever a symptom or not? Doctors, parents, and daycare providers all line up on one side or the other. Kirk has other symptoms that are acknowledged as teething signs--he didn't eat much last night, he's got an excess of drool/snot, he's grinding his teeth, he's occasionally tugging on his ear. Then again, those can also indicate other issues, which is why we took him in last time. But he got a clean bill of health from Doc just last week so I'd be shocked if he's got another ear infection again already.
Molars are supposed to be a major bitch. Last weekend while pushing Kirk in the swing at the park, he leaned back and laughed and I saw that one of his molars had cut through. Interesting timing. So I'm inclined to think that he's working on another molar. I don't remember fever being involved for the front teeth. He was extra bitey, but that's about it. I'm not ready to pick a side but I'm definitely leaning towards fever=teething.
Monday, June 19, 2006
Walk the plank
Kirk’s upper left tooth is cutting through. We noticed the gum skin looking all jagged yesterday so hopefully it’ll hurry up and give the poor boy a break. Although now he’s going to look totally goofy since the right bottom tooth still hasn’t come in and the upper right is next.
We’ve come to the time of bathing-when-necessary. The instruction manuals all said babies don’t need more than one or two a week during their first year of life. Well, Kirk gets dirty now and twice a week just doesn’t cut it anymore. We’ve tried to switch off the Tuesday & Saturday schedule. I proposed Tuesday-Thursday-Saturday and Mr. b was more into Sunday-Wednesday-Friday. But it doesn’t matter because the boy was filthy on Saturday after crawling around in our friend’s backyard all afternoon. And I swear his knees are permanently dirty now.
It was so much fun watching Kirk playing on Saturday though. Our friend’s son turned 2 and there were lots of other kids just a bit older than Kirk that were there. Hilariously, all the boys kept congregating around the Playskool car with Flintstone’s style open floor. I guess they were talkin’ shop. We need to get Kirk a car!
Kirk wasn’t a bully to the other kids this time. Must be because they were all older than him (except for the not-quite-3-month-old, who mostly just laid on his blanket). And they were all walkers! Even the girl that was only 2 and a half months older. I keep wondering if that’s going to spur Kirk on. He noticeably improved his crawling abilities after my birthday party when the other babies had mastered that mobility technique. And now Kirk is constantly standing. He really isn’t happy just sitting and playing; he wants to be upright.
And he figured out how to open drawers.
We’ve come to the time of bathing-when-necessary. The instruction manuals all said babies don’t need more than one or two a week during their first year of life. Well, Kirk gets dirty now and twice a week just doesn’t cut it anymore. We’ve tried to switch off the Tuesday & Saturday schedule. I proposed Tuesday-Thursday-Saturday and Mr. b was more into Sunday-Wednesday-Friday. But it doesn’t matter because the boy was filthy on Saturday after crawling around in our friend’s backyard all afternoon. And I swear his knees are permanently dirty now.
It was so much fun watching Kirk playing on Saturday though. Our friend’s son turned 2 and there were lots of other kids just a bit older than Kirk that were there. Hilariously, all the boys kept congregating around the Playskool car with Flintstone’s style open floor. I guess they were talkin’ shop. We need to get Kirk a car!
Kirk wasn’t a bully to the other kids this time. Must be because they were all older than him (except for the not-quite-3-month-old, who mostly just laid on his blanket). And they were all walkers! Even the girl that was only 2 and a half months older. I keep wondering if that’s going to spur Kirk on. He noticeably improved his crawling abilities after my birthday party when the other babies had mastered that mobility technique. And now Kirk is constantly standing. He really isn’t happy just sitting and playing; he wants to be upright.
And he figured out how to open drawers.
Thursday, June 08, 2006
Some Firsts
For the very first time, Mr. b and I were home alone, without the boy, on Friday afternoon. My sister brought him up to our parent’s house earlier on Friday and we met them all up there for the rehearsal for her wedding on Saturday. It was both weird and familiar to be in the house without him. It was nice to have spontaneous sex again, but it was definitely a bit odd to see all his stuff and not have him crawling about.
Kirk had his first shared bath while at my parent’s house that night. My brother and his son were there and we decided that it would be fun to have the cousins bathe together. Kirk is very active in the bath these days, splashing and kicking and trying to climb out, so it was a pretty funny contrast with 5-months-younger Lukas just calmly sitting there.
Kirk finally cut his first tooth, lower front left, sometime on Monday. My MIL had said that it would look like a bit of cottage cheese was stuck on his gum and sure enough, that’s totally what it looked like. A bit smaller of a bit than what I was expecting but still. It’s really hard to get Kirk to open his mouth in such a way that it can be seen. So far no sign of its mate.
Tuesday night Kirk had his very first sleep over. My parents are staying at my sister’s apartment with A1 and A2 while she’s on her honeymoon so daycare is over there like normal. Mr. b had a big 666 gig and so we just left Kirk there for the night. Well, we stopped over after work and had dinner with everyone and fretted a bit about leaving Kirk and wondered how he would ever survive with “only” his Nana and Papa for a night, but we left him there. Ultimately, it was nice to come home exhausted after dancing and not have to tip toe, and to be able to sleep in a couple of hours in the morning. But I sure missed my little man.
Kirk had his first shared bath while at my parent’s house that night. My brother and his son were there and we decided that it would be fun to have the cousins bathe together. Kirk is very active in the bath these days, splashing and kicking and trying to climb out, so it was a pretty funny contrast with 5-months-younger Lukas just calmly sitting there.
Kirk finally cut his first tooth, lower front left, sometime on Monday. My MIL had said that it would look like a bit of cottage cheese was stuck on his gum and sure enough, that’s totally what it looked like. A bit smaller of a bit than what I was expecting but still. It’s really hard to get Kirk to open his mouth in such a way that it can be seen. So far no sign of its mate.
Tuesday night Kirk had his very first sleep over. My parents are staying at my sister’s apartment with A1 and A2 while she’s on her honeymoon so daycare is over there like normal. Mr. b had a big 666 gig and so we just left Kirk there for the night. Well, we stopped over after work and had dinner with everyone and fretted a bit about leaving Kirk and wondered how he would ever survive with “only” his Nana and Papa for a night, but we left him there. Ultimately, it was nice to come home exhausted after dancing and not have to tip toe, and to be able to sleep in a couple of hours in the morning. But I sure missed my little man.
Thursday, December 15, 2005
Oral Fixation
Kirk is totally teething. They still haven't busted through, but they're there alright. The 2 bottom front teeth. He loves chewing. If he's playing with my hand, he'll grab my finger or knuckle and start just gnawing away. He chomps on his toys. He constantly has his own fingers in his mouth. Oh, he still doesn't suck his thumb. He still hasn't settled on a particular digit, specific hand, or even constant number of fingers. He jams anywhere from one to four in there and starts mawing. He even chews on his forearm, especially when propped against my shoulder or when he's down for Tummy Time. This evening, while Mr. b was changing his pants and getting him ready for bed, I noticed a strange red splotch on Kirk's right arm. He totally gave himself a hickey!
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