Tuesday, April 27, 2010

'Snot Funny

It’s been pretty quiet around here. I mean on this blog. Certainly not in our house which is rife with the heavy mouth-breathing of two 9 months old with total nasal blockage. We have been told we are lucky to have made it to the 9 month mark with nary a sniffle among us. But alas, those days are over. This past week, on the heels of a trip to Philadelphia, both babies came down with a cold. For more scream inducing fun, Leah got an ear infection. Yee haw. Anyway, I, for one, am looking forward to being done with this cold and to having our nose-breathing babies back. And I am pretty sure that they are looking forward to a break from constant nose wiping and sneak assaults with bulb aspirators (man, that is a satisfying piece of equipment when it works. Who knew?).  Other than the carpet bomb of snot dropped on our home, things are good. Let’s go through the standard categories, shall we?

Sleeping: I will cover Elliot first, because he’s easy. The process of getting there can take a while, but once asleep, he’s pretty much down until morning. We had a couple of crying wake ups with this cold, but that’s pretty much it. For the moment, he sleeps through the night (until now, because I have just utterly jinxed myself). Leah, on the other hand, is our cute little sleep depriver. She falls asleep quickly with little to do, but inevitably wakes up between midnight and 1:00am and will not go back to sleep anywhere except for in our bed. This is not what we had planned for our sleeping arrangements, but honestly, it doesn’t bother me that much to have her there. What bothers me is that she wakes up at 5:30am and starts poking us and pulling hair. That is annoying. We’re living with it, but we have discussed eliminating all night feedings and not allowing Leah back in our bed at the 10 month mark (May 11). That sounds oddly familiar. Didn’t we do something like that at 6 months? It’s a work in progress. Our other sleep issue is that right now, when Leah is not sleeping in our bed, she is in a pack and play in the guestroom. I don’t like this one bit. She has a crib in her bedroom right next door, but both babies sleep much better when separated. Leah likes to go to sleep immediately and Elliot’s playing and yelling in his crib for 15 minutes before nodding up makes her really angry. And Elliot likes to sleep all night, so Leah’s waking up in the middle of the night pisses him off. So they are not terribly sleep compatible. Nonetheless, we will be transitioning Leah back to their bedroom in the near future because a baby in the guestroom permanently is not tenable or desirable.

Napping: Pretty good, thank you very much. 9:30-10:15 and 1:00-3:00 pretty much daily. Until I jinx myself by publishing this post.

Eating: Also good. This cold has made both babies not particularly thrilled about solid foods (they didn’t really like mashed potatoes last night. That must be a fluke.), but in general, they are doing great with eating and are basically just huge babies. Current favorites are CHEERIOS (OMG!), bread, blueberries, all fruit, sweet potatoes. They did not enjoy black beans or spinach. Leah likes chicken and egg yolks, Elliot not so much. If anyone reads this and has suggestions for more finger foods, I’d love the ideas. This brings us to:

Enormousness (of mind and body): We have big babies! I don’t know why I take such pride in Leah and Elliot gaining on the growth charts (I know it doesn’t really matter), but I do. At their 9 month appointment a couple weeks ago, Elliot weighed in at 19lbs 15oz, which is almost at the 50th percentile. He was in the 5th percentile or so at 1 month. He is 28.25” long (also almost 50th %ile). Leah, our little Peah-potomus, weighs 17lbs 7oz, which is about the 20th percentile. She began life below the third percentile. She is 27” long now (also around 20th percentile). I just love how substantial they are. Like little people. It’s awesome. Elliot is built like a brick. Leah is like a thinner brick. I am amazing by their strength (especially Elliot – that kid is strong and frankly, sometimes it hurts) and their dexterity (okay, Leah’s dexterity). It’s just so cool watching them grow and learn to do things.

Etcetera:
- Leah can stand unassisted for 3-5 seconds or so now.
- Both babies can say “mama” and “dada”. I’m not positive they know what they are saying, but sometimes it sounds uncannily appropriate (like when left in their cribs against their will). It’s totally cool either way.
- Leah likes shoes. Including licking the soles thereof. Bad sign?
- Elliot loves books. And animal noises. And, most especially, books about animals and the noises they make.
- They both love other kids. It’s so great when friends bring over their kids (older or younger). Leah and Elliot are fascinated. And will try to tackle them.


Pictures to come at some point sooner than a long time from now…