Thursday, December 16, 2010
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
16 Months (in retrospect)
This was another month in which the positives outweighed the negatives of toddlerhood. After enduring three or so weeks of extremely early wakeups (in the neighborhood of 5:00 or 5:30), all we needed to do was implement a two-fold plan and we now don’t see the babies generally before 7:00. (Why, oh why, do I post these things, Dear Universe?) FYI, the two-folds were respectively: (1) Do not bring Leah into our bed to get her to continue sleeping in the morning. Instead let her cry-it-out in the morning until our chosen appropriate wake up time (6:00 to start). (2) Push the bedtime later by half an hour, which sounds so DUH, but it really does go against the popular thought that sleep begets sleep. In any case, this plan was derived from the numerous emails I received from members of the Mothers of Twins club in response to my desperate plea for help. And, quite literally, it worked in two days. Miraculous! Having the babies stay up until 7:30 has yielded other benefits too, in that I can spend more time with them when I get home from work during the week. Unfortunately, the new bedtime also eats into my only “Alexis time” of the day, which is when I have been running. I have not been running so much, however, since I am injured, but our brand new treadmill arrived in the post today, so the plan is to use that instead of running outside in the wee hours. I suppose now that they are sleeping so late, I could use that extra time to work out in the morning, but sleeping until 7:00 is a luxury I just can’t sacrifice.
Elliot and Leah’s vocabularies are exploding, as predicted by Dr. Yuan, our pediatrician. Leah is particularly interested in soaking up as many new words as possible at all times. Last night, for example, she repeated the word “anchor” over and over after I read it out of a book, apparently to commit it to memory. Both Elliot and Leah know a lot of Spanish, but, according to Lina, Elliot is not as willing to speak Spanish as is Leah, which I find kind of fascinating, because, how does he know what is Spanish and what is English? Shouldn’t it just be one giant language to them at this point?
Favorite words of the month: “pocket” (for an actual pocket, but also for Dr. Suess’s “There’s a Rocket in My Pocket”), “lovey” (Elliot says this over and over as he falls to sleep), “choo-choo” (Craig has taught them about the train that I take to them on Monday through Thursday nights), “raisin”, “milk”, “truck” (or “crrrr-uck!” for Elliot), “moon” (for “Goodnight Moon” or the actual moon), “people” (for any person figuring/toy, used for the singular), “doggie” (obviously), “jacket”, “chair”, “off” (Elliot says this more often) and so many more that it’s basically no longer feasible to keep track. They are so happy when they can name things out of books or on TV and now almost always can. When asked what Santa says, they “ho ho ho” in adorable deep voices thanks to Lina. They also know most of the standard animal noises at this point. They are saying a few more two-word phrases now. Elliot says “read book” and can say many of the cars in his still favorite “Apple car book”.
Both Leah and Elliot have become quite helpful recently too. Leah always wants to help Elliot get dressed. She holds up his clothing and says “Ee-ya, Ee-ya” and chases him around with it. Leah will retrieve things I ask for. The other day, I had Elliot on the changing table and asked Leah for his pants, which she brought over right away. Then I asked for his shirt. She brought over a shirt, but I wanted a different one and said “No, the blue one” and she brought over the blue one. I can see this being very useful over time. Elliot likes to help me put my shoes on and, if I say “ayuda me”, he will help me do things like put toys together or whatever. They love helping out and I look forward to having them help with baking and other projects. Elliot is very good at sharing with his sister and will always give her one of his toys if he has two. Last night he fed her his bottle because he knew she was out of milk. And he will give her the one toy he is playing with if she seems to want it more (and she always does). Sharing is an area for development for Leah…
Eating is pretty much the same as last month, though we recently found out that Elliot loves the broth from stew, which we put into a cup for him to drink and call it “meat juice”. Yeah, kind of gross, but there’s veggies in that meat juice. They still eat a ton of cheese, yogurt, chicken dogs, noodles and other kid foods, but sometimes we can trick them into other things. Leah does really well with her own utensils. It’s still messy, but she will eat a lot more of something from her own utensil than from one I am wielding. Elliot eats incredibly well when we have the TV on. I can literally shovel food into his mouth if he is distracted by Wonder Pets or Yo Gabba Gabba, but it’s not something we are willing to do most of the time. It’s a good trick to have in our pockets during particularly frustrating meals.
Bath time has become totally insane. I end up as wet as if it was my bath time due to Elliot throwing everything out of the bath (at me) and splashing as much as possible. He goes “Whoah! Whoah! Whoah!” and purposely slips and slides all over until he falls down, creating a huge splash. Cute, but soggy. He is absolutely going to be the class clown someday. Mark my words. Leah has been practicing her swimming a bit and has recently been upset when bath time is over each night. Our little fishy.
Bedtime is still one of my favorite times of day. Since moving bedtime later, we now do bath, then pajamas and then a bit of time by the fire before reading time in their room. They love running around in PJs and going a little crazy before bedtime. After I herd them into their room, we read books until bedtime. They now ask me to read a book over and over, which is a classic toddler bedtime procrastination method. As noted above, “Wocket in My Pocket” is the current favorite book, followed closely by “Goodnight Moon”, “The Snowy Day” and “Caps for Sale”. They aren’t terribly picky though as long as we read enough stories. Leah gets her own sleep sack for me to put on (and tries to help Elliot with his) and is very happy to get in her crib for bedtime. Elliot has been having a tougher time ending the day recently, which is hopefully just a phase. He responds really well to a pat-down, but I’m trying to resist starting a new bad habit. They both will not sleep without their lovies though.
16 Months was the month of Thanksgiving and Hanukkah. Thanksgiving was celebrated at the Grandma and Jer-Bear’s house this year as per the annual rotation schedule. Elliot and Leah loved playing in the big house, especially on the stairs. They also enjoyed playing with the toys that Grandma saved from when Craig and Sarah were toddlers. It snowed on Thanksgiving, which was unusual, and the kids loved watching the snow through the window from their grandparents’ bed, where they also had some extended jumping sessions. Other highlights of the Thanksgiving trip were ripping up newspapers with Uncle Jon, dancing in the kitchen, playing in the leaves and tons of attention from everyone. We are headed back down to Philly for Christmas and, other than the car ride, we are very eager to get there.
We had our 4th annual Hanukkah party for my family at our house. Craig’s awesome latkes and my admittedly outstanding rugelach were on the menu. It’s amazing how crazy our small house was with all five cousins running around. It was a total zoo. Leah loved playing with cousin Sam, while Elliot zipped around the house like a crazy man. Our nieces, Sasha and Amanda, were hilarious as they opened each gift, barely looked at it and said “can we have another present?” in unison. Kids these days… I love these family traditions though and feel extremely blessed about life in general these days.
Here’s to hoping all of it doesn’t go to hell after I publish this post.
Elliot and Leah’s vocabularies are exploding, as predicted by Dr. Yuan, our pediatrician. Leah is particularly interested in soaking up as many new words as possible at all times. Last night, for example, she repeated the word “anchor” over and over after I read it out of a book, apparently to commit it to memory. Both Elliot and Leah know a lot of Spanish, but, according to Lina, Elliot is not as willing to speak Spanish as is Leah, which I find kind of fascinating, because, how does he know what is Spanish and what is English? Shouldn’t it just be one giant language to them at this point?
Favorite words of the month: “pocket” (for an actual pocket, but also for Dr. Suess’s “There’s a Rocket in My Pocket”), “lovey” (Elliot says this over and over as he falls to sleep), “choo-choo” (Craig has taught them about the train that I take to them on Monday through Thursday nights), “raisin”, “milk”, “truck” (or “crrrr-uck!” for Elliot), “moon” (for “Goodnight Moon” or the actual moon), “people” (for any person figuring/toy, used for the singular), “doggie” (obviously), “jacket”, “chair”, “off” (Elliot says this more often) and so many more that it’s basically no longer feasible to keep track. They are so happy when they can name things out of books or on TV and now almost always can. When asked what Santa says, they “ho ho ho” in adorable deep voices thanks to Lina. They also know most of the standard animal noises at this point. They are saying a few more two-word phrases now. Elliot says “read book” and can say many of the cars in his still favorite “Apple car book”.
Both Leah and Elliot have become quite helpful recently too. Leah always wants to help Elliot get dressed. She holds up his clothing and says “Ee-ya, Ee-ya” and chases him around with it. Leah will retrieve things I ask for. The other day, I had Elliot on the changing table and asked Leah for his pants, which she brought over right away. Then I asked for his shirt. She brought over a shirt, but I wanted a different one and said “No, the blue one” and she brought over the blue one. I can see this being very useful over time. Elliot likes to help me put my shoes on and, if I say “ayuda me”, he will help me do things like put toys together or whatever. They love helping out and I look forward to having them help with baking and other projects. Elliot is very good at sharing with his sister and will always give her one of his toys if he has two. Last night he fed her his bottle because he knew she was out of milk. And he will give her the one toy he is playing with if she seems to want it more (and she always does). Sharing is an area for development for Leah…
Eating is pretty much the same as last month, though we recently found out that Elliot loves the broth from stew, which we put into a cup for him to drink and call it “meat juice”. Yeah, kind of gross, but there’s veggies in that meat juice. They still eat a ton of cheese, yogurt, chicken dogs, noodles and other kid foods, but sometimes we can trick them into other things. Leah does really well with her own utensils. It’s still messy, but she will eat a lot more of something from her own utensil than from one I am wielding. Elliot eats incredibly well when we have the TV on. I can literally shovel food into his mouth if he is distracted by Wonder Pets or Yo Gabba Gabba, but it’s not something we are willing to do most of the time. It’s a good trick to have in our pockets during particularly frustrating meals.
Bath time has become totally insane. I end up as wet as if it was my bath time due to Elliot throwing everything out of the bath (at me) and splashing as much as possible. He goes “Whoah! Whoah! Whoah!” and purposely slips and slides all over until he falls down, creating a huge splash. Cute, but soggy. He is absolutely going to be the class clown someday. Mark my words. Leah has been practicing her swimming a bit and has recently been upset when bath time is over each night. Our little fishy.
Bedtime is still one of my favorite times of day. Since moving bedtime later, we now do bath, then pajamas and then a bit of time by the fire before reading time in their room. They love running around in PJs and going a little crazy before bedtime. After I herd them into their room, we read books until bedtime. They now ask me to read a book over and over, which is a classic toddler bedtime procrastination method. As noted above, “Wocket in My Pocket” is the current favorite book, followed closely by “Goodnight Moon”, “The Snowy Day” and “Caps for Sale”. They aren’t terribly picky though as long as we read enough stories. Leah gets her own sleep sack for me to put on (and tries to help Elliot with his) and is very happy to get in her crib for bedtime. Elliot has been having a tougher time ending the day recently, which is hopefully just a phase. He responds really well to a pat-down, but I’m trying to resist starting a new bad habit. They both will not sleep without their lovies though.
16 Months was the month of Thanksgiving and Hanukkah. Thanksgiving was celebrated at the Grandma and Jer-Bear’s house this year as per the annual rotation schedule. Elliot and Leah loved playing in the big house, especially on the stairs. They also enjoyed playing with the toys that Grandma saved from when Craig and Sarah were toddlers. It snowed on Thanksgiving, which was unusual, and the kids loved watching the snow through the window from their grandparents’ bed, where they also had some extended jumping sessions. Other highlights of the Thanksgiving trip were ripping up newspapers with Uncle Jon, dancing in the kitchen, playing in the leaves and tons of attention from everyone. We are headed back down to Philly for Christmas and, other than the car ride, we are very eager to get there.
We had our 4th annual Hanukkah party for my family at our house. Craig’s awesome latkes and my admittedly outstanding rugelach were on the menu. It’s amazing how crazy our small house was with all five cousins running around. It was a total zoo. Leah loved playing with cousin Sam, while Elliot zipped around the house like a crazy man. Our nieces, Sasha and Amanda, were hilarious as they opened each gift, barely looked at it and said “can we have another present?” in unison. Kids these days… I love these family traditions though and feel extremely blessed about life in general these days.
Here’s to hoping all of it doesn’t go to hell after I publish this post.
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Was Gandhi insane as a toddler?
Did Franklin Roosevelt chuck most of his food on the floor at every meal? Did Gloria Steinem throw giant tantrums because the only book that she wanted among her hundreds was the one her brother was currently reading? Did Steve Jobs spend hours jumping from the coffee table to the couch and back again? Did Golda Meir drink milk enthusiastically from a bottle, but let the same milk dribble out of her mouth all over her shirt if it came from a sippy cup? Did Nelson Mandela refuse to have his diaper changed by flailing about like a crazy person spreading his poop all over everything in the process? Did Margaret Thatcher force herself to be dragged kicking and screaming from the playground after every single visit while other children and their caretakers looked on with horror? Did Winston Churchill stand up in the bathtub and throw himself backwards to make as big of a splash as possible, cackling maniacally all the while?
I certainly hope so.
I certainly hope so.
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
I had Forgotten About the Blog Post Jinx
It comes as no surprise that after I posted that puppy-dog-farting-rainbows post about how joyous and delightful life with twin toddlers is, things went a little south. We knew we were in trouble when we were playing outside in the leaves, an activity that can keep Elliot and Leah entertained for quite some time, and Elliot literally collapsed onto the ground and started whimpering. Then his nose began to run. I literally saw the first small stream of snot and knew we were screwed. And we were. Elliot does not take well to being ill (I seriously have no idea where that comes from. Surely not my dear husband and his epic head colds.). He whined for a week straight. He went on an infuriating hunger strike. He didn’t drink his milk for a few days. Leah got the cold too. She handled this cold better than her brother, but she was still super-sensitive (more so than usual). I suppose that this harkens to the beginning of cold season and I should get used to wiping little noses a hundred times a day for the next few months. And so it goes.
How about random nugs of information?
• Elliot just can’t get enough of Richard Scarry’s Cars and Trucks from A to Z (aka “Car Book!!” or “Book Car!!”. It is an obsession second only to footwear and hosiery. I have it memorized. Name a letter, I’ll tell you the car(s). Every time he sees the thing, even if he just put it down, he stops in his tracks and gets this look of shocked delight on his face and says “Book Car!” It’s incredibly cute.
• “Eeewww” and “Owww” are two favorite words (are these actually words?) at our house right now. In basically the correct context. “Eeww” is generally related to foot scent and “Oww” is often said after hitting someone (backwards though that is).
• Elliot has started to tell us when he poops. He says “poo poo”. He also says it when he farts, and occasionally just for kicks, but he consistently tells us when he poops. It’s not that helpful given the olfactory warning we also receive, but it’s very cute.
• Sleeping has been okay, but not great. We still aren’t back to 6:30 wakeups since Daylight Saving Time began a couple weeks back. This past Sunday, I was up with both kids at 5:00 a.m. This is painful because then they are so tired that they nap poorly and are total disasters by nighttime. Bedtime, though, is a lot of fun. They love their bedtime book and snuggles and so do I.
• Eating remains a constant struggle. I find myself begging them to eat things like a grilled cheese sandwich, which seems crazy. They went to bed without eating much of anything for dinner a couple nights while they were sick and it had no impact on their sleep.
• I have stopped being too ambitious about what we offer them for meals since more often then not, that meal is rejected and I end up giving them something I know they will like. We still offer new foods, but not as aggressively. It’s not worth the aggravation at this point.
• We’ve become really complacent about the usage of bottles around here. Elliot could stop anytime, but we keep giving them to him because it’s easy. Leah is very much addicted, but it’s about time to break the habit. 2011 = a bottle-free year. At least that’s the plan.
• Mealtimes also offer the opportunity for me to say things like “Get the soppressata out of your hair!”
• Leah now has enough hair for pigtails and I love it.
• This past weekend’s visit to Drumlin Farm was a lot more successful than the trip we took to Franklin Park Zoo last spring. I think this is mostly due to being older, but also to the awesomeness of Drumlin Farm. Leah and Elliot could literally have admired the chickens in the coop for hours if we let them. I don’t remember it being that cool when I was a kid.
• Leah and Elliot have started fighting. Generally it is over a toy/book/lovey/stuffed animal. Generally it is the thing that Elliot has and Leah decides she wants. The only way this can usually be resolved is by giving Leah said thing and distracting Elliot with something new. It makes me feel bad for him, but she is just indistractable.
• Animal sounds that either or both twins can imitate: dog, monkey, sheep, owl, rooster (the Spanish version “ki ki ri ki”).
• More new words: Leah – pizza, chicken, lovey, noodle (this is my favorite “noodle-oodle-oodle”); Elliot – moon, poo poo (as discussed above), “ew” (also as discussed).
That is what is new at 16 months old. We are looking forward to Thanksgiving, Hanukkah and Christmas this year with more active participation from the twins. We certainly realize how much we have to look forward to and be thankful for this year.
How about random nugs of information?
• Elliot just can’t get enough of Richard Scarry’s Cars and Trucks from A to Z (aka “Car Book!!” or “Book Car!!”. It is an obsession second only to footwear and hosiery. I have it memorized. Name a letter, I’ll tell you the car(s). Every time he sees the thing, even if he just put it down, he stops in his tracks and gets this look of shocked delight on his face and says “Book Car!” It’s incredibly cute.
• “Eeewww” and “Owww” are two favorite words (are these actually words?) at our house right now. In basically the correct context. “Eeww” is generally related to foot scent and “Oww” is often said after hitting someone (backwards though that is).
• Elliot has started to tell us when he poops. He says “poo poo”. He also says it when he farts, and occasionally just for kicks, but he consistently tells us when he poops. It’s not that helpful given the olfactory warning we also receive, but it’s very cute.
• Sleeping has been okay, but not great. We still aren’t back to 6:30 wakeups since Daylight Saving Time began a couple weeks back. This past Sunday, I was up with both kids at 5:00 a.m. This is painful because then they are so tired that they nap poorly and are total disasters by nighttime. Bedtime, though, is a lot of fun. They love their bedtime book and snuggles and so do I.
• Eating remains a constant struggle. I find myself begging them to eat things like a grilled cheese sandwich, which seems crazy. They went to bed without eating much of anything for dinner a couple nights while they were sick and it had no impact on their sleep.
• I have stopped being too ambitious about what we offer them for meals since more often then not, that meal is rejected and I end up giving them something I know they will like. We still offer new foods, but not as aggressively. It’s not worth the aggravation at this point.
• We’ve become really complacent about the usage of bottles around here. Elliot could stop anytime, but we keep giving them to him because it’s easy. Leah is very much addicted, but it’s about time to break the habit. 2011 = a bottle-free year. At least that’s the plan.
• Mealtimes also offer the opportunity for me to say things like “Get the soppressata out of your hair!”
• Leah now has enough hair for pigtails and I love it.
• This past weekend’s visit to Drumlin Farm was a lot more successful than the trip we took to Franklin Park Zoo last spring. I think this is mostly due to being older, but also to the awesomeness of Drumlin Farm. Leah and Elliot could literally have admired the chickens in the coop for hours if we let them. I don’t remember it being that cool when I was a kid.
• Leah and Elliot have started fighting. Generally it is over a toy/book/lovey/stuffed animal. Generally it is the thing that Elliot has and Leah decides she wants. The only way this can usually be resolved is by giving Leah said thing and distracting Elliot with something new. It makes me feel bad for him, but she is just indistractable.
• Animal sounds that either or both twins can imitate: dog, monkey, sheep, owl, rooster (the Spanish version “ki ki ri ki”).
• More new words: Leah – pizza, chicken, lovey, noodle (this is my favorite “noodle-oodle-oodle”); Elliot – moon, poo poo (as discussed above), “ew” (also as discussed).
That is what is new at 16 months old. We are looking forward to Thanksgiving, Hanukkah and Christmas this year with more active participation from the twins. We certainly realize how much we have to look forward to and be thankful for this year.
Thursday, November 4, 2010
15 Months in Pictures
Leah is an excellent photo subject, and loves to sit still for photos (though she doesn't always smile):
It is very rare to get a photo of Elliot actually looking at the camera, and nearly impossible to get one of him smiling.
Getting a shot of both babies together continues to be a challenge and I might have one shot from the past 15 months of the two of them smiling. Here is the best I've been able to do recently (just try taking that spoon away from Leah for the photo. I dare you):
This is far more common:
It is very rare to get a photo of Elliot actually looking at the camera, and nearly impossible to get one of him smiling.
Getting a shot of both babies together continues to be a challenge and I might have one shot from the past 15 months of the two of them smiling. Here is the best I've been able to do recently (just try taking that spoon away from Leah for the photo. I dare you):
This is far more common:
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
15 Months!
Given how poorly I have kept up with keeping the memories alive and the fact that my memory, in particular, is terrible, I thought I’d put in an effort to blog a little. Maybe like once a month? Maybe more? Who knows? Just don't pressure me.
Toddlerhood has been treating the Greiner family very well. Leah and Elliot are 15 months old (almost 16 months old now) and officially toddlers. We are having such a great time with them almost every day. Yes, there are moments of toddler insanity (ahem, Leah), but in general, we have very happy kids. Someone told me that the changes that occur during the second year are astounding, even more so than the first year, and I already see that to be true. Are 12 months, Leah and Elliot were just beginning to walk and couldn't say many real words. At 15 months, they are running, climbing, following commands, asking for specific things, speaking in two word phrases (Elliot), singing, dancing and just being all around fun little people.
Leah is an awesome and precocious little girl. She climbs on everything with frightening ease and agility. Like a cat, she always wants to be standing (or jumping) on the highest point in any room. She has moments of all out craziness, where she needs to be jumping on the sofa, the bed or on another human (her brother or parents). And she cackles and screams with maniacal joy. It’s pretty hilarious. She is obsessed with Elliot, calling him “Ee-ya” and tackling him from behind in bear hugs until he falls over, totally nonplussed. She also loves when she thinks Elliot is chasing her. She will sit on my lap looking expectantly for him, and when she hears or sees him coming, she will jump on me like she is trying to escape, while laughing hysterically. Leah’s laugh kills me every time. She makes this exaggerated “HA!” sound that is so funny. I basically live for laughs from Elliot and Leah and will do whatever I can to get them.
Leah is my girl. Elliot really has never really seemed to care about my comings and goings all that much, but Leah is very happy to see me at night. She is by no means attached, and happily goes to Lina when she comes in the morning, but when I come home, I can’t put her down from the moment we walk into the house until I put her into her highchair for dinner. This makes it difficult for me to prepare dinner/go to the bathroom/take my coat off, but it’s sweet that she missed me.
Leah’s vocabulary is pretty huge and growing every day. She picks up words very quickly and often surprises me with the words she knows. Some words she exclusively says in Spanish, some in English, but many she knows in both languages. Spanish words include “agua”, “sapo”, “vamos”, “libro” and more that she only says to Lina. Favorite English words are “spoon”, “bye”, “Dada”, “jacket”, “shoe”, etc. Thinking about it now, she isn’t nearly as fixated on any one word or object in general like Elliot, she is more of a generalist.
On the flip side of the Leah coin, she is also incredibly stubborn and has some serious toddler moments. She will absolutely freak out the second someone tries to take away an object that she is in possession of (toy, fork, sippy cup, bottle of diaper cream, hairbrush) and will become hysterical until she gets it back (or is otherwise distracted, which is challenging). She definitely gets away with a lot of nonsense because of the ruckus she can raise, but we tend to choose our battles and let her win if it’s not a big deal. She throws utter tantrums upon time to leave the playground, which renders whoever has to remove her into “that mom/dad/nanny” with the screaming and flailing child under arm. She still hates the car with an unbridled passion and cries much of the time in it, unless she is consuming her baba or I am singing either “The Itsy Bitsy Spider” or “If You’re Happy and You Know It”, in which case she will stop crying long enough to sing along. Generally, other songs do not work for Leah. So, basically, my daughter is either highly determined and motivated to get her way, or she’s incredibly spoiled. Let’s go with option A.
Elliot is Mr. Mellow. He is extremely high energy and would rather be running free outside or on the playground than just about anything else, but really, nothing much fazes him. He seems to have a bit of an obsessive quality to the way he plays. For example, he is very much obsessed with shoes and socks (which he also calls “shoes”). Every night when I take off his and Leah’s shoes and socks, he has to collect all of the socks and he carries them around for the rest of the night, occasionally holding them up to whoever is around and saying “SSSSHOES!” His love affair with footwear has been going on for quite some time now and doesn’t seem to be waning. I suppose it does run in the family though. In general, his slightly obsessive tendencies extend to collecting things in general. If we have multiple of the same type of toy, he will try very hard to hold all of them at once, often ineffectively. At the end of the day, we will find little stashes of thing (blocks, puzzle pieces, cars etc.) around the house. Elliot still loves to read. He has some favorite books now, which is a new development, including “Hop on Pop”, which he has shortened to “Pop”. When I read a book, he will station himself in front of me and walk backwards until he can plop down into my lap. I love that.
Feeding Elliot can be an exercise in extreme frustration and patience maintenance. He still throws a lot of his food on the floor and will decide he doesn’t want to eat something anymore and will swat the fork away as I move to put something in his mouth. This makes a huge mess and drives me batty, but I try to maintain decorum as I’m pretty sure that he loves a big reaction from me. He also swats at anyone who is holding him and throws toys at Leah somewhat frequently. He clearly loves a reaction.
Because he is so chill and detached, the love he does give out is such a huge payoff for me. Lately, at bedtime, while he is drinking his baba, he will come to me for a snuggle. I love it so much and take advantage of every snuggle I can get from him, because he is generally not particularly affectionate like Leah is.
Other than “SSSHOE!”, Elliot’s current favorite words include “Bee-bo” (for bellybutton), “Apple!” (for any fruit or vegetable that happens to be somewhat round), “cookie”, “Bye!” (accompanied by limp-wristed wave), “sky” (for plane, unfortunately, since he used to actually know the word “plane”) and “car”. He says these things with much enthusiasm and repetition, generally three repeats, increasing in implied exclamation point usage: “Bee-bo! Bee-bo!! Bee-bo!!!” He also has strung together his first phrase, which is “Bye ___”. This has included “Bye Bee-bo,” “Bye Dada,” “Bye car,” etc. He says “bye” whenever a door closes or a book closes. It’s really charming. Beyond English and Spanish words, Elliot has actually developed his own language. It is comprehensive and allows him to keep up a general narrative at all times, but no one else understands it. He will look at you directly and just begin speaking, in various sounds and word-like structures, but in total gibberish. I am quite certain that he knows exactly what he is saying, and that it's just the rest of us that are slow.
In general, life at the Greiner household is very good, but extremely exhausting. There are very few free moments. My schedule most days leaves very little room for accomplishing anything beyond what absolutely needs to get done, and a lot of things go undone (particularly my upkeep). Here is a typical Monday through Thursday:
6:30 – Wake with E&L, get ready for work
7:30 – Leave with Craig for the train
8:15 – Work
5:15 – Train home, Craig and kids pick me up at the train station
6:00 – Arrive home, feed E&L, play after dinner
6:30 – Bath time
6:45 – Bedtime routine, lights out at 7:00
7:00 – Run
8:00 – Shower, dinner, hang out with Craig
9:30/10:00 – Bedtime
It’s exhausting, and I miss having my own schedule, as opposed to living by Elliot and Leah’s, but, obviously, it’s well worth it.
So that’s where we are at 15 months. I hope to keep up a bit with this going forward, but given that I haven't had a haircut in 6 months, I can't guarantee anything.
Toddlerhood has been treating the Greiner family very well. Leah and Elliot are 15 months old (almost 16 months old now) and officially toddlers. We are having such a great time with them almost every day. Yes, there are moments of toddler insanity (ahem, Leah), but in general, we have very happy kids. Someone told me that the changes that occur during the second year are astounding, even more so than the first year, and I already see that to be true. Are 12 months, Leah and Elliot were just beginning to walk and couldn't say many real words. At 15 months, they are running, climbing, following commands, asking for specific things, speaking in two word phrases (Elliot), singing, dancing and just being all around fun little people.
Leah is an awesome and precocious little girl. She climbs on everything with frightening ease and agility. Like a cat, she always wants to be standing (or jumping) on the highest point in any room. She has moments of all out craziness, where she needs to be jumping on the sofa, the bed or on another human (her brother or parents). And she cackles and screams with maniacal joy. It’s pretty hilarious. She is obsessed with Elliot, calling him “Ee-ya” and tackling him from behind in bear hugs until he falls over, totally nonplussed. She also loves when she thinks Elliot is chasing her. She will sit on my lap looking expectantly for him, and when she hears or sees him coming, she will jump on me like she is trying to escape, while laughing hysterically. Leah’s laugh kills me every time. She makes this exaggerated “HA!” sound that is so funny. I basically live for laughs from Elliot and Leah and will do whatever I can to get them.
Leah is my girl. Elliot really has never really seemed to care about my comings and goings all that much, but Leah is very happy to see me at night. She is by no means attached, and happily goes to Lina when she comes in the morning, but when I come home, I can’t put her down from the moment we walk into the house until I put her into her highchair for dinner. This makes it difficult for me to prepare dinner/go to the bathroom/take my coat off, but it’s sweet that she missed me.
Leah’s vocabulary is pretty huge and growing every day. She picks up words very quickly and often surprises me with the words she knows. Some words she exclusively says in Spanish, some in English, but many she knows in both languages. Spanish words include “agua”, “sapo”, “vamos”, “libro” and more that she only says to Lina. Favorite English words are “spoon”, “bye”, “Dada”, “jacket”, “shoe”, etc. Thinking about it now, she isn’t nearly as fixated on any one word or object in general like Elliot, she is more of a generalist.
On the flip side of the Leah coin, she is also incredibly stubborn and has some serious toddler moments. She will absolutely freak out the second someone tries to take away an object that she is in possession of (toy, fork, sippy cup, bottle of diaper cream, hairbrush) and will become hysterical until she gets it back (or is otherwise distracted, which is challenging). She definitely gets away with a lot of nonsense because of the ruckus she can raise, but we tend to choose our battles and let her win if it’s not a big deal. She throws utter tantrums upon time to leave the playground, which renders whoever has to remove her into “that mom/dad/nanny” with the screaming and flailing child under arm. She still hates the car with an unbridled passion and cries much of the time in it, unless she is consuming her baba or I am singing either “The Itsy Bitsy Spider” or “If You’re Happy and You Know It”, in which case she will stop crying long enough to sing along. Generally, other songs do not work for Leah. So, basically, my daughter is either highly determined and motivated to get her way, or she’s incredibly spoiled. Let’s go with option A.
Elliot is Mr. Mellow. He is extremely high energy and would rather be running free outside or on the playground than just about anything else, but really, nothing much fazes him. He seems to have a bit of an obsessive quality to the way he plays. For example, he is very much obsessed with shoes and socks (which he also calls “shoes”). Every night when I take off his and Leah’s shoes and socks, he has to collect all of the socks and he carries them around for the rest of the night, occasionally holding them up to whoever is around and saying “SSSSHOES!” His love affair with footwear has been going on for quite some time now and doesn’t seem to be waning. I suppose it does run in the family though. In general, his slightly obsessive tendencies extend to collecting things in general. If we have multiple of the same type of toy, he will try very hard to hold all of them at once, often ineffectively. At the end of the day, we will find little stashes of thing (blocks, puzzle pieces, cars etc.) around the house. Elliot still loves to read. He has some favorite books now, which is a new development, including “Hop on Pop”, which he has shortened to “Pop”. When I read a book, he will station himself in front of me and walk backwards until he can plop down into my lap. I love that.
Feeding Elliot can be an exercise in extreme frustration and patience maintenance. He still throws a lot of his food on the floor and will decide he doesn’t want to eat something anymore and will swat the fork away as I move to put something in his mouth. This makes a huge mess and drives me batty, but I try to maintain decorum as I’m pretty sure that he loves a big reaction from me. He also swats at anyone who is holding him and throws toys at Leah somewhat frequently. He clearly loves a reaction.
Because he is so chill and detached, the love he does give out is such a huge payoff for me. Lately, at bedtime, while he is drinking his baba, he will come to me for a snuggle. I love it so much and take advantage of every snuggle I can get from him, because he is generally not particularly affectionate like Leah is.
Other than “SSSHOE!”, Elliot’s current favorite words include “Bee-bo” (for bellybutton), “Apple!” (for any fruit or vegetable that happens to be somewhat round), “cookie”, “Bye!” (accompanied by limp-wristed wave), “sky” (for plane, unfortunately, since he used to actually know the word “plane”) and “car”. He says these things with much enthusiasm and repetition, generally three repeats, increasing in implied exclamation point usage: “Bee-bo! Bee-bo!! Bee-bo!!!” He also has strung together his first phrase, which is “Bye ___”. This has included “Bye Bee-bo,” “Bye Dada,” “Bye car,” etc. He says “bye” whenever a door closes or a book closes. It’s really charming. Beyond English and Spanish words, Elliot has actually developed his own language. It is comprehensive and allows him to keep up a general narrative at all times, but no one else understands it. He will look at you directly and just begin speaking, in various sounds and word-like structures, but in total gibberish. I am quite certain that he knows exactly what he is saying, and that it's just the rest of us that are slow.
In general, life at the Greiner household is very good, but extremely exhausting. There are very few free moments. My schedule most days leaves very little room for accomplishing anything beyond what absolutely needs to get done, and a lot of things go undone (particularly my upkeep). Here is a typical Monday through Thursday:
6:30 – Wake with E&L, get ready for work
7:30 – Leave with Craig for the train
8:15 – Work
5:15 – Train home, Craig and kids pick me up at the train station
6:00 – Arrive home, feed E&L, play after dinner
6:30 – Bath time
6:45 – Bedtime routine, lights out at 7:00
7:00 – Run
8:00 – Shower, dinner, hang out with Craig
9:30/10:00 – Bedtime
It’s exhausting, and I miss having my own schedule, as opposed to living by Elliot and Leah’s, but, obviously, it’s well worth it.
So that’s where we are at 15 months. I hope to keep up a bit with this going forward, but given that I haven't had a haircut in 6 months, I can't guarantee anything.
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…
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…
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