Life is going by....
Oliver!
I have been horribly remiss in recording your life for the past couple of months. How could you let me get away with it? Because there are so many things on which to comment, I'm going to just run down the list. Ready? Okay...GO!
1. You've stopped nursing. Right after you turned one, you went down to 2 nursings a day - in the morning and at night. Mornings are always a little crazy anyway, so if I didn't remember to pull out the boob you didn't really ask for it, so that gradually went to the wayside. You were breastfeeding only in very small doses and not really consistently. Then one day, when you were about 13 1/2 months, you turned to nurse and it was like sucking out of an empty straw. Seriously, it made that noise. You gave up, I put them away, and that was that. (As long as you don't see the breasts, you don't know they are there.) I'm really proud of the two of us for sticking with breastfeeding and pumping for so long, but I'm also extremely proud of you for leading the weaning process and not fussing at all. Congratulations, little man. You're off the boob. I have a twinge of pity when you're sick or tired, though, because sometimes you suck your thumb and twist my nipple through my shirt.
2. This will be the last breastfeeding story, I swear. We had gone out to dinner one night after daycare because your dad was in the city for some reason and I didn't want to cook. I didn't realize that it was about to rain, so on our way home we got stuck in a horrible downpour. By the time we got home, it was time for your bath. I was soaking, so I decided to take a bath with you. It's normal, I'm sure many parents have done it, so I didn't feel awkward. Well, not until you saw me without a shirt, sloshed over, squatted down and started nursing. For a brief second, I almost stopped you and then thought, well, what does he know? So I gathered you up and we sat there, in the soapy water, breastfeeding.
3. You are anemic. That's what the doctor says. You don't get to eat all the enriched breads and grains that others get to eat because of your gluten allergy. We give you vitamins every day, but not the iron ones because those smell like rancid dirty clothes left out to bake in the sun near a bait shop. And tastes like it too. We pump a lot of meat and spinach into you. We're working on it. You're still growing like a weed.
4. At this time you have 9 teeth. 5 on top and 4 ont he bottom. A 10th is unconfirmed. One on top has been lopped off by some accident, but we don't know when. The doctor assures us that they aren't your permanent teeth, so we needn't be alarmed. I'm less alarmed by your ragged smile as by the fact that we can't remember a face-plant that was so hard it broke your tooth!
5. I continue to be haunted by my work schedule and seemingly lack of play time with you. Until you are 18, I think the song, "Cat's In The Cradle" by Cat Stevens will be on a forever loop in my head.
6. I came to pick you up in daycare last month and Miss Antoinette (she claims that the two of you have a deep emotional bond), asked if we watch soccer at home. I told her yes and that your dad plays soccer, too, and she said, "That explains it!" She went on to explain that she had given you a ball with which to play and instead of picking it up with your hands, you kicked the ball. Kept kicking around the perimeter of the classroom. She said she gave you a ball later in the afternoon, too, and you did the same thing. Miss Antoinette made sure to tell me that you were kicking like a soccer player - one foot, then the other - instead of kind of falling into it like the other kids. Your dad was prouder than a peacock when I told him!
7. Speaking of daycare, this week is your first week in a new classroom: Toddler 1. You were previously in Infant A (from 3 mos - 8 1/2 mos) and then Infant B (8 1/2 mos - 15 mos). In these rooms you slept in a crib, ate in a high chair and drank from bottles - until about 12 months when we started giving you straw-cups. Also in those rooms, you were cared for by the same team of ladies. Now you are in a room where you nap only once a day, on a cot, and you eat while sitting at a little table and chairs. You also go outside twice a day and play on the swingset. We can't take your stroller upstairs anymore - we walk up the stairs now. And there are different ladies. It's a big change for both of us. Your transition last week wasn't the greatest - Miss Ruth never left your grasp - but now you're in there full time. You've cried each morning when I've dropped you off. Despite some of your friends being in the same class - Cole and Lily - you don't remember them from the Infant Room, so it's not a comfort. Love, I'm so proud that you're growing up, but it's a big adjustment. I'm just praying that you get through it unscathed. Which you will, I'm being silly, but I still worry.
8. We went on vacation a couple of weeks to the lake cottage in Michigan. I'll draft a different blog post for that because of all the pictures!
9. This weekend my best friend, Michelle, came to visit. She was in town for a conference and stayed with us for the weekend. It was the first time you had met each other and you guys instantly loved each other. You looked for her after getting back from daycare that night after she had left! I'm kicking myself that I never got any pictures.
I think that's about it. I love you!
I have been horribly remiss in recording your life for the past couple of months. How could you let me get away with it? Because there are so many things on which to comment, I'm going to just run down the list. Ready? Okay...GO!
1. You've stopped nursing. Right after you turned one, you went down to 2 nursings a day - in the morning and at night. Mornings are always a little crazy anyway, so if I didn't remember to pull out the boob you didn't really ask for it, so that gradually went to the wayside. You were breastfeeding only in very small doses and not really consistently. Then one day, when you were about 13 1/2 months, you turned to nurse and it was like sucking out of an empty straw. Seriously, it made that noise. You gave up, I put them away, and that was that. (As long as you don't see the breasts, you don't know they are there.) I'm really proud of the two of us for sticking with breastfeeding and pumping for so long, but I'm also extremely proud of you for leading the weaning process and not fussing at all. Congratulations, little man. You're off the boob. I have a twinge of pity when you're sick or tired, though, because sometimes you suck your thumb and twist my nipple through my shirt.
2. This will be the last breastfeeding story, I swear. We had gone out to dinner one night after daycare because your dad was in the city for some reason and I didn't want to cook. I didn't realize that it was about to rain, so on our way home we got stuck in a horrible downpour. By the time we got home, it was time for your bath. I was soaking, so I decided to take a bath with you. It's normal, I'm sure many parents have done it, so I didn't feel awkward. Well, not until you saw me without a shirt, sloshed over, squatted down and started nursing. For a brief second, I almost stopped you and then thought, well, what does he know? So I gathered you up and we sat there, in the soapy water, breastfeeding.
3. You are anemic. That's what the doctor says. You don't get to eat all the enriched breads and grains that others get to eat because of your gluten allergy. We give you vitamins every day, but not the iron ones because those smell like rancid dirty clothes left out to bake in the sun near a bait shop. And tastes like it too. We pump a lot of meat and spinach into you. We're working on it. You're still growing like a weed.
4. At this time you have 9 teeth. 5 on top and 4 ont he bottom. A 10th is unconfirmed. One on top has been lopped off by some accident, but we don't know when. The doctor assures us that they aren't your permanent teeth, so we needn't be alarmed. I'm less alarmed by your ragged smile as by the fact that we can't remember a face-plant that was so hard it broke your tooth!
5. I continue to be haunted by my work schedule and seemingly lack of play time with you. Until you are 18, I think the song, "Cat's In The Cradle" by Cat Stevens will be on a forever loop in my head.
6. I came to pick you up in daycare last month and Miss Antoinette (she claims that the two of you have a deep emotional bond), asked if we watch soccer at home. I told her yes and that your dad plays soccer, too, and she said, "That explains it!" She went on to explain that she had given you a ball with which to play and instead of picking it up with your hands, you kicked the ball. Kept kicking around the perimeter of the classroom. She said she gave you a ball later in the afternoon, too, and you did the same thing. Miss Antoinette made sure to tell me that you were kicking like a soccer player - one foot, then the other - instead of kind of falling into it like the other kids. Your dad was prouder than a peacock when I told him!
7. Speaking of daycare, this week is your first week in a new classroom: Toddler 1. You were previously in Infant A (from 3 mos - 8 1/2 mos) and then Infant B (8 1/2 mos - 15 mos). In these rooms you slept in a crib, ate in a high chair and drank from bottles - until about 12 months when we started giving you straw-cups. Also in those rooms, you were cared for by the same team of ladies. Now you are in a room where you nap only once a day, on a cot, and you eat while sitting at a little table and chairs. You also go outside twice a day and play on the swingset. We can't take your stroller upstairs anymore - we walk up the stairs now. And there are different ladies. It's a big change for both of us. Your transition last week wasn't the greatest - Miss Ruth never left your grasp - but now you're in there full time. You've cried each morning when I've dropped you off. Despite some of your friends being in the same class - Cole and Lily - you don't remember them from the Infant Room, so it's not a comfort. Love, I'm so proud that you're growing up, but it's a big adjustment. I'm just praying that you get through it unscathed. Which you will, I'm being silly, but I still worry.
8. We went on vacation a couple of weeks to the lake cottage in Michigan. I'll draft a different blog post for that because of all the pictures!
9. This weekend my best friend, Michelle, came to visit. She was in town for a conference and stayed with us for the weekend. It was the first time you had met each other and you guys instantly loved each other. You looked for her after getting back from daycare that night after she had left! I'm kicking myself that I never got any pictures.
I think that's about it. I love you!
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