Smiley

Guess who loves it when Roscoe wants some lap time?

Tonight, he fell asleep easily while playing in his crib. It's so cute to see him rumpled in a heap amongst the stuffed animals, sound asleep. Of course, he woke up an hour later, but that's totally not the point.

Green Beans are Funny

You wouldn't know it. But green beans are definitely funny.

I steamed a bunch of kale and some green beans today. I put them into the blender with some water, and made green purees for Ian. They went into ice cube trays and then into ziploc bags in the freezer. It'll add to our squash and applesauce repertoire now that Ian is officially "diggin" food.

Last night at Uncle Jay's, he ate probably at least 1/2 oz of chicken, 1/4 cup of yogurt, 1/4 cup of a combination of applesauce and squash, cheerios, and some potato salad. I think we're getting a preview of how Ian will eat as a teenager. Wow! Tonight, he had green beans (Daddy farted, that was the joke. They were laughing for ages before that video was taken. Oh, dear), squash, applesauce, turkey meatloaf, mashed potatoes, animal crackers (oh, how Ian loves animal crackers!) and some craisins. I think he was fussy this afternoon because he'd slept through lunch. He eats so differently each day, and some days he won't eat much at all, so it's hard to know that he's hungry. But hopefully we'll get the "eat" sign down, and that'd help!

Ian says, "HEY! Put the camera down and MAKE WITH THE GRUB!"

Playing with pictures

It'd be a good idea to go through and edit and select all of the good pics while they're still a manageable number (ha!). And I'll probably take a weekend and do that. But for now, here are some of the more entertaining things one can do with some of these pics on Picasa.

The original

"Soft focus"

"Glow"

"Filtered B&W"

I might use "glow" on some of the ones that I wish had better focus but are a really neat shot. Maybe "soft focus" when there's something in the background I wish to "unhighlight" (such as a dirty house). Black and white? Not sure of its optimal use. More serious shots, I guess. I'd like to improve my photograpy. There are a lot of fantastic photos on the web, and it'd be great to be able to produce just a little better quality. Equipment may be a start. Using the selective focus on my P&S camera has made me see how far we can go.

Big trip to the big city today. Not as many naps as Ian would like. But most everything is fairly sunny right now. :)

"Does he always smile this much?"

Someone asked me today, "Is he always this smiley?" Much of the time. Yup. Now we'll get a fussy day for saying that, but I'll take it. We had a great walk in the "warm before the storm." Let's hope the prediction for lows in the teens this week is just fiction.

The Outdoors

We're enjoying the outdoors. Yes, it's going to snow on Tuesday night. Through Thursday. But we are loving spring.

• Last night, our local Great Horned Owl graced us with his presence and song (about midnight. Not 3am. We're thankful for that). I wonder if he's awakened Ian any in his last nights in our room. I don't think you can hear him as clearly in Ian's room.
• The after-dinner walk has been reinstated. If we get out of the house at 7:30, we can get back before bedtime if the short upper loop is clear. The lower loop is 50 minutes if we hustle, best not to attempt after 7:15. Ian loves his walks and giggles for much of them. All smiles, this boy. The only fusses come when we're not moving, for whatever reason. 
• The clothesline is up and out and functioning (have to remember to bring that in tomorrow. Snow on the way). Clothes are crunchy and smell nice.
• Holding Ian as we're getting ready to head up for bed, his hair smells like the outdoors. Not sweat or anything in particular, just that smell of a warm day. So neat.

Newsy: The high chair is boxed up and ready to go. Tonight for dinner, Ian ate a whole cube of Haycorn Squash with blueberries and a whole cube of applesauce, plus 3 tater tots and some beans and peas and cheerios and raisins. I think he's gearing up for a growth spurt - he's been nursing a lot lately and usually eating fairly well. He really seems to enjoy having his own room. We let him roam the floor in there, and he doesn't get that option in our room. So, no wonder he likes it. He slept well last night, except for a fussy bit from 1-3 or so. After that, he did fine. The diapers are fitting a little bit differently - his waistline is decreasing some. Active boy!

Thanks to John for writing up a guest post last night. It was sweet. :)

Guest Post

Today was another great day, we all went for a walk in the morning and Daddy pushed me in my stroller. We were out for hours or thats how long it seemed to me, it was so much fun I didn't even take a nap. When we got home we ate lunch and then I got tired so I napped for a few hours. Tonight I will be sleeping in my own room by myself for the first time. Mom and Dad won't keep waking me up with their snoring and other noises.

Have a goodnight!
-IMW

I'm here to pump you up.

Almost Steps

I have tried to get a picture of his, but haven't. Today, Ian took several steps while being very minimally supported, mostly unsupported. He was standing, and I had my hands kind of near his torso (and he knew it). He really wanted to go see the dog, and moved his body over there, walking in a very wobbly fashion. He touched my hands about twice. I'm going to call it almost unsupported walking. Wow!

He's signing so often now. He signs for milk, potty, water, more, and (of course) all done. But they all look like "all done." He's so intent on communicating, now that he can, however. It's so fun!

Not the last

This won't be the last snow. But it was mostly gone by the end of the day.
This morning:

See? Not so bad.
Lots of work done today, and to that end, we let Ian play with that which entertains. It entertains me too (when I have time to play with it).

He's very talented at grasping the ball with is teeth and pulling with both hands to undo a whole ball in no time. This strong cotton is up to the task. Poops are better today. We've determined that he needs more water. Easy enough to do. We say goodbye to the high chair tomorrow, and have the intermediate chair prepped. We found a nice Fisher Price Space Saver High Chair (used, at the thrift store. Love that place.) to do the job nicely in the month or two we anticipate it'll take to get our new high chair from Graco. At that point, the space saver chair can go to Uncle Jay's house to be brought out when we're there. That'll make fun time at Jay's a lot simpler!

BTW, I think Ian is really close to taking a first step. He can stand using something only 8" tall, and then lets go. He stands for inordinate amounts of time, unsupported. He's reaching from one place to another, even if they're not "connected." Here he is just randomly toying with standing up.



And his signs are progressing, but it's frustrating for all. Poor guy uses the same sign for everything, and is fully intent on communicating. At least that's a good step, though. Today, he told me that he needed to go back on the potty right as I was putting his diaper back on. "Uh Uh UH!" then he does his sign. Mostly today, he used it for potty!

Rain, Glorious Rain!

Rain today! There was some mass in it at some points during the day, but it really did a number on the remaining snow. Around dusk, these pics were taken.

You can see that the north-facing hills behind the house definitely have a ways to go, but we're really close. More precipitation overnight means probable snow, but that's ok. We have a neat new camping stove (pics soon!) so we're ready for whatever spring weather needs to be thrown our way. The first rain of the spring this year somehow feels like validation that spring really is imminent. You know, being late APRIL and all.

Unpleasant topics: the duct blockage seems to be mostly cleared up. I will continue to be careful with it however, and get lots of rest and fluids to make sure. And Ian had a rather painful poop today. Ouch. He cried and cried. I don't know if it's just that this is the most solid movement he's had, or if maybe something in our diet lately has caused both of us to get a bit stopped up. It seems as if he'll need to do it again in the morning. He wasn't willing to tonight. We'll go heavy on the fiber for a bit, and more water and nursing for Ian, and hopefully it'll all right itself. I'll email a question to the doc just in case.

This is what's required when it's sunny outside!

And his hair must be getting a bit longer, because it's so poofy!

Big City

Big trip to the big city today. The business meeting went great, and we made it there just after the doctor appointment for the blocked duct.

The doctor appointment went great as well. I am feeling a lot better and suspected that I was on the mend but wanted to see what he thought of all of it and what I could do to help it heal more quickly. He told me to get a different homeopathic medicine, especially since it was the second occurrence, and that should help it to not recur. He gave us a prescription for antibiotics, should they be necessary, as well. It seems as if there is not an "infection" right now, though, as there is no fever anymore. The pain is going down too. So I think we're on the mend.

John and Ian went to the park and had a great time while I was meeting with a new client. They had a fun time on the swings and slide and went for a walk around the park in the stroller. No pictures, of course. Ian was in a short-sleeved shirt and it was about 70 outside, so just a beautiful afternoon. We opted not to go shopping or anything, in favor of getting home and getting more rest.

We have to remember to add a few things to the diaper bag: A set of jammies, a night-time diaper (and all that entails at the time). If he can arrive home tired and ready for bed, it'll be a simple task to put him down. If he's not ready for bed, it's not so simple. He does not enjoy getting into night-time jammies and diaper when he's really tired or has just slept part of his night. We did well with bringing food for Ian, squash with blueberries, and some applesauce and cheerios and raisins. He ate well too!

Enough blithering. I uploaded a bunch of pics from the phone.

As promised, Ian's "All Done" sign

We went to REI. Ian tried on a camp chair.

And a bike helmet.

He's playing "Peek A Boo"

And clapping for you!

Awesomesauce

We made applesauce today, and I don't think I can go back to store-bought. It was so good and really easy to do in the crock pot. We just used the corer/slicer and then peeled each slice. I used 10 Gala apples, and the recipe here, except without any of the sugars. We added the juice of one lemon, a bit of lemon peel, water (I ended up adding more water, to total a bit more than a cup. Started with about 1/2 c) and a cinnamon stick. I actually left out the salt as well (unintentionally, but I think it's fine without.) When "testing" to see if it was done, I gave Ian some and he got pretty upset when I ran out. I plan to freeze it in ice cube trays so it'll be easy to give him a taste of applesauce at meals. I am going to cook up a sweet potato tomorrow as well. He ate the last one up already. The crock pot works well for that as well.

The plugged duct is still there, and we're going on 48 hours with this. Not fun. If I can't get it unclogged soon, it may get infected . The last clog fixed itself fairly quickly. I'm still taking ibuprofen for the fever, although I haven't taken any in a while now and don't feel too bad, thermometer says 99.0. I suppose I should take one if I'm going to have any chance of sleep. Last night was brutal - the fever kept me up the majority of the night. I've been trying hot compresses, massage, hot showers, extra nursing, acrobatic nursing, and nothing has pulled that plug out of there! We'll give the doctor a call tomorrow.

Ian is getting really good at his new sign. Used primarily on the high chair and toilet, he twists his hands to say "all done!" If I ask him if he's all done, he'll do the sign, too. I think he'd like to do other signs, but hasn't gotten the knack of the hand movement yet. He signed "all done" with one hand right after his nap, and it turned out he wanted to nurse. We're working on emphasizing "potty," "more," and "milk" for our next signs. We use "hurt" when the occasion arises, as well. It's so exciting to be able to communicate with him.

Tonight, he was signing "all done" when we'd just started dinner. But, to reinforce the sign, I asked him if he was all done, and took him out of the high chair. We continued to eat while he used the high chair to steady him as he stood there and watched us. We try to just feed him in the high chair, so he didn't get more food while out of the high chair. After we'd eaten, I put him back in the high chair and gave him a spoonful of rice, which he ate, and then said "all done." I asked him if he really meant it because we have that great applesauce for dessert. I gave him one spoonful of applesauce, and he ate that, but then he signed "all done" again and when I offered more, he turned his head aside. So he was indeed all done! He does recognize words and signs as well - before dinner we caught today's poop in the toilet because he was quiet and pensive and I asked him if he needed to potty and used the sign, and he smiled. Fabulous! This is the closest I have to a picture of "all done." I'll get a better one shortly.

Great Big Day

What a big day. We got some work done. Somehow, we got out the door in time to get our vegetables by noon. Then a few errands in town and brief trip to the library. Lunch in Midway, and we stopped to see Judith at ReBook. She's always great to talk to. Then we headed off to Dutch Hollow and went for a brief hike. I really have the itch to go mountain biking. One of my very first posts on here a long time ago was about a bike there. There were a number of families discovering mountain biking together today on the trails, and several horse trailers there as well. Ian fell asleep during the walk, and somehow stayed asleep as I put him in the carseat. He slept for about 45 minutes (he didn't get a big nap today) while I perused the thrift store and John stayed in the car with him and made up the grocery list. Groceries and home after 7pm! We had a wonderful salad for dinner, Ian had two helpings of food (sweet potatoes with blueberries and Haycorn squash with peas. About 1T each, and he ate it all.) along with some cheese, avocado and some bread.

The biggest developments: Ian seems poised to take that first step. He will stand for long periods of time without holding on, and does it automatically when it's convenient (when he wants both hands for something and happens to be standing). He's not decided to move his feet when standing unassisted, but will readily  "walk" when we're holding his hands.

Plus, I think he's got the "all done" sign. He did it tonight when he wanted out of the high chair, because he was "all done" eating. Then tonight, holding him on the toilet, he signed "all done" because he didn't need to pee. I looked at that and said "are you all done?" and he smiled. I think we're getting somewhere! He is practicing the motion and will do it fairly often it seems, but I think he's pulling it out when he wants to communicate and that's a huge step.

Ian says, "Books are for eating! Silly Judith. There are so many books and she hasn't eaten a single one!"

So Big!

Our newest game:
Mom: "How big is Ian?"
Ian: Giggles. Throws his arms up.
Mom: Giggles and throws her arms up too. "So big!"
Ian: Giggles wildly and then falls down.
So big that he's standing on his own a lot lately!

Ian has been articulating his wrists lately - I think he's on the verge of getting his first sign. "All Done!" Big boy Ian has been eating lots of regular food, too! We're trying to give a green food, an orange food, and a fruit at each of 3 meals! Green vegetable is usually peas or green beaners for finger food practice. Orange is squash or sweet potatoes, and fruit has been applesauce, but I need to make some applesauce. We have mango and avocado to switch up the fruit and "green" offerings. Stinky, stinky poops!! So glad I don't have to touch them as yet! All poops this week in the toilet!

Switching things up

Just when you think you've got things figured out (or screwed everything up), Ian goes switching it up. Last night we thought that the camping trip had completely hosed any "sleep training" we had managed. During our trip, he was nursed at every peep and slept with us. The last few nights he hasn't slept more than a few hours at a stretch. But last night, we gave him some ibuprofen in the event that pain was keeping him up. He then slept for 5 hours straight. Poor fella. Teething again? He was so rested that today he only took one 2 hour nap. No other naps. We'll see what tonight holds in store.

Snow is melting. It's warm in town. The park was fun the other day. Hopefully more visits to the park in the very near future!

Casto Canyon Hike

On our way home from our camping trip, we went for a walk in Casto Canyon. The National Forest Service trailhead is here. Scroll in to see it. It's a ~5 mile drive in from Highway 89, first road south of Panguitch.

What a beautiful canyon. It appears as if its major use is atv's, unfortunately, but there were none on that Sunday afternoon. It was a beautiful warm sunny day with bright blue sky and beautiful orange rock spires all around. The trail follows the stream, and there are many stream crossings. The stream is not nearly as large as it appears to be on the satellite image - I got through the stream crossings with dry feet. John did not, as he was smart and not willing to jump across with Ian on his back. So he got wet feet. But that's no big deal. We usually wear shoes and socks that dry quickly.

It said "no camping" at the trailhead, but I'm not sure if it meant no camping in the canyon or at the trailhead. I can't imagine what kind of damage a bunch of teenage 3.2 drinking atv marauders would do to this place, though, and I can see that as a big reason that they might not want campers.

Check out the terrain feature on google maps - you can see that those spires are over 400 feet tall!! This trail description talks of another nearby canyon (Losee Canyon) that may not be used by atv's - that may be a good option for busy weekends or for just avoiding the atv's and their effects. One of the effects of the atv's in this canyon is that the trail often goes through the stream for long stretches. However, it's not too hard to just find your own trail. It's easy to follow the stream (especially on the way back to the car, as that is downstream), and it shouldn't be too hard on the landscape to traipse off trail in this location. You can see that the water will rise and wash over your footprints and nourish the plantlife there at some point. (Many places in the southern Utah desert have cryptobiotic crust that you want to avoid, but this stream bottom did not appear to be one of those places.)

(Tango is very alert when Ian has a snack. And Ian is wisely wary. Then tosses him a cracker.)

We brought snacks and Ian got to check out the interesting fine sand on the dry streambed. It was a beautiful hike, and we all loved it. It was well worth waking up from his car-nap for this!

ETA: Neat!

New Babbles

Ian's current babble can be heard on this video.

It's the b-b-b-b-b made by pursing your lips and making a "buh" sound, and letting air escape your lips on either side alternately. It's not the easiest thing to do, for us adults. We have no idea where he learned this, but he's been doing it for days. It's hilarious.

Plus, it's hard to eat when you're too animated to get the food into your own mouth. Silly boy. He's really really good at crawling now, using both knees, and can stand up using anything at all, even a wall. He also sometimes straightens his legs when he's been crawling and has stopped. (That puts him in a "downward dog" position. Maybe we should start yoga with him?) He's been "letting go" lately, especially on uneven surfaces, of all places. On the bed (or while camping, on the aerobed), and he'd stand for quite a long time (10-15 seconds?) before either sitting on his butt or falling forward. He always catches himself or we catch him when going forward. Then falling forward becomes a game. Everything is a game. John will shake his head and make noises with his tongue out and Ian squeals. I will move toward him then away and back again and he squeals. Such a happy boy!

Happy Birthday!

Ian says, "HAPPY BIRTHDAY GRANDMA!"

Warmth!

What a fun weekend. We went to where it was warm, and it was nice. Ian did so well. He slept in the tent in the aerobed with us, napped in the car on the way to and fro - hikes and checking things out. He liked veg time at the campground - he got to explore.

Ian's review:
Sand: tasty.
Rocks: Tasty!
Picnic Table: "Can I have a doggy bag?"
Having boogers wiped: No fun.