Grooovy

While I seem to absolutely abhor routine, we seem to have found a good groove here, now that John's last day of work at Sundance is upon us. I work in the morning (at the library), and John has Ian all morning. They have breakfast, go for a walk, eat lunch, and Ian goes down for a nap about 1pm. I come home shortly after 1pm and John takes off. I finish more work, clean up the kitchen, and start dinner while Ian naps. When Ian gets up, he snacks, we play (outside and in) and finish working on dinner. I try to have dinner ready by 6pm, he eats (for an hour and a half) and then it's time to play for a bit, have ice cream, and then get ready for bed.

Want some tots?

It really is fun getting Ian to myself for the afternoons, sledding, skiing, or playing indoors. It's been so helpful to get out of the house to get some work done. It helps reduce the pressure of unfinished work. There's still stuff to do, but I know that I'll get time to work on it, and that is very helpful. Sometimes Ian watches some Pingu while I work on dinner. He likes Mommy's chair.

Tooth #8

Tooth #8 made an appearance yesterday. The last of the lower lateral incisor. The last of the typical first 8 teeth! Ian wasn't quite as fussy as he was with previous teeth, but the drooly and snotty times happened just after cutting tooth #7. We'll see. Last night was pretty good - only wakeups were at 1 and 5. Teething tabs at bedtime and at 1, but no need for the major painkillers.

We've been emphasizing finger foods that he can feed himself, and it's helped quite a lot - he eats more now! So, a good night sleep and Ian eating more during the day? What does that equal? You bet! Blocked duct. I hope this one goes away quickly. We're working at it.

Uncle Jay stopped by last night to see Ian and have some dinner. He brought chicken and ice cream! If Jay has some pics, I'll add them to this post.

Clouds

Ian has been nursing a lot lately. Now that he can ask for it, he does so all the time. He's often asking for food as well. I think we'll see if our little guy has an independent streak and give him more food that he can feed himself. He's been nursing for a longer time lately, something we haven't seen since he was 3 months old.

During one of our longer nursing sessions today, we sat outside in the lounger in the shade. It was a beautiful afternoon. Have you noticed how you can sometimes see the shape of the windows in his eyes? Today I watched the clouds float by in his eyes. It was beautiful. I wish I could have gotten a picture, but this one will have to do. At that point, he was tired, and I was hoping we could take an outside snuggle nap. That would have been perfect. But no. Someone has too much to do and too much to see. A 20 minute relaxing nurse and he's recharged and ready to go. I was willing to ignore my work for a little nap. But not Ian.

Random

Ian likes to cruise around holding on with one hand (to my hand, a pantleg, etc). He's stable at it (much of the time) and fast, too! No more solo steps today, but lots of signs. Lots of signs for "milk," actually. Not the milk sign, but water sign, and I ask if he really wants milk, and yes, yes he does. There may be a growth spurt in the works.

Today's fun food: bean quesadillas. Black beans, cheese, and salsa in fresh tortillas. Really tasty. Daddy is quite the chef! Ian ate almost 1/4 of a quesadilla.

Soon we need to get Ian's Birthday Present out of the car and make sure it's clean and in good order. We'll try not to spoil the surprise for him.

Two Steps

Ian is certainly interested in

1. stacking his little stacker and

2. walking! He wants to work on it, suddenly. We officially have first steps! Only two at a time, and only once or twice. Otherwise, he'll walk us around, with just one hand holding onto a pant leg or finger and he's just about running. He wants to move so fast!!

I asked John to help take a look around the house through the eyes of the mother of a toddler. We have so much to do. Ian's just going to be able to get into more and more trouble and fast!

Another funny regarding the stacking. I tried to get video but haven't been able to yet. First, I showed him and helped him to stack the rings. Now, when he goes about doing it himself, he gets so frustrated. He knows he can do it, but it takes several tries, and sometimes the little peg moves out of the way, often the ring isn't the right position, a hand in the way, etc. So we're making dinner and hear a fussing, then crying Ian in the living room. Come to find out he's just so frustrated at the rings. I helped him some, and then provided encouragement and it helped. I hope he doesn't have the same low tolerance for frustration that his mommy has. He did eventually stack all of them with no assistance (other than a reverse stack sitting right next to it - helped him grab them in the right order).

In other news

1. It was another big food day for Ian. Split pea soup was a huge hit! Breakfast was yogurt, cheese, granola, hashbrowns. Lunch: smoothie (lots of fruit and veg), crackers, cereal, cheese. Dinner: Split pea soup, grilled cheese. He's so good at signing water, and signs it whenever he wants anything to drink, whether it be milk, smoothie, tea, water. He's really excited about being able to communicate his food wants. Hence all of the cheese. He really likes cheese.
2. Ian is getting sign language. He doesn't always use the sign he intends, but we get it and help him. Today we introduced: Cereal, Moose (he loves the moose bottle opener. He wants to go see it all the time. Now he can ask for it by name. He hasn't replicated the sign yet, but soon). Tomorrow: Soup, Dog, and reinforce the already introduced signs including Mom and Dad. His best signs now: water, all done, down, more. 
3. It's chilly here. The heat is on. It's not snowing, though, and for that we are thankful. Ian is thoroughly bummed to be in long sleeves and (more importantly) not able to cruise the deck. It's just too chilly and often raining lately.
   
   

Nom Nom Nom

Ian's favorite foods right now:
Yogurt with granola. We can get him to eat that most mornings for breakfast.
Soups of most any kind: Pho, Miso, Chicken Noodle. Haven't tried the cream-based ones. Mostly because I don't eat them.
Smoothies: Sometimes we make them for dessert, and they're so tasty. Cold, too! Ian likes to eat them when we're all eating dessert together. I should sneak some greens into our smoothies. Easy way to get the whole family to eat them.


Applesauce: Still a big hit. I need to make more. He really likes homemade best. Who doesn't?
Bread/toast (with peanut butter even!)
Hot dogs/buns
He also liked the small tastes he's gotten of smoked salmon and mushrooms lately. Yum!
Beans and rice (usually)

Foods I want to try soon:
Kale chips
Oatmeal bread
Homemade hot dog/hamburger buns

Updates: Poor fella is teething. We saw one poke through somewhat unceremoniously, but now he's snotty and slight fever. I hope he feels better soon!

Later!

Ian says: "I'm going to go cruise the hallway for a while now. Bye."

Did you know that nice walks in the neighborhood make for better naps? Not in the stroller anymore - there's way too much that's interesting to see out there. But when we get back? Mmmmm. Naptime.

I think that Ian was "off" from eating because of this new tooth. He was signing for food today! He'd sign "more" (all fingertips together), and we figured out that he wants food. I think. We plopped him into the high chair and fed him and he was happy, so we think that's what it is. And he was near the kitchen. He's really good at signing "all done" when it's needed, and he's working on the mechanics of the "potty" and "milk" signs. He's close to getting those!

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!"

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. :)

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.

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!

No mocking.

I'm not mocking the weather man. Apparently he is serious. We are expecting another 7-11" tonight, and 4-6" tomorrow. Sheesh. Not mocking. But pleading for spring.

Change: It's not in the weather quite yet, but it is in the air.

Now I just have to get someone to style it.

Tasty, tasty food!!

Curiosities

It's so much fun to see Ian's personality come out, and see him learn and grow.

Little habits and curiosities and, of course, new skills:

1. Take a piece of food. Turn to your right (or left). Look down at the floor. Hold food over the floor. Look at food. Look again at the floor. Drop food. Watch to see if dog comes to get it. Whether the dog (or Mom or Dad) picks it up or not, repeat.
2. Take a piece of food. Look straight up at the ceiling. Hold food high above your face. Smile. Drop food. Feel it bounce off of your face (or chest). Repeat.
3. Of course, he tastes everything, with the possible exception of some foods.
4. While we're sitting on the floor discovering the world, he very meticulously likes to pull dog(/cat/mom/dad) hair off of my socks and put it in his mouth. Of course I don't let him, but he likes to find hair wherever he can and do this. 
5. "Where's the kitty?" Ian spins around and finds Roscoe at the window sill.
6. Every time he sees the dog: "Duh" "Ah Duh" Very good! That's the dog! (*he does say this frequently at other times as well, when the dog is not in sight).
7. This morning, when getting ready to hold him over the toilet, I said "time to go potty" and did the potty sign, and he smiled and reached for me. Then once at the toilet, let go of a big poop he'd been saving.
8. He's not doing the sign yet, but does recognize the sign for "milk" (nursing). If he's a bit hungry but distracted and we're hangin' out on the floor when I give him the milk sign, he smiles and crawls right over to me to get some!
9. He's very skilled at removing socks.
10. He has little cloth block books. We read the books to him frequently, and he likes to shake and eat the books. He has just started taking a book and turning the pages and talking to it! 

Nose Detective

Today was possibly the onset of ... something. Massively runny nose (wipe it every 5 minutes type of huge runny nose), drooly, slight fever (99.1). The best 3 cluprits I can see:

1. Teething
2. Reaction to some food
3. Illness of sorts

Now, I don't think it's an illness because neither John nor I show any signs of anything, and we really haven't been out much at all. We've just been to the grocery store and out and about maybe twice this week.

Those are good teething symptoms, but not usual ones for him, and there are swollen tooth areas next to the new teeth. When we asked that all of his teeth come in at once and get it over with, this is not what we had in mind. Here's a chart, btw, of primary teeth, so you can see. 



He got the lower central incisors around Christmas time. The upper central incisors a little over a week ago. We're noticing the upper and lower lateral incisors looking different, and the canine upper and lower are definitely there under the gums, but don't seem to be currently progressing. 

I think it may be a reaction to some food. We had curry rice the other day (he had a few grains, but he did eat some). This was made without the shrimp and basil, but with finely chopped beet greens, and a fraction of the onion that was in the recipe. We like this recipe, it's the 2nd time we've made it, and the first time Ian had some. But it was several days ago, I think. At least 3 days ago, maybe 4. Last night it was spaghetti, and he had that, with the sauce. He's had spaghetti sauce in smaller amounts before with no ill effect. I can't think of anything else that he hasn't had before, with the exception of peas. He's definitely eating more food lately though.

I'm sure tomorrow will tell the culprit. Or the next day. For tonight, we gave him teething tabs. That didn't help for too long, but he was tired, as well. We did the 1-2 knockout punch bedtime. Ibuprofen, warm bath, nice jammies, nurse down and he's out. We did elevate the crib mattress, so he doesn't get too stuffed up, and we'll see how tonight is. Poor little fella. We'll keep you 'posted'!