Spencer 15 months
I have mostly stopped updating here, because Facebook steals all my posting urges and finding the time to write long posts is hard.
But Spencer is 15 months, and on the cusp of toddlerhood, and I want to remember how he is.
Mobility: he can stand on his own and has even taken steps a couple of times, but he doggedly refuses to cooperate when we try to entice him to do it. He won't even toddle holding hands anymore, just collapses to his knees. But we've caught him standing on his own unconsciously many times now. However, he is a speedy crawler and consummate climber. Jack at this age was much more prone to hurting himself. I don't know if it is because we have a carpeted apartment here, but it does seem to me that Spencer has a much better sense of his abilities and body. He is more confident in how he moves, which has led to a few times of panic when I see him crawling around on something that I'm afraid he will fall off of, and then he just adeptly swings his legs over and slides off.
Verbal: still almost no definite words, although Daddy (dada) is probably his first. He only says it when Michael returns home from work. I think he calls me Meh meh, but again only when he's looking for me. Ba! Ba! Ba! accompanies ball, but he also just says babababa a lot.
We do signs sometimes, but I am not consistent because he is SO uninterested. Point and eh! works so much better, he thinks. However, he talks to himself a lot in complex jabber, so I'm hoping those words come soon. Sometimes he points and grunts and random objects and I name them for him, which seems to satisfy.
He is still pretty cuddly and mellow. This weekend we were at Danielle's dad's lake house, and the kids were surprisingly easy to handle. Jack played with the 7-year-old boy there, and Spencer entertained himself with toys and people-watching and couch-climbing. He was surprisingly good about not being grabby at various game pieces. Jack loved swimming in the lake, but Spencer was unimpressed. I have a little floaty mesh boat thing for him with inflatable bits, and when put in it fussed, then splashed listlessly, then lay his head down on the octopus like a pillow and looked like he wanted to fall asleep. The swim vest I got is way too big, so he can't wear that without it coming up to his ears, so there was not much Spencer-swimming. (He loved pools with shallow step earlier this summer, but cold deep lake is clearly inferior.)
He understands just about everything I say, and is remarkably compliant. He will put toys in bins when asked. He had a mild eye infection that requires eyedrops four times a day. I said, "Spencer, come over here and get your eyedrops." He crawled over, lay on his back, and squinched up his eyes. He's quite a trouper about the drops. He will go find specific toys, and go to specific places when I ask him to.
And he's just so darn cute! I constantly want to scoop him up and kiss his baby-duck fuzzy head. On the loooong drive home yesterday, he was fussy because the sun was in his face and he was hungry and had been in the car for too long. I gave him a snack bar, and he seemed very interested and then started to cry uncontrollably. It looked to me that he had gotten some of the bar stuck on the roof of his mouth, so I contorted around, reached back and scraped out the drooly chunk, but he was still SO UPSET that I could not handle it. We pulled off the freeway and parked near some office park and got him out of the car, and suddenly he was just so content. I have never felt so much relief. Then I realized he was drooling like mad and scraped another chunk of bar off the roof of his mouth and gave him water, and he was grateful. Poor kid.
He will hug and open-mouth kiss on demand, but much like body-part-pointing, he only sometimes feels like humoring me. And sometimes, for no discernible reason, he will start laughing to himself, throwing his head back in infant glee. He likes to bounce-dance, and when he climbs up on something he is so clearly pleased with himself it is hard not to laugh with him. He is also a champion peek-a-boo player. He will cover his eyes with both chubby splayed hands, and then whip them out to the sides with the biggest grin.
On the not-so-cute front, he is learning that swatting and scratching is a good way of gaining attention or expressing anger. He is very into slapstick humor, so hitting one's own head and saying "Ow!" will delight him. Empathy...not so much. Jack was re-enacting the "Nine! Banana cream pies!" skit from Sesame street where the chef tumbles down the stairs, and Spencer would bust a gut each time. Spencer is also suddenly hurling food across the room, which immediately gets his food taken away. He usually only does this at the end of a meal, so I'm not sure that helps. But grapes dropped around the high chair are easy to pick up. Grapes scattered in an eight foot radius, not as easy.
He's still nursing, mostly once around 4am and in the hour before getting up, and occasionally on demand during the day. He will climb up on me and whine, and I will say, "What do you want, Spencer?" He will point to my chest and say, "Eh." I would really like him to wean, but I don't really know how since Jack self-weaned early. Truthfully, I would just really like him to stop waking up in the middle of the night, but that's something I know how to handle in theory, I just have not worked up the will to do it, since it never seems like a good time. When we move back to Carmelita, we will be on different floors so I think that is the time to get serious.
As far as Jack goes, he's almost 3.5, and it is a pretty good age. He's a mostly reasonable person, and does actually helpful things like cleaning up and clearing his place after meals. He can dress himself (usually) and do most of his personal tasks with minimal help. I am so used to him using the bathroom on his own that when we go somewhere I forget how much of a pain it is to have to accompany him to the restroom (especially with curious Spencer in tow). He can explain the entire landing sequence of the Curiosity rover. I was surprised this weekend how well he communicated and played with the 7-year-old. 7 is not that much different than 3, it looks like. Same interests, same motivations, just a bit more logical thinking and self control. Same ridiculous kiddie boastfulness, same wish to be included in things that they are not really old enough for, same love of cake and using every method they could think of to acquire more cake.
As far as the remodel, the finishing touches are going in and this Thursday we have the punch list meeting. Which means that once final inspection passes we can move in. Still no firm date other than Aug 31 (I gave notice at the beginning of this month). So I've started to pack boxes here. I really should get on Craigslist selling, too. We have quite a few things that are not moving back.
And I've done a preliminary search for furniture. It is hard to find good quality, contemporary (not modern) furniture for reasonable prices. I think we will end up purchasing our bed, sofa, dining seating, and then taking some more time with the rest. I only have vague ideas of how to furnish the bedrooms and loft. Too much to think about when I am prevented from actual action--I have a mental queue, and it can only hold so much without acting on it, and therefore I have filled it with the greatroom and bedroom furniture and thus cannot deal with anything else until I have a freaking MOVE IN DATE so I can order said furniture and then move on to painting boys' rooms, furnishing boys' rooms, figuring out all the closet organization and shelving, furnishing the lofts, and then some day onto landscaping the barren wasteland that remains of our yard.
But Spencer is 15 months, and on the cusp of toddlerhood, and I want to remember how he is.
Mobility: he can stand on his own and has even taken steps a couple of times, but he doggedly refuses to cooperate when we try to entice him to do it. He won't even toddle holding hands anymore, just collapses to his knees. But we've caught him standing on his own unconsciously many times now. However, he is a speedy crawler and consummate climber. Jack at this age was much more prone to hurting himself. I don't know if it is because we have a carpeted apartment here, but it does seem to me that Spencer has a much better sense of his abilities and body. He is more confident in how he moves, which has led to a few times of panic when I see him crawling around on something that I'm afraid he will fall off of, and then he just adeptly swings his legs over and slides off.
Verbal: still almost no definite words, although Daddy (dada) is probably his first. He only says it when Michael returns home from work. I think he calls me Meh meh, but again only when he's looking for me. Ba! Ba! Ba! accompanies ball, but he also just says babababa a lot.
We do signs sometimes, but I am not consistent because he is SO uninterested. Point and eh! works so much better, he thinks. However, he talks to himself a lot in complex jabber, so I'm hoping those words come soon. Sometimes he points and grunts and random objects and I name them for him, which seems to satisfy.
He is still pretty cuddly and mellow. This weekend we were at Danielle's dad's lake house, and the kids were surprisingly easy to handle. Jack played with the 7-year-old boy there, and Spencer entertained himself with toys and people-watching and couch-climbing. He was surprisingly good about not being grabby at various game pieces. Jack loved swimming in the lake, but Spencer was unimpressed. I have a little floaty mesh boat thing for him with inflatable bits, and when put in it fussed, then splashed listlessly, then lay his head down on the octopus like a pillow and looked like he wanted to fall asleep. The swim vest I got is way too big, so he can't wear that without it coming up to his ears, so there was not much Spencer-swimming. (He loved pools with shallow step earlier this summer, but cold deep lake is clearly inferior.)
He understands just about everything I say, and is remarkably compliant. He will put toys in bins when asked. He had a mild eye infection that requires eyedrops four times a day. I said, "Spencer, come over here and get your eyedrops." He crawled over, lay on his back, and squinched up his eyes. He's quite a trouper about the drops. He will go find specific toys, and go to specific places when I ask him to.
And he's just so darn cute! I constantly want to scoop him up and kiss his baby-duck fuzzy head. On the loooong drive home yesterday, he was fussy because the sun was in his face and he was hungry and had been in the car for too long. I gave him a snack bar, and he seemed very interested and then started to cry uncontrollably. It looked to me that he had gotten some of the bar stuck on the roof of his mouth, so I contorted around, reached back and scraped out the drooly chunk, but he was still SO UPSET that I could not handle it. We pulled off the freeway and parked near some office park and got him out of the car, and suddenly he was just so content. I have never felt so much relief. Then I realized he was drooling like mad and scraped another chunk of bar off the roof of his mouth and gave him water, and he was grateful. Poor kid.
He will hug and open-mouth kiss on demand, but much like body-part-pointing, he only sometimes feels like humoring me. And sometimes, for no discernible reason, he will start laughing to himself, throwing his head back in infant glee. He likes to bounce-dance, and when he climbs up on something he is so clearly pleased with himself it is hard not to laugh with him. He is also a champion peek-a-boo player. He will cover his eyes with both chubby splayed hands, and then whip them out to the sides with the biggest grin.
On the not-so-cute front, he is learning that swatting and scratching is a good way of gaining attention or expressing anger. He is very into slapstick humor, so hitting one's own head and saying "Ow!" will delight him. Empathy...not so much. Jack was re-enacting the "Nine! Banana cream pies!" skit from Sesame street where the chef tumbles down the stairs, and Spencer would bust a gut each time. Spencer is also suddenly hurling food across the room, which immediately gets his food taken away. He usually only does this at the end of a meal, so I'm not sure that helps. But grapes dropped around the high chair are easy to pick up. Grapes scattered in an eight foot radius, not as easy.
He's still nursing, mostly once around 4am and in the hour before getting up, and occasionally on demand during the day. He will climb up on me and whine, and I will say, "What do you want, Spencer?" He will point to my chest and say, "Eh." I would really like him to wean, but I don't really know how since Jack self-weaned early. Truthfully, I would just really like him to stop waking up in the middle of the night, but that's something I know how to handle in theory, I just have not worked up the will to do it, since it never seems like a good time. When we move back to Carmelita, we will be on different floors so I think that is the time to get serious.
As far as Jack goes, he's almost 3.5, and it is a pretty good age. He's a mostly reasonable person, and does actually helpful things like cleaning up and clearing his place after meals. He can dress himself (usually) and do most of his personal tasks with minimal help. I am so used to him using the bathroom on his own that when we go somewhere I forget how much of a pain it is to have to accompany him to the restroom (especially with curious Spencer in tow). He can explain the entire landing sequence of the Curiosity rover. I was surprised this weekend how well he communicated and played with the 7-year-old. 7 is not that much different than 3, it looks like. Same interests, same motivations, just a bit more logical thinking and self control. Same ridiculous kiddie boastfulness, same wish to be included in things that they are not really old enough for, same love of cake and using every method they could think of to acquire more cake.
As far as the remodel, the finishing touches are going in and this Thursday we have the punch list meeting. Which means that once final inspection passes we can move in. Still no firm date other than Aug 31 (I gave notice at the beginning of this month). So I've started to pack boxes here. I really should get on Craigslist selling, too. We have quite a few things that are not moving back.
And I've done a preliminary search for furniture. It is hard to find good quality, contemporary (not modern) furniture for reasonable prices. I think we will end up purchasing our bed, sofa, dining seating, and then taking some more time with the rest. I only have vague ideas of how to furnish the bedrooms and loft. Too much to think about when I am prevented from actual action--I have a mental queue, and it can only hold so much without acting on it, and therefore I have filled it with the greatroom and bedroom furniture and thus cannot deal with anything else until I have a freaking MOVE IN DATE so I can order said furniture and then move on to painting boys' rooms, furnishing boys' rooms, figuring out all the closet organization and shelving, furnishing the lofts, and then some day onto landscaping the barren wasteland that remains of our yard.