Tuesday, February 28, 2012

Some Quick Adam Stories

Story #1 - The Fruit Snack Sneak
Because we moved Adam to his new big boy room this weekend, we decided to set up the video monitors again... only to discover that he's fiddled with the video camera and thrown the monitor just enough times to break it. So we went to Buy Buy Baby on Saturday to buy a new one. As we were going through the checkout, I grabbed a large bag of Welch's fruit snacks, we paid for it, and I opened it for him as we were leaving the store.

He happily snacked away in the backseat of the truck as we went home, and I realized all too slowly that he wasn't going to stop and that there were about 3 servings of fruit snacks in that bag.

Me: "Adam, I don't think it's a good idea to eat the whole bag. You can have one more and then let's take a break."

I fully expected him to not understand what I said, but was preparing him to have to give it up as I tried to twist from the front seat and ask him to hand it over. He stared at me, stuck his hand in the back and dug around in there for a long time, and I managed to get the bag from him. When I pulled it away, 2 fruit snacks were left in it... and about 15 were in his fist. He was still staring at me as he immediately stuffed the fistful in his mouth, and then turned to look at the window as he tried to chew. Luckily he didn't choke or throw up... and he seemed content that he got his way.

Technically he followed my instructions, I suppose. I'm still surprised that a) He understood exactly what I said, and b) Found a way around it within 1.5 seconds.

Story #2 - Adam's Favorite Phrases

Adam's recent phrases:
- "Oh no! What did you do?!"
- "Where did he go?"
- "Bye bye, Dad!"
- "Shut the door!"
- "What you talkin' about?!"

Story #3 - The New Bed and the New Video Monitor
Adam has done really well in his new bed, and last night was night #3. So far he's woken up once during the night each attempt, and for now I'm laying in there with him until he falls asleep, until he gets to the point where he's more comfortable with the room itself. The video camera has a very bright blue light on it - so bright that he doesn't need a night light - and the first time it was on he kept staring at it. I worried that the brightness would make it hard for him to sleep (he usually needs quiet and dark to sleep at all - he's not the pass-out-in-the-middle-of-a-party kind of kid), but it apparently passed his test. So far, actually, it seems he sleeps better in there.

The second morning after waking up in his big boy bed, he came running down the hallway to our room and I pulled him in bed with me for a little while, while Shannon was in the shower. He noticed the new monitor, which was on and pointed toward the spot on the bed that he had been lying in. He glanced over at it 5 or 6 times, but never said anything about it. The last time he looked at it, he pointed and said, "A Night Night!" (which loosely translates to "That's a bed!") I told him he was very right, that that was a bed. He was excited and pointed out his bed again, then flopped over onto his stomach with his head on Shannon's pillow and pretended to snore while I laughed at him.

That night, after his revelation that the monitor was showing his bed, I was lying down with him in his room as he unwound to sleep. He stared at the blue light, immediately figured out that it was a camera, and waved to the video monitor before he fell asleep.

Story #4 - Hair Pulling
I picked Adam up from school yesterday before going over to my parent's house to have a "good-bye dinner" with Uncle Chris, who is moving away on Wednesday to start a new job. When I got there, it was story time and all of the kids were lined up, sitting against the wall while Ms. Kathryn read a Llama Llama book. That is to say, all of the kids except Adam, who was next to her balling his little eyes out. He had been crying so hard that his face was blotchy and I could tell he was really upset-- heart-breakingly upset.

When I asked what was wrong, she told me that Adam had taken to "pulling his friend's hair." Honestly, I didn't know what to say... not that he's a complete angel always - he hits, he talks back, he throws things, he ignores direct orders... I mean come on, he's almost two years old... and a smart two-year-old! We get onto him about that behavior at home. But he's never been a chronic hair-puller, and he's never done those things at school. We always get good reports.

He looked like he knew he screwed up and that he really didn't want to be in trouble... but what could I do? I hadn't seen him all day, I missed him, and all I wanted to do was give him a hug. As many times has he's been bitten and has yet to bite back -- I hate to say it -- but I wasn't all that appalled. I just hugged him and we left. And when we got in the car, I gave him a cookie and some juice.

Then he got to spend the evening playing in the backyard with Uncle Chris, helping Mamie "wash dishes" (which mostly consisted of wetting a wooden spoon and splashing water on her as he giggled uncontrollably), fighting off Aunt Robin with said wooden spoon, and searching for Grandpa so he could give him a fist bump and a kiss.

Story #5 - America's Funniest Home Videos
I have to admit, I've gotten tired of Little Einsteins, but surprisingly, so has Adam. We've recently graduated to Mickey Mouse Clubhouse to mix it up a bit, and we'll also throw in some Glee (he really only watches the songs and dances with them) and America's Funniest Home Videos. He'll also sit still for anything Pixar, The Jungle Book, and that old video, The Cat in The Hat. (I know it sounds like we watch a lot of TV, but truthfully it's maybe 30 minutes a day. I just got sick of watching the same thing every day.)
 
I've found that America's Funniest Home Videos is actually a good entertainment as well as a brilliant teaching tool. I throw in some important lessons with "Don't ever do that, Adam," or "That guy is not very bright, is he?" or "We don't punch people in the groin, do we, Adam?" It may be a controversal parenting style, but hey, where else do we learn these lessons?
 
The most entertaining for me is Adam's commentary, which consists mostly of "A dog!" or "A cat!" or "A baby!" My favorite, however, is when little kids intentionally hit their parents. We were watching one where a little girl younger than Adam was banging on her dad's drumset with drum sticks, and accidentally poked him in the eye with one. He pulled his head back and said, "ow," and when he looked at her, she pulled back and whacked him across the head with it. While the audience was laughing, Adam, who was sitting in my lap, yelled "OWW!" at the TV screen. Then he put up his little pointer finger, wagged it back and forth, and said, "No, no, no!" with a very stern look on his face. He scolded her even into the next video.
 
(The "no, no, no" scolding is really pretty adorable. We saw more of it last night when he would splash Mamie and giggle so hard he could barely breathe, but when she would splash him back he would laugh a second, then scowl at her, wag his finger and say, "no, no, no!"... he couldn't really keep his stern look though, which turned to smiles as we all laughed at his hypocrisy.)
 
Story #6 - The Pets
Eli has apparently been downgraded. Eli still loves Adam and will actually come into the room that Adam is in while Gus slinks under the bed or out the door... but Eli is now not "Eli," but "Cat." Adam used to call him by name, but now when he sees him, says only "Hi, Cat." Gus is still "Hi, Gus." Caley is still "Hi, Cay-ee"... but now Eli is "cat."

I believe this has something to do with the growing jealousy and lack of desire to share my lap with another being . . . because when Eli insists that he needs some attention, Adam makes it a point to send him away by sitting on him or (even less subtly) push him out and yell "Back!!" or "Sit!" (He thinks Caley's commands work on the cats too... but obviously they don't).

Story #7 - The Babies
Adam is a bright kid, so his now determined effort to completely ignore me when I talk about getting new babies, or a brother and a sister, or babies in Mommy's tummy, is borderline laughable. He'll walk out of the room, he'll turn around and play with a toy, he'll jump out of my lap, his eyes will glaze over . . . and it's so incredibly intentional, that I think if he had the words he'd say something like "No, thank you," or, "We don't need any," or even, "No habla ingles."

We are starting to accumulate clothes and baby things from very generous friends, and Adam will point to them and say "baby!" . . . so he gets the picture. I bought a "My New Baby" book, which Adam thinks is the most boring thing ever. After the first page, he'll jump up and find a different book. What's become hysterical, though, is that I've picked it up enough times that he thinks it's my favorite book and will bring it to me to read, then turn around and go get Good Night Moon and take it to Shannon so Dad can read the "good" book to him.

During the last conversation we had on the topic, Adam was pointing out my belly button.

Me: "Yep, that's my belly button! Did you know there are babies in Mommy's belly?"
Adam: "Oww."

That was the end of the conversation. I have to admit that he summed it up pretty nicely.

Sunday, February 19, 2012

Adam's New Room

Adam is graduating to his new big boy room soon. Although we haven't mustered the courage to transition him, we've done a lot of playing in there, reading, and talking about "his" room. In the next week or two we will probably start having him sleep in there, but we know this is a big change for him and it probably take more than a month for him to fully transition (which will mean a lot of sleepless nights). Knowing this, I have been hesitant.

However, it is a pretty cool "big boy" room.
This is the room before we even moved in... the previous owners used it as an office.
After we moved in, we painted it a yellow color that did not turn out as we had hoped and we turned it into a guest room that was never fully decorated... It mostly accumulated things for which we had no other place. I was glad to paint over that bland yellow.

Work in Progress

Beginning the redecorating...
The Finished Product
We chose a paint color called Buzz Blaster blue, which while drying gave the unsettling impression of a smurf explosion.
 
We chose star decals to go on the walls... Shannon wanted footballs, but I just couldn't do it.

In lieu of footballs, we compromised with a sports quote on the wall.
Complete with a full size bed (double railings), the sheets have dinosaurs on them.
 And we hung a mirror so he can practice his funny faces in it.

Friday, February 10, 2012

21 Months Old

When I picked Adam up from school yesterday, the front office staff told me that all of a sudden, when his class files through the hallway to go outside for recess, Adam takes a moment to step inside the front office and give everyone a big hug on his way out the door. "It's the funniest thing," they said, "two days ago he wouldn't give us the time of day. Now we all get big hugs every time he passes. It's the sweetest thing."

This little charmer has been perfecting his "game" for a while now and practices at any chance he can get. Last Friday he came home from daycare limping... and I mean limping BAD. His left foot was swollen on the top and he couldn't walk very well, definitely couldn't run, and was adamant that you weren't coming anywhere close to him with any type of shoe. From what I could tell, it didn't look broken, but with him you never know. So on Saturday we took him to Acute Kids in Plano to have some x-rays done on his foot(amazing place. we were in and out and they were GREAT) .

He had no problem with the x-rays, and not surprisingly, he thought it was fun. He also flirted, grinned, waved, and blew kisses to every pretty nurse that passed him. He eagerly picked out an orange sucker as we left, and he had the time of his life. (His foot had no fracture and it's gotten better (not 100%), but that is one expensive sucker for Adam to get another round at flirting with the ladies.)


Then yesterday afternoon at the Pulmonologist (3 month follow up which went very well - the inhalers are really working), the doctor came in and Adam smiled at him, then took him the school bus he had been playing with. (If the guy had entered just seconds before or the 10 minutes before that, he would have caught Adam trying to get in the trash can, climb the table, and stick the medical instruments in his ear, but Adam had good timing and was actually playing with a toy at that second.)

After Adam handed him the bus, he went back to another toy and was behaving himself extremely well (I'm not trying to hide the shock, it's just that we are in a constant battle to get him to touch the things he supposed to touch and keep him from climbing as a way to alleviate what seems like constant boredom - but I digress). The doctor asked me a few questions while Adam played, and then when he was ready to check him out, he rolled into the middle of the (very large) room and asked Adam to come over. Adam stopped what he was doing and walked a good 4 feet away from me to stand next to him and be very still while the guy used his stethoscope to check out his heart and chest in the front and back.

I was proud, but waiting to see the next reaction. Dr. Lee asked him if he could check in Adam's ears and held up the little black instrument with the light on the end, and Adam turned his head so Dr. Lee could see. Then he turned his head the other way so he could see in his other ear. When Dr. Lee asked him if he would open his mouth and stick out his tongue, Adam grinned and did it for him. Either I have a very brave and outgoing kid, or we see a lot of doctors. This kid never ceases to amaze me. (Of course, he had a pretty good fit when he had to get back in his stroller to leave, but I'm chalking that up to thirst and mom's lack of better preparation).

While all of these events shouldn't shock me, every time I hear about or witness a new outgoing and spontaneous personality trait, I have to remind myself that in just 3 short months, he'll be 2 years old. He's not going to be a baby much longer, and for quite some time now has been very aware of the concept of free will. He exercises it often, which is not at all a bad thing. It just surprises me that he simply has a natural understanding of how to be charming without anyone deliberately giving him lessons.

His new favorite game is "THE CAR" -- He could spend hours in the driver's seat of a parked car "driving," and failure to allow him the opportunity to "drive" leads to some pretty fierce and unstoppable tantrums. In fact, there have been several days over the last two weeks when I have to basically wrestle him into his car seat because he wants to climb in front, and when we get home, unload, and go in the house for some juice, he will cry real tears of sadness and anger that we aren't in the car while he "drives" me around (I sit in the passenger's seat - it's his rule).

Adam's new phrase is "Awwww, Man!" He says it appropriately every time, but the most entertaining time recently was when Shannon told him it was time for bed. Adam said, "Awwwww, man!" (but cheerfully), and then allowed Shannon to tuck him in. When Shannon left the room and said goodnight, Adam said it again. His other new bedtime routine is to climb in bed with me at 8 o'clock (don't judge me - working full time and being 4 1/2 months pregnant with twins is not the party one might expect). We watch a Little Einsteins and he drinks some milk and unwinds... and when the show is over, Dad comes in to take him to bed. The new game is when we hear Shannon's footsteps in the hall:

Me: "Uh oh, Adam. Here comes Dad! Time for bed."
Adam puts on his fake surprised face.
Me: "Hurry! Pretend you're asleep!"
Adam flips over, puts his head on the pillow, closes his eyes and pretends to snore.
Shannon walks in the room.
Adam peeks his eye open to see if I'm sleeping too (I'm usually not pretend snoring anymore).
Adam puts his hand on my face, pushes my head on the pillow and says "NIGHT NIGHT!"
Then we both lie down and pretend to snore together.

Shannon doesn't buy it. We should work on our acting a little bit more.

This morning Adam had grapes and powdered donuts for breakfast (the breakfast of champions) and thought he might try wearing Dad's shoes to school today, which didn't turn out to be a very efficient way of getting around. In fact, when he fell over in them he stood back up and dusted off the tops . . . so he must be watching Shannon's every move because it was very Shannon of him. The pictures are bad quality - I had a hard time getting him to stand still since he was thrilled to try walking in Dad's shoes.

After breakfast Adam showed me that he can count to 6 . . . Well, I say "one," and he says "two," and then he forgets 3 and 4, so I say it for him, but then he joins in again for "five," and "six." When we got to school they told me I could take home his sippy cups because he was using a regular cup now, full time. I can't help but be a little relieved that I have such an ambitious and smart toddler who is making his way to self-sufficiency just in time for two little babies to join our household. I couldn't be prouder, but if he wanted to slow down and be a baby a little bit longer, I'd be okay with that too.

Thursday, February 9, 2012

The Big Reveal

A week ago at my 16 week ultrasound, we were able to find out the sexes of our twins. I am a big fan of the surprise, and when we had Adam, Shannon agreed to patiently wait to find out the gender. When we found out I was pregnant again, I was willing to wait to find out; Shannon, on the other hand, was on the "want to know" side of the fence. We only had a few weeks to talk about it though, because when we found out there were two babies growing in there, the whole "let's be surprised" thing flew out the window.

But that didn't mean I didn't still want it to be an event or something special. A few people I know have done the party and pink-or-blue cake reveal, where they have the ultrasound technician write down the sex on a secret piece of paper and they take it to a bakery, who bakes a cake in pink or blue with gender-neutral icing. You cut into the cake and SURPRISE! You're having a....

Well, I'm not a big fan of cake. And I certainly couldn't eat two cakes, and I was so anxious about the genders that I couldn't have found out in front of a room full of people. So I tweaked it slightly...

I went to the ultrasound and got to get another peak at the two little ones, who are both big for their gestational age (Baby B being even bigger than Baby A), and they both showed off for the ultrasound, waving their little fingers and jumping around actively. In what might be thought of as foreshadowing, they were in a yin and yang position (each is looking at the other's feet -- which also means that they are probably both dishing it out and taking it at the same time). She had to nudge them both a little bit to see what the sexes were (they were both lying with their legs straight out and crossed at the ankles), but she was able to get the money shot on both and she was very good about not hinting at all.

(Please excuse the quality of the sonogram photos - they were taken with my iphone instead of a scanner).

Baby A

Baby B

I had her write down the genders on a little card and stick it in an envelope. She also gave me another envelope of ultrasound pictures that I could look at, and yet another envelope with the "money shot" pictures (sealed very carefully) to look at after we found out later.

I took the envelope with the genders written down to Buy Buy Baby's Customer Service, handed over two girl onesies and two boy onesies, and told them what I wanted them to do, which as: a) Look at the card and don't tell me what it says. b) when I leave, take the appropriate onesies and wrap them in two separate boxes. I went home with two boxes which would reveal the gender of each of our babies, and I had no idea what was inside them.

That night when Shannon got home from work, the plan was to have Adam open the boxes in front of us so we would all find out together. The idea was that Adam would be included and that it was sort of a "gift" to him -- siblings. Who wouldn't want siblings as a gift, right? One of the problems was that Buy Buy Baby doesn't wrap with wrapping paper and the boxes were as good as nailed shut, so Shannon had to do most of the hard work. The second problem is that Adam is young and doesn't understand... and in some instances I think just flat out ignores me deliberately. But it was still fun, and we got some video of the event.

The video below is of the first box that we opened. Adam's reaction to "finding out" makes me laugh every time I watch it... complete and total avoidance, or uninterest, maybe. Or maybe the box was more interesting than the gift.



After wearing the box as a reaction to finding out he'd have a baby sister, I turned off the camera and looked at Shannon. He was looking at the other box with a concerned look on his face.

I asked, "Are you scared?"
He said, "A little, yeah. What if it's another girl??"

So we opened it....




I don't think I have ever seen Shannon more relieved. It's not that he didn't want a little girl - he did - very, very much so. He just also wanted Adam to have a little brother, because he always wanted a brother himself. I was somewhat surprised at the intensity of Shannon's happiness, since in the many weeks before that when I'd asked what he was hoping for, he replied with the politically correct: "I guess any combination would be fine, I don't have a preference." I, on the other hand, had been very open about telling people that A) I pretty much knew it was a boy and a girl, right down to which one was which in my stomach (the little girl is on the left side), and B) that I really wanted a boy and a girl.

So as it turns out, we truly couldn't be happier. And if anyone is interested, Baby A is the girl, and Baby B is the boy. I think that our "precious little girl" will turn out to be the antagonist. She seemed to be deliberately poking at her larger brother in the ultrasound. I guess she's just preparing for life with an ultra-attentive father and two older brothers.