Sunday, January 21, 2007
Dinner for 6?
The boys attended their first dinner party last night and comported themselves with a great deal of dignity. We were afraid that it was going to be touch-and-go since neither of them took a nap of any significant length yesterday (all the excitement?). Griffith kept having melt-downs before we left and it wasn't looking good for a quiet dinner. They both fell asleep in the car on the way over. Allan slept for the first hour or so, but Griffith couldn't stand to miss any thing and so he rallied. He took in all the sights at Jim and Montell's new house and he has his eye on the guest room for future trips. We got to eat in the formal dining room off of the mother-in-law's china. (The boys, of course, they were eating from their own bottles. Griff brought his new Cubs one to show off.) The only faux pas belonged to Allan who decided to take a big poop at the dinner table, but every one took it in stride. It isn't as if he could excuse himself and head for the powder room. A good time was had by all and the boys slept well last night. Today is a gloomy, wet, icy day so we will be homebound. Maybe we can get them back on their usual napping routine and get a little nap in ourselves. Or maybe I should just lay down on the floor here at the office and get a catnap in before I go home.
Thursday, January 18, 2007
Wednesday, January 17, 2007
The very popular stacking toy
Both of the boys love the stacking rings. Allan can really get the rings spinning.
Allan - playing with the aquarium
We may have to take this in to prove to the VNPT that he can and does reach and grasp. When HE wants to.
Tuesday, January 16, 2007
Very clever boys
I wish that the Very Nice Physical Therapist could have been at the house last night when I got home. You may recall that Allan wouldn't do anything that she asked him to do and, in fact, fell asleep before the test was over. He wouldn't reach, wouldn't grasp, wouldn't look at you, wouldn't make a sound. She thought I was totally deluding myself when I said, but, really, he does some of this stuff. Last night when I got home he was rolled over on his side, whacking the stacking rings as hard as he could with his right hand and spinning them round and round on the pole. Then, every now and then, for a change of pace, he would grab them and fling them off of the top of it. He's no performing seal. Ornery little twerp. It makes me think of brother Mark who got put in the gifted class and then promptly began to fail because "the more you do, the more they expect you to do." (Which is very funny when it isn't your kid.) Allan wasn't going to set the bar too high lest they ask him to do more. Or, as Michele observed, maybe he was just saving his effort for a toy that he liked. Allan continues to outstrip Griffith on the teething. He definitely has a second little tooth peeking up beside the first. Griff is all gums still.
Allan is clearly feeling pretty good these days and finding lots of things to be funny. He really likes to rough-house -- especially if you roll him from side to side. He gets a big grin on his face for that. He also likes it when you fuss at Griffith. On Sunday night Griffith was whiny and I kept telling him to be a good boy and to stop being a pill or I would send him back. Every time I did, Allan would get this sly little smile on his face. Probably how things will go from here on out.
Griffith is making progress toward learning to crawl, God help us. He can get himself up on his arms and toes, but that doesn't work very well. Every once in a while he drops his knees down, but his belly usually follows. If you put your hand under him on his belly, he gets the right position, but can't quite figure out how to move his hand without collapsing. We are just letting him work that out on his own. He'll get it eventually and then we will wonder why we encouraged this kind of behavior.
Allan is clearly feeling pretty good these days and finding lots of things to be funny. He really likes to rough-house -- especially if you roll him from side to side. He gets a big grin on his face for that. He also likes it when you fuss at Griffith. On Sunday night Griffith was whiny and I kept telling him to be a good boy and to stop being a pill or I would send him back. Every time I did, Allan would get this sly little smile on his face. Probably how things will go from here on out.
Griffith is making progress toward learning to crawl, God help us. He can get himself up on his arms and toes, but that doesn't work very well. Every once in a while he drops his knees down, but his belly usually follows. If you put your hand under him on his belly, he gets the right position, but can't quite figure out how to move his hand without collapsing. We are just letting him work that out on his own. He'll get it eventually and then we will wonder why we encouraged this kind of behavior.
Sunday, January 14, 2007
Happy Birthday, Babies!
Allan and Griffith turn 9 months old today! I imagine they will celebrate with big bottles of formula. Chug-a-lug.
As you can see from the pictures, they are doing great. I can't remember if I mentioned that Allan managed to turn himself over for the very first time this week -- of course, his neck and shoulders aren't that strong and so it resulted in him essentially doing a face plant, but it is progress. (Of course, having face-planted, he may decide that turning over is for the birds.) In other news, he ate bananas yesterday. So far we've done cereal, apples and bananas. We can't really tell if he likes them or not. He's hard to read is ol' Allan, but he did swallow it down and there it stayed. So he's got that going for him. Which is nice. Griffith hasn't quite got a handle on the eating thing, either. He approves of the fruit, though, if only because is it really fun to spit back. We all have to amuse ourselves in whatever way we can.
As you can see from the pictures, they are doing great. I can't remember if I mentioned that Allan managed to turn himself over for the very first time this week -- of course, his neck and shoulders aren't that strong and so it resulted in him essentially doing a face plant, but it is progress. (Of course, having face-planted, he may decide that turning over is for the birds.) In other news, he ate bananas yesterday. So far we've done cereal, apples and bananas. We can't really tell if he likes them or not. He's hard to read is ol' Allan, but he did swallow it down and there it stayed. So he's got that going for him. Which is nice. Griffith hasn't quite got a handle on the eating thing, either. He approves of the fruit, though, if only because is it really fun to spit back. We all have to amuse ourselves in whatever way we can.
Saturday, January 13, 2007
oh, yes, we have bananas....
we had some bananas today. Allan tried bananas today. Dad tried his hand at feeding. Both were first-timers.
Thursday, January 11, 2007
Big Al and I had a big day yesterday. We had an appointment with the cardiologist at 8:45 and NICU Graduate Clinic after that. What with one thing and another, we didn't get home until 2:30. He was worn out (so was I). Anyway, we had good news -- the echo and EKG showed that Allan's heart is doing things that only healthy hearts do. His cardiologist and pulmonologist were delighted with how well Allan is doing. (Dr. Kanga was also happy to check out Allan's tooth.) We are taking him down and off of some more of his medicines. We'll keep you posted.
Then we were seen by a variety of folks at the NICU graduate clinic. We were supposed to do Big Al's developmental assessment. Well, I pretty much knew how this was going to go. As a preliminary matter, Allan is perfect and he is doing great. That having been said, he isn't yet doing all the things that a baby of his age is meant to be doing. Breathing and eating take up a lot of his energy. As that improves, he grows more active and he will catch up (the statistic is that 90% of babies born at the same stage as our boys are indistinguishable from other kids by the time they start kindergarten). That's the first thing. The second thing is that, by the time that they started trying to test Allan, he was worn out. And, finally, as we all know, Allan is not exactly the most cooperative of individuals. In fact, he can be downright difficult when he puts his mind to it. So, it was no real surprise (to me anyway) when he essentially refused to participate. The Very Nice Physical Therapist (hereinafter "VNPT") began by trying to prepare me -- we'll be asking him to do things that are above his level (like what-- algebraic equations?), don't get upset or worried. We just want to see what he can do (again, like what? skip rope? Fail a test?) and, good luck to you on that seeing-what-he-can-do thing. Now, mind you, Allan spends half of his time these days playing with his hands, wringing them like the villan in a silent movie. You wouldn't have known it yesterday. As soon as the VNPT hit the door, he dropped them to his sides like they were lead weights. And he can clearly hold on to things and put them up to his mouth. Nunh-uhn. Not yesterday. Hands? I have hands? I'm sure that there will be a note in the report that the mother responded with inappropriate laughter, but when she got behind me and started ringing this bell to see if he would turn his head and he didn't turn his head, but did cut his eyes at me and heaved a big ha-rumph sigh, as if to say that this was irritating and, really, couldn't I do something about her? Finally, since I wouldn't do any thing about it, he took refuge in sleep. It was his only defense. Allan, 1, VNPT, 0.
I hope this is not indicative of his future academic career.
Then we were seen by a variety of folks at the NICU graduate clinic. We were supposed to do Big Al's developmental assessment. Well, I pretty much knew how this was going to go. As a preliminary matter, Allan is perfect and he is doing great. That having been said, he isn't yet doing all the things that a baby of his age is meant to be doing. Breathing and eating take up a lot of his energy. As that improves, he grows more active and he will catch up (the statistic is that 90% of babies born at the same stage as our boys are indistinguishable from other kids by the time they start kindergarten). That's the first thing. The second thing is that, by the time that they started trying to test Allan, he was worn out. And, finally, as we all know, Allan is not exactly the most cooperative of individuals. In fact, he can be downright difficult when he puts his mind to it. So, it was no real surprise (to me anyway) when he essentially refused to participate. The Very Nice Physical Therapist (hereinafter "VNPT") began by trying to prepare me -- we'll be asking him to do things that are above his level (like what-- algebraic equations?), don't get upset or worried. We just want to see what he can do (again, like what? skip rope? Fail a test?) and, good luck to you on that seeing-what-he-can-do thing. Now, mind you, Allan spends half of his time these days playing with his hands, wringing them like the villan in a silent movie. You wouldn't have known it yesterday. As soon as the VNPT hit the door, he dropped them to his sides like they were lead weights. And he can clearly hold on to things and put them up to his mouth. Nunh-uhn. Not yesterday. Hands? I have hands? I'm sure that there will be a note in the report that the mother responded with inappropriate laughter, but when she got behind me and started ringing this bell to see if he would turn his head and he didn't turn his head, but did cut his eyes at me and heaved a big ha-rumph sigh, as if to say that this was irritating and, really, couldn't I do something about her? Finally, since I wouldn't do any thing about it, he took refuge in sleep. It was his only defense. Allan, 1, VNPT, 0.
I hope this is not indicative of his future academic career.
Tuesday, January 09, 2007
January 8th - A Very Big Day
Griffith has been drooling, gnawing on his fist, chewing -- everything you would expect of someone who is trying to cut teeth, but it was Allan, stealthy Allan, who cut the first tooth. Last night I was feeling around on his gums (yeah, I don't know why either, but I was, go with it.) It is just barely peeking through, but Big Al has (while no one was looking) cut one of his lower front teeth. I would try for a picture, but I think all you would see is gum. Maybe in a week or two.
Sunday, January 07, 2007
Typing is a little difficult Dad has gone out for a few minutes so. naturally, all h-e-double breaks lose. They both were tired, both wanted to be held, and both wanted to be on my chest. They have fallen asleep on my chest and are all nestled together, sleeping soundly. I am sort of like the little boy and the dike. I guess I'll stay put until the calvary arrives. I am typing with one hand so it is slow-going with the blogging.
Aunt Kathy stopped by yesterday and visited for a while. She was quite impressed with our big boys. Griffith showed off how well he can do pushups and Allan managed a few shy smiles.
Uncle Luis and Aunt Diane came over this afternoon and took on baby duty so that Jay and I could have a few hours to celebrate his birthday. They were apparently on their very best behavior. When they are good, they are very good. When they are bad.....
Nothing big on the horizon this week. No doctor's appointments or anything. Here's hoping for a long stream of boring days.
Aunt Kathy stopped by yesterday and visited for a while. She was quite impressed with our big boys. Griffith showed off how well he can do pushups and Allan managed a few shy smiles.
Uncle Luis and Aunt Diane came over this afternoon and took on baby duty so that Jay and I could have a few hours to celebrate his birthday. They were apparently on their very best behavior. When they are good, they are very good. When they are bad.....
Nothing big on the horizon this week. No doctor's appointments or anything. Here's hoping for a long stream of boring days.
Griffith - big number 8
Apparently if you are number 8 on the rugby team, you are the biggest, roughest guy at the back of the scrum.
Griffith - reading his bear book
Aunt Kathy made a cloth book for the boys about bears and transportation. Griffith is delighted with the bright pages.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
