Crawl up stairs

Wren has just crawled up the stairs from the back yard on his own. He started getting on the first step and I followed him all the way to the kitchen!

Mudbath

This morning, I opened my email to be greeted by the following note from my mother:

Poor Wren! Are you feeding him enough solids! I am on his side. There he is crawling around the floor foraging for food! Are you alerting everyone to be ultra-careful about little dangerous items being left around!" I have nightmares [about this].

For the record I am feeding him a wide variety of solid food throughout the day. I am not as systematic as Mum was due to a shortage of labor in our home. I am the labor and the bosses are restless.

Today, Wren has eaten rice cake, banana, spinach, sweet potato and one arrowroot cookie. It is only 2pm.

This morning Wren helped me in the garden. He climbed a tree and played in the mud. Here are the pictures I took:

Joshua watches Wren climbing out of the mud.

Wren plays in a muddy puddle while I water the albizia which is growing vast this summer.

Wren comes to share his muddiness.

Wren stands at the back gate watching Kitties in the garden.


We just returned from a walk to Bagel Oasis where Frost had a bagel with his friend Nate, Clarissa and their Mum Laine. The whole family is moving to Norway and it was good to hear the latest on their preparations. We were going to have Nate for a longer playdate but Laine had to come early because he was stung by a wasp while we were walking to the restaurant. I had some thai chicken salad with roasted eggplant from Bai Pai (which I can highly recommend).

Now its Wren's naptime. This morning nap was only 35 minutes so I am hopeful of a longer respite this afternoon since Josh is going to archery and, if last night was anything to go by, it promises to be a long night.

Oh, the trick of the day was climbing onto the coffee table. I have no idea how Wren did this but I was watching him, turned away, turned back and he was sitting in the middle of the coffee table. I have seen him trying since but he has not repeated it. However, he climbed from my lap onto the dining room table while we were eating breakfast.

Before I go, I want to share a link to a newborn baby with Shones Syndrome [Jelly Bean's Journey]. His family received a very similar diagnosis to Wren's prenatally and he had his coarc repair surgery a couple of days ago. I am sure that prayers and positive thoughts would be appreciated.

Gnasher

Wren has such large teeth that I call him "the shark". He likes to bite - pierce, gnaw, tear - at anything and everything. That includes raw potatoes (Tash was peeling for the gnocchi we made for dinner). She said he dug into them with his bottom teeth repeatedly. He also likes to bite my nipple when nursing. I don't look at him with quite as much affection thesedays.

He is now wingeing and whining and crawling after me because I took a gnarly piece of seaweed from his mouth.

Yesterday I removed:
* pebble
* bark
* lego
* rice cake and
* dirt
from his mouth.

He is almost cruising. He doesn't really move his feet but has started to rock and shuffle when standing and yesterday he lunged from the coffee table to the couch while standing. He made it!

His favorite places to pull up on are the gates, the baby einstein activity center, the world globe stand and the ottoman.

His favorite things to destroy are the telephone and the shell collection.

8 months old today

Wren is eight months old today. He is eating rice cakes in crumbs, bits of carrot and he even had an arrowroot cookie yesterday (a la Joshua).

He likes to squeak through a baby whistle and stand up on everything. He also likes to hold long thin objects while he clambers about and gets very angry/upset if you take it away. Today, his long thing choices have been: a sharpie, a chopstick, a ballpoint pen, a playmobil lance and a magic wand.

He is now sqwarking at bedtime. His sleep is still fragmented - typically he is in bed by 6.45pm, wakes around midnight yelling his head off. We try and ignore this (ie, I try and sleep through it) or Joshua comes in and says soothing things. He wakes again around 3-4am and nurses. I put him back in his crib or sometimes fall asleep nursing and he wakes again an hour or so later (4-5am). This second time he used to stay awake for the day but now he tends to go back to sleep if nursed a bit and wakes for the day around 6am. If not for the fragmented early mornings I wouldn't complain as much but its pretty touch and go after 3am and I am still very tired even though I am asleep by 10pm almost every night (9.30pm being common!)

We have quit cloth diapering and are on Seventh Generation #3s.

Now the big news is that Frost had an echocardiogram today due to teh family association of CHDs. We just heard from the pediatrician that his echo was totally normal! This is a great relief. I am happy!

Floor nuggets

Since the gate went up Wren has taken to crawling the perimeter of his zone searching for floor nuggets. When he finds one, he puts it in his mouth with his evolving pincer grasp. This morning he ate cat food. It was disgusting. By the time I did the search and retrieval operation the catfood had disolved into a brown paste which Wren thought pretty tasty.

It was not on the 6-9mth first foods list.

Wren was even more upset when I removed the remaining three catfood balls from his hand. He was saving those for later.

He has also discovered my collection of seashells and right now he is fingering and mouthing and bashing a large Lettered Cone shell. Apparently, some more things will have to be removed from this area as he has spotted (but can't yet access) the small cowries and indonesian shells in the plastic drawers.

His most common accident is pulling up underneath something low. Yesterday, he repeatedly bonked his head by pulling up on a table leg under the table, or under the tall desk stools. He has an absolute desire to pull upright. This morning I saw him move his feet across a bit but more usually he just lowers himself down to sitting with a little bump.

Speaking of bumps.. last night was a bit bumpy. Wren cried a lot at midnight till josh came in and spoke to him. He woke and nursed at 2am and then was up for the last nurse/wake at 4.45 but dozed till 5.30 so I didn't try and get him back to sleep.

Hopefully Frost sleeps in till 7.30am at least. Having both up before 7am is a bit rough.

Okay, wren is standing up under the chair and needs help.

PG 2

Wren went to bed at 6.30pm because his second nap was not a long one. He slept until midnight when he started crying and it took 20 minutes of complaint before he fell asleep. This first waking was softening me up so when he woke again... at 1AM ugh... I nursed him quickly in hopes of better sleep.

I guess it backfired. He slept until 4am and then felt it was morning and no amount of nursing could convince him otherwise. He just wasn't hungry enough. So, I tried the "roam freely around the bed" thing I did last night. It didn't work. I was too tired to watch him and he was too tired to play but not too tired to avoid sleep. I put him back in his crib and he played and rolled quietly before starting yelling. He STILL could not nurse to sleep and started crawling when I brought him to bed. Eventually... at 5.35am (after a few attempts at nap-nursing) I put him in back in his crib for the second tiume and left the room. He cried loudly but fell asleep within 15 minutes. We both got another hour of sleep to get up around 7am.

I am not sure if these broken/extended nights are a step forward or back. They are better for me as I am less tired than getting up at 4.45am but perhaps I should just let him yell earlier?

Meanwhile, Josh finally got to go to archery last night ending a carless day for me and the kids. It was a long one with many irritations but in the end Shrek 3 for Wii arrived. While Josh was out Frost and I started playing Shrek and I am glad to say it is easy enough and forgiving enough for us both to enjoy it. I defeated all the bosses and found lots of treasure and Frost went to bed believing I am an all around good Mummy. I felt he was pretty good to because he ate all his rice, tofu, cabbage and broccoli (aka leftovers) stir-fry AND had a second helping. I cook roast chicken and he picks at the potato but loves this cabbage concoction? I will just have to accept it I guess. It was pretty tasty.

Just a while ago Wren and I came through from the bedroom to play on the living room carpet. Wren discovered the Wii controller and nearly Pii'ed on the Wii while I was diaper changing him. I couldn't resist that, sorry.

Coffee is now brewed. We are off to the farm today, belatedly. Tomorrow is the "Heart to Heart" CHD support group pool party. The group has been a great support for me, particular during the prenatal diagnosis and early surgery. I am looking forward to the pool. I am not looking forward to appearing in my slightly tight, semi-transparent swimsuit (don't you hate it when they kind of rub off and you are left wearing skeletal lycra?).

PG 1 [Post-Granny Day One]

This morning was the first time in a few weeks that I was alone on the early-baby shift. Wren was a superstar sleeper in one way. He went to bed at 6.45pm and woke to nurse at 4am. This is the longest stretch EVER. However, he thought that 4am was a fine time to get up and blamed my reluctance on lack of light and that silly digital clock saying 4 something.

I spend a lot of my time in bed counting hours on my fingertips. My mental math, once brisk, is now a sorry mess so I have reverted to my digits. For example (in the dark of bed) I count on my mental fingers. If I got to sleep at 10pm and get up at 4.15am that is six and a quarter fingers of sleep.

This morning, having no coffee companion, I decided to stay in bed. So I nursed Wren and then let him crawl around the bed without speaking to him. My only intervention was to stop him falling off the bed or pinching my nose. After 45 minutes he realized he was tired and fussed and flopped a bit. When he started crying more loudly I nursed him and he slept another horu from 5.20 till 6.20am. Somehow that feels like a great triumph.

This was made possible by Josh being in "grannies room" with Frost. Frost woke at 4am crying because he was "scared" on his own and wanted to come into our bed. This is not an option for me until I get 8 hours of sleep so I offered Daddy as a sacrificial sleeper and he staggered in and is still asleep. Frost tells me that he is scared at night because he thinks "bad thoughts" about things he sees on TV. Scooby Doo is a particularly rich source of bad ideas because there are "always bad guys who get some stuff".

I have suggested he stops watching Scooby Doo and he has agreed. I doubt this will stop the anxiety but perhaps the monsters will more manageable.

I nearly forgot to feed Wren real food this morning because Granny had taken total responsibility for feeding him. She has him eating a wide variety of food. This morning he ate the cherry cubes she made him. Recently he has been eatng sweet potato with baby rice mixed in, pureed cherries, cherry chunks, avocado chunks, banana chunks, chicken pieces, floorboard and dead moth. The last two were a la carte (or floor).

Yesterday I visited Babies r Us on the way to the airport. While there we picked out two gates to limit Wren's roaming. He is pulling up on everything and is starting to shift his weight from foot to foot. He crawls like a wind-up toy... vrooooom... Frost says that he is wonderbaby because he doesn't even see him move and suddenly he is somewhere else!

The first gate has been installed between the kitchen and corridor. This corrals Wren in the living room and kitchen area. The second gate is going at the top of the back stairs so I can leave the back door open and still have basic baby proofing in place.

Oh, on that count. If you have tried to phone us and found that the answering machine does not pick up it is because Wren has taken to pulling down the telephone and bashing the buttons, invariably turning off the answering machine function. Sorry.

Now its time to get Wren ready for a short short walk. Today Josh has the car so we are having an at-home day and will be making choc-chip cookies and catching up on laundry. I hope Mum made it hope okay and her luggage makes it too.

Oh for a Kayak...

Yesterday Joshua and I went out for a date-lunch while Mum watched Wren and Frost. It was wonderful. We ate lunch at Aqua Verde and then, on impulse, went out for a kayak for an hour. It was the first time I had been in a kayak although I have done a lot of canoeing.

At first it felt very unstable, especially with all the large wake from the armada of boats and yachts passing too and fro for seafair. We managed to make it across the channel a couple of times and I loved being on the water at last. At a result I am checking out library books on kayaking and Josh and I are making plans to buy a double kayak and a canoe to set to the rivers at some undetermined future point. If you have any experience in local canoeing or kayaking, especially daily rentals, please give us some advice.

Meanwhile, the backdrop to all my days is the excessive early waking of Baby Wren. This morning, I confess, I did not like my baby. I loved him, sure. But how much can you like someone who gets you up at 4.30am and is grumpy then takes three and half hours of naps during the day while you suffer the ravages of sleep deprivation? the answer is "not much". Oh, and this happens almost every day (5.15am is more common). Mum saved me yet again by taking Wren for a dawn walk and allowing me another hour of sleep. His nights before 5am are much better. HE goes to sleep at 7pm and nurses around 2am but then wants to be up for the day at the next waking. It is very hard especially as Frost is going to bed at 9pm and I conk out shortly afterwards. There is not more than a sliver of adult time going on here.

Today, Frost has been playing rokenbok with a set we bought at a garage sale yesterday. It is great to see him enjoying something other than knights, castles and lego. He says "rokenbok rocks". I also enjoy rokenbok although our play could constitute a personality test. I enjoy sorting balls and challenging myself to organize the balls into different "dumps" using my truck. Frost is keen to demolish things and smash into and obstruct my truck with his own. Josh teases by obstructing my truck but also shows an interest in "how things work" and how to obtain balls most easily. He does nto persist in sorting them once the functionality is determined.

Wren is crawling so much that gates are an urgent need for me. Joshua objects, wanting "free flow through our house". Joshua also wants a family bed so we are diverging in our parenting styles. Since I am extremely sleep deprived I am not managing this diversion very skilfully and am becoming stubborn and non-communicative in my views (aka desperate and clinging to my current theory).

"he is just too active now" says mum. "He got from here [kitchen] to the back door in two minutes".

We went to REI today and I bought some yoga pants. It is wonderful to have something that maketh my fatteth self appear less robust. Long live Prana. Now if I can do some yoga at 5am it might help my state of mind.

This week ahead is going to be Playdate Week (and onwards) for Frost. If anyone wants to send their child over for a playdate or is willing to have Frost over for one... drop me an email. I have been slack about arranging them but have my phonebook out and am making plans (plots) to keep everyone happy and attain an afternoon nap in the process.

The picture up top is Wren and I at Jubilee Farm last week.

Where are the fishies?

Wren is starting to understand us. When we ask "where are the fishies?" he looks up at the fish mobile. He also knows his name although it sometimes takes a few gos before he stops what he's doing to look at you. Unfortunately it seems he associates the whole question with the object so if you ask him "where is mummy?" he also looks at the fishies. As granny said (in the kind of hysteria that waking too early can promote) "mum has become a fishie!"

In further confusion.. Wren thinks the rubber covered Wii remote is a chew toy.

He woke up at 4.45am for the day and since it is raining (yes, those of you who wake in daylight hours may not see this gloomy fact) we can't go out for a walk yet.

Now, some pictures from the past few days. First, Wren bathing in the sink. He usually bathes in the bath in an inflatable tub but due to plumbing problems:

"uh oh, was that a shampoo bottle lid that just went down the drain?
Hrmm... yes. Oh, draino doesn't work.
Okay, Josh, I'll watch the kids while you try to open the P-trap.
Oh, you can't open the p-trap in that pipe without a bigger wrench.
Oh, the bigger wrench worked... but, what? The pipe seal is cracked, is leaking?
The plumber can't be here until tomorrow afternoon?...etc"



and here he is standing after pulling himself up on the high chair.



And finally, admiring Frost's habitat art show on the last day of his zoo-themed art camp. The habitat was for a turtle and wild cat and came with a cave and 2 trees. Actually, this picture shows his sea serpent. I am not sure how they saw one at the zoo.

The urge to travel

Wren's mobility continues to grow in leaps and bounds (or crawls and hops). He moves with increasing speed and has started to learn where things are in the house - following the same path a number of times to find things he likes. One common route is through the corridor to Frost's room. We have started keeping the door shut but it is often open and he crawls like a little steam train to get onto the Lego-strewn floor before we capture him.

He also likes to crawl through the kitchen, explore the heating vent in the floor, and to the cat food bowls. He picks up the cat food and drops the little "pebbles" on the floor.

We need to find somewhere to put it out of reach.

Even more exciting: today Wren learned to pull himself up from the ground. He pulled himself up to standing at the coffee table, in the bathtub, holding the legs of the high chair and at the couch. This is a new and dangerous endeavor because he can now fall from a greater height. He slipped while standing at the coffee table and hit the side of his eye on the table getting a bruise. He let go while holding the high chair and nearly fell.

Tomorrow, I will post the first standing shot of Wren - holding on with one hand.

This evening we went down to swim at Magnuson park. Mum took some photos of Frost swimming with an inflatable boat I bought at Bartells in spring. He had a grand time with it. He has started to become interested in swimming and didn't lament when I suggested swimming lessons in a few weeks time. He wants to pass the swim test so he can swim in the deep water. I am hoping this does not happen soon and its not likely but he is very keen to be released from the murky shallows of the non-swimmer zone. I really wish the lake swimming areas had a slightly deeper area for partial swimmers. Its not that fun wading around by the pebbly weedy duck feathered (poopy) shore and as I dragged Frost in the boat I too looked longingly at the deeper dark water where the serious lap swimmers and teenage girls with braces frollicked.