“I Claim This Mouth in the Name of Incisor”
Ok, ok, I know. I said they were teething, like, I don’t know, two months ago. And still no teeth. However, two days ago, one broke ground in Andy’s mouth. And when I say “broke ground,” that’s exactly what I mean. There’s like a little crevasse that feels wicked sharp when you rub his gums, but I can’t see an actual tooth. That may have more to do with the fact that the boys love to stick their tongues out, and looking at their lower gums is pretty much impossible. I hope that little tooth pops out soon, because hell hath no fury like a teething infant. Or two.
Also, we have a long list of things the boys love:
1) Food. Most food. Especially foods mixed together (like peaches and avocado)
2) Toys that make noise. Especially the Oball Rattle. They fight over that one. Full on tug of war, if you can believe it
3) Feet. Their own feet in particular, but brother’s feet work almost as well. Feet that have little animals on them are most appealing. See Also: Pulling socks off feet
4) Drooling. Well, I assume they like it because they do it constantly. We’re talking 4 bibs a day, and that doesn’t include the sheet changes at nap time
5) Pulling mom’s hair
6) Drooling in mom’s hair, or if she’s not careful, drooling in mom’s eye
7) Flying. See above
8) Rowing a boat, gently and in a stream. They don’t go very far, but it’s a good workout
9) Party in My Tummy (Watch at your own risk. The boys haven’t actually seen this, but they love the song. Banana wants to go to the party in their tummies, but not so much applesauce).
10) Looking wildly around for something to stick in their mouth, but then acting surprised that it’s there
As you can see, 6 month olds are complex and misunderstood creatures. Or something.
Saturday Photoday
To make up for the lack of posted photos recently, we’ve stuck 40 photos up from between April 11th and today. Included are three separate solid feedings, some random stuff and a short-lived “real” photo shoot from today.
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4488 Hours Old
We had our 6 month appointment today (a week late, but whatever). Babies are in fine shape and hitting all of their milestones right on time. Shots were fast and only elicited a 10 second cry. We gave them a little Tylenol before leaving, so between the fact they’re drugged and the appointment was right when they should have been napping, they are now totally conked out.
Stats:
Andy–17 lbs 15 oz (50-75%) and 26.75 inches (50-75%) and incidentally has one of the roundest heads the doctor has ever seen. His head size is 45 cm (75-90%)
Will–19 lbs 4.5 oz (75-90%) and 27.5 inches (75-90%). Head size is 45.2 cm (75-90%)
Adam asked if they were eating a lot and developed a pig nose, if that meant they had caught the swine flu. The doctor laughed. But it sounds like the general population has lost it’s mind, and the the doctor says they’ve been just overrun with freaked out parents, and the hospital keeps sending emails to the various offices, pleading them to NOT send any more patients to the emergency room. I’m constantly reminded how much the 24 news stations are possibly ruining this country.
…And One Fell Out
No, no worries. No falling around here. It’s from a nursery rhyme that I was desperately trying to remember the words too, because what kind of stupid nursery rhyme would it be if the only words were:
There were ten in a bed and the little one said,
“Roll over, roll over.”
So they all rolled over and one fell out.
Except those ARE the only words. Well, I mean you keep repeating until you get down to one. I felt better that actually remembered the right ones, but again…what a stupid song. It makes no sense. Ten whats?
Anyway, a couple of “milestones,” one actually related. Andy is now a rolling machine and as of yesterday can roll from back to front as well as front to back. He looks quite proud of himself whilst doing it too. He hasn’t actually linked rolls together, but once he figures out he can move around doing that, I’m sure we’ll be in heaps of trouble.
Will is becoming a pro at the sippy cup. He can hold it and drink, for at least a minute or two, all on his own. Andy hasn’t had as much practice, as the sippy cup is the fun toy Will plays with while Andy takes his sweet time finishing his bottle.
Both are also sitting up, pretty much unassisted for short periods. If I put them on the changing pad (which has inclined edges), they both can sit and play with toys for a couple of minutes. The floor is a tad harder, because they sort of list to one side and then fall over. Until they get tired, and all they want to do is kick out, which sends them flying backwards. They’ve been testing my reflexes!
Their 6 month appointment is on Friday, so I’m looking forward to hearing the stats. I may have to be buying some pricey car seats sooner that I had hoped.
Nostalgia
I took the boys to Babies R Us yesterday to pick up some things, namely diapers (Sorry Planet Earth, not such a good Earth Day present…). We walked thorough the clothing area on the way to check out, and walked right past the display of premie clothes. I did a double take as we passed by.
There is just no way, no way at all that these two boys ever fit into those little, tiny pajamas. And not only fit into them, actually swam in them, to the point where I questioned if the tag was even accurate. These two moose sized children who sit up and roll over and eat squash, that they were once so tiny, they fit in doll clothes, it makes my heart hurt a little. They were too small for their car seats and we had to prop them up with a probably unsafe number of hospital blankets. And now, they are dangerously close to needing big boy car seats—the ones that fit up to 65 pounds.
I was looking through the pictures from their first two weeks. I scarcely recognized them. They look so small, so fragile. Their faces seemed so, I don’t know, gaunt. Their skin looks thin and their fingers so tiny. And yet, they’re in there. I look closely, and it is their eyes, their noses, their little dimples. You can see what they have now become, they just needed to fill in, to stretch out.
But that scares me, because I look at them now, and I cannot see 6 more months down the road. It is totally beyond my imagination to think of them waving…..standing……talking. I know that little boys are hiding in these baby boys. I’m just having a hard time letting go of what they are now.
Weekend Wrapup
It’s been a week and the internet demands fresh content. First a couple random updates, then some book reviews. Because this is my blog, and “I do what I want!”
- I finally started drums on Guitar Hero: Metallica. Pretty fun, though my thumb threatens to blister every session now. Preventative taping will commence, but the hockey tape I have is kinda sticky on the outside too.
- The boys have branched out from squash to sweet potatoes and avocado. So far so good. And messy.
- Frickin’ Sharks.
- Still playing Unreal World, a wilderness survival rouge-like. Yes, I’m weird.
- Future Sailors by The Mighty Boosh. Too bad Adult Swim is butchering the episodes, and they started on season 3 for some reason.
The Andromeda Strain by Michael Crichton
I’ve been meaning to read this ever since the A&E miniseries came out last year. I DVR’d it and have been sitting on it for months. Well, I finally got around to it, and the verdict is: okay. I wasn’t aware that it was written in 1969, though that didn’t necessarily detract from it. Actually, I thought the science held up fairly well, 40 years on. It read smoothly and kept my interest, but here are my gripes:
- It seemed that a full third of the book was descriptions of scientific tests and the machines that ran them. It wasn’t boring, but it wasn’t exactly gripping, either.
- The ending was… anti-climactic. ‘Nuff said without spoilers.
Now I can finally watch the 4 hour miniseries and see what they did with it.
A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin
While poking around on that internet thing, I came across a message board thread where people were talking about which books had a profound influence on them as kids or teens. I noticed that A Wizard of Earthsea came up on many people’s lists, so I snagged it from the library. It is apparently an acclaimed novel and frequently compared to the Lord of the Rings trilogy.
Well, I was underwhelmed to say the least. The writing seemed flat and just not that interesting. The story itself was fine as a whole, but I guess I wasn’t hooked by her writing style. I will not be reading anything else by her voluntarily. I do not care what happens to Ged going forward.
Bonus Review: Just After Sunset by Stephen King
I finally finished this Christmas present recently as well. Some really good stories in this collection, I highly recommend it, if you like Stephen King’s style. Inlcuded is “N.”, which was made into a comic book and a downloadable narrated comic book-like video series. Overall a great read!
Saturday Photoshoot
The boys got their smiles on for y’all. 20 new shots over here.
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Mommy Abuse
We had a one piece PJ that was green, had a dino on it and said “Little Stompers.” For the past couple of weeks, this is our new nickname for Will. The kid kicks like crazy. It started in his crib. We had put them to bed and were sitting on the couch, when there was a huge thumping noise that literally shook the whole house. I thought something had fallen off a shelf or something, but it turns out it was just Will putting his feet up in the air and then slamming them down as hard as he could. Now it’s turned into more like a bicycle kick, one leg at a time. And when he really gets going, it looks like he’s dancing. Hopefully we’ll get video soon, because it’s hilarious.
We’ve had some just gorgeous weather here since Friday (although it’s turning to crap this afternoon), so I busted out a pair of shorts yesterday. It was kind of weird, I have like 3-5 little quarter size bruises on the inside of my ankle. What a weird place to get bruises?
Until I realized this morning that when I play with the kids on the play mat, or getting them lotioned up/dressed after a bath, the inside of my ankle is right in the strike path of Will’s little feet. And funny enough, the bruises aren’t actually the size of quarters, they’re the size of a 5.5 month old’s heels. I must be more careful around that one.
In other news, we attempted a visit to the zoo on Monday. Yeah….nice weather+spring break=100’s of people in line to get in. So, we bailed and hung out at Cathy’s house. Her kids were so very entertaining to the boys, especially when 2 year old Joey kept trying to give them things like a giant plastic carrot or a sippy cup. It was so cute, but I think he was kind of confused why Will and Andy weren’t very grateful.
Tuesday Photoday
16 new photos are up for your viewing pleasure. Only 3 of Andrew, since he was in a mood after his bath, but Will’s 2 best faces are in here.
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UW Photostroll
I snuck out yesterday for a photostroll at the University of Washington. Full set on my Flickr, sneak peaks below.
