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October 6, 2002
October 6, 2002
Collin is 15 months old.
Autumn greetings! Not sure what part of the woods you live in, but around here it sure is beginning to look a lot like fall. The temps have fallen, the air has turned crisp, the apples are abundant and fresh, the leaves are beginning to turn their beautiful colors and holiday isles in the stores are stocked!
Where to begin? So many things have happened in the past month (since I last wrote a real entry) that I don’t even know where to start. Somewhere around this heap of a mess called a desk is a list of everything I wanted to touch base on in Collin’s journal, but for the life of me, I can’t find it now. I must resort to my memory and that sure isn’t going to help me much! I have a hard time remembering what the date is, much less what Collin did four weeks ago. I keep telling myself that this is why I must write weekly entries, instead of going three, sometimes four weeks. I always set a goal of writing more, then something comes up and I put it off another week…then another week…and another. You get the point. So here I am, brain working major over time and my back is already starting to ache from this chair I’m sitting in.
***Is Collin Still On The Bottle?***
I guess I should start where I last left off – The Bottle Blues. The last I wrote, Collin was 14 months old and still wanting one, sometimes two, bottles a day (especially before bed). Getting rid of the bottle ended up not being the big deal we thought it would be. The day after I wrote my last entry, I ended up taking one bottle and mixing the milk with half water. Collin took a few swigs of this mixture and literally threw the bottle across the room. He hated it. I then offered him his sippy cup (which he loves!) full of milk and told him that the yummy milk was in the cup and that if he wanted the yummy stuff, he could only have it in the cup. That was that. He whined a little the first day, but I occupied him and he didn’t even seem to miss the bottle…at all! One-day bottle free and I knew we had it down. Two days bottle free and I knew Collin’s lips would never touch another silicone nipple again. I was very thankful that this wasn’t the struggle I thought for sure it would be. I’m so proud of Collin for being such a big boy and leaving the bottle behind. Several days later, I finally got enough nerve to gather all the bottles and the bottle rack and pack them all away. What a great day that was, but it was mixed with a tad bit of sadness for me. My little boy would no longer need me to make him up a bottle and sit with him. Now he’s off in a zillion different directions, walking, talking, eating, drinking, stepping, playing, and exploring on his own. What a little boy he’s becoming. My little boy, who by the way will ALWAYS be his mother’s little baby, no matter how big or old he gets. All sappiness aside, I am very happy to be done with the whole bottle phase. No more washing and getting that milk out of those nipples!!! No more rinsing dog or cat hair off of them either. Bye-bye bottles…see ya around next time!
***15-Month Check Up***
Collin just had his 15-month check up and everything is well! He got four booster vaccinations (which he screamed bloody murder) and the doctor is very pleased at his growth and health. For the record, Collin now weighs 27 pounds, 13 ounces (80%), he’s 34 ½ inches tall (100%…wow!), and has a head circumference of 47.5 cm (65%). He’s got about 15 teeth right now and is working on a few more. The ped. said that he can see a few more working their way up. During Collin’s one-year check up, our pediatrician had given us a prescription for a multivitamin drop with added iron and fluoride. These drops are so god-awful in taste and smell that no matter what I put them in, Collin would refuse. It’s like he knew I was trying to pass something over on him. I failed at a handful of attempts and just decided it wasn’t worth the fight. We make sure Collin eats very healthy foods, lots of fresh fruits and vegetables, whole grains and very VERY limited processed foods or sugary sweets. This being said, we weren’t too concerned with him getting the vitamins. He had already had two previous iron tests (9 months and 12 months), both came back perfect, so I wasn’t even sure why he was taking the extra iron. Some of the ladies on our diary writers group suggested not giving him the extra iron if he didn’t need it. At Collin’s 15-month appointment we asked if we could have one more iron test and if that showed to be fine, then asked what the harm in just getting a regular multivitamin without the added iron would be. Our pediatrician agreed and of course, Collin’s iron was very good. So now he will just get a regular infant/children’s multivitamin and we won’t have to worry about side effect from too much iron. We feel much better about this and I thank you diary writers for you input, suggestions and comments!
***Anyone Up For a 3am Snack?***
We seem to be going through a bit of a stage in the eating and sleep departments. Some of the foods that Collin once loved, he turns his nose up at, while others that he would NEVER touch before (lima beans!) he now eats handfuls of. Some of his favorite foods right now are: green beans, cucumbers, tomatoes, beans, crackers, cereal, pizza, toast, veggie dogs, grapes, rice cakes, yogurt, garlic bread, pasta, flat bread with hummus, and fresh fruits. I’ve also noticed that some foods he doesn’t too much care for at home (eggs, pancakes) he’ll eat just fine if we’re eating out. We hardly eat out so I’m not sure why this is. Maybe he just likes the different taste the restaurant offers. He’s been waking during the night once in awhile lately (almost every night last week!) and I’m not sure if it’s due to getting in more teeth, or just that he gets woken up because of a dream or the twitching of his limbs. I once read that at this stage, children will wake because of their bodies growing and sometimes twitching and also because of the more vivid dreams they are having. Makes sense to me, if it’s true. Collin’s never been a child to easily sooth himself back to sleep. He’s always liked to have that secure feeling of a warm cuddle or the motion of being rocked in the rocking chair. Last week I was having flashbacks of having an infant again because he was waking at least once, sometimes twice a night all week. There was a few nights that he thought it was time to wake up for the day. He was tired but didn’t want to sleep because he kept telling me he was hungry. Everything I was offering him, he didn’t want and we were both miserable. It was 3 in the morning and here I was trying to offer him anything to get him back to sleep. I knew he really was hungry because his tummy was growling. I felt so bad for him but nothing I offered pleased his night owl palette. Toast-no, frozen waffles-no, cereal-no, yogurt-no, fruit-no. It wasn’t until I offered up a veggie dog and cucumbers that he was finally happy. Here we were, two zombies, in the kitchen at 3:30am sitting at the table. Collin was mowing down his dog and cucumbers and was as happy as a hog! The things we do for our children to make them happy…and to make them sleep! After that and a fresh diaper, he was happy to cuddle back down into his crib and drift off into sleep and I was on my way back to bed to collapse. I had forgotten how hard it was to wake up in the middle of the night. I’m yawning just thinking about it again.
***Signing***
I recently updated Collin’s website and on the site I wrote how much Collin’s signing is coming along. He uses several different signs and gets his wants and needs across very well. I’m so glad we decided to teach Collin sign language. I can’t recommend it enough. It has helped us all out tremendously and I plan on teaching it to any other children we might be blessed with. He’s regularly using: eat, drink, milk, sleepy, diaper change, flower, lip stuff (chapstick), ketchup (he made this one up), more, tickle nose (he loves taking one of my makeup brushes and tickling his nose with them), all done, and music and alligator (on one of his favorite books, but I think he just likes to watch me do it). When we show him a new sign, he picks it up almost immediately. We haven’t worked on any new one’s lately, but I’m sure that if we did, he’d be using them.
***Who's Clues? Blue's Clues***
His vocabulary is excellent right now and along with about 25-30 (maybe more) different words he uses on his own, he’ll repeat lots of words that Mark and I use daily. The other morning, Collin and I were watching Blue’s Clues (one of his favorites) and it was all about how Blue had gone to the doctor for a check up (which just happened to be the same week that Collin went for his check up – talk about perfect timing! Blue even had to get a vaccination!). Joe (Blue’s human companion) was talking about how Blue needed to go to the doctor and every time Joe would say the word doctor, Collin would repeat it. I was amazed! It wasn’t just baby babble either; it was actually the word doctor, plain as day! Really shows how fast little one’s pick things up from the television. Be careful out there parents! Your children are watching and picking these things up…fast!!! We really have always limited the amount of time the television is on when Collin is up. We watch Blue’s Clues, Oswald, and Dora in the morning (usually not all three since his morning nap falls somewhere in between) then the TV gets shut off until the 5:00 or 6:00pm local news comes on. We may have it on for one or two shows at night, but generally it’s off again around 7:00 so that we can read to Collin, get him his bath and into PJ’s for bed. There are plenty of days that the TV doesn’t even come on, Collin loves music and he knows how to turn on the CD player to load up his children’s CD. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve sung the verses to Frère Jacques! Okay, back to the vocabulary…a few words that I just love hearing Collin say are apple, hotdog Oswald, and dada. The way these words come out, sound so incredibly cute that each time he says them I have to give him a cuddle. I love the fact that just hearing our son say a word can make my heart smile.
***From The Web Page***
A few other things I wanted to document are things off his web page. If you’ve viewed his page, please forgive the cutting and pasting job I’m about to do, but I see no point in completely retyping the exact same things.
…Since taking his first steps, Collin’s a very active toddler who loves to explore ANYTHING and EVERYTHING and he certainly keeps us on our toes. Collin has a very good sense of humor and loves to get a laugh or a smile out of someone. He's very thoughtful and doesn't do anything without giving it a good thought first. He's also *VERY* willful!!
He loves to "read" books and be read to, be outside, play with stickers, swim, ride around in the baby back pack, climb up on his little step stool to look out the window, go to the library, dance and listen to music, take baths, chase the cats and play with his best friend: Mollie our dog. He also can't be without his beloved "blankie!"
When we vacuum he likes to get out his tools and "wrench" or "hammer" the vacuum, he likes to work on "projects" of either stacking or piling things up and filling buckets or baskets and then dumping the contents out. He also loves pretending to talk on the phone and totes his own Seseme Street phone/answering machine around with him. We laugh saying how he must be on an important business call. He also LOVES to watch football with daddy on Sunday afternoon.
He also knows the majority of his body parts and brushes his own hair and teeth. He's become the master copycat and will imitate almost any sound he hears us (or the dog) make. When Mark or I raise our voices during a disagreement or discussion, Collin will, in turn, also raise his voice and start pointing at us as to tell us to simmer down! Makes us realize how much he picks up on our tone. It’s certainly made me double think now when I want to say something. Even if we’re just exciting and loudly repeating a story or an event that took place, Collin gets all bent out of shape over the pitch and loudness of our conversation…
***Does Licking Pages Run In The Genes?***
Something very cute I wanted to note. Last night, Saturday, October 5th, I was sitting in the living room just watching Collin play. I had gotten a new magazine in the mail that day and Collin was sitting on the floor, paging through it. A few pages into it, he started to do the cutest thing. At first I thought maybe he wasn’t doing what I thought he was, but there was no mistaking it! He sat there and as he turned each and EVERY page he would take his fingers move them up to his mouth, lick them and use them to turn the page. I couldn’t believe my eyes!!! He was being very precise and thoughtful about it, making sure he got every page. It’s like Collin was in his own little “adult” world, checking out the newest articles in the magazine. I quietly called Mark in and we just sat and watched him with grins on our faces. Then the light bulb must have gone off because Collin just stopped and gave us a look as if he were saying, “Yeah, what can I help you with?” It was priceless. I asked Mark if he turned magazine pages like that and he said no, he has never been one of those people who licked the pages to turn them. I didn’t think I was one either, but maybe I was and just didn’t realize it. It freaked me out because my mother used to always lick the pages when turning them. It just amazed me how much Collin is picking up, even if we don’t realize it.
***Happy 5th Wedding Anniversary, Luv***
In just a few days (Friday, October 11th) it will be our 5th wedding anniversary. We were slobs and procrastinators this year and didn’t do any financial planning so we’re not really celebrating, in that sense (gifts, trips, dinner, etc). I have to admit that the budget right now doesn’t call for last minute spending or frivolous expenditures, so we really won’t be doing much of anything. Mark put in to have the 10th and the 11th off work and we were going to take a small road trip to a darling little town just South East of were we live to spend the day. Mark’s job is switching over to a new system this month and they have told everyone that no vacation is allowed and even some over time must be worked during the weekends. So, Mark wasn’t able to get the 10th and 11th off and he even has to play a show the night of the 11th…basically this means I won’t be able to even see my husband the entire day of our 5th wedding anniversary. But who says you must have fancy plans and lots of money to celebrate something…I plan on packing a nice meal and Collin and I will surprise Mark at work for lunch. He works in a fancy building with lots of greenery and water fountains so it will still be nice. That to me is special! Time spent with the two men I love most - My husband and my son.
On that nice note…I think this is long enough! I hope to post another entry soon so I don’t get so far behind in my thoughts.
Until next time,
Hugs, Jennifer & Collin
Collin’s web page: http://www.babiesonline.com/babies/n/nebraskacollin
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