Nico: 11 months

Dear Nico,
Wow, this past month you've changed a lot.  Luckily, I captured most of it in pictures (thanks to the iPhone).

You currently have 2 teeth.  You drool all the time now.  Last night, you were crawling around, with a steady stream of drool escaping your mouth.  I thought, "Man, he's drooling a ton," and then I thought, "Hmm.  This seems to be a different kind of drool."  I pried your mouth open and sure enough, found a broken yellow crayon.  Change #1 is that you are putting everything in your mouth these days.  We have to watch you like a hawk. I've lectured both Bode and Gianna to make sure that the floor is clear of any small objects. They understand this, but they are babies, too, so can't be expected to remember to pick up stray crayons and Legos. But they do know to tell me if they see you put something in your mouth.  They are always quick to yell, "Nico put something in his mouth! Nico put something in his mouth!" so that I can quickly fish your mouth for the object. 

Change #2: You are starting to pull up on things.  The very first time I spied you doing this was in the garage.  Whenever we go outside, we all stop at the shoe basket and put on our shoes.  And you've learned this routine, too.  Once that garage door is opened in the kitchen, you make a beeline for the garage.  (Yet another area that I have to be careful about because I don't need you attempting to crawl down stairs!) The first time I saw you pull up was on a low basket in the garage.  And now, you are pulling up on other objects, too. You are ready to stand, moving your legs out straight, so that you are doing an inverted V on the floor.

The biggest surprise was last week, when everybody was in the playroom.  You decided to crawl up on the trampoline!  That was a pretty amazing feat, and I just sat there and stared, snapping pictures while you climbed up.  When you got up there, you sat and bounced, like you knew what to do.  While you bounced, you had this big smile on your face. You were so happy.  I clapped and cheered for you.  Then I called Daddy and told him that he needed to put the trampoline in the basement ASAP.  And so it is, but you're still looking for things to climb on. 

Speaking of play, you love playing ball. You are so good at rolling it to another person, catching it, and throwing it out again.  We usually do this in the morning before your sibs wake up. It is our little morning routine, and we both enjoy it. If I need a minute to do something, I can just roll a ball to you and you will play  with it for awhile. You love chasing after the ball, rolling it away, chasing after it again. 

Change #4 would be to food.  No more baby purees for you.  You won't even let me near you with a spoon.  If I approach you with a spoon in my hand, you push your arms out as if to ward off something bad, and turn your face away.  Today, you'll only eat finger foods: shredded chicken, peas, banana,  strawberries, watermelon, pasta, and pancakes.  It stresses me out, because I worry that you're not getting enough to eat.  I just have to trust that you're going to fill yourself up. At dinner time, you're more vocal and will 'demand' food while we're eating. Sometimes I don't give you what you want and you'll grimace and demand again.  It's kind of fun, to see what you'll eat. But it's also nerve-wracking, like, "Is he going to choke on this?"  

Change #5 is to sleep. But isn't sleep always changing with a baby? And it is a Rule that if you talk about sleep and a baby, the Universe and Baby will decide to change things up on you real fast. So let me just say that I've had a good sleep this week, and leave it at that. 

Thanks for being so wonderful.

Love,

Mommy

xo

Lately

We are still here.  

Last week, I felt like I was losing my mind.  It's been hard, these past few weeks, with a lot going on.  I've been telling RWF all summer, "I need a break." Well my break finally came. The babies spent two nights at "Camp Dawnie" where they enjoyed oodles of attention from Uncle Craig, Aunt Dawnie, Aunt Debbie and Grandma. They went to the zoo, out for breakfast, to the park, etc.  I think they also enjoyed sugary snacks and TV.  Awh, camp! They had a blast and smile every time I ask them, "Did you have fun?" As for me, I missed them like crazy. I was tearful, and thinking about them constantly. The house was too quiet. There were many moments when I considered just packing Nico up and driving over to Syracuse to pick up my other two babies. But then I told myself that this break was very much needed, and I would probably not get another chance for "alone" time, as school is starting soon.  So I tried to tolerate the quiet and missing my children. I think Nico enjoyed "only child" status, but he is thrilled to have his sibs back.

I have some anxiety about school.  I'm so glad that Bode is going to a private school right now.  Today we drove by the public elementary school that he would attend, and it looked huge. I can only imagine that the class size is as enormous as the school.  Afterwards, we went to the park (attached to the school) and the children played on the playground while I watched, standing beside Nico (in his stroller).  Bode and Gianna were up on a slide structure, high up.  And as I looked at them, I saw this boy push Bode.  I blinked.  I thought, "Surely I did not just see that kid push my son."  But yeah, he pushed him. He pushed him again. This boy was Bode's size, so I don't think he was older (does it matter? No.). Bode just stood there, and kind of looked at him.  I could tell Bode didn't know what to do, and wouldn't do anything to challenge this kid. Then this boy pushed Gianna.  And after he pushed her, he stood behind her, wrapped his arms around her and picked her up.  He stood there, with his arms wrapped around her, lifting her...what he was going to do, I don't know. Gianna was rigid in this boys arms, her feet not touching the ground. She didn't say anything but her eyes were looking around, looking for help.  "HEY!" I yelled and ran over there. I climbed the structure and got real close to him. "HEY! LET GO OF HER NOW."  I nearly ripped his head off. I was thisclose to becoming physical with this kid. I could NOT believe what I was seeing and my blood was boiling.  He stood there and looked at me.  He didn't blink.  But I could see a ripple of attention behind his face.  I took a breath (I was seriously about to LOSE IT) and  sharply hissed, "Don't ever do that again.  Not to her. Not to him. Not to anyone."  And then I remembered my children. They were staring at me, scared.  I said, more calmly, "We don't push. It's not nice. Someone could get hurt. Especially up here."   Bode found his voice, and echoed, "Yeah, we don't push."  Gianna repeated, "Yeah, we don't push." The boy still stood his ground, as if to let me know that he wasn't impressed. I turned around, and found the boy's mother, her face hidden behind huge sunglasses, tucked into her iPhone, oblivious.  "Hey!" I yelled, "Your son just pushed my children!"  She looked up, and weakly called toward him, "Don't do that!"  The boy ran over to her. They had a brief exchange, and then  he was off again. I stood there, my whole body shaking.  How in the world do I release my children to this?  I know that I can't control everything and everyone. I know that my children can't live in a bubble. But the idea that my children are going to be subjected to mean behavior, to this....oh, it rattles me. 

As for the rest of the summer (we still have over 2 weeks until school starts), I don't know.  I will try to pack in some more park days (hopefully without mean behavior), gardening, farmer's market trips, etc.I guess we will just enjoy the schedule-free time that we have right now.  

Happy Wednesday.

xo

Cousin Danielle

Cousin Danielle (and Aunt Debbie, Aunt Dawnie, and Grandma) paid us a visit yesterday.  I think Gianna found her new BFF!  She thoroughly enjoyed sitting on Dani's lap and talking to her.  The two girly-girls had a lot of fun together, brushing hair, playing dolls, and talking about boys (Dani gave Gianna some great advice: "You're the boss!").

It was a great afternoon hanging out with family. Thanks for visiting us, Dani! We hope that you have a wonderful school year!
xo