Vocabulary Explosion

For the past several weeks, Ian's vocabulary has grown exponentially. From his first coherent word, "abwa" for agua, to all of this today (with English phonetics):

English Words
statue (tah-too)
book (buh)
car (cah)
store (stoh)
water (wa-duh)
apple (ap-oh)
Mimi (mimi)
Daddy (daddy)
nom-noms (nah-nah)
Mommy (nah-nah) LOL!
school (skoo)
No (noh)
tree (tee)
fart (fah)
"I know" (says it perfectly!)
"thank you" (tay-too)
cheese (teeee)
Sylvia (tee-via)
Jennifer (jeh-...)
Grandy (daddy) LOL!
Oliver (ah-buh-buh)
George (geoh)
down (dow)
diaper (dy-poh)

Spanish Words
abuela (a-geh-jah) - grandmother
agua (abwa) - water
pajaro (tah-tah) - bird
trilliza (ti-zah) - triplet, from a cartoon he watches
No (noh)
tortilla (tee-ya)
leche (leh-teh) - milk
sapo (tah-toh) - frog
niño (nee-noh) - boy
niña (nee-nah) - girl
caca (caca) - poop
chi-chi (tee-tee) - pee
aqui/aca (says perfectly) - here
alla (says perfectly) - there

Jason spends a ton of time reading with Ian, going over words, quizzing him, etc. Mami and I spend lots of time enriching his vocabulary as well (her in Spanish, me in English) by speaking to him non-stop. Full ride to Harvard, here we come.

Ian also mimics tons of words that we say, as we say them. There is a lot more he understands than he can utter. One thing that is so 100% Jason is that Ian is not afraid to attempt to say anything. It reminds me of the time J and I were in Nice and he used a bastard-mix of Spanish, English and possibly Portuguese to attempt communicating with the French. It was awesome.

A Natural Historian in the Making

--- On Tue, 10/20/09, Constanza Ward wrote:

From: Constanza Ward
Subject: Chunklinis
To: "Tefi" , "Jason"
Date: Tuesday, October 20, 2009, 3:18 PM

Today has been a day for outside exploration and also lunch al fresco. For the first time, Chunkletines went outside by himself (crawling) to the patio – we left the kitchen door open to see what he would do. Once outside, he touched pebbles, dirt, twigs, rocks, snails, bark, etc., and of course, played with the fountain’s water. Then we opened the gate and he crawled like Speedy Gonzales all the way to the curb –don’t worry, we watch him like hawks. He loves to play with dry leaves and grass. He also kind of touch the tree, found it a little bit rough for his delicate hands.

Since the day is so beautiful, we took his high chair to the patio and had his lunch there. :)

--- On Tue, 10/20/09, Stephanie wrote:

From: Stephanie
Subject: Re: Chunklinis
To: "Jason", "Mami"
Cc: "GRandy"
Date: Tuesday, October 20, 2009, 3:49 PM

That's awesome! On Sunday we were both getting VERY BORED being inside the sun room so I scooped him up and we sat on the sidewalk in the front lawn watching Jason do yard work. He made special friends with a petrified piece of wood mulch and enjoyed starring at the black ants crawling around and birds in the trees.

Ladies and gentlemen, meet the next John James Audobon.

Wave Hello, Wave Good-Bye

Wave Hello!

Wave Good-Bye!

...and then there's Power to the People

Crawling and Clapping

Oh, long time no post. Shame on me! Mama's been busy losing sleep...

For about 3 weeks now, Ian has decided that sleeping a consecutive chunk of time (7+ hours, as before) is no longer en vogue. So the Ian monster has decided to fall asleep quite easily at 9pm (we're keeping him up later since he seems to enjoy playing in the evening), then snoozes until about midnight, wakes up for some nom-noms, then won't go back down easily. Every couple hours it's whaaa, whaaaa. Lord!

He's still got just the two teeth, but more may be on the way, hence the sleeplessness. Or, he's going through some major growth developments. Or both! Last week he began full-on crawling. It just sort of happened like that! *snaps fingers*

He also loves to clap. Ian will crawl around *shuffle shuffle*, go straight into a sitting up position, clap for a few seconds, then he's off again crawling around. He loves to open doors, especially the ones to the laundry area.


A few nights ago he did the cutest thing. He really struggles with the transition from awake>asleep. I let him fret and loll about on the bed as he tires himself out and drifts off. No amount of rocking or nursing will work these days. So the other night as he finally gave in, laid back and began to drift, he lifted both hands into the air and *clap clap* (pause) *clap clap*. He silently and slowly "clapped" himself to sleep.

It. Was. Precious.

Almost Crawling!

Holy cow, batten down the hatches! Put away the figurines! Lock up your girls!

Ian is THIS CLOSE to crawling. He's a scootin' machine and has perfected the "sidewinder." It's just a matter of time before he's up on his knees. Stay tuned!

(If you hear a crash, you know he's finally crawling.)

Tooth! Tooth!

Just got a call from Mami that Ian has his first tooth! It must have come in overnight, or possibly this morning because I don't remember seeing it yesterday. How exciting! They are coming up to my office shortly so I can see it. :)

Ian is such a cool, easygoing baby that I just knew cutting his first tooth would be no big deal for him. He's been slightly fussy at night, but nothing major. No real crying, nothing a few nom-noms and a pacifier can't fix. I ignored all of those negative, "Oh just you wait until he teeths" bullcaca that people felt so inclined to tell me. That's not to say that he won't have a future teething freak-out...anything is possible.

Ian is also putting together syllables in his language development. Yesteday, the word of the day was "Hey-Teh." It almost sounded Swedish. Today it's "May-teh." He's loving his T's right now!

Can you believe this was him a year ago? What a miracle:

Hard to Believe

Hard to believe this is the same child. What a difference (almost) six months makes!

6 days old

5 1/2 months old

Poop-tastic

I am lovin' Ian's poops right now. Sure, they are stinky. And yes, they are poopy. But they are solid little smushed turds that are so easy to clean up! They look like refried black beans and smell like avocados. (And suddenly I'm hungry for Gloria's...)

He's been digging his solid food regimen more and more. He gets such a variety now that we feel confident we are growing a healthy eater. I've even vowed to eat as well as he does. Let's see how long that lasts!

Lately he's been nursing like crazy, so he's likely hitting a growth spurt. He has been lifting up quite a bit with his arms (like he's doing push ups) and scoot-scoot-scoots across the floor. He also is doing his tripods (sitting up with one arm on the ground to steady himself). Crawling is just around the corner. Lord help us all.

Avocado Baby

I got this email from my mom this morning about feeding Ian avocado for the first time:

"I had two plates ready, one with his cereal and the other with the mashed aguacate. I started with the cereal, and he was eating it like there is no tomorrow, when... pow, I switched to the aguacate. At the beginning he was not too sure what had happened, then he started making the funniest faces in the world, several times like he was going to throw up in a minute. But, in general, I think he liked it."


He did the same thing with the sweet potatoes a couple weeks ago. It was like we were feeding him poo. But he never really rejected it. He slurped it up and made head motions like a baby bird straining to reach the worm mama was feeding him. Too funny!

Another new development: He's starting to leeeeeeean forward in his swing. It's like he's doing a slow motion head dive onto the floor below. Yesterday, before realizing this was his new "thing," I left him in his swing sans buckle and he slipped right out and toppled to the floor. Luckily, the drop was about 2 inches onto a carpeted rug, so no biggie. But it scared me for a second. Bad mom! Bad mom!

Sweet Potatoes

This afternoon I made Ian some sweet potatoes. Yum! (Well, not really. I don't like them myself, but I don't want to put my dislikes onto Ian.)

These veggies are loaded with fiber, vitamins A and C, and potassium. I baked and mashed them following the instructions on http://www.wholesomebabyfood.com/, and then thinned them with distilled water. After that, I put the mush in the blender and pureed the batch.

Then I saved a little in a tupperware for the next few days and put the rest into cube trays for freezing.

We're going to give Ian some of these sweet potatoes tonight in his oatmeal cereal. Delish!

Look At My Big Boy

Hanging at Abuela's on a beautiful Monday afternoon in his new Exersaucer eating his hand, etc. etc.

Language Acquisition (blah blah blah)

That is what I wanted to study in college my senior year. Yup, once I got through most of my college career, I took a linguistics class and thought: Holy cow! This is what I want to study. But it was too late to start over, so...

Now I'm doing some hands-on field work. Watching and listening to Ian's "talk" change from coo's and gurgles to recognizable consonant sounds is incredible. It won't be long before he says mama. And then soon after that, Mama you're the greatest person in the world. Ha!

First Meal

Last night, Jason, my mom and I fed Ian his first solid meal. Being only three months old, I had my reservations. The American Pediatrics people recommend starting no earlier than four months, but Dr. Curry said that as healthy and fast-growing as Ian is he can start at three months. It was soooo cute. He got messy but loved it. He pushed out about half of the food and ate quite a bit for his first time.

Tonight J and I fed him for the second time and he went after the food with such enthusiasm. He loves his rice cereal! Earth's Best organic mixed with my breast milk, naturally...

Heartsick

I can't believe it's almost over. Today is the last Monday of the best period of my life, so far. My maternity leave officially ends this Thursday as I return to work on Friday. I can actually feel my heart breaking.

It's been so wonderful, just a dream. I feel so lucky to have been able to have this time in my son's life. To watch him grow and change before my eyes. To hold him and smell the top of his head at any time of the day because we've been together constantly - inseparable.

Going back to work feels so unnatural. It just doesn't feel right leaving my son with someone else, even if it is my mother, his grandmother - and who better to spend the days with him? I am so lucky to have her to watch him, and to have Jason's family in his life, a family who loves him so, so much. But I can't help but feel that I am the one who should be with him all day, every day. There's this invisible tie, some biological bond, that makes me feel like the only way I can tear myself away from Ian and return to work is to do it kicking and screaming.

I remember the early days when I never thought I could get the hang of all of this. I thought I'd be feeding him formula by week two since I was having so much trouble breastfeeding. I never thought I'd get used to the sleep deprivation, but now I look forward to those 3am feedings. It just means more time with Ian. By the second month I was actually looking forward to returning to work just so I could get a break from him. I could kick myself now for ever feeling that way.

I also never thought Jason and I would get back into a healthy "me & him" relationship, but every day we enjoy each other's company and companionship more and more.

Here're a couple photos I took just now, through a sea of tears. They are of the bedroom where Ian and I spent a lot of the past 3 months together. To the left on the nightstand are the nipple shields I use to allow me to breastfeed him, a jar of peanuts that I snack on constantly during our nursing sessions, my never-empty mug of coffee and the cup of water that Jason is always refilling for me. Then on the bed my laptop, which is almost always on so I can check my email and stay in touch with the world. Or, I watch my Golden Girls episodes on it while Ian nurses on one side, then the other. To the right of that is his changing table, his perch to the outside world as J or I clean his poops and avoid the overspray. Notice his hanging pals on the blinds. They keep him company while we clean and talk and giggle and coo. Either today or tomorrow I'm moving it back into the nursery. I think this will help me accept the separation that he and I are about to experience.



Lots of tears. I don't think I can do this.

The Fists Have It

Ian's new favorite chew toy? His balled up little fist. He tries to jam that sucker in his mouth like it's a fist-eating contest. Experts say this is an early sign of teething. That his gums are itchy as they get ready to cut teeth.

Oh. And the drool. Lots and lots of drool.

Changes

So many changes lately! Ian can almost turn himself over, he thinks his fists are just delicious, and he talks, talks, talks. And giggles.

This week I gave him his first bath, just the two of us. I was nervous at first, but in the end it was fun and relaxing. His hair is coming in thicker than ever, and I think it's going to be like Jason's.

We have so much fun together. These days are growing shorter and shorter and it makes me sad. I will never have this time back again. Nine days to go and I'm already waxing nostalgic. Sniff, sniff.

Lights! Fans! Peter Pan!

Just like that *snap*, the love affair with the diaper changing table seems to have come to an end. Perhaps Ian will have a rendezvous with it from time to time, but now his new love is lights and ceiling fans.

He will lay on the bed and stare, smile, giggle, and "talk" to our new ceiling fan for upwards of 20 minutes. When holding him, he'll crane his neck until he's a perfect arc in order to stare at the ceiling lights, enchanted. His body (head craned back, back arched, feet pointed outward) looks like something out of Cirque du Soleil.

When you hold him up in that arcked position and away from your body, you can make him "fly" through the air like Errol Flynn's Peter Pan (or like the Sandy Duncan version, as well). Wheeeeeee!!!

One-Sock Ian

Whoa, this blog has gotten stale! Here're a few updates:

He is now on a fairly decent nighttime sleeping schedule. He sleeps around 10pm, and wakes to nurse around 1am, 4am, and 7am. It's gotten so much easier. He feeds for about 15 minutes then falls right back asleep. So efficient!

Also, I've nursed a few times w/o the nipple shields with some success. He still does better with them on - gets more milk in less time, which is good for us both. I have set a goal of exclusively breastfeeding until 3 months at which time I will return to work and my mom will step in as caretaker. I plan tp pump at work but hear that milk supply greatly decreases this way so chances are he will need to be supplemented with formula. If that happens, my next goal is to provide as much breast milk as possible until 6 months. At this time we'll introduce solids so there won't be a big need to milk/formula. I hope to give him my breast milk as a snacky until he's 1 year old. After that, it's whiskey all the way.

He has gotten so big! His hair is coming in reddish-blond, but he still has the dark hair on the top and around the bottom of his head. My mom says he looks like a friar. He smiles a lot, too in reaction to my, Jason's, and my mom's voices. He even laughs a little and talks a ton. Lots of "eh eh eh" and "oooooh." Yesterday, for the first time, he nearly turned himself over in the crib. As I understand it, this is a huge development that happens around this time. And today he's 7 weeks old!

He remains One-Sock Ian - always kicking one off snd leaving the other on. So strange. But, he is wearing some of his 6-month clothing. My! We'll have to start calling him Ian the Gentle Giant. Ho ho ho - gentle giant!

Footprints

At his 10-day visit last Tuesday, Ian got his footprints permanently added to the walls of the Birth & Women's Center. All babies born at the Center get their feet stamped along the borders of the doors, windows, and floors. It's so neat to see all the footprints when you walk through the Center.

We chose the upstairs birthing room where it all began. That's where I got my first dose of Cytotec and then Jason and I got a nice 2-hour rest in the bed while the drug did its job. Then our second dose there later that afternoon, and another couple's rest together in the bed. Bada bing bada boom - a handful of hours later and the contractions started!

Life with Ian continues to be a glorious challenge. I can't get enough of him and he can't get enough of me and my attention! I'm getting real used to these 3-hour maximum doses of sleep and have already forgotten what a full night's rest feels like. The human body has an incredible way of adapting to just about anything. I plan to begin pumping soon, so I'll be able to leave Ian with one of his grandmas, aunts, cousins, etc. overnight one day soon and get a full night's rest. Of course, if I go too long without nursing, my breasties get engorged and then I'm miserable. Perhaps I can get a full night's rest once Ian is weaned...in about a year!

These Four Walls

Oh this feeding thing is hard. It's never-ending! I just have to remind myself that it's for the benefit of my new favorite person, and that once he's regained his birth weight and then some, it will get a lot easier and less frequent. But until then, I'm stuck feeding every 3 hours, 24 hours a day. I'm not complaining, really (maybe just a little). This is my job and I'm happy to do it.

My, I've spent a lot of time in this bedroom. Both during my pregnancy and now, this room has become my domain. This bed, the TV, the windows and sunlight pouring in. It's a good thing my personality is that of someone who likes to spend time alone. Whenever I feel stressed, I just pick up my little angel and hold him and smell the top of his head. It's a beautiful reminder that this new job of mine is totally worth it. It just takes some adjusting.

He just did the funniest thing: Sometimes when I put him down he's fine for a few minutes. Then, I'll see a freak-out coming on so I scoop him up and give him hugs and kisses. He tends to wring his hands and punch the air when he's agitated. Just now as I was calming him down, he folded his hands together, fingers locked as if doing the game "Here's the church, here's the steeple..." What coordination!