Sitting by himself

He's sitting up!  Tuesday I sat ec in front of the VTech "Sit to Stand Learning Walker," and he sat there, unassisted, for probably fifteen minutes playing with the various objects on the front panel.  Flashing lights, music, voices, lots to intrigue a curious mind.  Granted, he more or less flails at it since his small motor skills are not well-developed, but he clearly had fun.  (When he's older he'll be able to walk with it.)  I guess my sitting behind him on the floor reading to him or handing him toys wasn't exciting enough to make him want to sit alone.  Or perhaps everything worked together just right all at once.  Wednesday he sat some more, when he was awake; he took two, two-hour naps.

He continues to enjoy his solid food.  So far he's had avocado, yams, peaches, zucchini, pea soup, squash, and banana (not quite in that order).  And he usually finishes his bottle quickly, with steady drinking.

What is this instrument?

Yesterday Trinity and the String Academy (which rents church space for its lessons) co-sponsored a family discovery concert, aimed at introducing the children's choir set to begin in a couple of weeks.  Music is an important part of the ministry at Trinity, and the plan/hope is to use this new choir and similar programs to bring more young families into the church.  So the concert began with group singing, then the director and one artist from the string school introduced the violin and cello with some great playing.  Next Randy did a rap (which he would tell you wasn't really a rap) as I demonstrated what the organ can do.  Phase three was the instrument petting zoo, a chance for the children, with supervision, to touch and play the various stringed instruments and organ.  In the fellowship hall craft stations allowed them to make a shaker or tambourine or to decorate a foam violin.  Or course, cookies added to the festivities.  And prizes for visiting all the stations, as evidenced by collecting a sticker at each one.

E&K brought the children; what fun to see es singing, clapping, running up to sit by the organ.  She has a wonderful sense of music already, much as her aunt Sarah did at an early age.

Meltdown!

We have noticed that when es doesn't nap, she often is cranky in the late afternoon.  Yesterday the lack of a nap, and a not very quiet "quiet time," probably contributed to the meltdown she had when she had an accident in her panties and her mom threw them away.  I accept partial blame because I didn't notice the signs that es had to go.  I was sitting at the table, ec in the pack'n'play nearby, when es asked if I could clean up poopy panties.  I asked if she needed me to do that, and she said yes.  So we went to take care of it, but E heard us and came down to follow up on the consequences she had planned.  I guess the accident wasn't as extreme for me because we used cloth diapers thirty years ago rather than paper, and I swished out diapers and panties without much thought.  Anyway, es cried inconsolably for quite a while.  We'll see if this incident encourages her to use the potty.  She's becoming quite good at staying dry.

This morning ec passed his six-month check-up with flying colors.

Unexpected free time

Friday morning I arrived at E's without my bag of book/iPad/notepad/knitting because I planned to immediately put ec in the van and drive him to our house.  Well, you know the saying about the best-laid plans...E told me she had called the pediatrician's office for an appointment to see if ec had an earache.  She remembered that es had had one with no apparent symptoms, so she thought maybe ec did and that's why his sleep at night is frequently interrupted.  After a while they called back with a slot at noon, and E decided she would take the afternoon off.  So there I was, with nothing to do when he fell asleep.  It was funny, how the fail of my original plan seemingly left me unable to adjust on the fly.  Later I realized we could have taken a walk or gone to my house to get something, but I just read the rest of Harry Potter #1, then started #2.  Randy did wash our sheets and bring them over for me to dry, but he didn't arrive till after E left for the doctor's office, so I was unable to take full advantage of my free afternoon.

The doctor examined him, pronounced him fit as a fiddle, and suggested we may have trained him not to fall asleep unless he's being held.  So I expect change is coming, as E and K decide how to respond.

Show me!

This morning I went to pick up ec to bring him to our house for the day.  E was about to start his six-month photo shoot and his sister was trying to help, so I asked her to show me the Rain Forest, which she happily did (without asking why I didn't remember its location), carrying her Tinkebell balloon and leading me to the living room.  Then she wanted to show me more, so I asked for Uncle Clay's room and a couple other things.  When I asked for a picture of her with her mother, I expected she would show me one of the photos hanging in the living room.  Instead she smilingly picked up her toy cell phone and showed pictures on its screen.  What fun!  Of course, it displayed generic pictures of children and animals, but she knows her mom and dad have pictures on their phones, so why wouldn't she?

Back and forth

Friday morning I went to EK's with my load of wet laundry and put it in the dryer.  When it was done, I loaded it back in the car along with ec and drove home.  I left him sleeping under Randy's watchful eye and did my grocery shopping.  Our neighborhood Safeway is much friendlier, better stocked, in the morning contrasted with the evening, which is when I've shopped lately.  After lunch ec took another nap, then about 3:45 I took him back to his house, where his folks were waiting to pick up es at school and head to the outdoor concert at Crab Cove.

The extra driving was worth it, to be home for most of the day and have Randy's help.

Two thumbs up, Grandma!

The time has come...ec has begun eating solid food, if you can call mashed up avocado mixed with a little milk "solid."  He ate with great enthusiasm just now, his fourth day of avocado after the first bottle in the morning.  No negative reactions yet.  He already seems much more comfortable with the spoon and moving the food around in his mouth.

Along with this new adventure, ec is raising up on his knees with his bottom up in the air, and occasionally his belly is up off the floor with his arms straight, pushing up.  So we think crawling may be near.

Not to be outdone by her little brother, es wore panties to school yesterday for the first time.  Success!

Rain Forest

This is the Rain Forest from Fisher-Price.  The plastic mat has animals, trees, sky, a river.  The cross-bars have fabric loops from which various toys can be suspended.  Both children have enjoyed lying on the mat and batting at the brightly-colored toys, grabbing them as they get older.  The green disk at the top plays music and animal/rain forest sounds, as well as lights that flicker on and off.  I've read criticism of this toy, but our two grandchildren have had fun with it.  And it's a good place to put ec while we're busy in the kitchen.

Not very gracious

Yesterday was hard for me.  I didn't feel very perky at all, so when es acted like a two-year-old saying "No" and wanting things her way, I wasn't the most gracious grandma.  The children were at our house, fortunately, so Randy helped me a couple of times by taking one child while I dealt with the other.  I still haven't decided if it's better to have the two of them at our house or theirs.

After quiet time, we watched a video, "Peter and the Wolf."  es loves the wolf represented by French horns, and told me which instruments played for the other characters, as well.  I'm so glad she enjoys music.  A friend told me her grandson, who's about five I think, doesn't sing at all.  In fact, he will tell her,"No, I don't sing, Grandma. "

Somber toddler

Monday es actually napped!  She had been up late Sunday night. unexpected guests stopped by, and stayed for pizza.  Anyway, when she woke after about 2 1/2 hours, she was crying.  Perhaps she'd had a bad dream?  So I went upstairs to her room, held her awhile, then carried her downstairs.  She stayed on my lap, and I rocked her.  After a bit she slid down onto the floor and lay there, holding Bear.  Finally, probably 30 minutes after she woke, she was ready to walk around and talk with me.  (I was glad ec was asleep so I could focus on her.)  One of her first thoughts was, "Oh, this means I can watch something!"  Her napping allowed her to watch a youtube video of Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck on a farm.  She carefully reminded me and her mom that some videos were too long for her and might be scary, but this one was OK.

She was fine the rest of the day, so who knows what caused the unusual response.