Quick updates

How is school going?

Great. Tomorrow is the start of the sixth week of school. As you remember, during the first weeks, Zeke was not excited to be left at school and often started in tears when I set him down. His teachers said that he was doing really well after I left, though. I tested this out one day, by leaving and then standing behind the door where I could still hear him. As soon as I was out of sight, he stopped crying! Big faker. Zeke has been doing a lot of art projects (with teacher help) that now cover our refrigerator. Zeke has also fallen completely in love with his lunch box. I have a hard time packing it or even opening the cupboard it lives in, because he starts demanding the lunch box. I have a lot fun trying to think of new things to put in his lunch box, so I am glad that he seems so appreciative of the effort. On the days when he is in class, I rush around catching up on doctor's appointments, car appointments, cleaning or working. Those eight hours a week are so precious!

Then last week, a breakthrough. No tears or resistance whatsoever when leaving. He even blew me a kiss as I was leaving. Still, you should see the absolute look of joy when he sees me come back in the afternoon. I concede, that is rewarding.

I'm still curious to see how the teachers and children interact, though. I want to drop by and observe, but am afraid that Zeke would behave differently if I was there, as in he would be velcroed to me the entire class. It's not that I suspect that anything is going wrong, I'm just so curious to see how the class operates and how Zeke interacts. I'm tempted to see if I can observe class on the days that Zeke isn't attending.

I'm also curious, because I have started wondering if I want Zeke to attend more days when he turns two -- I'm trying to figure out if I want more time to do more work. Right now, the costs of paying for childcare and of not being with Zeke are too high, but I am considering it.

How are the cloth diapers working?

Just fine. The ones we got are very similar to disposables in their style and absorbancy. I probably could have been doing this pretty easily all along. We have a lot less trash, but a lot more wash. I've been having to experiment with our wash routine for the diapers and have learned more than I ever anticipated about the different cycle options on the washer, as well as about different detergents. I'm emboldened to maybe even try some other styles, though I may not go the route of friend and neighbor Deb, who uses diaper pins with her cloth diapers. Obviously, her child does not try to escape to the degree Zeke does when being diapered! Either Zeke or I would end up with enough holes to be a sieve if I tried diaper pins.

In other words

In addition to meeting all of the other benchmarks for 18 month old behavior, Zeke seems to be picking up new vocabulary and word usages everyday. Really, who knew there were so many uses for "no"? Furthermore, Zeke seems to have as many ways to say "no" as Eskimos have to say "snow."

Here is one novel word use. Ask Zeke to say "grandma" and he says "mama". Zeke, this book is from Grandma. MAMA! Zeke, do you want to talk to Grandma? MAMA! Do you love Grandma, Zeke? MAMA! I'd feel bad about it, but I am probably better off than Aaron. Zeke is more likely calling the dog than he is his daddy when he shouts, "DA!" ("Da" is our dog and "dada" indicates the Sprout Daddy.)

Zeke is using a lot of new sounds and does a lot more repeating our words. We hear sounds from him all the time now that sound like words, though we haven't yet determined if he is saying them with any particular meaning. For example, it has sounded like he has said "up" and today a more proper "grandma".

Some new words: "knock knock" "ball" "quack quack" "hello" "cracker".

Some new signs: car, butterfly, outside, read, book, time, bear, fish, chair, bike, some signs that I don't know what they mean. Also he has gotten pretty sharp on signing "please" and "thank you." It often takes prompting ("What do you say, Zeke?"), but he will often just automatically sign "thank you" when he gets something! Charming and almost negating of all the shrieking.

Hot Chicks

Recently, I have been able to have a couple of great reunions from the ages long long ago when I wasn't the Sprout Mama. It's been fun to introduce (and show off) our pride and joy. Thanks to Dave Mathews, I got to catch up with a couple of old friends who came intown for his concert.

Here is a photo of me with some dudes that I knew from way back in the day -- high school! We have Phil, me, Child, and Steve. Phil is a pediatrician and was kind enough to give us a quick thumbs up for our general care and feeding of Zeke, noting his height and generally good temperment. Our Dr. Phil also gave us the rundown on what it is like to be a pediatrician and his unique perspective on toddlers.

According to Dr. Phil, a toddler is like a hot chick at a party. Hmmm, you say? Two weeks later and I'm still laughing. Dr. Phil says toddlers: attract attention, want their space, may behave unpredictably, and are going to try and get their way. And, yes, ladies, Dr. Phil is a bachelor.

(Also, in the spirit of goin' back in the day, Zeke is seen here wearing his new flamin' Vans. Hello, 1986!)

Bottoms Up!

Watch out, this boy is a toddler and hitting the terrible two's! Just look at that sly look as he heads towards the chair for some forbiddden climbing.

I don't know who is responsible but someone has given the child the textbook on the terrible two's. Is one of you responsible?! I know one among you will get a good laugh from this. Zeke hit a year and a half and immediately turned on the toddler moves: climbing, standing on things that aren't for standing, saying "no" hundreds of times a day for no discernible reason, whining when a simple request would do, arching the back/going limp routine, figuring out how to get in more closets, drawers and jars. Good thing he is so cute and loves to give kisses and that that is what we remember at the end of the day!

A Greener Sprout

We try to be an environmentally friendly family. We're not perfect, but with two hybrid cars in the driveway you know we are trying at least.

From before Zeke was born, I intended to use cloth diapers. Cloth diapers can be more complicated than you would think with hundreds of different options and hardcore fans for each. Cloth diapering really has its own subculture and that was too much for me.

My rationale for not starting: let's get through the first months and then once I've caught up with the learning curve, I'll add diapers.

A few months later: Let's wait until after I am not working.

After I stopped working: Never came up with an excuse after that.

I was grossed out by the bag of diapers I was throwing out each day and started research again and then joined buying forces with two friends who were in almost exactly the same position. We ended up each buying a dozen BumGenius pocket diapers. They are pretty cool: one size fits all, velcro tabs, cute colors. You put an absorbent insert in the pocket of the diaper cover. As of this week, Zeke is in cloth diapers. A little late, but probably still in enough time to keep a few diapers out of the landfill. Let's say Zeke is in diapers for two more years (fingers crossed for sooner), this might be 3,650 disposable diapers we don't use. We will still use some disposable for travel and school for convenience -- hybrid diapering?

How is it going? Just fine, though I am trying to figure out the best way to launder them and also how to position the insert best for Zeke. A couple of times the insert has bunched a little in the back and Zeke has developed a seriously inflated looking caboose! Once, it was positioned too forward, the diaper didn't fasten quite snug and Zeke had it off in a minute. Funny, but not too funny. Zeke seems to like it. I lay out the diaper and he will come over and sit on it. I imagine that he likes the novelty, but the cloth lining is a lot softer than the disposable so maybe it feels better on his baby bits.

More on some other green concerns soon!

This Sucks

I confess: The child is 1 1/2 years old today and we are still nursing and have no signs of slowing with nursing 3-4 times a day. This "extended nursing" is starting to get a few comments here and there (though not many -- thanks supportive husband and friends!). The World Health Organization recommends breastfeeding until age 2, and right now I am leaning towards weaning then.

Nursing has been a wonderful part of my relationship with Zeke. I am really proud and grateful that it has been part of my mothering experience. It has not been without its difficulties, some of which I have written about here. They include: a difficult and discouraging start; pumping at work; learning how to nurse in public; dropping dairy from my diet for a long time; and then the terrible hives which may have been a reaction to some of the hormones involved with nursing.

And, now, there is this. I have never had a cavity. Until now. Now I have four cavities. I went from 33 years of perfect A+ dental health to now having four filings and an understanding of why people dread going to the dentist. It was a difficult blow, but I accepted it and anecdotally found that other moms I know have ended up in the same situation through some combination of less time for self, diet and nursing. I decided that I would accept this as one of the things that comes with motherhood and age...lots of unpleasant physical things have happened to me from these two things. Zeke thus far seems worth it.

Still, I have had reoccuring problems with one of the teeth that got a filling. The tooth has been temperature sensitive and mildly sensitive when chewing. I have now been chewing exclusively on the left side of my mouth for a month -- I'm waiting to see huge muscles develop on the left side. I keep going back to the dentist. Today was my fourth post filling visit!

The dentist feels now that the cavity may have been worse than she originally thought and that I may need a root canal. She believes more likely, though, that my tooth has become dehydrated as a result of the filling AND was susceptible to this because of the extended nursing. This sucks.

Still, I like the "dehydrated tooth" theory better than the one that means I have to get a root canal. And, looking on the sunny side, I am going to have some extra baggage for Zeke when I take him on future motherly guilt trips -- bon voyage, Zeke!

Here is a photo of me modeling good dental health for Zeke this weekend at the zoo. Members got free cotton candy, so who could resist? (As it turns out, Zeke could resist. He didn't much care for it!)

Well Baby Visit: 18 Months

Zeke had his 18 month old well baby visit today. Good visit, though we missed seeing the Good Doctor. (He is on vacation in Greece.) We got to see his stand-in who we have seen once before when Zeke had roseola in July (that happened during one of the recent blog blackouts). No mind, though, as I like her as much as the regular pediatrician and she is a little less old fashioned. Also, she is the mother of 4 children from 11 to 3 and she is one of 8 children, so she speaks with lots of personal experience and funny anecdotes. Zeke liked her because she let him play with her measuring tape the whole visit. This new toy works this way: parent pulls out tape, baby hits button, zip, baby say "ah-da", then signs "more please", repeat, repeat, repeat.

In short, Zeke got a shot, was well-behaved and checked out as very healthy. He is 33.5 inches tall and 27.5 pounds.

Asides:

* As far as diet, the weight lets you know that we are doing okay. The doctor (when asked) said we could introduce peanut and tree nuts now. She recommended not trying to introduce any more dairy until Zeke is at least two years old. I have been allowing some butter, cheese and dairy additives into his diet, but am holding off on milk, yogurt, cottage cheese and the like.

* She thought it was great we were doing signs with Zeke and agreed that the Good Doctor is old fashioned about this.

* We asked the doctor about developmental milestones we should expect and she mentioned that we will see Zeke continue to get frustrated (we do now) when he tries to get us to understand him and that his may result in some undesirable behavior like biting (which we occasionally experience now). She suggested that consistency in reactions and even some toddler sized time outs are appropriate.

* Zeke said "thank you" to the doctor when we left.

It's a Classic

Zeke's new word: NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!*

(* variant is nonononononono)

One Year Later

August 2006: Sprout the World's Most Serious Baby
at the Summer Shade Festival

August 2007: Sprout the World's Most Serious Toddler at the Summer Shade Festival

Free Day at Fernbank

As mentioned in the posts below, Zeke took his first trip to the area natural science museum, Fernbank. Last Monday, they had "Community Day", or "Free for Cheapskates Day" as I like to think of it. We were out running a few errands and I thought it was going to be too crowded, but I stopped by anyway and it was great. It was overflowing with toddlers and homeschoolers, but Zeke really enjoyed himself in the children's areas and just running around. Here he is playing as a "bee" pollinating flowers.

When we first got to the museum, he was drowsy (nap patterns have recently changed) and fell asleep for a few minutes. He was so sleepy he missed the T-rex sneaking up behind him.

Want to Play?

One of the most charming things about young kids is the uninhibited way that they can become friends with someone at the drop of a hat and find someone to play with. For example, my friend Stephanie. Introduce her to another girl her age and within five minutes the girls will know each others' birthdays, favorite songs and email addresses. Of course, this is why we have to teach kids about "stranger danger," but there is a lot to recommend kids' openness.

Zeke got to make lots of new friends last week. The first photos are from the children's area of the Summer Shade Festival. Zeke had a wicked game of "I see you!" going with a little girl named Lucia. She was so great playing with him. She kept telling him, "Baby, you can come inside the house!"


Then at Fernbank, I tried to introduce Zeke to the idea of picnics. It was not successful. The wide open space of the terrace got to him. I ate, while he ran. He attracted the attention of these children who were eating inside. Zeke started a spontaneous game where he would run along one window, the children would follow, he would run back, the children would follow. This pattern was repeated many times, interrupted by occasionally tapping on either side of the window.

Sprout-zilla!

Run away! It's Sprout-zilla!

No city is safe when a toddler is unleashed -- especially if it is the model city in the children's area of the local natural science museum. Zeke took great joy from knocking over every "highrise" that other children would let him get near. One precociously philosophical tot who let Zeke play with (ie knock over) buildings she set up enlightened me that "in life, sometimes things have to be knocked over so that new things can be built". More pictures of our trip last week to follow.

Sprout Likes to Party

Last weekend, I got old (or at least older). To celebrate, we invited neighbors, friends and family over for an afternoon of cake -- two cakes to be precise. I really enjoyed it, and I think I did it in large part because of Zeke. Yes, being a mom has aged me, but there are other reasons. Zeke being in my life has brought me closer to many people -- getting me to reconnect with old friends, to forge new friendships, and to build stronger relationships. Simultaneously, we keep so busy now, there are so many people who I just don't see as often as I would like. So, a party with two cakes. Aaron and Trish did a great job putting everything together. Thank you to everyone who came out. (For those friends and family who couldn't come, my birthday wish is that we get to see each other more in the coming year!)

Here is Zeke (and Gabriel) helping me take care of the candles on my cakes. Zeke started clapping when he saw the lit candles!

Sprout Style

Recently, Zeke picked out one yellow sock and one green sock and demanded that I put them on him. I think it was coincidental that they matched his outfit. And coincidental that they matched the toys he took out...or was it?

(In the picture at right, he is sitting his favorite chair, a chair just right the size for him that we found at Ikea. I think of Goldilocks finding the chair that is "just right.")

Child Labor

What does it say about you when your toddler does more cleaning than you do during the day?

I used to not be able to clean the floor or vacuum around Zeke because the noise and my not paying attention upset him. Now it upsets him if I don't let him do it. Look at that smile!