17 Things About 17 Months

Dear Little Man,

Here are seventeen reflections on your seventeen months, since you turn eighteen months tomorrow. (Where did all the time go, my big boy??)

1) You can now RUN instead of just WALK. Greeeeeaaaatt.

2) You no longer like warm baths and instead prefer lukewarm ones. This is quite the problem for "family bath" time as your Father and I prefer warm baths, thank you very much.

3) You can now eat a whole ear of corn all by yourself. It's super cute and a great way to shut you up keep you occupied for ten minutes.

4) You are outgrowing your size five shoes, which I thought would *never* happen...I swear those things looked HUGE a few months ago!

5) You say and sign for "more." However, when you say "more" it sounds like "mo."

6) You have become a climber. You climb on your toys, on your highchair, on the kitchen stool...anything worth climbing, you climb. It's great fun for Mom.

7) You have two different personalities now -- one with your best girlfriend CC, and one with your best friend Aidan (the Big Guy). With CC you are totally crazy and outgoing, and with Aidan you are more relaxed and mellow.

8) You have become re-attached to nursing, mostly thanks to our nine day East Coast vacation, where you nursed for 50% of the flight there. Seriously.

9) However you are now able to go to bed without nursing, either with Daddy, Amy, or Grammy. This relieves Mommy greatly.

10) You stacked FIVE BLOCKS!!! on top of each other! I couldn't believe it! Your fine motor skills are THROUGH THE ROOF!!

11) You now say things with an upswing in your affect. For example, you say "NOooooAH!" It's really cute and helps Mom keep her cool when you say "No" over and over again.

12) You have finally entered your "No" phase. (Heh.)

13) Amy and CC have introduced you to "Ring around the rosy." You LOVE it, most of all the DOOOWWWN!! part. It's pretty much the whole point of the dance and song for you. You are SO cute falling to the ground.

14) While in the double stroller you and CC hold hands. SO precious! (Oooooh, Little Man's got a GIRLfriend!!)

15) You can now answer my questions about what you want. However, "No" also means "Yes." A "no" without a facial expression, or with a "no" facial expression means "no." A "no" with a huge smile means "yes." You are too cute, mister.

16) You are obsessed with your "Potty Train" DVD and LOVE to say, "choo-choo" but are CLEARLY not anywhere near ready to potty train, even though you can sign "potty" and sit on your potty (fully clothed of course).

17) You keep me guessing every step of the way. Previously you HATED books, and now you LOVE them, with a passion. I don't "get" you all of the time, kid, but I LOVE YOU. You are totally My Cracker.

I hope you won't hold it against me that I have not been able to keep you totally up to date on all of your accomplishments. Just try to think of yourself as a second child, like I was, and be thankful for what you DO have. Like all of the photos.

All my love, my big, big, almost eighteen month old boy,

Mama

Ten Months In

Dear Little Man,

Just two days ago you turned ten months old. I can't believe how quickly you have grown, and how quickly our time together as Mama and (infant) baby has gone by. It seems like just yesterday that you looked like this:

Little Man, almost four weeks, still in the NICU
(Both pics)

Now, you look like this:

In the last few weeks, you have blossomed into a little boy right before my eyes! You have had an explosion of progress in your finger food eating and language abilities.

Last month, I was afraid to give you Cheerios. Now you eat black beans and kernels of corn whole. You eat chopped up chicken burger and tofu. Even well steamed carrots are not off limits. Your pincer grasp is becoming more refined by the day. (I know last month I said that you HATED corn and tofu, but apparently I was just giving you the wrong kind -- pureed corn and silken tofu? Blech. Whole corn and baked Terriyaki tofu? A-okay!)

In the beginning of the month, you would put one piece of food at a time in your mouth. Now you are practicing the chipmunk look and storing food in your cheeks to chew later. This is mostly because your motor skills have improved enough for you to get copious amounts of food to your mouth at once rather than scant amounts.

In just the last week, your language capabilities have begun to catch up to the BigGuy's. I think you got jealous of him saying, "Yeah! Yeah! Yeah!" over and over again. You had to do something to keep up. So now you are saying, "Da da da da, DA!" It's the most wonderful thing for your father to hear. I love it too. I know you'll get Mama soon.

In the morning, instead of just crying out for us to come get you, you practice your babbling and shrieks of delight for a solid ten minutes -- or more! -- if we let you.

Another funny thing you have been doing is at meal time. While you are in your highchair, you will start to lean back and lift your chin to the sky, with an exaggerated smile. You seem to be doing this purely for our benefit. It's almost as if you want to prove what a silly little monkey you are to us. You get this squinty eyed grin going, coupled with a look of self-satisfaction that is absolutely priceless. We can't help but laugh at you.

You are also learning what it means to drop things from your highchair. You have two reasons to drop things right now: 1) for the effect of the drop -- hearing the thud and watching mommy (hopefully) pick up and return what you dropped, and 2) to feed Sasha.

You seem genuinely pleased when you feed Sasha. Sasha now loves chopped up tofu and whole kernels of corn, too. The black beans? Not so much. Unfortunately, I have to clean those up.

We've also been on project fatten up around here. I am feeding you an egg yolk custard once a day, and also stir coconut milk into your oatmeal in the morning. Your egg yolk custards consist of one egg yolk and two tablespoons of either coconut milk or chicken stock, cooked over low heat until, well, custardy. (Ok, sometimes I cheat and do it in the microwave, but it's not nearly as smooth that way. The upside, though, is that it only takes a minute!) (You are enjoying the chicken stock ones best most recently.)

You are DEFINITELY getting heavier. The strange thing is that only your stomach and cheeks are getting bigger. You have quite the physique now. Daddy and I joke that you are "just the perfect specimen of manhood." And then we laugh at you. Sorry, buddy. But you are INCREDIBLY cute. And SOOOO skinny in your arms and especially your legs. (See picture #4 above.)

Last month, we were ready (Daddy for the most part) to say that you were sitting up. Now you can sit for up to ten minutes at a time! You have really developed your ability to sit and appreciate things, or patience, or whatever you want to call it. You seem to be able to sit and survey the situation, rather than just dive right into it, in an effort to plan out your next best move.

Previously, you would just go for it. Screw what the next best move was -- you wanted THAT toy RIGHT THERE and you wanted it NOW! Now you think, "mmm, MAYBE that toy, but MAYBE this toy. Let me see. Oh look! There's the tractor! Let's get that! No, wait! SASHA!! Yes, let's get Sasha! That'll be fun!"

Speaking of the CrackerDog, you and her have gotten even closer in the last month. She loves seeing you and wants to give you kisses. You love seeing her -- you get a HUGE smile on your face and kick your legs -- and want to explore her.

Unfortunately, your trust in Sasha has extended to ALL dogs, and while I love that you're not AFRAID of dogs, I wish you would be more cautious. Most dogs don't respond to tail, ear and muzzle pulling by just laying there and taking it. This is definitely a lesson we will have to work on in the future, because you think you can put your hands in any dog's face, which is just not the case.

You like to put your hands all up in Mom and Dad's faces, too. You don't know the meaning of "gentle" yet, so it pretty much means we get gouged. Luckily for me, you've been biting WAY less, and I am SO thankful. You haven't yet gouged any of your friends, mostly because of attentive mommies and daddies. You are a quick one, my love!

You still love your nursing and are only mildly interested in sippy/drinking cups. I'm beginning to worry that breast milk will be your only fluids for the foreseeable future. I can only hope you'll take to the cup eventually soon.

As for those teeth I thought would be coming in, well, they haven't. But they seem MUCH closer to the surface. You have four bulges, two on the bottom on either side of the ones you already have, and the two top front teeth. Looks like you got Momma's slow teeth, for sure. I'm hoping, for both of us, that they come in quickly and as painlessly as possible.

You have also been super funny with your tongue lately. I'm not sure what you think you can do with it, but it seems to hold special powers for you. You are exploring all sides of your mouth and gums with your tongue. You stick your tongue out at us and laugh when we reciprocate.

You are just one funny little dude, my love. You continually amaze me with your progress and love for your family. I am really enjoying this stage you are at -- not quite a baby, definitely not a toddler -- completely adorable.

Best wishes to my long and lanky dude.

All my love,
Mama

Just Not Feelin' It

Hey y'all,

I'm just not feelin' it lately. I've been off living "real" life and not checking in with my "virtual" life very often. I DO miss you though. But I can't seem to get up the motivation to keep up with all of my favorite blogs, and posting has, if you couldn't tell, been relegated mostly to pictures and such.

I know a lot of you aren't complaining about seeing more than reading. ;) But I like to try to provide some meat with my potatoes, if ya know what I'm sayin', and I just don't feel like I have it in me lately.

Is this why Sheri is taking a blogging break? Do you reach a saturation point and just have to take a little breather?

Maybe I'm just taking a mental break to gear up for NaBloPoMo. Yup, I signed up to post every day for thirty days. I'm hoping I can bring you some juicy, meaty posts come November.

My plans? Write about:

Pregnancy
Hospitalization
Prematurity
NICU stay

My Crackers
And of course, Little Man.

I'm taking requests! If you couldn't tell, I need a little bit of help to birth my blogging ideas.

Love to you all,

VDog

Haiku Letter

Dear sweet Little Man,
I love you with all my heart
One day we must part

But now I'm all yours
Morning, Noon and night, I'm yours
And you're all mine too

I cherish these days
And try to cherish the nights
For I know that soon

Independent you
Will take over and consume
Your being, my dear

When you are all grown
And no longer at my breast
I hope for you this:

Strength, love, compassion
Wit, soul, laughs, maturity
Fun, heartache, loss -- LIFE

For you my sweet boy
Experiences plenty
All my love, Mama

For more Haiku joy, or to join in the fun, go to Jennifer's place.

Oh, Little Man

Dear Little Man,

I know I just wrote to you, but we need to talk. There's a few issues (ahem) that I think we could work on.

First of all, this blowing bubbles in the food business has just got to stop. You know you need to eat your food! Are you trying to get Mama in trouble with the Doctor again?

Second, is it really necessary for you to be getting up two or more times a night? I mean, still? Really??? Is it really necessary to practice crawling in the middle of the night?

You're a big boy now -- I thought we were clear on this issue. What happened to the ten hour nights?

Mama would like some uninterrupted sleep -- and soon. Do you think you could accommodate that request? That would make Mama sssoooooo happy.

Third, I'm a little fed up with all this constant flipping over and reverse diaper changes. Do you have to be in motion all the time? Sometimes I have to take you for a stroller walk or put you in a bouncy seat just to contain you for a little while. So much energy being expended! Seems like you should sleep through the night when you're active ALL DAY LONG, mister!

That's probably enough for you to work on for right now. You did have some exciting firsts today, sweet bunny.

You had your first ride in the grocery cart seat, albeit a small cart, with our fleece sling as a support to hold you in a bit better. You seemed to really enjoy the new perspective, especially the close proximity to the merchandise. You also tried, successfully, to lick and bite the handle bar of the cart once you were bored of the shopping. That was really great.

Later, at JC and CC's house, you got up on all fours. You were locked and loaded in crawling position, but didn't attempt it. You also got into push-up position several times in a row -- the first time you have been able to do so. You showed off your mad rolling skillz to JC and thoroughly impressed her. You amaze me, too, little cutie.

Give some thought to my requests. I would be ever so grateful if you would help me out -- or meet me in the middle! I'll take what I can get!

Congratulations on your accomplishments, Boo. I look forward to more new tricks. :)

All my Love,
Mama

Dear LM, You Are Crazy. Love, Mama

It's Wordless Wednesday.

Delurk, y'all

Dear Internets,

Today is The Great Mofo Delurk, so I invite you, dear readers, to delurk and leave comments for your favorite bloggers today. And me, too, please.

How can I show you love, internets, if I don't know who you are?

This post is really lonely. Can you show it some love? (In fact, my archives are enthralling and under-utilized, oh dear internets. Just sayin'.)

Lots of love,

VDog and Little Man

Eggcellent

Dear Nap Warden,

Thank you so much for kindly awarding me the Egel Nest Blog Award.

I can't believe you are blog friends with the creator of the award, Bradley Egel of The Egel Nest! How cool is that? You are one lucky Warden.

I am flattered you think my blog is "eggcellent." I try my best to put out a quality product, but you know, we all have our off days.

I wanted to let you know that I plan on handing out this award to a few blogs that I think are "eggcellent." My criteria for the award is: the writing has to be outstanding, interesting and free (for the most part) of grammatical and spelling errors (I was an English major, you know).

I think these ladies are fabulous bloggers, and highly deserving of the Egel Award:

Sara at Suburban Oblivion

Megan at Velveteen Mind

Andi at Poot and Cubby

Jennifer at Playgroups Are No Place For Children

Alex Elliot at Formula Fed & Flexible Parenting

I hope you agree.

Thank you again, Ms. Warden. It is truly appreciated. I am so honored.

xoxo,
VDog
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I've decided to get all epistolary on yo' asses this week, since I'm already on a streak. Hope you enjoy.

Out of the Womb and Into Everything

Dear Little Man,

Today you turn nine months old. This month reminds me that you should have stayed "on the inside" for nine months, instead of seven+. You see, most moms get to say, "now you've been on the outside as long as you were on the inside." For me, that milestone came two months ago, when it should have come one week ago (nine months from your due date).

This is only one of the things that makes me feel sad that you came early -- that I have a preemie. I am not sad that you wanted to start off the New Year with a bang, just sad that your path has been a bit harder than some other babies'. But you have not shied away from your challenges. This is where Mommy and Baby are alike. We have both stared down this difficult path and beaten it with a stick left, right and center.


Right now, though, I want to tell you about your accomplishments -- not what you have dealt with and overcome, but what you are able to do despite your prematurity.

Just in the last week you have been able to sit for an extended period of time. Daddy and I are now confident enough to say, "Yes, he's sitting up!" It took a few weeks of wobbling, but you are doing it now!

I think your nature is to be on the move constantly, so it was hard for you to sit and appreciate the fact that you COULD sit, that you didn't have to be reaching out for things all the time. You could just sit and look at CrackerDog Sasha, instead of laboring to get closer to her.

Which brings me to how you move -- you roll like nobody's business! You can do a quadruple roll now, which means that WE NEED BABY GATES. You spin and scoot and heartily attempt to get your bum and chest off the ground at once.

Just a few short months ago, you were content rolling and rotating within the borders of your play mat. Not anymore. Now you cover some serious tracks, rolling from the mat to the kitchen, over to Sasha's bed, and back to the mat.

Just the other day, you made your way over to the cabinets and tried to pull on the handle to get off the floor. You are interested in so much more now. It's almost as if you got rid of your tunnel vision and are seeing the rest of the world for the first time.

Your cognitive abilities have truly amazed me lately. You know your name and Sasha's name perfectly. We think you know "Daddy" but you're still working on "Mama." That's okay. We're always together, and I don't usually refer to myself in the third person, so I'll cut you some slack on that one.

You eat with great gusto, something you must have inherited from me. Your skinny physique, though, is all Daddy. You are definitely looking like Warrior, Jr.

Some of your favorite foods are bananas (but NOT the jarred kind), sweet potatoes, apples, and most recently, carrots. You also eat oatmeal, prunes, apricots and chicken. You REALLY don't like corn and tofu -- you gag and make faces and refuse to open your mouth. You're not so sure about peas, and avocados are sometimes a hit and sometimes a miss. We tried rice cereal for your first food, but you broke out in eczema all over your body. So we stopped that for awhile and when we tried again, you barfed it ALL up. Even though your pediatrician said, "no one's ever allergic to rice!" we haven't tried it again.

Your first two teeth came in within four days of each other early last month. Since then, there hasn't been much progress, but I think you might be getting another tooth soon. You are putting your fingers in your mouth again and were uncharacteristically fussy last night.

I kind of miss your gummy smile, but you DO look awful cute with those two little teethies. I don't fully appreciate the teeth, though, because you like to test them out on me quite often. I tell you, "no bite. That hurts Mommy." But you just smile and moon at me most of the time. A few times, I have scared you and made you cry, which makes me feel terrible, but I usually get a few day bite reprieve from this tactic.

Overall you are a pretty mellow dude so far. Your GranCracker says you are an easy baby, and she should know since she's a mom to three and a grandmom to eight. You are generally very happy, but you can be hard to impress.

People trying to get you to laugh or smile sometimes have to work pretty hard to get any joy. However, you smile HUGE for Mama and Papa just because you love us. You smile and laugh at Sasha, too, because apparently you think she's hilarious.

I can't wait to see what the rest of your first year will bring. I'm sure you'll be officially crawling before we know it (and can prepare for it) and doing lots of other cool stuff that is beyond your "corrected" age.

Right now, though, I'm happy enjoying you and the stage you're in. I want to try to remember everything, to indelibly mark the you-ness in my brain. You fill me with so much love and light, my sweet, sweet boy.

Until next time,
I love you with all my heart,
Mama

Dear Aggro Prius Driver

Dear Aggro Prius Driver,

I will not drive faster simply because you are tailgaiting me.

When I approach the traffic circle and it says to "Yield," I will not speed in front of the oncoming traffic simply because you give me a meager honk.

When I reach the other side of the circle and stop for the pedestrians in the cross walk, I will not run them over simply because you have added an exaggerated arm-and-head shaking maneuver to your meager honk.

I thank you for enjoying my arm-and-head shaking response, which I clearly displayed for you in my driver's side mirror.

I also thank you for sheepishly backing off once you realized the error of your ways.

I still think you're a jabroni.

Sincerely,
VDog

Dear Elderly Neighbor Lady

Dear Elderly Neighbor Lady,

Thanks for having Little Man and me over yesterday. It was really fun in a, "let's listen to really loud classical music while we watch the baby squirm" kinda way. It was so very generous of you to get Munchie a toy, though wholly unneccessary. But greatly appreciated. I, of course, didn't bring any toys with us, so it was nice for him to have something to suck on besides my boob.

I'm very sorry that when you held the little bugger, he decided he just had to eat your arm, and in doing so, ruptured your very thin, old-lady skin. Man. That'll teach me to let old people hold him. He's just too much of everything for y'all.

Anyway, we had a fabulous time and we must do it again soon. Perhaps when Little Man is like five or something.

Love,
Your neighbors, VDog & Little Man