Turning a corner

Fussiness is supposed to peak at 6 weeks.  Clara turned 7 weeks on Sunday.  I'm not sure if she's buying into that research or if she's responding to my dairy-less and soy-less diet, but all of a sudden we have a new baby!  There are still bouts of fussiness of course, and this is all very recent  - but we had a solid two hours without fussing yesterday afternoon, lots of smiles this morning, and she even put herself to sleep for the first time this afternoon while I was in the shower!  Go Clara! 

We do need to work on sleep with her, though. We finally broke down and bought a cosleeper yesterday since she usually migrated to our bed within a few hours of being put in the bassinet.  (A cosleeper is basically a bassinet that is missing a side, so it can go right up against the bed and I can reach in and put my arm around her while we both sleep.) She is not a deep sleeper this one, and she really likes to be cuddled while she sleeps.

Here are some of her smiles, although I still haven't captured her full on, eye-crinkling smile.

Clara was also on good behavior last weekend for our trip to Connecticut.  She did a wonderful job on the plane, only fussing the last 10 minutes of the last leg - at which point I was pretty fussy too.  She was an angel during the service, which was lovely.  It gave a great and true picture of my grandmother - elegant, feisty, smart, driven, loyal, and a snappy dresser to boot.  I think she would have been pleased.  I'm glad I got to go and be a part of it, and see so many relatives who I haven't seen in years.

Grady and Daddy were busy while Clara and I were gone!  They went to two playgrounds, saw some music, ate pizza, and went to the Children's Museum - all on Saturday! - and then helped out Grady's school with some garden planting on Sunday.  If Matt finds the time, he will write a bit about the fun weekend. 

Grady has embraced his two-ness this past week with lots and lots and lots of boundary testing.  Matt and I are working hard at staying calm and not getting frustrated.  A glass of wine helps quite a bit - the joys of not being pregnant anymore!

But Grady is also a lot of fun.  He is really into diapering right now.  He likes to stack diapers, take them out of the package, put them on his animals, etc.  He was playing with his diapers in the other room while I was in Clara's room.  I heard him say "Santi, no!  Don't shut that!  I'm using it!" (Santi is his friend from school.)  I said "Everything all right in there Grady"?  A small pause.  "Yeah!  Talking to Santi!"

The other day he came home from a jog with Matt.  He went immediately to the closet where we keep our tools, took out a screwdriver, and got to work on taking the batteries out of his zoo.  Matt said "He was so authoritative about it, I didn't even think to stop him!"  Grady then said in his serious voice "Need a tape measure," went back to the closet, emerged with a huge candle, and set it on top of the zoo.  Realizing that wasn't quite right, he returned it to the closet and got back to work with the screwdriver.

And he has gotten so good at the playground structure, climbing all the way up a chain ladder to the top!   

But Clara is giving him a run for the money - here she is practicing her tummy time.

Fussiness and photos

This will just be a quick post as Clara and I are leaving this evening for my grandmother's funeral in Connecticut and there is much to be done.  For those who don't know, my grandma Polly passed away on Sunday at the age of 94.  She was a spirited, feisty, funny lady and the true matriarch of our family.  We will all miss her very much, although she was ready to go.

We have been struggling with fussiness over here, mostly on Clara's part but it seeps into Grady, me, and even Matt sometimes too!  I am now experimenting with cutting out basically everything from my diet.  Nuts a week ago, dairy yesterday - soy is probably next.  It seems to be gastric, but it's hard to tell what's causing it.  She's usually lovely in the morning, but come afternoon it's lots of feeding and holding to keep her calm. 

So we are seeing a lot of this -

And man, is her cry loud!  Grady likes to say "Wow, Cwara!  Loud!  Oh me gosh!"  when she cries.  That about sums it up!  However, she also has some really sweet moments, and has been rewarding us with smiles more and more mornings.

Smiling at big brother

And even when she's not smiling, she can look pretty darn cute.

She has begun to really notice objects around her - lights, pictures, the things on her play mat, and her hand to name a few.

She is also sort of ridiculously strong, now rolling from tummy to back twice during tummy time and really throwing her head around when she wants to. 

Grady continues to be an intermittently good big brother.  He really does love helping her with tummy time, and his night time ritual now includes giving her a kiss on the head.

But the rough touching also continues, as I'm sure it will for a few decades to come.  Here he is with his "touch it, eye?" look....

The good news with Clara's fussiness is that she usually stays calm while in the baby bjorn carrier and in the car seat, so we can still get out of the house for some adventures.  Last week we went to Jantzen Beach to ride the carousel before it shuts down for good on Sunday.  Holy cow, that thing goes fast.  I don't know if Grady was more scared or if I was!

Today we went to the zoo and took a ride on the zoo train.  Grady LOVED it, and was not pleased when it was time to get off.  He kept saying "On the train!  On the loco-motive!"

Otherwise, all else is fine.  Grady is becoming a real clown, making lots of jokes.  Most of them are potty jokes - one involving a bug on his penis, one involving peeing at school....  I'm not sure my humor is quite sophisticated enough to truly get his jokes yet, but he surely thinks they are a hoot!  He also likes to play jokes like wearing my shoes and pretending they're his, sitting on my chair and pretending it's his - I'm sensing a pattern!  Here he is being goofy.

And looking handsome and grown up.

Grady is beginning to have a better awareness of time, talking about doing things tomorrow or later or on Sunday - not necessarily things we will do ("Sunday go to ocean with Marshall and Tabitha?") but he seems to understand some things happen now, some things later. 

He also continues to become more and more conversational, and the things he says continue to crack us up.  The other morning he woke up and said "I need breakfast in mine mouth!"  He has started to have somewhat elaborate conversations with imaginary beings too.  Yesterday when I went to get him up after nap he said "Talking to Clifford the Dog.  Called on mine phone.  Take a message," while reaching into his pj's nonexistent "pocket" for his phone.  This morning he was "Looking at boats with big doggy." 

Matt's home alone with Grady this weekend, and I'm off with Clara.  So wish us, and my airplane seatmates, good luck!

Happy Birthday, Grady!

Yesterday our little boy turned 2 years old!  It was a much anticipated event, with requests made weeks before for a "big orange basketball" and a carrot cake.  We were excited to celebrate his birthday, which also happened to land on Easter this year.  So with the double whammy of events, there are lots and lots of pictures coming up in this post.  Be warned!

Backtracking a bit, this week went much, much smoother than the week before.  I think it was a combination of Grady getting back on a more regular schedule, not having to go to the hospital for the morning and maybe - fingers crossed - Grady getting a bit more used to having his sister around.

Grady continues to like to show Clara the ropes.  Here he is gently suggesting she look at his drawing.  

Grady has been really into drawing lately.  He almost exclusively draws "snakes," although worms, spiders, rainbows, donuts, and miscellaneous other odds and ends are occasionally featured.  The other day he drew a spider, and then "picked it up" to eat it.  He offered me one, and I said "Ew, no thank you!"  He then sweetly said "Do it for me?"  I have no recollection of ever saying that phrase to him - it was pretty hysterical.  Another funny thing he said yesterday - he came downstairs and announced "I came downstairs!"  Then after thinking a moment said, "I'm not upstairs ... anymore." 

Grady is a bit of a vigilante about ensuring that Clara gets her few minutes of tummy time a day.  He likes to show her how to do it - usually by crowding her out of her mat.  The other day while doing tummy time, Clara actually rolled over!  I'm sure it was a fluke (and it hasn't been repeated) but holy cow I am not ready for another mobile child yet!  Here is Grady rewarding Clara for some good tummy time with a kiss.

Another highlight of the week preceding Grady's birthday: a few glimpses of Clara's lovely smile. 

Practicing her look of embarrassed disgust at her mama

Still haven't gotten a picture of her big smile yet, but these give you some idea.  I'd say we're at 80% gas smiles, 15% milk contentment smiles, and 5% genuine smiles.  Most of the smiles have been aimed at Grady so far.  So I don't know, maybe he's onto something with that whole touching her eye thing.

Okay, onto the birthday weekend.

On Saturday we headed out to Mt. Scott Community Center & Park for their annual Easter Egg "Hunt."  It wasn't so much a hunt as a mad scramble for  the eggs that were put out in plain sight on the playground, but it was still fun.  I explained the general concept of hunting for eggs beforehand but forgot to tell Grady what to do once he got one.  He wasted a valuable 30 seconds or so trying to put his first egg in someone else's basket, but he still made out with half a dozen or so. 

You can see the eggs "hidden" in the background

Coiled and ready for the starting bell

First egg! 

Hm, now what?

Shake shake shake!

Now he's got it!

Last one

Clara's level of participation

The funniest part was watching Grady eat the starburst inside one of the eggs.  Tough work, but he persevered!

Even more exciting than the candy, though, was getting up close and personal with a fire truck!

 He might not look super excited, but it was the definite highlight.

The next day was the big 0-2!  Grady woke up to find...

a big orange basketball!  We went out to the school playground to test out the ball, which for Grady meant holding onto the ball for dear life and saying "I'm using it!" shrilly whenever Daddy or I suggested he shoot it, pass it, dribble it, or otherwise let it leave his hands.

Grady also got some other balls and a garbage truck.  The garbage truck was the definite favorite.

Earlier he also got a pretty sweet zoo set from Grandpa and Nana, which has been a big source of amusement so far, for mommy too.... What can I say, there's something fun about making the animals go down the big slide....

After a pancake breakfast, 

 some of which got in his mouth, it was time to dye Easter eggs.  This was a lot more fun for me and Matt than it was for Grady, but he humored us for a while.

Here's the final product!

Clara was unimpressed.

She did perk up a bit when Grady showed her his garbage truck.

"Cwara, yook!  Garbage truck"

We finished off Grady's birthday with pasta (his favorite) and carrot cake.  It was a hit - the pasta especially. 

Before

After

We brought out his birthday cupcakes with two candles, and I told him to make a wish before he blew them out.  He wished for "cake."  So, there it is.  His first wish came true. 

Clara behaved very well through dinner, a near first for her.   And she looked pretty cute to boot.

Now if I could wax sentimental for a moment.  It's amazing how much Grady has grown this past year.  The obvious things like walking and talking of course happened, but also the continuing development of his personality.  He is a sweet, sensitive boy.  He can be shy when first meeting new people, but once he warms up, he loves to show off - usually by dancing or showing his toys.  He really wants to love dogs, but is afraid to pet them.  He loves to be helpful.  He has strong ideas, and feels things strongly when they don't go as he anticipated.  He is becoming a very caring big brother.  He is a comedian.  He cracks us up multiple times a day with the words he chooses and the jokes he plays.  In my unbiased opinion, he is an amazing little boy.  We are so lucky to have him.