10 Month Tantrums

Peanut turned 10 months yesterday and he marked his 10 month birthday with the start of tantrums. We were not prepared for that. I think it was well past his first year before we saw the start of a tantrum from Little Man and Little Man has never been the throw himself down on the ground kicking and screaming tantrum kind of kid. And yet we had 4 in just one day from Peanut. It is like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Peanut in this house. He is mild mannered for most of the day. Playing pleasantly and smiles and giggles a plenty but deny him that one toy that he wants or take away the book he is trying to eat and holy crazy tantrum! He cries this fake "arrarrraarrh" pirate type cry and kicks those chubby legs over and over and over. His eyes get all squinched up and he throws his head back. And it stops as quickly as it starts if he gets what he wanted (usually only if Little Man is the culprit behind his tantrum and I fix that) or if he gets distracted (which thankfully is still quite easily done). I think we may be in for some trouble with our Dr. Jekyll Mr. Peanut!

Other 10 month updates - Peanut is still as chubby as ever even though he is getting better at movin' and groovin'. He pulls up on virtually everything, even Little Man and has become a pro at getting himself back down. He just started to be able to climb up steps but he looks like he is trying to summit Mr. Everest when he does it. He is getting better at the rolling too. It seems like he doesn't always remember he can do it, but when he really tries he can get himself all the way over and loves it!

His napping has improved tremendously and takes up to an hour an a half in the mornings and another hour to two hours in the afternoon. He is still sleeping through the night but for 3 or 4 days he was waking up at 4 am or so. I think that he was just practicing standing up in his crib and now that he has figured that out he doesn't need to practice in the early morning hours anymore. Thank goodness!

I don't even know where to start with his eating because he eats EVERYTHING we put in front of him. His current favorites are avocados, peas, squash, chicken, carrots, bananas and yogurt. He isn't totally thrilled with applesauce and sweet potatoes but to be honest if push came to shove he would eat it!

I think the thing that is most striking for me and Papa Bear is how quickly these 10 months have gone. It feels like only yesterday that I held him in my arms at the hospital, my 9 pound 3 ounce premature Peanut. He is growing up so quickly and we are trying to be in the moment with him and Little Man as much as possible so that we don't miss anything.

I think he is playing me...

So this evening when I was putting Little Man to bed he pulled my arm around him and said "Mama, keep me safe". I melted a little at his level of cuteness and asked him what I was supposed to be keeping him safe from and he paused and then said "The two really bad chickens". I, of course, told him that we would never allow really bad chickens into the house and he said "ok" and snuggled into my arms. I think he is playing me. I think he knows I melt a bit when he asks me to keep him safe in his super sweet voice and I think he knows that it will keep me hugging him just a little bit longer before he has to go to sleep when he pretends to be scared. But you know what, I think I will keep pretending that I don't know he is playing me. I think that I will keep him safe from the big big giants and the really bad chickens and the two mouses (his word) in the corner and get a few more snuggles each night for as long as I can. I know that there will be a day where he will be too cool for hugs and snugs with his mama and I know there will be a day where he won't admit to being scared of anything so today I am going to let him work the bedtime system for as long as he wants and keep him safe from all of the scary bad chickens.

Big Rig Truck Trumps Trumpet - Trumpet to make a Comeback!

Extra! Extra! Read all about it! Big Rig Truck visits pre-school, Little Man gets to run around in Big Big Truck and drink lots of juice boxes. Truck driving papa currently gets Cool Papa of the Week award but the Trumpet Playing Papa Bear will trump Truck Driving Papa when he returns to the pre-school in March to show off his skills AND the spit valve!

Little Man had one of his many dreams come true this week. No, he didn't get a real giant and no he didn't get to ride on a chicken's back - those are two of his dreams that we haven't been able to fulfill. The wheels of the truck were taller than he was but he hoisted himself up the steps and pulled right up into the cab. He was in heaven and has asked everyday if he can see the big big truck again!

My Turtle Grew Legs!

If you remember from this post, I compared Peanut to a turtle. Well a leg-less turtle to be more specific. This is because Peanut, while crawling and pulling up, still could not manage to get his chunky self rolled over from his back to his tummy. Today, my turtle grew legs! On two different occasions he rolled himself over from his back to his tummy like it was no big deal. Like he had been doing it forever, except he hasn't. Only 4 days shy of his 10 month birthday he started rolling. This boy has not read the Pediatricians Guide to Baby's from Birth to 5 because he is doing everything so out of order and backwards! If he had read it he would know that he is supposed to roll before crawl and that if he weighs over 25 pounds he may not crawl until well past his 10 or 11 month mark instead of getting going at 9 months. He would know that he shouldn't be able to eat with a spoon yet but probably should start having his pincer grasp. But Papa Bear and I are taking it all in stride and are just happy to see our Turtle, I mean Peanut rolling over and gettin' where he needs to go.

Peanut's Rough Day

This morning started early. I mean really the early. Peanut was off schedule from some travel over the weekend and decided to get up and play in his crib from 4:30-5:30 and then throw everything out of his crib in protest of being ignored. After an early start he was woken up from his nap to go to the doctor. He had his follow up appointment at the doctor this morning to see how his ears are faring. The infections are all cleared, but there was still some fluid. The poor baby has had fluid in his ear for over a month now so I was disappointed to hear this. He took his shot like a man and turned his lip down and glared at the nurse but didn't even cry. The day just kind of got worse for my little Peanut. He is pulling up on everything these days, the refrigerator, the dishwasher, the coffee tables but he hasn't quite figured out how to get his legs into a good position or how to move his feet to help himself out. And the result is a lot of falls and some tears. We figured out that taking his socks off helped a little but that is sort of outweighed by the Little Man factor. This is what we call it when Little Man decides to "help" Peanut stand up, hold on or play with something that inevitable ends in a tangle of arms, legs and a diaper with Peanut on the bottom. He spent a lot of the day in tears or "yelling" his Peanut yell as he does the splits in the kitchen. He choked on turkey soup (we pureed it up, but there was a bone that slipped through) and had a very scary moment. Oh the mess, oh the drama, oh the tears. Tomorrow will be a better day, we get to go see a Big Rig and let Little Man explore the massively big truck with his friends at school and hopefully Peanut will have recovered from his doctor visiting, shot getting, turkey bone choking, split doing day.

Wordless Wednesday

Technology that Makes a Family Stronger

Yesterday morning the boys got a chance to skype with Mee-Mom (once we found a Peanut-Proof place to put the computer)

They got to spend time talking to her, watching Simba and even a quick chat with Mommom.

Mee-Mom even read Little Man a few books

We have no idea what he is doing with his shirt, but he liked the book a lot

Oh how I love technology!