Dean at One Year Five Months
Sunday, October 20th, 2011
Dean got the ear tubes a couple of days ago. He was such a trooper. I was worried because he wasn't allowed to eat until after the surgery (they had originally tried to schedule the operation at noon but there was no way my baby could go that long without food- can you imagine the screaming and crying?). Dean had to be there at 6 AM for the 8 AM procedure. He doesn't usually get up so early but there were no protests when woken. The prep time took almost the full two hours while the insertion of ear tubes only took 20 minutes tops. Dean was wonderful throughout and functioned normally for the rest of the day (although he took a bit of a longer nap). I hope the tubes have cleared up his hearing and that he will be able to communicate better. Let's bring on those words!
We've stopped the swim lessons for a while. He has a follow up for his ear tubes in a month and we can get the ok then. However, I might just wait until the new year to get him back swimming. He sure does enjoy the bathtub, though. That boy can spend an hour in there just splashing about. I suppose it cools him a bit. The weather in Phoenix is still excruciating- should it be so hot this late in the season? I hate global warming, I really do. We rarely are able to get out except early in the morning. Dean does enjoy running about in the park. He loves testing out the various surfaces beneath his feet. He seems to enjoy cement and gravel much more than grass. When he tires, I put him in the swing and he is content to be pushed for horribly long periods of time. There are complaints when poor Mommy, her arms aching from so much pushing, tries to take her wee boy out.
Dean has learned to associate wearing his shoes with being able to go outside. When I bring out the extra-wide sneakers, he reacts with an almost Pavlovian sense of excitement. I have begun to close the gate to our front courtyard and let him go hogwild within those confines. I have removed most hazards like shears so that he has some freedom. However, I didn't realize that when left to his own devices, he would treat a pot of dirt like a four course banquet. He had taken two big gulps of soil (which may have had some manure in it) and was REACHING for a third before I was able to stop him. To say I freaked is an understatement! Have you ever tried to get huge quantities of chewed up dirt out of a mouth of a screaming tot? I eventually had to hose him down. How could he enjoy the gritty taste of it? I don't get it; he refuses bananas or eggs but he'll avidly wolf down soil? I wish I knew what was going on his mind. Fortunately, it had no lasting effects: even his poop was regular. Some people have opined that he must be missing a mineral in his diet. Maybe but I am not letting this become habit.
Dean has been a little fussier this month. He has been getting quite a few molars in (before his canines even) which is from all accounts quite painful. It has been disturbing his sleep and he has some long crying fits in the middle of the night. While he still is the sweetest thing, he is just a bit quicker to melt down and fusses more when things aren't his way. He gets restless at the grocery store and wants to run about when picking up Sasha from school (he is quick and not easily coralled with 50 preschoolers milling about). Even though I sometimes have to thwart him from his goals, I can't help giggling over my wild-haired boy's antics. He is just so squeezably yummy.
Sasha at Four Years and Four Months
Tuesday, October 8th, 2011
Sasha continues to enjoy preschool although she does cling to her best friend to the point of worrying her teachers. At one point the girls tried to tie themselves together so they could never be separated. And, they have started excluding some of the other girls; they even made one cry. So, this month's lesson has been that she doesn't have to be friends with everyone but she should be nice to all. It's hard to believe that this has become an issue especially as Sasha is sensitive herself. Her feelings are quick to be hurt. It is so interesting to watch little girls develop their friendships; I don't think it will be an easy road for my emotional Sasha. But, I love that she is able to form close bonds. She and her best friend re-enact scenes from their favorite Barbie movie, The Diamond Castle. I think there is even a song in the film about buddies being together. Sasha often sings it at the top of her lungs while fluttering her arms and dancing enthusiastically.
This month, Sasha got to put together her "Me" bag (basically show and tell). She brought White Baby, cookies, a photo album, one Junie B Jones book, and a Tinkerbell movie. She also decorated a poster entitled "All About Me". We went a little ballistic with the stickers and coloring and photos. It was cute to watch Sasha showing off her stuff in front of the class. She acted a little shy but was clearly having a ball. Can I repeat how much I love her teachers and school?
Sasha had the stomach flu and had to stay home a day from school. She was quite miserable and managed to throw up all over the couch and the bathroom. She was very upset about being so "messy". Poor kid. We spent most of the day watching videos and allowing her to snooze. Dean was in seventh heaven because he never gets to watch TV during the day. He ran about the house squawking.
Although the weather remains unseasonably warm, our community pool has cooled down considerably. I refuse to get in anymore (no hypothermia for poor Mom-a-loo) but Sasha is happy to frolic. I suppose we will get as much swimming in as possible before the season ends. We are one of the few families who still venture out to the icy waters. In November, Sasha will start swimming lessons again. She should start learning all her strokes this year. She can do a passable crawl and backstroke- not pretty but it gets her from one side to the other. However, when she is playing in our pool, she prefers a dog paddle.
We have settled back into the routine of the school year. Sasha has started gymnasics again and has become quite agile. Already she has better balance than me (not hard). My daughter prefers to be involved in activities every minute of the day. Thank goodness she still takes a nap so Mommy can have some downtime. All the Barbie pretend, puzzles, reading, games of Candyland, Dominoes, & Chutes and Ladders, coloring, biking, racing along in the scooter, and general running around can wear a momma out.
