Back in the crib - Nap time

For nap today, Steve attempted to give DJ and opportunity to sleep in the car bed again.  I'm a little fuzzy on all of the details as I was asleep myself due to the little dog getting me up at 5:30AM.  Steve went into his room twice in an attempt to get him to settle down, but both attempts failed.  One time, DJ had piled his blankets and a bunch of books onto the chair in an attempt to get to the shelves with the box of wipes.  The next time, DJ was playing with the closet doors.  Thus, back into the crib he went.  It seems that he went to sleep but half an hour later, he woke up wailing.  I went in, sat with him in the rocker for a minute or two, and he's since gone back to sleep.

However, this is starting to prove that he just doesn't have the discipline to stay in the bed without one of us staying in there with him.  It's almost as if he needs to be "removed" from the opportunity to do things via the containment of the crib to go to sleep.  He's just too curious about things he can do in his room, no matter how much we baby-proof it.  I'm concerned about starting the habit of having to stay in there until he falls asleep, and neither of us don't really want any parts of it.  Last night, we thought that maybe his bedtime is too early so that if we kept him up later, he'd be tired enough and just go to sleep.  That didn't work.  It just made it so that he didn't go to sleep until after 9.  Today we asked him if he was ready for nap, said yes, but that didn't get us anywhere either.  So I don't know what we're going to do...

Back in the crib - Day 2

Last night, we tried putting DJ to bed in his car bed in hopes that we can start getting him used to it.  We also put a new door knob cover that he can't seem to get off the knob.  This is good, we thought, eventually, he'll go to sleep because he won't be able to leave his room. 

After the initial attempt at getting out of his room, things seemed to quiet down.  Then we heard banging, the banging that sounds like DJ's closet doors opening and closing.  So I go back in there, and tell him that when it's dark in his room, he needs to stay in his car bed.  It's time to go to sleep.  I cover him with his blanket, and leave.

All is quiet and no further attempts at his door are made.  However, I heard his closet doors again, so back I went.  When I went into his room, to my surprise, I found that his overhead light was on, the humidifier - which is on his dresser - is on, and the overhead fan is on.  I couldn't figure out how.  Did he climb the dresser?  The chair in his room was still in the same place, so he didn't move that and use it (yet)... Needless to say, I was confused.

In addition, DJ has put all of his stuff animals, his blankets, and favorite books in the closet.  Looking back on it now, he could have potentially fallen asleep in there (which is fine), except that he was playing with the doors and showing no signs of actually going to sleep. 

But now I was in a pickle.  I told him that "when it's dark in his room, he needs to stay in his car bed and go to sleep".  Yet, he'd turned the overhead light on!  So in his mind, based on what I'd said, it wasn't dark in his room, so he didn't have to stay in bed.  Yes, I get the part where he still got out of bed to turn the light on, but.... whatever.  I moved his favorite stuff animals to his car bed, his blankets and favorite books, cover him, and tell him that he needs to go to sleep.  If he gets out of his car bed again, I told him he'd be going back into his crib.  I turn off the light via the pull chain, leave the room and shut the door.

Not 2 minutes later, I heard noise at the door, not an attempt to open it, but some kind of noise.  I immediately go to investigate, and I have trouble opening the door because something was blocking it!!  And thus I discovered how DJ turned everything on the previous time; DJ had piled his blankets and a few books on the floor in front of the door.  This time, he'd managed to turn on the overhead fan but not the light because I'd previously turned it off via its pull chain.  He was running to the car bed when I got into the room... clear evidence that he understood what I was telling him and not following it. 

I moved the mattress to crib, put in his favorite stuff animals in it, his blankets, a few books, put him in it, and left the room.  Wailing ensued. 

About 2 minutes later, Steve went in there, sat with DJ in the rocker to calm him down, and then put DJ back in the crib.  We didn't hear from him until a little after 7am this morning.  And when I went into his room, he was still in his crib. 

Back in the crib

I think the temptation is just too much.  DJ just can't resist.  If he has the opportunity to go do something, he will, and that means he won't stay in his car bed or his room after lights out.

So after half an hour of telling DJ he needed to stay in his car bed, Daddy went in and told him that he didn't stay in bed (or even just in his room!), then he'd go back in the crib. 

Sure enough, 5 minutes later, we heard his door open.  Daddy went in there, moved the mattress to the crib, and put DJ in the crib. 

DJ wailed. 

We let him wail about a minute or two, and then Daddy went back in there, and sat with him for 10 minutes in the rocker, telling him that it was time to go to bed.  At that point, he went to bed without a fuss.

And lo and behold, he was still in the crib this morning when I went in to go get him.

This is going to be a long process, for sure.

DJ and his car bed - Day 2

Last night was the first night I put DJ to bed in his "new" car bed.  If you haven't seen this thing, it is a toddler bed in the shape of a VW bug.  He LOVES it. He just won't stay in it.  Nor will he stay in his room since he can turn door knobs (this is officially confirmed).

Eleanor kindly let us borrow some door knob covers to keep DJ from being able to turn the knob and opening a door.  Thinking I was slick, I put one on the inside knob of his room's door, figuring that if he can't get out of his room, eventually he'll figure out that he just needs to go to bed.  Within 2 minutes of shutting his door, he was busily trying to figure out how to open his door.  No more than 5 minutes later, I heard his door open.  Not surprised, I got up from the couch and went to his room to find the door knob cover in pieces on the floor.  He didn't figure out how to work the cover; he just pulled on it until it came apart and therefore off of the knob. 

So I stayed in his room with him for 20 minutes, reminding him (about every 30 seconds) that it was time for bed/sleep.  I also tried to tell him that if it's dark in his room and he's in his car bed, then he needs to stay in his car bed.  When I left his room and shut the door again, he was no where close to asleep, but I also had zero expectations that anything I said would stick.  But our boy never ceases to amaze us.  He didn't try coming out of his room again.  In fact, we found that he'd fallen asleep in his bed on his own, covers mostly on (I had to fix that).

Clearly, we have a number of long nights of putting him to bed ahead of us until he learns the habit of staying in bed and falling asleep on his own in his car bed.  In addition, we probably need to spend more time getting him to wind down at night so that he realizes that he's tired sooner.  In other words, his bedtime routine just got a whole lot longer. 

It also means that we have to be in bed earlier, too, because 6AM comes VERY quickly!  Like clockwork, DJ was awake and talking at 6AM, and came in to get Daddy at 6:20AM (as I was already in the shower).  No more sleeping in on weekends for awhile!

DJ and his car bed

Yesterday morning, I moved the crib mattress into his car bed so he could play in it and get used to it.  Yesterday evening, Steve had the job of putting the kids to bed, and DJ was ready to sleep in his car bed.  Steve said good night, and left his room.  Naturally, our busy boy couldn't keep still and actually stay in bed, and Steve heard him opening and shutting his bedroom door sometime.  So Steve took him back to bed.  Once again, our little boy didn't stay in bed.  This time, Steve told him that if he doesn't stay in bed, Steve would put him back in the crib.  Apparently, that did the trick because Steve didn't hear him the rest of the night.

When I got home, I went and checked on him.  He was sleeping peacefully, blanket covering him, with all his stuff animals surrounding him.  It was so sweet.  He was my little angel.

At 6 AM, DJ was up and talking and ready to go.  His day had started, and we heard everything over the baby monitor.  He telegraphed everything he was going to do "DJ open door..." and sure enough, out into the hallway he went.  The first thing he did was try the gates.  He rattled them, but that was it.  When he got bored of that, he went back into his room.  At that point, I went to go shower to get ready for work.

When I got out, I heard DJ in our room.  Steve was out of bed, grinning from ear to ear.  Apparently, DJ had stuck his head in our door and said, "Oh, Daddy!  There you are!  Wake up, Daddy!"  Then it was, "DJ put away 'puter!"  Wait....... what??

Sure enough, DJ had managed to get the gate open and had gone into the living and shut Steve's laptop.  We thought we were in trouble before?  Now we KNOW we are in trouble!

While DJ was playing on our bed while I was getting dressed, he exclaimed, "Oh, honey!"  Hilarious....

On a slightly different note, he's also starting to make connections.  He and I were reading a book and he pointed to a woman on the page and said, "That's a mommy, " ... pause... "Just like you!" and touches me on the arm.  I was REALLY impressed!

DJ and his crib

As reported earlier, DJ had climbed out of his crib on Saturday morning and wandered into the living room to play.  When it was time for his nap that afternoon, we put DJ in his crib again, but left the rail down.  We also made sure that his door was fully latched.  DJ didn't end up napping but he not only stayed in his crib but he also pulled the rail up!  Needless to say, I was really confused.

Saturday night, again, we put him in his crib and left the rail down.  He slept great and in the morning, I heard him when he woke up over the baby monitor.  Once again, when we went in to get him, the crib rail was pulled up and DJ was still in it.

Last night, same thing.  This morning, he woke up at 5:45AM unhappy.  So I went in there, calmed him down, and noted that the crib rail was still down.  I left the room to get ready for work and when I went back in, not only was the crib rail up, but he was half over it playing with the window blind. 

Clearly, he likes his crib.  And clearly, he's Type A in that the crib rail needs to be as usual, in it's place... pulled up.  But also clearly, he wants his freedom.  We just might have to put him in the toddler bed if this keeps up!

Climbing out of the crib - Day 2

We decided to experiment last night to see if DJ had "scared" himself when he got out of his crib yesterday morning and couldn't get back in.  So we put him back in his crib last night, rail up.  As a precaution, however, I put the baby monitor back in his room.  I couldn't turn it up very loudly because his humidifier was on, too, and that white noise is LOUD over the baby monitor. 

At 6AM, DJ was awake.  I heard him start talking.  I thought, "Ok, good, I can hear him just fine despite the humidifier noise.  Apparently, I fell back to sleep because the next thing I know, Steve is scrambling to get out of bed saying, "What was that bang?!"

I thought, it's just DJ throwing toys at the ceiling fan in his room (which he is known to do) and/or the plastic toddler bed, or anything else that becomes his target. 

Yeah, was I ever so wrong.  DJ was in the living room, banging his toys around.  Steve says he'd been in the living room for a bit of time because other things had been "destroyed"i.e. moved around, but probably not very long.

So now the question is, when I went in to check on him last night before I went to bed, did I latch his door when I left?  I know I shut it, but I don't think I latched it.  If, in fact, he can turn knobs (and we think his proficiency at this is improving - he's gotten doors open with prolonged effort and/or luck), then we need a Gnome Despot trip to start buying hook-and-eyes to start latching doors (e.g the basement, bathroom door) shut. 

Guess we'll find out at nap time today!

Where's DJ?

Not in the crib...!

This morning, Steve walked into DJ's room to get him ready to go to Eleanor's and paused.  He turned to me, as I was standing in the kitchen, and his jaw dropped open.  I looked beyond Steve to DJ's crib, and DJ definitely was NOT in it.

DJ was playing in his room, but mostly trying to figure out how to get back INTO his crib.  In fact, the first words out of DJ's mouth this morning were, "go back in crib?"  So Steve obliged him and put him back in his crib but naturally, DJ immediately cited that he wanted out, "Ready to get up!"

So now we have a dilemma.  Do we move him to the toddler bed tonight?  Do we let him stay in his crib where he's comfortable but leave the rail down so that he doesn't get hurt climbing out?  On top of all that, how do we further baby proof his room??? 

It's not like we didn't see this coming.  I've walked into DJ's room and found him with a leg over a rail. I've just nonchalantly told him to not do that, and kept going, hoping that by not making a scene, he wouldn't continue trying.  And I do think that's worked as this has been going on for months.  But now, he's figured it out, so I'm sure there's no stopping him.  We just have to make sure he doesn't get hurt.  It might be time to move the baby monitor back into HIS room!

The sniffles

The fateful October head cold has arrived to both kids, and also to both of their parents.  DJ and Elektra have been sneezing and coughing, running very low fevers, and having a constant stream of mucus coming out of their nose since Thursday. 

Elektra's cough is yucky wet; you can see that she is bringing up mucus, but of course she doesn't know to just spit it out and just swallows it.  At least it's not green, so I'm not running for the antibiotics yet.  DJ's cough is more intermittent and not as wet as Elektra's.  We've been running humidifiers in their rooms when they're sleeping, so we're hoping that helps!

Luckily, it seems that Elektra's appetite is unchanged, but DJ is definitely not much for eating.  He's spending his time playing with his food or the plate/cup/utensils.

As for sleeping, they're both sleeping well at night but not having the best of naps during the day as a general rule.  The first night Elektra was sick, she woke up 2 hours after she went to bed and wanted no parts of going back to bed until midnight.  She woke up again at 3:30AM and then again at 5:30AM... rough night.  She has slept fine at night since then, though. 

Hopefully they'll feel better by this weekend so that we can take them to a farm out in Frederick, MD with the Doyle family!

Adjectives

DJ is starting to make his sentences more complex as he verbalizes more complex throughts.  One of the ways he's making his sentences more complex is by describing everything as it relates to size.

"A big noodle!"
"See big houses?"
"Is it a big one?"

Ok, maybe it's not that it's size.  Maybe it's just that "big" is his favorite adjective by far, as just about everything is "big".  :-)

It's potty time!

Last night, DJ asked Daddy "to take a bath".  While DJ and Daddy were having a ball (from what I could hear), Elektra was crawling around in the kitchen getting into the plastic bags and other recycleables and pushing the chair across the floor as she practiced walking while I was cleaning the kitchen. 

Then I see Steve come into the kitchen, disappear into the living room, and then come back through the kitchen holding DJ's favorite books.  Ah, DJ must have requested them.  Two seconds later I hear,

"Honey, you have to see this NOW."

???

I dry my hands, pick up Elektra, and walk into the bathroom.  There is DJ, sitting on the big potty, and a line of urine on the floor in front of him.

Apparently, DJ had said to Steve when he got out of the tub that he wanted to sit on the potty.  Ok, great, Steve sat him on the potty.  Then DJ asked for his Mickey Mouse books (which were in the living room).  Then when Steve got back to the bathroom with the Mickey Mouse books, but before I got in there, DJ said to Steve, "Pee pee come out of DJ's noo-noo!" which is how Steve knew to look down at the floor (before he stepped in the urine himself).

After much praise for going pee pee on the potty, DJ was told to push down his noo-noo next time so that pee pee goes IN the potty.

Then I was glad I moved the bathroom rug last weekend out from in front of the toilet...!!

We obviously hope he continues to want to potty train.  Either way, though ,we'll let him pace himself.

Kisses and Sharing

Elektra has started blowing kisses!  Sometimes she'll make the motion with her hand in addition to making the sound, but mostly she just makes the sound.  This morning, Daddy had her in his arms, I brought DJ to him to give him a kiss and once DJ blew a kiss, Elektra started blowing kisses.  The kids were then blowing kisses to each other in the car on the way to Eleanor's.  :)

DJ, meanwhile, loves to share his meal with Elektra.  He will pull himself - fully strapped in his highchair - down the table towards Elektra's high chair.  "Sit next to 'Rektra?"  Once he's next to her, he'll start breaking off pieces of whatever it is he's eating and give her some.  In 99% of the cases, he can share with her, so we don't mind.  And naturally, Elektra is snatching it up immediately and thrilled that DJ gave it to her. 

Elektra's first steps!

Holy moley Steve, Granddad and I just watched Elektra take her first walking steps without holding on to anything!  She took 3 steps, from the end of the reclined part of the couch to the middle (corner) of the couch, throwing herself at the couch as she was losing her balance.  GOOD GIRL!!!

Of course, she hasn't done it again since (ok, so it's only been 5 minutes), but we are trying to encourage it... thus digging our own "grave" as it were.  We like to think it'll be man-to-man defense once she starts walking, but we know that in reality, we'll have to play zone!

DJ's pal, Scout

Elektra received Leap Frog's My Pal Violet for her birthday.  Violet sings songs, plays games, etc.  The cool thing about it is that it's programmable (via a USB cable and an internet connection). 

DJ took quite a liking to Violet, but would put her down when distracted by something else. 

So Daddy purchased the boy version, My Pal Scout.  Daddy programmed "David" for DJ's name, his favorite color (green... we don't know, we guessed), his favorite food (bananas... again, we're guessing here), and some specific songs like Twinkle Twinkle Little Star that he loves.  Now, when DJ turns on Scout, Scout says, "Hi David!" and DJ just beams.  That smile is so big that it's blinding.  The second that DJ heard Scout say his name, Scout became his favorite toy.

Violet has since been programmed to called Elektra "Princess" since clearly, Leap Frog isn't going to have "Elektra" in their database.  Her favorite food = cheese, color = pink, and has a few songs, too.  Elektra dances when Violet starts playing songs.  It's cute!

Elektra's 8th tooth

Elektra has cut her 8th tooth, the 4th bottom front tooth.  It is definitely through (ouch!), and she's enjoying the ability to "bite" into Cheerios with her front teeth.  It also means we can now give her things like rice cakes and other hard-ish foods for her to start learning how to bite things.

Eleanor thinks she's cutting her back 1 year molars because she's constantly got her fingers back there, digging.  We haven't seen any diaper rash yet (one of her major signs), and I stuck my fingers back there last night and I didn't feel anything, but that doesn't mean those big molars aren't coming!

Elektra "walking"

Elektra has been very active with her new found skill, "walking".  She certainly isn't walking by herself by any means but she's using us and her truck toy to help her learn. 

 

 

She's also been starting to stand from a sitting position without our help!

DJ sayings of late

DJ has had some interesting sayings lately.

Last Saturday, Steve had to go into work and as he was leaving (DJ was watching his car leave the driveway), DJ said, "Daddy come home to see Momma?"  My heart melted.

He's also been asking for wet paper towels.  At first we give him a dry paper towel, he asks for us to get it wet, "Put water on it?  Put many water on it?"

I was just out in the mudroom trying to discover what is causing an enormous stench in there (failed to find anything that could be the culprit).  While I was out there, DJ came to the door looking for me and when he couldn't see me, even though he knew I was out there, he gave the wingnut salute and said, "Where Momma is?"  The wingnut salute!!  That is hilarious!


Meanwhile, both children have colds, unfortunately.  They just look like runny noses and sneezing... no swine flu!

Binky (or lack thereof) Update

DJ has asked for binky at night (asked for the White Binky), but I have stayed consistent and said that Binky is broken.  As a result, he has slept three nights now without Binky.  However, he has been unwilling to give up Binky during his nap at daycare.  As this is the first weekend we've had without Binky, we'll see if he naps here....I'm hoping that White Binky doesn't have to come back.

Binky broken

Yesterday morning, I walked into DJ's room to get him out of bed when he asked for "white binky".

I replied, "Where's you're blue binky?"
He says, "Right there," and points to the crib. Sure enough there was blue binky.
"Here you go," I say as I hand it to him.
"Broken!"
"What? Where?"
"Right there," he says, and points to the part that he chews/sucks on.

Sure enough, that binky was chewed right in half. Then I started to panic... did he swallow it after he bit it off? I started to overturn everything in his crib, look on the floor and to my enormous relief, I found the other half.

"Yep, you're right, DJ. Binky is broken."

When it was time for bed last night, I forwarned DJ that Binky was broken while I was getting him ready for bed. He seemed to think about that and when it was time to go to bed, he didn't even ask for Binky.

And he slept all night.

Maybe, just maybe, the days of Binky are done for DJ. If so, I hope that breaking Elektra of the thumb habit will be just as easy.

Ya!

On Tuesday, I was home with the kids because Eleanor was having some medical procedures done. We drove out to Bel Air to have their portraits taken by Kathie Jones, the woman who took their portraits last year. DJ talked non-stop on the way out there and while we were there. Neither child napped that afternoon, and both went to bed early because of it.

Yesterday morning, as I'm driving DJ to Eleanor's, I hear from the back seat,

"See sky, Momma?"
"Do you see the sky, DJ?"
"Ya!"

Pause

"See grass, Momma?"
"Do you see the grass, DJ?"
"Ya!"

Pause

"See sheep, Momma?"
"Did you see the sheep, DJ?" (we pass a field of sheep)
"Ya!"

And it went on... "Are we going under trees... ya!", "Trash cans fall over... ya!", "Going over bridge... ya!", "See cars coming... ya!" all the way to Eleanor's.

The "ya!" is brand new... we've been trying to get him to say any form of "yes" as a word for 6 months now, and finally, he's saying it! Apparently, at daycare that day, he took it a step further and said "ya sure!"

So overnight, he decided to start verbally confirming with words! Yay DJ!

Elektra is standing!

Over the weekend, Steve and I worked on teaching Elektra how to stand on her own. And now that she's done it a few times (we stand her up, making sure her feet are flat on the ground, and then let go of her until she sits herself back down), she's now starting to let go of things on her own.

It's only a matter of months before she walks now!!! Oh boy will we be in trouble then!

DJ have booger!

On the way home from daycare on Tuesday, DJ said to Steve,

"DJ have booger! DJ have booger!"

pause....

"Daddy take booger!!"

...pause as Daddy tries to retrieve said booger from DJ while driving because DJ was making a huge fuss about it....

"DJ have 'nother one! Daddy have booger!"

DJ was apparently rubbing his nose and managing to retrieve at least 3 boogers during the commute home... LOL!!!

The Birthday Girl and her Big Brother

We took some pictures tonight of the kids, since it's Elektra's first birthday.

DJ giggling at Elektra

Elektra giggling at DJ

A rare picture of the two kids smiling at us!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ELEKTRA!!

At 1:59PM today, Elektra turns 1. I can't believe a year has gone by already!!

As seems to be tradition, my kids go to the pediatrician on their birthdays. Elektra went this morning, weighing in at 20 pounds 14 ounces, and 29.75 inches long. That means in the last three months, Elektra gained about a pound and a half and grew an inch and a quarter.

The doctor found her healthy and has restricted her diet to no shellfish until she turns 2, and no peanuts until she turns 3. She starts whole milk whenever we're ready. Being that she's been snaking DJ's sippy cup whenever possible, I don't think this transition will be too difficult!

Much to her dismay, however, Elektra received 4 shots (she wailed, but was done 15 seconds later) and had blood drawn. Why did she have blood drawn? Because the Socialist State of Maryland requires that she have a lead test because she lives in a house built before some date (1972? I dunno.). Let me tell you how much fun it is to try and draw blood from a 1 year old. It was so much fun with DJ that I couldn't wait to do it again with Elektra. Really. I mean that. Honestly. Yeah Right. Next time, I'll eat a pound of calves livers for a day to not do that again. Yuck. This is no slight to the poor people having to draw the blood, trust me. I don't envy their job one bit.

The birthday girl fell asleep in the car on the way back to Eleanor's, but refused to sleep for a morning nap once we got there. So Eleanor and Sonny have a very tired birthday girl on their hands.

Happy Birthday, Elektra! We can't believe our little angel is already a year old... !!

Fussing over food

Elektra has started fussing over food. It's not that she's rejecting food because she's being a very picky eater. It's that she's rejecting food because she wants what we're eating. A couple of examples:

1. Last week, when I was off with the kids, Elektra fussed(fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuss!!) when she didn't have a sippy cup like DJ. As soon as she got a sippy cup (of water), she quieted down.

2. Earlier this week, Steve was feeding DJ some chicken and rice, and Elektra wanted no parts of what Steve was trying to feed her. Instead, she quieted down when she finally got some of DJ's chicken and rice. Luckily, DJ was on his supermodel diet, so he didn't mind sharing.

On the other hand, she doesn't fuss if what we're giving her is something she wants which is either baby cereal (sometimes doctored with applesauce), or perceived grown up food, even if it isn't what DJ is eating. She was eating pieces of a chicken breast I'd roasted while DJ had a quesadilla and she didn't fuss once about it.

Eleanor has since started feeding her for lunch what she feeds Grace and DJ for lunch. I figure may as well get her used to it now!!

No portraits today

Unfortunately, in the locale where we were to meet Kathie Jones, the photographer we commissioned to take DJ's pictures last year, it was raining this morning.

I had the kids dressed and ready to go (hair even done!) as it hasn't rained here since sometime last night. Unfortunately, the weather is calling for rain the rest of the week, so we had to reschedule for the end of the month when I'll be off again during the week. Kathie has weddings and such during the weekends, so it's hard to schedule her on those days. But maybe scheduling the photo shoot later may give us some Fall colors as a back drop!

Huge lunch today!

DJ was eating rather sparsely over the last 4 days, though this wasn't a surprise to us.

A few weeks ago, every meal, he couldn't eat enough (almost). Being a food vacuum is his standard indicator of a growth spurt. After the growth spurt, I noticed his Toddler 2 size shorts are no longer big on him. They are "just right" leaning towards too small! That said, it would be negligent of me not to cite The Shrinking Machine (the dryer, as my mother calls it) as a contributor to the small size of DJ's shorts (and clothes in general), but The Shrinking Machine alone cannot account for shrinking speed...

Anyway, after DJ goes through the food vacuum stage, he then goes through the super-model diet stage, being picky and eating very little in general. That's where we are now. We figure he self regulates well enough, so we don't worry about it and simply prepare less food at each meal.

This morning, DJ only wanted Kix cereal ("in a bowl") for breakfast. Turning down "can cakes" (pancakes) or waffles is non-existent so when he turned down both, I didn't think anything of it since he's on the super-model diet. But he kept asking for more and more Kix, eating a total of 3 whole bowls before I stopped him. Granted Kix are mostly air and don't fill up anyone, but I should have figured that lunch would mean he'd be starving.

At noon, I asked DJ if he was interested in some lunch, and he answered yes right away. I gave him a list of things from which to choose: hot dog, ham, cheese, roast beef, quesadilla. He picked ham at first, and then he said quesadilla. Ok, I thought, I'll put a little ham in his quesadilla.

Little did I know just how hungry he was. Besides his immediate want to get into his high chair, I couldn't make the quesadilla fast enough. He ate the entire ham and cheese quesadilla, then asked for ANOTHER quesadilla. I suggested ham and cheese instead, and he ate another half a slice of ham and a full slice of cheese. At this point, I offered him a banana. He ate the whole thing. Then I offered him a peach. He ate all of that, too. And then he had two small helpings of Nilla Wafers Minis, and a whole cup of milk. Hello hollow leg for food.

Elektra was not to be outdone. She had Cheerios, a half a slice of ham, she shared my stuffed pepper filling, some roasted bell pepper, a bowl of yogurt, and two and a half ounces of water from her sippy cup. In fact, she was fussing in her high chair - despite having Cheerios to keep her busy - because DJ had his sippy cup and she didn't. She quieted down immediately upon receiving her sippy cup of water.

We spent an hour eating lunch together. Now the kids are playing and will be going down for naps in about 20 minutes or so. I'm hoping they'll sleep like rocks since they ate so well!!

The next American Idol...

... DJ!

Went I went into his room this morning, DJ was singing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. Of course he doesn't know all of the words, but he had the tune down well enough to be recognizable. The singing has been going on now for about a week, although I did hear him start to sing when we were at the beach back in July, but it didn't last more than a breath so I didn't think anything of it. Now DJ sings with regularlity, and songs include Twinkle Twinkle, the ABC's, and Ring Around The Rosie.

Elektra stands

Elektra can stand unassisted if she's not thinking about it. So to get her to stand, we have to distract her and while standing, let go of her. Yesterday, she was focused o getting a spoonful of crumbled feta cheese in her mouth, and Steve let go of her. She stood for nearly 5 seconds! I guess we'll just have to distract her more often!

Elektra's first word

Elektra has been babbling for quite a while now, with various consonants and sounds. Ma ma and da da have come out, and once or twice we think she's tried to say "da da" in conjunction with seeing Steve. But it hasn't been consistent. I have noticed that if I am changing her and Steve is in the room and I say "da da" to her, she will turn and look at Steve very specifically. It's hit or miss with ma ma.

I have also asked her to say "DJ" and that also comes out at "Da Da". She only seems to say that when she is imitading you, not unprompted.

Yesterday, however, she was in her high chair, dropped her bottle onto the floor and said, "UH-oh." And she says that regularly, so I think that is her first word.

Clean up

When DJ wakes up from his nap or overnight sleep, he typically pitches all of his crib toys out onto the floor in his room. Yesterday afternoon was no exception. When Daddy went in to go get him, DJ said,

"DJ make a mess!!"

"Yes, DJ did make a mess," Daddy replied.

"Daddy clean up DJ mess!"

Pause.

Daddy found this enormously amusing, and did whatever he could to hide it. He said instead,

"DJ clean up DJ's mess!"

And DJ helped throw his crib toys back into his crib. Way to walk into that teaching moment, DJ!

*MY* _______ !!

This morning, Elektra had taken a toy from DJ, and DJ protested by coming to us. "TOOL! TOOL!" (meaning, he wanted his plastic screwdriver back). When he didn't receive an immediate response, he went back to Elektra, snatched the screwdriver out of her hand and said very authoritatively,

"MY TOOL."

Let the My and Mine era begin!

More teeth!

As you know, Elektra has all four of her top front teeth coming in simultaneously.

I suspected some bottom teeth were coming, too, but I couldn't really tell. Then last night, as only Mommy can do, I stuck my finger on her gums (hoping she wouldn't bite me with those new top teeth!) and voila... I found that her right bottom incisor has poked through!

Talk about getting her teeth all at once! Maybe she'll actually have a mouthful by the time her birthday comes!

Follow up to the $1M for Iggy Rescue blog

An update on the $1M for Iggy Rescue blog post:

After 3 weeks of trying to get Luther into the semifinals of the cutest dog competition by winning one week's worth of votes, http://www.cutestdogcompetition/ changed the rules. No longer did it tally votes by unique IP addresses, but it required you to register email addresses to vote.

Um... changing the rules to a contest for $1M in the middle of it?! Something stinks of fixed... and I don't mean the spayed/neutered kind....

The IG community took it in stride and after that week, we still had Luther in the top 5 dogs. However, Luther's owner decided to withdraw Luther from the competition, citing the irregularities, inconsistencies, and just plain old rule changes to the contest making the contest, in her mind, illegitimate and unfair.

I don't blame her. It became clear that the contest organizers had not thought this all through very well. Last I checked, whenever you dangle $1,000,000 in front of the general public, people are going to whatever they can to get it. So you'd better have thought of every scenario and have an answer to it BEFORE it happens. These people running the contest clearly didn't do that.

The IG community was saddened at Luther's withdrawl, but supported Luther's mom's decision whole heartedly. It really did stink like wet dog...

And then last night, I received this email from Luther's mom:

Alex Tabibi, CEO of Dog. com and a bunch of other domains, is paying me $500 for my analysis of the problems with the Cutest Dog Contest. I got us the money without Luther's winning!

Cool? I know!!!!!

Luther got a prize for us after all, in a roundabout way! Goood boy.

- Barb and Luther, Cutest Dog in MY house anyhow

Brinkhaven Cairns Possum, Tiger and Woody and a passle o'puddytats

And of course, Barb has donated it directly to IG Rescue, as she promised from the very beginning. Hooray for IG Rescue! And despite all that, Luther was still in the Top 10 dogs of Week 4 of the competition. Good boy, Luther! Reaffirms my faith in "good things coming to good people."

Elektra's teething

Elektra has been teething for months now. She got her first two teeth just after turning 6 months old. Five (5) months later, those were still the only teeth she had.

Yesterday, she finally broke through the top right incisor and top right front tooth. Today, she broke through the top left incisor and the top left front tooth is right behind it. Seriously, this child is teething 4 teeth at the same time. It's a small miracle she's in such a good mood all of the time despite dealing with such mouth drama!!!!

$1M for Italian Greyhound Rescue

Italian Greyhound Rescue is entirely a volunteer organization that holds fundraisers and actively solicits donations to help defray the vet costs of iggies coming into rescue. As with every breed rescue organization out there, Iggy Rescue is always hurting for operating funds to care for the hundreds of dogs they save every year.

Our beloved Italian Greyhounds (fondly known as Iggies), IO and Napoleon, came to us via Italian Greyhound Rescue. Clearly, we have a interest in wishing Iggy Rescue success in what it does else we wouldn't have our two lovebug dogs today!

All American Pet Brands is hosting a cutest dog competition in which the grand prize is $1 MILLION. One of owners of a rescue iggy, Luther, has submitted Luther's picture into this contest. Luther's owner has pledged that every penny of the winnings, after taxes, will be donated to Iggy Rescue.

HOW TO VOTE:
Go to: http://www.cutestdogcompetition.com/gallery.cfm
SEARCH for Luther
2 pictures of Luther - in an sherlock holmes outfit - will be displayed along with a few other dogs named Luther.

VOTE FOR BOTH of the pictures of Luther, the Italian Greyhound!

Please vote every day!

A little bit from Luther's owner about Luther and why she wants to donate her earnings to Iggy Rescue:

Luther was found, wandering along a highway outside Minneapolis by a Minnesota Shelter when he was a weanling pup 8 years ago. My daughter adopted him and then gave him to me when he was 4 mos. old. I was recovering from major spinal surgery. and have spent literally years in bed then and since. Little Luther was just a delight! I've always felt Luther adopted and rescued me, and not the other way around.

The shelter tried to find his owner by placing newspaper and TV ads featuring him, but no one came forward. All we know is that this wee boy was alone, nowhere near a neighborhood where his family might have been. His nose was all covered with cheese.

We have 3 Cairn Terriers, Possum, Tiger and Woody. Possum took baby Luther totally to heart, and even nursed him, kept him loved and cuddled and licked clean, and to this day, has daily played gently with him, she on her back, waving her short little legs in the air, and showing him great alligator jaws. She is now nearly 15, and their relationship remains very close.

So he is a foundling, raised by a paralyzed lady in bed much of the time, taught the dog rules by his loving adopted mama, Possum. My husband Phil is here with us most of the time, caring for me and the dogs.

Yes, Luther's a rescue. He is now adopted.

All the money we may win goes immediately to the Italian Greyhound Rescue Foundation. Except...

I will have to hold back enough money to pay taxes as the money would legally come to me and would be reported by the contest to the IRS. I can't afford to pay taxes on a big chunk of money like that. IGRF would get ALL the rest. Every penny.

So he is a representative of all Rescue IGs, and all I'm doing is trying to bring as many IG lovers together as I can, to make a large enough voting mass to win this contest. I figured if people wanted to join in, we might just do it. If not, little lost - time is mostly all. I do have lots of that.

Hi Axel!

I'm so behind on my blogging, but here is a picture taken by Dave or Nancy's iPhone of Baby Axel on his birthday.

Axel William

We think he looks like a really good blend of both Dave and Nancy! And we think he looks a teeny bit like DJ.

All in all, he is a beautiful baby! He looks *awesome* for just having been born a few hours before!

Oh baby!!

The East Coast Steaks are thrilled to hear that the West Coast Steaks welcomed Axel William into the world at 12:43 PM PDT today!!! He is 8 pounds even and 22 inches long.

Happy day!! We can't wait to meet you, Axel!! XOXO to Mommy Nancy and Daddy Dave!

Elektra's Baptism and Reception

Sunday was a busy day! Unfortunately, our little girl was still running at 102 degree fever, so she wasn't feeling so hot. She took a long nap in the morning, and seemed to have broken the fever by lunchtime, but I didn't take any chances. She got another dose of Tylenol to keep any fever at bay for the baptism.

My dad dropped by with the most awesomely awesome Strawberry Shortcake from Graul's Market (did I mention it was awesome??), and I got the shrimp hors devours ready. Because the weather looked a little too flakey, I decided to setup the tables and chairs in the garage even though everyone would totally roast in there, but I didn't want to take the chance of it raining on the party. DJ helped me pull the cars out into the driveway and set up the tables and chairs. He was such a good helper... by just sitting in the front seat of Daddy's car and watching me with interest. When we got back inside, DJ helped Daddy clean the basement while I got a shower and baked the spanakopita. By then, my sister, Sophia and Spiro had arrived.

With an hour to go before we needed to leave, I fed the kids lunch while Spiro and Sophia entertained them, and my sister decorated the tables and brought in her monster cooler full of yummy food... fruit salad (yummy yummy), spanakopita, and desserts. Meanwhile, Steve got his shower, I got DJ dressed, my sister got Elektra dressed, and the spanakopita came out of the oven to cool. I finished getting dressed, and we hopped in the car after grabbing a couple of Red Bulls to go to church.

The service started in the back of the church. Elektra's godparents - Steve Schramm, Alexandra, and Sophia - did great. Sophia was beaming the whole time. Elektra was awesome, checking out the world, fish-flopping herself between Steve and me, and trying to chew on Father Dean's cross. DJ, meanwhile, had planted himself on Sonny's lap, and my brother was taking pictures.

When we got to the front of the church, it was time for the dunking. Elektra was NOT happy about this... between the holy oil on her and being dunked (only up to her chest!), she wailed. Once she was dressed (she looked so cute!!), had found her thumb and had Bunny in her hands, she stopped crying. Spiro, Eleni, Desi and Christian were our candle holders for the procession around the font, and then it was time for communion. We had to pop Elektra's thumb out of her mouth, but she didn't fuss at all when it came time to have communion. She did great with that. Finally, we were finished, and I held Elektra in the reception line. She got lots of kisses and love from everyone, and the comment, "You're no longer a heathen!" from Basil. Nice. lol But Elektra was so beat that she fell asleep in my arms while we were standing in the reception line. I passed her to Steve, and he sat down with her so she could nap. It's not often she sleeps on one of us now so he took advantage of that opportunity!

On the car ride home, the kids were wide awake... not even one thought of a nap from either of them. There went the nap-when-they-get-home plan. Thankfully, the kids were entertained by my mother-in-law and others so that I could get out the hors devours. My cousin Elena and her kids (Desi and Christian) helped out tremendously. With hors devours and drinks on the table, the party could finally get started.

Andy Nelson's BBQ arrived shortly thereafter, and I had them set up in the garage as well. They were setup in no time at all, and dinner was served! Turkey Q, Beef Brisket, corn bread, potatoes, and slaw. Yummy! Unfortunately, the potatoes weren't cooked all the way through, so we tried to finish them in our oven and microwave.

Meanwhile, the kids FINALLY allowed themselves to nap, and we let them sleep for about half an hour to 45 minutes.

Around 6pm, my sister, who was working way too hard in my kitchen, set out desserts. The awesomely awesome Strawberry Shortcake from Graul's and some other treats were out alongside a metric ton of Greek sweets that Miss Karas - bless her heart - made from my father's mother's recipes ("so that she could be here in spirit").

Dessert was in fully swing when... KABOOM. Here comes the rain, and not just any rain... this had potential for hail. DJ was stressed out from the thunder, but couldn't tear himself away from the window because he wanted to watch the storm. I was gleeful that I had made the right call to set up the tables in the garage... until the power went out.

Oh no.

But wait!! The power came back!! YEESSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!

But wait.... it's out again, and this time for good.

Oooooh ****.

The lack of lights was no problem. All the food had been served, we had plenty of ice in the cooler and plenty of drinks. I had a fluorescent bulb flashlight going so we had plenty of light in the kitchen. No, the problem was the lack of water. Well water + no electricity = no water. No washing hands, no flushing, no nothing. I'd had a contingency plan for everything but that. It would figure.

Oh well, nothing I can do about it but open the windows....and hope that no one has to pee (yeah right). We got word that trees were down everywhere and that a barn down the road was on fire. Yep, our power was going to be out awhile. Wondered if I'd get a shower Monday morning....

We put both kids to bed at this point, knowing they were totally exhausted. Eleanor and Sonny knew they'd have their hands full the next day with 2 sets of overtired children, especially since baby Evan was baptized the same day.

People started trickling out and by 8:15, most everyone had left. We started to put down the garage doors manually and then on came the electricity. Well check that out! Of course, this also meant that the overhead lights turned on in the kids rooms, so DJ was awake and wanted to go play. Sorry, DJ, it's ni-ta-ta time. Elektra, thankfully, slept through it.

I cleaned the house, opened gifts, and the day ended peacefully, with both kids out like the lights were earlier in the evening.

I'll post pics when I get them off of my brother's camera....

Peek-a-boo...!

... I see you!

Elektra is starting to play her form of peek-a-boo by "hiding" her eyes (but not really, just putting her hands to her face near her eyes), and so I said to her, "Peek-a-boo! I see you!" DJ picked up on that immediately, and now we all play "Peek-a-boo! I see you!" DJ actually plays it right and opens his hands from covering his eyes at the appropriate time!

Elektra also loves to play peek-a-boo with DJ when she's in her crib, and he's standing outside it. She bursts into giggles and shrieks with glee. Peek-a-boo with DJ is probably her favorite game to play right now!

SOOOO Big!

Elektra is learning "How big is Elektra?" "Soooo big!!" She doesn't do it consistently but when she does do it, she holds her hands together and raises them up together in front of her. Cute! Then she gets all excited when we all clap for her!

Elektra cruises

As reported on July 4, Elektra started pulling up consistently. Over this last weekend - a week later - she also started cruising. To boot, this is one brave little girl who has not only started cruising but also lets go... a lot. Talk about needing to be vigilant!! To her credit, she's actually pretty good at standing for being so new to it, but we definitely need to keep a sharp eye on her as she doesn't always manage to sit down safely.

DJ started pulling up and cruising in October 2007, but didn't walk until February 2008 when we went to Charleston, where he got to watch Leo walking/running. I'm thinking that Elektra will have her big brother to inspire her and will be walking in about the same time frame, especially since she seems to have no fear!!

DJ gardening

In my other blog post from today, I described the yard work (read: weeding) I did yesterday. While I was weeding the back bed furthest from the house, DJ was outside with me while Steve watched Elektra.


DJ wanted to help. "DD help Mama!" and "Here, Mama!" were heard often as he picked "weeds" and handed them to me. He also wanted to spray RoundUp... so there will be some dead "spots" where he managed to spray some before I could stop him. LOL

The best part, though, was when DJ decided to run back into the house. I watched him run to the deck, carefully walk up the deck stairs, and run into the house. The next thing I knew, he had come back outside with his toy pliers, saying "DD help Mama!" Steve said he'd come inside the house, ran right to his tool box, picked the pliers out out immediately, and ran back outside to me, saying "DD help Mama!" the whole time. Clearly, he'd seen me using the pruning shears, and wanted do it, too!

DJ also helped me carry sticks to the fence line so that I could throw them over, and was VERY good about staying away from the wild strawberry debris I had laying on the ground. He was such a good little helper yesterday!!

Elektra's new toy - pulling up!

I was home with the kids yesterday (Friday) since Eleanor and Sonny were off for the 4th of July holiday, and I spent time with Elektra trying to teach her how to get her feet under her to start pulling herself up on things. Yesterday, she was still trying to get me to pull her up onto her feet so she can stand. She would get up on her knees, and then I would pull her foot out and put it under her. Then I'd pull her up the rest of the way so that she could see that already being on feet helps her pull up to standing.

Today, she crawled over to the gate between the living room and the kitchen, and pulled herself up!!

The pull-up gate!

She has pulled up on Eleanor's kitchen table (the table supports under the table) once before, and Eleanor had to get under the table to help her get back down. But this time, she not only got up, but she also got herself back down! Two developments in one day!

There is no doubt that pulling up is now her favorite toy, and is trying to pull up on everyone and everything. She has, of course, scared herself, too, and she's fallen, too. It's been quite the day for her!

Crawling to Daddy (and posing!)

Stage 1 of pulling up... grab onto Daddy's shirt!


Stage 2 of pulling up - get her feet under her!


Stage 3 of pulling up - I'm up!!!

Elektra's 9 month appointment

Elektra had her 9 month pediatrician appointment today. Her vitals are:

19 pounds, 3 ounces
28.5 inches
44.5 centimeters head circumference

Her height/weight places her in the 60-70th percentile. As compared to 3 months ago, she:

grew 2 inches
gained 1 pound 7 ounces
grew 3 centimeters head circumference

She grew long, but she didn't gain a ton of weight which explains why she still fits in some 6 month clothes! DJ, at this point, was a full 3 pounds heavier for the same length, and was pushing the envelope on 12 month clothes!

While we waited for the doctor to come see her, Elektra stood in my lap and bounced, and tried to eat my necklace, and tried to reach the pictures behind us... all in all, very busy. The second the doctor walked in, all wiggliness stopped dead. Until the doctor left the room, Elektra didn't break a smile or anything. She just studied that doctor, watching him like a hawk, very serious business!! Only once did she break eye contact to feel the stethoscope while he was listening to her heart. And then she was very happy to gnaw on the tongue depressor he gave her. "A souvenir from Charles Street Pediatrics!"

He asked me the standard questions (sleep pattern, formula vs. breastmilk, mobility and other milestones, etc), and seemed surprised to hear that she's full on crawling. She's got Big Brother to catch now! She has been cleared to eat 3 solid meals a day, just no nuts, wheat, fish, chocolate, honey or eggs.

Elektra is "perfect" he said, but we already knew that. :-)

The nurse came in to administer the one shot she got today (the last dose of Hep C), and Elektra smiled at her. Then quick as a wink, the nurse administered the shot, and was about to put the band aid on by the time Elektra decided that the shot had hurt! She busted out her best boo-boo face + tears, and was over it 15 seconds later.

Elektra napped in the car back to Eleanor's, and then got in the swing on the playset. With her hat on to keep the sun out of her eyes and chewing on the strap, swinging away, she was one happy little camper.

IO is not slow

Not that we didn't know that IO isn't slow, but I have never seen him hit hyperdrive.

This morning, he was all the way on the side of the yard, by the shed when he spotted a squirrel on the far side of the yard. He started to run - at the usual speed at which I see him run, which, to be fair, is by no means considered slow - and then, when the squirrel didn't move, kicked it into hyperdrive. He visibly doubled his speed and covered the yard in 2 seconds flat.

The squirrel, realizing he was now in immediate danger, turned 90 degrees and booked it to the fence. IO managed to make the turn and missed the squirrel by about a snout and a half.

The two of them were in a foot race to the fence first and the squirrel managed to leap and scramble up the fence just before IO ran face first into it. IO did slow down before hitting the fence, but he definitely didn't stop in time. LOL

The squirrel then ran the fence top, with IO in hot pursuit, jumping and barking the whole time until the squirrel launched itself - literally - to a low hanging tree branch. Lucky for the squirrel that the tree branch was on the OTHER side of the fence because when that squirrel caught the branch, its weight made the branch droop all the way down to dog level before it came back up. Had that branch been on the wrong side of the fence, that squirrel was dog food.

It's nice to see that our senior dog is kicking butt and taking names!!

Playing together

Yesterday, at daycare, DJ and Elektra happened to be near the sliding glass door. DJ was playing with the long curtain, and would pull it out and then let it go to watch it "fall" back into place. Elektra was in the curtain's path, and it would "cover" her on its path back to its resting place. Elektra belly laughed at the peekaboo play, and DJ caught on. He started playing peekaboo with her, and they would both belly laugh!

DJ would pull the curtain out, let it go to cover Elektra, and then jump up and down laughing and squealing with delight. Then she would belly laugh and try to pull it off of herself. DJ would then go to her, pull it off of her, laugh some more, and then she would laugh some more. Rinse, repeat.

I had been getting ready to take them home, but that made me stop and sit on the floor to watch them interact with each other, completely unprovoked by any adult in the room. It was AWESOME.

Jeff, Grace's dad, then said, "You can only hope that in 5 years, they play like that!" He is so right!

DJ fix!

DJ fix!

DJ has really gotten into playing with his plastic tools. He REALLY likes his plastic screwdriver, and it's definitely his current favorite toy. At first, he would "fix car" and would flip a toy car over, whether a Matchbox car or a big plastic car, and put the screwdriver head to it. Then he'd turn the screwdriver and pretend to fix it. Now he tries to "fix" everything. He's even tried to use the wrench to "fix" the refigerator door. He's been playing with his workbench, which allows him to put screws and nuts together. Maybe it's almost time for a toddler-sized erector set?

Finger foods

Elektra has now started to eat various finger foods. Her favorites include the all-time leader, Cheerios, as well as a few Gerber products: the puffed stars and the wagon wheels. She's also eaten some of the cheese puffs, too.

She hasn't mastered the pincer grasp, so she's still raking the finger foods and tries to stuff her whole hand into her mouth. Therefore, most of what she tries to eat ends up under her chin, but that's ok! It keeps her busy while we get to eat.

Unlike DJ, though, she's much less inclined to just hang out in the high chair for long periods of time. Lately, she's been quite fussy after dinner, leading me to believe she's tired and doesn't really want to play, but go to bed instead. Bedtime has been earlier than usual!!

Clap! Clap! Clap!

On Monday morning, Steve and I were getting Elektra dressed to go to daycare when, while on the changing table, she clapped her hands together! Good girl!! She did it three or four times, and now she does it regularly! Way to go Elektra!!

Elektra wants DJ's toy; DJ vs. the showerhead

We had a couple of interesting kid stories happen over the weekend.

Elektra wants DJ's toy.

DJ was playing with a plastic toy screwdriver. "DJ fix car" and would take the screwdriver to the toy car that he wanted to "fix". He was very diligent, and "fixed" nearly every car in his arsenal.

However, Elektra wanted that screwdriver, too. I don't know if she wanted it because he had it or because she had chewed on it before and knew that it felt good on her gums. Either way, she wanted it, and actively went after it. She would crawl to wherever DJ was, reach for the screwdriver and if she could get a hand on it, take it from him.

In most cases, DJ was so stunned that she took it, that he would simply look at me and say, "DJ tool?" There were a few times when he would gently take it back from here, saying, "No no Ta-ta!", but he usually didn't know what to do about that.

After a few incidents of this, I sat down on the floor with both of them, and although Elektra doesn't know how to share, DJ is learning, so I figured I'd use this as a teaching opportunity. I would take the toy back from Elektra to give it to DJ. The first few times, there was no problem. But there were other times, like when it was getting near lunchtime (so I'm guessing Elektra was hungry and not as even keeled as usual) that Elektra would fuss that I'd taken it from her or that she couldn't reach it to get it from DJ. The first fuss of "I want that!" over one of DJ's toys... and it will certainly not be the last!

DJ vs. the showerhead

A couple of months ago, we had a weekend's worth of incidents where DJ melted down when it came to bath time. This was so odd because he loves baths!! But we can't ignore the phase he's in, so deal with it we do. We've worked through most of those issues, but we had to take it one step at a time. First we had to show DJ how the tub fills with water. Then we had to put him in the tub, and then rinse his hair. Getting water in his face initiated meltdown mode again, so we had to be more careful the next few times.

Steve had installed a removable showerhead (with hose, of course), and DJ wanted NO parts of that, whatsoever. He was very concerned about it. One time, I asked him if I could turn on the shower. He said, "No! No! No! Shower off!" Ok then, shower off. And he repeated "shower off!" multiple times, proving to me just how flipped out he was about it. The showerhead has been installed for months now, and we hadn't used it, except to wash the dogs (so much easier!).

Last night, I had taken Elektra into the bathroom to give her a bath, and DJ said, "See Baby!" Steve brought him in just in time to see me use the showerhead on Elektra. DJ watched everything I did, and eventually said, "DJ turn?" Yessir, your wish is our command! I quickly got Elektra out of the tub so that Steve could take advantage of this opportunity.

Not only did DJ not fuss about the tub, he let Steve use the showerhead on him. Way to go DJ!

Personal Blog

Welp, I've decided to dedicate this blogsite to the kids and general family stuff. When I decide to post stuff for me, whether as an update to my personal well being, a rant, or a need to be creative, I will be posting it to verve94.blogspot.com. I haven't deleted the posts from this site that I will copy to the new site just yet - tomorrow's task. But posts like refereeing and my braces and things I've already posted here will move there. I'll also post a link to this site to my personal blog and vice versa.

The Toddler Bed

Thanks to the generosity of friends of ours we met through autocrossing (and our willingness to help them empty their basement - ha ha), we have acquired a toddler bed in the shape of a VW bug, with sunroof!. The link I've posted is to a review site that has a picture because the bed is no longer sold by Step 2, so I can't get an original picture. To gauge its size, the best thing I can tell you is that it's designed to fit a crib mattress.

It's been in DJ's room since early March, and DJ has been very interested in it. "DJ car?" He likes to sit in it to read books and climbs in and out of it regularly. But since we only have one mattress, he can't lay down in it without our taking the mattress out of his crib.

However, we've noticed that DJ has been thinking about climbing out of his crib, though he hasn't done it yet. Thus, we decided to try having DJ nap in it on Saturday.

First, we re-toddler-proofed his room. Second, we let him play in his room and get used to being able to lay down in the car, stick his head out the "sunroof" which led to an incident of bumping his chin on the sunroof while "jumping on the bed, and generally crawl around and get the novelty of it out. Then we made sure he was tired. At that point, I took him into his room, laid him down on the bed, gave him his blanket, Binky, Tiger, and a book. I laid down on the floor next to him, and hoped he'd follow my lead.

Yeah, no. Who was I kidding?

After 10 minutes of DJ trying to play hide and seek with me, I had to lay down on him, for all intents and purposes. He was laying on his belly, so I put my arms across the backs of his thighs and my head on his back. He settled down, and soon enough, he was asleep. He had a really good nap - 3 hours!

That night, we tried putting him to sleep in the toddler bed again. After reading books with Daddy, he laid down in the bed, blanket over him, with Tiger, a book, and Binky. As we shut the door, he was still laying there. We turned to each other, and crossed our fingers...

It wasn't 5 minutes later that we heard, "Daddy? Nat-na?" (Daddy open?) just inside his door. Yeah, it would figure. Upon investigation, Daddy found that DJ had not only gotten out of the bed, but had also tossed Binky into the storage box on his dresser, and was ready to play. So we let him come back into the living room to play for 5 minutes with Yiayia and Papou (they had come over for dinner) while we switched the crib and the toddler bed, say ni-ta-ta again to everyone again, and we put him in his crib. From what we can tell, he fell right to sleep.

Although his nap on Saturday proved that he could sleep in the toddler bed without falling out, we're thinking he still likes the security of his crib. And that buys us more time with him in the crib. Everyone who has had kids has told us to keep them in the crib as long as possible, and the experience on Saturday proved how sage that advice is!!!

A Fuss with syllables

As I was getting ready to leave daycare with the kids, Elektra started to fuss. I had already strapped her in the carseat and usually she calms down in it once she's moving. Today, she wanted no parts of it. As she started to wail she also started to say "ba ba ba" DURING the fussy wail. It sounded more like "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH ba ba AAAAAAAAAAHHHH" It was hilarious!

Rough Day for DJ

Yesterday was not DJ's best day.

First, he scraped his knee on the sidewalk because he let go of Eleanor's hand. The scrape is barely visible but to a toddler, any fall of any kind = wailing.

Then he was on the glider swing, and he let go. Well, imagine his surprise when he went flying into the bushes! At first, he didn't even cry. I think he was so surprised he didn't know what to do. Then he started to HOWL, and understandably so. He has some nice scratches down the side of his face from the bushes. To his credit, he stopped crying fairly quickly, and got back on the glider! Hopefully he learned that letting go is BAD!

Finally, last night, DJ managed to bump his eyebrow into the corner of the couch and now he has a little red spot there, too. Naturally, he wanted no part of the ice pack, so we're figuring he'll get a black eye eventually.

DJ, you need to stop leading with your head!!

Teething

Both kids are teething; there is no question that's what's going on for them right now. DJ has his fingers stuck in his mouth all the time, and Elektra is drooling like an open faucet.

I got enough cooperation from DJ that he let me feel in his mouth for those 2 year molars that have been taking forever to break through the gumline. I can confirm that all 4 have at least broken a point (or more) through, so DJ will be done soon enough!

Elektra, on the other hand, has no hard spots where teeth might be coming. She's gnawing on everyone and everything she can, no matter what the body part or item. If she can slime it, she will!!

Both kids got teething colds, too. They had mild (low 99s) fevers, and both have runny noses and coughs.

YET, despite their misery, both kids are playing hard and are relatively happy. We are so fortunate!

The Maryland Zoo in Baltimore

Today's adventure took us to the Maryland Zoo in Baltimore. We met with Damian, Jenn, and Leo, and they showed us the ropes.

The zoo is a very nice place in a not-so-nice part of town, but thankfully it seems the locals leave it be. The zoo's exhibits are habitats, not just oversized cages, so this makes the zoo enjoyable. Plus, a lot of the zoo is shaded by tall trees... what a wonderful nature walk.

Today, we saw lots of creatures, including one of the polar bears swimming! DJ was fascinated by all the water exhibits ("see water!"), and he got to see lots of animals including giraffes, elephants, penguins, the aforementioned polar bear, a fox, lots of different water fowl, monkeys, a cheetah, a tiger, antelope, a kudo, turtles, snakes ("sssss!") and the standard farm animals in the petting zoo. DJ brushed and pet a number of goats today, too!

We also ate lunch together in the makeshift refreshments area as the permanent area is still under repair.

DJ walked nearly the entire zoo while we had Elektra in the stroller. By the end of the zoo's exhibits, he was so tired that he was laying his head down on our shoulders as we carried him. Both he and Elektra fell asleep in the car on the way home. DJ is currently napping but Elektra has decided that the half hour catnap is enough for her to have a second wind so she is crawling around the living room floor as I write this. Maybe you'll take a nap soon, Little Girl???

All in all, it was a very nice outing, and we may invest in a zoo membership to do this again.

Elektra Crawls FORWARD!

Over the weekend, Elektra began to go from being on all fours to sitting up regularly. This, of course, means that she has a new springboard of sorts to crawling forwards instead of backwards. She crawls backwards fairly quickly, so she is most certainly mobile. We have seen sparks of forward motion every once in awhile... our time of a non-mobile baby... has ENDED!!! SHE TOOK TWO CRAWLS FORWARD AS I WRITE THIS!! The motivation was to get to Daddy's laptop power cable - which Daddy promptly moved out of reach when she obtained the prize.

Congratulations Elektra! Your adventures are going to expand rapidly!!!

She has also broken her second bottom tooth through as of 2 Fridays ago, and that pearly white is starting to be noticeable without having to look hard for it. She's drooling like a fiend right now, so I wonder what tooth is coming next! I don't feel any hard spots, so we'll see.

Elektra is no longer staying within the confines of the sleep positioner, so we took that out of her crib. For the most part, she still sleeps on her back, but we've been finding her on her side and belly more often as the days go by. She's moved into a fairly regular sleep pattern - a short cat nap in the late morning and a long nap in the afternoon. She goes to bed between 7:30-8:00pm, and sleeps until at least 6:30-7:00am. She sleeps fantastically.

We have also seen evidence of Elektra pulling herself up on her knees, so the days of keeping the crib rail down are going to be ending soon enough as well!

The last thing Elektra has been doing as of late is saying Da Da Da. This makes Daddy very happy. :)

Time for dinner... one of DJ's favorites...pizzaaaaaaaa!!

DJ > Thomas the Train

When we got home today, DJ saw that my laptop was open, so he asked to see Thomas. The Thomas the train website has videos on it, and both he and Grace like to watch them.

As my laptop started to wake up, he saw my wallpaper which has a picture of both DJ and Elektra.



He said, "DJ!" and pointed to himself. Then I pointed to Elektra and asked him who that was. On cue, he said, "Ebaby!"

So I loaded the Thomas website, and then DJ said, "More DJ." So I minimized the website so that he could see the wallpaper again. He laughed and was all proud of himself. I brought the website back up, and he watched for 2 seconds and then asked for "More DJ". Our little Narcissus!!!

DJ do it!!

Yep. You read right. We're in trouble.

I received an email this morning from Eleanor that DJ was saying "DJ do it! DJ do it! DJ do it!".

He learned it from Grace, for sure. So now we have to adjust to Mr. Independent!

Other kid updates

On Tuesday, Steve let Elektra feel the sand in the sandbox with her feet. Didn't phase her one bit. Good girl!

DJ went down the slide by himself on Wednesday. He's such a cautious boy, and so this is a milestone for him.

As of Wednesday night, Elektra has been sleeping in her crib at home without a sleep positioner. I expected her to roll over onto her belly but she hasn't these past two nights. I found her on her back or on her side in the morning. We took most of the toys out of her crib though, and will put them back when she gets better at rolling around.

Elektra's favorite stuffed toys are a little white plush rabbit and her pink My First Doll that Eleanor and Sonny gave her for Christmas.

Last night, Steve was feeding Elektra her baby cereal. Until she figures out if she wants what you're feeding her, she only opens her mouth a little. Once she decides that she wants it, she opens up. She was opening up for the baby cereal (Oatmeal with bananas!) but when steve didn't put the loaded spoon directly into her mouth, she stuck her tongue out as far as she could go to try and touch the food with her tongue. It was a total Gene Simmons.

She loves touching things with her tongue....If she can put her tongue on it first, she will. She enjoys a game I play with her where I touch her tongue like I'm lightly rubbing the end of it with the pad of my finger.

DJ and Elektra "talk" to each other in the car in the mornings when I'm taking them to daycare. Elektra will squeal, and DJ will squeal back. And they go back and forth. It is so cute!

Elektra will hold Baby Evan's (Grace's little brother) hand when she's near him. And she's very interested in watching him, as if she's knows he's her size. But she also watches DJ like a hawk, and cranes her neck around to see what he's doing almost at all times.

Meanwhile, DJ wants to eat everything out of a bowl. He's becoming Mr. Independent! He's also starting to ask to eat what's on our plates. The other day, he tried a leaf of spinach that Steve was eating, and he ate half a NY Strip!

Words words words!

A few more words from DJ:

cream - for diaper rash cream
shower
hotshoe - the word I used for someone who drives fast
noise
moon - comes out as "mohm"
tar - "star"
Be - his name for his Toby the Totbot toy
all of the numbers from 1 - 10

Sonny!

Sunny? Sonny? Both??

Yesterday afternoon, on the drive home from Sonny and Eleanor's house, DJ had the sun in his eyes - the first time we've seen the sun, in what, 10 days due to the immense amount of rain we've had?? - and out of nowhere said, "Sunny? Sunny?" When I realized what he said, I confirmed the word for him and praised him. Then the question mark left his voice, "Sunny! Sunny!"

I called Eleanor and Sonny's house while I was driving us all home, but I got voicemail. When the beep beeped, I said into the answer machine, "DJ, can you say sunny?" "SUNNY!"

Now I wasn't really sure if he meant sunny - as in, "the sun is shining" or Sonny. I thought my question was answered when we got home, when he pointed out a beam of sun on the floor and said, "Sunny?" We confirmed that he was using the correct word.

But DJ surprised me this morning while I was getting Elektra ("Ebaby" as DJ calls her) ready. DJ was in his crib, talking away, and I heard a very emphatic, "SONNY! NORY!" Nory is what he calls Eleanor, and therefore, it was confirmed. He knows the difference between "sunny" and "Sonny".

So when we arrived at Eleanor's, I pointed to Sonny and said, "DJ, who's this?" And right on queue, he said, "SONNY!" The look on Sonny's face was priceless. It turns out that Eleanor and Sonny hadn't heard the message on their answering machine, so this was a complete surprise.

And just like that, DJ made Sonny's day.... probably his year, really. :-)

Words!

DJ's busting out the words/phrases/sentences even faster now... I wonder when I'll be posted nearly daily!!

Our favorite right now is his name for Elektra. When we ask him "What's the baby's name (pointing to Elektra)?" He says, "Ebaby." This is an interesting little word since he knows that she is "baby" and her name is "E" (just like his is "D"), so he put them together for Ebaby. So Elektra has her first nickname from her brother... Ebaby. How appropriate for this day and age... eBaby or e-baby? ha ha We'll tack that onto the list of nicknames for her... Little E, Little Girl (or LG), Bright Eyes, Girlie Girlie, and now Ebaby.

New Words
Man (any toy human action figure)
fall
bus
kiss
zips - the act of zippering something
bass - bass drum

New Phrases
Man fall - the man fell down or the man was dropped)
boo boo kiss - kiss where it hurts (and will kiss his own boo boo if he can reach it!).
Car beep - the sound the car makes when unlocking/locking the doors with the keyfab.

New Sentence
Ney Ney eaty kais. - The horse is eating grass.

Sentences!

DJ is definitely stringing words together to make sentences!! Of course, he'a also added words to his vocabulary. I'll start with the words first.

abookabook - pocketbook
rain
tata - nee tata (a.k.a. a diminuative greek word for night night)
book
on
off
woof - what a doggie says
knee
car
wash
one - the number
eat
sit
bowl
Pooh - winnie the pooh
Elmo
poon - spoon
fohk - fork
ilk - milk

Phrases
Baby tata - Elektra going nee tata
Deej daba - DJ's cup

Sentences
Daddy sit in car.
Choo-choo work? (Does the train work (yet)?)
Wash car.
Eat woof woof. (doggies are eating)
Sit woof woof. (sit!!)

Tinsel E - 10 weeks later

On April 20th, I went for my first appointment for my braces since getting them. It took 7 weeks for all of the pain to go away, meaning I could finally use ALL of my front teeth to bite into something like a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and not be in any discomfort. At that point, I figured, hey, if I'm not feeling anything, the braces must not be doing anything.

Apparently, that assumption is inaccurate. This new fangled braces technology continues to work even if you don't feel anymore pain. Ok.....

The orthodontist looked at me, and said to tighten the bottoms, between my two incisors. I'll have another appointment 8 weeks later to change the wire entirely to a new wire. The good news about that is that I've made such progress that I'll get to skip a wire which I think means I'm already ahead of schedule. I've got my fingers crossed.....

Rock-a-bye baaaaby....

On Monday night, I came into the living room to find Elektra not just on her belly (no surprise), but on her hands and knees, rocking back and forth. Oh yes, folks, Steve and I are officially in trouble; as soon as Elektra starts crawling, the house truly becomes a zoo. ha ha I predict Elektra will be crawling in 3 weeks, especially since she spent *all* day yesterday rocking back and forth, Eleanor said.

Weekend update

On Saturday, Steve went to FedEx Field to design the course for Sunday's autocross. I took Elektra to Yiayia and Papou's house, and then DJ and I went to the B&O Railroad Museum in downtown Baltimore.

DJ loves trains (choo choo!), but this wasn't just your ordinary day at the B&O... Thomas the Train was there! We caught up Grace and her caregivers (Nadia and Jeff and baby brother Evan) since Thomas is THE biggest thing in Grace's world right now. Thankfully, Grace and DJ recognized each other this time so there was no weirdess there.

We all walked around the museum, looking at all the trains, and the displays. We saw Sir Topham Hat (grace got a picture, DJ couldn't have cared less about him) and Thomas the Engine, life size, with a working whistle, steam, and eye moves. We saw the **big** antique passenger engines (wheels are what, 7ft tall?), too.

DJ and Grace took a ride on a kid-sized train, and DJ cried at the end because he didn't want to get off. He loved it! We took the kids back before we left for one last ride... Grace was anxious and didn't want to wait in line and DJ was so tired that he didn't really care one way or the other.

We also looked at the Lego train garden built by the Washington DC Metro Area Lego Train Club (www.WamaLTC.org). This train garden was huge and it was so incredibly detailed... it was amazing. I've never seen anything like it, and was so impressed. It had a full city scape in addition to a rural scape, too, including the silk stalks on corn growing in a field. Very cool stuff.

There was also a 5ft long lego replica of Thomas, and all of the Duplo Thomas sets in one display.

Meanwhile, DJ was a perfect little angel, holding onto my hand and walking almost the entire time. Grace was ga-ga over all of the Thomas stuff to see.

As the hours passed (we got there when the museum opened), the museum started to get really crowded. There were toddlers EVERYWHERE. It was becoming insanity very quickly. 2 hours after our arrival, DJ was pooped. He asked me to pick him up and he put his head on my shoulder. He was definitely done, but it was clear he (and Grace) loved it.

He took a 10 minute power nap in the car, and then a 3.5 hour nap at home later that afternoon. All that walking wears out a little guy like him!

Sunday, Grandmom's babysitting service came to watch the kids for us while Steve and I went to our autocross. Steve drove better than me (as usual!) as I was driving way to conservatively to ensure that I wouldn't spin the car. I didn't spin the car, but I coned 3 of my 4 runs. ::sigh:: We got home just after 1:30, and relieved Grandmom to let her have an afternoon to herself.

DJ got up from his nap late, so he went to bed late, too, but not after a complete meltdown when it was time to take a bath. Steve and I are clueless as to why DJ is melting down consistently when it comes to a bath now. Last night, he was beyond hysterical. It's really disconcerting and we're trying to wrap our brains around this one because we don't know what's scaring him.

It was a fast paced weekend, but it was also a lot of fun!

Elektra crawls

Yes, Elektra is crawling... but backwards! She's pushing up on her arms, but not getting her legs under her. Then she pushes out with her arms and because her legs aren't under her, backwards she goes. She's actually pretty efficient at getting around for someone who doesn't actually crawl!! She never ceases to amaze us that she got from point A to point B (to get to toy C!).

DJ words (yes more!)

I'm writing down DJ's words as I hear/remember them.

daba - cup
sippy daba - sippy cup
sticky - sticky and stinky (they sound identical)
atdna - garage door
sleepy - sleeping
Biro - Spiro (his cousin)
Daddy base - daddy's bass drum
ball - ball
bicky - binky a.k.a. his pacifier

Easter 2009

This past weekend was Easter for us Eastern Orthodox Christians. On Saturday, I took DJ to church to take communion. He was such a good boy; he wasn't a wiggle worm and mostly stayed quiet (since talking is his new favorite toy) throughout the half hour we were there. He also took communion like a champ. He fell asleep on the way to lunch where we were going to meet with Yiayia and Papou at Bob Evans.

At lunch, DJ saw Papou dipping his fried shrimp into coctail sauce and wanted some. I tried to supplement it with ketchup thinking that he probably wouldn't like the spiciness of the cocktail sauce, but that failed miserably. And as predicted, he didn't like the cocktail sauce either.

After lunch, we went to Sam's Club with Yiayia and Papou to get diapers, formula, and ground beef. DJ had a good time trying to pull down displays and was constantly watching Yiayia and Papou. He was very sad when we had to leave them. Little did he know we'd see them the next day!

On Easter Sunday, we packed the car with all of our child paraphenalia and headed up to my sister's house in Lancaster, PA. We were hoping to get there early so that DJ could settle in and then take a nap. However, because of his hour nap in the car and all of the activity at my sister's, DJ wanted no parts of a nap. Instead, he played with the sliding glass door and the pocket door almost the entire time we were there. However, he did take time out to watch his cousins Spiro and Sophia run around, and was saying "Biro!" to call for Spiro. DJ was very excited to play with his cousins.

Elektra, on the other hand, stay home with Steve on Saturday. During that nap, she rolled over onto her belly (despite the sleep positioner!), and slept that way. Upon waking up, however, she realized she was on her belly and yelled!!

On Sunday, she took an unusual hour-long nap in the morning, and then slept in the car on the way up to Lancaster. Elektra decided that Yiayia was her favorite person on Sunday, next to DJ. She hung out with Papou, too, but she was all smiles for Yiayia. Meanwhile, Papou was holding her, and she cuddled up with him, stuck her thumb in her mouth and started to fall asleep. I took her upstairs to the pack-n-play (which we'd set up for DJ), and she fell asleep almost immediately. She rolled over onto her belly and slept like that for over 2 hours.

Upon waking up, though, she was not happy... despite a bottle and solids, she was still very fussy. I figured out that she was teething, so I gave her some motrin. Half an hour later, she calmed down. Thia Athena rocked her in her car seat until the motrin kicked in, and she was happier.

Both of the kids fell asleep on the ride home, and neither child woke up when we transferred them to their cribs. They were beat! Before he fell asleep, DJ was waving out the window and saying, "Bye bye Biro! Bye bye Biro!" Cute!!

Meanwhile, dinner was delicious, the company was fantastic, and a wonderful day overall.

Christ is risen!
Que Pasca.

More DJ words!

Almost every day, now DJ busts out a new word or phrase...

toes
foot
mommy hair
circle
star
daddy car
diaper

Words are tumbling out!

DJ is just busting out the words left and right! Just in the last week, we've heard a score of new words such as:

zipper
sky
wall
ceiling
apple
walk ("alk")
car
buckle
t-shirt
light ("ite")
milk ("ilk")
beak (as in a bird's beak)

Keep those words coming, DJ!

LOTS of phrases!

DJ decided to talk more this weekend! He's really starting to put words together!

1. Mommy Sit.
On Friday night, he told me to "sit" and pointed at my chair (the banana chair). By Sunday, the phrase had changed to "Mommy sit" and point to where he wanted me to sit.

2. :person's name: Bye Byes.
Not this past Saturday, but the Saturday before, we were leaving for the grocery store, and DJ said, "Daddy Bye." It wasn't until Tuesday when I heard "Nory bye byes" from the back seat on the way home from Eleanor's house (Nory = Eleanor). This Saturday, DJ said "Daddy bye byes" and yesterday, he said, "Papou bye byes."

3. :person's name: Alk.
Steve figured this out. Alk = Walk. So when DJ put together "Daddy alk", Steve was compelled by the cuteness to go out for a walk with DJ.

4. More.
If DJ wants more of something, he's either used his sign for it or since the last what, month and half, he's been saying the word "More". So now he's compounded the phrase with someone's name e.g. "Mommy more" (to keep pushing him in the swing) OR he's adding a word at the end e.g. "More Nana" (more banana) or "More kwacker" (more cracker).

I'm trying to think of what the others are now, but I'm drawing a blank.

Elektra's first tooth!

I think it's here! Her first tooth is through! We've been on tooth watch for at least the last week, as we've been able to see this thing from under the gum since Saturday. This morning, I felt it again and finally, I felt a little sharpness instead of the usual hardspot. I suspect her chewing on toys today will bring it out further and she'll be a happier camper.

DJ's first real phrase

DJ and I were walking out the door yesterday to go to day care when he pointed at Steve's shoes in the corner and said, "Daddy shoes." Boy did he get a big kiss and lots of praise for that!