She’s so close to full-fledged crawling she’s been waking the last few nights as she pushed up onto her knees. Look out, Simeon – better watch your toys.
[Update] Thanks to the slickness of hardwood flooring, she can successfully navigate from one side of the room to the other a little too quickly…
Posted in Caitlyn, Development
This past week has been Ari’s last week of paternity leave – though he only spent half that time with his daughter. His boss sent him to BlackHat – a security conference in Vegas – for a couple days.
I’m happy to say I survived my first multiple-day period alone with two children. I’m always nervous that Simeon’s energy and toddlerness will make it difficult to watch both of them – especially when I’m feeding Caitlyn. Thankfully, this first trip didn’t span a weekend or holiday; so I only had to worry about the evenings. In fact, I actually think I could survive a trip now. It helps that Caitlyn is starting to eat solids, so I can much more easily get to Simeon if necessary.
During this period, I discovered again the joy of having a boy who tries to be a good big brother. The three of us were sitting in the backyard and Simeon was blowing bubbles. After agreeing to let me have a turn, he said it was Caitlyn’s turn and pushed the bubble stick near her. He then continued to take turns with her until we were done blowing bubbles. yay!
The usual bedtime routine is: get into pajamas, cup of milk with a show, then brush teeth, and a story in bed. Most often I leave a light on so he can read some more before falling asleep.
Tonite, he wanted a book that I thought may fall apart if he slept with it. Trying to get him interested in a different book failed. I wound up turning on music, turning off the night and leaving a crying boy (for a crying girl downstairs).
As I grabbed Caitlyn, Ari went upstairs. And then amazingly came back down relatively quickly. How did he get Simeon calm so quickly?
Apparently, he walked into the room yawning, said “I’m tired” and climbed into Simeon’s bed. Simeon was at a loss for words. Then, Ari asked about his weekend and talked for a couple minutes before saying good night.
I, too, was at a loss for words. The creativity of my husband continues to amaze me.
Caitlyn is getting ever so close to forward movement. She’s been focusing her effort the last couple days on mastering the ability to push up to her knees. She’s even able to remain in that position for more than 2 seconds.
In some way she has actually started forward movement. She gets up to her knees and then when she falls back to her belly she’s moved forward a tiny bit.
Posted in Caitlyn, Development
Caitlyn started solid foods last week! Rice cereal. So excited she was taking the spoon out of my hand.
This week is banana. Mmmm.
My goal with Caitlyn is the same as with Simeon. Avoid canned baby food. I have nothing against it, really. I just can’t imagine giving my kids something I wouldn’t eat myself; and, well…I tried a few foods at Simeon’s baby shower – enough said.
Posted in Caitlyn, Development, Food
Woohoo! Simeon seems to have already figured out the idea of distraction. At least I hope this wasn’t a fluke.
This past weekend, we did a toy exchange. We took the toy box upstairs to the playroom and chose new toys for downstairs. One of the toys he hasn’t seen for awhile is his laptop.
This evening, Simeon noticed Caitlyn playing with the laptop. I expected him to say ‘mine!’ and then take it from her. Instead, he surprised me.
Rather than just taking the laptop, he first got her interested in another toy. Not only did he put the toy in front of her, but he actively tried to get her interested in the toy by playing music and putting her hand on it.
I am so happy he’s such a good big brother. Here’s hoping that he continues to do this when she is mobile and coordinated enough to get in his way and play with his toys more often.
Posted in Caitlyn, Development, Siblings, Simeon
I think Caitlyn will at least be doing the army crawl forward before Ari’s paternity leave is complete. Before our trip to the northeast, she was already learning the art of backwards movement.
It’s amazing how quickly she can turn around and scoot under a chair when she’s trying to get a good push forward on hardwood.
Posted in Caitlyn, Development
A few weeks ago, the family was in Virginia for my brother-in-law’s wedding. The day before the wedding, everybody went to the synagogue for I and R’s auf ruf[1] during morning services. Afterwards, Ari and Simeon went one direction, Caitlyn and I went another. Apparently Simeon’s day became a long episode of Dora.
Unsurprisingly, Simeon fell asleep before the guys’ car left the synagogue parking lot. When he woke up, he was being taken into the salon for his haircut. I believe he started asking for me when they were leaving the salon, if not a bit before. Ari’s response?
First, we have to go to Uncle I’s house. Then, we go to Meadowlark for the wedding rehearsal. And then, we get to have dinner with mommy. So, remember, Uncle I’s house…Meadowlark…dinner with mommy. Uncle I’s house…Meadowlark…dinner with mommy.
And, true to the show. When they were leaving Uncle I’s house, and Simeon started to get upset again, Ari repeated the mantra. ‘Remember…we’re leaving Uncle I’s house, what was next? Now it’s Meadowlark and then dinner with mommy!
Posted in Simeon
Simeon got a treat when we moved into the new house. He not only graduated to a bedroom without a crib, but he also graduated from a mattress on the floor to his very own big-boy bed.
On June 4, I picked up a twin size mattress from the store and Ari set it up when we got home. Unfortunately, Simeon still moves around so much when he sleeps, that he couldn’t sleep in the bed the first night because we hadn’t yet brought over the bed railing. However, we fixed that the very next evening. Ari helped me set it up and as of June 5, Simeon has been sleeping in his very own big-boy bed.
He has, however already figured out how to climb out of bed. I set a footstool next to the bed so he could climb in by himself and the last couple nights he’s figured out how to climb out as well. In fact, I discovered him curled up in the hallway at 5:30 this morning. No idea when he woke up or if he tried to wake us up, but I guess he was too tired to climb back in bed.
Piya's Perspective 