slide

It was a good night

June 21, 2010 by Jessica

Okay – so after my slightly foul post, we actually had a nice evening, so I thought I would try and update with a little more positivity. Micah walked in from daycare screaming…because he was having so much fun on his new bike seat, and his Daddy made him get off the bike and take his new Mickey Mouse helmet off. After some tears (and a little music), Micah was all smiles again while he sat at the dinner table being entertained by Mommy and Daddy.

By 7:00, we were all finished with dinner. Micah played with his toys for a few minutes – he loves to sit on his riding toy and push himself around the room (and as he runs into toys in the way, he says “beep beep”). We decided it was time for our nightly walk (our recent tradition the past few weeks). I announced to Elliott hat Twoey wanted chocolate ice cream (ahhh…the best part of pregnancy – who can deny a baby anything?), so off to Ben & Jerry’s we walked. I decided to get a cup of 1/2 Chocolate Therapy and 1/2 Phish Food, and immediately Micah was whining and grabbing. He has only tried ice cream once or twice before, and he did not seem all that interested. Well, tonight he proved he is ABSOLUTELY and UNDENIABLY my son…he went to town on some serious chocolate ice cream! I had one of those little taster spoons for him, so I gave him a bit on the spoon. He scarfed it down immediately and said “MMMM.” He immediately reached out for more ice cream. Spoonful after spoonful, Micah kept eating the chocolate, and each and every bite was greeted with a resounding “MMMM.” I have to say, like his Mommy, he cried a bit when the ice cream was gone. He was very cute all covered in chocolate, and I’m certain I’ve got a chocoholic on my hands!

As we walked, I noticed that every time Micah saw a chair or a bench, he said “sit down.” I realized that while that is one of his favorite phrases recently, I think he is not just simply ordering everyone to sit, he actually thinks that chairs and benches are called “sit down.” We were laughing – it was just so cute! He also made sure to point out the trees, the birds (and tweet like birds), and all the different lights. His vocabulary is just growing exponentially every day!

On our way back, we were a little earlier than usual. I was just not feeling up to walking with all the contractions, and I really needed to head home. We arrived at the park around 7:45, and Elliot asked if I wanted to stop and sit on the bench and let Micah run around in the park for a little while. I said sure, but warned him we’d have trouble getting Micah to leave (and made him promise he’d deal with any tempertantrums) so off Micah ran to the slides. He was so cute as he climbed and laughed and yelled “sit down” at every bench and chair he saw. After 15-20 minutes, I told Elliot I needed to head back. We snagged Micah after one of his trips down the slide, and he was clearly not happy to be taken away from his fun. I got creative, and remembered that we passed by the basketball courts on the way in (and Micah loves basketball), so I asked Micah if he wanted to walk with me to the basketball. He clapped, grabbed my hand, and off we went to the basketball court. As we drew near, Micah spotted a basketball sitting on the grass…and off he ran to grab it. He walked with Elliot to the court, started bouncing the ball and trying to throw it in the basket. There were about 10-15 men shooting hoops on the court, and they were all so nice to clear out of the way and let him play for a few minutes. He was clapping and laughing and screaming “bah-ball” – I could see his grin from 30 feet away! A few of the guys were dribbling the ball and dunking it in the basket, and Micah was WOWED. He tried to dribble, too (well, he took the ball and banged it on the ground a few times) then did his imitation of a jump shot (lifting it over his head and picking up a leg while he dropped the ball and clapped for himself).

After another 5-7 minutes, we had to put an end to Micah’s basketball time and head home. Unfortunately, Micah was devastated…and had a complete and utter screaming meltdown. He would not let us put him in his stroller, and Elliot had to carry him home, shrieking and screaming. He was hysterical, and kept screaming “bah-ball.” Note to self…perhaps bed time is a bad time for basketball. He was just so devastated to be leaving, and we felt a little bad about the whole thing. We finally got home and he was still a mess when we walked through the door. We debated just bringing him upstairs for bath and bed kicking and screaming, but instead I thought that a quick tv program might be a better idea. I asked Micah if he’d like to watch tv, and he got quiet (well, those little hiccupy snivels were still left) and he looked at the tv. I told him he needed to stop crying, sit on the couch and say “please” and I’d put the tv on for him. He immediately ran over to the couch, climbed up and said “peez.” So, I put on an episode of Between the Lions and Micah was all cuddly, happy and content. Just after the episode, Micah happily went upstairs for bath time.

For the past few nights, after bath time, Micah loves to roll around in our bed, pull the covers and pillow around him as he snuggles in and declare “night-night.” I think he is starting to express his desire to sleep in a big bed! It isn’t going to happen any time soon, but it sure is cute.

So, while I’m still very uncomfortable and unhappy that Twoey has not yet declared her arrival…tonight was a wonderful night. I’m loving these last few precious moments as our family of three, with Micah as my only focus and attention. I will definitely miss this special time with him – and I’m so sad that my little boy is growing up so quickly before my eyes.

The emperor’s new shoes

April 6, 2010 by Jessica

On Monday, I FINALLY managed to buy Micah a new pair of shoes. We bought his first pair back in January, and I have suspected for the past few weeks that they were a bit on the small side. Around here, there are two major places most people buy shoes – one is Stride Rite, and the other is Shoe Train. Unfortunately, with our schedule, it has been a challenge trying to find the time to get to either shoe store with Micah to have him measured and fitted again. I stopped by Stride Rite on my own last week to “scope out” the options and prices. Elliot and I also pulled a moron move on Sunday…we tried to go shoe shopping on Sunday afternoon (not really thinking that the stores would be closed for Easter Sunday). Needless to say, our Sunday outing was a failure.

I had forgotten that daycare was canceled on Monday for an administrative day. Originally, I had planned to either take Micah to a makeup class at Kidville or meet up with friends for a playdate. With everything that has been going on with Nugget, family visits and the renovations, I did not even remember that we had no daycare coverage for Monday. We woke up Monday and started getting Micah dressed and ready to go. I pulled out the school lunch menu to see if we needed to substitute any food for lunch (because of Passover), and there, written in black and white, “NO DAYCARE – ADMINISTRATIVE DAY.” I couldn’t believe I had totally blanked on the cancellation! Micah was even getting ready – he tried to take the diaper bag with him!

I knew that it was too late for me to take Micah to a morning makeup class at Kidville since most of the classes start at 10:00 am and it was already 9:15. Instead, I spent an hour or so playing with Micah and then sent him with his daddy to synagogue. While they were out, I worked on finishing the cleanup from the weekend, putting the house back in order, and took care of a few business phone calls. When they came home from synagogue, Micah took a nice long nap – over three hours!

I think we have now successfully transitioned to only one nap a day instead of two. We are still trying to figure out the perfect time to put him down in the afternoons. He tends to start getting sleepy and cranky around 11 or 11:30, but if we let him take his nap then, he gets pretty cranky in the evenings before bedtime. If we try keeping him awake until 1 or 1:30, he gets cranky mid-day, but he is in a great mood in the evenings before bed. Micah usually wakes up in the mornings between 8 and 8:30, and he goes to bed at night between 8 and 8:30. He likes to nap for about 3 hours, so ideally, 1:00 is the “halfway” point in the day. Hopefully, over the next few weeks he’ll get used to staying awake that long in the morning and we’ll find our ideal nap time. One nap a day really seems to free up our days and make scheduling MUCH easier!

Once Micah woke up from his afternoon nap (I think it was about 3:30 or 4), I decided to take Micah to Stride Rite. Online, they were having a great sale. Much to my disappointment, the online sale was not happening in the store. We did find two great pairs of shoes, and they were less expensive than last time around. I decided to buy him one pair of sneakers (white with blue and grey), and a pair of sandals. The sandals are a soft brown suede/leather with fairly covered toes and a few cutouts around the sides, tops and ankles. They seem so much more comfortable for him! I also had the representative check Micah’s current shoes to confirm if they still fit. It’s official…he has now outgrown his first pair of real shoes! The two new shoes we bought were a 5 wide. The sales clerk felt his feet were no longer extra wide (yay!! much easier for buying shoes (there are very few options available in extra wide), but wide shoes still generally require specialty stores).

When I got home, I checked out Stride Rite online. While they had a bunch of really cute shoes on sale (with free shipping if I bought two pairs), none of the shoes I liked came in Micah’s size. So, I gave up on bargain hunting for the day.

On Tuesday, we headed off to music class, and right after class I decided to stop off at Shoe Train to see if they were running a sale or had any less expensive options available for us. It was a mob scene there! I talked to the clerk and he said they were not running any sales. I quickly scanned the shelves, saw there was nothing less expensive available, so we just left. We got home, Micah took a nap and unfortunately, was rudely awoken prematurely by a loud banging from an unwanted solicitation at our front door. Once I got him calmed back down, Elliot and I decided to take him over to the park (since it was a GORGEOUS day outside). Micah ran around the park, used the swing, went up and down the slides, and played with a steering wheel. He had a blast! We brought him home nice and tired and he actually cooperated and took another 45 minute nap. Here are some photos of Micah enjoying himself at the park:

And some video of Micah swinging:

The past two days, Micah has added another new word to his vocabulary: baby! I’m not yet sure he understands what it means, but he is saying it (and he did say it when watching Sesame Street and Elmo was talking to a baby). Sometimes, he even says it when he touches my belly. It is pretty cute. I bought him a book last week about being a big brother, so I think we need to work on reading that to him as often as we can. Someone also suggested I get him a doll to practice being gentle and to show him feeding/caring/helping with a baby, and I think that is a great idea, too. I cannot believe that Twoey could be here in another 6-7 weeks (and probably within the next 9 weeks).

This morning, Micah woke up a bit on the early side. I changed his diaper and decided to bring him downstairs for breakfast in just his diaper. I gave him his milk and set out his clothing for the day. He saw the brand new sneakers, and he started yelling and hitting them and throwing them. I started to worry that Micah was unhappy to see new shoes. I tried giving him the sneakers to hold and touch, but he seemed angry and frustrated. Then he started holding his feet up to me, and I realized he wanted to put his new sneakers on his feet! So I happily obliged and put on his clean socks and his brand new sneakers. That little stinker danced and bounced around the house in his diaper and brand new shoes. He was sooo funny!

Nugget is hanging in there, but we are having some issues with incontinence (because of her new medications). She has peed in the house two times so far, but our biggest issue is that she tends to pee when she sleeps (particularly overnight). Elliot thought he had a brilliant idea to solve this problem:

Yes, that is one of Micah’s pampers on the dog. Well, she woke me up at 5:00 am to go outside – and the diaper was missing, so I think Nugget has other plans.

Raspberries to you! (It’s Just Another Video Sunday)

April 26, 2009 by Jessica

It appears that Micah’s favorite thing to do these days is to blow raspberries. All day long. He blows them until he drools. And he blows drool bubbles. And the drool drips down his shirt (or on the floor, or the playmat). All the while, he is shrieking, kicking and laughing with delight!

I know it doesn’t sound like much to you, but raspberries are a milestone. They indicate certain skills in dexterity, and an ability to discover an action and repeat it. Like most babies, I think Micah enjoys both the sound it makes and the feel on his lips. The sensations are exciting right now, and he loves to make raspberries. I love to watch how something so simple brings sheer joy to my little man.

We’ve hit a few other important milestones in the past few weeks. Micah has found his thumb . . . again, it doesn’t seem like much, but while he has previously sucked his hands and fingers, he actually likes his thumb right now, and really appreciates the difference. He puts it in his mouth and curls his fingers around his nose.

And a little video for good measure – press the triangle on the lower left corner to see Micah in action:

Unlike sucking on his hand, he finds his thumb quite comforting. It is not a habit I want to encourage (thumbsucking is a much harder habit to break than a paci, in my opinion – the pacifier fairy can come take the pacifier away, but I’ve never figured out how you get rid of a thumb!) but it is so darn cute right now. Micah has also discovered how to put his own paci in his mouth . . . sometimes. The problem is, he is also the one taking it out and upsetting himself most of the time, and he is much better at taking it out than putting it back again.

I’ve mentioned this before, but Micah can really play with toys now. He hits buttons, and spins rollers, and turns dials, and he smiles in the mirror and responds to the lights and music. He LOVES his new toys (thanks to Grandma Roberta for this wonderful activity center!), and he is learning to reach further and sit taller everyday. (Don’t forget to press the triangle on the lower left corner to watch Micah play).

He is getting close to holding a sit by himself – He can do it for 2 or 3 seconds right now if I position him “just” right . . . but then he flops over. I’ll bet he’ll be sitting in the next few weeks. As for rolling over – he can easily roll from tummy to back (but sometimes gets stubborn and won’t do it). I am also convinced he is able to roll from back to belly, but he hates being on his belly, so he always stops short. At night, he rolls most of the way over to his belly – he likes to sleep with both arms and his chest flat on the bed, but his hips tilted sideways.

And the most important milestone of all . . . Micah can use a real swing! Dave, Jen and Max came over today, and off to the neighborhood park we went. I had seen a picture on Facebook of a friend from Micah’s playgroup in the swing, and I began to wonder if Micah was big enough to use the swing, too. We plopped him in there . . . and he was smiling, laughing, and enjoying it! He had no problem holding himself upright. It was pretty amazing.

Oh . . . and we sent Micah down the slide for good measure.

With this kind of progress, we might need to send him to college next month! Okay, maybe not, but can you tell I’m a proud mommy?

Here is some “bonus” video from the past few weeks (to play, click on the triangle on the bottom left of each frame):

Micah spending time with Poppy Ira

Micah being entertained by his Cousin Brian