Chicken Soup for the Cold

Vivek and I made homemade chicken soup last night -- not because we are sick, but only because it was part of one of those cookbooks that has you make one dish and then use the leftovers in a second dish.

Well, Kiren's been extremely picky lately (seriously, it is suddenly very hard to feed him anything, even things that used to be favorites), so we didn't think he'd want any soup (or "boop" as he calls it). To my surprise, he tried some of the broth (but certainly not ANY of the chunks of stuff, thank you very much) last night, and while he seemed to like it, it wasn't a big hit by any stretch of the imagination.

Fast forward to today. I picked him up early from daycare because they called to tell me that he coughed throughout his nap, his nose was running non-stop, and he was fussy as a result. When we got home, he saw the soup pot from last night, and said "boop?," as in "can I have some please?" That said, even when he uses just that tone, he doesn't actually want to eat it; he is apparently simply identifying it. However, there is no way to tell until you actually warm up the item in question and put it in front of him. Only then do you realize that he actually meant, "don't you dare try to give me that food I just asked for -- how could you, mom??" This time, however, he actually wanted to eat soup!! He had several "bowls" of broth (let's be clear, a lot of it ended up on his bib, the tray, his shirt, his pants, etc -- he's pretty good with a spoon, but boop is a hard one for anyone).

So, this has me thinking -- do you think he's actually a grandmother/nurse/etc in a toddler's body? How does he know about chicken soup's healing properties already?

Oh, and just to be clear, if I'd ASKED him if he wanted soup (and I am not a grandmother or a nurse or anything like that so it didn't even occur to me!), I would have received a resounding NO. It simply has to be his idea these days -- sigh. Oh well, as long as his ideas keep being healthy ones!

Introducing the Potty Chair

We bought Kiren a potty chair this weekend -- no we are not potty "training" yet because we are not crazy, but he's been following us into the bathroom for a good long while now, and just sitting on a stepstool we use for helping him wash his hands in the sink. So, we thought, why not have him sit on the real thing, right? While he's not showing many signs of readiness (which is completely fine at this very early age), he actually does tell us sometimes after he's pooped (it is fairly apparent to us already, of course, but I appreciate the heads up). In fact, this weekend he told us before he did it for the first time! He said "poo poo," and I checked his diaper and found nothing. But sure enough, just a few seconds later, he did. So he's figured out pooping a little bit (but not every time; let's not get too ahead of ourselves).

Not so much on the peeing front, though. He has NO idea when he's peed; in fact, after a bath the other night, he ran into his room and peed on the carpet. He was pretty sad after that (even though we didn't react that much), but basically, it shows he has no idea that it's coming or anything -- far from it. So for now, we're content to let him just sit on the potty like Mommy and Daddy with all of his clothes, and especially his diaper, completely in place.

Anyway, we got the new chair out of the box and showed it to him, and he seemed pretty pleased with it. I was in there with him the first time he tried to sit on it (yes, doing my business, thank you). He plopped down and, without missing a beat, said "book." Hilarious!! If that isn't a perfect thing for Vivek's child to say, I don't know what is :).

Hmmm, has it been awhile???

For my five readers or so, I know it's been a LOOOONG time since I've posted anything -- sorry about that! I've thought of numerous posts in my head, but I just haven't taken the time to put them on "paper." That said, I'm sure you managed to find other things to read. And I can't promise that I won't take another long hiatus. But for now, I know I'd regret it if I didn't memorialize a few of the things that Kiren is up to these days.

As an aside, Vivek and I are already trying to remember when Kiren did this or that, and he keeps telling me that it is my job to write this stuff down...never mind that Vivek is the much more conscientious emailer in the family (as you all already are painfully aware, I'm terrible at it), which would translate nicely into maintaining a blog; nope, apparently it is simply my job -- so here goes!

--Kiren can walk! Well, he's getting there, that is. He stood himself up and took a few steps on July 3rd, while we were up north for a vacation. These days, it is still pretty wobbly, but he is adding a few more this week; I think the most I've seen in a row is about 6.

--He can say a handful of words. I'd say his first word was uh-oh, sometime before he turned 1, but this is where the faulty memory kicks in because I he's been saying it for awhile. And it was his only word for a very long time. His second word was "this" anytime he pointed to anything. My theory is that we must have taught him that by pointing at things all along and asking him, "what is this?, "what's this?" I think we may have messed him up, but I'm sure he'll sort it out soon. He's now moved onto "mama" (a full week before he learned "dada" -- yay!) And he knows "nana," which means banana, not grandma, but it doesn't necessarily mean he actually wants to eat one, as he ate them for awhile, but now he just takes a small bite and then pitches it overboard. And he sometimes uses "nana" for other fruits too.

--Most recently, he's starting to say "no," but he doesn't usually mean it so far. He does know what it means, though, when we use it complete with the tone. On Sunday, we went over to a friend's house for a BBQ, and they have a 12-month-old who was about to chew on the table. Both parents said no to him fairly forcefully, and Kiren happened to be directly behind the other kiddo, so he thought the no was directed at him. He did a perfect pout and then disolved into massive tears. He was really upset that they were mad at him. Yup, he knows that word!

--Around 8 months or so, we starting doing baby signs with Kiren, but he's not much for doing them back until recently. The first thing that worked was panting as the sign for dog, and he's been doing that one for ages (before he turned one -- again I'm not sure how long). Then he started panting for cats, trees, other things he saw outside. Basically, it was wildly successful. More recently, he learned the sound for cat -- he says "ooow." Late last week he learned the sign for "more," though grunting and pointing at what he wants is still his preferred way of expressing that sentiment.

--He's quite a mimic when he wants to be. Every time we sneeze or cough, he makes the same noise -- so cute!

--For months I didn't think Kiren liked books, but we're getting there. He plays with them all the time now, especially the ones with flaps to open. He still rarely sits still for them, but very occasionally you can get a whole book in, especially if you're reading his favorite, "I See A Monster." In the past few days, he's started giving (open mouth) kisses, and Vivek has him giving kisses to the bears in "Who Do You Love?" It's adorable.

Okay, I think that's plenty for now. And, yes, if you are wondering, this is mostly just a blog about Kiren and our family stories, as I'm likely to stay out of politics, my job, current events, or anything else that might get me in trouble. Yup, I probably lost about 2.5 of my readers there, as I'm sure the world has no need for another blog that discusses what adorable things jr. can do now. However, I'm really doing this so I can remember this stuff, since I have a pretty faulty memory (did I mention that already; I can't remember). And I figured there were at least a few people (Kiren's grandparents, aunts, uncles...that's about it, probably :)) who would want to hear about what's up with us too.

Thanksgiving 2007: The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly

We spent our Thanksgiving holiday in NJ with Vivek's side of the family, and we decided to drive because we don't want to fly with Kiren again until we have to (while our trips to AR, CO, and NJ earlier this year via plane went just fine, they were still a bit of an ordeal, especially considering all of the stuff that we have to carry for him. Plus, those trips were back when he would still sleep anywhere and before he was itching to scoot and grab everything in sight; these days, I am not sure we could keep him busy/still on a plane, and he definitely would miss all sorts of naps).

First, the GOOD: We set out from MI early Wednesday morning, and our 10 hour drive between MI and NJ went extremely well. We stopped three times and had a nice, long lunch in the middle. It was actually a pretty pleasant day. Kiren took much shorter naps than normal, but he slept, which wasn't a foregone conclusion given how much trouble he has sleeping when he is not laying flat in a dark, quiet room.

The next day was Thanksgiving, and Kiren had what must have been his happiest day on earth so far! For the few weeks prior to Thanksgiving, Kiren had developed a bit of stranger anxiety; he would cry whenever anyone but me or Vivek held him. The Thursday before Thanksgiving, we took Kiren to the pediatrician, and he cried when the doctor held him, even for a few seconds (oh, he weighed in a 22 lbs., 4 oz., and he is 29 inches long -- yes, that means he is still in the 97 percentile for weight and height; the doctor joked that he looks like a 9 month old without the 9 month tricks). Well, he must have left his stranger fears in MI because he was a perfect angel all day, and he was passed from relative to relative. He giggled and smiled at everyone, and he lasted a really long time in each person's arms. And, not only that, he took several fantastic naps. Basically, he was a delightful, happy guy all day.

Okay, now for the BAD: On Sunday morning, we were planning to get up early to make the trek home. But Kiren woke up at least an hour earlier than we wanted him too; at 4:45am, he was awake and crying. We might have let him cry a bit and put himself back to sleep, but we had a 15 month old and a 2 and a half year old on either side of us...so in the interest of not awaking his cousins, we just dragged ourselves out of bed and got on the road. Things actually went quite well after that. Vivek and I were really tired, and he wasn't feeling well (we were both fighting a cold, Kiren had it first, then me, and then it was Vivek's turn, and it was at its worst for him that Sunday), but we just kept telling ourselves we'd go to bed really early to make up for it. And traffic was surprising light, and there were no construction spots or slow downs. During the drive, Kiren took a few short naps during the morning and early afternoon. But we couldn't get him to sleep after 2:00. He just wouldn't close his eyes. It wasn't too big of a deal, but you could see that he desperately needed to sleep.

Okay, now for the UGLY: The last hour of our trip was NO fun at all. Kiren wasn't crying, but he was extremely fussy. If I could have just held him, it would have been fine. Alas, he was stuck in his car seat, and he was no longer being good-natured about it. Vivek was driving, and I was in the back trying to keep Kiren entertained. I tried everything, and each toy I pulled out occupied him for about 3.5 seconds until he started fussing again. I was singing, putting in his pacifer, making funny faces, everything. He probably would have benefited from a stop, but we really, really wanted to get home. We finally arrived home around 5:00 or 5:30, and we put him to bed pretty shortly after that, as close to his normal bedtime of 7 as we could. And we EXTREMELY pleased with ourselves when we managed to get into bed by 9.

Seemingly just as we both fell asleep, though, at 10 on the dot, Kiren started screaming bloody murder. Since he usually sleeps from 7 to at least 5 without interruption, it was very jarring. It was even more jarring because we'd just gotten good and asleep. We hadn't heard him cry like that in several weeks. Nothing seemed to soothe him, either. Even though I'd fed him tons when I put him down originally, I got up and fed him 10 oz. (I had to bottle feed him because I'd just pumped before going to bed)!! And he still didn't settle back to sleep. In all, he was up from 10 to 11, when he finally fell into a fitful sleep. Then he woke up to cry for a few minutes at 2 something, 4 something, and he woke up for good around 6. Needless to say, I was not refreshed from the break when I returned to work the next day!

All in all, though, he was quite a trooper all weekend. Two 10 to 11 hour drives in 5 days, meeting lots of new people, sleeping in a new place, and sitting still for several hour stretches at a time -- that's quite a lot to ask, and he took almost all of it very well.

Baby Stuff I Love

So I am taking a page from my sister's book (well, blog, actually) because she took a couple of long comments she'd made on other blogs and turned it into a recent post. I don't comment that often (less often than I post on this blog, if you can believe that), so it was quite a feat when I left this extremely long comment on my sister's friend's blog the other day. As a bit of background, before Kiren arrived, I was pretty intimidated by all the stuff that babies require. Actually, I understood then, and I still believe, that there are very few things one NEEDS for a baby, but many items can simply make your life much, much easier. So I spent the months before Kiren's arrival trying to figure out my needs and wants and separating that from the unnecessary stuff; I was particularly concerned that I would spend money and regret buying things I didn't end up needing at all. Thankfully, I don't have very many regrets amongst my purchases -- yay!

Thus, just in case my thoughts could be helpful to anyone, here is a slightly extended version of the LONG comment I left recently:

The BEST swaddling blanket we've found is the Miracle Blanket. Yes, it is pretty expensive, but it is the ONLY blanket that would hold my houdini-boy from the beginning. He was huge, and he could break out of ANY swaddle. The problem was that if we didn’t swaddle him, he was too wiggly to sleep. SO, I highly recommend the miracle blanket, and if it works for you, you’ll need 2 (in case he poops all over the first one — he’ll need to sleep while you are washing it).

We have the diaper champ, not the genie, and I like it A LOT! I can’t smell the diapers at all, it takes a week to fill up (though my 6 mo. old is starting to eat some solid food, so this could change soon), and there are NO filters to buy, so it is much more cost-effective.

I LOVE the ergo carrier — excellent purchase, worth the money. My husband will even wear it (the same cannot be said of any of the slings, I think).

I also LOVE the bumbo. While I agree it is not a necessity, it is almost a necessity for us. My boy, even early on, loves to sit up as much as possible, and it wasn’t until recently that he could do that without some support (he still needs a pillow around him). Even though he can sit almost by himself now, we still use the Bumbo several times a day.

I really like the cotton nursing bras I got a target. I suggest avoiding the underwire completely, even if that is what you use while not nursing. The non-underwire are much more comfortable. And early on, I LOVED the gel packs that others have mentioned. I wouldn’t still be breastfeeding if I hadn’t gotten the relief offered by those gel packs early on; I definitely would have quit around week 2 due to pain. And I hear that lanolin doesn't work for everyone, but it was a lifesaver for me (the generic stuff was just fine)

I use the Medela pump, and I really like it. I have the backpack one, and so far, 6 months in, it is working beautifully. I use the Avent bottles, and those are working great too; my baby seems to really like the wide-mouth and nipple on those (although there is quite a bit of hubbub about bad plastic to read about on the internet — I have decided to stick my head in the sand for now, but if I were buying bottles now, I might choose a different brand). Oh, and I would skip the microwave sterilizer. I thought I really needed it, but I actually just need a bottle brush because we just end up handwashing bottles daily (and we don’t run the dishwasher often enough to clean them in there).

We have a few different brands of pacifiers in the house that we got as gifts, but the only ones my son will take are the soothies that the hospital gave us. Luckily, they gave us tons of those, and so we haven’t had to worry about getting more.

We don’t really use our pack-n-play much so far, except as a changing table. That might change, but for now, it is simply a bin for toys (which isn’t necessarily a bad thing).

We also don’t have a changing table; we just use his dresser with a changing pad on it upstairs and the pack ‘n play changing table downstairs.

The glider in the nursery has been excellent for our late night feeding sessions. And now that he is mr. distracted while eating, I often take him into the quiet, dark nursery and sit in the glider during the day too.

We borrowed a Graco snugride carseat from my sister-in-law, and it was fantastic before my son grew out of it (which was much sooner than most babies do due to his being extremely long); I understand the Graco SafeRide has a higher height and weight limit, so if I had had to buy this item, I probably would have gone with that one instead. We now have a Britax Marathon, which again, is pretty expensive, but this is the type of seat that he will sit in for 4 or 5 years, so spread out over that amount of time, it averages out. And it has one of the highest weight limits available. While most babies might not need that, I am afraid that my big guy just might. I didn’t want to skip this seat now just to end up buying it later. So far we are really pleased with that purchase.

I love our exersaucer, and we got a used jumperoo too. My son loves to jump, so that was a big hit earlier on, and now he loves to spin around and play with the toys in his exersaucer. Both of these fall into the category of nice to have but not necessary…and I would try to get them from craigslist or a used baby stuff store because the market is flooded with them (parents don’t want to store them, but they are in good shape because babies only use them for 5 months or a bit more).

I am extremely happy with our Peg Perego stroller; we have the P3, Pilko, or something like that. It holds all sorts of infant carriers, including the graco ones, it is really light, and it is really easy to collapse and unfold.

We have a swing we got as a gift, which is the Fisher Price Rainforest one. It is one of the few (the only?) that has batteries AND plugs into the wall. Plugging into the wall is a HUGE plus because I can't imagine how many batteries that thing would eat otherwise.

We have a fantastic noise machine that creates white noise for our little guy. If you are thinking about one of these, I will get the name of the manufacturer for ya (I think it is Dex, but I could be wrong).

We have one of the floor mats (the Baby Einstein one, though I think any of the brands would have worked fine), and that has been a great place for Kiren to play for his entire time on the earth so far. He loved looking at the hanging things early on, then he loved batting at them, and now he loves gripping them and trying to pull them closer, into his mouth, etc. And he loves the musical star that lights up and plays a song every time he creates motion. I am SICK to death of the songs (both Vivek and I can sing along all of the classical tunes over, and over, and over) but I can't argue with the results.

Oh, and finally, I learned much of this from Baby Bargains, which is a book that helps parents sort through the needs, wants, car seats, strollers, etc. I highly recommend that book; I still refer to it when I am contemplating a new purchase.

Okay, that's it, that's all I know.

A Bad Sign?

A few mornings ago, I got up to feed Kiren around 4 am (Kiren's sleeping pattern for the past few weeks involves going to sleep around 7 pm, waking up to eat once between 4 and 5ish, and then waking up for good around 7am). For once, I managed to get out of the bed without waking up Vivek. But when I got back from putting Kiren back to sleep, Vivek was awake and had a story for me. Apparently after I left, our dog jumped into my recently vacated, warm spot. Vivek woke up and heard Kiren fussing a bit, and he started gently poking the dog, saying "Hey Aims, the baby is fussing -- he might be hungry." Needless to say, Bailey didn't respond as he expected, so he woke up further to see why I was ignoring him. He was pretty startled when he realized it was Bailey instead of me!

I Love My Wolverines!

This past Thursday evening, we took Kiren to his first basketball game. We had season tickets to basketball last year, and despite being some of the only people in the stadium (MI is not that good at basketball, typically), we really enjoyed ourselves. So we decided to get season tickets again this year. The Wolverines have a new head coach, so there is even a bit of a buzz around the team (this is still mainly a football town, though). The Big 10 has a dumb rule that requires everyone to have a ticket -- yes, that's right, our 5.5 month old has to have his own ticket. Luckily the tickets for basketball aren't all that expensive (did I mention we're not very good?).

The evening games usually start at 7, which is just about the time that Kiren typically goes to bed. So we're a bit worried that this is going to be a challenging season. For any game that we really, really want to watch, we'll get a babysitter, but we're going to try to take Kiren to as many of the other games as possible because we don't care if we have to leave early.

On Thursday evening, for that first first game, our goal was just to make it to halftime. It was an exhibition against Ferris State, so we were pretty sure that we wouldn't be missing a close game. Kiren was an angel, and we made it WAY past halftime. He didn't get fussy until well into the second half. He seemed to be pretty intrigued by the motion on the court (we sit in the upper deck, so it must have looked a bit like television to him, which also catches his eye quite often), and I think he liked the band music too. Michigan was up by almost 40 points or something, so we felt it was safe to leave with about 8 minutes to go.

All in all, it was an excellent outing and it hopefully bodes well for the rest of the season -- go Blue!!

Yum, Rice Cereal

Just before our four month appointment, Kiren was going through a big growth spurt, and I didn't feel that I had enough milk for him during our breastfeeding sessions (or I had just enough to keep him from fussing, but not enough to be sure that he didn't want just a little more). After a few days, I called our pediatrician's office to see if I could try to some solid food to supplement. The nurse said that the very, very earliest they suggest solid food is four months, so she felt we should wait. Just about the time I needed to decide whether to listen that advice, Kiren stopped eating as much (and my milk supply likely adjusted too). We made it to the four month appointment, and the doc said that it wasn't necessary, but we were welcome to try some solid food if we wanted. So we tried some very liquid-y rice cereal that very evening, and Kiren had no idea what to do with it. He didn't know how to swallow it, so it ended up all over his chin and outfit. We could see that he wasn't ready for solids, so we waited another month.

I tried it again on October 9th, and Kiren still wasn't sure what to do with the food. I probably would have waited a few more weeks before trying again, but during the next week, Kiren started watching us eat very intently and opening his mouth when we were taking a bite.

So we tried rice cereal again just a week later (Oct. 16th) to see if he'd figured out what to do with the food. As we were beginning, my never-can-be-still boy was flailing his arms about. Vivek asked me if I wanted him to hold Kiren's arms down, and I assured him I had it. A few seconds later, rice cereal was all over my shirt, my pants, the floor, the high chair, and, of course, Kiren's face and hair. Kiren had managed to bring his arms down and flip over the entire bowl of food I was holding. Through laughter, I scooped a few spoonfuls off the tray to see if it was going to work this time. Sure enough, Kiren had figured out how to swallow food. That didn't mean that it didn't get all over him after that; to the contrary, half of every bite ended up on his chin or shirt. But since he seemed to like those few bites okay, I made another bowl of cereal, and he gobbled it up the entire bowl. Here's a series of pics taken during that feeding (if you look closely, he has cereal all over him).

The last one makes it seem that he loves the food, and it is definitely the best smile we've ever caught on camera. But in truth, Vivek was behind me making Kiren giggle.

Since then, we've given him some rice cereal every day between regular feedings, and it seems to be going just fine. Last week, Vivek branched out and tried applesauce, and I tried it again the next day. That was not a hit, at all. Kiren made the most sour face I've ever seen. Since then, he's also made a sour face at the banana baby food. Hmm, he doesn't seem to like anything with taste!
As sour as this face is, it doesn't even do justice to the first face he made.

Extreme Garage Makeover

We have a dog, and we walk her quite frequently. During those walks, my neighbors have their garage doors up, and I am able to see that many of them have very nice, functional garages. By contrast, our garage was completely unfinished and pretty ugly. The original builders hung drywall, added tape and one coat of mud, and then did nothing further. That was 7 years ago, and the original owners didn't do anything in the garage but hang a few hooks (but they didn't put them in the studs, so they were coming out of the drywall).

I guess you could say I had garage envy. Recently, though, that all changed. My dad came to visit us at the beginning of this month, and while he was here, he finished our garage for us.

My dad added several more coats of mud and then painted it. Our garage is now a very pleasant light yellow (I couldn't stand the idea that he'd do all that work for just a white garage, so I chose yellow, instead). We painted the door into the house a dark blue, so we almost have a maize and blue garage in honor of being MI Wolverine fans. With the help of my uncle Hughy, Dad also added a hole in the ceiling and an attic ladder so we can access the space above the garage for storage. We even have baseboards! Yup, that's right, we probably have the only garage on the block (maybe in the whole town) with beautiful white baseboards. If there was any heat out there, you could lay a carpet and add a couch for another living room -- that is how nice our garage is now.

Now Vivek and I just have to hang some hooks -- in the studs, of course -- and add some shelving. But we are light-years ahead of where we were before Dad arrived. Thanks Dad; you are the best!!

p.s. I am too new to blogging to have thought of taking a before picture and an after picture for my "audience." Oops! I will take an after picture and post it when I can, though.

Four Month Doctor's Visit

This is long overdue, but here goes anyway. On September 12th, we went to the doc for Kiren's 4 month visit. He weighed in at 18 lbs, 13 oz, and 28 and 3/8ths inches long. That means he is still 2 standard deviations above the 95th percentile in weight and more than 2 standard deviations above it in height, so he hasn't slowed down yet. The doctor said that Kiren is going to be one of those kids that wants to walk as soon as possible, so he'll just fall down as often as he has to in order to figure it out; he won't be one of those kids who waits until 15 months when the muscles are all in place so that he doesn't have to fall down. He concluded that Kiren will be a "needs to achieve" kind of baby. I believe the doctor on this. For the last month, Kiren has been doing everything he can to reach whatever item he sets his sights on. When he is on his tummy, he'll push off and launch himself forward if we hold his feet. He can also slowly turn himself in a circle to reach new items; with Vivek the other day, he completed a 360. In the last couple of days, he's even been trying to put his knees under his butt and chest. Vivek calls it his inchworm move. So far, it is ineffectual, but it won't be long before he's propelling himself across the room with it.

So far, we've been really excited to see each new trick, and we are anxious to see what Kiren will do next. But I have a slightly foreboding feeling that we are going to look back at stationary Kiren with some nostalgia as we treat his many bumps, cuts, and bruises.