Complete sentences

Kieran has been speaking in very nice complete sentences for the last month or so. For a while, he'd say things like, "Eat cheese! Me!" Eventually he figured out the proper subject-verb-object form, and seems to have understood pronouns as well. "I want Mommy." "That's my bear." "Pick me up." "Uma took it." "What is that?" He's quite articulate.

Two happy hands

Kieran's stiff hand has improved rapidly, and it now seems to be as good as new.

Cast Off!

Kieran got his cast off this afternoon. His x-rays looked good, and it appears that he won't lose his nails. However, after having his hand immobilized for three weeks, his finger joints are very sore when he moves them, so he's in a really foul mood. His hand also stinks. It has a kind of pungent cheese gone bad smell. We wiped his hand off with baby wipes, but we haven't been able to wash it because he doesn't want anyone to touch it. The nurse said it may take a few days before his joints are feeling better; maybe then he will be happy about getting his hand back.

Also: upon second examination, the orthopedist said Kieran's middle finger tip had probably also been broken. The cast he had immobilized pretty much everything from his wrist down, so it doesn't make much difference.

Casting Call

Last Thursday was Kieran's first visit to the emergency room. This Thursday Kieran experienced another milestone: his first cast. Yesterday Kieran fractured the tip of his right ring finger. He attempted to move a chunk of this concrete landscaping border we have in the front of the house, and it fell on his hand. The doctor at the after-hours clinic last night was uncertain if his finger was broken, but the radiologist who looked at Kieran's x-rays this morning detected a fracture. So, I took Kieran to see a pediatric orthopedist this afternoon. Kieran's finger was too small for them to splint; the only way to immobilize it was with a cast. Kieran now has a bright blue cast that extends from the tips of his fingers to the middle of his forearm. If his finger heals as expected, he will wear it for the next three weeks.

Not two late?

Did I mention Kieran turned 2 on Sunday? No? Oops. Poor, neglected, second child. He doesn't even get a fancy commemorative blog post, just this token effort.

Closing in on 2

Kieran is obsessed with the notion of being "almost done." He points out whenever anyone is nearly done their plate. He wants to be "almost done" so badly that he says he is when he's just had a couple of bites. In Kieranian, "almost done" is ponounced "obbiton."

New favorite books: "Pat the Bunny;" "Trucks and Diggers;" and "Hand, Hand, Fingers, Thumb." He can even say "Han han finguh tum."

This boy likes "pinkle" on his ice cream. For breakfast he enjoys "Life silly," and he likes some "keppatch" with his eggs.

Sometimes things are "too loud," other times they're "too quiet." Sometimes just by a centibel. When people are laughing, he likes to remark on it: "laughing." It makes him happy.

He's sort of starting to understand pronouns. He doesn't quite get the difference between "my" and "your." When he wants a turn, for example, he'll say "your turn."

Here's one he almost picked up from Uma. When you tell him something, as often as not he'll ask "why?" We figure that, at least initially, he didn't know what that meant; he just heard Uma doing it. He must have figured that's just what you're supposed to say when someone tells you something.

Kieran's favorite bib has Cookie Monster on it. One time he really wanted it, but I almost didn't figure out what he was saying. Come on, without the clue, would you have known what "coomonsha" meant?

He understands now that you can see pictures on the back of the camera. When I get out the camera, even before I've taken a picture, he'll demand to "shee it." Then he'll "oooohhhh" appreciatively. Another thing he picked up from Uma. Actually, maybe he got that from all of us. We appreciate photos around here. You're welcome.

Uma has been training Kieran in how to speak politely. When you do him a favor, he'll very nicely say "thankoo welcome."

Yet more big sister influence. When I tell him it's time to pick up the bath toys because bath is over, he'll look me right in the eye and, in a resigned tone of voice, say "Oh man...."

A successful morning

We saw:

• 3 police cars


• 2 ambulances


• 1 fire truck


• 1 fast, long train


• 1 raccoon

There was also sitting on lawn mowers, riding in a car cart, and collecting paint samples.

Beauty Tip of the Day

Forget collagen injections, if you want bee-stung lips, hold an angry almost-two-year-old on your lap. Kieran head-butted me in the mouth this afternoon. For the first two hours afterward, I looked kind of freaky with an enormous fat lip. Now, over five hours later, the swelling has subsided considerably and my lips are full and luscious. There is some discomfort where my teeth cut my lower lip, but I don't imagine injections are painless either.

Double trouble

Kieran has an ear infection in each ear. The current score is 2 kids, 3 ear infections. I'm worried that I might have one too. It doesn't look good for the home team, but we've got antibiotics.

A missed milestone

This site hit 1500 posts last week. That's about 2.16 posts/day on average, compared to Uma's 2.017. Who says second children get ignored?

Translation requested

With great enthusiasm today and no seemingly relevant context Kieran proclaimed "panko" and "baboo." I have no idea what either of these things means, so if you do, please tell me.

21 1/2 month update

Kieran can identify helicopters. He calls them "cop."

There's this song on a children's music CD we have where a girl sing-spells "happy." Uma thought the girl was singing "H-A-pinky-Y." Now that's Kieran's favorite song.

He also really likes the alphabet song. When he wants to hear it, like on their toy music player, he calls out, "A-B! A-B!" When the song is playing, he semi-sings along the "A B," gets lazy for 22 letters, and then catches up for "Y Z" at the end.

We have a book that mentions that the sound cars make is "beep beep." Now whenever Kieran hears a beep, he says "beep" until you acknowledge that there was a beep. Then he says in a very knowing way, "car." Never mind that it was the toaster oven.

He's learned a lot of colors. He knows at least green, yellow, blue, red, pink, purple, white, black, and clear. Sometimes he seems to know orange. His favorite is pink. That's the big sister influence right there.

One time not long ago, I was scolding Molly for coming in the kitchen. She whimpered and yipped, and Kieran got very upset. After he calmed down, he went over and gave Molly a hug. He's big into hugging when he perceives someone is sad. He'll hug Uma after timeouts.

We've been trying to teach him to be gentle with the dogs. He's been tickling them a bit, and they tickle him back by licking. He also knows to pat them nicely, though he doesn't always do it (nicely, that is). When he does, it's very important for him to call our attention to it. "Pat. Pat."

He loves hiding. He's not very good at it, but he loves to do it. Under tables, behind curtains, inside laundry hampers. Whenever he's doing it, he lets you know by saying "Hi. Hi." It's a good time.

Kieran's always enjoyed loud noises like the garbage disposal or the food processor (though not the vacuum). Whenever it happens, he likes to say "noy."

Somehow Kieran looooooves milk. He's the only one in the family. I think the novelty might be wearing off a little bit, but he's still really enthusiastic.

Kieran can say "Mama" and "Mommy," "Daddy" (usually without the middle 'd' sound if you can imagine), and also "Uma" (as "Ummmmma"). For himself he says "Thee."

Uma's been a real stickler about trying to teach him manners. She's like Captain von Trapp, but she has a harmonica instead of a whistle. We (the adults) had taught Kieran how to say "please," which comes out as a very cute "pee." Now Uma has taught him "thank you" and "you're welcome." He's pretty good about saying "thank you" at the right times.

Even though he knows he doesn't get a treat at breakfast or before he's eaten his main lunch or dinner, hope springs eternal. He'll get this look on his face, look at you earnestly, and very gently say, "cook eeee." The way he says it I'm often tempted. So gently insistent, with such pure hope. How can I say no to that?
cookie

Kieran doesn't say the S or Z sounds. Instead he says T. So Zoë is Toë, we live in a "houte," and he always wants a "tate" of what's cooking. Sometimes he gets "tuck," he washes his hands with "toap," and he looks at airplanes in the "ty." Before bed he gets to "nurt," and he loves the "tampoo" (samples) at "CaaCo" (Costco).

Aside from Toë, he likes to point out on his toothbrush "Emmo" and "Roro" (Grover).

"Up" and "down" are quite pleasing to him. The game is that he says "up," which you repeat. Then he says "down," which you repeat. Then you repeat the whole thing.

OH. I ALMOST FORGOT. I think Kieran made a joke. We were washing his hands, and he said "co' co' co'" as he usually does when things are cold. I said, "yes, it's cold." Then he looked at me in the mirror with a sly grin on his face and said, "hot." I said, "it's not hot, it's cold." He gave me the same grin, and repeated "hot." The absurdist toddler. Watch out Steven Wright.

Kieran can count to two, although I'm not sure if that, um, counts.

He sort of sings along to some songs from music class. Mainly the dramatic parts, like "Bum bum."

He picked up the notion from Uma that there was a bear in his mouth that needed to be brushed out. It's been embellished a bit. "Bear. Car. Wheels. Two." I gave up on telling him that sounded a lot more like a motorcycle.

A thing he likes (Uma too) is when you drive cars over his body. He used to like it when I scratched behind his ears; he'd get very still with a dazed look on his face. Not so much anymore.

Kieran's still a little kid, so he falls down a lot. Often when he falls down he thinks it's hilarious, so he does it again. And again. And again. "Dramatization: based on true events."

Kieran refers to trains as "chicka," which is how he says "chugga choo choo." Pushing laundry baskets around is also "chicka" because he makes a train with Mommy.

"Guh" means "music."

Whenever Kieran runs out of a food he really likes, he demands more. I tell him he ate it all, that it's all gone. He then points into his mouth and says, "all gone. In moup."

Words not pictures

I noticed that I wrote way more about Uma than I have Kieran. Second child syndrome, I guess. Let's see...

Kieran loooooooves reading. He especially loves reading a book we got from the library about trucks. He's gotten into a truck about the police and airplanes from the same author. He wants to read them over and over and over. Last night, he wanted to read "Go, Dog. Go!" He said it "Go go" or "Doe doe," and we wandered the house looking for it. Luckily, we found it. He's quite fond of the pages where two dogs have crashed their cars, and another dog's car has broken down. I just realized I sound like a crazy person.

He's been aware of hot things for some time, and he can say "haaaa" to describe them. When he thinks something is really hot, like when it's just come out of the toaster, he puts so much emphasis on the word that he sounds like he's choking.

Speaking of, Kieran likes his toast. He calls it "tote."

Oh, the other day, Aaji taught him how to say "please." He says it "peeee" and then gives a big smile.

Other things he likes? His red car that Aaji got him for his birthday. How he loves that thing. The new house will be something of a disappointment because it won't have a circuit. On the other hand, it'll have stairs.

Uma and Kieran continue to have a very sweet and close relationship. He just lights up when he sees her for the first time in the morning. That's usually after he gets home from a walk, as he's usually up around 6.30am, and Uma, who only naps on weekends now, sleeps in until around 8.

9-1-1, what's your emergency?

Kieran got somehow managed to dial 911 at Aaji's house this evening. Police came by about 20 minutes later. I told them to take him into lockup for the night to scare him straight, but he flashed that charming smile and squeaked through with a warning.

"Daddy" minus the Ds

Kieran has been calling me "Daa eee" lately. It's super cute.

All work and no play

"work" is now Kieran's go to word, his verbal workhorse if you would. When a toy is turned off, he brings it to you to make it "work." When he wants you to do a trick with him, it's also "work." Turn on the light? "Work!" The socks he just took off that he wants back on? "Work it, Daddy!"

18-month checkup

The appointment was only 5 weeks late, and this post is only 5 weeks later than that. The gist:

• 25 lbs, 9 oz (25th-50th)


• 34 in (75th-90th)


• 49 cm (75th)

He also got shots.

Can you say "valediction?"

Kieran has acquired a clear and distinct "bye," and he says it at exactly the right time. If you ask him to say it, though, he'll just wave. It's kind of funny; he'll say his very clear "bye," then go back to "wa ba wa wa" babbling.

Sneezing may lose its appeal

One of the ways in which Kieran looks for delight in everything is his joy when he sneezes. Lately, that's also been joy at minor coughing fits, as I think he's caught whatever Uma has. Sadly, I don't think that's going to last, but so far, he's got a weirdly great attitude.

18 months!

That is all. What did you expect us to get him in for his 18-month checkup today? You must be new...

The secret to happiness

Kieran approaches pretty much every situation expecting to be delighted by something, and as a result, he usually is.

A milestone

Kieran had his first time-out today. It was for screeching really, really, really, really loudly a lot of times. He didn't quite get it, but he's getting to that age...

Later, while he was having dinner, he emitted another pretty loud screech. I admonished him, and he gave me this uncertain look, then let out a tentative "ah" at a a moderate volume, just to test. It was really cute.

We've decided that he's still too young for time-out, though.

Ooops

I got interrupted in my morning routine (by, um, me...) and didn't finish putting up pictures. They will appear later today. The streak must continue.

Hot hot hot

I taught Kieran the word "hot." He's not very good at applying it. Everything is "ha," even right out of the fridge. It's cute at first, then exhausting, when he wants you to confirm the hotness of all manner of distinctly unhot things.

How does he know that?

Kieran saw me taking something out of the microwave and said "ha" (hot). How did he know?

15-month checkup

Ok, so 16 ½ month checkup; nobody's perfect. The numbers: 24 lbs (25th-50th percentile), 31" (25th percentile), and 48.cm head (75th-95th percentile). I think he got some shots, too, which is rather vague for something that will have happened later today that I'm totally not posting about a month later because I forgot to do it the first time.

InsomniBA

Kieran called out his word for about 20 minutes yesterday evening, well after bedtime. He didn't seem bothered, so no problem.

Getting a kick out of him

Kieran was enjoying kicking a ball this morning. He's not half bad. I also realized he was saying "kick" every time he did it (probably copying me). His "kick" is more of a "kggkgkrg." It sounds potentially painful. Maybe that's why he loses interest.

Fou'cabulary

The words he has:

• Ba - pretty much everything


• Nah - down


• Mama - duh


• Ka - car

Beggar boy tennis

Kieran is walking back and forth between the breakfast room and here in the office where I'm working on pictures. Here, he begs bites of pancakes from me. Then he goes toddling off to beg oatmeal from Mommy in the breakfast room. Then he comes back to me. Rinse and repeat. Note that this is after a full breakfast, including said same pancakes.

15 months

How the time flies.

Bedtime story tidbits

One of Kieran's bedtime stories is a touch-and-feel book, That's Not My Puppy. Unlike what you'd expect, he doesn't do much touching. Instead, he likes to grab my finger and move it so that I'm touching the feelie spots. I dunno why.

One of the other bedtime stories is the classic "Goodnight Moon." As far as Kieran's concerned, the moon might as well not be there. For him, it's "Goodnight Bunny." Anytime we're on a page with the bunny, his little index finger stabs at the page, and he says a loud "Buh! Buh!"

Ga ca ca

Kieran loves graham crackers* so much he has learned how to say it. Sort of. Sometimes he throws in an extra "ca," but he definitely seems to be saying it in between the joyous giggles.

* code word when we don't want him to know what we're talking about: "uncle"

By your command

Kieran understands the instructions:

• Stand up


• Sit down


• Go out


• Put back


• No come


• Drop


• Give


• Eat


• Close (as in door)


• Big Mouth

There may be more, but those are the regular ones.

Primo teeth

Kieran has been growing a pair of premolars for a while on the bottom. I had no idea until just a week ago. They're sticking out a ways, but since they're further back, they're harder to see. He's also got a pair of lateral incisors coming in up top, but so far they've been pretty shy.

Kammunication

"Ka" has become Kieran's all-purpose word. Everything is a ka. Dogs, cars, ceiling fans, curtain rods. He's quite fond of it.

Today, he walked about 20 feet in a row, and he only stopped because he had achieved his objective (a "ka"). I figure if he can walk 20 feet, he can walk pretty much indefinitely, and just needs to get used to the idea.

The last couple days he's been doing this happy squeal when something pleases him (like getting a "ka"). It's cute.

Not Hungry Enough

Kieran has been a bit of a bear to feed the last month or two. Lots of throwing food, pushing it away, etc., even with things he seems to like. I've been trying to work on verbal direction, discouraging undesirable behavior and encouraging good behavior. I'd like to think it's working; meal time has been too frustrating for too long.

5 words

Kieran can reliably say 5 6 words now:

• Car - "ga" - probably his favorite


• Mama


• Down - "da"


• Dog - "da" also


• Bye bye - "ba ba"


• Ball - "ba" - how could I forget this one? Oh, because he's lost interest.

He generally uses them in the right contexts, so it seems like he knows what's up. He looooooves saying "car" when he sees one.

Child support

Kieran has been pushing himself up to a stand straight up from the floor without using a wall or furniture or anything else since yesterday.

So very demanding

Uma, Kieran, and I were playing after I got home from work. Out of nowhere, Kieran sat up, looked right at me, and said very clearly, "Ba." Now, he's been saying "ba" for ball for a little while now. Just saying it is getting to be unremarkable. He's also said "Mmmmba" and "Mama" and "ba ba" (bye bye) and even "Dada" a couple of times. Those times were different. They were either mindless repetition, a response to a prompt, or simple labelling things he saw. This time, there was no ball to label, and we hadn't seen any balls for a little while. We were just playing, and Kieran got the idea in his head that he wanted a ball, so he asked for one. And he was quite pleased when Uma got it for him.

Having a ba'

I'm going to call "ball" Kieran's first word. It's the one he makes the most consistently with the most obvious intent. "Mama" he says a lot out of apparent context, possibly just as a mantra. He says it so much it's hard to tell exactly why he's saying it. And sadly, he seems to have forgotten how to say "mmmmbah."

13 months and 750 posts

Well, it was 13 months yesterday, and 750 posts today. Close enough.

Stand in the place where you stand

Kieran was able to stand unassisted today. He was stable and did it for up to 10 seconds before he got back down. He didn't fall, though. He tried a few steps, but was completely unstable, toppling over after just one or two.

A standup little guy

Kieran seems to know to stand up when I say "stand up" at the end of his bath. I don't know if he gets "sit down" yet.

Half-Indian giver

Kieran's at the age where he likes giving you things, and then taking them back. Or you could give them back, I suppose.

Bye bye baby boy

Both this morning when I was leaving for work and this evening as he was going to bed, Kieran repeated my "bye bye" back to me. Mostly he said "bah bah" but at least one time it really sounded like "bye."

12-month checkup

We took Kieran in for his 1-year appointment. This time we made it before too much time had passed. The numbers were normal. He's up to 22 lbs, which is 30th percentile. His head circumference is 47.5 cm, a healthy 75th percentile. Length came in at 30", which is only 45th percentile, but I think he was a little squirmy on the table, and I suspect the measurement was less than precise. He also got triple needles, which he did not like one bit, but he recovered quickly. The cough he's had for the last week continues to nag at him. He's not actually sick; he just doesn't know how to fully clear his airway, so he keeps coughing up (but not all the way up) the same junk. There was nothing remarkable; it was all routine, just the way we want it.

Late night party

When you have kids, you know that they're going to keep you up at night. What I didn't expect was that it be because Kieran would play his music box for 15 minutes in the middle of the night, and we'd have to endure the music coming over the monitor. I guess it's better than him being upset, but I just don't know how I'm going to get that song out of my head.

What's this?

Over the last couple of days, Kieran has started asking for the names of things. At least, that's what I assume he's doing. He'll hold the thing up (or pat it, if it's heavy), look at me intently, and say "ah ah ah." If I don't do anything, he'll keep doing it. If I say the name, he'll relax, give a contented, satisfied smile, and go on to something else.

Kieran says "Uma"

Well, what he says is more "mmmmmmBAH," but it's pretty clear what he means.

The beginnings of words

Kieran may know the words "ball" and "Uma." He's been saying "mama" for months now, though for most of that time it was probably just a sound he liked.

He'll be wearing red pajamas...

Last night Kieran had kind of a tough night. At one point I took over, and he was very upset to see Mommy go. Lots of screaming and thrashing while I tried to soothe him. Patting, shushing, rocking, singing a lullaby.... None of it worked. Until I remembered his favorite song. I was just a couple words in, "She'll be..." and he immediately changed. He relaxed back on to me and stopped yelling. By the time she'd come around the mountain, he had laid his head back down. It was like magic. There's just something about that song. Sadly, that was not the end of his distress for the night, but it certainly did the trick just then.

11 months and a day

So hey, Kieran had a 9-month check-up. We were a little late. Second child effect. It wasn't this week. It was like 2 weeks ago. So, to recap: 7 weeks late on the appointment. 2 weeks late on the report. And the report isn't even that long. He's healthy. 29 ¾" long (75th percentile), 21 lbs 6.4 oz (an excessively precise weight that yields an oddly round 50th percentile), and 46.7 cm around the head (75th percentile). All percentiles are comparisons against 10½-month old babies; if we'd compared him against 9-month olds, he would have looked more impressive. Maybe we'll do that at his 1-year appointment in the fall.

What else? Eating is less novel now, so we have to give him a steady stream of toys. Mostly we give him oddly shaped spoons and such from the kitchen. He's not nearly as interested in whisks as Uma was. Our labs are working around the clock to develop new finger foods. He's a lot more cooperative when he's feeding himself. And yes, cooperative is the right word; you should see him when he's not cooperating with himself.

One thing where he cooperates both with us and with himself. He's learned over the last couple of months that when we're changing his clothes, to move toys from one hand to the other so we can do his sleeves without taking it away.

Sleep is sliding off the rails again. Two wakings most nights. Naps are pretty good, though. We need to get him back to his 6:15pm bed time. It's slipped a half hour. That may not sound like much, but it can make a big difference. Of course, it could easily be something else, too. Just when you think you have them figured out, they change.

He's starting to understand that there are some places we don't want him to go. When we do a bad job of blocking them off, and he gets there anyway, and he sees us coming... he starts crawling faster.

How to eat toast

Put it in your mouth, noisily suck off all the butter, and chew. Then yell for more.

22 month update

"Aaaaaaaah" means "ambulance."

He can say the L in "blue" and "plate" and "black" now. Like Uma before him, he sometimes gets confused about where the L goes, so throws in an extra one or two just to be sure, like in "vlaseline."

Kieran's favorite books: "Go Dog. Go!" "Trucks: Whiz Zoom Rumble," "My Truck is Stuck!"

He sings along to some songs: baa baa black sheep, abc, twinkle twinkle, some music class songs.

Kieran likes to crawl along the floor meowing.

When one of us is in with him and he hears Uma upset, he'll express concern, even occasionally sending us out to check on her.

He is getting quite good at "no," but not in a terrible twos kind of way (yet). He has either a clear, plaintive "noooo..." or a clipped, emphatic "no."

When we leave, Kieran utters a clear, high-pitched "bye." Over and over, until we're gone.

Kieran's been counting one and two for a while. This morning, I gave him a new angle: three. He repeated it. I repeated it. Then he said "four." I repeated it back. He said "five." He got all the way up to ten this way, though he skipped seven and possibly nine. Still, that's close to counting to ten, much earlier than I expected. Well, I don't think he's counting so much as remembering a sequence of words, but it's a start.

Pincer grasp

Another minor development: Kieran has learned the pincer grasp over the last week. Maybe this will help him get more of his O's into his mouth instead of his bib. He picked up a leaf with it this morning and was playing with it for something like 45 seconds before trying to put it in his mouth. Now that's progress.

Tall, not long

Since he can stand up (assisted) now, and since I was measuring Uma, I put Kieran against the wall to measure his height. He's now up to 28 inches tall. That's just ¾" more than he was in September. I'm sure he's gained at least 3 lbs over the 18 lbs he was then, though. We'll get official numbers at his 9 month checkup next month (when he'll be over 10 months old ahem).

No applause, please

I mentioned Kieran has learned how to clap. Now I've taught him to clap when I sing part of a song from the music classes Uma attended. "Clap, clap, clap your hands, clap your hands together...." When he's on my shoulders, he bangs my head instead.

He completed his first rapid circuit of the house yesterday. He's been crawling for a couple of weeks now, but he's not fully aware of all he can do, so he usually does short sprints and then stops. Now he's starting the longer distances.

A standup little guy

Kieran hit a few minor milestones this past week. They're not as big as crawling, but they're still noteworthy. He can pull himself up to a standing position in his crib now. Up until now, he needed someone else to pull him up.

He's also figured out clapping. I've been trying to teach him how off and on over the last month, and now he's gotten it.

Finally, Kieran learned from the example of his little friend Josie how to use a sippy cup. He's been getting water from a spoon for the last few months (he's only had to use a bottle like 5 times in his life). Sippy cups were something he chewed on. I guess Josie had something we didn't, because once he saw her do it, he understood.

Don't take his food away

He gets very, very angry. Don't even try to clean off his hands; he'll think you're stealing.

The sound of one hand clapping

When Kieran is excited, he opens and closes his hands, kind of like a one-handed clap. Mostly it's his right hand. He got really excited just now when I was walking toward him eating an apple. I think he thought he was going to get some. I think it might be a little bit early, even if I did spot a third tooth coming in last night (the right of the top middle two). Plus he doesn't especially like applesauce.

500

Another milestone. 500 posts. It's not as cool as crawling, though.

Off to the races

I'm calling it. He crawled about 8 or 10 "steps" just a few minutes ago, and he seemed to understand he was doing it. I was only a day off.

Progress has slowed to a crawl

I declare a draw. I know, bets can't have draws. Here's the thing. Kieran sort of crawls. He's got all the pieces. He'll crawl a couple of steps, and then he'll stop and push back up into a sitting position or lie down on the floor. I think the main thing is that he doesn't realize he can do it. Once he does, which will be soon, he'll be off to the races.

A bold prediction

I predict that Kieran will crawl within a week.

Boys love noise

Kieran's face lights up every time we turn on a blender, food processor, garbage disposal, etc.

Scooting in reverse

Kieran pushes himself around rather ably now. Unfortunately, he can only push himself backwards. He's doomed to be unhappy. He turns himself to face what he wants, and then tries to move. Since he only goes in reverse, he pushes himself further and further away from everything he wants. And then he gets stuck against the wall. For his sake, I hope he figures out forward soon.

A room with no view

This weekend, we moved Kieran into his own room. I hope he'll sleep better away from my snoring. We sacrificed our dining room; his room used to be our office. To make it easier for him to sleep his 2-3 daily naps, I've covered his window with cardboard. It's pretty ugly, which could be what he's been complaining about.

He hasn't actually had any problems sleeping in there, though he still likes to wake up. And whoever thought up Daylight Savings Time clearly didn't have small children.

Kieran took two (short) naps at Grandma's house this weekend. We're getting him started sleeping away a lot sooner than we did with Uma. We kind of have to, because Uma needs to go places, and she can't drive.

Teeth Sighting!

After taunting us for months, Kieran's two bottom teeth have finally made an appearance. I felt them today as I was cleaning his gums after feeding him lunch. They are just visible if you look closely. Uma saw them, too. She was very excited for him.

Solids update: Kieran has really taken to solids. He gets a little squirmy if he has to sit in his high chair too long, but otherwise seems to enjoy eating. He now eats banana, rice cereal, sweet potato, yogurt, and oatmeal. Pear sauce has been granted provisional status. (We're following the 4-day wait rule from "Super Babyfoods.") The biggest challenge feeding him now is getting my spoon around his. He likes to hold onto a spoon while he's eating, and as with everything Kieran holds, it finds its way to his mouth, so I have to maneuver my spoon around his. Meals often end up using a half dozen spoons.

400 posts

Actually, 402, but close enough, right? 7½ months old, and he's already got more posts than most blogs ever see. I won't twist my arm patting myself on my back (I've got lots of practice).

Better living through child abuse

Our system for Kieran's sleep was not working. He was waking up frequently, not only at night, but in the middle of his daytime names. He always needed help to fall asleep, and he just seemed tired a lot. We did a little more directed research and reading, and reached three conclusions:

1) He needed more nap time
2) What we thought were signs of tiredness were really signs of over-tiredness; he was getting tired after having been awake only an hour or so in the morning, but we had been keeping him up for 2-3 hours
3) It was getting harder to help him to sleep, not easier

Each of these dysfunctions fed into each other. Those conclusions dictated a new strategy. We decided to be more diligent about making his nap time, accepting the sacrifice to our schedule and household needs that would require. We aimed to whisk him off to sleep at the first sign of any kind of tiredness, rather than waiting for it to become obvious. Finally, and most importantly, we went cold turkey on helping Kieran fall asleep.

It's this last that was the hardest but seemed to have been the most necessary. We attributed at least part of the nighttime waking to him being unable to fall back asleep. We all wake up in the night and fall back asleep, not even remembering having woken the next morning. He had no capacity to fall asleep on his own, so when he had one of those regular wakings, he stayed up.

What was cold turkey? When it was bed time, we put Kieran down, walked away, and closed the door. And then tried to resist the urge to run back in when he wailed. It wasn't easy. I think I lasted 4 minutes the first time. I went in and tried to help him calm down, albeit in a more restrained fashion. Eventually, he fell asleep. After a few nights, I realized that I wasn't actually helping him when I went in, because all I did was make it take longer for him to settle. So I stopped. We'd been using the kitchen fan for white noise to help him sleep; very quickly, it became white noise to help us when he cried.

We started about 10 days ago. The first night, he only woke up two times in the night. That's compared to his then normal 4-5 wakings. Most nights it has been once. Last night, Kieran didn't wake up at all after going to bed at 7pm, though he woke up a little earlier than usual at 6:20am, but there were some loud noises at the time that were likely the cause. He takes full naps during the day, instead of waking up when he obviously needs more. When we're in the room with him, he'll shift and move, but usually doesn't wake up and get upset. The best part of all, is that he usually complains (not cries) for only about a minute or so at nap time. Then he settles.

This has made a huge difference. Kieran is just so much happier when he's awake. He's always been a happy boy, but he'd been getting increasingly moody (by his standards); usually, it only took about 45 minutes to an hour after waking for him to get a little grumpy. Now he's happy and all smiles for nearly the whole time he's awake. That's a lot more like the way he was before things went off the rails a few months ago.

It's obviously better for us grown-ups, because we get to sleep. Our schedule is more predictable, and we have a lot less anxiety. There are less obvious benefits for Uma. She doesn't have to go solo so often while Jessica is trying to coax Kieran down for a nap. She's only 3, so it's not reasonable to expect her to play by herself quietly for 20 or 30 minutes. Plus she gets some exclusive Mommy time during the day, time that Jessica now has more energy for. This was an unpleasant period, but it was brief. We're all better off for it.

Oh yeah, and we also turned off the nightlight in the bedroom. My toes have suffered, but it seems to have helped otherwise.

6-month checkup

We belatedly took Kieran in for his 6-month checkup on Wednesday, only 3 weeks after he turned 6 months. He got a battery of shots, which he tolerated surprisingly well once the sticking was over. No fever or serious unhappiness, though he's gotten a bit of a runny nose since yesterday.

Oh yeah, stats. He's up to 18 lbs. even, and 27 ¼ inches long. Those are 50th and 75th percentile respectively. His head circumference was 45.2cm, which is excessively precise and about 70th percentile. Everything else was fine.

A sit-up little guy

6am Sunday, I was struggling to figure out something to do with with this little fellow that wouldn't require me to get up. The highly questionable conclusion I reached was that it was high time this boy learned to sit up. We haven't done much to encourage him sitting independently. So I set him up. And he fell over. And so I set him up again. Within a few minutes, he was able to sit up stably for 5 minutes. We've given him lots of practice since then. Now we have a boy who sits up.

Tumbleweed in training

I have been informed by a generally reliable source that Kieran has rolled over from his belly to his back at least two times.

Early to bed...

Kieran has been crashing in the evening around 6:45. That's good. He's also been bright and perky at 6:15am. That's not so good. It would be tolerable if he wasn't still waking up 5-6 times per night. It's tough to be irritated when he's just so happy about it, but I make a special effort.

300+ posts

This makes 303 posts. That's a little over 50 a month, as our young fella hits 6 months in just a couple days. It seems like both a much shorter and a much longer amount of time has passed, though usually it's the latter. He's almost completely gotten over being sick, at least.

Nasal aspirations

In case it ever comes up, you should know that Kieran does not like having saline squirted up his nose, nor getting the snot sucked out. It sure works, though. Last night was much better, which is oddly having the effect of making me more tired. They're still not 100%, but they're better. Kieran had this horrible hacking cough, but was in surprisingly good spirits through much of yesterday. Unlike previous illnesses, this time Uma did not become limp and lethargic; she even went to the playground yesterday.

Double sick

Awww.... they're doing things together. Like getting colds. Last night was... not fun. Uma woke up about once an hour, Kieran a little less. I think I slept from 12:00am to 12:45am and from 3:00am to 3:45am. They're in surprisingly good spirits this morning, but I expect we're all going to hit the wall pretty soon.

1-2-3 o'clock, 4 o'clock rock

Things have gone off the rails here at Kieranjiv HQ. Some nights, he wakes up at 1am, 2am, 3am, 5am, 6am, and 7am. Daytime naps rarely last longer than 45 minutes, even when he clearly needs much more. It's a bit of a drag.

5 months yesterday

I wouldn't mind rewinding to 4 months. He was sleeping through the night then. It seems like something's been bothering him lately, but it's often so ambiguous. Plus I can't imagine something bothering him for a month and yet having no other symptoms. Last night he seemed especially restless. We keep probing for teeth, and he happily chews on our fingers, but there's nothing yet.

Happiness is simultaneous naps

Kieran's schedule seems to be settling around a 3-nap day. He wakes up between 7:15am and 8:15am. The first nap comes pretty soon after, around 9am to 9:30am. That's a short one, with 45 minutes seeming to be just about right. He's awake from around 10am until 1pm, which is convenient for morning errands, except when he's in a car-hating mood.

In the early afternoon, he tends to take a longer nap, often 2 hours. Many times he'll wake up after 45 minutes, but he's not done; he just needs a little help to fall asleep. Nirvana is when that coincides with Uma's sole nap of the day. Then he's up from around 3pm until 5:30pm or 6pm, at which point he takes another short nap. With this one we'll wake him up after about 30 minutes, as longer naps delay his bed time.

Kieran hits the wall in the evening between 8:30pm and 9pm. There are often awakenings over the next couple of hours, especially if he's been lazy about nursing during the day. He can almost always be nursed or soothed back to sleep then. He's gotten in the habit of a 1am feeding, so that's a pretty regular waking, though he missed it last night. On nights where he wakes up a second time, it could be anytime between 3am and 6am, but those are hopefully a thing of the past.

I'll confess that sometimes we keep him up a little longer to get his naps to happen at more convenient times. It's easier with him because he doesn't tend to get super-grumpy when he's a little bit tired, and thus far we've been spared the exhausting wired-and-over-tired state.

Another roll over?

I think he rolled over again. I wasn't watching. Uma noticed it first, but I'm not sure she didn't help.

Kieran discovers his feet

Kieran has found his feet, and they are good. He doesn't do much with them yet, but grabbing them seems like enough for now.

His schedule is slowly stabilizing. He seems to be settling on one shorter mid-morning nap, one longer afternoon nap, and one shorter nap in the early evening. Bedtime comes between 8:30pm and 9:00pm. Usually he wakes up at 1am to nurse, with another waking some nights. It doesn't look like he's going to go back to sleeping through the night anytime soon.

We've finally gotten in the habit of cleaning him on a regular basis. When he was younger, for a time we would go days without bathing him. Now we aim for and usually achieve a bath every day at 6pm. Uma helps.

Restless

Something has changed in the last week, and our previously excellent sleeper has been less so. It wasn't the shots, as it started a few days before*. His daily naps hadn't been exactly regular, given the 3-year old ball of noise racing around. "Put your child down when he is drowsy but not asleep." Yeah, right. This week they've been even harder to get going. He's also been waking up 2 or more times most nights. Usually, it's just to nurse, but sometimes he needs more soothing. I hope it's just a transient, external (as opposed to psychological) issue like teething or a growth spurt. I needs my sleeps.

* Unless he is clairvoyant, which is always a possibility.

4 month stats

Ok, so 4 months and 4 days.

15 lbs., 13 oz. - 75th percentile
25" - 50th percentile
43 cm head circumference - 70th percentile

He also got a hat trick of needle sticks.

At 4 months and 9 days, Uma was 14 lbs., 11 oz.; and 25". I didn't report her exact head circumference, but she was 75th percentile, so I assume her head was slightly bigger, although they may have a different set of numbers for girls.

Did he or didn't he?

I put The Boy down on the bed in Uma's room to help her with something. I clearly remember putting him on his back, because I turned on the ceiling fan to give him something to look at. Then I had to leave the room briefly. When I came back, he was on his belly. Was it magic?

Vanity

Kieran loves looking at himself in the mirror. I'll stand him up about a foot away from a big mirror, and he'll just start smiling and giggling, once he finds himself, of course. He hasn't been around many other babies, so I don't know if it's just that babies crack him up or what.

Two-odd foot of grunt

I got out the tape measure last night. It looks like Kieran's a little over 24" long/tall now. That's just under 2 inches of growth in the last 5 weeks.

Reach out and touch

Kieran is figuring out that those are his hands. He's starting to grab at things, but mostly he just likes putting up his dukes. He holds one fist out and the other closer to his chest, though sometimes they're both out. I've got a picture you'll see soon.

He continues to be nice to us, sleeping almost all nights from around 11:30pm until 9am the next morning. He's also pretty mellow, even when he's tired. It takes almost nothing to make him smile, and a few seconds of knee-bouncing will usually win me a squawking laugh.

Another thing that often gets a laugh is the play gym. The boy loves his play gym, even without the music and flashing lights on. Ceiling fans, too, but the slowest speed is still too fast*, so it's only when I spin it by hand.

What else is going on with him? He's so far survived the not-so-tender affections of his big sister. Some of her "enthusiasms" make me cringe, but sometimes he likes them, like getting smacked on the cheeks. I guess he should get used to it; he's stuck with her.

I'm pretty sure he's taller. I haven't measured. He'd grown a negligible amount over his first 2 months, but I think he's added a couple of inches since then. He's still got some chubby chubby legs, and of course one chin just isn't enough.

Oh yeah. He hit 3 months last week. I remember with Uma I commemorated every minor milestone on the calendar. Second children get neglected. Kid ought to be greatful he even has a blog. Yeah.

* There should be an "baby fun" speed on all ceiling fans

Coo-l

Kieran has gotten to the cooing and smiling stage. Uma smiled, but she never cooed. I kept waiting for it, but it never happened. He'll often smile when you talk to him and make eye contact and smile at him, but I usually cheat by singing to him and bouncing him around. Flying works, too. He's a happy boy. He only got a few relatively short catnaps from the early afternoon yesterday until around midnight, but he was still happy and pleasant. Uma at that age would have been screaming her head off. I'm crossing my fingers that he stays this easy-going; it makes everything so much easier.

2 months, 2 days, 100 posts

Time to see the doctor! Kieran got his tear ducts all primed and working this morning in preparation for his (assault and) battery of shots. Poor kid. He got 3 of them, plus a nasty-tasting rotavirus vaccine. Everything looked fine. How about some numbers? 13 lbs., minus a couple ounces for clothes and diaper, 22¾ inches long, and 15¾ around the head. Uma took 13 weeks to get that big; Kieran's hitting 9 weeks tomorrow. Oops. I shouldn't compare the two of them. That leads to sibling rivalry and self-esteem problems.

Update: I (accidentally) found the post for Uma's 2 month checkup. Hers actually came at 69 days, whereas Kieran's was at 62 days. She weighed 11 lbs., 14 oz. compared to his 13 lbs. Her weight gain was thus 84.6 oz., or 1.22 oz/day compared to his 90 oz., or 1.45 oz/day.

The boy woke us up this morning at 5:30 to help him conduct some personal business. Fine, you know, it happens; he's certainly been kind to us in the sleep department, so the occasional lapse is easily forgiven. He was cleaned up, nursed, etc. (not by me; I was putting pictures up for you people), went back to bed. Naive me, I thought I could get another hour of sleep. Nope. Young Grunty there couldn't just sleep quietly like a normal baby. Every few minutes... GRRRNXK. I start to drift off.... SNGRNHHKKK. Minutes pass. HCHRRRRRZZZHHK. I mean, c'mon kid. A whole hour of this, and it was time to wake up again. GGFGFNNNENK. Ok ok I get the point. ZZRRNGQRN. Le sigh.

Incidentally, if you're looking for a pediatrician, our doc gets two thumbs up (one for Uma, one for Kieran). She's swell.

6 for 7

Kieran has slept at least 6, and more often 8 hours every night over the last week except one. That one exceptional night he woke up at 4am, nursed, and went right back to sleep. He's been sleeping from something like midnight to 8am, which is pretty convenient. Sometimes he has a little trouble falling asleep, but he's pretty consolable, especially when I give him a two-handed tribal beat on his back.

He's starting to become more aware of his surroundings. He's noticing faces more. What he notices most is the noisy ball of energy we call Uma. She can actually be pretty helpful; she helped soothe him in his bouncey chair so I could finish something.

Off By One?

The scale at the pediatrician's disagreed with the scale at the store yesterday by a full pound. The medical scale said 11 lbs., 8 ounces while the one at the store yesterday said 12 lbs., 8 ounces with clothes. I may have to find a tie-breaker scale.

A very nice boy

Slept 9 hours last night. He would have slept longer, but we woke him up.

Bigger and better?

We took advantage of a scale at a children's resale store today to weigh The Boy. After subtracting clothes, he came in at approximately 12 lbs., 2 oz. The last time we weighed him was March 26, when he weighed 9 lbs., 7 oz. He's gained 43 oz. in the last 21 days. At 2 ounces/day, I'm guessing that he was 11 lbs., 8 oz. last Thursday, when he was 6 weeks and a day old. I mention that particular day because we have a weight for Uma at that age; she was 10 lbs., 1 oz. She had gained 55 oz. over her birth weight
She was a healthy eater, but he beats her record; he gained 66 oz. since birth to 6 weeks. Those chubby cheeks weigh a lot.

Babies this age don't do much, so all I have to write about is his weight. On the other main subject, he's slept over 6 hours a night three nights in a row. One night he slept something like 11:30pm to 7:45am. I hope I haven't jinxed it. He's mellower in many ways than Uma was, but I think she was more tolerant of being put down while awake. He won't stay in his papasan, his swing, his bouncy chair, or lying on the bed for more than 10 minutes at a time, in general.

Not So Little Guy

Kieran weighed in at a heft 9 lbs., 7 oz. today. That's a gain of 25 oz. in the last 14 days. The Boy is now about 2 lbs. more than his birth weight in 27 days.

It's approximate

Today was Kieran's due date. We didn't expect him to come right on the day, but we did expect them to at least get the month right. Oh well. We're glad he's here now.

Please do it again

Kieran slept from before midnight until just after 5 am. Nice boy.

umbilicus severus

The cord stub came off yesterday. There's no going back now, boyo.

Hungry boy

Kieran had his first visit with the pediatrician today. Everything was fine, though he didn't like the blood draw. His weight is now up to a very healthy 7 lbs., 14 oz. He's a good nurser. For those of you keeping track at home:

Day 0: 7 lbs., 6 oz.
Day 3: 6 lbs., 15 oz.
Day 6: 7 lbs., 2 oz.
Day 13: 7 lbs., 14 oz.

The loss of weight immediately after birth was normal and expected. Many newborns just barely get back to their birth weights at 2 weeks; Kieran blew past that by half a pound. The boy is a champion nurser.