Week of April 2, 2003
I live in fear that I will forget something really important in my weekly updates. I know Owen's baby book has floundered, what with the amnesia that comes on parents about the details of their children's lives, and the lack of time. Will I know exactly when he got all his teeth, or when he did those important things like rolling over, or crawling, or walking etc?
Scott has a much better memory for when things happen. For me, it's all kind of a happy blur, though I've been trying to solidify the chronology in my mind. Scott and I tease that between the two of us, we have 2/3 of a brain which is better than what we were working with in those first few months. Sleep deprivation had us really impaired.
I think Owen rolled over around 3 months. He got his first tooth 12/26/01 (since he was teething on Christmas!), and this was the same time he was able to sit up unattended. We were also studying his pincer grip around then, thinking he was pretty good, but not able to pick up a raisin. Later that week he was picking up raisins without a problem. I know he started to crawl right after my Mom's birthday, around 3/23/02, just before he turned 9 months old. He walked at around 14 months, at the very end of August, beginning of September. Within a few weeks, he was running. His first word is a little harder to say, since he's been saying "Da!" for so many things, for so long. He had a few words before his 18 month appointment, but not many. His first word was probably "Mine" or "I want that," or even more likely, "kitty cat" - but I'm a little sketchy. Perhaps because speaking often come on gradually ("did he really say that or am I making sense of gibberish?") it's hard to say there is a defining moment of "aha!" It was a small help that I and all my siblings spoke very late. (How late? Who knows! Our parents were worse than we are!) I was a little worried at 18 months, but now at 21 months, he's picking up works every day. And I know his understanding goes far, far beyond anything he utters.
What Owen is doing this week:
Sleeping poorly: Okay, it's the week before Daylight savings. We're counting on being able to effortlessly switch him from 6:30 p.m.- 4:30 a.m., to 7:30 p.m. - 5:30. And yet this week, Owen's been a terrible sleeper. He's been up at 2:45, 3:15, 3:30. Argh! This is what happened LAST year, and consequently, we went from 4:30 to…..4:30. We have our fingers crossed that his bad sleep (and ravenous eating) means it's just a growth spurt.
Intervenes with cat fights: Owen can't stand watching the cats "playing" - it sounds like fighting and the aggressor cat is not altogether friendly when these bouts go on. Our oldest cat is a bit of a bully (and cowardly, the other cats fight back, but I think they know he's full of hot air). Whenever Owen hears the screeching, he runs over to the middle of the fight and breaks it up with his body. Our cats are good with him (and have no front claws), and our oldest cat is intimidated by Owen so this always works quickly. It's rather touching to see Owen intervening on the other cats behalf
Eating carbohydrates: He can't seem to get enough of the whole wheat rolls, the whole wheat pita, or even raisin bran in the morning. Is this part of a growth spurt? He's not usually standing by the bread area and pointing anxiously for us to hand him something.
Asking us to name things: Before he eats an item of food, he holds it out to us. At first we thought he was handing it to us, then we thought he was showing each item to us. But then he started being more explicit and asking "wastat?" as he held the food out and we realized we have to name what he's holding. We're so happy we finally know what he wants! Now he's off the hook, and we name things as he holds them out. "what's that" all the time
Block use: Owen's a bit more interesting in using his blocks. Of course, this is because he's realized he can use his blocks to interact with trains (things to drive around, crash into etc.). And though he was disappointed not to be able to drive his train through the paper towel roll (too small), he's been having fun putting the cylinder blocks inside and watching them drop out the bottom of the tube.
Using the bookshelves: these work as surfaces to run his trains along, plus you can use books as inclined surfaces, or as tunnels!
Awareness: Owen notices everything, it's scary. Perhaps it's the focus of the very young, perhaps he's gotten some of the observation abilities of my father (which skipped over me, alas). But he notices anything different in any room in the house. Like our youngest cat, he hones right in on the newness. We have to get better at hiding things, they just don't get lost in the clutter anymore. At one point, while we were driving, that our mattress was so lumpy that it felt like sleeping on a camel. From behind us, I hear a little "Th th th" - Owen was making the sound of a camel (spitting!). I guess we'll have to be more circumspect about what we say around him, he hears everything! I know he always did, but now it's feeling scary.
Glasses: one side effect of his observation is that we find him staring at the reflection of the TV in Scott's glasses. He thinks this is the coolest thing, little miniature TV's in Dad's lenses.
Gymastics: Owen has discovered somersaults. Diane tells us that this is young to be able to do them, I guess he's anxious to imitate the older kids. It's easier (and softer) to do them on the couch, and often he'll let himself get stuck ½ way through, and be upside and giggling.
New words he's saying this week: "car" "bus" "cookie" - who knows what he understands, he asks "what's that" about everything!
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