Elliott is still not sleeping through the night. In fact most nights he’s up and down a few times. I’m tired to say the least. In an attempt to help fill him up we started him on baby food last week. So far he’s eaten some whole grain rice cereal, applesauce and peas. At first Jonah told me, “Mom, he’s making his ‘I don’t like it’ face!” but he’s gotten better. He seems to like the peas better than the fruit and now even leans into me to meet the spoon. It hasn’t actually helped him sleep any better or any longer though, we’re still waiting for that to kick in.
It probably also doesn’t help that he cut his first 2 teeth last week. Jonah’s first tooth came around 6 months so Elliott is even earlier.
We’ve been taking photos and movies to document that great toothless grin before his teeth are all the way in. Here’s a short movie of him after his dinner.
No photos to post today but I wanted to make sure and comment that Elliott is now in that stage where he can get from one place to another but you’re not really sure how. I swear I put him down, look up, then back down and now he’s across the room. His little baby jungle gym mat is more frustrating to him now that he can get stuck on one of it’s 4 sides. He’s not crawling yet or even scooting really but he sure can roll. I think that’s how he makes his escape but, again, he’s so fast I’m not sure. Yesterday I put him down, helped Jonah with something then looked up and he was under his crib. Today I put him down in the playroom and looked again and he was almost under the radiator.
He’ll raise himself up on his arms and scoot back a little, like Jonah used to do. He sometimes tries to get his butt in the air too so he starting to figure it out. I’ve heard that 2nd kids can some times start moving earlier than 1st children. I hope that’s not the case. Jonah was walking by 11 months and I’m in no hurry this time to have Elliott get there. I have to think he’s more motivated though, to keep up with that older brother of his.
As for Jonah, he’s getting geared up for Halloween and then school finally starting in early November. I told him we’d go buy some school shoes and he was confused by that idea. I confessed that really they were just regular shoes that he could wear to school, not really any different than what he has now.
He also seems to have hit his terrible 3s. I think we escaped them at 2 but I think they’ve hit now. I’m sure it has something to do with the new nanny, Elliott and school starting soon but I’m not a fan of this bigger kid who no longer listens well or wants to go to sleep. It’s been a trial some days for sure.
Inspired by reading a friend’s blog, I thought I’d do a quick write up on Halloween and Jonah’s current obsession with all things Buzz Lightyear.
Jonah got his first Buzz (yes there now are more) for his birthday in June. He thought it was cool but it wasn’t really until later that month when he saw the Toy Story movies 1 and 2 then went to the theater to see Toy Story 3 that he really became obsessed. (If you follow our blog you know that our second attemptto see Toy Story 3 in the theater on vacation did not go very well.) Along with Buzz he had also received Woody and Bullseye as big brother gifts when Elliott was born. There were a few weeks there where they all slept with him. There are many days when he can be heard running through the house shouting “Buzz Lightyear to the rescue!!”
Yesterday we were talking about Halloween. Ever since we got a costume catalog in the mail he’s been talking about how he’s going to be Buzz. These are the costumes he assigned the rest of us:
- Jonah - Buzz
- Mama - Buzz
- Daddy - Jessie (from Toy Story 2)
- Elliott - Bullseye (from Toy Story 2)
I think Jonah really will be Buzz but it’s doubtful that the rest of his vision will become a reality. I’m not sure Chris is very excited to be Jessie… :-)
I’ve been waiting for Chris to finish his post about our annual trip to Michigan. I just looked at his draft to see if I could finish it and post but it has a long way to go. So instead I’ll give an Elliott update.
Elliott is officially rolling over now and seems to prefer to sleep on his tummy. Getting him to sleep that way seems to help him sleep for longer stretches at once. Where Jonah was sleeping well already at 5 weeks the same cannot be said for Elliott. The current trend has him going to bed around 9:30 and only waking up once between 2:00-4:00am. Hopefully that length of time will only increase. Now I just have to figure out how to let Jonah get up and play quietly until 7:00 but somehow not wake Elliott up in the process. Having two kids share a room has not been very fun for me. We’re certainly still figuring that one out.
In other news our nanny is working on her teaching certificate and needs more time off to work on that and student teaching. Her replacement just started this week and we hope she’ll work out for us as well as Kate has over the years. Until January each nanny will work 2 days a week to help us all transition smoothly.
We thought Jonah would be starting school this month at a morning pre-school that just opened 1/2 a block away from our home but they have some construction that still needs to be finished so their new target start date is November 8th. In the mean time we’ve signed Jonah up for more gymnastics and swimming classes to keep him busy. He loves those so he should be ok. This time will also let him get more used to the new nanny.
Today was Elliott’s 2 month check up. He’s now 23″ tall and 12 lbs. 2 oz. He’s just a few ounces more than what Jonah was at his 2 month check up. I’m interested to see if Elliott follows Jonah in size as they both grow. Otherwise everything checked out fine. He seems to be having a bit of a problem with the oral vaccine he got today though. Hopefully that gets better before we leave for vacation.
And I finally added bris photos, only about 2 months after it happened…
I’m trying to keep this list updated for a point of refrence about the boys at this age and also for other friends with kids. Here are more books we love currently:
Yes, Jonah and I went downtown to witness history. The Tribune said there was a crowd of about two million down there to see the Stanley Cup, and we were included in the number. It was really humid and over 90 degrees, so it was a little sticky, but I’m glad we went, even though we basically saw nothing.
We actually got there reasonably early, like at 9:30am. They were not due to be by where we were standing (at the corner of Michigan and South Water) untill about 11 or 11:30am, but I knew it was going to be tough to stand in one place for over two hours with a three-year-old. Also, the crowd was not, shall we say, family friendly. Lots of drinking and smoking going on, plus of course people insist on moving around, so people were constantly pushing into us. Did I mention it was hot? After awhile, I knew our position was untenable, so I backed us out to where we had some breathing room (literally). I knew it would decrease our chances of seeing anything, but for safety’s sake, it was the smart move. Had I been by myself, I would have gladly pushed ahead, personal safety be damned, but these are the sacrifices you make as a father.
Here’s a short video I shot about an hour before the Hawks came through:
At about 11:15am, the crowd really started to get loud. By this point we had been pushed back to entrance of the Hard Rock Hotel, so we were pretty far from the edge of the street where we would have had a view of the parade. I was able to see a couple of the Hawks on the doubledecker buses, but with people putting kids and their girlfriends on their shoulders, plus the general clamor, I’m surprised I even saw that. Didn’t get even a glimpse of the Cup.
Below is a video of the Hawks coming by. Just so you know, the video is terrible. You can barely see anything, plus I think the strap to the camera got in front of the lens. But I had Jonah on my shoulders, who was simultaneously choking me and trying to get down, so in a way, I’m lucky I even got the crappy footage you see here. What’s important is that we were there!
Poor Elliott. First it was the bris when he was a week old and then yesterday I took him to the pediatric surgeon to get his tongue evaluated. The lactation consultant suggested I do this because she suspected that he might be “tongue tied.” The other terms used for this are ‘Ankyloglossia’ or ‘short frenum’ which mean that the lingual frenum is short and restricts the mobility of the tongue. In Elliott’s case the tip of his tongue couldn’t touch the roof of his mouth and the lactation consultant thought it might be restricting his ability to nurse efficiently.
I took him in to be evaluated and sure enough the doctor at Children’s Memorial said he was in fact ‘tongue tied.’ She said she couldn’t be certain it would help with breastfeeding but kids with this are likely to have speech problems later since there are certain sounds that can only be made when the tongue touches the roof of your mouth. If we waited until he’s older to have the frenum sniped it would require sedation and surgery. Instead, she just snipped it right there in the hospital yesterday and it took about 2 seconds. He nursed and was asleep in my arms 10 minutes later.
His latch seems a little more comfortable for me and he seems to be gulping away so I’m hoping this helps solve some of my nursing challenges and also avoids any speech issues later.
Here’s a link I found with more info about being “tongue tied.”
