Holidays

Here are some holiday photos for your enjoyment.

We had a very busy Christmas day. First thing in the morning, we had Dean's parents, grandmother, and siblings over for our gift exchange. It was faster than was ideal, but we got through everything with plenty of time.

Dean's Uncle Don and Aunt Mary arrived in Denver Christmas morning, and they came to our place straight from the airport. Dean's Uncle Rohn came over too. Shortly after their arrival, my parents, grandmother, and Aunt Barbara arrived too, and we finished getting the food ready.

Then came dinner, by which time Robin was exhausted, ate a little, started making a fuss, and took his nap. He was the primary reason we wanted to host--so we could have him on his home turf. While he slept we finished eating, cleaned up, had some dessert, and enjoyed each others' company.

Shortly after Robin woke up, Don and Mary needed to leave to visit some other family, and the rest of Dean's family left after a bit.

Then we exchanged gifts with my family and had some more food.

After my family left, we did presents one more time--the stuff to each other, and the things that came in the mail.

It was a big day, and Robin got overwhelmed at times, but he definately enjoyed himself, and he's enjoying playing with all his new toys.

My Uncle John flew out the day after Christmas, so we spent several of the next days visiting with all of my extended family.

Robin is going through a difficult period right now--for all of us. I don't quite know what's up, but it's probably a combination of teething, frustration at lack of communication skills, the desire to do things himself and in his own way, learning that there are limits, other growing pains, and probably other elements to which I am totally clueless. We both often end up in tears, and I'm learning quite a bit about patience and perseverence. We're hoping that Banshee Baby will soon recede, but until he does, we're getting by.

Robin seems to be in no hurry to talk. He stopped saying night-night right around when he started walking, and hasn't replaced it with any new words. Currently he's just doing Mama and Dada, and still babbling a lot.

He has become quite a master at walking. Shortly before Christmas he mastered getting to his feet without aid, and he no longer needs to have his arms up to balance. He's quite fast now, too.

His appetite these days is gargantuan. I'm amazed such a little person can eat so much and not be getting pudgy--but he's not. If this is a precursor to how much he'll eat when he's a teenager, we'll be having to take out a second mortgage in about 12 years. Mealtimes are getting interesting. He's showing preferences for some foods over other, where he used to pretty much eat anything I put in front of him. I've learned (after a few screamfests) to keep his main dish out of sight until he's finished his fruits and/or veggies (which he still eats, but he's getting selective.) He's also preferring to feed himself more and more, so most of his foods are now put into his plastic bowls and suctioned to the tray. This is nice because it allows me more freedom to eat my own food, but it doesn't work with soups, oatmeal, yogurt, or anything else that must be eaten with a spoon if we want more of it to go in him than on him. We're frequently having to tell him not to drop food on the floor, too. His chewing capacity is still limited with only 7 teeth, so he still can't have tough foods, many raw veggies, etc.

Robin's comprehension is growing quite a bit. The other day, he came into the kitchen and had only one sock on. I asked him where his sock was, and he left the room. I followed (and kept asking "where's your sock?",) and he led me to his room, where he opened his hamper and sure enough, his other sock was inside. The he pulled it out and held it out to me. So he knew that socks go in the hamper, he understood what I asked him, and he remembered where he'd put it!

He's also starting to understand the toilet. I'll set him on it whenever I catch him in time, and lately if I ask him if he's going, he'll walk to the bathroom and reach for the door handle. Granted, we're usually too late, but I'm very glad he's made the association to begin with. We're on our way!

We went to Zoo Lights the day before it closed. Robin did really well, and seemed to enjoy all the lit-up animals.

That's most of our news. We're just waiting for the neighborhood to thaw. I need the sidewalks clear so I can take him for walks in his new wagon from Grandma Sue and Poppa, and I need the park to thaw so I can let him run around and climb and play.

Have a great 2010 everybody

It's Beginning to Look a lot like Christmas!

Well okay, it's been looking like Christmas for a while.  Usually I don't do two posts in a day, but I wanted to get all this stuff up before Christmas is actually here.

Robin saw Santa at the beginning of December.  He didn't actually cry when we sat him on Santa's lap, but he kept reaching and lunging for us, so we decided to sit in Santa's sleigh and hold him ourselves.

Robin also sent a letter to Santa through Macy's department store.  They donate money to some charity (can't remember which) for every letter that goes through them.

I finally finished Robin's Christmas stocking this month.  I only started about a week before he was born--didn't take a while or anything!  I promptly went out and purchased another stocking kit, so I can start on the stocking for Robin's younger sibling.  I figure if all I have to do once baby #2 eventually arrives is personalize it and put all the pieces together, I have a fighting chance of finishing it by their first Christmas.

Mom, what gives?  There's nothing in here!

We went to Longmont's holiday parade with my parents.  Everybody bundled up and we watched all the lighted floats and marching bands go by.  I kept saying that the kids in the marching bands couldn't possibly be old enough to be in high school--boy how time changes perspectives!

Robin is learning about the best gift of all:  PACKING PEANUTS!!!!!

He even tried to eat one.  They're the biodegradable ones, so they dissolve in water (or saliva.)  Yech!

Our friends Ward and Jessica had their annual Gingerbread Party this past weekend.  We left Robin with Dean's parents (it was nice to get away for a while) and had a blast.  We made our most ambitious creation yet:  the U.S.S. Enterprise. 

It is attacking the Romulan mining ship, which is destroying the planet Vulcan (the red ball.) 

It was definately good that we left Robin at home, because instead of creating this masterpiece, we would've spent the afternoon chasing him around and keeping him from eating all the candy.

We're all getting ready for the big day!

Some Thanksgiving pics just in time for Christmas!

So here they are, Thanksgiving photos right as Christmas is upon us.  And it's such a busy time of year!

Robin enjoyed his second Thanksgiving, which was the first in which he was able to partake in the meal.  Yum!  Robin is probably the only one who didn't overeat, as he hasn't quite reached that cognitive level yet.  It was awesome to be able to let him eat what we did, and he definately enjoyed the wide variety of food.

Some pictures of our big long table and everybody at it.  This was at Dean's parents' house.  Virginia, Dan, Audra, Del, Cyndy, Jackie, and Kathy.

Dean, Robin, Eileen, Jim, Miles, Howard, and Sue

Dean, Robin, and I went over earlier in the day, and Robin (sort of) took a nap in his grandparents' bedroom.  Then everybody else arrived, and we socialized for a while before the big meal.

After the meal, we took some time to allow ourselves to digest.  Uncle Howard had a nasty surprise for us--chocolate covered pizza.  They had leftover chocolate from the dessert they prepared, so

Howard wanted to dip some leftover pizza in it and they asked if we were brave enough to try the mystery treat.  It was pretty gross--not a combination that I would care to have together again.  Apparently it was

payback for the Thanksgiving-Feast-Flavored-Sodas from Jones' Soda that we served four years ago when we hosted Thanksgiving.  I don't know why he's sore--we were upfront about the sodas, and only poured small tastes for everybody and besides, it's a talking point to this day.  But I told him that if he wants to start a vendetta, he'd better watch himself next year!

After the chocolate pizza taste left our mouths and it got later, we went back to the table for dessert.  We always have so much food, that even small pieces of each dessert equals a huge amount of sugar.  Nobody was hungry for dinner later on.  Then it was time for Robin's second nap, so the three of us took off.  A little bit later, my parents and the Cochrans came over to our house and played some Beatles Rockband.  Robin had awakend by that point, so Mom fed him some dinner and played with him.  A fun time was had by all (despite the pizza.)

Thanksgiving pictures can take a backseat -- Robin can WALK!!!!!

Yup, that's right, Robin can now walk! My baby is no longer a baby, and my toddler can now toddle!

It's amazing. He's been ready for the last two weeks or so. He kept taking two or three little stumbling steps, but he didn't seem to realize what he was doing. But tonight it clicked. The first time he did it, Dean was looking away and looked back to find Robin standing alone in the middle of the room, but then he sat down. So we followed him around and tried to entice him with toys, the zipper on Dean's jacket, and a refrigerator magnet, and sure enough, he struck out across the open floor to reach said items! It was so awesome! He kept repeating the feat, so we managed to get this video. Oh my goodness! *sniff sniff*

We're so proud of him!

Updates

Robin has been progressing a lot lately, so I thought I'd make an update before the chaotic holiday season.  We're looking forward to the feast tomorrow, since it'll be the first big holiday feast that Robin will be able to participate in.

I am very ready for him to talk.  It'll be nice when I have a better idea of what he wants when he starts to whine.  He will mimic a lot more hand and arm motions now--we can spread our arms wide and say "love you THIS MUCH" and he'll spread out his arms, he will sometimes blow kisses or put his hand over his mouth and off and back on in rapid succession, reminding me of the Indian war cry noises I used to make as a child.  He will wave and still says "night night" before naps and bedtime.  He'll sometimes give eskimo kisses. 

He finally cut his fifth and sixth teeth.  They took a long time to poke through, but came out last week.

He's learning to feed himself with a spoon a lot better now.  He can get several spoonfuls into his mouth over the course of a meal, although he still doesn't have the angle right, so there's usually still some food on the spoon when he takes it out of his mouth.  He mostly eats table foods now, just variations on what we're eating, cut up small.  It's really nice to not have to prepare as much.  The biggest difference is vegetables, since most of what we eat is raw, and he doesn't have the teeth for that yet.  We've even ordered him a meal in a restaurant once.  We would've just given him some of ours, except that Dean and I both wanted shrimp, and the allergist recommends waiting longer before introducing that.  He shows preferences between the foods offered him at meals, occasionally dropping those he likes least on the floor.  He still pretty much eats anything we offer him, but he often likes one much better than another.  His favorite food is cheese.

He has taken a few stumbling steps a few times without support, but still doesn't seem to realize he's done it.  He did a lot of that yesterday, so it won't surprise me if he finally realizes that he can walk in the next few days.  Wouldn't it be precious if he does it on Thanksgiving?

He loves to open drawers and empty their contents all over the floor.  He has also learned to climb things (thankfully it still needs to be on a slight slope, so he hasn't gotten out of his crib or anything, but here he is climbing up the back of the futon.  His reach gets higher with every passing day, so we keep having to move things higher up.

He will sometimes follow commands--pushing the garage door button, putting an object inside another, come here--though he obeys the last less often.  He will make choices for himself--what shirt would you like to wear, etc.

We've begun the weaning process.  We went from four nursings a day down to three on his birthday, and from three down to two a few weeks later.  We ought to drop down to one any day now, possibly even today or tomorrow, depending on how our schedule goes.  Yesterday he only ate for four minutes on each side during his second nursing, so he's obviously ready to drop it.  I'm not sure how much longer we'll continue the morning feeding, which has always been his longest, and is probably his "comfort" feeding.  It's also somewhat for my comfort right now, I'm not sure I'm ready to give it up.  I was a little disappointed at how quickly he has been reducing the length of his feedings, because it seems he's more ready to wean than I am.

He's afraid of the vacuum cleaner.  It would almost be comincal if I couldn't see how worried he gets.  One day I had the vacuum in my room and was putting items up on the bed to clear the floor, and he wouldn't even come in the room with me, he just sat in the hall and whined at me to come get him.

Happy Thanksgiving, everybody!  We'll post photos of our celebrations sometime after the holiday!