William at 12 months: Milestones aplenty

Yesterday was a big day for Master William. For the past two weeks or so, he's been taking a tentative step or two here and there. Every day he gets stronger, cruises faster, stands longer, and generally seems ready to take off running. Yesterday evening Daddy, who was witness to the very first step, enticed him to take a few more steps and this time there was nothing tentative about it. He walked quite strongly across most of the living room and the whole family was there to see it. Of course, he had no interest in repeating it for the camera. Crawling is ever so much faster, you see. So instead I got the great video of our newly minted four-year old reading. Excellence all around!

As if that wasn't enough of a milestone, yesterday was the day William finally demonstrated his competence at feeding himself. Last week he deemed Mum-Mums worthy of picking up and eating. Maybe the crunch was satisfying for those four new teeth. I had never heard of them before last month when I bought them in a spree of grabbing every toddler snack in the baby aisle, hoping that they would inspire self feeding. Theorizing that maybe crispy round things were his thing, I tried some generic Ritz crackers at lunch yesterday. Success. He grabbed them and ate with relish. By dinner, he was an eating machine. Crackers, yes. Pasta, yes, but what else do you have. Ham? Yes, yes and yes! Breakfast this morning was a blur of rapidly consumed zucchini bread. (Thanks, Grandma!) As anticipated, the problem is now that he shoves too much into his mouth at once and gets crabby if anyone tries to do it for him. Anna decided she needed to serve him yogurt today, though, and he seemed happier to let her feed him than if I was doing it. Aside from the vast quantity of yogurt on his face, this worked out fine.

Meanwhile Erik and I labeled his school supplies yesterday. Today we went to Target to get the last few items, including red scissors. Foolish me for thinking orange would be adequate. Since we still needed to get Dixie cups for Anna's list, I was willing to humor him. No doubt in my mind that someone in this house will use the orange ones at some point.

So, a walking little boy, a reading little girl and a first grader. Whew.

Lego girl!

Anna and her new Legos

It's quiet time in our house right now. That means that William is sleeping and Erik and Anna are playing "quietly" in their rooms. Erik has spent most of the day building a diesel switcher and train station platform (with cafe) out of his Lego bricks. This summer he discovered the joy of audio books, so he's been listing to 101 Dalmatians repeatedly while building. Multitasking at 6-years old. Impressive. Erik gave Anna Legos for her birthday. It's the basic pink girl set. Admittedly I'm the one who strongly suggested Erik "get" them for Anna. I'm also the person who would have had a small fit if anyone gave me pink Legos as a kid -- too girly! Times change.

Until Thursday, Erik had every standard-sized Lego in our house in his room. Because of his love of trains and Legos, he is saving his money for a Lego train set. The basic sets start at $150. He gets about .50 to .75 per week in allowance. He will be saving for awhile. I love that Erik loves Legos and I have no problems with his interest in trains, but I won't be buying that train set any time soon, either. Why should I when he spends his time building train engines, cars and stations that are far more imaginative than anything I've seen in a toy catalog? It's entirely possible that he will indeed keep saving till he has enough, which would be a wonderful lesson in financial discipline. Until then, he has Lego-related synapses developing all the time.

Erik and one of his recent creations: subway station

Half the Legos in Erik's collection were mine, and I still feel pretty attached to them. As much as I love Erik's love for them, I also have two other children in the house who I feel need access to all the wonders of Lego building. For now, we chase William out of Erik's room and direct him to our collection of large Duplo Legos, but what about Anna? That's where the pink Legos come in. If we gave Anna a box of any old Lego set, Erik would decide that it should really join the other Legos, which just so happen to be in his room. Even with her new set, he argued that an orange piece (we think it's supposed to be a diving board?) should become his because "orange is a boy color." Um, no. So, the pink Legos make our princess lover very happy and they stay in her room because pink and purple just don't work with Erik's vision for his Lego railroad empire. No, it's not a box of Technics or Mindstorms, but it's a start. As I closed the doors for "nap" time this afternoon, Anna was building a house of her very own creation. I know that there's been an uproar about the Lego Friends collection, and I purposefully didn't bring that set and its doll scenes into the house at this point. They will probably come in time, though. Yes, I'd rather just giver her a box of any-colored blocks, but I honestly don't believe a few sets of girly Legos will damage her development. Anna is surrounded with a science-loving engineer father, a tomboy, book loving (fashion impaired) mother, and two all-boy brothers. The princess culture can only go so far in this house. Anna is a girl who keeps choosing books on robots, space and electricity to read. Last week, while she was prancing around in a princess dress she deflected my complement on her appearance with, "I'm not pretty, I'm strong." (You can be both, honey, and you are.) So, I can live with her current love of princesses, too, because I think my princess is on her way to royally great things. Thanks for the pink bricks, Lego. They work just fine.

August birthdays

Time for a tea party

We're coming off of a big week here at the Olsen house. Last Wednesday, Erik had a morning of basketball camp at school, which gave him a rare chance to do some sports. We aren't the most athletic folks around here. He was glad to see his school friends and even happier to have one of his best friends (equally obsessed with trains, thankfully) come over for lunch afterwards. He also spent some time on his bike which he has just figured out how to ride with no training wheels and, even better, no falling over! So, Erik had that as his special day, which was important when the younger two had big days next.

Not to miss the spotlight for any length of time, William showed us on Wednesday that he can indeed feed himself if he's so inclined. I've been fretting because he refuses to pick up food for himself despite his ability to use a cup well and to generally use his hands and fingers with notable dexterity for a baby. Baby Mum-Mum, a strangely named rice rusk product did the trick. He picked them up and ate them repeatedly. But only them. (Postscript, one week later: On a hunch, because he also picks up and gnaws round cork coasters, I gave him Ritz today. Same story, picked up and ate. Guess he only wants round, thin food. Hmm.) So, there's one less worry to hold. Baby can feed himself. Sometimes.

Sprinkles!

On Thursday, our little girl turned four. We opened presents in the morning. The Birthday Fairy (a joke I made once that seems to have been taken to heart) brought Anna a tea set much to her delight. Erik was very happy to show her how to build with the Lego set "he" got for her. (I apologize to my younger tomboy self for the pink Lego set, but if it's not pink it will be absorbed by Erik's collection. A girl needs her very own Legos, too!) Later in the morning we walked over to our favorite doughnut shop -- Dimples!-- for a birthday treat. We were a bit late in the morning for a full selection of goodies but the birthday girl was given an extra one just because it was her day. I love those folks. Glad we walked, though! As if that wasn't enough sugar, after lunch -- and our usual birthday reading of Dr. Seuss' Happy Birthday to You -- we made the birthday cake. I was feeling a tiny bit guilty for not creating a fancy birthday cake of my own for the day. Now, I think I will always have the kids help make their own cake. It's so much more fun than staying up late to make a cake I hope will be good enough. Anna loved helping to make the cake and you should have seen the decorating! It was a strawberry cake for our lover of all things pink. We frosted it white and then had a pink sprinkle side and and green sprinkle side in honor of the next day's birthday boy. Anna and Erik each took over decorating their halves and they did it in a big way. Children do not apply sprinkles gently. Half a bottle on each side. Wow. Jamieson described it as a Peep cake. It had that same so-sugary-it-hurts-your-teeth feeling. But the kids were happy, so it was worth the mess. For dinner we went to 2 Toots. We tried to let Anna chose a restaurant since we don't want to always be heading off to train destinations as if only Erik's interests matter. She didn't want to make another choice though, so we tried a different location and enjoyed it, too. Anna had a birthday cupcake at the restaurant. The rest of us refrained since we had cake to enjoy at home. Highly sugared all around, we called it a good day.

Happy birthday to me!

This was not the end of birthday celebrations, though. Anna just barely escaped having a birthday twin. (Sorry, kids.) On Friday, we celebrated the first birthday of the boy formerly known as "The Baby." William is now an official 1-year old toddler. Anna and Erik very eagerly gave him his presents. (Trying to hold them back from totally unwrapping them and playing with them was the challenge of the weekend.) William had the good manners to be interested in all his toys, even the diaper covers mom thought would be okay for a birthday gift. He seems especially thrilled with the trucks. Although anything with buttons has him smiling, too.

Daddy took the day off and we spent most of the morning getting ready for the big party on Saturday. In time for lunch Grandma and Grandpa G arrived to enjoy some pre-party time with the kids, including a walk to the park to see the monkeys play.

On Saturday we were ever so grateful for the absolutely beautiful day. After the dry hot summer we've had, I was bracing for a houseful of people trying to avoid the heat. What we got was a sunny, breezy day in the 70s. It was absolutely perfect. We had all the grandparents and many good friends. The kids were able to stay in the yard and play. They were pretty well entertained with our collection of fabric tents and tunnels, a ball pit made from the wading pool, a craft table to make sun visors and bubbles aplenty. We ended up with way too much leftover food, but that means no cooking for our own meals right after the party. Yay!

It's so hard to believe that our little William is an entire year already, although his newly toothy grin makes him look more like a little boy and a lot less like a baby. Even Anna moving from 3 to 4 sounds like quite the age jump. In just a week she and Erik will begin a new school year. The kids are all getting big rather quickly. I'm doing my best to appreciate these little kid years. They wear me out, but I couldn't be more proud of all of them. What a blessing to watch them grow.

Seriously, folks? A pink cake? Do I have to share birthday stuff with my sister every year?

William at 11 months: Doing my own thing

Good morning, William!

I've been thinking about what I wrote yesterday about William. Unfortunately, he didn't magically learn to feed himself over night. Despite what the Baby Center told me this morning "wordlike sounds" are not "spilling out" of my now 11-month old baby. And, as long as we're on the subject of what's not happening, he hasn't started running after his siblings, despite many predictions on the amazing skills of the third baby. So, natural momma reaction is to start fretting. Hard. What if he's, gasp, "slow"???

Deep breath time. Look at that face. Adorable, right? That is one happy baby. William is adept at communicating hunger, getting fed and eating well. He chatters all the time, including a well-placed "Da" a few days ago when I carried him into a room and he saw Daddy. He also seemed to be singing along with one of the hymns at church on Sunday if the looks from folks in the other pews are to be believed. He's been crawling and cruising well and now he's starting to stand independently here and there, so the walking will begin soon. Above all, William does not sit in the corner like a lump. There's a lot going on around him all the time and he is happily engaged in all of it. If he isn't feeding himself or talking in sentences yet, it's probably just because he hasn't needed to. The people around him, big and little, are apparently meeting his needs to his liking.

It's hard not to get antsy about baby milestones even when the process is old hat. Everyone wants to have bragging rights -- good sleeping, good eating, good walking, good talking -- and it would be nice to have those first before everyone else (because he is the best baby in the world, right?). Except babies, and bigger kids too, aren't learning their various skills to appease family egos. Sleeping, eating, riding a bike -- it all comes when the minds and bodies are ready, not because some checklist said it should be mastered by now or because all the other kids in the neighborhood are doing it.

So, here's what I'm learning from William: slow down, Mom. This is my baby who was induced two days after his due date. Odds are good that left up to him, he would have been one of those week or two "overdue" babies. He was happy in the womb; he was happy to look around when he got kicked out. He is learning and doing at his own pace. It may not be my pace, but it works for him. You know what he is best at? Love. He is a snuggler. He knows how to give big, delicious hugs and he knows how to receive them. Several times a day, he gets a bear hug and "I love you, William" from his sister. From his brother, he gets constant encouragement and a few well-placed hugs, too. So, do your own thing, William. No matter where you go in life, you are already a success.

Joy!

Love!

Dinner time blues

This adorable young man REFUSES to feed himself, despite totally mastery of the cup, a delight in mushing food all over the place, and no refusal to anything coming his way via spoon. He will happily crawl across dry grass to play in dirt and mulch, delights in the bathtub (and dog dishes) and grabs anything and everything he can find, so we're not looking at a tactile sensitivity issues near as I can tell. He can throw a ball with accuracy, so I'm pretty sure the fine motor skills are developing well. What I do know is he's the only baby his age -- 11 months -- who isn't feeding himself. Most likely, he's on his own timeline. He eats every meal with us, but the best way to get attention is, of course, refusing to feed himself. He's already learned how to push mom's buttons. (Side note, whoever came up with the parenting advice of not letting kids get a rise out of you, come up with something else. When the kids annoy me, I appear annoyed. Seems like the world could use a little more honesty about emotions, rather than less, but I digress.) Unfortunately, this refusal to put the food in his hands into his mouth is making his parents a little crazy because it just seems odd. We're considering putting a stack of Oreos on his tray, just to entice him, but he will probably just throw them on the floor, like he throws everything on the floor. Seems like a waste of a good cookie to me. So, chances are that this soon-to-be one year old will end up with very little birthday cake unless he gets this eating thing figured out soon. Feed yourself already, kid! 

Here we go again

Of course I can't let this one sneak by: Cherie Blair, wife of the former British prime minister, has declared that women who stay at home full-time with their kids aren't setting a good example for their children. Sigh. Very exciting to know that I am a "yummy mummy." Seriously, wasn't the point of feminism to give women CHOICES, not to guilt women into fulfilling someone else's life ambitions? I can assure you children raised by a full-time at-home mom have NO problem with a "sense of independence." Let's call it what it is folks: if you aren't earning money, society calls you worthless. Please, someone look me in the eye and tell me that I'm wasting my time and education. Otherwise can we stop demanding that the only women who dare call themselves feminists or even good mothers are those who refuse a life that looks remotely like the life of a woman from our grandmothers' era. 

Remembering Grandpa

Grandpa and "Christy" 

This past Sunday marked 10 years since my grandfather, Ernest Steinhorst, passed away. I still have to remind myself sometimes that he and Grandma aren't in their old house on Fifth Street, which makes me so very sad. There's nothing I would enjoy more than introducing them to my kids. I know Grandma would fill them full of cookies. I can picture Grandpa letting them sit on his lap while they look at books. I think they would have been tickled to fill their tiny house with yet more great-grandkids.

Grandma visiting with Callie and Molly, 2004

By some standards, my grandparents may not be memorable. They were farm folks of limited formal education. They were soft-spoken people who lived simply. I can tell you, though, that it's because of them, that I am who I am and I do what I do. Every year our family would file into "their" church pew on Christmas Eve. My humble grandparents would beam with joy to have everyone home for Christmas. I have never seen anyone of business or wealth or status who was as happy as they were just to be with family. Because of them, I can be home with my children every day knowing that I don't have to do anything else with my life for it to be a success. From Ernest and Dorothy Steinhorst I learned that a life well lived is one in which you work hard, put your faith in God and cherish family. Anything beyond that is just icing on the cake.

Grandma and Grandpa, I love you and miss you.