Square peg; round hole? Make a bigger hole!

You know those old Fisher Price shape sorting toys? Do an online search for "vintage shape sorter" and you'll see what I mean. It's the yellow cylinder with a lid that has three holes for shapes. Babies are supposed to develop sorting skills and hand-eye coordination by popping the a plastic shape into the matching hole.  Well, two weeks in a row, my dear precocious 18-month old son has used that very toy at our library. (We have a similar toy at home, but everyone knows that the toys at someone else's house -- or library -- are much more interesting.) Either when he encounters the a pile of shapes left by another child or when I hand a shape to him and ask him which hole it goes into, he simply pries off the lid, dumps the shape or shapes into the can and clicks the lid back on. Done. Next toy, please.

You have to give him credit for problem solving a more efficient way to get the job done. Someday, he's either going to be a brilliant student or we're going to get a lot of calls from teachers. Or both.

(By the way, this same "toddler" is becoming infamous for sneaking into his siblings' classes. So he will be well known to teachers by the time he legitimately attends these classes -- and can verbalize his preferred way to do the assignments.)

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.

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?

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! 

William - Nine Months Already!

William: Nine Months

On Thursday, William hit the 9-month old milestone. Despite a mild cold, he had a great well-baby check up. He is over 19 inches tall and 29 pounds of baby awesomeness. He was pleased that this doctor visit involved no shots. Maybe that's why he gave the nurse practitioner several hugs. Not even a year and already the little flirt!

William has spent the past few weeks rapidly leaving behind all things infant and leaping into little boy territory. About two weeks ago he mastered crawling. He's been more or less mobile longer than that, with rolling, scooting and dragging himself along getting him where he wanted to go. Once the "real" baby crawl technique clicked for him, though, he was able to get places ever so much faster. Now we're back to baby-proofing everything at baby level. It's so interesting to see what catches his eye. So far William hasn't pinched his fingers on the toy kitchen cabinets, but we do have the oddity of a baby lock on one of the doors. William is fascinated with doors -- he's realized he needs to back up before pulling a his bedroom forward and crawling through. Then he zips down the hallway, either heading into Anna's room to play with the alphabet magnets or, more often, into Erik's room to bang together pieces of wooden train track. It seems that we have another railfan because William is captivated by Erik's various trains and train layouts. Good to know we won't have to pursue any new toys or activities at this point. William's interest in Erik's things means we have now arrived at the moment I've been fretting about -- keeping big kid toys (Legoland!) out of little kid hands. So far, William hasn't put anything other his own fingers in his mouth, but keeping the tiny stuff away from him is going to be a major challenge for our household for the next few years.

I was going to write that William is finally getting into consistent good sleep habits, but I'm listening to him whimper on and on right now instead of napping. As it's a Saturday, the day's schedule is just different enough to convince him that he might miss something if he gives in to sleep. Overall, he's becoming a good sleeper. After a few weeks of micro naps, he's been taking two solid naps a day most of the time. Now I can't seem to do any errands since I need to be home for his sleep time, but that's fine for now. At night he's always been a decent sleeper. When he wakes it's usually just once, or twice if he's not feeling well. A few weeks ago I thought I was ready to enforce the no-nightime snacks rule and eliminate our 11:30 nursing session, but when it dawned on me that it was one of the few times I could enjoy my littlest boy without company, I postponed the event a few more weeks. So, it was Mom's issue, not his that kept his night waking going. This week I decided he was old enough for us to all sleep better, and with just mild protest he's been doing great. The catch here is that he still has no teeth, which means once I get used to full nights of sleep again, we're bound to have a few nights of discomfort when they finally come in.

The nap protest continues, so I think we have a small grump to deal with today. I think we can cure what ails him with his second-favorite activity after crawling -- eating. William despises prepackaged babyfood (except Sprout chicken dishes. Good stuff. Even I could tollerate that, I think.) but nibbling on whatever else is on the table makes him very happy indeed. So, snack time, here we come.

A Nursing Mother's Lament

I am an accidental attachment parent. More or less, attachment parenting believes in following baby's cues rather than a rigid schedule of baby care. As it happens, I've found myself using several of the approaches common to the AP crowd: sleeping near baby for the first few months, "wearing" baby whenever possible, and breastfeeding. And, oh do we have the nursing thing down pat.

As a brand-new mom, I wanted to do breastfeeding for two reasons: it was a healthy choice and it was a cheap choice! After a few early challenges, Erik and I figured out how to get him fed without too much trouble and my career as a nursing mother was off. I was still a bit self-conscious about nursing in public when he was tiny, so he did get an occasional bottle, but they weren't received enthusiastically. In fact, his inconsistency with the bottle led to the grand pediatrician drama when he was two months old -- the doctor made me cry when I asked for help getting him to take a bottle more regularly, telling me babies have starved who didn't learn to take a bottle early enough. Fearing that I would starve my child if I wasn't home to feed him, I quit my job (and found a new pediatrician) and became a full-time stay-at-home mom. Erik nursed successfully till he was 14 months old.

When Anna arrived, nursing proved to be easier the second time around. Without the end of maternity leave lurking, there was less need to introduce a bottle and Anna was free to reject the few that came her way. It was easier for me to just feed her the old fashioned way, so that's what we did. I nursed her till she was 14 months old, too, just to be fair!

So, here I am with Baby #3. William was a nursing champion from his very first meal. Like his brother and sister, he tried a bottle a few times -- enough to prove he could drink from one if he wanted to, but he really doesn't want to. Generally, skipping the bottle routine is fine with me. I don't have to bother with the accouterments of bottle feeding. He gets all the healthy benefits of breastfeeding and I save no small chunk of change on formula. I get a great excuse to sit down several times each day and he gets some focused mom time. Everybody wins.

Here's the honest part, as much as I love breastfeeding my children, as the months proceed, my enthusiasm for it wanes. For three times now, I've managed to miss the window of opportunity when babies are supposed to learn to willingly take a bottle. That means I'm the mom the baby books warn you about -- the mom who is "tied down," who can't leave baby for more than a few hours. What's more, I usually nurse baby to sleep, which is a no-no to the "experts" who write the books. Believe me, in a noisy house like this, the little guy will have to learn to fall asleep from an awake state no matter what, but if he wants to doze off during a meal, I'm not going to interrupt his snoozing. That does means more crying at naps and at night time now as he tries to learn to settle himself down and I try to learn when to comfort him and when to back off.

I won't lie, part of the frustration is that the baby care burden is squarely on my shoulders. Either because I monopolize the child care (because it's my job and I do it best, right?) or because it's easier for everyone to leave the little people's needs to me, I'm the go-to-gal. I'm a nursing mom with a baby who doesn't want a bottle. That means no sick days, no days out on my own. It's all-baby, all the time. He's a cutie pie and all, but this is getting tiring. I would sure love a break.

The good news about doing this for the third time is that I can see the time for what it is. William is already six months old. He's eating solid food three times each day. As he eats more, he will need his nursing time less. Although the bottle irritates him, sippy cups intrigue him. Like his brother and sister, he's more interested in doing things the way the big people do. He's trying to pick up the cup on his own and once he does, he won't need me for liquid sustenance as much. He may still request "mom time" but once he's eating more traditional meals, I'll be better able to judge when he needs food and when a nice pat on the head and earplugs will do the trick.

I suppose the lesson in all this is that in some ways, parenthood never gets easier. It's easier as time goes on to understand what's going on in kidland, but it's still exhausting to ride out the challenging moments and get through the late, late nights. So, though I'm desperate for nights full of sleep, I know that the days are coming soon, when my littlest guy will be too big and too busy to need mom as much as he needs me now. Even if I'm up too late and breaking too many baby care rules, I have one thing going for me: nursing my babies will always be the one thing that I do best.

with William at two-days old

Never a dull moment

If anyone has any suggestions on how to keep my eyes on all three children simultaneously 24-hours a day, please share. I'm considering investing in sizable quantities of bubble wrap and developing a child-sized hamster ball. The mom-in-close-proximity approach is apparently insufficient to keep them safe.

Yesterday, Anna fell. I wish I could provide further details. Although I was just a few feet away, I wasn't looking at her at that moment, so I don't know exactly what happened. She apparently slipped on ice after school. There were no cuts, bruises, bumps or blood, but she has been crying off and on since it happened. Unfortunately, getting a straight answer about what hurts is always a challenge, so she told me she had pain in her head, hair, neck, ears, teeth, arm, heart, finger and toe. There has been no fever and most of the time she's been behaving like her normal self. When she needs to get dressed or climb into her chair for dinner, though, the tears flow. Yet, eating a cupcake or pointing at Christmas ornaments haven't created problems. After mentally going back and forth about if there was a real issue or a minor bruise, I decided to take her into the doctor this morning. The result: she has a "mid-clavicle fracture" on the right side. She needs to wear a sling for a week and go back for another x-ray in four weeks. As broken bones go, the doctor suggested it wasn't too bad. The break was minor and should heal itself quickly. Sigh. This was Anna's third set of x-rays in her three short years. By now, we are well aware of the short cut to the radiology department.

I had a sneaking suspicion early on in her life that Anna would be our Calamity Jane. She's so very determined to keep up with her big brother and his friends. This fall really isn't anyone's fault. The school had the walks salted. I was nearby. She wasn't running, for once. Still, she fell and has a broken bone. How can I not feel terrible? On the other hand, are we supposed to head straight home after school every single day and skip five minutes of me talking to other moms and the kids "socializing" with their friends? We parents, especially we stay-at-home moms, are commanded by media voices not to be "helicopter parents" lest the kids fail to learn self-sufficiency. I didn't hover and this is what we get: a charming, and resented, Snoopy sling. It isn't the end of the world, of course. It could have been a far worse injury and I'm sure we have other medical adventures ahead of us. Erik isn't slowing down, Anna is barely letting this event keep her down and William wants in on the action just as soon as he can scoot.

The boys have been less dramatic in their accomplishments this week. (This week? It's only Tuesday.) William has slept from about 7:30 p.m. until 6 a.m. two nights in a row. Delightful! Erik has his first loose tooth, so we may need to summon the services of the tooth fairy before Christmas. And let's hope that's all the drama we see for the rest of the year.

The Olsen boys: eating and partying

William tries cereal for the first time

After several weeks of staring at us at dinner and mimicking chewing motions, William was finally introduced to the world of solid food this week. He has had the standard watered down rice cereal in milk during dinner time. The first few bites earned a puzzled look, although no spitting it out. After that, he opened up like a baby bird and demanded more and more. Really, I think he's thinking whatever we're having looks more appealing, but he seems pleased to at least be doing some eating during dinner and not just watching the rest of us.

Since William won't be a full four months until the end of the week, this is one of those moments that showcases the difference between the third baby and the first. With Erik, I was determined to hold out on feeding him any solid food until six months because that's what the baby books said I should do and I was going to do things right! (Grandmas across the world, of course, fervently believe that a baby should be feed early and often, no matter what the "experts" say.) I think Erik finally got started between five and six months. Anna got her first real dinner around five months. Honestly, William probably could have handled solid food at least two weeks ago. I mentioned to someone that we were about ready to start him even though he wasn't quite four months. She asked what our doctor suggested, to which I responded, "I really don't care." It took me three tries to really, truly believe that we know our babies best.

For the record, I've also cracked open those free samples of formula for William's dining pleasure. I would prefer to always, always go the beverage by mom approach, but sometimes he's hungry and I'm busy. I've reluctantly accepted that no harm will befall him from drinking "powdered milk." There's no small amount of ego involved in feeding children sometimes.

And in other first news, I cut William's fingernails today. Not that he hasn't needed it many, many times before. This, however, was probably only the second or third time in six years of parenthood that I trimmed finger nails. That is Daddy's job! (And I have terrible eyesight and an extreme fear of hurting tiny fingers.) Except that tonight they were really, really sharp and both baby and mom needed them to be a lot less dangerous before bedtime. There was no screaming or shedding of blood on either side.

Erik: Dec. 11, 2005

And in other kid news, Erik turned six earlier this week, which is absolutely unbelievable. How he went so quickly from a tiny little thing to the tall, clever and exasperating bundle of energy that he is today seems astonishing. I could write a book on how it feels to be his mom. It's the most amazing, exhausting, frustrating, and exhilarating experience I could imagine. So many days, I feel completely undone -- worthless as a mom and better off going back to work anywhere so some more competent person could deal with my children. On the other hand, when Jamieson and I recently looked through old pictures, the ones from before December 2005 seemed so empty. There were a ridiculous number of dog pictures and some shots of places we visited, but nothing of the endless smiles and goofiness we've collected the past six years. I can only trust that God knows why he put such feisty, independent children in the care of such a stubborn, perfectionist mother and pray that we will get through the difficult days and treasure the good ones. Children are a blessing. Believe it or not, I love being a mom.

Erik and the present that Anna chose for him: a roaring lion!

William update: 2 months

William at 2 months

It's been a busy couple of days for William (and all of us). Despite my misgivings about taking three kids and a dog north, my Wisconsin-native husband suggested spending our Columbus Day weekend in his home state. Grandma and Grandpa were willing to put up with our traveling circus for two days while we all enjoyed possibly the best fall Wisconsin weather ever. We enjoyed a brief hike at Devil's Lake. (The big kids enjoyed scrambling up the boulders along the Tumbled Rocks trail. Someday they're going to want to go much higher, I'm afraid!) William enjoyed the view from his baby carrier, and eventually convinced me to turn him facing out, which he will like better than his previous view of my chin. The kids also spent some quality time in grandma and grandpa's backyard "maze" and entertaining, or being entertained by Max. Surprisingly, William slept very well while we were there and traveled pretty well during the long car rides. How is it that traveling with a full van was easier than those first painful trips with a certain oldest child? 

Erik & Anna at Devil's Lake

As always, getting back into the routine after a few days away was a little rough. We had some crabby little people yesterday morning. Back to school day today was good for everyone. 

While Erik was at school, William and Anna had the misfortune of going to the doctor's office. William needed a check up and, while we were there, I volunteered Anna for her flu shot. She was very brave. William yelped, but recovered well. I believe during our weekend Grandpa may have refered to the young William as a "moose." Um, yep. He tipped the scales at 13 pounds, 8 ounces today. That puts him in the 95th percentile. No wonder my back hurts these days! The doctor said everything looked good. He goes back at four months. 

For myself, I'm trying to get ready for my mothers' club's craft show this Saturday. Come visit us! 

Apple Time

We can't little the little guy get all the blog attention. Here are some pictures of the big kids at the orchard this past weekend. It was a perfect weekend for apple picking!

Turns out, the kids aren't that big after all. 

Apple!

This was pretty much dinner Saturday night. 

So tasty it needed concentration. 

William Tell? 

Duck racing

Joyful bouncing on the giant pillow. (Where can I get one for my yard?)

Bye!

William update: 1 month

Tummy time - he's starting to roll over when he's mad

At the orchard: "What do you mean I can't eat the apple?"

William has passed the one-month mark already. After not quite getting back to birth weight at the two-week check-up, our "little" boy made up for lost time in the past two weeks. He weighed in at 10 pounds, 11 ounces and measured up at 23.3 inches. That confirms what we suspected -- he is bigger ever day! William is already wearing 6-month sized outfits because he's just too long for the infant things. Getting him into his car seat and co-sleeper are tight fits, too. The doctor declared him perfect and, after he grinned at her and held up his head so strongly, said he was acting like a two month old. He's just trying to keep up with his brother and sister, but he's definitely beginning to smile, coo and watch us intently. No, he's not sleeping particularly long stretches at night, but, after a snack, he does go back to sleep easily. We have consistent evening fussy periods, so I'm not getting anything done in the evening, but he's so predictable about it, that I can't complain to much. Most nights, a he just wants to eat and snuggle, which is easy enough. He is a delight.

Welcome, William!

William looking at Daddy, just minutes old.

William smiles for Mommy. 

The big kids love their new brother. 

The Olsen Family, August 10, 2011

Hello, World. I'm William!

Introducing William Jamieson, born August 10. 

Our "little" guy was 8 pounds 14 ounces 

and 22 inches long.