I was going to write a long post about how Emmett has really learned to walk since my last post, how he is adding things to his vocal patterns that sound like words (and are often accompanied by pointing to the object that sounds somewhat like that word), about how Andrea broke her arm and is suffering through a cast, about how Emmett is developing a thing that seems like a personality, how Emmett had an infection on his penis, how we have invested in the Clapper Plus, how Emmett climbed the slide for the first time this week, and how Emmett got to see his grandma and uncle, but instead I will just post a movie of a new game we tried out today and will post words tomorrow.
Sunday, May 31, 2009
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Playing catch-up
I have been meaning to write this post for about a week now. Now it will only get the quick treatment as there is so much to write (it seems).
Last week was Andrea's spring break, so the first part of it was to be spent with grandparents, great-grandma, uncle, and great-uncle in Susanville. The plan was to leave Friday night (April 3) around Emmett's bedtime so that he would sleep the entire 5ish hour trip. However, earlier that day Emmett and I were in the playground doing our typical playground thing and I got to talking with another parent as she has a kid that is about Emmett's age. While I was doing this, Emmett was climbing around on the play structure and, as he had been working on learning to walk, decided to stand up and then step down the step that he was on to the next lower level. I only caught this maneuver out of the corner of my eye once things were in motion, and what I saw was Emmett try to step down, fall, to the step, and then fall to the ground. While he was falling I rushed to catch him, but failed as I was out of position (and had forgotten that there was a part of the structure where he was that didn't have a wall), and when I got to him where he was laying in the sand, his mouth and face were covered with sand and he had the mouth open/silent cry going on. I should point out that this was a pretty high fall, around 4.5 feet, and I took a picture yesterday to share the near-disaster (with Emmett in the picture to give scale). The platform he fell off of is directly above him and the level that he was on and trying to step down from is about 10 inches above that on the right (when I took Emmett back for this picture it was our first re-visit of the site and I thought I could sense a little fear---probably just reading into it):
I picked Emmett up (knowing I should let him at least get himself up a bit first, but the parent that I was with was in a total panic) and it took a few seconds until the tears started up with sound, but they came. He cried for a few minutes while I tried to get the sand off of his face, out of his mouth, and out of his eye, but actually recovered pretty quickly making me think that he was scared more than anything (sadly, my second thought after my concern for his safety was a flashback to the discussion that Andrea and I had had at this playground whether Emmett would be hurt from a fall from that height to the sand and thinking that I was right that he probably wouldn't be hurt). To test out his recovery I took him to the gate, which is one of his favorite playthings, and made sure that he could use his legs and arms alright (my only fears at this point were a broken collarbone and a concussion). Everything checked out and he was fully recovered in a few minutes.
I debated telling Andrea about this, but did when she came home from school and while Emmett was still napping. She was a little worried (understandably) and didn't like the fact that Emmett was taking such a long nap as he had slept about 1.5 hours by the time she got home and would take about a 2 hour nap---long for an afternoon nap for him. Her worry here was that sleepiness is one of the signs of concussion, and I tried to tell her everything seemed fine but she really needed to see him herself. He awoke and seemed OK to her so we continued to get ready.
We didn't get out of the house until 7:45 or so and headed off for Susanville via car. Midway across the Bay Bridge Emmett coughed a little and then regurgitated a little of dinner. Andrea voiced her concerns that yet another sign of concussion had appeared and I tried to convince her that he had just eaten too much (true) and had spit up because he is in a funny seated position while I wiped the vomit off of happy, smiling Emmett at 65 miles per hour on the bridge. We stopped at the first exit to clean him properly and restarted our trip with me searching on the iPhone for signs of concussions in Emmett. I read the off to Andrea and she seemed to agree that it was just coincidence and that he didn't seem to be acting like he had a concussion. This would be the last sign we would see even hinting at concussion, so the fall has been moved from the worry category to the "make fun of Damon's bad parenting" category for Andrea. Hooray!
The rest of the drive was pretty uneventful with Emmett sleeping to Reno, waking when we got gas, and then staying awake most of the way to Susanville and never complaining the entire trip---even when sitting in his own vomit. Andrea's parents (pictured, left) were up when we arrived (1:00ish) and Emmett was very excited to see them and not very excited to be put to bed pretty immediately after arrival.
The visit in Susanville was nice and we were constantly trying to get Emmett to work on his walking. He could take a couple of steps toward somone who beckoned and would typically turn the last step or two into a lunging dive, so he wasn't giving the impression that he realized that this was actually an effective means of transportation. Also, Emmett spent quite a bit of time in people's arms, and it wasn't uncommon for someone to walk by him in another's arms and be greeted with his way of communicating that he wants to be in that person't arms (pictured, left). Lots of fun.
Being able to visit both of our families in one visit has always been a perk for having married a person from Susanville. It was great for Emmett to get tons of grandparent attention while he was there (being read to by my mom, at left) and helped him to get worn out and sleep really well while there.
We stayed through Tuesday afternoon and tried a daytime drive with Emmett on the way back. We timed it so that we took off around nap time and he slept through Reno or so and then was awake the rest of the time. I felt very guilty having him strapped in so long as he never is really tied down like that for longer than a half hour for feedings, in the stroller, or on the bike, so 4 or 5 hours seemed like forever. We stopped near Auburn to give him a break and then stopped in Davis to dine. Emmett was on good behavior and the people sitting next to us at the restaurant said they couldn't believe that he would sit there happily that long.
We made it home not long after Emmett's bedtime and he was really happy to be home it seemed---excited at all of the familiar things he hadn't seen for so long. I got up with him the next morning and took him into the kitchen with me while I put together breakfast. While my back was turned I heard the sound of steps and turned around to see Emmett walking from the table to the wall, so he finally had put it together that walking can actually be useful. It was funny as a similar thing happened with crawling when we returned from our Portland visit where as soon as he got home he made the transition from worming to crawling. If we would only take him on more trips where he picks up new skills we would end up with a prodigy.
The rest of the week was the remainder of Andrea's spring break. Our friend Laura came into town Wednesday night and stayed with us through yesterday, and spent her time entertaining Emmett and giving him pleasurable headrubs. She got to see Emmett pee in the middle of the floor with Andrea and I celebrating that he is figuring out how his body works. I am surprised she didn't leave right then.
The other big developmental thing is that while Laura was here I was holding Emmett upside down and a flash of white in his mouth caught my eye and upon further investigation I found that Emmett has his first molar. Andrea would later find by feel that there was another molar on the other side and while fishing something out of his mouth today with my finger I realized that he has at least one other molar (total three) coming in. Bring on the steaks!
Last week was Andrea's spring break, so the first part of it was to be spent with grandparents, great-grandma, uncle, and great-uncle in Susanville. The plan was to leave Friday night (April 3) around Emmett's bedtime so that he would sleep the entire 5ish hour trip. However, earlier that day Emmett and I were in the playground doing our typical playground thing and I got to talking with another parent as she has a kid that is about Emmett's age. While I was doing this, Emmett was climbing around on the play structure and, as he had been working on learning to walk, decided to stand up and then step down the step that he was on to the next lower level. I only caught this maneuver out of the corner of my eye once things were in motion, and what I saw was Emmett try to step down, fall, to the step, and then fall to the ground. While he was falling I rushed to catch him, but failed as I was out of position (and had forgotten that there was a part of the structure where he was that didn't have a wall), and when I got to him where he was laying in the sand, his mouth and face were covered with sand and he had the mouth open/silent cry going on. I should point out that this was a pretty high fall, around 4.5 feet, and I took a picture yesterday to share the near-disaster (with Emmett in the picture to give scale). The platform he fell off of is directly above him and the level that he was on and trying to step down from is about 10 inches above that on the right (when I took Emmett back for this picture it was our first re-visit of the site and I thought I could sense a little fear---probably just reading into it):
I picked Emmett up (knowing I should let him at least get himself up a bit first, but the parent that I was with was in a total panic) and it took a few seconds until the tears started up with sound, but they came. He cried for a few minutes while I tried to get the sand off of his face, out of his mouth, and out of his eye, but actually recovered pretty quickly making me think that he was scared more than anything (sadly, my second thought after my concern for his safety was a flashback to the discussion that Andrea and I had had at this playground whether Emmett would be hurt from a fall from that height to the sand and thinking that I was right that he probably wouldn't be hurt). To test out his recovery I took him to the gate, which is one of his favorite playthings, and made sure that he could use his legs and arms alright (my only fears at this point were a broken collarbone and a concussion). Everything checked out and he was fully recovered in a few minutes.
I debated telling Andrea about this, but did when she came home from school and while Emmett was still napping. She was a little worried (understandably) and didn't like the fact that Emmett was taking such a long nap as he had slept about 1.5 hours by the time she got home and would take about a 2 hour nap---long for an afternoon nap for him. Her worry here was that sleepiness is one of the signs of concussion, and I tried to tell her everything seemed fine but she really needed to see him herself. He awoke and seemed OK to her so we continued to get ready.
We didn't get out of the house until 7:45 or so and headed off for Susanville via car. Midway across the Bay Bridge Emmett coughed a little and then regurgitated a little of dinner. Andrea voiced her concerns that yet another sign of concussion had appeared and I tried to convince her that he had just eaten too much (true) and had spit up because he is in a funny seated position while I wiped the vomit off of happy, smiling Emmett at 65 miles per hour on the bridge. We stopped at the first exit to clean him properly and restarted our trip with me searching on the iPhone for signs of concussions in Emmett. I read the off to Andrea and she seemed to agree that it was just coincidence and that he didn't seem to be acting like he had a concussion. This would be the last sign we would see even hinting at concussion, so the fall has been moved from the worry category to the "make fun of Damon's bad parenting" category for Andrea. Hooray!
The rest of the drive was pretty uneventful with Emmett sleeping to Reno, waking when we got gas, and then staying awake most of the way to Susanville and never complaining the entire trip---even when sitting in his own vomit. Andrea's parents (pictured, left) were up when we arrived (1:00ish) and Emmett was very excited to see them and not very excited to be put to bed pretty immediately after arrival.
The visit in Susanville was nice and we were constantly trying to get Emmett to work on his walking. He could take a couple of steps toward somone who beckoned and would typically turn the last step or two into a lunging dive, so he wasn't giving the impression that he realized that this was actually an effective means of transportation. Also, Emmett spent quite a bit of time in people's arms, and it wasn't uncommon for someone to walk by him in another's arms and be greeted with his way of communicating that he wants to be in that person't arms (pictured, left). Lots of fun.
Being able to visit both of our families in one visit has always been a perk for having married a person from Susanville. It was great for Emmett to get tons of grandparent attention while he was there (being read to by my mom, at left) and helped him to get worn out and sleep really well while there.We stayed through Tuesday afternoon and tried a daytime drive with Emmett on the way back. We timed it so that we took off around nap time and he slept through Reno or so and then was awake the rest of the time. I felt very guilty having him strapped in so long as he never is really tied down like that for longer than a half hour for feedings, in the stroller, or on the bike, so 4 or 5 hours seemed like forever. We stopped near Auburn to give him a break and then stopped in Davis to dine. Emmett was on good behavior and the people sitting next to us at the restaurant said they couldn't believe that he would sit there happily that long.
We made it home not long after Emmett's bedtime and he was really happy to be home it seemed---excited at all of the familiar things he hadn't seen for so long. I got up with him the next morning and took him into the kitchen with me while I put together breakfast. While my back was turned I heard the sound of steps and turned around to see Emmett walking from the table to the wall, so he finally had put it together that walking can actually be useful. It was funny as a similar thing happened with crawling when we returned from our Portland visit where as soon as he got home he made the transition from worming to crawling. If we would only take him on more trips where he picks up new skills we would end up with a prodigy.
The rest of the week was the remainder of Andrea's spring break. Our friend Laura came into town Wednesday night and stayed with us through yesterday, and spent her time entertaining Emmett and giving him pleasurable headrubs. She got to see Emmett pee in the middle of the floor with Andrea and I celebrating that he is figuring out how his body works. I am surprised she didn't leave right then.The other big developmental thing is that while Laura was here I was holding Emmett upside down and a flash of white in his mouth caught my eye and upon further investigation I found that Emmett has his first molar. Andrea would later find by feel that there was another molar on the other side and while fishing something out of his mouth today with my finger I realized that he has at least one other molar (total three) coming in. Bring on the steaks!
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
passing the time
With drinks in hand, you will find there are two types of people: the sippers and the gulpers
Thursday, March 26, 2009
And then there were eight
Emmett finally got tooth number eight in. It seems like it has been forever since number seven arrived, and for almost every cranky spell or poorly-slept night we were quick to declare "yep, that must be tooth number eight coming in causing all of this trouble". We were never right, and number eight just showed up with little fanfare. The only difference with this one is that all of the sudden Emmett started doing this funny thing with his tongue where he was sort of sticking it out in a funny way, as shown to the left. What it was, we realized later, was that he is getting some body control and sense of changes taking place and was using his tongue to constantly feel the new tooth coming in---which is exactly what any adult would do, I suppose, but would try to do it when people weren't looking.So, what has he been doing with this newly symmetric set of chompers (four top, four bottom)? I went into the pantry and found that the skins of many oranges had been sampled and the limited tooth number made it so the culprit was easy to track down. I actually watched him as he did his work and he would bite one, it would taste horrible, so he would pick up another and try again.
This wasn't Emmett's only citrus adventure this week. On Sunday Emmett and I stopped by Belinda and Nick's house and they gave Emmett the first lemon off of their lemon tree. We were on the bike so he happily chewed on it all of the way home. He would make a funny face at first, but unlike the collection of oranges he had on the floor of the pantry, there was only one lemon so he kept digging, hoping to find improved flavor.
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Tuesday, March 24, 2009
...and when eaten
This video is an example of Emmett's reaction to my culinary treats, such as the one pictured in the last post.
Cookin'
I have been reading and cooking out of Alice Waters' latest cookbook "The Art of Simple Food." I think that this is officially my favorite cookbook I have ever read and it is improving my cooking. Unfortunately for Emmett, this improvement is not showing up on his plate. Pictured below is today's lunch: a mixture of quinoa, spelt, kamut, asian pear, flax seeds, goji berries, carrots, broccoli, kale, sweet potato, and black beans. He ate it.
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Going backwards
Emmett and I have an afternoon routine going, especially when the weather is as nice as it has been, where we go for a run (I run, he rolls in the jogging stroller) and then we finish up at the playground in the panhandle. For a long time playground time consisted of putting him in the swing and, if I was feeling up to it, taking him over to the slide (I would have done this more if he seemed like he liked it---he has a look on his face when he gets to the bottom like something has happened, he is not sure what, and he is not sure how he feels about it). One day, I believe it was with Andrea, we let him crawl all around the place and he loved it. Now when we go to the playground he will ride the swings for about 2 minutes before he starts pointing to the play structure and then putting his arms up to be taken out of the swing. Now my afternoons are spent chasing after him as he crawls all over the place, and the panhandle playground has many leaves and nut-like droppings all over the place---all of which must be taste-tested by Emmett where he starts to put them into his mouth while turning to look at me to see if I am going to stop him.
The reason I bring all of this up is because Andrea has spent a lot of time teaching Emmett how to crawl backwards off of the bed and I had some trouble believing that he had actually figured it out. Well, yesterday he and I were in the play ground and he had crawled all the way up this multi-stepped structure and was on his way back down. For steps that are about 6 inches tall he will just crawl down the steps, but I was watching him as he approached larger drop-offs and he will reach down with his hand to see if he can touch the next step (if so, crawl down), and if he cannot then he will turn and crawl backwards until his legs slide off and reach the next step. I could not believe my eyes when I saw him do it the first time, but he seems to really have it down. OK, not REALLY have it down, as what sometimes happens is he will check the level, turn and start backing, but will have turned only 90-degrees so that he is backing parallel to the edge rather than perpendicular, will continue backing until he strikes a wall or when he has backed long enough that it seems he should have reached the edge by then, crawl forward and turn to face the edge once again, and repeat. I want so badly to help him out of this repetition of a non-solution, but I let him go hoping that it will make him stronger. We will see.
Emmett is getting ever so close to walking and has been taking strings of 2 or 3 steps in a row. He has a lot of lean while he walks, so maybe it will be a bit, but he is getting closer.
Today Jeff and I took Emmett to a big open field in the park so Jeff and I could throw disc golf discs back and forth. Emmett was pretty content playing in the grass but he is constantly eating the flowers and the grass. I was thinking that this probably wasn't too big of a deal, but he woke up after the nap he took whinier than I have seen him in a long time and I was afraid that he ate so much that he was sick. However, after consulting with the expert, Andrea, after she came home we came to the conclusion that it is probably his eighth tooth that is finally breaking through. There definitely appears to be a bump there, so good money says that he is sporting number eight in the next day or so.
Other important news: the doctor called with the blood test results and his lead levels do not register on the test so he is good there. The other test concerned his iron levels and she said that he was on the low end of the normal range. As he is vegetarian so far, there was some question about how these would be but he seems OK and we are just going to raise sources of iron (black beans, greens, eggs, etc.) to pull him up a little higher.
I have fallen in love with pancakes or waffles for breakfast recently. It is pretty nice to make a meal that we can all eat together and that he can eat without utensils. He is actually getting to the point that he can take the spoon from me, put it in his mouth, and return it to me, but he is a far way from feeding himself with a spoon. Hand-eatable foods are so great, but it is pretty tricky to get some things into this form (mainly vegetables and yogurt).
I will try to take a picture or video of something---these posts filled only with words are pretty dull.
The reason I bring all of this up is because Andrea has spent a lot of time teaching Emmett how to crawl backwards off of the bed and I had some trouble believing that he had actually figured it out. Well, yesterday he and I were in the play ground and he had crawled all the way up this multi-stepped structure and was on his way back down. For steps that are about 6 inches tall he will just crawl down the steps, but I was watching him as he approached larger drop-offs and he will reach down with his hand to see if he can touch the next step (if so, crawl down), and if he cannot then he will turn and crawl backwards until his legs slide off and reach the next step. I could not believe my eyes when I saw him do it the first time, but he seems to really have it down. OK, not REALLY have it down, as what sometimes happens is he will check the level, turn and start backing, but will have turned only 90-degrees so that he is backing parallel to the edge rather than perpendicular, will continue backing until he strikes a wall or when he has backed long enough that it seems he should have reached the edge by then, crawl forward and turn to face the edge once again, and repeat. I want so badly to help him out of this repetition of a non-solution, but I let him go hoping that it will make him stronger. We will see.
Emmett is getting ever so close to walking and has been taking strings of 2 or 3 steps in a row. He has a lot of lean while he walks, so maybe it will be a bit, but he is getting closer.
Today Jeff and I took Emmett to a big open field in the park so Jeff and I could throw disc golf discs back and forth. Emmett was pretty content playing in the grass but he is constantly eating the flowers and the grass. I was thinking that this probably wasn't too big of a deal, but he woke up after the nap he took whinier than I have seen him in a long time and I was afraid that he ate so much that he was sick. However, after consulting with the expert, Andrea, after she came home we came to the conclusion that it is probably his eighth tooth that is finally breaking through. There definitely appears to be a bump there, so good money says that he is sporting number eight in the next day or so.
Other important news: the doctor called with the blood test results and his lead levels do not register on the test so he is good there. The other test concerned his iron levels and she said that he was on the low end of the normal range. As he is vegetarian so far, there was some question about how these would be but he seems OK and we are just going to raise sources of iron (black beans, greens, eggs, etc.) to pull him up a little higher.
I have fallen in love with pancakes or waffles for breakfast recently. It is pretty nice to make a meal that we can all eat together and that he can eat without utensils. He is actually getting to the point that he can take the spoon from me, put it in his mouth, and return it to me, but he is a far way from feeding himself with a spoon. Hand-eatable foods are so great, but it is pretty tricky to get some things into this form (mainly vegetables and yogurt).
I will try to take a picture or video of something---these posts filled only with words are pretty dull.
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