"I Feel The Need, The Need For Speed!"

As reported earlier, TJ is now mobile. He has two directions, forward and backward. He now has something else - speed.

TJ can cross the floor rather quickly depending on what he is going after. The more he shouldn't have something the faster he goes. For example, if he is trying to get a toy we put out there for him, TJ just lumbers along, stops from time to time to sit up, looks around and gets there when he feels like it. BUT - if he is trying to get to the electronics equipment for the TV/stereo/XboX/TiVo he can move out rather quickly.

Naturally, he is much more fascinated and drawn to the electronics. Or the dogs chew toy. On the latter, Poly is very good natured and rather than growling or snapping, she just goes and picks it up and moves it or lays in front of it.

All of this speed and fascination has led to a new word in TJ's listening vocabulary, "no." The word "no" at the right tone and inflection can stop him in his tracks just long enough to look over his shoulder, ponder, and continue on his travels. I go over, pick him and remove him from the area he should not be in and in the time it takes me to sit back down he is half way back to said area.

(Unfortunately, Poly thinks the "no" is always directed at her and she is getting a little neurotic with all of this behavior modification.)

So in the past week not only did we start to crawl forward, but also crawl forward quickly. Lisa is now going through the mental gymnastics of baby proofing the house. The physical gymnastics will be assigned to me, of course.

Yea!

Forward Gear

It's official! TJ is now a forward crawler.

The phone call came on Saturday afternoon. I was working at our annual AD White Student Leadership Conference at Cornell. Dad and Samantha were at home for the day on "baby duty". I could not take the call right away, but when I found the moment to call back, Rich said, "we got ourselves a crawler."

"Really!" I remarked. "How far can he go?"

"How far do you want him to go?" Rich said back.

Earlier that day as people were asking me how TJ was doing my standard remark was, "he is doing well. He is crawling backward, he just needs to figure out how to get it into forward gear." I guess he found it.

I am so pleased to know that Dad and Sam were at home to see it first. Yep, mommy guilt crept in. I was not at home to see the first crawl. But at least Rich could be a part. There is so much that he may miss in the future. . . so I will give him this one. He deserves it.

Now that it has been a few days, TJ is becoming more familiar with forward gear. His speed is increasing. But he still pops it in and out of neutral and reverse quite a bit. Baby proofing the house is in our near future. We know that for sure.

TJ's First Valentines Day

Happy Valentine's Day! Oh boy. TJ MUST love his mommy and daddy, because for his very first Valentine's Day he gave us the gift of sleep. Yep! That is right. TJ slept through the entire night. A first! Bed at 8:00 PM and woke up at 6:15 AM. Yippee!

Of course mommy woke up at 3:00 AM a little panicked that she had not heard a peep from her son. I did go in and check on him to see if all was right. Recently, TJ has discovered the joy of sleeping on his tummy. This of course causes mommy to stress and think "SIDS! He is going to die of SIDS". Yes, the "back to sleep" campaign really brainwashed me to believe that any time on baby's tummy while asleep is bad. But I am starting to understand now that if he can roll over, he can roll back, AND he is quite capable of lifting his head, his whole body, and even moving to a sitting position. However, mommy parinoia still haunts me at the wee hours of the night.

Now I have to be honest and tell you that while TJ sleeping through the night is a great joy, it also can produce a great pain. You see, if TJ sleeps-- and sleeps long-- my breasts get full, heavy and uncomfortable. They are ready to provide him with a little midnight snack, as they have for eight months now. I really think it was my chest pain that woke me up.

So I was faced with a dilemma as I crawled back in bed. I was happy that TJ was asleep. But I also was uncomfortable enough to know that I was not going to be able to fall asleep until I reduced a bit of my swelling. I did not want to wake TJ to feed him (and ease my pain). I liked that he was sleeping. But if I went downstairs to pump, don't you think it would be my luck that TJ would wake up at 4:00 (as he is accustomed to doing) and be hungry and have no snack waiting for him? After trying to talk to my half-asleep husband about my situation, I made a compromise and went downstairs to pump half of what was available.

Ends up TJ did not wake up at 4:00 like I thought he would. At this point in time it is hard to predict TJ's sleeping patterns. He surprised me this Valentine's Day. I have no idea if this pattern of sleeping through the night will continue. But for now, I am appreciative of the gift he gave his dad and me: a good night sleep (minus the 3 am pump) and a hope that more nights of peaceful slumber are not that far off for the whole family.

What a sign of love. Thanks, TJ!

The Big Sister

Samantha has taken on the role of big sister in strides. At first she was tentative about being "replaced". Sam, especially during the pregnancy, showed signs of anxiety over getting lost in the shuffle as the delivery day came closer and closer. She became a little more detached and a little more argumentative. (The fact that she is 10 going on 14 may also be a contributing cause.)

During Chritmas vacation Sam learned that TJ is not always the focus of everyone's attention all of the time. Obviously TJ needs attention but that does not mean that it to the exclusion of attention to her. For example, Sam and I went kayaking one morning. When we were at SeaWorld we took turns riding the Kraaken with Sam while TJ sat on the sidelines. This winter Sam and I go skiing every Wednesday and every other weekend.

The down side is that TJ takes up so much of Lisa's time that Sam feels shut out. Sam's "girl friend" has less time to spend with her. Its hard to explain to a child that the situation requires Lisa being more involved with TJ over Sam. Its hard for Sam not to feel left out when she is only with us part time.

Samatha with TJ is amazing. TJ lights up when Samantha is in the room. At dinner TJ sits in his highchair across from his sister and smiles. Sam on the other side encourages the smiling with faces (that she turnes "off" when I look over to her - what she doesn't realize is that I can see her reflection in the window). Sam plays with TJ and goes out of her way to kiss him good night or say good bye to him at the end of the weekend. Sam wants to be involved with her brother (unless he is crying).

As a father to both, I know that I am blessed. I know the relationship between half siblings could be difficult and challenging. However, at the outset Samantha is doing great. TJ loves his big sister and Sam loves her baby brother.

First Signs of Communication

Just a few days before TJ turns 8 months, we are seeing signs of TJs desire to communicate. That is, communicating in other means besides crying.

Just last week he started using the ASL sign for "more" when eating his cheerios. At first, when Olga told us he started to sign, I thought it was impossible for him to do this so early on. Really? He told you he wanted more cheerios? Come on. But then I saw it for myself that night at dinner. Granted sometimes I get confused between when he is clapping and when he is wanting "more", but it is obvious he is doing something intentionally.

Now TJ is starting to wave. A few mornings ago, I brought him downstairs after he just woke up and seeing his sister and father for the first time that morning, he raised his hand and moved it around as if to say, "Good morning!" It was adorable. Now he is raising his hand and shaking it in other situations too. I think he gets it. . . now he just needs to work on his fine motor skills.

It is exciting to know that TJ is starting to understand how to communicate. We plan on teaching him and using other signs in the next few months and I look forward to him picking these up too.

I Aint Nobody's Grandma!

So. . . get this. . . .

I was in a Wendy's the other day after a trip to the mall. I finished giving TJ a bottle and was getting ready to take him to the bathroom so we could change his diaper before the ride home. At that point we ran into a mom and her two-year-old boy. The boy was very excited to see a baby, so naturally, I stopped so that I could show off my son and have him interact with others.

We did the normal mom-kid exchanges. Ooh, what is your name, how old are you, I think the baby likes you. Yada, yada, yada. Of course most of this conversation involved the boy's mother serving as his interpreter. The mom was filling out an application to work at Wendy's and seemed a bit young and uneducated. Okay, maybe that assessment is not very fair of me, and maybe I am exposing my elitist side of me. However, I hope you will find that our next exchange totally validates my assessment.

After the pleasantries with the son, the mom looks up at me and says, "oh, are your TJ's grandma?" WHAT?! My mouth dropped. Did she really ask me if I was the grandmother of my son? Come on? Are you serious. I said, "no, I am his mom." What I really wanted to say is: "No. Some of us choose to wait after high school, go to college, get a high paying job, and then have children when we can support them." But I bit my tongue instead. Needless to say the conversation ended there. I think my tongue started to bleed by the time I walked into the bathroom.

I ain't nobody's grandma!