Proud climber

Nathaniel has become upwardly mobile recently. As in his climbing ... and loving it.

His main climb is the coffee table, which has long been set to the side of the living room to give him some play space. Recently, he realized he's big and strong enough to lean over the table, swing a leg up and get up on the table.

And when he does this, he looks so amazingly proud of himself -- he has a big smile, stifles a laugh and sometimes claps for himself. Extremely cute. The downside, of course, is that the room isn't quite so baby-proofed when the baby can climb on things, get further from the ground and risk falling. And he risks things. He's begun to climb up, then stand up, then wander to the edges without a care in the world.

We then move him back down, but he gets quite upset about us ruining his efforts.

Who knows what he'll do next?

House of feeling ill

While most of the region was enjoying the beautiful weather this weekend, those in my house were alternating between chills, hot flashes and all-out crying (last one was from Nathaniel, first two were not).

Amanda and I were sick all weekend. We alternated fevers with (after some medicine) suddenly feeling very hot because we were wearing sweatshirts in 80-degree temps. Achy joints and painful throats didn't add to the fun.

Then there was Nathaniel ... who has been a trooper through previous teeth eruptions. The latest, though, are some bigger teeth along the right side of his jaw -- premolars, are they? Whatever, it really looks like his gums just ruptured and these giant things are pushing through. It looks shockingly painful, and it explains his refusal to eat more solid foods and his difficulty in sleeping through the night.

All in all, it was not a fun weekend at the ol' homestead. I think we're all still exhausted ... and not out of the woods regarding sickness and teething. Yay.

Back from the ear doctor

Nathaniel went for a six week checkup this week after getting tubes placed in his ears. They seem to have been working fine and, in the week or so before the appointment, really doing their job.

That is, he seemed to have another infection, and it seemed to be draining out of the tube. Sure it was a little ... um ... unsavory, let's say ... but with so many other "unsavory" things babies do, what's one more?

Anyway, fluid was draining from only one ear ... and we found our why at the doctor's office: the other tube was plugged by gunk (although I'm sure the doctor used a better word than "gunk").

So the doc had to ungunkify the ear. To do so, they placed Nathaniel on a board with velcro straps, much like the board you might see in a sporting event if they're trying to immobilize a player who might have a neck injury, Amanda explained to me.

Nathaniel did NOT like the board. In fact, he cried as soon as he saw it, Amanda said. He cried even more as they strapped him down and started to poke into his ear (Amanada said the doc tried to hide the long, scary instruments from Nathaniel and her to keep everyone calm).

But it all ended fairly quickly, and now the ear can get to draining like it's supposed to ... we hope.

PS: Hope nobody got too much flooding in the region, and those who did get the help they need soon.

PS2: Best wishes to Shawn and Kim who should be having their second beautiful baby sometime today!

My baby's been bit!

So I got a call from day care yesterday. That's pretty darn rare, so I'm immediately concerned over what might be happening ... and I'm told another child has bitten Nathaniel.

I know this happens. A friend who takes both of her children to the same day care has told me of her concern when she got a call when her older son was the biter in the past.

Anyway, the room coordinator called me to let me know Nathaniel was bitten, but he's fine. Apparently, he was playing/sitting on a chair and another child wanted the chair. I'm guessing Nathaniel didn't even understand the concept of giving up the chair he was in (after all, there are toys all over the place, so why would somebody else get the one he already has?). Well, the other child decided to handle things by biting Nathaniel, according to the report, on the ring finger of his right hand. The skin wasn't broken.

And Nathaniel probably reported the incident by screaming/crying. He's never had something like this happen, so he probably had no idea how to handle it.

In a way, I guess, this is his first experience with bullying.

I hope they all get handled this easily.

Finicky eater

I'm very pleased to report that Nathaniel seems to like broccoli ... sometimes. Shortly after the broccoli truck post last week, I noticed someone responded asking what we'd do if he liked broc. I got to wondering about that, so I heated up some frozen broc from the freezer, and Nathaniel happily ate down several (baby-sized) chunks.

I feel like he eats too few veggies, so I gave him so more two days later, and he promptly began throwing it all about. Then I gave him more yesterday, and he ate it down, smacking him lips and smiling at me all the while. Very fun.

So I hope he likes the broc as much as I think he does. And if he does and the broccoli truck comes by? We'll just have to tell him the truck's broccoli isn't as good as ours ... that should keep things moving smoothly a little longer.

He's sleeping on a cot

I would not have beleived it, but Nathaniel seems to have no problem sleeping on a cot. They lie him down, and he's been out for a good 90 minutes to two hours.

It's possible that might even be what's helping him fall asleep at night now without getting upset. Last night, I put him down and he seemed wide awake, but he was out without making a sound and he hadn't even shed his covers (which would be a sure sign he had moved around).

I'm impressed/surprised by all this.

A big day

Starting today at day care, Nathaniel will be sleeping on a cot instead of in a crib. Amanda and I think it will go like this: They lie Nathaniel down, he sees there are no bars and goes for a crawl. Repeat.

We'll see how it goes ...