Reading with Wylie

Reading Harold and the Purple Crayon with my two boys.

Eight weeks and growing strong

Wylie entered the world weighing 7 pounds and 15 ounces.  The little man was not the best eater at first--sleeping was his top priority--and he struggled to gain weight.  Dr. Fischer was concerned when his weight stayed at 7 pounds 8 ounces.  Poor little Wylie was only eating enough to maintain, but not gain weight.  He wasn't in danger of dehydration, but wasn't taking in enough calories to thrive.  It was a vicious cycle: he was lethargic from not eating enough, but because he wasn't eating enough, he didn't have the energy to eat well.  So, Dr. Fischer sent us home to focus on getting more food into that little belly.  She had us feed him a supplementary bottle of breast milk after each feeding and feed him every two hours.  My shoulders and back ached from so much nursing.  It was exhausting, but it worked.  At his next doctor's appointment we were thrilled that he had gained and we could ease off the force feedings a bit, going to a bottle of pumped milk after every other feeding. 

This whole struggle with eating really threw me for a loop.  It took me a while to accept that Wylie was not Finn and was not taking to nursing as easily as Finn had.  Wylie and I had some work to do to get his eating habits up to speed!

I so appreciated Dr. Fischer's very cautious approach over the following weeks as she had us slowly ease off the extra bottles and come in every week for a weigh in.  Each time I put the little guy on the scale I held my breath hoping he had gained, and he did!  Now, at eight weeks, Wylie weights 11 pounds and 3 ounces!  I wish he would stay tiny tiny, but am so glad he's finally eating without extra bottles and still gaining weight.  Sadly I packed away his newborn-sized clothes earlier this week.  He is a becoming a chubster!

A step forward

In the midst of a frustrated-with-Finn moment, my mom reminded me to think, "two steps forward, one step back."  Here's an example of a step forward, more or less:

"Maybe I should change my pants," Finn said, walking toward the stairs.  This was in response to noticing dried up breakfast bar stuck to his pants.  Ironically the reason he noticed this problem with his pants is that he'd taken them off while going to the bathroom, and then put them on backwards.  Furthermore, when he came back down from changing his pants, he did not have any underwear on.

He is moving forward!

Sweet sleeping Wylie

Wylie and I enjoyed some quality time loafing on the couch today.

Tricks at the gym

Pretending to be a super hero.

Thanks to Grandma, Finn often enjoys an outing to the park district's gymnastics center on Wednesdays.  Now that I'm home, I finally get to go with to the much talked about gym.  I can't believe how agile and flexible and coordinated he is.  He lacks any fear and will climb and jump from anything.  Where does he get these skills?  Not from me. Here are some of his latest tricks.

Hanging out with buddy Caleb.

Annie

Yesterday Finn and I had a date night to see Hauser Junior High's production of Annie.  (Thanks to Dave Mason for putting on a kid-friendly show!)  It was such a treat to introduce Finn to theater, something I've loved since Mr. VanHook introduced me to musicals back in high school.

The whole experience was a joy.  Finn chose his seat: the last row of the balcony.  Right away he started asking questions.  He was curious about what was behind the curtain.  Waiting for the show to start he asked about the dog in the show.  Would it be a real dog?  Where is the dog?  The lights dimmed and I watched him nervously as the show started, wondering how he would react.  I was ready with snacks and even his "mini-computer" if he was bored, ready to bolt if he was scared, and ready with reminders if he was too loud or antsy. 

I honestly wasn't prepared to simply relax and take in the show with my fellow audience member/son.  That swell of pride that only a mom can feel overtook me as I realized he was enjoying the show.  It might be silly to be proud, but this felt like a huge milestone.  He sat still, he was interested; he sat still and watched and was entertained. 

At first he was sort of stunned by the whole thing and remained completely silent, but as he got comfortable in his role as audience member, he whispered questions, showing he was truly engaged in the show.  Where is Annie?  Why is that lady mean?  What is the dog doing?  Why is it dark?  How do those lights work?  Where are those mean parents?  What is that chair?  Why are they moving that wall?  Where is Annie? 

He clapped.  My little boy clapped, in the right places, and appreciated the performance.  By the musical reprise during the bows, he even sang along for a few lines.  "The sun will come out tomorrow."


The show was simply excellent.  Congratulations to all the cast and crew for a fabulous performance.  Thanks for making Finn's first theater experience so successful.

Lesson learned

We edited Finn's toys a few weeks ago, packing up things he never played with.  Those toys are now stored in our newly reorganized basement storage closet.  In big, clear boxes.  Clear boxes?  What were we thinking? The very first time Finn happened to look in the closet, he immediately pointed up to one of the boxes and said, "I need my airplane."  Sure, you suddenly need the airplane you hadn't played with for ages because you laid eyes on it at the bottom of a hard to reach box in the closet.  Next time, non-see-through boxes!

Feet

A little boy foot and a medium boy foot.

A first family of four outing: The Zoo!

The monkeys welcomed Wylie to the zoo, and he opened his eyes for a moment to acknowledge them.

Does Finn seem blurry in this picture?  Evidence that he literally does not stand still.  Sure we're here to see the monkeys, but why not climb and run and jump while glimpsing them?

Like I said...Finn really wanted to see the gorillas, or rather go to the gorilla exhibit; the climbing and jumping possibilities are among the best in the entire zoo.

Not only did Papa get to see the otters (they don't photograph well), he got to pose as one, too.

I'm sure the people who designed the new Great Bear Wilderness area were planning for little boys when they installed this circle of benches.  Never mind that the polar bears were nearby.

A great day!  (And, you can tell from the amount of stuff jammed into the stroller, accomplishing this outing with two boys felt a bit like orchestrating a military maneuver.)

Finn's gratitude

Lately as I tuck Finn into bed and hug him good night I've been asking him:

What was the best thing about your day?
What was something you liked about today?
What made it a good day?

Here are some of his answers:

-being a super hero
-having a shamrock painted on his hand
-going to the train museum to ride Thomas and watch model trains (we did this in September, but sure its something to be grateful for)
-"I didn't crash into anyone (at school)."
-hugs
-"I love my school.  I love drawing at my school.  I drew my house, the inside of my house, of my room."
-Zachy
-"lids" and then some confusing explanation about putting lids on cans at school...
-church, hearing the songs (even though that was yesterday and at the time he said he didn't want to go again)

Jamie and Dena's visit

 

Click here to see more pics.

We were thrilled to have Uncle Jamie and Aunt Dena visit last weekend.  I was particularly happy to have such easy-going guests.  They spent a lot of cuddle time with Wylie, played with Finn, and were content with little to no entertainment.  Dena hadn't been to Chicago before and the poor girl still hasn't seen the city.  But we did dazzle them with a grand tour of our little corner of Oak Park, including the bridge over the expressway, with a stop to see a train go by, of course.  

The meals were another highlight--a very pleasant shell fish dinner at Poor Phil's and brunch at our house with Mom, Dad, Joe, and Robyn.  Hopefully Jamie and Dena enjoyed the meals, too, since my definition of a successful dining experience is a little out of whack these days: 

• more than two minutes of uninterrupted conversation, 
• a beer, wine, bloody mary, mimosa, any cocktail, as long as it has alcohol in it,
• a sleeping baby,
• a content three old, regardless of the fact that he ate popcorn for dinner.

And, the best sign of a positive dining experience:  At dinner, Finn actually told us he had to go poop, scurried off to the bathroom with Jason, and returned excitedly announcing, "I pooped on the potty, twice, and peed!" loudly enough for the people next to us to join in the celebration.

Thanks for visiting us, Jamie and Dena!

Six weeks of brotherly love

Wylie celebrated six weeks yesterday and Finn is still happy to have him around!

Writing "F's"!

Just in the past few months Finn has (occasionally) shown interest in writing.  Here he is practicing his letter, "F"!

I Survived

My first full day with two boys and I survived.  It wasn't terrible, but it was exhausting.  I honestly don't know how stay at home moms do it.  I clearly do not have the stamina.  Tomorrow is Grandma Day and I am so grateful. A few reflections on the day.

• I didn't come close to taking a shower.  I barely set foot in the bathroom all day, and I usually pee a lot!
• I have absolutely no control over when the day starts (whenever Wylie is hungry).
• While I regret that we bought the movie The Incredibles for Finn (too violent), I was happy he was glued to it as I fed Wylie.
  
• Cherish the quiet moments--while Wylie slept, Finn happily cuddled with me and watched his movie.
• It would have been better if I'd timed it so Wylie didn't need to eat at the exact same time I was getting lunch for Finn.
• As Wylie's marathon eating continued Finn's instincts led him to try breaking every rule in the book to see if he could get away with it.  I sounded like I was barking orders. "Please stop climbing over the couch."  "Please do not open the glass book case."  "Do not climb on me or this chair while I'm feeding Wylie."
• Other than caring for the boys I accomplished two small tasks today--wrote one thank you note and dusted on book shelf.  Amazing.

Thank goodness we had parent-teacher conferences at Finn's school this afternoon, so my "full day" with the boys actually became appreciably more manageable when I passed Finn off to a neighbor at 2:45!  Thank you Kristi!

Getting Big!

Time to retire the blue teddy bear.  It barely zipped!

At his one month appointment today, Wylie weighed 9 pounds, 6 ounces.  Our little man is getting big.  This is up from his lowest weight of 7 pounds, 8 ounces.  (He was 7 pounds, 15 ounces at birth.)  We struggled during Wylie's first few weeks to get the little guy to eat enough to gain weight.  He preferred sleep and found nursing to be just too much work.  So, Dr. Fischer was happy that he is eating like a champ and said he can graduate to feedings ever three hours and a supplemental bottle only every third feeding.  Woo hoo!  The newborn sizes are just about too small and Wylie is ready for the next size "teddy bear," in brown. 

Wylie is also getting longer.  He is now 23 inches, up from 20 and 1/4 a birth, putting him in the 90% percentile for height.  He's in the 50th percentile for weight.

Wylie and Mommy--Home Alone

Wylie--One Month!

Wylie is one month old today, and he basically slept through the entire day!

Another fringe benefit

At the gym the other day, Jason tried to coax Finn across the room to the tissue box, to wipe his ever-running nose.  Finn insisted on going the other direction.  For once, this was not motivated by standard three-year-old disobedience.  He was walking toward Grandma and her conveniently located pocket full of Kleenex!