erik's first solid foods

The other day we fed Erik some rice cereal and he loved it! So he started solids at 24 weeks.

We had him sit in the high chair with us at a few meals first and he got to hold a soft spoon and bang around a baby sippy cup for a while (which we laughed at, then lo and behold Wren decided to do that with his cup too, so funny, yeah right). Then we fed Erik the cereal (with yummy breastmilk of course) and he got down to business. I think he's been ready for some weeks but we've just been putting it off because well, you know -- it's a mess, another thing to try to fit in at mealtime, and it'll make Erik's diapers stinky. But the boy wants to eat. He also liked a teething biscuit (Wren has to have one too) but couldn't hold on to it very well yet.

Tonight we fed him some applesauce too and he didn't just gobble it down right away like the "cereal", but he started to after he had a bunch of cereal and then we fed him more applesauce. He was starting to think, "oh yeah, this is the stuff!" So funny, he already opens his mouth wide when the spoon is coming and this is only the third night we've fed him! He knows just what to do.

ok Mommy, ready for my very first food!

teething biscuits, yum
Wren was really into it

all set with Daddy! (feeding #2)

firefighting

I keep not posting because I think it has to be some great post about everything because I haven't been writing on here anymore. I usually make it a point not to mention that I haven't written in a while, but really -- it's been like we don't even have this blog anymore! I won't apologize, I'll just write. :)

It's Halloween coming up already! Wren keeps asking me "is Halloween up yet Mommy? Is Halloween up?" It's because we say, "Halloween is coming up" so that's what he wonders. Funny! Hard to explain how there is a season for a holiday and the holiday is on an exact day.

We have a firefighter costume for Wren, which he has not put on yet. I put the word "yet" on the end of that sentence very hopefully. He is vehement about not putting it on. But the reason he gives is that "it's for Halloween" so ... we'll see. But Wren has spent much of his waking (and non-waking) hours pretending to be a firefighter these past three weeks. We have visited the fire stations' open houses and read several books we own and have checked out from the library. Wren takes various objects from all over the house and that is his firefighting "gear". He is really interested in fire extinguishers, hydrants, smoke detectors, alarms, you name it. He also really enjoys a Fireman Sam DVD. He's never really been super interested in one thing before to the exclusion of all else. I doubt this will last very long, but it's fun/tiresome/interesting for now.

rough times

Okay, this explains how I feel right now and why I haven't really been posting. Thank you, Moxie. And thank you, Jessica, for sharing with me.

http://www.askmoxie.org/2010/09/self-care-during-the-bad-stages.html

today

I gotta remember Blogger puts the pictures on the post in the opposite order than I choose them! Silly Blogger.

The first two pics are of Wren at the same age Erik is now (13/14 weeks).

The next pics are from today. Erik was reminding me of Wren with his giraffe!

Our neighbors totally providing Wren with hours of entertainment this morning. Awesome! Looking forward to more of this in days to come. Wren is watching a backhoe (?) at work.

3 months old and 39.5 months old

Today Erik is 3 months old! Can't believe the day I gave birth to him was that long ago already.

And Wren is 39 and a half months old. :) This past week, some kind of pretending switch turned on in Wren and he is making his little people and stuffed animals and things talk to each other and is creating all these scenarios and playing with Scott's old Fisher-Price castle and stuff. It's amazing and cool!

P.S., is anyone reading this out there? Comment if you are!

activity mat antics

Erik is so funny! He takes a little 20 - 30 minute nap every evening around 8:00 p.m. on his activity mat. Any other time he sleeps in his crib but he seems to like to take this snooze here in the family room.

Is there a baby in this room?

The other day I was cleaning in the kitchen and heard Erik talking a lot and saw that he found himself in the mirror! There is a mirror on the underside of the little turtle and Erik was just jabbering away!

12 weeks old

erik is 12 weeks old today! he smiles a lot and just started to laugh some. he loves watching (and listening to) his brother wren. he likes to take a 20 minute nap in the evening. he is soft and sweet after he nurses. it hurts his tummy for me to eat dairy or gluten, so i don't. yesterday he slept all day; today not so much. he takes a pacifier. his pacifiers have bugs or frogs or turtles on them. sometimes i think erik looks like a little turtle or a little bug. i love his feet - they seem wide like wren's. he's starting to squirm around to a different place when he's been sleeping - may be sideways in his crib when we come in to get him. he has almost always been able to hold his head up and stand on his feet. he looks around really well during tummy time, when we remember to have him do it. he is very calm and watchful during his bath or when i wash his hair in the sink. we love our little boy erik!

daily routine

Hi! We have been in a routine of getting through each day for a while now -- the fog of newborn time was probably a month, then less foggy for another month. The past month I have felt more "with it".

Wren seems to do a great job with his little brother. He is gentle and does not bother Erik or even pay all that much attention to him. It's good if I can spend some time alone with Wren each day.

We've gotten into a bit of a routine lately: Scott takes care of Wren and Erik in the morning until either 9 or 10, then I get up and take over while Scott goes to work. Erik has fallen into a bit of a routine with his napping lately -- seems to usually sleep for a couple of hours around lunchtime, which lets me take both of them out to a park or playdate or errand and be able to focus on Wren, then come home and we have a little bit later lunch and then Wren can play before naptime. Sometimes Erik will stay sleeping in his car seat when we get home and I can prepare and eat lunch with Wren and even get him down for his nap. Then I might have a few minutes to myself before Erik wakes up and I can nurse him and spend some time with him, then try to take a nap while he naps again. Scott comes home and we all play and eat and it quickly becomes bath and bedtime for Wren, then Scott works for a couple of hours while I am with Erik or getting some chores done, then bedtime -- this past week Erik has slept in his crib and done great - a few nights he's slept 5 hours then 3 hours -- big news! So great for me to get a little more sleep! Let's hope it continues!! Anyway, then it's time to do it all over again the next day...

making photos more private

Hi! I'm making our Picasa albums more private. If you haven't received an invitation to see them in your email and you would like to be able to continue to see our photos, send me an email or comment here to let me know! I'm not sure who all looks at them so wasn't sure who all to send invitations to (or maybe I don't have your email address).

soup pot revisited

Erik in the soup pot! He is 10 weeks; same age as Wren was in the pot. :)

Wren in the soup pot today at 39 months:

Wren in the soup pot back when he was just 10 weeks:

announcing erik!

erik alexander

born on may 5, 2010

at 5:35 a.m.

7 lb 12 oz

21 inches long

welcome, erik!

wren's new baby doll

Wren has been into babies lately. I mentioned this. He's been playing with a doll he has at home and also with a "baby" at preschool. But on Friday I took him to a CEA playgroup and there were some dolls there and I witnessed how much Wren liked playing with dolls a little more complex than the one he has, so when we left, we made a special trip to Target so Wren could pick out a baby doll to bring home. He wanted one that makes sounds and also with eyes that open and close. Unfortunately we didn't find one with eyes that work! But we did find a baby wearing blue clothes (not pink -- this is kind of hard to do!) who makes sounds and Wren is just so happy with him. He couldn't wait to get home to take his baby out of the box and has been carrying the baby around, often with his other baby ("both babies!") giving it a bath, giving it drinks and "snacks", pretending to change its diaper. He says, "oh, baby crying" and imitates the three sounds it makes. The look on Wren's face when he looks at this baby doll is precious. Earlier this week I took a couple of photos of Wren with some art he made at preschool, and yesterday he asked me to take a picture of him holding his baby. Right now the baby is sitting in a special spot right next to Wren's bed while Wren sleeps. Precious.

snowy day

Today is the big mid-atlantic snowstorm (the second one of the season??) and we have about a foot of snow! Maybe even 14 inches. Crazy! It snowed all night. It's the most snow we've seen since we've lived here. And what better to do on a snowy day than upload Christmas videos, right? I'm putting them on YouTube right now (see the link on the right). Enjoy!

time is flying

I have been looking back at photos and I can't believe how fast time is flying by -- those first pictures I have of Wren making sugar cookies with his little apron on, standing on the stool at the kitchen counter was a YEAR ago! It doesn't feel like it at all. And Wren is looking so much like a little boy to me now, but when he was a baby, and just a year ago, those look like him also! It's just... Wren!

talking about baby

We've been talking about our new baby coming and Wren has been thinking about his little brother lately! He got out his doll recently and the other day I was walking by his door at naptime and heard him "taking care" of the baby -- giving him a blanket and asking him if he wanted to wear overalls, and giving him pats. Very sweet! He's taken to piling all his blankets on the doll and saying the doll is sleeping under there (which is kind of funny because Wren still won't use a blanket himself! Has never shown an interest in being under one at all!), which he won't be able to do with the real baby!

Now we can see our baby move a little bit from the outside of my tummy, and last night I was laying in bed and we were trying to show Wren the baby moving, and he didn't see him moving, but all of a sudden says, "go get Wren's baby!" and runs to his room, returning with his doll. He put his doll under my shirt and was saying "hi" to the baby, and saying "baby say HI Wren!" then he'd pull the baby out like it was peek-a-boo and say "oh hi!" I made the doll "kick" him through my shirt and he really liked that. Wren talked about putting a blanket under my shirt with the baby too, and wanted to put him in my bra. We pretended the baby came out and cried and wanted to "eat" with Mommy. I think Wren thought this was all very interesting and a good visual for what his little brother might be like!

I have a pamphlet from La Leche League that has a photo of a mom nursing her baby and Wren is interested in looking at that. We talked about how babies don't have teeth yet so they can't eat food like Wren eats (Wren has actually brought this up several times when he sees a baby or doll -- "no teeth" and then shows me his) so they eat "special milk" Mommy makes. I think we need to call it "baby milk" because then Wren looked thoughtful and said he wanted to "eat Mommy's special milk" and was pulling at my shirt. Should be interesting to see what he thinks! He is around babies nursing sometimes so that idea is not foreign to him, and I think he remembers nursing himself somewhat. I just started checking out a couple of books from the library about the new baby coming and one about breastfeeding.

Also today when I picked Wren up from preschool, he was holding a doll that he wanted to take home with him -- he has mentioned to me a baby with a yellow blanket and today I got to see her. He showed me where the "baby" sleeps and how he wraps her up in this yellow blanket they have there. He sat down in a little rocking chair and held that baby with the blanket and did not want to leave. So sweet! Apparently Wren discovered that this doll cries and no one had ever even heard her do that before! He showed me how the baby "makes a sound" today too. As Scott says, leave it to Wren to find out how something works!

wren smith: the interview

wordless thursday :)

talking, sounds, leafblowers

Lately Wren has been speaking in sentences and adding things to the end like "okay?" and "right?" and using phrases like "that's better", which we think is really fun and cute.

He is really into Christmas trees and the lights and pointing out Santas he sees around town. He likes to shake his jingle bells and ring a silver bell we have. He loves music and making sounds and saying he's "making music". He has been asking me "what's that sound?" or just "sound?" about 100 times a day.

Wren is also still into cords. He has a small ball of yarn (after having to roll up a regular sized ball of yarn and untangling etc I realized a much smaller size would do) that he loves to carry around and unroll and pretend it's a vacuum or cord or whatever. Many days the yarn is totally wrapped around our house twice (circular area through the kitchen, entryway, dining room) after he puts it on his shopping cart and walks around with it. His "brown cords" is a bootlace that he pretends to "plug it in" in different crevices around the house. He wants to get his hands on our different charger cords and computer cords and we just don't let him anymore. He likes to carry around a pair of earbud headphones "heedbops" and then "plugs them in" our heating vents. He also likes to use all cords to pretend he's vacuuming. It's all very exciting. :)

Another favorite thing to pretend is "leafblower". He uses his toy trimmer outside, a bubble shooter, a bath toy, sticks, and even a certain body part (just once!) to pretend he's using a leafblower. He is very interested in seeing them around town. He likes the noise they make and the way the leaves blow up in the air is funny to him. Of course, we don't have any leaves in our yard so no raking or anything going on here. We have to keep our eyes peeled while we drive or walk around.

When we got our Christmas tree, he liked the chain saw they had to cut off the bottom branches. He keeps mentioning that now too: "people have saw" and "saw make a sound".

This is all for now. Just thought I'd get a November post in before it became December. ;) What's going on with you?

october!

I just put up several videos that you can access by clicking on the link to the right and put up new photos too (in Sept and Oct albums).

Wren is going to be a train engineer for Halloween and we ordered him a wooden train whistle to go with his costume. When I opened the whistle from the package, Wren was in the other room and I blowed the whistle several times before he came in -- you should have seen the look on his face! I know he thought there was a real train in the kitchen. He walked in slowly and had this look of awe on his face. It was so precious. I hated to burst his bubble by showing him it was just a whistle and not an entire train pulling up at the patio! But he really likes the whistle and thinks it's super cool.