Tate's New Moves

After weeks of trying to figure things out, Tate is finally able to get up on his hands and knees and move--albeit backward. It's still a pretty slow move, but he seems pretty proud of himself. I took some pictures, but blogger hasn't been letting me post, so I'll try to post them another time. He is pretty much as happy as could be as long as someone is paying attention to him.

We had a great weekend over here. Saturday Susan took me out for a day of shopping (where I splurged on 3 pair of jeans), hanging out in Rockford and then going to dinner at Bonefish Grill. Lance's parents came in that day and on Sunday we went to Crane's to pick an alarming amount of apples. Rowan had a blast and Tate was as content as could be in the Baby Bjorn. I think I'll be making all sorts of apple treats the next week or so. Sunday night we played at the park where Rowan loved attmepting to climb the rock wall and going across the "mushrooms" all by herself.

Today was a playdate with Cooper and Lindsay at the Outdoor Discovery Center. Lots and lots of walking outside. Maybe a bit too much. At one point I had Tate in the Baby Bjorn and was giving Rowan a piggyback ride. Then bootcamp tonight. We've been busy and have a really busy week. We're loving the slightly cooler, but still warm weather and are getting outside as much as we can.

My Little Pica

So, for as long as she's been able to feed herself, Rowan has penchant for eating. Unfortuantely her cravings are not for food. While I can sit at the dinner table practically begging her to eat something other than cheese or yogurt to no avail, she has no problem picking up random flowers, bugs, pieces of dirt and popping them right into her mouth, a special little snack. Her most recent craving, however, has been wood and paint chips from her window sill. Every morning when I hear her start to wake up, I head into her room and she is standing at the window. I give her a look and she says "Mommy, I was just looking out at the little girl." I look out the window. No little girl. "I was just looking at the trees, Mommy." But, the chunks missing from the window sill tell another story. And the paint chips on her tongue kind of blow her cover.

At first I thought it was pretty funny. But it is now getting to the point that I'm thinking she really might have pica. When I was telling stories about Rowan to some friends, an OB friend of mine said "You should really have her hemoglobin checked." So, we may just have to do it. Here's what kidshealth.com has to say about pica: "Many young kits put nonfood items in their mouths at one time or another. They're naturally curious about their environment and might, for instance, eat some dirt out of the sandbox. Kids with pica, however, go beyond this innocent exploration of their surroundings. As many as 25% to 30% of kids (and 20% of those seen in mental health clinics) have the eating disorder pica, which is characterized by persistent and compulsive cravings (lasting 1 month or longer) to eat nonfood items. People with pica frequently crave and consume nonfood items such as:

dirt
clay
paint chips
plaster
chalk
cornstarch
laundry starch
baking soda
coffee grounds
cigarette ashes
burnt match heads
cigarette butts
feces
ice
glue
hair
buttons
paper
sand
toothpaste
soap


Look for these warning signs that your child may have pica:

*repetitive consumption of nonfood items, despite efforts to restrict it, for a period of at least 1 month or longer
*the behavior is considered inappropriate for your child's age or developmental stage (older than 18 to 24 months)
*the behavior is not part of a cultural, ethnic, or religious practice"

So, on the list, she has consumed (and seems to enjoy consuming)all of these items with the exception of cigarette/match related items and the laundry starch, which she has never come into contact with.

Tate, on the other hand, is now eating baby food and loves everything we give him, though oatmeal is probably his least favorite. He gets all excited when he sees me coming with a bowl or a baby food container and is clearly upset when it's all done. Kind of like the Baby Bjorn, which I think he would hang out in all day, but he is really getting too big. He's so happy and smiley, especially early in the morning. I'll do my best to keep him away from paint chips--at least for a while.

Tate's Six Month Stats

So my little guy is already six months old. He's now a full 26.5 inches long and 18 pounds. Though that sounds enormous to me (Rowan was 18 pounds, 14 ounces at a year), it's actually about the 5oth percentile for both weight and height. The doctor said "That's just the normal amount of chub." He can sit, roll over and babble. He wants to move, but isn't quite there yet. When he cries, he sounds like he's saying "mama", though I know he's really not. Poor little thing has quite a cold, though, and has kept us up quite a bit at night crying, coughing and wanting to eat. He's getting better, so I'm hoping he'll sleep better, too!

The weather this weekend was beautiful. Lots of time at the park, doing sidewalk chalk, cheering on the Panthers and going to Carnival on the Grand where Rowan loved the bounce houses, the carousel and her first taste of cotton candy. We also found out some big news! Monica, Robert, Hope and Grace are moving to Chicago! We're so ezcited to have them close by. Though I am now wishing we had just bought the really big house we originally thought we wanted. Not sure how everyone will fit over here!

If only I had packed my videocamera...

I could have recorded the scene in my mom's kitchen tonight--Tate laughing uncontrollably at Michelle's ghetto fabulous, completely inappropriate dance moves. Hysterical.

Fleeting Moments

So, I haven't really been inspired to write lately. Not because nothing has been going on--maybe the opposite, really. By the time I fall into bed at night, I just want to read myself to sleep. So, the laptop has been collecting dust under the bed. This past week, though, Tate reached a few big milestones and I can't imagine not recording them.

Tate is now a full six months old. I can't believe it. He is getting so big so quickly. Just this morning I was in his room trying to reorganize his drawers with clothes that still fit and I realized that the majority of the clothes were too small and are now being replaced with 6-9 or even 6-12 month clothes. It's a little sad putting away those tiny little outfits and realizing that my little baby isn't so little anymore. As Rowan says "He's getting bigger and bigger every day".

This past week Tate got his first teeth, of course choosing to do so while Lance is out of town. The empty space in the bottom front of his mouth is now filled with two little pearly stumps. They're still not really visible when he smiles, so I get to soak in the gummy grin a bit longer. Tate's favorite activities are watching his sister, playing with toys, rolling over and over and over, "standing" while being held and dancing in the mirror. He also still loves to be carried in the Baby Bjorn, but as he's nearing 20 pounds, I'm not sure my back can take it much longer. I have no idea what I'm going to do them. Tate is also becoming a bit of a mama's boy. I used to be able to hand him off to a stranger without any problems, but this Sunday, I was paged in church to come get him and today he cried every time Lindsay tried to hold him for me. So, I'm trying to enjoy the fleeting moments of cuddle time with my little guy. I can already tell he's going to be busy like his sister wiith time to cuddle only if he's very sick or very tired.

Rowan has lately decided that she can only sleep with her light on. As soon as she's all tucked in and I close the door to her room, she hops out of bed and turns on her light. Tonight I didn't even bother turning it off. She's also either skipping her nap and falling right asleep at night or napping and staying in her room at night, talking to herself, her stuffed animals or me, through the monitor, until around 11. I'm hoping it's just a phase and she'll go back to napping and falling asleep at a normal time. Fortunately the silver belt is still working like a charm.

Today at our playdate with Cooper, Rowan and Cooper drove the Power Wheel around. Rowan, having never been on a Power Wheel, got quite a kick out of using the gas pedal, but clearly had no idea what the steering wheel was for. She ran into pretty much everything in their backyard and Cooper refused to be the passenger while she was driving. He got her back later, though, by running over her foot. I was crying I was laughing so hard. It's so Rowan, though, to just hit the ground running with no idea what's in front of her.

Yesterday baby Maya was born, so today I went through all of Rowan's baby clothes and packed them up to take to Andrea and David. A sea of pink with lots of flowers and an occasional duck. Unlike Tate, Rowan, who was so tiny and grew so slowly, seemed like she wore those clothes forever before moving into the next size. But here she is, two years old, growing up before my eyes. And her little brother following closely behind.

Am I Raising a Racist?

I'm sure this will not be my most politically correct blog of all time, but I'm finding myself wondering what to do about my current dilemma. You see, Rowan has these little magnetic dolls that she loves to play with. She can dress them in little magnetic outfits, have them carry a purse or an umbrella, put fun shoes on them, etc. We've been using them as a reward when she goes potty. Anyway, there is a blond girl named Amanda and an African American girl named Kate. For quite a while, Rowan really didn't show a preference for one over the other. But lately, she's all about Amanda. She wants to play with Amanda and keep Kate in the case or let me or Lance play with Kate. And as I look around at our friends and the kids she plays with regularly and, sure enough, they all look like Amanda. Her best friend in Charlotte was half Vietnamese and her cousin Nathan is half Vietnamese, but here in the sprawling metropolis of Byron Center, it's pretty homogenous. In fact, I think Rowan might be the oddball by being the only brunette in the neighborhood. So, my question is, what do I do about this? I mean, I can't really scope out people with different ethnicities and try to make them become friends with us, can I? And, if so, where do I scope them out? Can you imagine that newspaper ad? "Mother of two seeking children of color to encourage inclusivity in her children. I will provide snacks, toys and anything else necessary for a fun playdate. You provide ethnicity. Dutch need not apply." Don't get me wrong, I love all of our friends and I love that we all have so much in common. I just have a feeling this will be something we'll be working on for a while. Hopefully our naughty black dogs aren't to blame...

Girls' Weekend 2008

Finally--time to write about our 7th annual Girls' Weekend. Though our weekends are generally very low stress, I come home absolutely exhausted. For some reason, we stay up very late and wake up very early. And upon coming home, my father-in-law stayed until this morning, so I found myself with no time to write.

So, this year, we opted to spoil ourselves completely. Dinner on the deck at Bostwick Friday, pedicures on the Kooistra's back porch lasted pretty much all afternoon Saturday and then we spent the evening with our chef making (watching her make) a ridiculously good meal including shrimp and saffron rice, asparagus straws, beef tenderloin with horseradish whipped cream, hummus and pita chips, goat cheese pesto torta and a delicious chocolate tart with lavender whipped cream. We had also been eating and drinking all day. A boat ride Sunday afternoon and lots and lots of talking about actual adult subjects. No one needed their food cut into tiny pieces. We all got to meet sweet little Anders, but enjoyed a break from the other children for a weekend.

Tate, evidentally, did well while I was gone. He took several bottles--initially with some resistance, but he didn't starve. Grandma Mary and Grandpa Carl came on Saturday so of course Rowan was more than content. I'm kind of thinking this whole weekend away thing needs to happen way more than once a year--maybe seasonally. So, if anyone is up for a weekend trip in the fall, just let me know.