Family Meal

We just received Iver's new high chair, courtesy of his grandparents, yesterday so we couldn't wait to start him on his feast of rice cereal this morning.  (Full disclosure: we did give him a sampling of it over the weekend while one of us was holding him, which is not the easiest way to feed a baby.)

He's warming up to the idea of semi-solid food.  This morning, I think he was more enamored of his big brother and sister as they assisted in the process before heading off to school.  Let's see how much of a mess he makes once we start introducing bananas and avocados ...

Transforming into Big Kids

It's been a while since I've written about the twins.   The reason for that isn't for a lack of things going on with them -- it's that there is so happening with them.

For starters, they've turned into completely legitimate swimmers.  Somehow we've moved from them kicking while hanging onto the wall in the pool to being able to do the front crawl. (OK, there was a bit of a gradual progression, but it seems like it happened overnight.)

On top of that, these kids are learning how to ski.  Yes, I realize that many kids start even younger, but in just a few weeks of lessons, the twins have apparently learned enough to take their first chairlift and not the wanna-be-rope-tow-that-burned-your-hands "magic carpet".

But the thing that is the most impressive to me is that these two kids have turned into readers over the past few months.  Although they've always loved books, we never drilled them about letters or sounds before they entered kindergarten.  We felt -- and still do -- that kids should be kids and learn at their own pace as much as possible.  

That said, we also have them enrolled in public school, which has very specific standards.  The expectations for kindergarteners must have changed, because I have fond memories of paste when I was school that year -- not deconstructing stories and being to identify sentence structures (no, I'm not kidding.)

Anyhow, the bottom line is that the twins have not only learned their alphabet and sounds, they have begun to read.  And write.  And do some pretty serious math.  I'm proud of them in every conceivable way.  But most of all, I'm happy that they are such good kids (most of the time ...) who can still be kids and enjoy an afternoon in the Seattle version of the sun blowing bubbles.

 

Standing (or Sitting) Guard

When you are hard at work learning the ins and outs of your exersaucer, it's always good to have someone on the look out for you.  Comet has volunteered for this position.  Whether it's when Iver is eating or sitting or, in this case, playing, Comet is often not far away.  Remember, don't try to mess with the baby while he has his guard dog on duty.

Swaddled No More

At our pediatrician's recommendation, we decided it was time for Iver to transition from swaddles to sleep sacks.  This might not sound like a big deal, but it sort of was -- at least to me.  Since the day he was born, we have swaddled him every time he slept (unless he was in the car seat, of course).  He's been a great sleeper so far -- knock on wood -- and I'm sure the swaddling had something to do with it.

But as he's getting older and more likely to roll over (which he hasn't done yet), it's apparently somewhat dangerous to let him stay swaddled in case he flips himself over and couldn't get back.  Hence, the switch to sleep sacks.  So far, Iver continues to be a rock star baby sleeper so I suppose he wasn't the swaddles after all.  Still, I think I'll hold onto them just for me.

 

Crafty Skills

For me, a hat appears only if I order it from the Patagonia catalog or visit REI.  In other words, I have zero skills when it comes to anything useful like knitting.

It's a good thing that our kids have people in their lives besides us.  That's how they end up with interesting scarves, mittens, and hats.  This one is actually intended for his older brother, but Iver couldn't help showing off this adorable robot hat, courtesy of our friend Tasya.  Now where did I put that catalog?

Tummy Time

We are finally getting back into our routine of school, work, and non-holiday festivities.  We had a snow-filled week in Bend, OR, after Christmas.  It was my first trip there and it is a beautiful part of the country.  The downside is that it is a fairly hefty drive from Seattle (7 hours) or even Portland (3-4 hours) where we stopped on the way in both directions.  I have to say that all of the kids were great travelers and even those long drives didn't scare away from going anywhere again, so that says something.

Iver has his 4-month appointment tomorrow, which always reminds me that I should be doing things like giving him tummy time every day.  Even though I fail my maternal duty to devote dedicated time to this on a daily basis, somehow the little guy has been doing the work on his own.  (I'm thinking he's doing baby yoga when I'm not looking.)  The result is that he's starting to push himself up and I think he'll be rolling over any day now on his own.  Since you shouldn't trust me on these things, you can see for yourself:

The Cutest Laugh

I'm not sure there's anything much cuter than a little baby's laugh.  Iver has been smiling for a while and  laughing quite a bit.  I tried to capture his full belly laugh -- which he does break out from time to time -- in this video, but he was a little shy for the camera.  Still, I think it's pretty cute.  (Ignore the idiot in the background making noises, that is, me.)