PDX w/ Grandma

We took a quick trip down to Portland last weekend to visit Grandma Ruth.  Full disclosure: I'm the one who helped the twins fashion their sling shots.  I have no idea why, but this is what you get when you have a courtyard full of sticks and a couple of rubber bands, I suppose.

This is a photo of Iver sleeping, because, well, apparently people can never take too many photos of their sleeping baby -- even if they probably all do look pretty much alike ...

Not Going Bananas for Bananas

Now that Iver is officially 6 months old (no, I can't believe it either), we have been introducing various solid foods into his diet.  For the past few weeks, we have offered him rice cereal once a day, usually in the morning.  Last week, we tried avocados.  This week, it was bananas.  You can see the reaction.  I wouldn't say it's utter disgust, but more like confusion as to why these parents of mine would put this weird substance in my mouth.

The Ultimate Yogi

I used to do yoga very regularly when I lived in Massachusetts, as in three to five times a week.  Now that I'm approaching 40 years old (OK, it's still 8 months away) and I only get to yoga occasionally, I can only dream of certain ranges of flexibility.

This is all heightened by having a nearly 6-month-old who can put his toes in his mouth.  I tried to capture this feat with the iPhone camera, but couldn't quite manage it.  But, trust me, he can do it (like most babies, I'm sure).  Why can't adults retain some this?  Instead I feel creaky when I stand up from a sitting position half of the time.  It's a little scary and pathetic all at the same time.

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.