Alex has been learning lots of new words in the last few weeks. He has been saying "dada" for daddy for a long time, and finally started saying "mama" a few months back. (He seemed to think it was funny when I would point to myself and say 'Who is this?' to reply, 'dada.') I totally think he knew what he was doing too!!
He has been saying Arya since around the last week of March/first week of April. He says "dada" and "Arya" much more than "mama"!!
In the past few weeks he has started pointing to things he wants. He has also started saying "hot," and when he says it, he holds out his hand and then pulls it back quickly, as if he is touching something hot. The funny thing is that this week he has started saying all sorts of things are "hot", like the light switch, the milk in a cup, or even my arm. I've been trying to let him touch cold things like the gallon of milk from the fridge while I tell him "cold", but he still says "hot" when he touches it! I think he really likes being able to say words that we say though. So cute.
Another fun word he uses is "hide" or "hiding". He loves peek-a-boo, and Arya loves hide-and-seek, so he gets to use these new words often.
Alex loves to watch the birds and squirrels out the window in the living room, and he's been saying "buh" for bird for some time. In the last week and a half or so it has turned into "bur" though...only missing the "d"!
He is definitely understanding a lot of what we tell him. He loves to do high fives, clap his hands, wave hi (which he's been able to say for a good while now) and bye (he says "dah" when he does this - not sure why??), when asked. He also likes us to sing The Itsy Bitsy Spider, while he does motions for the spider and the rain. He will respond to the following requests:
close the door
sit down
come
bring me the ____
give me the ____
There are probably a good number more, but these are the ones I'm thinking of right now.
Today he was walking out of the room and he had taken off one of his shoes and left it in Rajeev's closet, where he was playing. I asked him where he was going and where his shoe was. He came back into the room and went and got his shoe from the closet to show me. It is so much fun to see him learning so much and communicating what he is thinking.
Sunday, May 9, 2010
Alex's Clogged Tear Duct
Alex had an appointment last week with a pediatric ophthalmologist, who examined him to see what needs to be done about his clogged tear duct in his right eye. He has had problems since he was just a few days old, and they just seem to linger. Because the duct is blocked, the tears and normal bacteria in the eye that normally drain through the tear ducts into the nose, aren't able to drain properly. His eye is often teary, and gooey discharge sometimes makes his eyelashes stick together. His eye will get really red and sometimes swollen, and sometimes his cheek is dry or red due to the constant tears. (Click on the following link for a little more about the condition from the American Association for Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus.)
Having a blocked tear duct is very common in babies, but 90% of the cases clear up on their own by during the first year. Well, unfortunately, Alex's tear duct doesn't show signs of getting better on its own.
The ophthalmologist is recommending that he have a procedure done to open the tear duct. They will insert a probe into the duct, and place a tiny tube inside the duct to help hold it open while it heals properly. It will stay in for 6 months. Sounds awful to me. I hate to think of him having to have eye surgery, and to be under anesthesia when he is so small. But the doctors seem to think that the problem will only get harder to correct with time, but if they do the procedure now, there is a very high success rate. It should be able to take care of the problem and prevent him from having to worry about it for years to come.
So, it looks like this is what we'll have to do. I still have to schedule the date, but it will probably be taking place in the near future. Please keep my sweet little boy in your prayers that things will go smoothly.
Having a blocked tear duct is very common in babies, but 90% of the cases clear up on their own by during the first year. Well, unfortunately, Alex's tear duct doesn't show signs of getting better on its own.
The ophthalmologist is recommending that he have a procedure done to open the tear duct. They will insert a probe into the duct, and place a tiny tube inside the duct to help hold it open while it heals properly. It will stay in for 6 months. Sounds awful to me. I hate to think of him having to have eye surgery, and to be under anesthesia when he is so small. But the doctors seem to think that the problem will only get harder to correct with time, but if they do the procedure now, there is a very high success rate. It should be able to take care of the problem and prevent him from having to worry about it for years to come.
So, it looks like this is what we'll have to do. I still have to schedule the date, but it will probably be taking place in the near future. Please keep my sweet little boy in your prayers that things will go smoothly.
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
10 teeth and 3.5 steps
My little Alex is growing so quickly. Just before the weekend, I noticed that one of Alex's molars had come in on his upper right side. (I was reaching into his mouth to pull out a piece of paper that he was trying to eat when I felt them!) Then, yesterday, I was tickling him when he was lying down and when he opened his mouth to laugh I caught a glimpse of another one on the top left side. I couldn't believe that it was already time for this. I've been noticing that he has been drooling much more than normal for the past few weeks, and now it all makes sense. Anyway, this brings the total to 10 teeth!!!
In other Alex news, our little guy has been getting closer and closer to walking. He stands up on his own all of the time now. He took a step on his on two times while at Arya's preschool a week ago (3/2/10). (He'd taken sort of half-steps different times previously, when he'd be cruising from couch to coffee table, etc. and would let go briefly.) Rajeev and I have been encouraging him to come to us when he's a few steps away. He usually takes about one step and then drops into a crawl to get to where he wants to go. Tonight he went back and forth between us repeatedly, taking several steps each time. He seemed to be having fun doing it!
I probably shouldn't be so eager for him to walk because he is already so hard to keep up with!! I don't know if Arya was just less busy at this age or if I just forget how busy she was!! Alex is constantly on the go and he is a climber. Lately, he loves to climb up onto the chairs from Arya's kitchen set and stand up on them (often without hands if we would let him). He likes to climb over the bottom rails of the dining room chairs and squeeze through to the other side. He also tries to climb the step stool in the bathroom and loves to climb on top of the printer/fax/copier in my office which is 18-20 inches tall. I can't take my eyes off of him for a second, but I just love that sweet boy!!
In other Alex news, our little guy has been getting closer and closer to walking. He stands up on his own all of the time now. He took a step on his on two times while at Arya's preschool a week ago (3/2/10). (He'd taken sort of half-steps different times previously, when he'd be cruising from couch to coffee table, etc. and would let go briefly.) Rajeev and I have been encouraging him to come to us when he's a few steps away. He usually takes about one step and then drops into a crawl to get to where he wants to go. Tonight he went back and forth between us repeatedly, taking several steps each time. He seemed to be having fun doing it!
I probably shouldn't be so eager for him to walk because he is already so hard to keep up with!! I don't know if Arya was just less busy at this age or if I just forget how busy she was!! Alex is constantly on the go and he is a climber. Lately, he loves to climb up onto the chairs from Arya's kitchen set and stand up on them (often without hands if we would let him). He likes to climb over the bottom rails of the dining room chairs and squeeze through to the other side. He also tries to climb the step stool in the bathroom and loves to climb on top of the printer/fax/copier in my office which is 18-20 inches tall. I can't take my eyes off of him for a second, but I just love that sweet boy!!
Saturday, December 12, 2009
Putting up the Christmas tree!
Arya has been so excited about putting up the Christmas tree!! We picked it up from the garage at the old house yesterday and she wanted to put it up immediately!! It was already kind of late to get started, and you should have heard her trying to convince us to try to get it up anyway.
"We can just put a little bit up and then relax for a little bit and then put a little more up and then rest some more and keep doing that!" She even started pushing the Christmas tree box from the kitchen towards the living room. ("Look how strong I am, Mommy!!")
Oh my, how do you say no to so much excitement? Anyway, I gave in. Sort of. :) I agreed to put together the tree and put the lights on last night, but said we had to wait until today to do the ornaments when we could do them all together.
(Rajeev was resting last night after passing out in the late afternoon, which is another story altogether. He has not been sleeping much at all due to the crazy amount of work he's got to do... working 16 hours a day is a short day for him, and two days last week he worked 25 hours straight, came home and slept 7-8 hours and then went back to work. It has been insane, and I've been really worried about the fact that he's gone for months and months with a schedule of working so many hours and sleeping so little, knowing that a body will eventually just shut down if you don't take care of it. Anyway, after this passing out episode our doctor's office recommended he get checked out at the emergency room. So, we spent a few hours there and all of the tests came back normal and they basically just said, "You need rest." I guess we'll have to pay a lot for those words, but at least we were able to get him checked out and know it wasn't anything additional. I felt relieved after a very scary afternoon.)
So, Arya and I put up the tree and she was so cute as she helped sort each size of branch so we could put the branches and lights on. We have pine cones that came with the tree and they attach with little wires that you can wrap around the branches. She got a kick out of putting those on, and sneaking on a few ornaments as well. She would say with a big excited smile, "Mommy, every time I'm good maybe I can put on a pine cone or an ornament!!"
Alex was also so excited that he couldn't go to sleep! He usually is out by about 8:30 or 9p.m., but last night he was up until 11p.m.!
This afternoon, after a good night's sleep for Rajeev, we all decorated the tree together and it was a lot of fun to do as a family! I'll try to put up some of the photos soon that I took of us all putting up the tree! Merry Christmas everyone!
"We can just put a little bit up and then relax for a little bit and then put a little more up and then rest some more and keep doing that!" She even started pushing the Christmas tree box from the kitchen towards the living room. ("Look how strong I am, Mommy!!")
Oh my, how do you say no to so much excitement? Anyway, I gave in. Sort of. :) I agreed to put together the tree and put the lights on last night, but said we had to wait until today to do the ornaments when we could do them all together.
(Rajeev was resting last night after passing out in the late afternoon, which is another story altogether. He has not been sleeping much at all due to the crazy amount of work he's got to do... working 16 hours a day is a short day for him, and two days last week he worked 25 hours straight, came home and slept 7-8 hours and then went back to work. It has been insane, and I've been really worried about the fact that he's gone for months and months with a schedule of working so many hours and sleeping so little, knowing that a body will eventually just shut down if you don't take care of it. Anyway, after this passing out episode our doctor's office recommended he get checked out at the emergency room. So, we spent a few hours there and all of the tests came back normal and they basically just said, "You need rest." I guess we'll have to pay a lot for those words, but at least we were able to get him checked out and know it wasn't anything additional. I felt relieved after a very scary afternoon.)
So, Arya and I put up the tree and she was so cute as she helped sort each size of branch so we could put the branches and lights on. We have pine cones that came with the tree and they attach with little wires that you can wrap around the branches. She got a kick out of putting those on, and sneaking on a few ornaments as well. She would say with a big excited smile, "Mommy, every time I'm good maybe I can put on a pine cone or an ornament!!"
Alex was also so excited that he couldn't go to sleep! He usually is out by about 8:30 or 9p.m., but last night he was up until 11p.m.!
This afternoon, after a good night's sleep for Rajeev, we all decorated the tree together and it was a lot of fun to do as a family! I'll try to put up some of the photos soon that I took of us all putting up the tree! Merry Christmas everyone!
Learning signs
We have been doing several signs with Alex since he started eating food. We'll do signs for "more", "all done", "eat" and "thirsty/drink" as appropriate, and also move his hands to do the signs as we say the words to help him learn.
Last week, I thought he put his hands together in a sort of "more" sign while I was feeding him dinner, but I wasn't quite sure how intentional it was. However, today he definitely did two signs intentionally. It is amazing what babies can learn at this age!! (He is 8.5 months now...how did that happen??)
First, this morning he put his hand up and waved it back and forth when I asked him if he was all done after sitting on the potty. I don't think he was really answering me saying, "Yes, mom, I'm all done going to the bathroom." However, I do think he's heard me say "all done" enough with the sign that he knew that what he was doing with his hand went with the words that I was saying. Pretty cool!!
Then, tonight he'd already eaten dinner and gone to sleep for a bit and then he woke up while we were eating. He was wide awake so I brought him out and was holding him as I ate my dinner. Alex was facing away from me, but toward Rajeev's mom, and she said, "Look! He just signed 'more'!" I was really surprised! I turned him around and asked him if he wanted some more and he did the sign again. I gave him a bite of a cracker and after he ate that, I asked if he wanted more. He did the sign probably 10 more times like this, laughing like crazy every time we would see him do it and then give him a bite of cracker.
I can't remember how old Arya was when she started learning signs, but it is so amazing to see babies figuring out that they can communicate even before they can talk. We may not know tons of signs, but it was definitely worth it to try signing some common words/needs when Arya was a baby, and I think it is going to be good to try these with Alex as well!
Last week, I thought he put his hands together in a sort of "more" sign while I was feeding him dinner, but I wasn't quite sure how intentional it was. However, today he definitely did two signs intentionally. It is amazing what babies can learn at this age!! (He is 8.5 months now...how did that happen??)
First, this morning he put his hand up and waved it back and forth when I asked him if he was all done after sitting on the potty. I don't think he was really answering me saying, "Yes, mom, I'm all done going to the bathroom." However, I do think he's heard me say "all done" enough with the sign that he knew that what he was doing with his hand went with the words that I was saying. Pretty cool!!
Then, tonight he'd already eaten dinner and gone to sleep for a bit and then he woke up while we were eating. He was wide awake so I brought him out and was holding him as I ate my dinner. Alex was facing away from me, but toward Rajeev's mom, and she said, "Look! He just signed 'more'!" I was really surprised! I turned him around and asked him if he wanted some more and he did the sign again. I gave him a bite of a cracker and after he ate that, I asked if he wanted more. He did the sign probably 10 more times like this, laughing like crazy every time we would see him do it and then give him a bite of cracker.
I can't remember how old Arya was when she started learning signs, but it is so amazing to see babies figuring out that they can communicate even before they can talk. We may not know tons of signs, but it was definitely worth it to try signing some common words/needs when Arya was a baby, and I think it is going to be good to try these with Alex as well!
Alex loves food :)
Alex has been much more interested in eating solid food at this age than Arya ever was. She didn't really care about food until she was about 10 months old. She loved rice cereal the first time we gave it to her and then wouldn't eat it after that. Alex, on the other hand, wants to eat food whenever we are eating!!
For the past month or so, we've been cooking veggies, blending them up, and mixing them with rice cereal for him on a regular basis. He LOVES it! He has been eating about 1/4 cup each night at dinner time, and lately, I've been feeding him some at lunch too, although he usually eats less then than at dinner time.
He has tried lots of foods (carrots, green beans, peas, sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, baked potatoes, bananas, joulo (Nepali dish made by cooking rice and lentils together until they're soft...not sure how to spell it!!), saltine crackers, cheerios, and animal crackers to name a few) and we really haven't found anything that he doesn't like yet!! His favorites are carrots and mashed potatoes. No wonder our little boy is not so little anymore!!
For the past month or so, we've been cooking veggies, blending them up, and mixing them with rice cereal for him on a regular basis. He LOVES it! He has been eating about 1/4 cup each night at dinner time, and lately, I've been feeding him some at lunch too, although he usually eats less then than at dinner time.
He has tried lots of foods (carrots, green beans, peas, sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, baked potatoes, bananas, joulo (Nepali dish made by cooking rice and lentils together until they're soft...not sure how to spell it!!), saltine crackers, cheerios, and animal crackers to name a few) and we really haven't found anything that he doesn't like yet!! His favorites are carrots and mashed potatoes. No wonder our little boy is not so little anymore!!
Thursday, December 10, 2009
Getting an early start on potty training
Disclaimer: This post is about potty training, so if you don't want to read about this subject, just skip it!! :)
You know, parenting does not always go exactly like you plan that it will go. I think that before you have kids you sometimes have ideas of how you'll raise them...and then once you actually have kids you usually have to adjust your plans for the real world and your real kids!! :)
Potty training is one of those areas where you usually have ideas of what you'll do ahead of time, but then you just have to see how it goes with your own child.
In Nepal, kids are potty trained early. In recent years, there has been more use of disposable diapers, but using a simple cloth has been a lot more common. So, needless to say, if your baby is just wearing a cloth that leaks all over you and everything else whenever they go potty (no plastic pants, etc.), you start potty training early!!
Anyway, with Rajeev growing up where it is so common for kids to be potty trained by 18 months, it just seemed logical to start early with potty training. We started putting Arya on the potty whenever she woke up when she was about 6 months. I was surprised at how quickly she learned what to do. (I mean it only took a few times.) She didn't start telling me that she had to go potty at this age or anything, and it wasn't like she wouldn't go in her diaper. But by paying attention to when she acted like she had to go to the bathroom, and then taking her, she went through fewer diapers and potty training was a gradual process for her. It wasn't seamless or perfect, but it seemed to work pretty well.
Anyway, we've started the process with Alex now. We were a little late in doing so - he was 7 months instead of 6 like his sister!! (I was just lazy!!) It took him longer to figure it out than Arya...we put him on the potty probably 15 times with no results!! I thought for a while that it might just not work with him, but he seems to be getting the hang of it now though. I just put him on the potty when he wakes up in the morning and he has been going pretty much every morning for a good month now. It is nice because due to his daily routine being what it is, putting him on the potty at this time means one less dirty diaper that I have to change each day!! (Yippee!) I don't really put him on the potty at other times unless I can clearly tell that he needs to go (which I usually can't tell until it is too late!), but I feel like we've gotten a good start on things. I don't worry about rushing it and know he won't be fully trained until he is ready, but for now, this seems like a good way to start.
You know, parenting does not always go exactly like you plan that it will go. I think that before you have kids you sometimes have ideas of how you'll raise them...and then once you actually have kids you usually have to adjust your plans for the real world and your real kids!! :)
Potty training is one of those areas where you usually have ideas of what you'll do ahead of time, but then you just have to see how it goes with your own child.
In Nepal, kids are potty trained early. In recent years, there has been more use of disposable diapers, but using a simple cloth has been a lot more common. So, needless to say, if your baby is just wearing a cloth that leaks all over you and everything else whenever they go potty (no plastic pants, etc.), you start potty training early!!
Anyway, with Rajeev growing up where it is so common for kids to be potty trained by 18 months, it just seemed logical to start early with potty training. We started putting Arya on the potty whenever she woke up when she was about 6 months. I was surprised at how quickly she learned what to do. (I mean it only took a few times.) She didn't start telling me that she had to go potty at this age or anything, and it wasn't like she wouldn't go in her diaper. But by paying attention to when she acted like she had to go to the bathroom, and then taking her, she went through fewer diapers and potty training was a gradual process for her. It wasn't seamless or perfect, but it seemed to work pretty well.
Anyway, we've started the process with Alex now. We were a little late in doing so - he was 7 months instead of 6 like his sister!! (I was just lazy!!) It took him longer to figure it out than Arya...we put him on the potty probably 15 times with no results!! I thought for a while that it might just not work with him, but he seems to be getting the hang of it now though. I just put him on the potty when he wakes up in the morning and he has been going pretty much every morning for a good month now. It is nice because due to his daily routine being what it is, putting him on the potty at this time means one less dirty diaper that I have to change each day!! (Yippee!) I don't really put him on the potty at other times unless I can clearly tell that he needs to go (which I usually can't tell until it is too late!), but I feel like we've gotten a good start on things. I don't worry about rushing it and know he won't be fully trained until he is ready, but for now, this seems like a good way to start.
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