25 June 2009

Stranger Danger? Not Really.

Yesterday was a real test of Eamon's ability to deal with strangers and change his routine. My mom threw her back out last week, so yesterday while I went to training for summer school, my friend Sally (who works with me) came over to babysit him. Sally has lots of experience with kids from working at the Y, so even though Eamon apparently cried for the first hour she was there, it didn't really faze her.



Eventually, she got him to take a nap. Afterwards, he woke up with a whole new attitude, and was smiley and happy for the rest of the morning. They played and laughed, and she took pictures and sent them to my phone. It has to be one of the best things about advances in technology!




When I got home, however, there was no rest for the poor boy. I scooped him up and hauled him to Lee Hall Elementary for a meeting. That's one nice thing about having a principal with kids--when I told her that I only had daycare through the morning, she said it wasn't a problem for me to bring him, as long as she got to hold him.

So Eamon went to his first meeting. His role was mainly to throw things on the floor, which people don't do nearly enough in meetings today. The meeting lasted about an hour and he was actually really good. I had brought plenty of toys and a bottle, and he didn't start getting fussy until the end--but he was really ready for a nap at that point.




He also let my principal, Amanda, hold him. No one, however, enthralled him more than our current assistant principal, Barbara. He thought she was the bee's knees. She picked him up and he smiled and smiled and smiled. In fact, he beamed. Light rays of joy came shooting out of his face. He gently stroked her hair over and over and just seemed to marvel. She put him back down on my lap, but he kept staring at her. She tickled his leg, about an inch above the knee right in the little crease, and he laughed. She did it again, and more laughter--belly laughs.


Well, it was eye-opening for me. First of all, he does get over his stranger anxiety as long as 1) there aren't too many people, and 2) you let him get used to someone first. He has to sit on mommy's lap for about 15-20 minutes, checking out the other person, before he'll let someone else hold him without incident.


Not only that, but I learned that Eamon IS ticklish! Up until this point, I would tickle him and he would smile politely but that was about it. I tried the tummy, under the arms, under the chin, and sometimes he would laugh a little, but more because I was making silly faces than because of outright ticklishness.


Ergo, I give you: Tickle Me Eamon


22 June 2009

Fooled You!

So…last Tuesday, the magical event finally arrived: Eamon rolled over! All by himself! Twice! According to my mother, who witnessed the blessed event, Eamon was having his normal bout of “tummy time,” and in all his flailing, found himself miraculously on his back. Hooray! roared the crowd (my mother), much to the baby’s delight. My mother placed him back on his stomach, he flailed and woop, zoop, sloop—lightning struck twice.

But only twice. Since then, he has been placed on his stomach a multitude of times, with no repeat of our earlier success. It’s like he did it, crossed it off the milestone checklist, and is done, thank you very much.

In fact, he almost seems to be having more success rolling from his back to his stomach now, which is ironic because he would never, ever do this on intentionally (tummy time is baaaaad). Eamon actually enjoys sleeping on his side, which is just a fraction of a turn to his stomach.

Oh well. It will happen in time, we keep telling ourselves (hopefully in time for our appointment with the doctor so that we can really cross it off the milestone list so that we don’t have to hear the “hmm” and get the cocked eyebrow. Not that our doctor does this, but still I fear it).

In other news, Eamon has decided that while he doesn’t see much point in rolling over, vocalizing is really fun. His favorite time to “talk” is in the car while we’re driving. He burbles and cooes and mumbles to himself for minutes on end. Sometimes the things he says sound eerily like words, though of course he doesn’t really understand any of it and never duplicates it. He babbles long strings of various syllables with lots of inflections—it almost sounds like he’s speaking another language that we just don’t understand. We’re not sure what he’s saying, but whatever it is, he’s really emphatic about it.

Another big development: Eamon has started “solids.” Well, rice cereal, anyway. It’s not that solid; in fact, it’s rather soupy, but he lurves it. We’ve waited this long on the solids because he seems to be allergic to so much, and we want to give his digestive system time to really mature. He has it about once a day (usually around lunch) and enjoys “helping” us by attempting to grab the spoon or push the cereal farther into his mouth with his hand.

Needless to say, this type of mealtime also requires a hearty clean-up time afterwards. Although, to be fair to Eamon, in this video I was using an ice-tea spoon because we couldn't find the baby spoons we had bought months ago (they were craftily hidden in plain view in a cupboard that I had only checked twice). Also, I was probably giving him too much food with each spoonful because it was my first time feeding an infant solids, and I had no idea what I was doing either.



10 June 2009

If Nonspeaking Things Could Talk



Kate's Computer: (in a sleepy, confused voice) Huh? WPA password? Internet? I have no idea what you're talking about. You say I've hooked up to the internet reliably everyday for the past three years? Sorry, I'm just not recalling this. Do you happen to have the password written down anywhere? You did, but then the file on the computer isn't there anymore? Wow. That's a quandary. Huh. Sorry, I just don't think I can help you with any of this.


The Knob on the Front Door to Our House: (in a snotty, French voice) Non! I will not werk anymore! Eet is a deesgrace, all zis coming and ze going. I weel not open ezer again! Pah!


The Lock on the Back Door to Our House: (in a tough, northern accent) You know what I say? I saw screw you. You gonna not use the lock for two years and then expect it to suddenly work? Well, tough cookies--the lock is rusted shut and there's nothing you can do about it.


Kate's Big Red Suitcase: (in a big, red suitcasey way) Ha! She still hasn't unpacked me from her trip to New York to see the Tony Awards. Wait a second--is this Kate's thinly-veiled attempt to tell the world that SHE WENT TO SEE THE TONY AWARDS AND HAD A GREAT TIME IN NEW YORK WHILE EAMON AND AARON HAD A LOT OF BONDING TIME AT HOME BY THEMSELVES FOR A LONG WEEKEND? Tsk. Not very subtle, Kate. Not very subtle.


Nesta: (in a weary English nurse-maid sort of voice) You want another kiss, little Eamon? Oh dear. Yes, yes, I appreciate all the affection and I do love you, too, but this is getting ridiculous. Of course, it thrills me that your face lights up whenever you see me, but if you could manage not to grab my ears and put my nose in your mouth every now and then, it would be greatly appreciated.


Eamon's Baby Elmo Doll: (in, you know, an Elmo voice) Why is the baby calling Elmo "Eh-goo?" Wait a second! He's reliably calling me something? Something vaguely Elmo related? That's fantastic! Elmo is so excited!


Aaron's Text Message to Kate: (in a non-punctuated, non-capitalized sort of voice) If Eamon learns to say "Elmo" before "mama" or "dada," I'm going to shoot that red furry *bleep*






Eamon vs No Mommy



For the first time in his life, Eamon was left with his Dad. Alone. For 2 days.

While his mother went gallivanting in New York, the Wolfe boys (and Nesta) stayed in SE Virginia. Not as glamorous, I know, but little man has no clue. He was happy as a clam to spend time with Daddy.

Nothing really remarkable happened, which is a blessing in and of itself. One of the revelations of the weekend was this- Eamon is completely and totally in love with the dog. He'll crane his neck around to see her when he hears her jingle, and will sit completely entranced to watch her every move. He sat outside in his chair for 20 minutes staring at her playing fetch, and seemed disappointed when Nesta had to stop and get some water. He reaches out for her all the time and gives her big smiles that rival the ones he gives anyone. Recently, he has started to kiss her back which is sweet, amusing and disturbing at the same time.


Nesta has been wary of him for the most part- I think she saw him initially as an interloper who took all the attention away from her. Now that he is a little more interactive, she has warmed to him- but not too much. I am still HER daddy, and will vie for my attention at all costs. She will protect him to a point- that point being my attention.

Meanwhile, little man was an absolute angel for me. He went to bed without too much of a fuss, we napped together multiple times, and generally had a ball.
On Sunday, we took a trip to Colonial Williamsburg, where the dog was SUPER EXCITED and the boy was considerably less so. It was a bit of a challenge to manage a baby and a dog at the same time, especially since Nesta must smell everything and there are lots of great smells and so much to see and the horses and the people and the squirrels and the road apples. Eamon was much more chill: laid back in the stroller, taking in the sights.

When his Grandma and Grandpa came to pick him up Monday morning so Dad could go to work, he seemed genuinely surprised that he was going with them- "But, we had so much fun, and you're my dad, and it was good" was the look plastered over his face.

Even though we had a great time, Mommy was definitely missed, and we we all glad she came back safe and sound.