flea | Entries tagged with dillo grows

Since I just entered all of these into a spreadsheet, here are the rising 3rd graders who will be Dillo's cohort at the gifted magnet public school:

Adam, Addison, Sophia, Reid, Analucia (Lucy), Nicolas, Marie, Sebastian, Jaydrian, Rishika, Brooklynn, Simone, Love, Benjamin, Graham, Withwala, Ea (F), Courtney, Nicholas, John, Peter, Charles, Benjamin, Barrett, Leandros, Samanyu (Sammy, M), Selima, Tonee, Tyler, Theo, Nelson, John, Jameh, Owen, Gavin, Sheridan, Ravanth, Iraj (M), Nia, Aahan, Ian, Elizabeth, Niranjan, Hanniel, Megan, Kirsten, Stefan, Walker (M), Peter, Dennis, Fatima. I only know about 10 of these kids; where gender is not obvious and I know, I have noted. (Soooo many boys.)

Dillo seems to have grown up a lot lately. He turned 8 last month. He managed 2 weeks with my mother without parents pretty well. He's about 4'4", not sure of weight - quite skinny to look at. He sits in a booster in our car, but we don't worry about it for other people's cars. His last of 8 adult incisors is coming in, finally; he hasn't lost any other baby teeth yet. He's fair and a little freckly, definitely brown-haired and not at all blonde. Still has lovely big blue eyes. He's been doing karate over the summer and will start group piano lessons this fall; not sure about continuing soccer. Probably will continue karate. He loves science and reading nonfiction and the Warriors series and stuffed animals and picked a Lego Eiffel Tower kit for his birthday present. He's still a cuddly kid, and still on the shy/intellectual side.

My MIL and SIL both got clothes for Dillo for his birthday - 4/4T, and a pair of size 12 flip-flops. They're HUGE on him - he wears a 2T okay still, though 3T is fine too, and his shoes are a size 8.

It's not a problem - he'll wear this stuff next summer - but I'm amused that since mr. flea was huge as a child (97%ile all the way) and Casper was tall (she *was* wearing size 4 on her 3rd birthday) they have it in their heads that Dillo is huge, too. Whereas he's average-sized and always has been - 50-60%ile.

Still, better too big than too small.

I really do have kids, honestly! Sometimes I feel like I never talk about them anymore.

We are still not really getting anywhere with Dillo and potty training. Apparently he peeps on the potty at school sometimes. We have gotten to the point of getting him to sit on the potty and try. Unfortunately right now whenever he is naked he wants to spend special time with his penis (retracting the foreskin is FUN!) and that causes an erection which makes it hard to pee. Also, he is scared of the actual toilet but the plastic potty we have is a little small for him and isn't designed very well for boys sitting down and peeing. Possibly we will look for a new potty at Target (or to borrow - must ask neighbors who currently have a 4 year old boy and a baby, so are presumably not using their potty right now.)

I cut his hair again and Dillo looks like SUCH a big boy! He has such a charming open face - it's the way his eyebrows are set - I think he actually looks like mr. flea as as a baby rather a lot. He is really a small boy now and not much of a baby at all. We've been playing dress-up a lot, and he went to Casper's school chorus concert last night in pink fairy wings and a rose tutu over his Thomas train t-shirt. He's still smallish (for a kid of ours - I bought some 2T shorts at Target and they fell right off him - in general he is just fine in a 2T/Hanna 90, still! The only exception is he's quite long in the torso, so overalls don't work well. His feet are finally growing a bit, and he's now wearing Casper's old size 8 sandals (that she got when she was 21 months, natch.) So in that way he's different from 97%ile mr. flea.

Comparison:
Dillo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/casperflea/3433759611/
mr. flea toddler: http://www.flickr.com/photos/casperflea/41850416/

I'm trying to get a sense of his friends at school - right now he talks a lot about Maggie, whom mr. flea says he is sweet on. Apparently she is good at sharing the bicycle with him. I asked him about his friend Adam who he used to mention a lot and he told me that Adam is a "hitting friend." Dillo does not like kids who are rough and tumble at all, and is very wary of some of our neighbors who are. Maybe we can do a little playdate action this summer. It would be nice to get to know some of the other parents, too.

Casper is all long and skinny right now, growing her hair out. I have some lovely pictures of her from the concert, not yet uploaded. She's in a 6, though they tend to be a little loose - adjustable waistbands are our friends. Has decided opinions about what she likes to wear. We had our first official mother-daughter fight about clothes in Target last weekend, as I was trying to get her to agree to practical shorts for YMCA summer camp and she wanted various other things (black polyester yoga pants, pink captain's hat - "Zariah has one!", new shoes when she has a bunch of shoes we just got her that she doesn't wear). I worry about her socially - she's a bit of a marcher to her own drummer, which is fine as long as she's happy, but I worry, because I'm her mother. For example, at the giant princess party last weekend I arrived to pick her up and had to hunt her down - all the other girls were in groups doing dress-ups and moving towards the present-opening, and she was hiding in the tent in the birthday girl's room, playing with the toys. She has an open crush on a boy named River at afterschool, and has new friends who are a bit older (Aria, Shannon) and doesn't play as much anymore with her age-mates (Siena). Still LOVES Penny, so she does have friends, just not the kids who are clearly going to grow up into the Popular Girls in 8th grade. (Yes, you can relive Middle School through your children!)

Seventh tooth is through - a lower incisor (right). He's not biting me per se when nursing, but the big old front teeth and poor latch mean some discomfort for me, weirdly only on the one side (my right). I have about six weeks (give or take) less to pump for him and I am SO ready to stop pumping. I think I've been more impatient with the pumping this time around; it just gets so OLD. Note to self: next time at grocery store, buy baby sippy cup so we can start teaching Dillo how to drink. And we *just* threw away the last of the Casper sippy cups. Sigh.

He's old enough that I begin to see the brain-wheels turning now. He understands "no," not that he obeys it necessarily. Will crawl to me if asked to. Responds when asked if he wants food, or more food. (I do the sign language things for these, because they are all I can remember, really.) He just seems like he is attentive to what is going on and wants to be involved in a new way. Happiest participating by riding on my hip. I have been looking at Ergo carriers on ebay since he is too heavy for the Bjorn but the sling doesn't really give me two free hands with him. $$, though, and this is probably a short phase.

Video from this weekend: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gmmsjP1rlDk When he puts his head to the side towards the end he reminds me of a photo we have of Casper at about this age.

Weight 17 lb 7 oz (50%), height 26 3/4 in (60something %), got all the normal shots, plus a flu, because he's now 6 months and flu season isn't yet over and he's in daycare. We relatively not upset at the shots.

I dug out mr. flea's meticulous charts from his childhood. All in Enfamil brand booklets, kept from 1 month to 18 years!
birth 6 lb 6 oz
1 month 10 lb 1.5 oz, 20 3/4 inches (Formula fed. It was 1968 and mr. flea's mother smoked; I think he was underweight at birth.)
2 months 13 lb .5 oz, 24 5/8 inches
3 months 14 lb 9 oz, 24 1/4 inches
4 months 16 lb 6 oz, 26 inches (taller and fatter than Dillo)
5 months 18 lb 12.75 oz, 27 3/4 inches
7 months 21 lb 12.5 oz, 28.5 inches
9 months 24 lbs even, 31 3/8 inches
12.5 months 26 lb 5 oz, 32.5 inches
18 months 30 lb 9 oz, 35 3/8 inches
24 months 34 lb, 36 inches
2.5 years 37 lb, 37 1/4 inches (pencilled in - 97% for both)
35 months 40 lb 39 3/4 inches
3.5 years 43 1/4 lb, 43 inches (97% for both)
4 years 47 lb 8 oz, 44 inches
5.5 years 54 lb, 48 1/2 inches (97% for both)
6 years 61 lb, 51.5 inches
7 years 67 lb, 52.5 inches
8 years 74 lb, 56 inches
9 years 82 3/4 lb, 57 3/4 inches
10.5 years 94 lb, 61.25 inches (in his own handwriting!)
12 years 115.5 lb, 64 3/4 inches
13 years 122 lb, 67 1/2 inches (now taller than his sister's adult height)
15 years 156 lb, 73 3/4 inches (that's almost 6'2")
18 years 163lb, 76 inches (6'4")
When I met him, he was 27 and 6'6", underweight at about 175; he's now about 195-200. Interestingly he remembers being a chubby ("husky") kid, but is a slim adult. Clearly the body knew it was going to be that tall, and was planning ahead.

If you go here http://www.flickr.com/photos/casperflea/ you can see my two babies at about the same age. Gee they look alike, but Dillo has more chins.

The Dillo rolled back-front for the first time this afternoon.

And Robeez sold out of the red monkey tshirts and onesies before I could buy one.

******

Flushed Away review, by Casper, age 3.

"He was flushed AWAY...and he met someBODY...and she didn't TALK good...and she didn't DO good...and she had a DIAMOND...and it BROKE..."

mr. flea reports she sat on his lap and sucked her finger, and it was maybe a little too much for her - too exciting and fast-paced.

She has also taken to saying "whatever" in exactly the tone you imagine. Three, or 13?

When the Dillo spits up, and Casper is nearest him, she cries, "It's the Amazing Adventures of Spit-Up Boy!"

At the Fall Festival in our park this week, Casper told the neighborhood teenager painting faces that she wanted a green buffalo. The girl looked at me and said she wasn't sure she could paint a buffalo... I told her that effort counted more than artistry. It sort of looked like a cat. But it was green!

On the Dillo front, a lot of interest in his tongue this weekend.

Born to Lynn and Chris, a son, Henry. Big sister is Molly. Poor mite had to bake under the bilirubin lights at the hospital for 4 days, but came home Saturday.

The Dillo is three months old today (13 weeks yesterday), and a bonny boy he is. When Casper was this age, her best friend was a small stuffed gingerbread man, meant as a wrist rattle, that we kept on the handlebar of her car seat. She rginned delightedly at him. Dillo does the same with his left fist, so now when I chat with him I say things like, "Oh, are you looking at your friend Fist? How is Fist today?" And then he gnaws.

After a couple of weeks of waking up at 11:45/midnight to nurse, he is now back to having the first waking of the night at 2ish. This is good (or would be if Casper weren't a devil in the night.) Maybe it was a growth spurt and not the start of reverse cycling.

He melted down last night at about 6, and we had classic evening nyuk nyuks until bedtime. I think this tends to happen when he doesn't get good naps in the afternoon. As to how to further encourage good naps, I'm not sure. He naps in his car seat or bouncy seat for new!nanny in the mronings, but in the afternoons wants to be in my arms and wakes up if I put him down, even if he seems pretty deeply asleep. My plan had been to start putting him to sleep on his own at 3 months, and let him fuss a little if that happened. So maybe I'll try to start doing that, in the pack n play, for afternoon naps. He goes down fine at night, assuming he hasn't had a meltdown evening. I can wrap him up and put him in our bed with the light off and just lie next to him and he falls asleep okay. Occasionally he's even done it unswaddled. Meltdown evenings, he needs to be rocked in arms to go to sleep.

He's a fine eater, and "enormous" was the pronouncement at Monday's La Leche League meeting. Not a lot of developmental progression at this point - head and neck strength is incremental. He doesn't grab stuff or put stuff in his mouth yet, except for Fist. An elaborate talker/cooer. Loves his big sister, and can be amused by her for long stretches, and is very resilient. (Rules we have had to make: no feet on the baby. No putting things on the baby's face. No pulling the baby to sit/stand up.)

Here's the boyo just now: http://www.flickr.com/photos/casperflea/253467085/

We met with the prospective nanny this noon, and we all liked her and I think she will work out. The scheduling is a little difficult, since she can only work until 1pm, but I think we can make it work. (I am writing this very sensibly - but inside I am incredibly stressed out, about this and the fact that it's already nearly 3pm and I haven't done any work yet, urgh. If I had ice cream I would be devuring it.) Think good thoughts - if it works out, we will have a weekly child care bill of only $152 for the Dillo. Nope, still stressy. Is it too early for a glass of wine?

Dillo hasn't changed much. I'd have hoped he'd have gotten over the evening crankiness, but it's still an issue more days than not. We manage; he calms easier than Casper did. He's getting hard to swaddle at night, because hes so big and strong, but it still helps him sleep better, so we still try. He seems to have been unusually hungry the last couple of days, but he can hardly be having a growth spurt! (Well, I suppose he can; 3 months is a classic growth spurt time and we are coming up on that date.) He's a good boy. I wish I had more energy to be engaged with him as much as he would like.

It is also day one for baby Matilda, daughter of JZ and Hec. Congratulations parents, especially hardworking mama, and welcome to the world, Septembereenie!

But is Casper? No. She is putting coins in her piggy bank.

In other assorted news:
Dillo is 10 weeks tomorrow
He wears size 2 diapers and has for a couple of weeks
He fits size 3-6 month clothes fine, but most of the 0-3 onesies are still okay
He slept from 9pm to 3am last night - SIX HOURS!!
I talked on the phone to 3 potential child care folks today, and wish I could combine features of each to make one ideal person
A woman with whom we may share a child care person came over today, and that was good
mr. flea and I both walked to pick up Casper at school with the stroller, and I got sweaty
Now I am tired
My mother sent me wool ankle socks in the mail, which was nice, but ankle socks go in cotton - wool is for when you need warm feet!
Casper woke up at 7:30 this morning crying, "Someone ate all the beans!"
She loves to dance
Another recent exchange, speaking of beans: me: "Are you full of beans?" Casper: "No, I'm full of grapes!"
I am obsessed with catalogs.

This post brought to you by the feeling tired.

Just a long and tired week, with visitors.

Casper news:
I am amazed in general at the human capacity to learn idiomatic speech. I mean, who would have thought an almost three year old could come out with things like, "Since you like jumping, I'm gonna show you some special jumps!"

Great sleeping. This helps a lot.

If mr. flea tells her to do something, she'll reply, "o-KAY, Mister Bossy!" This is not as rude as it sounds, since it is a quotation from Finding Nemo.

We've had better success with table manners - i.e. sitting at the table and actually eating dinner - by dint of threatening to take away whatever she creeps off to play with. mr. flea does the threatening. We developed this after the question, "Do you want a time out?" got the response, "Yes!!" She also now asks to be excused (generally when reminded), and has been introduced to the concept of the Clean Plate Ranger.

Dillo news:
Took him to work today, where he was an ANGEL. Slept, looked google-eyed, nursed quietly and then miraculously did not give a half-hour performance of grunts, groans, and spitups afterwards.

He's getting bigger, I think. We're 5.5 weeks and I think he is already past the worst of the crankiness - he was never as systematic as Casper was. Has graduated to some lying on the floor and kicking of legs. Rolled up onto his side today. You've got to watch out when he's in your lap because he's strong and will try to shoot himself off by kicking.

Sleep is just okay. The big stretch is still 9-12 or 1 if we're very lucky. Last night I had him to myself as mr. flea fell asleep in Casper's bed, and he slept 9-12, nursed and then was awake wiggling but quiet until 1, slept 1-4, then dozed and wiggled on and off until 6, when I woke mr. flea and begged for a respite. (Yes, sane people would/could sleep through the quiet wiggly phase, but I am not sane.)

I think now he look like Lou Costello: http://www.flickr.com/photos/casperflea/217808539/