Harper has developed a new game she loves to play. Each day after we pick her up from preschool we usually spend some time in the front yard playing. This helps to wear her out a bit and we all get to enjoy the blue sky and exhaust from the rush hour traffic.
Recently, Harper has taken to running around in the yard yelling, "Try to catch me, try to catch me!" She is not satisfied until one of us starts chasing her. And it doesn't matter what game we might actually be playing at the time. We might be drawing with sidewalk chalk, or playing with Nerf rockets, or pushing Marley in the baby swing. Whatever it is, it quickly dissolves into, "Try to catch me, try to catch me!"
Sometimes we play outside with Harper's neighbor friend, Sofia. But Try to Catch Me is an exclusively one way game. Harper has little to no interest in chasing anybody else. In fact it's pretty funny to see two little girls running away from each other with nobody chasing either one of them. After a while she's back to one of us imploring us to resume the hunt.
The funny thing is, it's not like there's any doubt that we can catch her. There's really no trying to it. The one advantage she has is that McCall and I are usually pretty tired by the end of the day and we're kind of sluggish. In fact, to a curious pedestrian we might even appear like a scene out of some horror movie: two zombies slowly stalking a toddler yelling, "Try to catch me, try to catch me!" Call it Late Afternoon of the Living Dead.
I've been saying it a lot recently, but I can't wait for Marley to start walking. He'll love trying to catch her. Then the two of them can play with each other and McCall and I can sit on the porch and take part in the newest parental craze sweeping the nation: keeping an eye out for potential kidnappers.
Saturday, March 21, 2009
Saturday, March 7, 2009
Night and Day
I can't believe how different Marley and Harper are. And it's not little things. It's really big things that create a significant difference in our experiences with them. You may recall (though probably not) my post about how much Harper hates to sleep. You should check it out, it's a good read.
Anyway, while she is still as adamant about not sleeping now as she was then, Marley is so easy. We lay him down, he goes to sleep. Usually we give him a bottle, but there have been times when I put him in his crib, and he'll wind down and go to sleep on his own. This has never, ever, ever happened with Harper. From the time she was very young, I'm talking weeks old, she would scream and wail against the prospect of being put in her crib to go to sleep. As soon as she could pull up (which was pretty early) she would stand at her crib side and cry until she started coughing and choking.
Harper took her first steps at eight months and was walking confidently by nine months. This excited us because we thought we must have the most brilliant child ever. However, now it feels like we got a truncated infancy stage and have had an extremely long toddler stage. Marley on the other hand is right on track. He's just started experimenting with standing and should probably be walking by his first birthday (as opposed to climbing up steps and going down slides like HJ), so we're getting an idea of what real babyhood is like.
One thing that really frustrates me about Marley is his extreme dislike of laying on his back during diaper changes. If Harper had this issue I do not remember it at all. Marley, as soon as I lay him down, starts fussing. He squirms and writhes and as soon as I let him go he flips over onto his belly and starts trying to crawl off the changing table. The only thing I can do is try to distract him with a toy or something. Thankfully, Harper is pretty much potty trained at this point so we're only changing diapers for one kid. And I'm so thankful because Harper's toddler dukes are not pretty in her training potty. And her bottom is much easier to clean after sitting on the toilet than if she were to sit in it for a minute before being changed!
One way that they are very similar, though is their appearance. Marley looks like a mini version of Harper. Their first pictures are almost indistinguishable as seen below:
Harper and Marley as infants. That's Harper above, and Marley on the right. Or is it Marley above, and Harper on the right...?
Anyway, while she is still as adamant about not sleeping now as she was then, Marley is so easy. We lay him down, he goes to sleep. Usually we give him a bottle, but there have been times when I put him in his crib, and he'll wind down and go to sleep on his own. This has never, ever, ever happened with Harper. From the time she was very young, I'm talking weeks old, she would scream and wail against the prospect of being put in her crib to go to sleep. As soon as she could pull up (which was pretty early) she would stand at her crib side and cry until she started coughing and choking.
Harper took her first steps at eight months and was walking confidently by nine months. This excited us because we thought we must have the most brilliant child ever. However, now it feels like we got a truncated infancy stage and have had an extremely long toddler stage. Marley on the other hand is right on track. He's just started experimenting with standing and should probably be walking by his first birthday (as opposed to climbing up steps and going down slides like HJ), so we're getting an idea of what real babyhood is like.
One thing that really frustrates me about Marley is his extreme dislike of laying on his back during diaper changes. If Harper had this issue I do not remember it at all. Marley, as soon as I lay him down, starts fussing. He squirms and writhes and as soon as I let him go he flips over onto his belly and starts trying to crawl off the changing table. The only thing I can do is try to distract him with a toy or something. Thankfully, Harper is pretty much potty trained at this point so we're only changing diapers for one kid. And I'm so thankful because Harper's toddler dukes are not pretty in her training potty. And her bottom is much easier to clean after sitting on the toilet than if she were to sit in it for a minute before being changed!
One way that they are very similar, though is their appearance. Marley looks like a mini version of Harper. Their first pictures are almost indistinguishable as seen below:
Harper and Marley as infants. That's Harper above, and Marley on the right. Or is it Marley above, and Harper on the right...?
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
Mr. Marley Man Update
I can't believe how quickly Marley is growing and learning. In just the past few weeks he's had so many breakthroughs. He recently started sitting up all on his own, and I anticipate that he will be standing soon and at some point will start walking.I didn't want him to ambulate too early because Harper was SO quick to walk that it seemed we were chasing her right out of the womb. But Marley has gotten so big that it's just become painful to carry him around. My arms are constantly sore and I can't wait to be able to put him down and have him not fuss about being limited by his inability to keep up with the rest of us. I mean, we go on walks around the neighborhood and all he does is cry about having to crawl on the sidewalk.
He's also started patting his lap, and clapping his hands. We play a game when he's in his highchair. We say, "Pat, pat, pat," and he pats the table top. Then we say, "Clap, clap, clap," and he pats the table top. Then we say, "No, clap, clap, clap!" and he pats the table top. So we say, "Fine, pat, pat, pat," and he claps. It's a lot of fun. I call that game Stratego.
Then just today we discovered that he can wave goodbye and say Mama. As I reported below, he's been able to say Dada for a while but today was the first time that we heard Mama and it really seemed that it was directed at McCall. She got so excited. Then I asked her if she really wanted Marley to be able to ask for Mama. After all, one of McCall's biggest frustrations is that Harper almost exclusively wants her Mommy. Very seldom does she ever ask for Daddy. Hey, it's not my fault, although it probably doesn't help that when she does say Daddy, I correct her. "No, no, no, you mean Mommy. Now try again."
The goodbye wave is cute, it's the classic baby wave which is actually more of an open-shut action with the fingers and less of a wave. I don't quite get how babies see a wave and mimic it as this finger flex motion but whatever. Although there is a part of me that's concerned that when I blow Marley a kiss he mimics this by flipping me the bird. Probably just a phase.
Saturday, February 28, 2009
A Very Sweet Moment
So last night I was reading in bed. I discovered this amazing techno-thriller called Daemon which I cannot recommend highly enough. It's a bit over my head technically, but the author keeps the story compelling (and frightening) enough that you cannot put it down. But I digress.
So I'm reading in bed and McCall had fallen asleep on the couch in the living room. I heard some rustling and thought it might be McCall, but after a moment I could tell that it was actually Harper. I assumed she was using the potty and would do one of three things, 1) go back to bed; low probability, 2) go out to the living room; high probability, or 3) come into our room; moderate probability.
Well, it ended up being number three. I saw her little head on the far side of the bed and put my book down and looked at her. Typically, in the middle of the night she is very groggy and sometimes severely discombobulated. But while she was obviously sleepy, she was also alert. As soon as I looked at her, her face changed from the sleepy, "it's too bright in here" frown common to most of us to a great big smile. She then reached out to me and rushed to the side of the bed to be lifted up. I pulled her in and she snuggled right up to me.
She wanted some water so I got her cup from her room and then she wanted to be under the covers so I pulled them over her. We lay there for a minute and I relished every second. I was afraid to breathe because I knew it was unlikely that she would fall asleep with me. After a moment she asked, "Where Mommy?", signaling the beginning of the end. I informed her that Mommy was in the living room on the couch and she could either stay with me or...
Before I could finish listing her options she was head, shoulders, knees, and toes rushing out the door for the living room. Oh well. I'll take what I can get. And what I got will be a cherished memory. For me at least.
So I'm reading in bed and McCall had fallen asleep on the couch in the living room. I heard some rustling and thought it might be McCall, but after a moment I could tell that it was actually Harper. I assumed she was using the potty and would do one of three things, 1) go back to bed; low probability, 2) go out to the living room; high probability, or 3) come into our room; moderate probability.
Well, it ended up being number three. I saw her little head on the far side of the bed and put my book down and looked at her. Typically, in the middle of the night she is very groggy and sometimes severely discombobulated. But while she was obviously sleepy, she was also alert. As soon as I looked at her, her face changed from the sleepy, "it's too bright in here" frown common to most of us to a great big smile. She then reached out to me and rushed to the side of the bed to be lifted up. I pulled her in and she snuggled right up to me.
She wanted some water so I got her cup from her room and then she wanted to be under the covers so I pulled them over her. We lay there for a minute and I relished every second. I was afraid to breathe because I knew it was unlikely that she would fall asleep with me. After a moment she asked, "Where Mommy?", signaling the beginning of the end. I informed her that Mommy was in the living room on the couch and she could either stay with me or...
Before I could finish listing her options she was head, shoulders, knees, and toes rushing out the door for the living room. Oh well. I'll take what I can get. And what I got will be a cherished memory. For me at least.
Friday, February 27, 2009
Our Yellow Butterfly Ballerina
So Harper Jo has been taking this Ballet/Tap class for toddlers, and she LOVES it. Her only complaint? The ballerina clothes were all black and pink and white. She wanted YELLOW (her very favorite color) and let me tell you, yellow tights are hard enough to find, let alone a whole outfit. But thank the lord for both the internet and a site called Etsy.com - where someone can hand-make just about any darn thing you might need/want. In my case, it was a full yellow ballet/butterfly getup. (See, at a certain point in class, the kids all put on their wings and do a flaying dance.) Anyhoo... my girl got her yellow and I must admit, it does suit her rather well. ; )
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Single Dad pt. 2
Well, day two of the adventure also went pretty well. Picked up Marley and Harper and went over to the Eyres. When we pulled up Harper asked if Alaina lived there. I had to explain that we weren't going to see Alaina and she has a different family that lives elsewhere. I think she associates Jackson and Alaina and considers them a package deal. See one, see the other.
Clarice didn't arrive with the kids for a while so Harper was pulling everything out. She even dumped all of Jackson's Hotwheels on the floor. I made sure she picked them up reminding her how particular Jackson is about his cars. Jack-Jack has a little duck call that Harper loves. She kept blowing this thing all night.
As soon as Jackson came through the door he said, "Harper's here?". He was very excited to see her. Harper did pretty well eating her pizza (after removing every bit of topping including most of the cheese!). She had a bit of salad, and a bite of pineapple and grape. After she was excused she was all ready to play again. But Jackson apparently LOVES to sit at the table. He would not get up from his seat. Clarice told me that the other night she had to set the timer for 30 minutes and then made him leave the table. That is so not Harper.
So then Marley started to get fussy as it was already past 7:30pm (his bedtime). I gave him a bottle, packed him up and gathered all our stuff and we headed home. After another phone call to Mommy for lullaby, Harper went to sleep very easily.
I thought I had everything situated nicely when Marley started crying. I could tell it wasn't regular crying and he was coughing a lot. I gave him a bit of medicine, and offered a bottle, but he was not interested. I picked him up so he wouldn't wake up Harper and tried to soothe him. But nothing worked. I changed his diaper, offered the bottle again. But I had a hunch that he was having gas pains because he wouldn't take the bottle. I gave him Mylicon. Put him down, he cried. Picked him up, he cried. I sang, sat, bounced, walked, swayed. And he cried. Finally, he settled. I went to the living room.
He starts crying again! Then here comes Harper Jo, all flustered and confused. So now I have to put HJ back to bed but Mr. Marley Man is still all fussy. I explain to Harper that I need to check on Marley. Then she starts losing it. Okay. I figure she's closer to sleep than he is anyway. I'll stay here for a second and check on him when she's out. After about ten minutes, I was able to leave her room. And Marley was asleep. Try everything, something's bound to work, right? Well, something did work and he slept soundly the rest of the night. Harper joined me as usual in the middle of the night and showed me how much she loves me by digging her heels in my side. Ah, fatherhood.
Well, both kids are away to school again, but my day is short because Harper has a commercial audition at 4:30pm in Santa Monica so I have to take both of them! Yikes. We'll see how it goes.
Clarice didn't arrive with the kids for a while so Harper was pulling everything out. She even dumped all of Jackson's Hotwheels on the floor. I made sure she picked them up reminding her how particular Jackson is about his cars. Jack-Jack has a little duck call that Harper loves. She kept blowing this thing all night.
As soon as Jackson came through the door he said, "Harper's here?". He was very excited to see her. Harper did pretty well eating her pizza (after removing every bit of topping including most of the cheese!). She had a bit of salad, and a bite of pineapple and grape. After she was excused she was all ready to play again. But Jackson apparently LOVES to sit at the table. He would not get up from his seat. Clarice told me that the other night she had to set the timer for 30 minutes and then made him leave the table. That is so not Harper.
So then Marley started to get fussy as it was already past 7:30pm (his bedtime). I gave him a bottle, packed him up and gathered all our stuff and we headed home. After another phone call to Mommy for lullaby, Harper went to sleep very easily.
I thought I had everything situated nicely when Marley started crying. I could tell it wasn't regular crying and he was coughing a lot. I gave him a bit of medicine, and offered a bottle, but he was not interested. I picked him up so he wouldn't wake up Harper and tried to soothe him. But nothing worked. I changed his diaper, offered the bottle again. But I had a hunch that he was having gas pains because he wouldn't take the bottle. I gave him Mylicon. Put him down, he cried. Picked him up, he cried. I sang, sat, bounced, walked, swayed. And he cried. Finally, he settled. I went to the living room.
He starts crying again! Then here comes Harper Jo, all flustered and confused. So now I have to put HJ back to bed but Mr. Marley Man is still all fussy. I explain to Harper that I need to check on Marley. Then she starts losing it. Okay. I figure she's closer to sleep than he is anyway. I'll stay here for a second and check on him when she's out. After about ten minutes, I was able to leave her room. And Marley was asleep. Try everything, something's bound to work, right? Well, something did work and he slept soundly the rest of the night. Harper joined me as usual in the middle of the night and showed me how much she loves me by digging her heels in my side. Ah, fatherhood.
Well, both kids are away to school again, but my day is short because Harper has a commercial audition at 4:30pm in Santa Monica so I have to take both of them! Yikes. We'll see how it goes.
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
Single Dad
McCall is out of town this week in Salt Lake City, Utah, so I am on my own with Harper and Marley. Last night actually went very well. Marley is fine, I'm not sure he knows that he's supposed to miss Mommy yet. I almost think that he won't notice she's gone until she gets back, then it will be like, "Oh yeah, I haven't seen you in forever!" and I think he'll be really excited and happy. In the meantime, I think his thoughts are something closer to, "Something's different. What is it? Okay, okay, wait a second, I got it, it's on the tip of my brain...nope. Lost it. Hey, look a duckie!"
But for Harper it's a totally different situation. She was really good after school. She was great during dinner (she won the Clean Plate Award for eating all her pasta). She was allowed to watch one episode of the Berenstain Bears, she had a nice bath, we read books. But then it came that time when I usually leave and McCall sings to her. Suddenly, she started saying how much she wanted her mommy there.
How do you explain to a two year old that her mommy is in Utah and can't be at home right now? It's very hard. But thank goodness for 21st century technology! I got my cell phone, put it on speaker, called up McCall and voila, lullaby time! It worked really well and Harper calmed down after we hung up. I thought it was going to be all smooth sailing after that. But Harper has this music playing, light up, plastic aquarium thing (this really is me trying to explain it the best way I can!!!). If you have kids, you probably have an idea what I'm talking about, if not just don't worry about it too much. Suffice to say that Harper uses this thing to help her fall asleep each night.
Well the batteries have been dying for a while and last night they went kaput. It would stay on for about twelve seconds at a time. And Harper kept sitting up to turn it back on. I knew she would never be able to go to sleep while she was reaching back and pushing the button so much. So I stood over her and pushed the button until she went to sleep. You got to do what you got to do, right?
And so far so good this morning as well. Marley to school (a bit late). Harper to school (a bit early). And tonight we have plans to go to a friend's house for pizza! Hooray. Should be a good time for all (fingers firmly crossed).
But for Harper it's a totally different situation. She was really good after school. She was great during dinner (she won the Clean Plate Award for eating all her pasta). She was allowed to watch one episode of the Berenstain Bears, she had a nice bath, we read books. But then it came that time when I usually leave and McCall sings to her. Suddenly, she started saying how much she wanted her mommy there.
How do you explain to a two year old that her mommy is in Utah and can't be at home right now? It's very hard. But thank goodness for 21st century technology! I got my cell phone, put it on speaker, called up McCall and voila, lullaby time! It worked really well and Harper calmed down after we hung up. I thought it was going to be all smooth sailing after that. But Harper has this music playing, light up, plastic aquarium thing (this really is me trying to explain it the best way I can!!!). If you have kids, you probably have an idea what I'm talking about, if not just don't worry about it too much. Suffice to say that Harper uses this thing to help her fall asleep each night.
Well the batteries have been dying for a while and last night they went kaput. It would stay on for about twelve seconds at a time. And Harper kept sitting up to turn it back on. I knew she would never be able to go to sleep while she was reaching back and pushing the button so much. So I stood over her and pushed the button until she went to sleep. You got to do what you got to do, right?
And so far so good this morning as well. Marley to school (a bit late). Harper to school (a bit early). And tonight we have plans to go to a friend's house for pizza! Hooray. Should be a good time for all (fingers firmly crossed).
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