Saturday, February 16, 2008
If anyone is reading this, can you leave a comment?
I am just curious to know if anyone is reading what I am writing. You are free to do so, however, my intention of writing is to keep a casual record of Declan's doings.
A lazy Saturday
Today was a lazy Saturday. We didn't do much. This evening, however, we did go to visit friends in London. This is one of those days where a child can get in the way of doing nothing. It is really nice that Gary and I can juggle the responsibilities. Do you want to change him or feed him . . . etc? It is helpful having Gary even though I find it a breeze to care for Declan by myself as well. He still wants to touch the 'no touch' objects like the plant, the magazine rack, the remotes, and the end tables. I think I'm going to find it very frustrating to know what to do each time. He doesn't really listen yet to our instructions. We're still trying to figure it out.
Anyways, tomorrow Gary will be getting up with Declan at 7ish. Today I got up with Declan and Gary slept until after 10. I like the fact that Gary and I still get chance to sleep in even though we have a child. Gary even said he would do the dishes in the morning!! All I"ll have to do is get ready for church. Declan has been doing fairly well in the nursery. He had 1 or 2 bad mornings, but now he has been mostly fine. In the evening we have life group at our house. We enjoy having the couples over. We are studying the book of James from the bible and I am facilitating this study. Last time Declan had a late afternoon nap and wasn't ready to sleep at his normal 7 o'clock. This time we will make sure he is nice and tired so he'll sleep right away. It has gone quite smoothly with Declan the other times.
Anyways, tomorrow Gary will be getting up with Declan at 7ish. Today I got up with Declan and Gary slept until after 10. I like the fact that Gary and I still get chance to sleep in even though we have a child. Gary even said he would do the dishes in the morning!! All I"ll have to do is get ready for church. Declan has been doing fairly well in the nursery. He had 1 or 2 bad mornings, but now he has been mostly fine. In the evening we have life group at our house. We enjoy having the couples over. We are studying the book of James from the bible and I am facilitating this study. Last time Declan had a late afternoon nap and wasn't ready to sleep at his normal 7 o'clock. This time we will make sure he is nice and tired so he'll sleep right away. It has gone quite smoothly with Declan the other times.
Thursday, February 14, 2008
9 Months Old!
Declan is really changing a lot in the past little while. He seems like he is more and more like a little boy, then a baby. Here are some pictures of Declan.
Saturday, February 9, 2008
What a rascal!
In Declan's room we have plastic over the windows to keep down the draft. For those not familiar, you put sticky stuff all the way around the windows and buy this special plastic with two layers to cover the window. Then you blow dry it to get it tight and so that you can still see through the window just fine. Well, since Declan can stand now, he reached way over to the window and ripped down a whole layer of the plastic.
I was sitting here on the computer while he was having his nap and thought I heard crinkling plastic. For a bit, I was trying to figure out what the sound was, so I walked in and he had this plastic all over him. Oh boy! Am I ever thankful that I heard the noise and went in. It really could have been a deadly experience. My sister-in-law said she was friends with a lady whose baby had died because he/she reached out and grapped a plastic bag and suffocated. Thank you Lord, for letting me hear! We will be moving his crib to another location in the room. (will be very akward because he is four windows in his room, so there aren't many options.) We'll have to have the crib sticking out into the middle of the room I guess.
Declan went to Crystals house last night. He was sleeping by 7:15, so that's good! Today we are going skating because it is Lorrissa's birthday and that is what they are doing. I thought it was kind of a funny thing to do because she isn't having friends, just a few relatives and two of them don't have skates (three including Declan). Justin can't really skate either. I think I would have chosen something different. Oh well. I have skates, but I am nervous about, because I have gained so much weight since, so I'm hoping I'll be okay and not fall. Declan will have to be in the stroller. I was sure there was a rule about that, but Lorraine said he can go on the ice.
Normally I upload pictures only once a month. So, at some point, I'll be adding pictures to these blogs.
I was sitting here on the computer while he was having his nap and thought I heard crinkling plastic. For a bit, I was trying to figure out what the sound was, so I walked in and he had this plastic all over him. Oh boy! Am I ever thankful that I heard the noise and went in. It really could have been a deadly experience. My sister-in-law said she was friends with a lady whose baby had died because he/she reached out and grapped a plastic bag and suffocated. Thank you Lord, for letting me hear! We will be moving his crib to another location in the room. (will be very akward because he is four windows in his room, so there aren't many options.) We'll have to have the crib sticking out into the middle of the room I guess.
Declan went to Crystals house last night. He was sleeping by 7:15, so that's good! Today we are going skating because it is Lorrissa's birthday and that is what they are doing. I thought it was kind of a funny thing to do because she isn't having friends, just a few relatives and two of them don't have skates (three including Declan). Justin can't really skate either. I think I would have chosen something different. Oh well. I have skates, but I am nervous about, because I have gained so much weight since, so I'm hoping I'll be okay and not fall. Declan will have to be in the stroller. I was sure there was a rule about that, but Lorraine said he can go on the ice.
Normally I upload pictures only once a month. So, at some point, I'll be adding pictures to these blogs.
Friday, February 8, 2008
Playing the Piano
Like I said in the last post, Declan is starting to get into lots of stuff! He can now pull himself up to things and crawl. His new thing is the piano! He pulls himself up to a stand at the piano bench and then stretches up to reach the keys. He plays a little tune for a good few minutes. It is actually quite cute because he isn't doing the full 'bang bang' that he would be doing if he could get to the keys by sitting on the bench. I am sure that is yet to come!
I used to come to the computer room and type away or surf on the net while my son would sit in his room (across the hall) and just quietly play with his little drum set (Costcos). Now if I leave him to play, he has the drawers open on the dresser, he is standing at the toy shelf pulling down toys. He is always busy working. You can here him make little noises, breathing hard, using those muscles! He is one strong kids. I've baby-sat lots and am a aunt, and he is much stronger than those I've spent time with.
The other night he did the dreaded 'stand up in his crib in the middle of the night and can't get down'. I remember reading that this is a normal occurence. The book said to teach him how to get down. I haven't figured out how to teach him that yet. Last night I was thankful that he didn't get stuck (though maybe he figured it out on his own).
Well, time to put the little one into bed for his morning nap. We are heading to the library after that. Oh! Declan and I were on the front page of the Strathroy newspaper this week:)
I used to come to the computer room and type away or surf on the net while my son would sit in his room (across the hall) and just quietly play with his little drum set (Costcos). Now if I leave him to play, he has the drawers open on the dresser, he is standing at the toy shelf pulling down toys. He is always busy working. You can here him make little noises, breathing hard, using those muscles! He is one strong kids. I've baby-sat lots and am a aunt, and he is much stronger than those I've spent time with.
The other night he did the dreaded 'stand up in his crib in the middle of the night and can't get down'. I remember reading that this is a normal occurence. The book said to teach him how to get down. I haven't figured out how to teach him that yet. Last night I was thankful that he didn't get stuck (though maybe he figured it out on his own).
Well, time to put the little one into bed for his morning nap. We are heading to the library after that. Oh! Declan and I were on the front page of the Strathroy newspaper this week:)
Wednesday, February 6, 2008
Starting to Crawl
Declan is beginning to crawl. It was a few days after New Years Day that Declan first stayed put when we put him in a crawling position. Over the last month he would gradually make progress . . . first, staying in the crawling position, then swaying back and forth, next, getting into the crawling position himself, then pushing himself up into a bridge, then attempting to crawl backwards, then trying to crawl forwards but falling to his stomach. Yesterday he made 2 or 3 little crawl movements forward. Today he did it again. It is so cute, but really, I think we are just going to be more frustrated!! I'm sure he'll get into everything. We can no longer just leave him in the living room while in the kitchen. We'll always be wondering . . . what is he getting into?
We've caught him doing a few things already (and that is before he is crawling): pulling down on a plant and breaking the little branch, pulling DVD's off a shelf, grabbing for the remotes, gettting stuck between the couch and the speaker, throwing laundry all over his bedroom floor, opening the dresser drawers and climbing up to a stand and pulling clothes out of the drawer, getting the book basket and dumping the books all over the floor. I know this is JUST the beginning. Our little nephew (compared to a lot of kids) was quite the rascal. He was just so curious and would touch, pull, rip everything. I'm worried that Declan will be the same.
The problem that I am having is how to deal with this type of behaviour. I am trying to figure this out before he starts doing this on purpose knowing that it is wrong. People deal with this young rascalness in so many different ways. He needs to be taught that some things cannot be touched. Some different ways people handle this: just keep repeating 'no' and pull away his hand, tell him once that he can't touch and the second time slap his hand, just remove him from where he is (over and over), remove the thing he is touching. I still need to figure out what will work for us and I know we'll need to be consistent. Since he is only just about 9 months we are still wondering what we do when he touches our face with love and then starts pulling and scratching us. Something I know I'll watch for: if he is doing it on purpose, knowing it is wrong vs. is he doing it out of curiosity. At this young age, he is still doing everything out of curiosity. We've had one instant where he kept pulling off his bib before we were finished feeding him. I wanted him to keep it on. Even after we said no he kept doing it. We would pull his hand down and say 'no' a little louder. I think during this time, it started becoming the fight of the wills. I know that is one thing that never works when dealing with little kids. I still don't know the best way to handle the situation. Do I just distract him in this situation (I was trying). Hopefully I'll be wise in these decisions. I want to have 'obedient' kids, but I also have seen some parents go too extreme on this and only focus on obedience and they forget about having fun with them, and playing with them. Every interaction becomes and watchful look to see if they are bad. I don't think that is how it should bed. Also, I think I really want to make consequences fit the crime. (rather than just jump to one form of discipline . . . however, I know every child is different as well. What works for one, may not work for the other. Some options: 'time-out for their age', spoken boldly to and I don't mean yelling), remove something (e.g. if standing on chair at the table, take away the chair), quiet time in room/crib (more for the sake of me and losing patience). I do think that if the child disobeys over and over, or does something really bad, that he/she can be spanked. It should be a rare occurence, rather than a common one. I"m still not sure about how often you should slap a kids hand. The reason why I am unsure is because I can see how it can become a habit. Everytime they do something wrong, they'd get slapped. Logically, it actually makes some sense to me. But i just see how it would become too common. Then how would you deal with it in public when you shouldn't slap their hand. I think it would require a lot of self control to not overuse this method. Maybe if you've tired everything else, the last resort at a young age would be slapping their hand. You shouldn't spank a young child.
Anyways . . . Declan and I were going to go into London to do a few errands - home depot to check a few things, pick up his birthday gift, go swimming . . . but the roads aren't great, so I might wait until tomorrow.
We've caught him doing a few things already (and that is before he is crawling): pulling down on a plant and breaking the little branch, pulling DVD's off a shelf, grabbing for the remotes, gettting stuck between the couch and the speaker, throwing laundry all over his bedroom floor, opening the dresser drawers and climbing up to a stand and pulling clothes out of the drawer, getting the book basket and dumping the books all over the floor. I know this is JUST the beginning. Our little nephew (compared to a lot of kids) was quite the rascal. He was just so curious and would touch, pull, rip everything. I'm worried that Declan will be the same.
The problem that I am having is how to deal with this type of behaviour. I am trying to figure this out before he starts doing this on purpose knowing that it is wrong. People deal with this young rascalness in so many different ways. He needs to be taught that some things cannot be touched. Some different ways people handle this: just keep repeating 'no' and pull away his hand, tell him once that he can't touch and the second time slap his hand, just remove him from where he is (over and over), remove the thing he is touching. I still need to figure out what will work for us and I know we'll need to be consistent. Since he is only just about 9 months we are still wondering what we do when he touches our face with love and then starts pulling and scratching us. Something I know I'll watch for: if he is doing it on purpose, knowing it is wrong vs. is he doing it out of curiosity. At this young age, he is still doing everything out of curiosity. We've had one instant where he kept pulling off his bib before we were finished feeding him. I wanted him to keep it on. Even after we said no he kept doing it. We would pull his hand down and say 'no' a little louder. I think during this time, it started becoming the fight of the wills. I know that is one thing that never works when dealing with little kids. I still don't know the best way to handle the situation. Do I just distract him in this situation (I was trying). Hopefully I'll be wise in these decisions. I want to have 'obedient' kids, but I also have seen some parents go too extreme on this and only focus on obedience and they forget about having fun with them, and playing with them. Every interaction becomes and watchful look to see if they are bad. I don't think that is how it should bed. Also, I think I really want to make consequences fit the crime. (rather than just jump to one form of discipline . . . however, I know every child is different as well. What works for one, may not work for the other. Some options: 'time-out for their age', spoken boldly to and I don't mean yelling), remove something (e.g. if standing on chair at the table, take away the chair), quiet time in room/crib (more for the sake of me and losing patience). I do think that if the child disobeys over and over, or does something really bad, that he/she can be spanked. It should be a rare occurence, rather than a common one. I"m still not sure about how often you should slap a kids hand. The reason why I am unsure is because I can see how it can become a habit. Everytime they do something wrong, they'd get slapped. Logically, it actually makes some sense to me. But i just see how it would become too common. Then how would you deal with it in public when you shouldn't slap their hand. I think it would require a lot of self control to not overuse this method. Maybe if you've tired everything else, the last resort at a young age would be slapping their hand. You shouldn't spank a young child.
Anyways . . . Declan and I were going to go into London to do a few errands - home depot to check a few things, pick up his birthday gift, go swimming . . . but the roads aren't great, so I might wait until tomorrow.
Saturday, February 2, 2008
Going to Grandma & Grandpa Rutledges Tomorrow
Declan and I spent the day at his Uncle Eric and Aunt Lorraine's house. It was a nice and relaxing day. It felt normal to have a baby. I was able to carry on a conversation while tending to all of Declan's needs. It may sound weird that I am saying this, since he is 8 months old, but it just felt so normal and nice.
Our little 'gaffer' was just so pleasant today. He didn't nap much though! He still seemed pretty good even though he hardly napped. He went to sleep in the evening nicely though, and went right to sleep once we got home. He is such a sweety because when I wake him up at someone's house in order to go home, he usually wakes up with a big smile his face. I am just so happy having him as my son.
Eric and Lorraine have been so generous by lending us lots of stuff for Declan. They have been lending all of their boys clothes, as well as many of their baby toys. For instance, I really wanted to get some sort of scooting toy and a walker for Declan. Lorraine had both, so now Declan has some new toys to play with. We also have the next bin of clothes for him to wear (18-24 months). He isn't really ready to wear those clothes yet, but at least I can go through them and know what to look forward to:) I love buying clothes for Declan. I really don't need to buy him anything though . . . so because I love it so much . . . I head to Value Village and get really good deals. I bought two, never used, roots shirts. Sooooo adorable!!!
Our little 'gaffer' was just so pleasant today. He didn't nap much though! He still seemed pretty good even though he hardly napped. He went to sleep in the evening nicely though, and went right to sleep once we got home. He is such a sweety because when I wake him up at someone's house in order to go home, he usually wakes up with a big smile his face. I am just so happy having him as my son.
Eric and Lorraine have been so generous by lending us lots of stuff for Declan. They have been lending all of their boys clothes, as well as many of their baby toys. For instance, I really wanted to get some sort of scooting toy and a walker for Declan. Lorraine had both, so now Declan has some new toys to play with. We also have the next bin of clothes for him to wear (18-24 months). He isn't really ready to wear those clothes yet, but at least I can go through them and know what to look forward to:) I love buying clothes for Declan. I really don't need to buy him anything though . . . so because I love it so much . . . I head to Value Village and get really good deals. I bought two, never used, roots shirts. Sooooo adorable!!!
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