Growing Up

AJU6 turned 11 months old yesterday. That is right - in 30 days he will be one year old. In 29 days, he will get his first taste of cake (on Thanksgiving when family is already gathered together). And today, he got to go to the dentist for the first time - even before his big sister ever saw one!

Behind his two front teeth, it was black. Since his teeth are fairly thin, you could see the black through the teeth some times. A few weeks ago, I took him to his doctor because we were a little worried. Those same two teeth are shorter than the others, so we thought there might be a real problem. The pediatrician had no idea what it was. So, she recommended we take him to a pediatric dentist. And today was the day of the appointment.

And guess what - the blackness was almost 100% gone this morning. Maybe it was the waffles he has been engulfing the past week (he can eat a whole flax waffle plus some fruit at breakfast each day). Maybe it was the brushing I did (fairly vigorously) before we left. But it was gone. Luckily, the dentist had seen it before. It is some sort of staining, and probably caused by a bacteria. There is no known cause, although environment and genetics may play a part since siblings tend to have it. It can be scraped off, but it isn't dangerous at all. And his front two baby teeth are just short - nothing to worry about there.

The dentist office is pretty fun. They have a play area that AJU5 loves. They have a dog (the older partner's) that just roams the office freely. The cleaning stations are open, and the procedure areas are in glassed rooms so they don't look like closets or jails. So, I scheduled AJU5 for her first appointment. Hopefully seeing AJU6 "go through the motions" today will help. She wasn't too sure about having to stop playing so the dentist could see us. But, I did let her play after, so I think that helped. And she saw the dog (which really does just roam free) and got a toy, so she was content when we left.

How old were your kids when they first went to the dentist? Do you use a pediatric dentist or just a family practice?

We were going to just do the family practice, but 11 months old I think is too young to go to one of those. So, we are now on the pediatric route...

Behavior and Skillz

First for some AJU5 stuff:

The last three weeks I have taken her to AWANA without AJU6 (who has stayed home with Daddy). The first week was terrible. I had to remove her and punish her at least a handful of times. Last week was great - no punishment/removal. And this week there was only one removal. Now, she is definitely not comfortable with me leaving her yet, but she at least knows what is expected of her. She cried when I didn't follow her immediately last night (as I was wrangling another Cubbie from under a chair), but she participated in everything. I think it is helping that she is getting to know the workers/leaders and the kids in her group. They now rotate with the same group of kids every night, and her group is a hoot. There are three girls and five boys (I think - if I am not missing anyone), and they are an interesting mix. You have the extreme shy, the extremely outgoing, the young and adventurous, and the well-behaved.

It took AJU5 3 weeks to say her verse. And she still didn't say it all. She was supposed to saw "And Jesus increased in wisdom" (Luke 2:52). She got "increased in wisdom - Luke 2:11" (after I said and). But, the leader gave her credit. I don't know why she refused to say Jesus. She says it in Jesus Loves Me... And in other songs... Oh well.

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Now on to AJU6:
The boy is walking. He can take over 20 steps in a row (with some squatting to play with with toys in the middle). He is "resorting" to walking more and more each day. Now I just need to find him some not-crazy-expensive shoes! He is currently about a size 3, but I am afraid he will grow right after I buy shoes. So, I don't want to spend over $15. Hopefully I can find something so he doesn't ruin socks (or have his feet turn black from store floors that need to be cleaned). He is starting to have a real personality, and I think he is about to actually say some words. He has made sounds like momma and dada ones or twice, so maybe soon he will say his first real word!

Pumpkin Stand

We have gone to a local pumpkin stand twice now. The first time we went with friends (ended up being a group of 13 kids and 4 parents), and today we went alone. And I think the kids had a blast both times. This pumpkin stand is put on by a local youth horse ranch that runs off of donations/fundraisers. The pumpkin stand is a big deal for them because of the funds it brings in. But - it is still FREE! Now, it is about 30 minutes away from us (the only downside), but it has been worth the drive so far.

The first time we spent a lot of time at the tractors/horses. They are right next to each other, so with the large group there was enough room to play. AJU5 at first wanted to ride, but when it was her turn she got scared (which did not surprise me). But, I was happy to get the one picture of her near the horse, and she later petted another one (while I held her). Hopefully she won't be afraid of animals in the near future so I can sign her up to go out the the actual ranch.

There was also a lot of time spent both times at the duck races. They set up handpumps and ramps to send rubber ducks down slides (half pieces of pipe). Of course AJU5 loves ducks, so this was a big hit for her. AJU6 just wanted to eat a duck...

Today we also spent a good deal of time in the corn box. It is like a sandbox, but instead of sand there is dried corn (i.e. feed corn). Both kids love playing in the corn, although they were a little dusty by the end.

So far we have bought four small pumpkins - and I hope to get AJU5 to color them with permanent markers. Then I want to give them to members of our church that can't make it to services, as a way to cheer them up. We will see if that happens though...

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NaBloPoMo - Are you up for it? I think I am going to give it a try. I have the following ideas for each day fo the week:
Product Review Friday
Silly Saturday (something silly from the past)
Sweet Sunday (recipe or a sweet action)
Munchkin Monday (baby blogging or something about them at least)
Topic Tuesday (more controversial topics, etc)
Word(less) Wednesday (either just pictures or a post about a specific word)
Thankful Thursday

A First

So, I know most of the people that still read this blog are also friends on FB, but I want to add a little to my story about AJU5 cutting her hair (and re-post the picture).

It started Monday morning when I trimmed her hair before pictures that morning. I did the long part first thing in the morning while she watched a show. Then, I trimmed the bangs just before we left - after she was dresses and had her hair in pigtails. Both times I got out the scissors, she wanted a turn, but I informed her it was a mommy-only job.

That afternoon, she wanted to use scissors to cut after I cut something. I reminded her to not cut her hair, and she was content cutting paper. About 30 minutes later, she came to me with the hair scissors that I had put in the middle of the table downstairs. She sat in my lap, and I hadn't noticed anything. Then, I noticed one of her pigtails had a funny piece sticking out of it. I pulled a little, and a chunk of hair came out - only held in my gravity and the pigtail before. Then I noticed the bangs - all trimmed. It took a long time to get her to tell me where the rest of the "trimmed" hair was, but I did find another chunk down stairs.

Luckily, there are only two small patches and then the bangs that she got. The two patches are very close to her (very thin layer) of bangs, so it will look normal very soon. Until then, there will be no pulling her hair up. When her hair is down, I don't think it is that noticeable. But, when it is up, the two patches and bangs are a lot more noticeable. Unfortunately, she isn't as cute with her hair down because it is very thin and hence flies everywhere. Oh well. Maybe in a month...

Before

After

Oh What a Night...

I left AJU6 with AJU1 instead of taking him to Cubbies tonight with AJU5. My goal was to work on training AJU5 to sit, listen, and participate. Now that AJU6 is very mobile, it is hard to corral him and AJU5. Only having one is definitely easier, but we have a long way to go! AJU5 has a hard time going from play to listening. Add a very short nap (30 minutes vs. the normal 1.5-2.5 hours), and it was a struggle tonight. I had to remove her from teh room many times to discipline her. And she refused to say her verse. But, I think tonight was a learning experience for her - and hopefully next week will be better.

One thing I need to let go of is the external praise I want her to get. I need to become "fine" with her not getting her stickers and patches for saying her verses. It is not what matters. What matters is that she is learning the verses and learning about God. If she doesn't want to say the verse to the leaders, I need to learn to not force it too much. Hopefully seeing others with the "rewards" will motivate her if she wants them.

I hope AJU6 was good for AJU1. I know he was asleep when I left, woke up a little later, and was asleep again when I got home. AJU1 did not change his diaper - claiming he didn't know he was wet - before putting him back to sleep. I think he is just out of practice... I thought it was common sense that you changed a kid's diaper before putting them down for the night! And I even left him 3 velcro pocket diapers to use - the ones that are like disposables when it comes to putting them on. Oh well. AJU5 woke him up with her tantrum about having to put on jammies anyways, so I changed him, fed him, and got him back to sleep.

I wonder if next week will be more adventurous?

Association

Walking home from the park:

Me: AJU5, watch where you are walking there is doggie stinky.
AJU5 looks at me and is completely confused.
Me: AJU5, you are almost stepping in doggie stinky.
AJU5 finally looks down and sees it.

Closer to home - after seeing a dog:
AJU5: Puppy went stinky. Puppy needs to go potty.
Me: Most dogs don't use potties. They just go in the grass, and normally their mommy or daddy cleans up after them.
AJU5 (after seeing another dog): Puppy needs to go stinky. Mommy and daddy clean up.


Now she thinks all dogs need to go to the bathroom... Maybe I shouldn't have even gone in that direction and just moved her...

On the Move

AJU6, at 10 months 1 day, took his first steps last Monday. Since then, he has increased to 5-6 steps in a row before falling down. The boy is definitely going to beat his sister to the independent walking stage, since she didn't get there until 13-14 months.

He has also learned to clap and has started to use it to get our attention. If he is done eating and has started to exit his chair, he claps half the time to "inform" us of his accomplishment.

It is fun to watch him grow. He is definitely doing things differently than his sister, and I bet part of it is because he has a role model. The other part is that he is boy.

AJU5 is a hoot these days too. She was "performing" for her daddy last night - singing songs for him to record. Her two favorites right now are ABCs and the Cubbies song. Now if only she would sing the Cubbies song at Cubbies class...

Sleep hasn't improved much. AJU6 can't have too much diary or his belly gets upset. And he doesn't like meat, so his diet is fruits, veggies, and starches mostly (and bm). None of these things really fill him up. So, Luckily he gets that one big stretch of sleep at night OR does 3 hours stretches. So, I am not a complete zombie.

Well, this post just went completely random... Maybe next time I can stick to my title :)