Monday, November 5, 2012

Fall Frenzy

My head is in a tizzy, and I've spent the greater part of the day trying to dodge all of the thoughts racing around within. As the days pass, I'm entering further into what promises to be a month fairly bursting with activity (and then will come Christmas). Just in the next few weeks, I've got two last rehearsals before the big concert that the choir I (perhaps foolishly) joined has been working up to. There will be doctor's appointments for Abby, for me, for Raspberry. And in the midst of it all: Thanksgiving.

Forgive me if my focus is too fractured to properly plan out a post today- I think the best that I can muster is a recap of some loose threads that I've been meaning to include somewhere, some way, over the last few weeks.

Sassy Abby

Miss Abigail is developing quite the attitude. Smart as she is, I suppose I shouldn't be surprised. Still, my first encounter with a bit of sass caught me so off-guard that it took me a full minute to process what I'd heard.

It started with an interruption in Abby's routine that, in retrospect, I see clearly that I should have avoided. The usual bedtime process involves reading Abby her stories in the larger bedroom (where the glider is), and then taking her into the nursery, where she still sleeps in the crib. Because it was the room available when we were ready to move Michael out of ours, Michael's mini-crib has taken up residence in the larger bedroom. We avoid the problem of keeping Michael awake with our activity in there by getting it all done before we bring him up to bed.

However, one night a couple of weeks ago, I brought Michael up to the larger bedroom with me while Abby was still having stories read to her. She got distracted by the sight of her brother in the room, and jumped off of her father's lap to chase him. He was unable to get her seated again to continue the story, so he picked her up to carry her off to the crib in the next room. Once she realized that bedtime was coming sooner than she had intended it to, she pitched a fit, and began to cry. As Tom crossed through the doorway with her, she yelled out, "Go away Mommy! Go away Michael!" Because, clearly, it was our fault that she had misbehaved and had to face the consequences.

In a way, it really was my fault for coming in and distracting her like that, so I felt terrible about the whole thing. But mostly, I was incredulous at Abby's reaction to the whole situation. She appears to be displaying that raw, intrinsic understanding that children seem to possess, before they really know how to apply it. I guess I just didn't expect to see evidence of it so soon.

Michael, the Pre-toddler

Michael, in the meantime, is making great strides in his quest to walk alongside his big sister. He's still not actually cruising yet, but he's become quite adept at pulling up, and gets steadier on his feet with each passing day.

This activity table keeps him occupied for short periods of time, several times a day. He seems to like to play with the various gadgets arranged along the top of it, but mostly, I think he likes the independence he gains by standing up, and it's a good height to support him while he does so.





Also, while he's still not eating much in the way of solid food, he has been letting us feed him puree through the Plum Baby Organic pouches that we still keep around for Abby as convenient snacks-on -the-go (we call them "squeezies." However, while Abby is now a master at sucking them dry right through the opening, Michael does best when we attach a spoon to the end and offer it that way. They both seem to be partial to the Spinach, Peas, and Pear. I still don't see the appeal (if you think it sounds like an odd combo, you should also smell it, and see the color that it comes out as) but there must be something to that flavor.

And today, Tom swears that he said "Dad-dee!" I will definitely be keeping an ear out for the possibility of a repeat.