Being Sara

Xander playing with playdough

I think once kids start talking every parent has stories about the cute or silly or sometimes shocking things their kids say.  I can remember laughing until I had tears rolling down my face with some of the things that my nieces and nephew came out with when they were toddlers.  Of course, I would be hard pressed to reacall any of those stories these days.  I suspect that some people find the cute stories about their friends or co-workers kids to be tedious.  On the other hand, that’s pretty much all this blog is, so I’m assuming anyone coming here doesn’t mind hearing about my kid’s cute or funny stories.

A few weeks ago Zach, Xander and I went to visit some friends in the next town over.  As we got in the car, I asked Zach if we should bring some extra juice for Xander.  We were going for dinner and to visit so it would be several hours before we returned.  Zach thought that there would be plenty of juice at the house.  But, Xander would be the only child there, and I worried that the juice available might be cranberry or something else that might not suit Xander’s palate.  Zach responded that Xander wasn’t even 2 – he liked pretty much everything we’ve presented to him so far – he doesn’t have a palate.

Then a little voice piped up from the back seat, “I have a palate!”  Zach and I looked at each other, speechless for a moment before we burst into laughter.  We stand corrected, apparently our son does have a palate…

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I ran out of time to write a blog post about Xander last week, and I felt bad about it. Luckily, I have lots of great stories from our mini-vacation, so I’ll make up for it with a few posts this week For several years Zach and I have been spending July 4th weekend at my family’s cottage on a small pond. We visit with friends and family while we are there, and just generally relax. This year we got 5 days there – Friday through Thursday. Xander was old enough to appreciate the outdoors and the water this year, and we spent most of our time chasing him around, but we had lots of fun.

One of the days Zach’s family came by to visit. His brother’s kids always have a great time playing in the water, and Xander just loves them. We had lots of fun with all of them. Zach’s mother often brings treats for the kids (she does a great job in that “grandmother” role). This time it was tiny tubs of snacks – Oreos for one kid, Vienna Fingers for another, etc. She got Xander Teddy Grahams. Xander didn’t end up eating them that day. However, a few days later he discovered them just before dinner. He of course asked Zach “Dada, have more?” Zach told him he could have as many as he wanted if he ate enough for dinner. So once we had finished up dinner (Xander actually ate pretty well), Xander pulled down the Teddy Grahams and asked for some. While I cleaned the kitchen, Xander snacked on 6 or 7 Teddy Grahams. We didn’t think much of it – continued with our bedtime routine, reading books, settling down, etc. About 7:45, the Teddy Grahams kicked in. Xander dragged us to bed and made us lay down. I thought “ok, if this is how we get him to sleep tonight, that’s fine.” Boy, was I mistaken! Xander spent the next half hour running – not walking, not pausing, running around the cabin. His route was generally to jump on the bed with us, roll around for a few seconds, roll down, run into the living room, grab something (my water bottle, a book, a pamphlet on a life jacket, pretty much anything he could find) then run back to the bedroom to give it to us, jump on the bed for a second, and start over again.

This may not seem like unusual behavior, but let me stress that Xander COULD NOT sit still, not even for a second. When I say he was running, he was running, not walking everywhere. Since dinner was macaroni and cheese with a side of tomato and cucumber, and the only other thing he ate was Teddy Grahams, we’re blaming the Teddy Grahams. Xander has had sugar before – he doesn’t really like much sweet stuff, but he enjoys an occasional chocolate or sweetie candy. We’d never seen this type of reaction out of him before. It baffled us, and we decided that we will wait a loooong time before giving him Teddy Grahams again. However, since Zach’s mother bought the Teddy Grahams, and Xander is staying with her for a few days while day care is closed (annual vacation week for them), we made sure to send the Teddy Grahams to her house – hopefully she doesn’t give him too many

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Xander has discovered the joys of getting out of the house and doing things. Now in the morning when we get up, he goes immediately for his boots (for some reason he equates boots with going outside). Once he’s convinced you to put his boots on, he goes for his coat. He can sometimes get that most of the way on by himself, though he can’t zip it. Then he finds either my shoes or Zach’s shoes and brings those to the appropriate person. Finally, once he has convinced you to put shoes on, he takes your finger and leads you to the door, stopping of course to tug on your coat to remind you to put it on as well. Then he’s jiggling the door handle and waiting for you to open the door. On the mornings that we’re getting ready for day care and work, this is great – it keeps him busy and moving forward in the mornings (though it’s tough for Zach to put his shoes on when he’s still in a towel…)

On the weekends, it’s less fun. Zach and I have developed a pretty good routine – one of us sleeps in while the other one gets up with Xander, then we switch the next morning. Some weekends it isn’t entirely perfect – particularly on the weekends that we have to go somewhere earlier in the morning. Anyway, it’s a system that is working well for us so far. Usually when Zach gets up with Xander, after he’s given Xander breakfast, changed his diaper, and played for a bit, they go out and get coffee for Zach. Yes, we have a coffee maker at home, but Zach refuses to use it… a little strange, but whatever. It works out well because when they’re out of the house, I sleep more soundly, and often Xander will nap in the car while they are driving around. They usually get back about the time that I wake up.

Lately though, Xander wants to leave as soon as he gets up. So instead of leaving the house at 8:30 or 9:00, they’re leaving at 6:30. Then when I get up, Xander wants me to leave too – he’s getting me shoes and a coat before I’ve managed to take a shower or get dressed. I’m not sure what is prompting this desire to get out of the house all the time. It’s kind of funny, but Xander gets so frustrated if we don’t actually leave, and he doesn’t really understand the concept of soon, or in 10 minutes, etc.

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I think more than any other big moment for babies is their first word. This is something that is remembered for years to come, something that kids will inquire about (what was my first word?). What I never realized before is how difficult it is to say “that’s it – that’s his first word”. The problem is that it’s a gradual thing. So the sssss sound that he was making a few months ago gradually became shhhh and then a few weeks later turned into sho, and from there finally became a distinguishable “shoe”. And the “sat!” became “that!” became “dat!” became “cat!” Which one came first? At some point he started to say “Hieeeee” when he walked into a room. Mmmm became ma, ma, ma became “more” and all of these things happened around the same time. It wasn’t like one day Xander sat up and said a word – he practiced for a long time, and eventually we understood what he meant, and strangers may still not understand what is slowly becoming Xander-speak.

Once in a while he surprises us, like the morning after Zach’s grandmother’s funeral when Xander sat up in bed and said quite clearly “Are we dead?” to which we answered – “No…” and then Xander laid back down and continued on with his regular babble. It was a bit strange, but not something that he repeated.

This past weekend he said “Hi cat”. I started to worry a bit. Since none of these words could be picked out as a first word, and he won’t necessarily repeat them on demand, and maybe we were hearing and understanding at a level that not everyone would. At his 15 month check-up they discussed these concerns. Our doctor’s office of course told us that kids develop speech at their own pace, and that as long as Xander can string two words together at his 2 year checkup then he’ll be on track. So the “hi cat” from this weekend went a long way in alleviating my concerns. I think I’ll be able to relax and enjoy the words as they develop into their own Xander-speak. We’re getting there

toddler, baby, child, childhood, parent, parents, parenting, mother, mothers, motherhood, first words, talking, baby talk

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