18 mth stats and stories of ouchees

Saul has unfortunately begun to associate the doctor's office with shots, which he has been speaking about for weeks. First, the 18 month appointment stats.

Weight: 28 lbs.
Height: at least 32.5 inches

He really, really does not like laying flat on the paper to get measured. So, we think he's actually a little longer than the measurement. Either way, he's grown at least two inches since September. Crazy! And, we will be changing up the scene the next time we go. Saul will get to stand on the adult scale and we will use the height measurement from the big scale, too. The goal is to go back to happy Saul in the doctor's office.

So, here's how Saul's story of the doctor visit goes, not always in this order: "Fishy.... doctor.... water.... bandaid.... shots... ouchee.... ladies.... ouchee.... doctor..... fishy..... bandaid.... mama... off... bubbles... ouchee... ladies.... shots...." You get the idea.

The doctor's office has a really big fish tank with big gold fish and blue fish, etc. These are a hit and get talked about a lot. Then, the ladies are obviously the poor nurses who gave him his shots this last visit - one in each leg. And, there were bandaids, which I took off for him during a bath.

The story is told most frequently while sitting on his potty chair, as it's when he sees his thighs and is reminded that there were bandaids. This, of course, results in the story being told in a different order, starting with the bandaids. Recent pictures to come soon.

Accidents will happen....

....and some of them will involve me. A couple of Saturdays ago while Aaron was at dragon boat practice, Saul and I were played on the sidewalk out front after returning from Jim & Patty's. Neighbor Christine has a little push car for her daughter Sarah that has become the little kids' toy. Saul loves to push it and until a few Saturdays ago, he also liked to ride it. He would put his legs up and I would push him. And, he would propel himself Flinstones style. And then, the awful happened....

While I was pushing him full steam ahead, Saul decided it was his turn and dropped his feet. It was a slow motion moment of awfulness. It was as though he dropped anchor as his feet hit the ground and his upper half began moving up and over the handlebars before I could even come to a complete stop. "Grab him! Grab him!" my mind said. And, my body reacted. I reached for him and came up with a leg and diaper....after his face had already hit the ground. The only thing I can claim is that I kept his impact with the concrete short. But, it was not averted.

Instead, the picture below demonstrates the nose and lip damage. There was blood. Lots of blood. But, somehow, despites the pain and blood, after the silent scream and some fully justifiable screaming, Saul's first real post-injury word was, "Outside?" He wanted back at it.

For a few days after the fall, he didn't really want to play with the toy. Instead, he would walk up to it and fake cry. Today (two weeks post-trauma) he definitely was all about the toy and pushing it at old record speeds. Oh, for the child's ability to recover!

A Cold Day at Grant Park

A few weeks ago Saul and Claire got to play together at the Grant Park. The dog statue that's part of the Beverly Cleary area is definitely a favorite and each of the kids took a turn. The Grant Highschool marching band practicing on the track was too much of a lure for Saul. The result was a lot of action shots of him and only a few decent pictures. The kid likes his music! And, he was definitely taken in by the echoing of drums across the playground.

We also spent a bit of time on the slide and climbing equipment. And, all of us adults were reminded that playground equipment really isn't safe! It's a good thing kids have little sense of fear! While climbing the tall ladder up to the slide or walking across the bouncy bridge, how is it that I am bit uncomfortable while the kids just bounce along laughing?! And, how is it that the merry-go-round now makes me dizzy?! I'm sure this is just the beginning, but I can truly say that these are just of the few things that are beginning to remind me of my age....not 20-something anymore! Aaah.

Claire's turn on the doggy. Followed by Saul's turn on the doggy - ended short by the Pied Piper marching band.

Another cute moment.

Kicky-di-doi

Translated as Clifford the Dog, Kicky-di-doi remains one of Saul's favorite books. I bought it at Powell's for $3 thinking it would be great for when he got older. However, Saul reached it on the shelf of books he'll grow in to and won't put it down. It contains three books in one - the alphabet, numbers and general around-the-town vocabulary words. Also, it's not a board book. Seriously, depending on the day, we can read this book upwards of 20 times!

The fun part is seeing how each of us adults - Aaron, me and the two nannies - focuses on different things when we read it with Saul. In the alphabet section there's a page dedicated to each letter of the alphabet, with things that start with that letter. C = cat, clown, cow. T = turtle, tea pot, tractor. I'm continually amazed by how many of these words he knows! At first, I thought it was just that he was memorizing them as they related to the book. But, then he started applying them more broadly. For example, y is for yak. We got him a new little alphabet book and while looking at the inside cover where there's a collage of animals, he suddenly pointed out "yak"! Crazy.

Saul loves to sit at his table to read. He pulls out a chair and points, "Mama. Chair." or "Dada. Chair." And though he won't do it unprompted, as soon as we start to say, "How do you...." he said "Peeeease!"

Aaron reading with Saul and pointing out a is for apron.

Both looking at the camera. Happy times.

Fall colors...and plaids

Once again, catching up.....We did get to the pumpkin patch pre-Halloween. It was a lot of fun - perfect brisk air, sunny and not muddy. The next weekend it rained, so I'm really glad we got out when we did. And, Saul got to dress like his dad for a day - flannel! The shirt's already too snug for a second wear. Fortunately, it's a hand-me-down, so I'm not feeling as guilty about the lack of wear we got out of it. I'm particularly partial to the last picture and predict many more like it in coming years.

Since the trip, tractors have been near the top of Saul's list of things to focus on, likely influenced by the tractor-drawn hayride out to the pumpkin patch. This morning we were looking at his Duck and Goose "Find the Pumpkin" book. (Warning: I'm going to give away the ending!) On the last page is the picture of a nice big pumpkin they got at the pumpkin patch. Saul started saying "hay ride" (his version of it). He added "momma" and "Saul" - meaning we were both on the hay ride. When I asked, "Who else was on the hay ride?" in an effort to get him to mention "dadda", he instead replied, "People."

Click on the link to Aaron's flickr page at the bottom of this post for
cooler pics of Saul at the pumpkin patch.

"Rock rock," Saul says.

The hay ride back to the car.
A favorite...picture for me and Sauvie's Island stop for Aaron.
We are walking up to the entrance to Cistus Nursery.

Aaron's flickr page loaded with great pictures of Saul, as well as plants and more!: http://www.flickr.com/photos/22608595@N03/

Conserving water

Cousins in need of baths and parents still having fun visiting and celebrating Aaron's birthday results in two kids in a bathtub. They had a good time and now rather than focusing on words like "bubbles" and "wawa' when he points at the bathroom, he's saying "Claire", or his version of her name. They were really cute in there together!

Look up! Saul playing with his "hat", which is the device that keeps water out of his eyes while I wash his hair.
And Claire is, of course, chewing on duck's beak.

Another view - trying to get their attention.

Saul loves "eee-eee" and "roar"

Saul has two favorite stuffed animals. Until last weekend when neighbor Kathy very kindly gave him a hand-knit stuffed bear, his favorite was monkey. So, now it's monkey and bear. They are the two animals that sleep in his room - often on the floor next to his bed or on the chair (as shown in pictures below). Here are some sweet pictures of Saul giving them cuddles. It's hard to remember that at one point monkey was longer than him!

Surrounded by animals! His response when I asked for a smile.Telling monkey a story. Giving monkey a good squeeze.Bear gets his share of the attention

More catching up

I'm determined to be talking about a few days ago instead of a few months ago, but in the meantime I am organizing the pics and keep coming across cute ones.

We introduced Saul to crayons in early August. This picture of him is so cute and hopefully is a sign of the little studier we'll have. Of course, just moments after this picture the crayons were going straight to his mouth so we took a break.

The other picture is after a hike from Timberline to Silcox Hut up at Mt. Hood. It was a gorgeous day and we had a great time. We also learned the limits of Saul's patience in a backpack and changed our vacation plans as a result.

Saul's first time coloring at his little table.

Back at the car after a great hike.

The clouds only came in as we were coming down.

Faster, Dadda!

I remember my babysitting days when I would chase the little guys in Lynnwood round-and-round the house -- through the living room to the hallway, through the kitchen, the dining room and back to the living room. The fun never ceased. And, to make it really fun, you get ahead and then turn around and surprise them as they're running.

The game is just beginning in our house. For now, Saul is happy to just sit in his push-wagon and let "dadda" - Aaron - push him around at high speeds. They both were having lots of fun. Amazingly, a few of the action shots are even in focus!

On your mark, get set..... (in the kitchen) Go! (in the dining room)

And smiling through the living room.

More from Mom's visit in August

I think and hope that Mom had fun with the grandkids. Here are a few pictures from her visit while Michelle and Claire were down at our house, as well. It's so nice to have them only 5 houses away!

Three generations of ladies - Mom, Michelle and Claire. Saul pointing out the location of Claire's eye - he's NOT punching her! Auntie Michelle reading to Saul and Claire.

15 month stats

Saul had his 15-month appointment on Monday. The stats:

weight: 26 lbs., 12 oz
weight percentile: 78th

height: 30.5 inches long
height percentile: 33rd

Nothing to worry about. Kid is "the picture of health", but I can't imagine what his weight would be if he was sedentary - a word that I don't think we'll have to worry about entering his vocabularly.

Grandma No-No-No

My mom visited in late-July/early August for a few weeks, spending her time between Portland and Tillamook with the grandkids and her mom, brothers and their wives. Saul took to her immediately! She got to our house late one night after he'd gone to bed, so when he woke up in the morning she was anxious to greet him after being away for six months. She peeked around the corner to his room and as soon as he saw her he crawled quickly to my lap and greeted her with a "hi". Once she started talking to him he got brave and was running between her and me. Within just a few more minutes he was bringing her books to read, which became his constant activity with Grandma. (I couldn't resist posting all three in the series of reading pictures below.)

I tried telling Saul that Grandma was "my mamma". That just seemed to confuse the matter, so we just went with Grandma. However, he had his own ideas. I'm "momma" in a semi-high pitched voice. And Grandma is "momma" in a lower pitched voice.

Mom became Grandma "no-no-no" over a meal. One of Saul's favorite games is the deliberate "uh-oh" of food off the tray and on to the floor. He was holding out a handful of something, probably meat and preparing to uh-oh it. Mom's immediate reaction was: "Saul! No, no!"

He sort of stopped and watched her for a minute and then went back to eating. The next meal, though, he held food out over the tray, looked his grandma squarely in the eyes and shook his head saying "no, no, no". I think Mom was a little embarrassed, making sure I knew she'd only told him that once! We think it's funny, though! If only he would NOT drop the food when announcing that it's a no-no.

We've had two clear signs of his attachment to my mom. First, after her short stay here on our couch, the morning after she left he came running into the living room bright and early hollering, "Mama! Mama!" He searched all over for her. Then, just a few weeks ago Mom and I were talking on the phone during Saul's nap. When he woke up I took the phone in and put her on speaker phone. As soon as he heard her voice he sat up and exclaimed, "Momma!" Now, whenever he holds a phone he asks for her.

One of these days she'll live closer than Pennsylvania and can spend more time with her grandkids.

Saul signing "please" as a request for Grandma to read the book. Happily reading a book with one of his grandmas.

Going in for a "thank you" kiss.

July 27 was a busy (and hot) day!

Apparently, hot days made for busy days. While organizing pictures this afternoon I realized just how much Michelle and I did with Saul and Claire on a single Monday (my day off). We went to a great little park in Northeast Portland in the morning before naptime. Then, in the early afternoon when our homes were just waaaaay too hot, we took the kids to OMSI. What I remember most about our fun day is the following:

1. The morning park time was an effort to get outside before it got over 85. We had a week or so that was in the high 90s and as high as 107, so we were attempting to get the kids fresh air before it felt like a sauna outside.

2. By afternoon, our goal was to enjoy AC. Unfortunately, I somehow overlooked the lack of AC in the car, which made the leaving and returning uncomfortable. When I put Saul in the car for the ride home from OMSI he very weakly said to me, "Hoooooot," demonstrating his full understanding of the definition of the word. Originally we applied "hot" to describe "hot coffee" or "hot tea", etc. He continues to lean towards hot beverages on the coffee table at the coffee shop with his hands down at his sides and exclaims, "Hot!" We learned during the summer hot stretch that he had expanded the meaning to describe the Volvo oven I so cruelly made him spend time in!

Peaking over the wall of the play structure with Michelle ready to catch one of them if necessary.

Out of focus, but you get the idea - swinging is fun!

Heavy! Saul starting his weight lifting routine at an early age and demonstrating that you don't need a gym membership. The way the kids spent most of their time together - one going and one coming.

They explored lots and were off to the next thing lickety-split.

Who needs the "stars and stripes" when you can have "balls and stripes".

Claire watching the fishies at OMSI. They're in a perfect location for little people.

Beginning again...but catching up, too.

As I watch the blogs of friends and family remain caught up I also watch the "last updated" counter on this blog become harder and harder to phathom. Three months?! The idea of updating now becomes crazy. But, there are so many pictures and things to share and catch back up on. So, as I'm organizing pictures, I'll also post some. Maybe in order. Maybe not. And, I'll attempt to stay more current at the same time.

To start, here are a few photos from a late-July "photo-shoot" we held up at Mt. Tabor Park. Aaron was working on capturing professional high-quality pictures that we can use in place of paying someone else to take them. I followed along with my camera and took pictures, too. Notice the little matching outfit. It seemed appropriate for the settting. When we were leaving the coffee shop on our way to the park a guy commented that Saul looked ready for a round of golf. Well, that wasn't what I was aiming for but I took it as a sign that Saul looked appropriately dapper.

A very busy, active little boy makes it hard to capture pictures that aren't blurry.

Aaron checking the last few shots and Saul waiting for more. Demonstrating that he understood the kind of shots we were looking for.

Wheeeee!

One of Saul's favorite things is playing in the laundry basket. About six weeks ago I sat him on top of a few loads of clean laundry in our tall laundry basket and I rocked the basket back and forth saying "Wheeeee." He held on tight, laughed and then played with my fingers through the holes in the basket. Lots of laugher was involved. At some point, I stopped and talked with him for a moment and then he started signing "more" and saying, "eeeeee." He made himself clear and we went back to rocking the basket.

Now, these many weeks later, when he sees the basket and is interested in playing with it, he will stop, look at me and say, "eeeeee" while signing "more." Of course, "eeeee" is not to be confused with "eee-eee-eee" which is monkey. It's all about voice inflection.

Here are some pics of Saul playing in the laundry basket.

The beginning of laundry basket play time.

Definitely a full basket, considering how close to the top he's sitting.
Taking a moment for himself.

Let the fun continue.

Alright. All done. Saul's ready to get out now.

Saul in the leather chair

I realized that I've been fairly consistent about taking pictures of Saul in the dark brown leather chair. Here are a series of them with the date noted above each pic. Not only has he gotten taller ,but his hair has definiely filled in! We'll be sure to get another one next week for his 11 month birthday. Aaah!

November 27

January 19 February 1

March 25 April 24

Play group fun . . . . and consequences

Michelle and I took a baby sign language class with our kids and two other moms and their girls. It was so much fun to see each other and let our kids play regularly that we decided to keep getting together. Below are some pictures of the kiddos during our first group without our sign language teacher. We joke that Saul is the rooster keeping an eye on all of his hens.

All of this close interaction did, unfortunately, result in all four kids and many parents getting a nasty case of the flu (a few weeks ago, now). It seems that all the kids started vomiting the next evening within about an hour of each other. How weird. Such a sad 24 hours and lots of laundry. Then the parents got it starting on Friday. Fortunately, this didn't have the same impact on laundry, but did result in lots of sleeping.

Saul, Claire, and Natalie all standing while Miriam peaks around from the floor.

So kind of her to share her horse! Saul getting encouraged to have his first non-cousin girl kiss! Success! Natalie stands on her tiptoes to reach Saul.

Catch up pics

The last few weeks have been very busy. We're working on a new care setting for Saul, which feels like a full time job around all of the other things going on. But, we are now sure that he will ultimately be in a better situation, and that's all that matters.

Saul continues to grow like crazy and surprising us every day with his new sounds, words and crawling speed. We were at a toy store on Sunday and he let out a "moooo" - or his version of "mooo" - when he saw a wooden, hand painted cow. (We now own the cow.) Just 30 minutes later I was in a coffee shop and he was saying "eeee" over and over. Finally, I realized that there were monkeys hanging from the lights. No, we didn't bring home a monkey, too.

There are many more pictures that I need to organize and post. In the meantime, here are a few mostly for my mom's benefit.

Admiring our sleeping boy. Swings are fun

Very happy boy on the swing.