Peter, Perpetual Partier

So, it was Memorial Day weekend and the weather turned out pretty nice. Saturday was somewhat low-key, we ran a few errands and did Saturday evening Church so we’d be free to loaf around on Sunday (Peter was flirting with a 5 year old girl behind us, even offering her his little bottle of water). That was pretty much it.

 

Sunday we were going to stay at home all day and not burn up any gas, but we wound up going to some open houses (there were very few since it was a holiday weekend, but the weather was ideal for showing off a house). We also brought out the big baby-carrying backpack Aunt Sarah got us last year and took Peter for a walk. He loves it, maybe because it gets him up at our head height, or maybe because the seat isn’t as smooshing as a Bjorn or other carrier and he has more freedom of movement in it. Whatever the reason, now when the carrier comes out he crawls over to it and starts clapping.

 

Late Sunday evening a line of thunderstorms came through the area and blew stuff hither and yon. Both Peter and I slept through it, as did his mom, who woke up when the power was knocked out but then fell back asleep. We both woke up a little later and realized that the house was completely dark, even the clock radio, so obviously something was going on. I stumbled around in the dark and found a flashlight, and Peter’s mom called the power company to let them know about the lack of juice out in the boonies. Then at 4:55 the electricity returned. All the while Peter was sound asleep.

 

Peter woke up early at about 7:30 (as he did all weekend, much to his parents’ chagrin) and we hoped it would mean that he’d go down for a nap at around 9:00, leaving him refreshed for setting out at 10:00-ish for his Granny’s house for lunch with Granny & Aunt Sarah. Alas, he was not feeling the need to nap, even after trying to coax him into it. Since he wasn’t taking the bait, I took him for another walk in the backpack while his mom got ready for the day. Then we headed out, about 45 minutes later than we had hoped, and wouldn’t you know it, Peter fell asleep in the car.

 

Once at Granny’s (after about 10-15 minutes of sleep), Peter got charming and did many cute baby things like making a mess of his lunch, smearing it on his face and hair, and playing with a superball on a glass top table. He was offered the opportunity to take a nap, and passed on it.

 

By mid-afternoon we headed over to Auntie Trucker & Uncle John’s house for the annual Memorial Day cook-out. Peter started out sluggish but perked up after a while. It was getting up into the 80’s and Peter was getting kind of warm, so we took off his shirt so he could get some breeze on him and show off his ripped physique. There were a bunch of people over there, including his cousins George, Jonah, Josh and Hannah. You could tell that his energy level would rise and fall throughout the afternoon and evening, and that he was inclined to play with his cousins, but his sluggishness interfered with his intentions. Again he was offered the chance to nap and refused. When it comes to parties like this, Peter is essentially a sponge, soaking in all the action around him. There comes a point, though, when a sponge has absorbed all it can and needs to be wrung out. Peter doesn’t want to be wrung. So instead he flops around and drips, figuratively speaking.

 

Anyway, we left shortly after 7:00, and Peter was nodding off by the time we got on the highway. 20 minutes later we are exiting and a none-too-weak wind kicks up from the Northeast and mommy and I watch the thermometer in the car drop from 82 to 58 in about 5 minutes. Peter, this is what Wisconsin is like, if you hadn’t noticed.

The past couple weeks

Ok, yes, I know it's been a little too long (which is a polite euphemism that means "too damn long") since I've updated ye olde blogge, however I do have a good excuse or two: head colds a-plenty / parties up the ying-yang / Spring! / work / house hunting / alien abduction / freezing fingers that are too numb to type. Pick any of those that you are sympathetic to and say "ooooooh, poor Peter's Dad."

 

When last we met, Peter had just turned exactly one (leap) year old to the minute, thanks to pre-set automatic posting. At that very moment Peter was slung across his mama's back like a load of overpriced textbooks as his parents, Aunt Sarah and Granny were schlepping him around the Madison farmer's market. We had taken him to get portraits taken the evening before (I'll post them later, I swear) where he displayed his propensity to do a pursed-lip grin while giggling. And he destroyed a birthday cake for pictures. And indulged in what seems to be an addiction to helium balloons (he can spot any helium balloon  at about 100 yards and point to it). Anyway, I'm prattling.

 

Several days later I started developing symptoms of the annoying head cold that seems to be wandering around the state. By the time Peter's birthday party came about the following Saturday my sinuses were giving me more trouble than I had had in a long time. I would recount the events of the party in detail if I could, however most of my time was spent blowing my nose. However, Peter's motor was running all day long, and whereas in the past he would have been none too happy about being the center of attention, this day he performed the task admirably. He was charming, he mingled well, he helped clean up, he did it all.

 

His cousin George had his 2nd birthday party the Saturday after Peter's. Again, Peter did just fine. A couple days before that, though, he started coming down with that head cold along with his mom. Mine had pretty much gone away by the time they got it. At one point Peter even had a good chest-clearing cough that wound up messing up our comforter. At least he felt better afterwards.

 

We took him to the doctor for his one-year check-up last week, and his measurements were back at the 75th percentile for height and head girth, and 50th for weight. He's 30 ½ inches tall and just under 23 pounds. All systems are go for him, too. The strawberry spot on his back is fading nicely.

 

In developmental news, Peter is close to walking. If you hold out your hands for him he'll grab hold and walk around with you. He'll stand by himself for about 5-10 seconds now before gently lowering himself to the floor. He's still a great crawler, so he's not rushing into ambulatory movement.

 

I'm sure I will be reminded of things I neglected to add here. But it's the Friday before Memorial Day, so my brain is already on vacation.

One Year

Peter is exactly one (leap) year old right now.

Someone didn't do what he was supposed to do

On Breech Day morning we went to a factory sale at Florence Eiseman, the locally based design company of kids clothing, with his Granny and Aunties Trucker & Vi. Many bargains were scored. Peter found it boring (note to my boy: it won’t get any easier). Afterwards we all went to the Pancake House on the East Side for a Saturday Brunch. Peter sat in a high chair and did a good job of feeding himself scrambled eggs, pancake bits and potato chunks. He also did a good job of tossing many bits of food on the floor. We then went to Granny’s house and he played with the now 13 week old kitten, Mitzi, and her toys. He got an early birthday present from Granny (or a Breech Day present) in the form of a handmade bookcase. It is very nice and Peter has lots of books he can put in it.

 

After going home and having dinner, Peter did the unthinkable. At 7:35 he turned upside down while we played on the sofa and laughed. About a year too late. Oh well.

 

Version Day was a quiet day. The mid-day wrestling took the form of “church,” but he was pretty well behaved so, again, Peter did the unthinkable. He was supposed to whup us one real good, but instead was docile. Again, oh well.

 

Now everything is leading up to his birthday on Saturday. We’ll be heading out to Madison to have his pictures taken on Friday, and we plan on going to the farmer’s market Saturday morning and possibly the zoo. But the weather so far looks iffy. Let’s hope it gets nice in time.

The other news of the weekend

It was warmish this past weekend, so we took Peter for several walks. He definitely likes going outside. It’s very easy to get him strapped into his stroller before a walk now, he doesn’t fuss or anything. When we’re out walking he may chat a little bit, but he mostly looks around. No shrieking, that’s for sure.

 

Peter’s mom noticed Saturday morning that one of the teeth on his lower jaw that had been lurking under the surface of his gums for the past month has finally broken through, but at the rate it’s been moving it may take a while before it’s noticeable. So he’ll just have those two bottom teeth by themselves for a little while longer.

 

At one point in the middle of the day Peter filled his diaper with a little something special. I had to remove his pants to make sure it was what I thought it was, and after confirming that it in fact was what I thought it was I left him standing next to his mom, minus any pants. She had been eating an orange and had a paper napkin to hold the rind and pith bits. Peter took the napkin while I was getting out his changing equipment and he gently started wiping the outside of his diaper. I can only hope he is this helpful when we’re doing the actual diaper change itself.

 

He got another compliment at the grocery store that afternoon, too. He’s a magnet for that kind of stuff. Sometimes I think people just notice him and say nice things, but we’ve caught him flirting, so he may be working his charm on purpose.

 

Saturday evening Peter crawled up the stairs at 8:30, all the way to the top. I asked him if he was going to bed, and sure enough he kept crawling all the way to the bed and stood up. He must have just been playing with our heads, because he spent the next hour pretty much just jumping up and down.

 

Sunday we were up and about earlier than normal, and it seemed to throw him off his sleep schedule. He barely napped all day (and only in the car, at that) and then got cranky in the evening. We put him down at an extremely early 7:30, and he was out of commission until this morning.

High Holy Days

Coming up this weekend are the new Days Of No Little Importance on the calendar of Peterism. Saturday will be the first celebration of Breech Day, observed on the anniversary of the discovery of Peter’s uprightness (when he should have been downright). On Breech Day we shall make sure that Peter keeps his head up, all day long. We will decorate the Breech Day tree in the morning, in the afternoon we will take part in the Parade To The Chiropractor In Waukesha, and in the evening we shall toss all previously made plans in the air and figure out The New Way Of How It’s Gonna Be.

 

Sunday marks the commemoration of Version Day, where at mid-day Peter will wrestle 2 grown adults at once and win. Following the athletic festivities is the sacred Feast of Applebees, where Peter’s Mom is praised for her pain threshold.

 

There are, of course, the smaller observances that will occur this week, like the Easting of Spicy Food. But the biggest holiday comes on May 3rd, and that will get its own posting, I’m sure.

Busting out

Last night, early in the evening, Peter was getting rather uppity, for lack of a better term. He got antsy while being fed and started swatting away anything we tried to feed him. When he was out of his high chair he didn’t know what to do and just kind of whined while bouncing around from here to there. We tried feeding him again, with me holding him and his mom giving him spoonfuls of a nice berry & banana smoothie. He liked it and was doing well eating it, until he shifted gears back into cranky mode and wound up kicking the bowl and sending smoothie all over the place.

 

I took Peter upstairs to try and calm him down and see if he would nap, since he was acting in a way that oftentimes is an indicator or fatigue, although he hadn’t done any of the other typical moves like rubbing his eyes. I was able to calm him down a little bit, and even changed his diaper, but he wasn’t interested in going down. His mom came up after de-smoothie-fying the living room, and we turned out the lights to see if that would get his motor to shut down. It didn’t. In fact, it riled him up even more. At that point we decided he needs to be transitioned into a different environment. So we took him outside for a walk. It had been up to 75 degrees during the day, but very windy like the day before, if not more so. But the sun was setting and we hoped the winds would calm somewhat, and they did, somewhat. We were out for maybe 20 minutes, and it changed him back into his normal charming self. His mom reminded me that Peter turns into another kid when he’s taken outside, which I had forgotten since it had been something like 80 bajillion months since it was nice enough to go on a walk like that and we had been buried under a glacier over the winter.

 

And then, when we got back, Peter decided to put on a show. I had gone upstairs for a couple minutes and started coming down, when, about 5 steps from the bottom, I saw Peter crawl to the foot of the stairs and look up. He then put a hand on the first step, and his knee followed. Tentatively at first, with gusto in no time, he started climbing the stairs, stopping along the way to check out the view. There are about 14 steps on the stairs, and he made it up to the last 2 before stopping. His mother and I congratulated him, and he clapped along with us, and I took him back down to the living room. He immediately turned around and went back to the stairs and climbed, this time all the way up to the top. He did it about five times in total. You would think it would have pooped him out, but he stayed up past 10:00.

 

Now the question is what he will do next.

Things Peter Does

Being an ever-changing type of kid, Peter seems to have new tricks every day. Take the feeding his father trick. He did it again the other night when we had him in his highchair. He likes cinnamon raisin bread, and he had a bunch of ripped up bits on the tray for him to feed himself. I was sitting with him, and he would wad up a bit of bread in his hand and reach out towards my face so he could feed me. How long will he keep doing this?

 

His vocalizations are increasing in variety and frequency. His mom has discovered that when he says “ah dah” he’s trying to say “all done” as in “I’m not hungry anymore.” So we have two distinct messages that we get out of him, “ah dah” and “na na nuh” which is “no.” I’m not sure if the “ahhhhn nuh” that he sometimes says means anything, or if it was him working on saying “ah dah.”

 

I think I’ve mentioned it before, but he does signs for things too. “Book” and “more” are frequently done, although we aren’t sure if he conceptualized “more” the way we do, since it is an abstract concept. It’s usually been done in reference to his snacks, so it could be an indicator that he’s hungry. He woke up Saturday morning doing the sign, which could lend credence to him thinking it means food.

 

His mom has been teaching him to do the “all done” sign (raising both hands up and shaking them a little), but he’s started speaking it instead. He can be goaded into doing it, but we’ve done hand raising movements in the past with him where it didn’t mean anything, so he may not perceive it the way we mean him to.

 

He’s developed quite the ear-piercing shriek. Great.

 

His mother thinks (or worries) that he’s going to be quite the ladies man, since he attracts so much attention from the opposite sex and he’s not at all shy about flirting. We’ll see if that lasts past the point he discovers mud.

 

Another thing that’s new with him is that he has no patience for diaper changing. He hates it, actually. Hopefully it’s just a phase, but we’ve had to do some changes with him standing up lately.

 

It’s supposed to be warmer this week, so we’re hoping to get him out of the house. He’s been cooped up inside most of his life, it seems…

The Foodie

Last night Peter was being the naughtiest he had ever been in his life. We aren’t sure why. Was he hungry? Tired? Were there diaper issues? It could have been any or all of those reasons, but whatever it was made him loud and thrashy, with an attention span that needed expensive scientific equipment to measure. Fortunately it didn’t last too long. Later in the evening he was sitting on my lap on the couch while his mom was feeding him little bits of chicken. She had been putting them directly into his mouth, but then she put it up to his hand so he could feed himself. Only he didn’t feed himself. He turned around and started putting his chicken bits into his dad’s mouth. Later on he gave me some apple, too. It’s endearing, but I hope he’s not trying to fatten me up. My waist is expanding enough on its own, thank you very much.

 

It should be noted, though, that Peter is giving up on baby food, and will now make an effort to get whatever his parents are eating. If you are in his field of vision and you are eating something that isn’t strained or mushy, you will find yourself being climbed like just another obstacle, as a hungry hungry hippo tries to sample your chow. The only thing to do is fast whenever we’re near him.

Victory!

Peter won the cute baby tournament with 59% of the vote. Objectively, he was obviously the cutest, but the competition was fierce in the last round and the lead changed several times. Peter started out strong as the early morning voters got in their say before that first cup of coffee, but the the Kylie machine revved up and surged out to a 12 percentage point lead by 9:30. Surely those people didn't really think that Peter was less cute than Kylie?

 

Anyway, the Peter campaign kicked it up several notches at that point and started cranking out e-mails all across the land, letting them know that Peter was being dissed! Before you know it, Peter was only down by 2 votes, and then The Peter Party must have hit the retirement homes because he then surged out to 60% by mid-day. Kylie had a little run at the end of regulation, but by that time the damage was done and the truth won out. Peter is the cutest.

 

Darn tootin' he is.