Changes
As the weather has been cooling down, we've been doing more and more and enjoying being out of doors without melting in the heat and humidity. Luckily we've had a nice, long Indian summer to enjoy.Inside, Nick is crawling with surprising speed, although he is still using the commando technique. He has also mastered climbing small sets of stairs, especially if he has to do so in order to chase the cat. He likes chasing his sister, as well, which she finds more annoying than not. Nick particularly likes things with wheels, so if Lux is playing with her shopping cart or pull kitty, Nick is bound to speed on over in spite of Lux's cries of "No, Nick! For me!". One game they do like to play together involves a measuring tape which Lux uses as a kind of leash for Nick. She drags it, he follows and they can circle the room quite a few times doing this.
Nick also survived his first cold with hardly a problem. Lux had the cold too, with a little more severity, but we were a bit more concerned about how Nick would handle it since he had just weaned, was teething (getting those top teeth in!) and still has issues with his soft trachea. But, both kids were fine again after a little rest.
The rest meant that we had to forgo some of our busy fall schedule. Playschool has been going really well and Lux seems very comfortable there. She isn't clingy and enjoys playing with the blocks, the art projects, the little kitchen and baby dolls and the colored pegs in particular. She sits well with the other children during snack time and doesn't need much parental help or attention. Nick enjoys crawling around the floor and interacting with the older kids or chasing balls across the room.
Going to Juliana's for nanny share has been a bit more difficult for Lux. Once the novelty of playing with Juliana's doll house wore off she realized she was going to get left there and now is generally pretty weepy. But she is making progress and does look forward to going. Susan looks forward to having a few hours a week during which she only has to wrangle one kid and has been able to enjoy a local coffee house several times.
Lux is really participating well in music class, dancing and playing the instruments and enjoying herself. She can even be coaxed into helping clean up the instruments most times. Nick was sometimes a bit overwhelmed in the beginning, but now seems to like it as well. There are a few other young siblings his age in the class, so that is nice.
Since the weather has cooled a bit, Susan has also been taking Lux and Nick out for short runs on the bike path. Nick really seems to enjoy watching the trees go by and Lux likes the ride too, but usually starts asking "Where'd home go?" about a mile out.
Other fun outdoor things we've done recently include the neighborhood picnic, where Lux was thrilled to find "Nemo" living in the fishpond and two visits to the Maryland Renaissance Festival. Our first festival visit was when Grandad Dan and Grandma Janie were in town for a short visit. Lux really seemed to enjoy it, especially playing in the large playground and going down the long, beautiful wooden slide with Daddy. We bought Nick a pair of little red ceramic devil horns at the festival as well, so he is set for Halloween. But it was pretty hot that first visit, so we returned on a cooler day with Aunt Karen and stayed even longer.
Nick is now sleeping nicely through the night, though he generally wakes earlier than we would like, around 6:30. Most nights he puts himself to sleep with very little fuss. We've been making changes to Lux's sleep as well, trying to wean her from her need to be read to sleep each night. Now, at naps, we simply read her a short children's book and then leave to to put herself to sleep. There were some tears the first few days, but now Lux generally says "I say Wah, maybe?" as we put her to bed. We reassure her that if she needs to cry a bit she can, but that we think she can do it. And in fact, she does seem proud that she has been able to put herself to sleep.
Lux is very chatty now and enjoys talking about her day and plans for the next day, which always seem to end with "then go home." She also likes to hide behind the curtains at the sliding glass door. It is, more or less, her one hiding place, which makes the seek part of hide and seek pretty easy for us. Nick has grown very vocal of late, making all types of sounds including what sounds an awful lot like "Mama" whenever he is upset or needs attention. He is eating three full meals and 5 bottles of formula a day and growing like a weed. The only food he seems to not love is green beans, and he'll eat them without too much fuss.
A busy fall lies ahead!
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home