Notes on Life

Ian can "dress" himself too.

As summer fades into fall (yes, already fall up here in the Great White North), I can't help but get that excited first-day-of-school feeling. That new beginnings vibe...

The summer was good, but very busy. With all our recent transitions, things were finally sort of settling down. Until this month, when Will starts preschool and I change my work days -- yet again.

And during that long, warm summer, Ian has changed from a baby to a full-fledged toddler. I don't know when it happened, but it did. He's 17 months now, and is running like crazy, talking and quickly mastering the temper tantrum.

Some highlights:

• Fang-a-licious -- Ian has finally gotten in his canine teeth, and I think he might be getting in his 2 year molars (??) already. He had some rough teething patches, but things seem better now.
• That said, Ian is still not capable (it seems) of taking single bites of any food. If it's a large chunk, he shoves it in. If I cut it into toddler-sized pieces, he shoves them ALL in. If I hand him one piece at a time to eat, he grabs the other pieces from my open hand and shoves them in... *Sigh*
• Apparently for Ian, eating and drinking is like patting his head and rubbing his tummy. Too much coordination required... He will spit out an entire wad of chewed food if offered a beverage to wash it down. Ditto if you offer him something else (better) to eat while he's chewing food. Very gross and rating right up there with "most annoying toddler habits."
• Ian is talking! Some words he says a lot right now: Mommy, Daddy, ball, big, truck (pronounced F*!*k), dog, bunny, puppy, pancake, milk, car (as in "cool car"), motorcycle (believe it or not), bike, golf ball, golf club, barn, ride, stroller, night night, bye, Hi, Nina, Pop pop, No, mine, Mouse, snack, banana, up, down, bagel, Will, etc. Wow! That's a lot of words, now that I write them down..
• And those words are becoming sentences:
• "Go night night"
• "Big ball/barn/book/truck/dog."
• "Don't like it."
• "Want milk."
• "Let's roll!"
• "We made it!"
• "Read book."
• "Cool car."
• Favorite activities: Hitting golf balls; pushing his Radio Flyer wagon; throwing himself off the sofa/stairs/out of the wagon; swinging; chasing our cat, Mouse (he even managed to wedge himself under our bed the other day trying to get him); puddle jumping; playing cars with Will; "reading" books; drawing (i.e. pulling the marker tops on/off many times); climbing anything dangerous; wrestling on the floor, WWF-style, with dad and big bro; giving kisses and hugs and high-fives.
• What he can do: Climb up stairs (working on climbing down); golf!; make silly noises with his mouth; run; dance; clap his hands; use a fork and spoon (sort of); drink out of a non-sippy cup (although messy); throw food with amazing aim and dexterity...
• Fears: Getting his hair cut (note to self, haircuts and screaming toddlers and lollipops DO NOT mix); the vacuum cleaner; brushing his teeth (ok, he's not scared, just doesn't like it).
• Things he loves: His lovey, Moomsy Cow (aka Moo-ey); fruit of all kinds; icecream; bananas; bagels; big board books with pictures/words of tons of stuff  (e.g. My First 100 Words, etc.); throwing things.

I don't have much to report on the growth side of things, since he won't have his next check-up until early October (18 months). But, suffice to say, he's wearing some 18 month clothes that didn't fit Will until he was about 2, and is into a size 5 shoe now (maybe 5.5 soon). He's still small (whatever that means), and much too busy to care about eating sometimes. So he's a slender guy -- but incredibly strong. Strong enough to hold on by both hands to the railing when he steps off the top stair and misses the next two (because we forgot to latch the gate). Thank god.

Ian (right) and his buddy Eutaw. Attitude, dude.

But his personality -- wow -- that is something else altogether. Maybe it's a second child thing, but he is a wild and free creature for sure. Not afraid of strangers (maybe just a little shy), has no fear, and loves other kids. And unlike Will at this age, Ian is more "typical" in his attention span. Will has always been able to really focus on whatever he's doing--to the point where he sometimes gets mad at us for interrupting his "projects." Ian is more apt to move from thing to thing, mostly doing whatever the big kids are doing that looks fun!

Overall though, he's a happy kid who loves to smile, be silly, kiss, hug, and tell you what he wants. Loudly. He is fiercely independent, to the point where I get a little sad that it's all happening so fast. Will is the one starting preschool, but Ian firmly believes he should be going too.

Baby steps

Ian is 11 months, 2 weeks old today. He started taking a few steps here and there last week, and by today (Sunday) is pretty much full-fledged walking. Albeit very tentatively with lots of thrills and spills. His other favorite activities are pointing -- at everything -- and clapping his hands. We've even seen a little bit of dancing. Ian can also throw a ball, play peek 'a boo, and roll a ball back to you. It's non-stop action in the Thompson household these days. Enjoy the video montage of his first steps. Helmet and knee pads not required...

Brothers in name only?

So, I have to do a little comparison between Ian and Will. It's been almost one year, and Ian is quickly moving from infant to toddler. The past year is a complete and total blur. I honestly don't even remember how Ian got here sometimes!


I used to post a lot of stats about Will when he was a baby--since, as a first-time mom--I was obsessed with stats and percentiles. Those arbitrary numbers somehow made me feel like I was doing the right things. That said, let the comparisons begin...


When Will was a little over 11 months old, he had JUST started crawling, his FIRST tooth was peeking through, and I think he was saying "mamama" and "dadada." He also weighed in at about 22 lbs.


At the same age, Ian has just started WALKING (yes!), CLIMBING, has SIX teeth, and says "mamama" and "dadada." He weighs around 18 lbs. 4 oz (we think, at his last sick visit).


Another fun divergent fact: Will was always a great daytime napper, but had a harder time at night. But once he got the nighttime thing down (about 10-12 mos.), he was going to bed at 7 PM and waking up at 7 AM. At 3 years, Will still could take a 3 hour nap each day if we let him.


Ian, on the other hand, has never really napped well during the day, but has always been great at night. As a little baby, he drove me crazy taking 20 min cat naps all day (or sometimes not napping at all!). Now, Ian pretty much only takes one nap per day (about 1.5 hours if we're lucky), but it's hit or miss. Some days he'll take two half hour naps (gasp! not a pretty sight when he melts down at 6 PM). Other days--for no apparent reason--he'll take two, hour or so long naps, even if he slept in that morning. Ian is in constant motion, while Will literally didn't even start moving until he was 11 months old.


And eating. Both boys nursed and had formula from early on, and both self-weaned (whatever that means) at just around 11 months. We start both on solids about the same time (6 months), but Will took off from there like gangbusters. He ate baby food with no problem and was quite a rolly-polly baby (although not long). Ian, on the other hand, never really liked baby food and only now wants to eat things he can pick up himself.


He actually started on finger foods much earlier than Will. Probably because of the teeth--and just cause he wouldn't eat much else. And the doc was a little worried at Ian's 9 month check-up that he's consistently dropped weight percentiles since about 6 months. At 9 months, he was at the 4th percentile for weight -- which shocked me, since he's developing so quickly. So who knows. He was about the 25th percentile for weight when he was born.


And there ends my motherly comparison of the boys. Funny thing is that even though these guys are starting out so differently, watching them now, it looks like they still have lots in common. Mostly, a crazy mother who is already pulling her hair out worrying about the first trip to the ER.