The Pookie loves to watch our dog. She is great entertainment for him, and I will often use her as a distraction when he's fussing during a diaper change or some other reason. But perhaps he's been watching the dog a little too much. I'm starting to see signs that he might think he's a canine, not a human.
After weeks of effort and being so close, the Pookie started really and truly crawling just a week or so before he turned nine months old. And now he is crawling all over the place, on all fours--just like the dog.
It's not simply the fact that he is on all fours the way the dog is, it's also the way he follows me and the Pumpkin around in the mornings, the way he comes bounding down the hall to me and the way he comes when I call his name--just like the dog.
Like his sister did at the same age/stage, he is constantly trying to crawl to the water bowls on the floors for the pets. He wants to go put his hands in the water bowls, but we always tell him no and put the bowls up before he can get them. As he goes over to them, he will pause and look back at Londo or me as if to check if we are going to stop him. He gives us this sly look with a cute smile, and then turn and start heading towards what he's not supposed to be doing--just like the dog.
It's so cute to watch him go from sitting, to crawling and back to sitting. He crawls over to some toy, sits down and picks up the toy to play with. I love this stage/phase of babyhood when they are mobile and interested in everything. He's also teething and putting everything in his mouth. All this is normal, and we've seen it before when the Pumpkin went through this phase. But the Pookie does something that either other kids don't typically do or that I simply didn't notice before. He puts a toy in his mouth and then starts crawling, while the toy hangs out the front of his mouth gripped by his teeth--just like the dog!
And another thing that I've not noticed other kids doing generally is that he will crawl up to me or the Pumpkin or Londo or even the dog, angle his head down, bump his head into us and nuzzle in a super sweet way--just like the dog!
Now, I'm sure that I didn't give birth to a dog, and he certainly looks like an adorable human baby boy. But perhaps when the Pookie went around asking "Are you my mother?" our beagle told him that she was his mother! At least he's not barking at the doorbell. Yet.
Friday, April 2, 2010
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
The Pumpkin's 3rd Birthday Celebrations
Birthdays are a big deal to me. To me, it's a special day just for the birthday girl(s)/boy(s). I like to make a big deal of them: I've always made a big deal out of my own, and now I'm making a big deal out of my kids' birthdays!
This year, the Pumpkin's birthday was on a Thursday. When she woke up, I was there with a "Happy Birthday" for her. She then said it was not her birthday. I tried to explain it was, but she insisted it was not. I let it go, figuring she'd get into it when she was more awake.
Which she totally did, especially when she found out I was going to make cupcakes and bring them into her school that afternoon!
I left work early on her birthday, bought her the birthday presents that Londo and I had talked about getting her, and went home to make the cupcakes using a mix I got from a nut-free facility. While I made the cupcakes, Londo put together the Pumpkin's dollhouse, which was her big birthday present. We went over to her pre-school with the Pookie and cupcakes.
The Pumpkin was so excited that we were there and had birthday cupcakes. She kept saying that she was going to "give cupcakes to evah-ree-one!" They were all excited, enjoyed the cupcakes and loved to look at the Pookie.
When we brought her home, she walked into the house and I pointed out her present was in the family room. She made her excited/surprised face and ran to it! She immediately started playing with it, and we gave her a few more toys. It was a good birthday.
The next day, I took off of work and kept the Pumpkin out of pre-school. We were having mommy-daughter day! When she turned 1, I had taken the day off and we went to the zoo together. Last year, I wasn't able to do anything special with her. But this year, we were having another special day.
First stop was the doctor's for her 3-year well visit. She's doing great. She's still in the 95ish percentile for height and 75% for weight, which shows that all those months of living on mostly air and sunlight did not adversely affect her growth at all. Her communication skills and physical capabilities are great, as always. Her sleeping problems, scary dreams, coming into our bed at night and all that? Apparently completely normal at this age/stage of development for all kids, even those without a history of sleep issues! All in all, a great doctor's visit, although she did need one vaccination shot to get caught up with the schedule (which she handled like a champ!).
After our sucessful trip to the doctor, I brought the Pumpkin into my office! She hears so much about me going to work and my coworkers hear so much about her, so I thought I'd bring the two together. She was a delight! She is so friendly and outgoing. She went right up to everyone and said hi, told them her name and sometimes quacked (she was being a duck). I let her sit at my desk and even answer my phone when my dad called! We had lunch at the deli across the street where I eat all the time. It was a really good visit.
Next, we went to the National Zoo! It is a favorite place of mine, and the Pumpkin has always enjoyed it. It was a cool, rainy Friday afternoon--which was perfect for us! We bundled in rain coats, used the stroller for her, bought a special umbrella at the zoo and enjoyed the almost empty (of visitors, not animals) zoo. We saw the pandas, the gorillas, the orangutans, the tigers, the lioness, some ponies, an emu, and a bunch of birds in the Bird House.
Probably my favorite thing and the Pumpkin's favorite thing (I think) was seeing the baby gorilla with his mommy. She's about a year old now, but she looked to be smaller than my 9 month old! She hung on her mommy, climbing up her back, just like my daughter does to me. We also saw the mommy gorilla using a computer that was in the trainers' area, which the Pumpkin has talked about a lot since. Believe her when she says that the mommy gorilla used a computers!
The next day was her birthday party, and on Sunday, she opened all her presents from the birthday party. We didn't open the presents at the party because there was too much else going on with all the arts and crafts, and we find it easier to open presents when there aren't a bunch of kids around who want to "help."
It was four days of birthday fun, with great memories and gifts that will last even longer. Now THAT'S a birthday celebration fit for a 3 year old!
This year, the Pumpkin's birthday was on a Thursday. When she woke up, I was there with a "Happy Birthday" for her. She then said it was not her birthday. I tried to explain it was, but she insisted it was not. I let it go, figuring she'd get into it when she was more awake.
Which she totally did, especially when she found out I was going to make cupcakes and bring them into her school that afternoon!
I left work early on her birthday, bought her the birthday presents that Londo and I had talked about getting her, and went home to make the cupcakes using a mix I got from a nut-free facility. While I made the cupcakes, Londo put together the Pumpkin's dollhouse, which was her big birthday present. We went over to her pre-school with the Pookie and cupcakes.
The Pumpkin was so excited that we were there and had birthday cupcakes. She kept saying that she was going to "give cupcakes to evah-ree-one!" They were all excited, enjoyed the cupcakes and loved to look at the Pookie.
When we brought her home, she walked into the house and I pointed out her present was in the family room. She made her excited/surprised face and ran to it! She immediately started playing with it, and we gave her a few more toys. It was a good birthday.
The next day, I took off of work and kept the Pumpkin out of pre-school. We were having mommy-daughter day! When she turned 1, I had taken the day off and we went to the zoo together. Last year, I wasn't able to do anything special with her. But this year, we were having another special day.
First stop was the doctor's for her 3-year well visit. She's doing great. She's still in the 95ish percentile for height and 75% for weight, which shows that all those months of living on mostly air and sunlight did not adversely affect her growth at all. Her communication skills and physical capabilities are great, as always. Her sleeping problems, scary dreams, coming into our bed at night and all that? Apparently completely normal at this age/stage of development for all kids, even those without a history of sleep issues! All in all, a great doctor's visit, although she did need one vaccination shot to get caught up with the schedule (which she handled like a champ!).
After our sucessful trip to the doctor, I brought the Pumpkin into my office! She hears so much about me going to work and my coworkers hear so much about her, so I thought I'd bring the two together. She was a delight! She is so friendly and outgoing. She went right up to everyone and said hi, told them her name and sometimes quacked (she was being a duck). I let her sit at my desk and even answer my phone when my dad called! We had lunch at the deli across the street where I eat all the time. It was a really good visit.
Next, we went to the National Zoo! It is a favorite place of mine, and the Pumpkin has always enjoyed it. It was a cool, rainy Friday afternoon--which was perfect for us! We bundled in rain coats, used the stroller for her, bought a special umbrella at the zoo and enjoyed the almost empty (of visitors, not animals) zoo. We saw the pandas, the gorillas, the orangutans, the tigers, the lioness, some ponies, an emu, and a bunch of birds in the Bird House.
Probably my favorite thing and the Pumpkin's favorite thing (I think) was seeing the baby gorilla with his mommy. She's about a year old now, but she looked to be smaller than my 9 month old! She hung on her mommy, climbing up her back, just like my daughter does to me. We also saw the mommy gorilla using a computer that was in the trainers' area, which the Pumpkin has talked about a lot since. Believe her when she says that the mommy gorilla used a computers!
The next day was her birthday party, and on Sunday, she opened all her presents from the birthday party. We didn't open the presents at the party because there was too much else going on with all the arts and crafts, and we find it easier to open presents when there aren't a bunch of kids around who want to "help."
It was four days of birthday fun, with great memories and gifts that will last even longer. Now THAT'S a birthday celebration fit for a 3 year old!
Monday, March 29, 2010
Question of the Week - Pets
Today, I and my dog are featured on Coffee with a Canine! There are pictures of my lovely beagle dog, and even one of me (sort of). It's a great blog, full of interesting people and their dogs. You should go check it out.
When you get back, you can answer this week's Question of the Week:
Do you have any pets? If so, what kind(s)?
We have a dog and a cat. I've written about the Beagle recently, and I've written about both of the pets here and there over the years. And although I am usually complaining about the cat peeing on stuff, he's pretty sweet and very fluffy in general and I plan to write about him specifically soon.
I love our pets. They were our furbabies before we had real babies. They are part of our family, and have been for a long time. We got the cat when we first moved in together back in 1999, and we got the dog in the fall of 2001. Although they can both be frustrating for different reasons at different times, overall they are very good pets and have made our lives more wonderful by being in it.
What about you? Do you have a dog, cat or turtle? Did you have any pets growing up? Do you have any good stories about your pets? There are many of you who write about your pets on your blogs, but surely there is something you want to share here, isn't there?
When you get back, you can answer this week's Question of the Week:
Do you have any pets? If so, what kind(s)?
We have a dog and a cat. I've written about the Beagle recently, and I've written about both of the pets here and there over the years. And although I am usually complaining about the cat peeing on stuff, he's pretty sweet and very fluffy in general and I plan to write about him specifically soon.
I love our pets. They were our furbabies before we had real babies. They are part of our family, and have been for a long time. We got the cat when we first moved in together back in 1999, and we got the dog in the fall of 2001. Although they can both be frustrating for different reasons at different times, overall they are very good pets and have made our lives more wonderful by being in it.
What about you? Do you have a dog, cat or turtle? Did you have any pets growing up? Do you have any good stories about your pets? There are many of you who write about your pets on your blogs, but surely there is something you want to share here, isn't there?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)