Ever Watch 3-year olds Try to Eat Rice with Chopsticks?

Alessandro - 9 Months

Our big boy has mastered crawling and is starting to experiment with cruising. I bought him a few new pre-walking toys including this walker. He enjoys using it, getting used to taking steps and pushing the toy forward....or backward should his balance falter. We celebrated his 9-month at the doctor's office for his scheduled well-baby appointment, but attending to his cold that he hasn't been able to quite shake. Both he and his sister Bettina had ear infections. We left with only one shot (Hep B), leaving the polio for another time when he's not feeling so poopy, a couple prescriptions for antibiotics for the infections and a nebulizer for Bettina whose cough is a bit tight and wheezy. I've never had to use one of these contraptions, so I felt lucky that it took nearly 4-years to get the introduction. I fear that we'll be late to pre-school for the next week as the treatments take like 10-15 minutes and we'll never get out of the door on time.

Alessandro is still unable to sleep through the night and can't bring himself to drink from a sippy cup or a bottle. My pediatrician, who I love and is also a playful Facebook friend, suggested I take myself and my boobs on vacation out of the house for a weekend. One of her boys (she's got a set of B/G twins and another single boy) was the same way, and she says that cured him. Very tempting.....Part of me wants to quickly implement the "tough love" approach and then, the other part thinks, "well...he's my last and it's only for a couple more months.....he can't possibly be one-year old and not converted...." Which to I listen to, the devil on one side or the angel on the other? We'll see.

His appetite is good and is really more interested in what everyone else is eating than whatever is in the jar. He wants pancakes from his sister's plate rather than quartered bananas on his high chair or minestrone soup rather than that jarred apple sauce. He's still easy going, but determined to get what he wants. Don't get in his way, either, lest you want a lot of screeching in your ear. He's a real challenge to change his diaper...his sister Bettina was the same way for a long time. He plays easily with the girls who are good about removing the "little toys" too small for him. He is happiest in the middle of it all doing the same as everyone else and just blending in. The baby gates are all up now, so I breathe easier when doing the laundry or general cleaning up. The girls, however, have figured out how to open 2 of the 3 of the gates, so I'm constantly double and triple-checking to make sure they are locked. Life is pretty good and easy for this little man.

Scissors

Last Wednesday was Parent/Teacher Conferences at pre-school. I got a chance to sit down with the girls' teacher and discuss the social, cognitive and physical skills the girls have achieved during their time at school. I was never worried and in fact, looked forward to hearing glowing reports on what geniuses they are (they are, aren't they?). The paper given to me listed all sorts of skills that the teachers observe in each child. A check mark means they are still learning that skill; a plus indicates they have mastered that skill.
Ava's paper had all pluses, and Bettina's pretty much did, too. The one area I expected, communication, she had some checks because, when she's upset, Tina tends to shut down and not use her words to communicate. And, sometimes, it takes a couple requests before she will follow instructions. I know all about that. There was one other check, next to "knows how to handle and cut with scissors" that I didn't know about. You see, there are certain things that I just don't do at this age in my house: Play-dough (too messy), markers and pens (potential messy) and scissors (potential disaster) are just a few of them. However, after seeing a check mark, I had an attack of guilt. Perhaps it's not Tina's fault she has a check there, but mine. OK, I'll let you use scissors at home.
We go home and I review the "rules" about scissors before I go upstairs to attend to laundry and general cleaning: only use the scissors to cut paper...this yellow paper that I'm giving you. If you run out, tell me - I'll get you more. Stay at the crafts table here in the kitchen.
The girls were happily busy for a good chunk of time. I listened to their excited chatter from my room. Suddenly I hear, "OK, now it's my turn to cut hair." WHOA! INTERVENTION!!
"Girls??? You're remembering to cut only paper, right?"
"No, Mom, we're cutting hair," Ava answers.
"Stop right there and freeze! Mommy's coming down."
I can't tell just how bad it is or who has it worse, but strands of hair cover the floor. Baby brother, who I plopped on the floor to figure out what to do next, quickly gets it all over his fleece pants. Ack! I pick him up again. The mess stuns me like a deer in the headlights.
After running a bath, getting everyone in it and cleaning the floor, I decide it's not as bad as it could have been. Since they are training scissors, they only open very slightly, so Tina really just got a bunch of layers and not a blunt cut. Ava hardly got cut at all.
Friends on Facebook ask for photos, but really, it's not dramatic enough to be funny via a photo.
As Paul and I talk in bed that night in review of the day, he laughs, "Perhaps it's a good thing that Bettina hasn't mastered the skill of scissors yet! Think of what could have happened to Ava's hair if she had?"
Good point!

Alessandro - 8 Months

At 8 1/2 months, Alessandro is really blossoming. He's crawling around very easily and today, he even climbed the 2 stairs in the picture below (sunken chapter room at the UC Berkeley DG house) all on his own.

Paul and I bought an industrial shelf with bucket sorters so that all the projects around the house staged for "tomorrow" or "this weekend" have someplace to wait because, already, Alessandro has found and dumped over at least 4 boxes of wood screws as well as having played with power screwdrivers, spackle knives, boxes with door knob parts and the like. I have also needed to strategically place heavier toys in front of the house plants as he has already found a love for digging in the dirt. I know I will have to find a better solution soon, but for now, this is easy. He is constantly pulling himself up on things and is just now starting to think about cruising. He will walk with BIG steps and high knees if you hold his hands. Nearly every meal, he pulls himself up onto the girls' little table to watch them eat.

He himself is eating thicker food with more texture as well as some table foods: halved blueberries, cottage cheese, avocado from the spoon, rice crackers (Mum Mum are fantastic!), banana chunks, Nonna's applesauce (not filtered) and just about any bread heels. He is really interested in eating what we eat and is becoming very attentive to my plate. Breakfast (7:30am) is the same, one jar of fruit with Nonna's applesauce in it. Lunch (after nap or about 11:30 or noon) is some table food and then 2 jars, one veggie and a fruit, and dinner (around 4:30pm, again after nap) is similar to lunch. His favorite foods are yogurt, applesauce, squashes and he loved the halved blueberries he had yesterday. He was a bit unsure of the new texture cottage cheese brought, but liked it, spending an unbelievable amount of time gumming it, ensuring it was mashed well enough (good boy!).

With Easter and a wedding coming up, and a sale at Janie and Jack, I bought the little man a little blazer. OMG! Just too cute. We pulled it out today and he wore it to our Founders' Day luncheon at the chapter house in Berkeley. One little dapper man amid a sea of sorority women. Later in life, he will be please with his early start!

Interview with Ava (3½) and Bettina (3½)

1. What is something mom always says to you?
Don’t make a mess/Don’t go in the laundry

2. What makes mom happy?
Peoples to not make a mess... I mean, you give her a hug/Giving kisses and hugs

3. What makes mom sad?
If you don’t get hugges and kisses/When I make decorations with crayons on the walls

4. How does your mom make you laugh?
Tickle/Pulling on my cheek

5. What was your mom like as a child?
A toy/A silly tractor

6. How old is your mom?
Three…five…are you five, mommy?/Maybe six

7. How tall is your mom?
This much (putting her hand up to my head)/Look it up in the sky

8. What is her favorite thing to do?
Share things/Clean up all the rooms so it’s set

9. What does your mom do when you're not around?
Be scared/Say, "Come back here!"

10. If your mom becomes famous, what will it be for?
Being a mommy/Give you kisses and hugges and play

11. What is your mom really good at?
Doing computers/Getting medicine

12. What is your mom not very good at?
Doing sommersaults/Doing tractors…only farmers can do tractors

13. What does your mom do for her job?
Get medicine/Answer the phone

14. What is your mom's favorite food?
Pasta/Maybe french fries

15. What makes you proud of your mom?
When she gives me hugs/When she answers the phone

16. If your mom were a cartoon character, who would she be?
June (from Little Einsteins)…she’s a ballet dancer/SpongeBob Square Pants

17. What do you and your mom do together?
Play/Clean up

18. How are you and your mom the same?
You got brown and I got brown (hair)/We match hair-es

19. How are you and your mom different?
This big/I’m this big and you’re this big

20. How do you know your mom loves you?
Gives me a hug/Maybe, um, give paper

21. What does your mom like most about your dad?
Cleaning up/When we go get lunch

22. Where is your mom's favorite place to go?
To Misty’s house/Go to the park

I Think I'm Hopeful

Are our 20-somethings a "lost generation?" I hope more will watch this backwards than forwards....