Nashville Glewwe Kids

Just a few quick notes before I pursue a bit of sleep:
- Michael is exploring the world around him more and more each day. We have moved him out of his carrier car-seat, and though I still use it for neighborhood walks, he’s now had a few rides in the stroller without the seat and has spent a great deal of time checking it out, feeling the tray and sides with his wee (?) hands. I also caught him today with one hand on the sheep picture of his Baby Einstein mobile, and later caught him with both hands maneuvering the star on the Baby Einstein mat. It really is neat to get to see him noticing and exploring the world around him!
- Megan, meanwhile, is showing new and wonderful parts of her personality each day. She continues to be a great caregiver. While I ate lunch today and fed Michael (all after her lunch, before her nap), she played, then announced “I make food- you.” She then said “I cook for you” and “prepared” me some food (invisible, of course- empty calories!) and served it on a hard plastic placemat. She also delivered a loaf of bread to me for my enjoyment and said something along the lines of “here you go!” When it came time for naptime, she made each of 2 of her babies go potty on her potty chair (we haven’t started this yet, but she seems to be heading there!), then asked for a diaper for the 3rd. She said “Princess needs diaper change” and then “she needs Beaudroux’s (Butt Paste).” It was all very sweet!

Sunday afternoon we drove to Crockett Park for some play time. We started with a brisk stroll through the woods to put Michael to sleep. Once at the field at the top of the big hill, Megan and I played soccer while Sandra retrieved the kite from the car. We launched the clownfish kite despite the poor wind, and we got some decent flying. Megan was excited to hold the string with the kite in the air, but she also enjoyed being part of the ground crew that picked up the kite after a calm and launched it skyward again. From the field we headed to the playground for a little swinging before heading home.

And back at home:

On Saturday the 24th of March, Megan and I met Larry, Grace, Andrew and Zoe at the Cumberland Science Museum. We picked up Megan’s Grampa on the way for a day of fun. Near the end of our time at the museum, Zoe clambered up into the tray of the shape sorter followed by Megan and then Grace.

Zoe had to go home, but the rest of us ate lunch in the Skyline room before heading towards the zoo. Once we met back up at the zoo, we saw even more friends: Beth, Mike and Ashley Csernovicz; and Susan, Dennis and Shona Wood. Grace and Megan watched the gibbons for a bit, ran over to the meerkats, and then we went up the hill to see the giraffes and elephants. Both girls were starting to wind down as was Grampa. We headed towards the Jungle Gym with a stop by the carousel for Megan where we saw Audrey Cermak. Megan rode the anteater; she held on with both hands, never asked to be steadied, and didn’t try to crawl back off into my arms. We headed down to the playground and played for 30 minutes or so. On the way back to Grampa’s house, Megan fell fast asleep, so we dropped my dad off and headed home. Six hours of excitement!

Sandra had an eye appointment in Franklin yesterday, so we dropped her off and headed to Pinkerton Park. Michael snoozed away while Megan played. Having an infant in the stroller, Megan was forced to climb on her own. She did a great job. She did three firsts in my opinion: 1) all climbing was on her own, 2) she held on to the “rings” and supported her own weight by arms alone for a few seconds, and 3) she climbed the “tire ramp” on her own twice after climbing twice with Daddy-support holding both and then one of her hands on two previous trips. I was very proud of her. We met Sandra at Mellow Mushroom on the Square for dinner. She did a great job of eating pizza with ground beef, pita and hummus, and garlic bread. Michael finally woke as we were ready to leave, so Megan got bonus “ice cream shoppe” while Sandra nursed Michael in the car. It was a late evening; we didn’t get home and put kids in tubs until about 7:30. Megan went right to sleep at bedtime though.

I got up bright and early to play racquetball this morning. Sandra called at 9am to tell me that Megan woke at 6:20. A sleepy mama said “Move over” and crawled into bed with her. They both went back to sleep until 10 til 8 when Michael woke. What great luck for Sandra!

 We started Michael on rice cereal this week. He ate it Sunday at dinner and did okay. He got it again Monday at my parents’ house while Sandra was at the MK meeting. He gobbled it up, and then fell asleep on his Nana while Grandpa and Dada played with Megan.

Michael slept through the night again Monday night. His sister went to bed on time at 8pm despite the time change, and he was asleep by 8:30. We finally woke at 6:40am with only thirty minutes until Sandra had to leave for a dental appointment. He mostly wanted to play and small instead of nurse, so I got a fussier baby to care for then I might have otherwise. Regardless, he was an angel as we spent the morning together. He refused a bottle again though.

His sister announced “rad moves” to me during the appropriate Backyardigans song (about surfing).

We celebrated Michael’s baptism Sunday after the event took place at The Church of the Good Shepherd. Michael cried a bit when Reverend Burgess poured water on his head, but then again, he was asleep. Aunt Tobi assumed the responsibility of sole godparent of Michael as she did with Megan when she was baptized Christmas Day 2005.

Lots of family joined us back at the house for ham, rolls, potato salad, cole slaw and cake.

Shona and Megan played for about two and a half hours running each other ragged and sleepy. When we dropped Megan in bed at 10 til 4 for a quick nap, she struggled to sleep due to utter weariness in our opinion. It was a good day.

A few days later, Megan sat happily on Michael’s new Animal Quilt:

As many of you may know, we discovered early on with Michael that he preferred sleeping on his tummy. He often sleeps throughout the night now, and when he does wake up, it is usually only once for a brief snack. Sandra just called to say she put him down for a nap as usual, and when she went back to check on him, our little guy was laying on his back checking out the world (or at least what he could see of it).

 Our little guy has turned over tummy-to-back for the first time!

Sandra took this video just a little while ago. Worth the 12 MB wait…

 Quick Time Video – 12 MB (click to watch, right click and Save As to keep) 

Quick Time Video – 32 MB (click to watch, right click and Save As to keep)

Sandra stopped by after running some errands. We drove down to Granny White Park for 30 minutes of Megan playing in the park while her brother nursed. When they dropped me off at work, I kissed Sandra good-bye and hopped out of the car as Sandra opened the slider so I could say good-bye to Megan. As I kissed my little girl, she said “I love you.” It warms the heart.