Playground Pictures

It has gotten gorgeous here again (although it is supposed to quickly go from gorgeous to hot and gross this weekend) and so yesterday evening Joe and I went home right after my class so we could squeeze in some time to take Nicholas to the playground before dinner.

He was a giggle-monster while swinging and playing on this bouncy thing I don't have a name for. Sorry, but I was too busy playing with him at those moments to take pictures. But then he and Joe walked around the playground a little just checking things out and I broke out the camera. Here are a few shots:

Looking serious and taking it all in

From 2010 April

Just being Nicholas

From 2010 April

And, just for fun, an artsy shot I like:

From 2010 April

Wordless Wednesday: Peekaboo

From 2010 April

From 2010 April

There are a few more new pictures here, which pretty well capture his favorite activities this week, as well as the fact that he is constantly saying "ahahahahah."

11-month update

Joe is probably better equipped to write this post than I am, because (as I'm sure you have all picked up by now) he has spent a lot more time with Nicholas this month than I have. But as we have now passed off the primary parent baton and Joe is diligently working, I'll give it a go.

• Nicholas can now take 5 or 6 unassisted steps, but he prefers to cruise or walk holding an adult's hand. But man has he become a speedy and skilled cruiser. I am amazed at the obstacles he figures out how to get around without letting go of furniture.
• He has finally discovered his knees, and so can pull up to standing, as well as go from standing to sitting. Sometimes he holds onto his chair and just goes back and forth between sitting and standing for fun. It looks like he is doing squats. The addition of this skill has made him very mobile because if you leave him in the middle of the room sitting, he can go to his tummy, crawl to the couch, pull to standing, and walk into the dining room by holding onto furniture. The first time he made it in I did a double take.
• Nicholas is obsessed with anything that rolls. Balls, cars, trucks, etc. He loves pushing trucks around, "throwing" a ball back to you, and (his favorite of all) kicking a ball around the house while chasing after it (holding an adult's hands, of course). Our apartment is small and currently extremely cluttered, so "soccer" often requires crawling, as the ball ends up under things.
• Mealtimes are the only real problem times at our house. Nicholas is great about bedtime, diaper changes, going to daycare, etc (all with a big "knock on wood"), but meals are a battle. He doesn't want to eat anything other than jarred food, french fries, and graham crackers. He likes a host of other foods and happily eats 2 or 3 bites, but after 3 bites, he is done and insists that it is time for a jar. He also has two habits at dinner that he knows are forbidden but likes to test us on--throwing food off his tray and banging his tray. We can tell he knows he isn't supposed to do it, because he looks at us while contemplating and watches us carefully the whole time, checking our reaction.
• He still loves looking at pictures. And he has started saying "mamamamamama" when he sits and looks through his album. I am in quite a few of the pictures, so is he actually making the connection? Or does he think that is the word for picture? Who knows?
• His coordination is pretty impressive. He feeds himself pretty well with a fork (when we've put the food on it), can put objects in his mailbox or in his toy cups, sometimes plays a note at a time on his little piano, and a couple times even balanced a little ball on top of the toys it came with.

I'm sure that isn't a complete update, but it is the highlights. Also this month he had his first ear infection (and accompanying first fever) and got his seventh tooth.

The Daddy Bubble

On the NJSE (Nicholas John Stock Exchange), my stock (symbol: DAD) has risen fast.  It's doubled or tripled in value in just over a week.  Jim Cramer is on TV, yelling and screaming that DAD is still a good value, and you should buy, buy, BUY!

In other words, I'm AOL circa 1999.  I'm fairly ubiquitous: Sarah (symbol: MOM) was trying to finish her dissertation this weekend, so I was the primary parent on duty.  (Though with a caveat and a special shout-out to Grandma Kathleen, who did yeoman's work taking care of Nicholas on Sunday and Monday so that I could get some work done too.)  I provide a reasonably understandable service.  And I'm hot on the market.  But when pressed, no one could really explain why I should be worth so much more than MOM, the reliable old-school service that a few traders seem to have shorted down to pennies on the dollar.

Because of all the swirling activity of the past few days, Nicholas prefers me over Sarah.  Just digest that for a moment.  What child, having been sick, would willfully choose its father over its mother?  Especially when Dad isn't exactly the cuddly, warm-fuzzy type (I know, I know, it's a shock to all of you).  It's kind of a strange feeling, really, since it's not something I would expect, even from the ever-counterintuitive Nicholas.  I thought he'd prefer me for certain fun things, playing ball, that sort of stuff.  But never for comfort.  Now, I don't mind, of course.  I like that he finds me a comforting presence in his life.  I just never expected that yesterday, while in Sarah's arms, he would reach out for me, and once I took him, for him to suck his thumb and lean his head against me.

So I'll enjoy it while it lasts.  Because just like AOL, the bubble will burst, all too soon.

Back in Business

First, this entire post will be prefaced by an enormously superstitious "knock on wood."

That said, Nicholas seems to be feeling much better this morning.  He woke up perky, smiling, energized, and happy, none of which he had been for the past four days.  We took his temperature, and he checked in at 98.1.

And off to daycare he went, quite happily.

Because amoxicillin in liquid form is quite tasty (Sarah keeps making me nervous by reminiscing about how good it was when she was sick as a kid), Nicholas has had no trouble taking it, in fact seems eager (more nervousness).  So hopefully that kicking in has solved the ear infection problem, and for now he's back up and running, and seems to be on the mend.

Though he did make sure that both Daddy and Mommy caught his cold before he started back on the right track.  Thanks, buddy.

Medical Update

I took Nicholas to the doctor this morning, which he handled mostly well (the stethoscope may have been cold, which caused a bit of baby-panic).  The doctor took one look at Nicholas's left ear and declared the he has an ear infection.  Did he have one on Thursday when the fever started?  We don't know, so it's possible he also caught a virus of some sort, for which the treatment is TLC and time.  But the ear infection we can treat, so Nicholas will be on antibiotics for the next ten days, and hopefully will start feeling better as soon as tomorrow.

The only unfortunate part is that this is probably only the first of what will likely by many ear infections, since both of his parents had them in abundance as small children.  On the whole, though, we made it almost eleven months without having to take Nicholas to the doctor for a sick visit, so our record is still pretty strong.

A Little Feverish

This week, we've learned that taking care of a sick baby is hard work.

On Thursday, we got a call from the day care center to come pick up Nicholas because he had a bit of a fever and was not acting like himself.  When the teacher put him down for his morning nap, he screamed and cried, and as she put it, "he never cries!"  So I went to get him (Sarah had student meetings all afternoon) and as soon as I took him from the teacher, he put his head on my shoulder.

Fire alarms went off in my head.  He never snuggles.

Of course, he also looked terrible, pale, drawn.  He was totally lethargic.

When we got home, I put on some TV, and just let him sit in my lap.  After a dose of Tylenol, he fell asleep there for a nap, which he hasn't done since he was about four weeks old.

Anyway, so he has had a mild fever since Thursday, running in the range of 100-102 degrees when the medicine wears off.  So nothing good, but not so bad that the doctor wants to see him (that's at 104 degrees of four days, so if he's still feverish on Monday, in we go).  He hasn't had any other symptoms, so it's not entirely clear what's wrong, but babies get fevers, and it's the body's way of trying to deal with something that when it can't figure out what else to do.  Could be the tooth he's getting, could be a virus, could be roseola ... well, what's your guess?  It's as good as ours.

He's been doing pretty well considering.  Except for Thursday when it first hit, he's been in relatively good spirits, and as long as we manage his fever with Tylenol or Motrin, he's been playing and having a good time.  And today he was down to 98.1, though the medicine may have still been in effect, but that means it's at least working really well, and his hands felt cool instead of hot and clammy.  So maybe, maybe a little progress.

And here's hoping he'll be back to normal tomorrow so we can take him to daycare (where he'd rather be) than the doctor on Monday morning.