Visiting Santa

Remember last year when I said that I wouldn't set Jett on Santa's knee? I feel the same way this year too, but when a toy store down the street from us announced that your child could eat breakfast with Santa, I thought that might be worth a visit. I also appreciated that there was no standing in line. We actually made an appointment to see Santa - and got our own 15 minute time slot.

So this morning at 10:00, Charlie and I bundle up Jett, and bundle up ourselves, and walk on down to the store. It's picturesque, really, with fresh snow on the ground, Jett bundled up in his stroller, on our way to see Santa. As soon as we walk in the store and hear the first ho, ho, ho, Jett starts shaking his head, "No". But I scooped him up and walked back towards Santa anyway. We only got close enough for me to accept the candy cane that Santa offered Jett, with Jett snug in my arms and shaking his head, "No" throughout the entire exchange.

We hung out in the store for a while afterwards, eating their muffins, drinking their juice, playing with their toys, and tracking snow everywhere. Jett was entranced by two things in the store. One was a pull-toy, (and Charlie, the softie, bought it) and the other was an entire shelving unit of sequined covered ballet slippers (I considered buying him a pair, but didn't). Jett never acknowledged Santa, but I would say that he was entranced by him too. Occasionally Jett would take my hand and slowly walk back towards the room that Santa was waiting in. In fact, he had a whole routine worked out. To be clear, I should explain that the store is three rooms long. We spent our time in the first room, and Santa was in the last room. While there was still an entire room between us and Santa, Jett would take my hand and slowly and carefully walk up to the threshold of the first room, walk over the threshold, point to a piece of fruit (which he then wouldn't eat) on the refreshments table, and then s-l-o-w-l-y back out of the room, still holding my hand. He never acknowledged Santa, who was sitting against the farthest wall, two rooms away from us, but he never turned his back on him either.

I would like to say that Jett's hesitancy suggests that he has already grasped the true meaning of Christmas and has no particular interest in acquiring material goods, but one trip with him through Target tells me that's not true.

Oh well. Happy Holidays!

A safe distance.

Eighteen Months

Dear Jett,

Eighteen months ago
Before we gave you your name
Before you said your first word
Before you ever hugged my head
Or climbed on my back
Or bounced on my belly
Or held my hand
Eighteen months was further than we could think.



Now you are a year and a half old
And we spend more time thinking than we ever have before.
We think about why you don't like to brush your teeth anymore.
Why you're suddenly willing to get out of the bath when we ask.
We think about what to feed you for dinner when all you want is breakfast cereal.
We worry about the safety of plastics and paint and which direction we should face your car seat.
We wonder if your pajamas are warm enough and why you like putting on your coat but not your shirt and whether or not we should do anything about it.



Meanwhile you run to me with open arms.
You dance and spin and flop yourself down on the couch begging us to stop our thinking and just love you up.
So we do.



Happy Birthday, Buddy. We love you.

Healthy Kid

Jett had his 18-month check-up today, and he's still perfect. Well, technically, he's still a bit on the short side and the skinny side, but he keeps growing proportionately, so all is normal. He weighs 21 pounds and 3 ounces now, and is about 32 inches tall. Since we could answer "yes" to all of the doctor's questions, (does he walk backward; does he ever pretend; does he climb up stairs; say any words; enjoy playing with other kids) I guess we can assume he is developing normally. Actually, when I told the doctor he prefers chicken nuggets to all other food, she gave him the nod of successful toddler-hood. I didn't mention yesterday's snack of blueberries and ice cream, which ruined his appetite for the healthy dinner I had prepared for him - tofu dipped in pureed spinach, rolled in homemade breading, and broiled in the toaster oven. But I can't say that I blame him.


What would you want for dinner after a snack of blueberries and ice cream? Just more ice cream, of course!

Crayons

If you want your toddler to have a chance to play with crayons, but you lack the patience of making sure he only draws on the paper, it is a great idea to put your child in a cardboard box and let him draw on that. But it is a better idea to move that box away from the wall first.

KristKindle Mart

Two years ago, when I was pregnant with Jett, Charlie and I strolled through the KristKindle Mart downtown. We went at night when all of the Christmas lights were twinkling. We sat in the heated beergarten and drank hot cocoa, we visited the booths, I spoke German with the shop keepers, and we bought the first baby toy of Jett's collection, all when we were still getting used to the idea of having a baby. This year it seemed fitting to go again, with Jett.

So we bundle up and head out late Saturday morning. We're on a schedule now, squeezing this adventure in between his lunch and his nap. In fact, we're running late, and instead of giving Jett lunch at home (and being later), we add some Carnation Instant Breakfast into his milk, pour it into his sippy cup, and get in the car. (Carnation Instant Breakfast is on the list of things we can add to his food to increase his calorie intake - although it is supposed to be a supplement not his entire lunch). Anyway. We park at an el stop, snag a prime parking spot, and get on the train. This is Jett's first time on the el by the way, and he acts like a pro, flirting with all of the cute girls.

We get to the Mart and it is packed. We strap Jett in his stroller and discover he has a perfect view of everyone's winter-coat-covered butt. But it's hard to carry a kid when you both have winter coats on, so we keep him strapped in. We can't even get close to any of the shops because the lines in front of them are too long. We wade into the sea of people, trying to avoid running the stroller over anyone's feet, and find a spot that is kind of out of the wind. Of course there are no available seats inside, so Charlie scrounges up a chair for me and I go about giving Jett his lunch. His lunch is completely unglamorous: a cold grilled-cheese sandwich I made at home, which he eats off of his stroller tray. He has to take off his mittens to pick up the sandwich, and it's freezing, but he doesn't complain. Charlie buys a brat, and I get in to the spirit and go for a wienerschnitzel, despite the fact that it isn't even 11:30 am yet. The wienerschnitzel costs $7 and is cold. Jett looks completely bored.

But, but! He saw a real live horse up close and personal - and he almost petted it.


And even though we didn't stand in line to sit on Santa's lap, we caught a glimpse of him through the window.


The best thing of all? We were home by 12:30, Jett was asleep by 1:00, and Charlie and I were feeling pretty satisfied that we had made it out of the house at all.

Persuasion

I served on a federal jury this past week. When it came time for deliberations, I was the only juror who thought the defendant should not be convicted. I spent two days locked in a tiny room arguing my case to the other eleven jurors. I never persuaded them to change their minds, but I held my ground. The judge called us a hung jury and declared a mistrial. The defendant wasn't convicted.

You'd think then, that I could stand my ground and not give Jett graham crackers for breakfast, but you'd be wrong. Jett is the most persuasive person I know.

Saving it for Later

Wheels

I can not tell you how many magazines I've read sitting in the stairwell of our condo building while Jett plays with the wheels on the strollers. I don't know why we even bother going outside.

Don't Forget to Brush!

He Can Play Air Guitar Too

Have a rockin' Thanksgiving!

Winter Wear

What's the best thing about cold weather? Bundling your baby up cute and snuggly, and holding back the laughs when he can't bend over because his belly is covered up in too many layers.

It's a European Carry-All

And yes, he may be rushing out the door to go shopping.

Crocs are Not Winter Shoes

Jett likes to put on our shoes and walk around the house. This is a demanding activity. One of us has to hold his hands while he walks so he doesn't trip. Usually his feet slip right out of the shoes, which completely frustrates him. So to solve this problem I bought him a pair of crocs in the next size up. He can slip his feet in and out by himself, and they don't come off when he walks. Plus, since they are too big, I think they capture some of the novelty of walking around in my shoes, but require no effort from me. I keep them in his toy box, so he knows they are toys, not real shoes.



But he still wants to wear them outside. This kid is constantly outsmarting me.

Shampoo

He said he didn't want to take a bath, but we knew he'd come around. He even had fun getting his hair washed.

Before shampooing.

During shampooing.

All done!
Compare this picture to last month's picture and look at how nice and plump my baby is.
Yum!

Seventeen Months

Happy Birthday, Jett! Yesterday you turned seventeen months old. Seventeen months!

Our main goal this month has been to bring back your baby fat. You gained three pounds last month - nice job. We've gotten pretty good at adding more calories to your diet without actually asking you to eat more food. For example, we stir ranch dressing in to your peas, dip your chicken nuggets in honey, spread strawberry cream cheese on your graham crackers, and add carnation instant breakfast to your milk. We also treat you to the occasional bowl of ice cream which somehow still comes in second to rice krispies.

Of course, after all that sugary food we have to brush your teeth. You are really starting to embrace the concept, thank goodness. Maybe it's because you brush your teeth while Daddy shaves and that's pretty entertaining. Maybe it's because it finally occurred to me to buy you two toothbrushes - one for us to start brushing your teeth with, and one for you to hold at the same time. Either way, it's going fairly well. You only try to escape from the bathroom, toothbrush in hand, a few times a week. That's not so bad.

Mostly, Jett, you are on the move. You are like a spinning top that never stops, bouncing from the couch to the floor to the fridge to the chair. It's hard to get you to sit in my lap and read books anymore. Instead you play with your cars, driving them over the couch, on the trash can, and up the walls. Or you bounce your balls, chasing after them yourself and then throwing them again. Or you want me to spin anything that will spin on our wood floor. Very fitting!

rare moment of standing still

You should know though, that we are making an effort to encourage you to play with more than just cars, balls, and things that spin. I've been getting your stuffed animals and dolls out lately, trying to introduce you to your nurturing side. I also bought you a toy stroller. You love Ellie's so much, I figured for $7 you could have your own. You love it, and I loved watching your smile as you figured out what it was. The downside is that more often than not, you want us to push you in it. That is not the idea. It is the opposite of the idea.

Of course, we'd do almost anything to see your smile. Thank goodness it pops up so often.

Happy Birthday, sweet baby. We love you.

Sunday Conversation

Halloween

Since trick-or-treating in our neighborhood ends practically at the time I get home from work, I called our nanny when I got off the bus and asked her to start putting Jett in his Halloween costume, so we could scoot out the door and start trick-or-treating right away. When I walked in the house Jett was all dressed up and the cutest little bear I ever saw.

We left right away and when we got outside I put him down on the sidewalk, thinking that he would walk with me to the houses that were handing out candy. But he didn't get it. He didn't mind being outside in his bear costume, he just didn't know that he was supposed to walk anywhere.

A sweet neighbor, who was sitting on her front porch with a bowl of candy came out of her gate and handed Jett a small Nestle Crunch. Jett took it, but with a serious, silent face. Eventually he reached out to take the whole bowl, but was too shy to put up much of a fight.

Charlie arrived a few minutes later, and we put Jett in the stroller, since we wouldn't get anywhere if we left him to his own devices. We strolled him through the neighborhood, stopping at homes and stores and picking up a few pieces of chocolate along the way. Jett never cracked a smile or made a peep. I know he was having a good time though, because he kept every piece of candy clutched to his little bear chest during our entire 30 minute walk.

Here he is, eating his Crunch bar in his serious way. (No, we didn't let him eat the Snickers).


Later that evening we went to his cousin Ellie's house and they played together in their costumes.


That was fun, but for Jett the best part of the night was the walk home, when Charlie lifted him up to touch the branches of the trees.


And then off to bed in his Halloween pajamas.

Cincinnati

Ah, vacation. Four days of family, fun, and animal crackers for breakfast in the hotel room. Ten people, ten hours in the car, four states, four uncles, two grandparents, two babies, one children's museum, one aquarium, and one $20 sandwich from room service.





Did I mention the beautiful weather? The parks? The usual Johnson fun? The wonderful, exhausting Johnson fun?

Perhaps the best thing about the fun is that Jett is still wiped out from it. Last night he slept 12 hours and today he still took a 2 1/2 hour nap. Tonight he was so tired he asked us to put him to bed a half hour early. (At least that's what I think the whining and crying meant).

So we did. We tried to bathe him first, but he would have none of it. So we ignored the ice cream that was stuck to his stomach, changed his diaper, put him in pajamas, carried him over to his crib, and laid him down. He arranged his blanket under his head, looked up at us with his serious little face, and waved bye-bye.

Did he just tell us to leave his room so he could go to sleep?

Woo-hoo! What a weekend!

Farmer's Market

We make it to the farmer's market nearly every Sunday. Jett takes his job very seriously.

The Artist

The artistic process can be so frustrating.

Across the Street

Last weekend, like many weekends, Charlie took Jett for a walk in the stroller. At first I enjoyed the peace and quiet of having the house to myself. Then an hour and a half went by and I started wondering where my house mates had gone. I glanced out the window to see if I could catch a glimpse of them walking by, and there they were, across the street, having a chat in the school yard.

Reading Books

The other day I picked up Jett from his nanny-share. The other mom and our nanny were there and when I walked in they both told me, apologetically, that Jett was sitting in the corner looking at books. They wanted me to know that they didn't tell him to sit in the corner. I guess I forgot to tell them how much Jett loves books. Loves them. Loves looking at the same ones over and over and over again. One of his favorites is Zoology by Joelle Jolivet. It's almost as tall as he is, and it's very sophisticated. Of course, so is Jett.

(thanks, Katie and Sam!)

Where's Jett?

There he is!

Sick Day

This morning our nanny called in sick, so I stayed home with Jett. (Yep, I beat Charlie in the rock-paper-scissors contest. He always chooses rock. Fool).

You can imagine how disappointed I was to have to stay home today. We didn't have any fun at all.

Sixteen Months

Happy Birthday, Jett! This past Friday you turned 16 months old.

At sixteen months Jett is an expert at pointing, grunting, and whining to get what he wants. If you are trying to figure out what he wants and you guess wrong, he will shake his head no and screw up his face into a look of disdain that can only mean you've insulted him, yet again, with your stupidity. What this tells me is that I have to start looking up more signs. For instance, if we learned a sign for "Rice Krispies", and "Nilla Wafer" and "graham cracker" and "not that apple mama the other one duh" mealtimes would be a lot easier.

Napping has been a challenge these last few weeks. In other words, he's barely napped. He's exhausted when I get home from work and will happily nap in my arms then, if I will let him. Sometimes I do, which is probably part of the problem. It's a constant question of how much he needs to sleep that day, versus how much we need to teach him that 5:30pm is not the time for a nap.

Jett is expressing himself all over the place these days, and except for the crying and whining and throwing his head back and hitting me in the face while I carry him, it's really sweet. He's a charmer when it comes to doling out the kisses, and if he's in the right mood he'll give you a kiss shortly after meeting you for the first time. When he doesn't feel like kissing, he might still lean his forehead towards your lips so you can kiss him. He's usually willing to negotiate. He's also started to lay his head on my shoulder if I ask him to, and he could snuggle with me on the couch for minutes at a time (which is longer than it sounds like). He plays with my hair and rests his cheek against mine. I love it.

The most significant event for all of us this month is saying good-bye to seeing Grammy every day. And when I say "seeing Grammy every day" I mean depending on her every minute of those days. Thirteen months ago she promised us 12 months of loving, free, childcare for Jett. These thirteen months may have been the best thirteen months of Jett's life - and that still leaves room for hundreds of terrific months ahead. I know that for the last thirteen months, Jett has laughed every day, thanks to Grammy. And that is a fabulous feeling for a mom - to know that your baby is lovingly cared for, and happy, when you are not there. Soon Grammy will be working for someone who will actually pay her at the end of the day - pay her in something other than smiles and dirty diapers I mean. We were really lucky to have her help and love and company for so long. Thanks, Grammy!

This brings us to Jett's next adventure, which he started two weeks ago: the nanny-share. There are a few different ways to share a nanny. What it means to us is that one nanny watches two kids at the same time. One kid is Jett, and the other is a little boy, about Jett's age, who lives about a mile from us. This little boy has been with his nanny since he was three months old. The other family who was in the nanny-share relationship is moving, so the little boy's family was looking for a new family to share their nanny with, and with the help of a Chicago parenting website, we found each other. The boys are at our house two days a week and the other family's house two days a week (and I still don't work on Fridays). It's working out pretty well so far. Jett was fantastic the first week. Every evening he was his regular happy self, and he was even starting to take a nap for his new nanny. And then...

he got his first ear infection. Which of course we ignored for the first few days because we thought his fever and rash was a result of his latest vaccine. It was our nanny, actually, who encouraged us to bring him in to the doctor to have his ears looked at. Poor kiddo. It's been a rough few days, but hopefully we've turned a corner this weekend.

To sum it up, I'd say month sixteen has been a learning experience. As in, we've learned (kind of) how to identify an ear infection. We've learned that it is futile to guess what Jett wants to eat, you might as well open the refrigerator door and let him pick it out himself. And we've learned that if Jett wants to walk around the house carrying a bowl of dry cereal, Cheerios are a lot neater that Rice Krispies. Rice Krispies crumbs stick on everything.

after the farmers' market

trying on half of his Halloween costume

Happy Birthday, Handsome. We love you.

Temptation

I took Jett to his regular check up today. He's great, except he keeps getting taller but not fatter. So our doctor gave us some tips on increasing his calorie intake. This is what she suggested we feed him: heavy cream in his yogurt, brown sugar on his fruit, cream cheese mixed w/ scrambled eggs, and ice cream layered between two pieces of cake. I guarantee that one of us will gain weight in the next three months. It better be Jett.

Snacks

I may have just ruined Cheerios for Jett. Do you think it was too early to start on the Cinnamon Toast Crunch?

Stomach Virus

Or Why I Haven't Posted in Over a Week

It's been a messy, dreadful, exhausting week. I won't go in to the details, but I've learned a few lessons this week that I would like to share.

1. Immediately after your baby throws up, he might be very, very thirsty. He might beg you for a drink. He will cry and his face will get red and little tears will leak out of his eyes, but DO NOT GIVE HIM ANYTHING TO DRINK FOR 30 MINUTES. Otherwise it will come right back at you and then you will both be crying. You are his mom, so it should be easy to entertain him for those thirty minutes.
2. Once he's had his first sip of pedialyte or water or whatever, and you know he can keep it down, you should give him a few more sips every 5 minutes. YOU DO NOT NEED TO WAIT 30 MINUTES BETWEEN SIPS. No wonder your baby is still crying. Geesh.
3. Buy a better book that will put 5 MINUTES and 30 MINUTES in bold so you do not get confused.
4. If your baby is going to poop through his diaper make sure he is with his aunt so you don't have to deal with it.
5. If both parents and baby are going to be sick at the same time, make sure that an aunt and a grandma are willing to risk their own health, and the health of their families, to take care of you and yours.

One last message for Virus: I'm done playing the student now and Jett is tired of being your model, so get out of my house. And take those messy diapers with you.

15 Months

Today Jett is 15 months old. Jett - with his 5 little teeth and his size 6 feet - is 15 months old. Sweet Jett.

This has been an excellent month. A month of eating, climbing, and signing.

Eating
This month I finally let Jett hold an entire piece of food himself. I seem to be more hesitant than other parents I know about how big of a piece of food I let Jett put in his mouth. But my hesitancy hasn't really caused any problems for Jett, and hey, I've never had to fish anything out of his throat either. Besides, he has a very small mouth. Anyway, now he holds peaches and bananas and graham crackers all by himself. Such an exciting development (for me at least) with such a mundane benefit: now that I let Jett hold his own food I can unload the dishwasher while he eats.



But that's not all. You should see what my baby eats. Two bananas for breakfast, plus a small bowl of Rice Krispies with milk, plus some cut up strawberries, and some blueberries. This week he was willing to eat tofu and broccoli blended in cottage cheese, which just goes to show you that he didn't get my taste buds when the chromosomes divided.

Climbing
I know most kids Jett's age are natural climbers and he is no exception. He climbs up his highchair, his crib, the stove, the stairs, his changing table, and he climbs on me. My favorite activity with him right now is to push the foot stool up against the couch. He climbs up on to the footstool and throws himself down on the couch, giggling.

Signing
We started teaching Jett a few signs just for the fun of it a few months ago. It's pretty intriguing to watch him catch on to the signs. He learns them pretty quickly now. Tonight we were laying on the couch and I started "quizzing" him on the signs. (I know that sounds ridiculous, but we were just goofing around). Most of the time, when I said a word, he could sign it. His favorite right now is "rabbit". The sign is to put your fingers over your head like rabbit ears. (I made that one up). The thing about signing is, it's not like we have real conversations that way. Sure, he knows the sign for elephant, but how often do you say "elephant"? For now anyway, signing is mostly a fun party trick, and believe me, we'd be a hit at a party, if we could stay awake past 8:00.

I could go on and on but we haven't been sleeping much these past 10 days and it's hard to write creatively when you are as tired as this. Jett either has allergies or a cold but except for the lack of sleep and the constant nose wiping, he's great. He's always great. Even when he's not great, he's great.

Happy Birthday, Baby Jett. We love you.

The Park

Today at the park Jett slid down the little baby slide all by himself and then he slid down the bigger baby slide all by himself. So brave! Then he said "hi" to a new person for maybe the first time. So social! Then he demanded that I break my back and hold him up so he could drink out of the water fountain (he had his first drink from a water fountain last week with Charlie) even though he had a perfectly fine sippy cup full of water right in his stroller. So Charlie's fault.

But Then He's So Good!

So we're trying to slowly cut out the bottles. Part of the problem with this is that Jett doesn't like to drink milk from his sippy cups, and he's supposed to drinking some milk every day. Charlie, who gets up with Jett in the middle of the night now, has stopped offering Jett a bottle in the middle of the night, and Jett has been just fine without it. And for the last few days I've only given him a bottle when I have to change his diaper - because then he's so good. I only put a couple of ounces of milk in it so he'll have it finished by the time I'm done with his diaper. But just 10 minutes ago I filled up the whole bottle with milk - what was I thinking - and changed his diaper, set him down on the floor, and walked in to the kitchen. I never took the bottle back from him so he's still walking around with it. But if something keeps him so quiet and so occupied and so content, can it really be a bad thing?

Besides, I happen to know for a fact that Charlie gave him a bottle last night.

At least we never let him climb up onto the stove. We do have some limits.

Update: Finished that bottle, threw it on the ground, and is now walking around with a snapshot of my sister. Maybe I can hand that to him when I change his diaper. I'm sure that's an association they'd both like to develop.

When is a Baby Not a Baby?

• When he starts eating ice cream cones?
• When he can feed himself macaroni and cheese?
• When he will find his shoes and try to put them on, find his hat and try to put it on, and then take hold of your finger and walk you to the door in order to convey that he wants to play outside?
• When he can climb into his highchair by himself?
• When he can use the toilet as a stepping stone to the sink?

I know, I know. Now I'm just bragging.

Lunch Time

Charlie and I have different philosophies when it comes to feeding Jett. Charlie feeds Jett everything, bit by bit, spoonful by spoonful. I tend to hand Jett the spoon and let him go at it. Both methods have their advantages. For example, Charlie usually doesn't have to sweep and mop the floor when he's done. But I get all the good pictures.