Many proud parents relish the opportunity to point out how extraordinarily gifted and advanced their child is compared to "average" kids. Some parents love to tell everyone they meet how they rank on various percentiles, their scores on internet IQ tests, their progress on cold-fusion research, etc... And while I am sure the IQ test for 6-12 month old babies developed by Fisher Price (seriously!) is completely legit, I did not want to score Collin's development based on some simple questions. I wanted hard, measurable science. (plus there was that whole Fisher-Price IQ-killing lead-coated-toy recall thing). So I developed my own, completely scientific, method for determining how gifted a baby truly is. While Collin still has room for improvement in some areas, I think it is obvious that he is truly exceptional. I'm already working on bumper stickers.
2009 Standardized Poop Assesment Test:
Output and Frequency: >97th percentile
Bouquet: 95th
IPFD Test: >97 (Immediately Pooping in a Fresh Diaper)
Containment Avoidance: 75-90
Self Removal: 25-50 (he hasn't figured that one out yet)
WIHT Test: 75-95 (The WHAT IN THE HELL IS THAT? Test)
On a slightly more serious note, it's official. Collin got his first word badge for consistently saying "juice" even though it sounds like "yoose" or sometimes, "ayoo" we know what he means. I can definitely see how he could have 40 or 50 words that would sound like complete nonsense to a stranger, but we would know exactly what he was saying.
We probably could have given him the badge sooner, but I wanted to be sure there was a repeatable cause and effect. He's been babbling for months now and has been saying mama and dada and even "addy" for a while, but we still can't tell for sure if he's talking to us, the cat or just making noise. "Hi" has also been around for a while, but with juice there is no mistaking it. He only says it when he is referring to the sippy cup and gets very happy with himself when he says it and we give him the cup.
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Sunday, April 26, 2009
Monday, April 6, 2009
Sunday, April 5, 2009
9 Months and a haircut
It's been a while since I've updated the baby blog but life and travel intervened. Here's the latest. He's 9 months, about 23 pounds and 27". Lots has changed since my last update and I now know what everyone meant when they said it would go by so fast. While the first 6 months seemed like about 2 years, the last 3 flew by in what felt like a week. He's growing and developing so fast I wish we could slow it down and enjoy it more. Birth to 3 months was all about surviving without sleep. 3-6 months was thinking that it should be getting easier by now but it wasn't and wondering if we could really do this and keep both of our very demanding jobs - we could not have done it without Amber (his awesome nanny) and tons of help from family and friends, but 6-9 months has been all about trying to keep up with him. We still need lots of help, but he's settled into something resembling a routine, we are both getting sleep and things get more and more fun every day. Evenings are the best. We feed him about 6, he plays until about 8, gets a bath is sound asleep by 9 and he'll usually sleep until 7 or 7:30. Amber comes at 8, takes him for a walk with the dog, breakfast, nap around 10, lunch around noon, play until 2 or 3, another nap, 4PM snack and then more play time until dinner.
He crawls and plays like a maniac now and that was the key. He wears himself out and needs more sleep. He's also standing up and walking as long as he has something to hold on to (I recently found out this is called "cruising"). He'll be walking soon.
He's not talking yet, but its coming. The other morning Andrea brought him into our bed as we were waking up, he looked right at me and said "dada" I was delighted and about to give him his first-word badge, then he looked right at the dog and said "dada", so no badge yet, but he babbles non-stop and he'll be talking soon. I know that once he starts he'll never stop so I'm not in a big hurry.
He also knows his name, we can call to him and he'll turn and look, unfortunately the dog now thinks his name is Collin too and while calling "Collin" won't get him to stop throwing books off the shelf, it'll get the dog to come right over.
It was also time for a haircut. He was starting to look a bit like Nick Nolte's mugshot, so we took out first stab at cutting hair. We didn't hurt him, but the hair will grow back. Here are some before pictures.
(sorry - no after pictures yet)
He also gets the giggles a lot. I'm not sure what's funnier - the kid or the dog licking the floor in the background. This time he was cracking up every time I would say "oops".
Saturday, February 7, 2009
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
Great Photos!
Collin is very to lucky to not only have a fantastic nanny, but she is also a great photographer. Here are some of the photos she has taken. You can see more of her work here:
www.ambersnowphotography.com
www.ambersnowphotography.com
Monday, January 26, 2009
Half a Year and Counting
Collin has reached yet another important milestone in his development. He has survived six entire months with us as his parents! That is half of a year and coincidentally coincides (within a day) to Andrea's birthday which is also our anniversary. He also has teeth! 2 of them. I'm pretty excited that he is going to have teeth, but I think Andrea would rather he didn't (at least for a while) since she now has to teach him not to bite certain things.
But the big news is that he is crawling. He scooched along for a long time, but it is a full on crawl now. For a long time we could put him on the floor, go off for a minute, come back and he would be more or less in the same place we left him. Now, if we were to leave him alone for more than a minute he may very well be at the neighbor's house - or in Kansas. He hasn't asked for the car keys yet, but it's just a matter of time.
I've learned that when babies start to crawl they immediately head for the most dangerous thing in their immediate vicinity. There could be toys everywhere, but he had much rather bang his head on the coffee table or chew on a door stop. (Why do they build houses where every corner and edge is sharp??? Couldn't they round some of this stuff off?) But anyway, I think I've figured out why babies do this. We parents have an instinctive urge to protect our little ones and in order to balance this out, babies are born with an instinctive urge to kill themselves. There is some sort of evil natural selection going on here. It's as if one day they wake up and think: "You know what would really hit the spot right now? Some drain cleaner!" So they spend the whole day searching for drain cleaner. If they can't find any they'll either order some online or find something equally dangerous, like: "Hey - I wonder what its like inside the fireplace." Or: "That electrical cord looks scrumptious!" Some aren't quite so dangerous - just gross. Cat food comes to mind. Or chewing on the dog's chew toy. Parents have to respond to this by moving everything up out of their reach. I hear that you just keep moving things higher and higher until they are teenagers and everything you own is in the attic.
Luckily we've been able to keep Collin away from everything other than the odd head bump, but I had no idea we lived in such a dangerous place.
We aren't really trying to contain him as long as someone is watching him and it is delightful to watch him crawl around and he loves it - he'll follow Andrea from room to room and untie her shoes every chance he gets.
But the big news is that he is crawling. He scooched along for a long time, but it is a full on crawl now. For a long time we could put him on the floor, go off for a minute, come back and he would be more or less in the same place we left him. Now, if we were to leave him alone for more than a minute he may very well be at the neighbor's house - or in Kansas. He hasn't asked for the car keys yet, but it's just a matter of time.
I've learned that when babies start to crawl they immediately head for the most dangerous thing in their immediate vicinity. There could be toys everywhere, but he had much rather bang his head on the coffee table or chew on a door stop. (Why do they build houses where every corner and edge is sharp??? Couldn't they round some of this stuff off?) But anyway, I think I've figured out why babies do this. We parents have an instinctive urge to protect our little ones and in order to balance this out, babies are born with an instinctive urge to kill themselves. There is some sort of evil natural selection going on here. It's as if one day they wake up and think: "You know what would really hit the spot right now? Some drain cleaner!" So they spend the whole day searching for drain cleaner. If they can't find any they'll either order some online or find something equally dangerous, like: "Hey - I wonder what its like inside the fireplace." Or: "That electrical cord looks scrumptious!" Some aren't quite so dangerous - just gross. Cat food comes to mind. Or chewing on the dog's chew toy. Parents have to respond to this by moving everything up out of their reach. I hear that you just keep moving things higher and higher until they are teenagers and everything you own is in the attic.
Luckily we've been able to keep Collin away from everything other than the odd head bump, but I had no idea we lived in such a dangerous place.
We aren't really trying to contain him as long as someone is watching him and it is delightful to watch him crawl around and he loves it - he'll follow Andrea from room to room and untie her shoes every chance he gets.
Thursday, January 1, 2009
Collin's first Christmas (tree)
Collin had his first Christmas this week complete with a tree! He, of course will not remember any of this and we will always remember it as the Christmas when Collin thought it was just another Thursday except the house was full of people and his nanny didn't show up. This was our first Christmas with a tree. Andrea and I have been married for 10 (yes, TEN) years and have never had a tree. She just didin't want one. She felt there were other ways to decorate and celebrate, and even though I put up a fight most years, she won out every time. We wrapped the trunks of the trees in our front yard with lights and we would go to the tree lot to collect trimmings and spread them around the house and I think we even put up stockings one year. But 10 years and no tree. However this year I had leverage (a new baby). The exchange went something like this:
ME: "I want a tree this year. We have a kid and a bigger house now. There is no excuse."
ANDREA: "I don't want a tree. We don't have a good place to put it. It's a terrible waste of environmental resources and Collin won't remember it anyway."
ME: "We have a kid now. We have to get a tree."
ANDREA: "No. He's 5 months old. He doesn't even know what Christmas is. He doesn't need a tree."
ME: "In a few years he will demand a tree, so we may as well get used to it, plus I've always wanted to have one. Plus your family is visiting and they will expect a tree"
ANDREA: "We don't have anything to decorate it with."
ME: "We have lights (from decorating the trunks of 0ur previous trees) and I know where to buy ornaments. We start small and add to it every year. This is the best possible time to start - new house - new kid."
ANDREA: "OK, but is has to go in this room because the colors are better"
ME: "No, it needs to go in this room, because, ummmm, that's where I pictured it."
ANDREA: "It has to go in this room and we have to rearrange all of the furniture to make it work."
ME: "OK, but we are NOT listening to ANY Mannheim Steamroller."
ANDREA: "Good - I hate Mannheim Steamroller."
So I went and got a tree. We have 9' ceilings so I went for a 7'-8' noble fir, but in retrospect I could gone a little bigger (size is everyting), but it was a great first tree. I also got a base and headed home. Andrea let me bring it in, put it in the base, do a little a trimming and start decorating it. All without adult supervision. Collin helped and he likes lights. I like lights and we didn't have a singe ornament to our name - but we had LOTS of lights. So, of course, I went all Clark Griswald on it and just started wrapping it with lights. I started with one color and wrapped it from the top to the botton, then picked another and went from the bottom to the top. This went on for a while until I had used most of the lights that we used to use to wrap the trunks of 7 live oaks in our old front yard. I plugged it in, turned off the lights and went to get Andrea. Collin loved it, but the following exchange went something like this:
ME: "Well, what do you think" (hoping the breaker doesn't trip)
ADNREA: "WOW. That is very impressive! But what does it look if we turn on the lights?"
ME: "Ummmm.... Let'd find out" (Switches on lights)
ANDREA: "It's really nice with the lights out, but when the lights are on all you can see are wires everywhere."
ME: "Ya, that's normal - you need all those wires to hang the ornaments."
ANDREA: "But we don't have any ornaments and you can hang them from the tree branches."
ME: "OK - Should we just add more lights?"
Ultimately Andrea's logic prevailed and she took off every single light I had put on and put back on about 1/5 of them. Then we bought ornaments, then andrea decided it needed to be decorated with orange origami birds which she and our friend Katsumi spent an evening making. It looked very nice in the end we all had a great time and we have a good base to build on for next year.
On the Christmas front: We had a great visit from Andrea's parents and her brother Paul and his family. They have 3 kids (3, 5, and 7) so we got a good preview of what is coming. They are all wonderful and it's amazing how different they all are. Vivvy (Vivienne- 3) is all about pink, mermaids and her Christmas dress. Jeremy (5) is all about dinosaurs, chaos, legos and getting the most out of every minute. Ethan (7) is all about games, cash-money and non-stop excitement. They are a delightful trio and without a dull moment! Collin also got a ton of toys from lots of family and friends (which he needed).
Me? I got lots of SPAM (seriously-see previous post - I never should have posted that). But overall it was a wonderful Christmas and I wouldn't trade a minute if it - but I Will trade the SPAM. What I really wanted was a Wii!
ME: "I want a tree this year. We have a kid and a bigger house now. There is no excuse."
ANDREA: "I don't want a tree. We don't have a good place to put it. It's a terrible waste of environmental resources and Collin won't remember it anyway."
ME: "We have a kid now. We have to get a tree."
ANDREA: "No. He's 5 months old. He doesn't even know what Christmas is. He doesn't need a tree."
ME: "In a few years he will demand a tree, so we may as well get used to it, plus I've always wanted to have one. Plus your family is visiting and they will expect a tree"
ANDREA: "We don't have anything to decorate it with."
ME: "We have lights (from decorating the trunks of 0ur previous trees) and I know where to buy ornaments. We start small and add to it every year. This is the best possible time to start - new house - new kid."
ANDREA: "OK, but is has to go in this room because the colors are better"
ME: "No, it needs to go in this room, because, ummmm, that's where I pictured it."
ANDREA: "It has to go in this room and we have to rearrange all of the furniture to make it work."
ME: "OK, but we are NOT listening to ANY Mannheim Steamroller."
ANDREA: "Good - I hate Mannheim Steamroller."
So I went and got a tree. We have 9' ceilings so I went for a 7'-8' noble fir, but in retrospect I could gone a little bigger (size is everyting), but it was a great first tree. I also got a base and headed home. Andrea let me bring it in, put it in the base, do a little a trimming and start decorating it. All without adult supervision. Collin helped and he likes lights. I like lights and we didn't have a singe ornament to our name - but we had LOTS of lights. So, of course, I went all Clark Griswald on it and just started wrapping it with lights. I started with one color and wrapped it from the top to the botton, then picked another and went from the bottom to the top. This went on for a while until I had used most of the lights that we used to use to wrap the trunks of 7 live oaks in our old front yard. I plugged it in, turned off the lights and went to get Andrea. Collin loved it, but the following exchange went something like this:
ME: "Well, what do you think" (hoping the breaker doesn't trip)
ADNREA: "WOW. That is very impressive! But what does it look if we turn on the lights?"
ME: "Ummmm.... Let'd find out" (Switches on lights)
ANDREA: "It's really nice with the lights out, but when the lights are on all you can see are wires everywhere."
ME: "Ya, that's normal - you need all those wires to hang the ornaments."
ANDREA: "But we don't have any ornaments and you can hang them from the tree branches."
ME: "OK - Should we just add more lights?"
Ultimately Andrea's logic prevailed and she took off every single light I had put on and put back on about 1/5 of them. Then we bought ornaments, then andrea decided it needed to be decorated with orange origami birds which she and our friend Katsumi spent an evening making. It looked very nice in the end we all had a great time and we have a good base to build on for next year.
On the Christmas front: We had a great visit from Andrea's parents and her brother Paul and his family. They have 3 kids (3, 5, and 7) so we got a good preview of what is coming. They are all wonderful and it's amazing how different they all are. Vivvy (Vivienne- 3) is all about pink, mermaids and her Christmas dress. Jeremy (5) is all about dinosaurs, chaos, legos and getting the most out of every minute. Ethan (7) is all about games, cash-money and non-stop excitement. They are a delightful trio and without a dull moment! Collin also got a ton of toys from lots of family and friends (which he needed).
Me? I got lots of SPAM (seriously-see previous post - I never should have posted that). But overall it was a wonderful Christmas and I wouldn't trade a minute if it - but I Will trade the SPAM. What I really wanted was a Wii!
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