As of this morning, Daniel weighs 21lbs 14.2oz, has a head circumference of 18.25", and is 32" long.
We have this certain vibrating baby chair. Daniel pretty much completely ignores it - except when Nora gets in it. She likes to play her tablet while sitting in it, on occasion. On those occasions, Daniel spots Nora in the chair that he knows belongs to him, and makes a bee line for it. He climbs into it, on top of her, trying desperately to assert his dominance. She has pushed him out of the chair once or twice, but usually I remind her that the chair belongs to him, and then she gets out. Then he gleefully lounges in it like King Tut, basking in his victory. Its pretty funny to see the sibling rivalry already starting between those two, and to see how early that sense of property and propriety develops!
Quite typically for a 3rd child, Daniel does NOT want to be left out in any way, whether its getting dessert, or food that the other kids are eating, activities they are doing, etc. He is quite loud and demanding until he gets the same treatment as everyone else! Basically he shrieks at the top of his lungs until you give in to his 'request.' Hes hard to say 'no' to! Luckily he also understands concepts like taking turns and sharing pretty well, so he gets along well with other kids for the most part.
In the sleep department, he is still doing pretty well. He started mostly sleeping through the night last month and that continues. Some nights hes up twice, sometimes once, but for the most part hes sleeping through until about 8am. He is also still taking two naps, one starting at about 9-10am and lasting for about an hour, and the other starting at about 1 and lasting for 1-2 hours. As part of our bedtime routine, we have always done pajamas, sleep sack and story time. But for the most part he is not into being read to. He just doesn't have the patience (unlike the other kids who LOVED it) and will whap the book right out of my hands, or will reach for another book after 3 seconds, and then another and another until I just call it quits. What he really likes to do is practice turning pages. So lately reading time has been me just handing him books so that he can learn to turn his own pages. He is Mr. Independent!
Daniel has always loved soft, fuzzy things from a young age. Starting at 4 months he began sleeping with a super soft stuffed dog from Ikea that we very creatively named 'Puppy.' He can't sleep without it and loves it so much that he requires a crib Puppy and a downstairs Puppy. Each time I take him out of his crib, he protests throwing crib Puppy back into the crib, and so I have to remind him that we have downstairs Puppy. Then he books it downstairs so that he can grab the other one. Puppy is a dear friend of his, but he basically loves any soft, stuffed thing and will bury his face into them and hug it and rub his lips against the soft fur. The other day at Target, he grabbed a stuffed animal off the shelf and then clung to it for dear life, the entire shopping trip. It was so hard to get him to let go of it, that I actually considered buying it for him! In the end I played the part of mean mom and yanked it out of his desperate arms. I am truly the ruiner of dreams!
Another favorite thing he likes to do, is eat chalk and shred tissues. I have recently had to start listening for The Silence (as I like to call it). He will go into a room and then stay there quietly. If I don't hear him for a few minutes, its almost guaranteed that he is up to no good: unraveling yarn balls, knocking over trash cans and throwing out their contents, climbing things he shouldn't, etc. He is getting ever more mobile, and more confidant in his cruising skills, and there is not much he can't get into that is less than three feet from the ground. I know hes been having a good old time when he comes crawling out of a room sporting a chalk mustache, leaving a pile of shredded tissue in his wake. Heck, there are times when I will actually hand him a tissue, as it will buy me around 5 precious minutes of silence and alone time!
When he nurses, its basically the only time he remains reasonably still. Its not the most relaxing time for me however, because his favorite nursing activities include kicking his free leg up and down repeatedly, pulling my hair and earrings, poking my mouth and eyes, and slapping my chest. I just squint my eyes, lean my head back as far as I can and try to withstand the onslaught until hes done. If we're outside of the nursery its even worse. At least in the nursery rocker he will assume a prone position. If we nurse on the couch, all bets are off and he will attempt to nurse standing up, bending over sideways, legs akimbo and all manner of craziness. But at least he is and has always been an excellent and enthusiastic nurser. Our nursing relationship has been the only easy thing about Daniel it seems!
Daniel is a sensitive, though mostly good natured kid. Hes easily irritated and does not suffer any fool who might make him wait for even a second. Patience is one thing he will have to learn in time. Hes certainly made this past year a challenge, but I am please to report that we all survived the challenge and I for one am extremely grateful to be on the other side. I can already see glimpses of things getting easier and I cannot wait for that trend to continue throughout this next year as well! Happy first birthday Daniel!
We have this certain vibrating baby chair. Daniel pretty much completely ignores it - except when Nora gets in it. She likes to play her tablet while sitting in it, on occasion. On those occasions, Daniel spots Nora in the chair that he knows belongs to him, and makes a bee line for it. He climbs into it, on top of her, trying desperately to assert his dominance. She has pushed him out of the chair once or twice, but usually I remind her that the chair belongs to him, and then she gets out. Then he gleefully lounges in it like King Tut, basking in his victory. Its pretty funny to see the sibling rivalry already starting between those two, and to see how early that sense of property and propriety develops!
Quite typically for a 3rd child, Daniel does NOT want to be left out in any way, whether its getting dessert, or food that the other kids are eating, activities they are doing, etc. He is quite loud and demanding until he gets the same treatment as everyone else! Basically he shrieks at the top of his lungs until you give in to his 'request.' Hes hard to say 'no' to! Luckily he also understands concepts like taking turns and sharing pretty well, so he gets along well with other kids for the most part.
In the sleep department, he is still doing pretty well. He started mostly sleeping through the night last month and that continues. Some nights hes up twice, sometimes once, but for the most part hes sleeping through until about 8am. He is also still taking two naps, one starting at about 9-10am and lasting for about an hour, and the other starting at about 1 and lasting for 1-2 hours. As part of our bedtime routine, we have always done pajamas, sleep sack and story time. But for the most part he is not into being read to. He just doesn't have the patience (unlike the other kids who LOVED it) and will whap the book right out of my hands, or will reach for another book after 3 seconds, and then another and another until I just call it quits. What he really likes to do is practice turning pages. So lately reading time has been me just handing him books so that he can learn to turn his own pages. He is Mr. Independent!
Daniel has always loved soft, fuzzy things from a young age. Starting at 4 months he began sleeping with a super soft stuffed dog from Ikea that we very creatively named 'Puppy.' He can't sleep without it and loves it so much that he requires a crib Puppy and a downstairs Puppy. Each time I take him out of his crib, he protests throwing crib Puppy back into the crib, and so I have to remind him that we have downstairs Puppy. Then he books it downstairs so that he can grab the other one. Puppy is a dear friend of his, but he basically loves any soft, stuffed thing and will bury his face into them and hug it and rub his lips against the soft fur. The other day at Target, he grabbed a stuffed animal off the shelf and then clung to it for dear life, the entire shopping trip. It was so hard to get him to let go of it, that I actually considered buying it for him! In the end I played the part of mean mom and yanked it out of his desperate arms. I am truly the ruiner of dreams!
Another favorite thing he likes to do, is eat chalk and shred tissues. I have recently had to start listening for The Silence (as I like to call it). He will go into a room and then stay there quietly. If I don't hear him for a few minutes, its almost guaranteed that he is up to no good: unraveling yarn balls, knocking over trash cans and throwing out their contents, climbing things he shouldn't, etc. He is getting ever more mobile, and more confidant in his cruising skills, and there is not much he can't get into that is less than three feet from the ground. I know hes been having a good old time when he comes crawling out of a room sporting a chalk mustache, leaving a pile of shredded tissue in his wake. Heck, there are times when I will actually hand him a tissue, as it will buy me around 5 precious minutes of silence and alone time!
When he nurses, its basically the only time he remains reasonably still. Its not the most relaxing time for me however, because his favorite nursing activities include kicking his free leg up and down repeatedly, pulling my hair and earrings, poking my mouth and eyes, and slapping my chest. I just squint my eyes, lean my head back as far as I can and try to withstand the onslaught until hes done. If we're outside of the nursery its even worse. At least in the nursery rocker he will assume a prone position. If we nurse on the couch, all bets are off and he will attempt to nurse standing up, bending over sideways, legs akimbo and all manner of craziness. But at least he is and has always been an excellent and enthusiastic nurser. Our nursing relationship has been the only easy thing about Daniel it seems!
Daniel is a sensitive, though mostly good natured kid. Hes easily irritated and does not suffer any fool who might make him wait for even a second. Patience is one thing he will have to learn in time. Hes certainly made this past year a challenge, but I am please to report that we all survived the challenge and I for one am extremely grateful to be on the other side. I can already see glimpses of things getting easier and I cannot wait for that trend to continue throughout this next year as well! Happy first birthday Daniel!
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