Monday, June 29, 2009

biting and pulling up

today linus continued his self-study in motility. the subject area today was the bathroom. why the bathroom? well, in this sweaty weather, mama has to stay well-hydrated. that also means frequent bathroom use. one of linus's favorite toys lives in the bathroom as well. it's one of those (sort of scary, i think) contraptions that allows one to turn a knob or push a button and out pops a little disney character. yikes! anyhow, linus loves it and remains occupied by it's mysteries long after i've finished my task in the bathroom. so... i occupy my own self working in the kitchen until he finishes his baby work in the bathroom. incidentally, the epic of teething continues as well. he bites everything, and hard. toys, clothes, furniture, skin, nipples... this makes for frustration all around and our afternoons and evenings have been quite trying. normal sleeping and waking patterns are thrown off and the slightest of inconveniences turn into BIG PROBLEMS. while i am aware that i have a very easy child, frustration tolerance has clearly diminished with age and teeth. back to the bathroom. so, i'm puttering away in the kitchen and turn around to see my sweet little boy with his fingers wedged between the toilet seat and the lid getting ready to chomp down on some porcelain. ack!!!! where's the lysol?! i like germs, but i do have limits.

Wednesday, June 24, 2009

pulling up to standing

we put linus in a hamper full of warm dry clothes, as we often do, and he pulled himself up to a standing position to reach into the dryer. happy with his achievement, he enthusiastically pulled himself up in the hamper several more times after we brought him upstairs. unfortunately, an 18-pound baby leaning on the wall of a hamper is not a recipe for stability, so we had to move him to the floor. he tried to stand up at least once using his dresser drawers as handholds.

also, we think we witnessed, at dinnertime, his first attempts to crunch food with his incisors. so far he has crunched snap pea pods and cereal O's. he is getting better at putting desiderata directly into his mouth on the first attempt.