Variableclouds

Noah and Dave have colds, and I’m not yet sick but I’ve been up all night for 2 nights with Noah, so we’re not in full party form.  We’ll be celebrating with some takeout Thai and decongestant, old school.

It was a beautiful, sunny day today, and I’d already finished my worst chore of the day, so I thought we could run out to playground.  Noah could do some swinging, and I would get a bit of a walk with my ipod on the way there and back.  He really loves the swings, and we play all kinds of games where we high five as he comes near, or I tickle him as he gets close, or we sing There was a baby on a swing, and Noah was his name-o.  So he’s grinning and squeaking, and looking adorable in his little hat. 

swinging

Then this older lady who was trying to gather up the two kids she was with (grandkids?) came by, and she says, “At least he isn’t crying.”  What?  All I said to her was that Noah loves swinging, but I can’t stop wondering what would bring such a negative comment out of her.  Does she think babies are usually crying?  Or that I was talking to him so much because I thought he was on the verge of tears?  Or does she recognize me from around town sometime when Noah was crying?  I think Noah cries a lot less than some babies- we take him out to restaurants or to people’s houses, or hikes that he hates, and there’s almost never a problem.  But why would any baby cry at the playground with their mommy?  He’s a good kid, and she’s mysteriously pessimistic, and I should just leave it at that.

Our other playground news was that on Monday, Noah saw his friend Sam drinking from a bottle.  Then Sam’s mom let Noah play with the bottle.  So that afternoon when we got home, he just up and drank from a bottle.  After refusing to, and fighting me for months until I gave up on bottles altogether.  Peer pressure!  He’s had one more since then, and I think on Monday I’ll bring a bottle to the playground so that Noah can have it when he sees another baby having one.

Noah’s made some giant cognitive leap recently that’s enabled temper tantrums.  It’s the experience of frustration of his plans- like when he’s having trouble picking up pieces of banana or peach, and they slip out of his little hands.  For the past week, he’s been fussing and arching his back so I can’t get him into his stroller when we need to go somewhere- leaving the house is usually ok, but leaving the playground is a nightmare.  Even if he’s in, there will be protest crying, and strangers telling me I need to stop my baby from crying.  I know why he’s crying, and I know he’ll stop in 30 seconds if we walk quickly enough, and if Noah planned his own day, he’d still be crying because he wouldn’t plan for naps.

Anyway, he was extra touchy today- we’re trying to switch from 3 naps a day to 2, which isn’t easy, and this morning I had to force him to nap early, then wake him up in order to get to Storytime at the library.  (10 am is really the worst possible time for activities for him.)  So every time I picked him up to move him this afternoon, he struggled and arched his back, and fought it.  Finally, he threw a big tantrum when he was crawling toward the living room, trying to get the vacuum cleaner, and I said “No, we’re going to stay in the den and fold diapers and play peek-a-boo,” and then I closed the door to shut him in.  He started crying as loud as he could, and trying to reach the doorknob, he was so mad.  He definitely knows what he wants- and he could remember his plan even when the door was shut and he couldn’t see the vacuum.  His brain is just getting more and more complicated.

Then after an afternoon of fussiness, we went for a walk with the Ergo, and he got kind of drowsy, then he had a big dinner, and then he was absolutely adorable, and he played and snuggled and listened to stories with me, then played like crazy with Dave when he got home.  So he just needed some quiet time and a nice full tummy, and he was my wonderful boy again.

Tomorrow’s plan is to make his 2 naps as long as possible- he’s only sleeping for about 20-30 minutes for each nap, which I don’t think is enough, so I’m going to lie down with him to try to keep him down longer.  We’re going up to Dave’s parents to visit Eleanor, so it’s easier to get him to sleep in a different place with me there, anyway.  Then in the evening, we’re going along to Dave’s Thursday running club, finally, after months of hearing about it.  So Noah will have a big day, and I hope I get the good baby side of him.

There are 2 new videos to see.  You should see all the videos that Dave has posted by clicking here:   http://www.youtube.com/jollyllama78

I highly recommend The Scientist in the Crib, I think the author is Alison Gopnik.  I read this book before we were even planning on Noah, so it’s not just interesting to parents.  It’s all about how babies’ minds work, and how they manage to resolve such a flood of new stimuli into understanding about the world.  The experiments they are doing to get inside babies’ heads these days are really sneaky.  Babies are true empiricists, in that they never assume even the slightest thing about their world, because they don’t know anything to assume.  So for example, when Noah was little, he never assumed that if I left, I would come back.  He had to learn, after lots of panics, that I’ve come back every time so far.

So Noah’s been doing some science over the past week.  He’s confirmed that every time he pushes the handle of the toilet, it makes a flushing sound.  The good thing so far is he’s only been testing the toilet in the master bedroom, and he’s left the other ones alone.  So who know if those other toilet handles do anything- he hasn’t decided yet.  He’s also proven that the  light switch near his changing table will turn the lights out in his room, though they don’t seem to turn on all the time.  And he has a lot of work to still on his Theory of Gravity- making sure toys always fall when he drops them, and that gravity applies to each thing he can hold.  Which is fair- there are things that seem immune to gravity, like the curtains, so he has to really do a lot of research.

Unfortunately, he also discovered today how to lift the lid on the toilet.  He loves sticking his hands in toilet water, so this means either no bathroom play, or toilet locks…I don’t like either of those ideas, but I also don’t like babies with toilet hands.

Patina’s been a little lonely lately- so lonely that she’s been hitting up Noah for petting.  Of course, he’s thrilled to pet the kitty, although I have to guard them vigilantly as they hang out.  She likes it enough to come ask for it, and she purrs as he tries to pet her, I just have to make sure he doesn’t grab and pull, or poke her eye, or overpet her, or use her as a brace to stand up.  Things are going pretty well, considering.  He’s only been scratched a couple of times, and I think he is learning the idea of Petting Nice.  I’m hoping this will also transfer to playing with other babies, too.

Anyway, today they finally found the intersection of their individual hobbies.  Since Cambridge, Patina has always liked to sit in the cupboard under the sink.  Noah loves opening cupboards.  And today, he finally got to open the forbidden cupboard and he found a kitty!  (I keep telling him that cupboard is full of dangerous stuff.)

I’m not so big on pants.  Neither is Noah.  Or Patina, if we were taking a household poll.  We spent all summer mostly not wearing pants- Noah did just fine in just a onesie except for fancy occasions, when we’d pop him in some overalls or his little plaid shorts.  But we suddenly turned the corner between hot and cold weather, and he’s going to have to be in pants all winter.  Which is going to be trouble.

Last winter, he could just wear footie pajamas all day, because he was just a wiggler.  But now that he stands up and cruises all the time, he needs good grip on his feet.  All of his baby socks have grippy treads on them, but his real problem is his draggy pant legs.  See, even though he’s a tall guy, pants that are big enough to fit over his cloth diapers are too long on him.  So right now, he’s got one pair of sweatpants that actually fit him.  All of his nice looking cotton twill pants are too tight to squeeze into.  All his big-butt pants are so long that he’ll slip on them.  I actually went to the summer clearance rack and bought him a pair of 4T knee shorts to wear as pants- they’re a bit long still, but the fabric is stiff enough that it doesn’t drag underfoot.  I’m going to have to do some hemming on most of his pants, though I don’t want to cut them as they should still fit when he’s out of diapers.

Anyway, when we went to the cabin I decided it wasn’t worth packing all his cloth diapers for 2-3 days, so he spent the weekend in disposables.  And he looked so cute and trim and grown-up in little boy outfits, and little brown pants.  It was so easy for him to have snap-up pants on, instead on trying to get pull-ons past his big bubble diaper.  This is maybe the thing that’s making disposable diapers seem better. 

Plus, Noah started doing lots of 2 second free stands last weekend at the cabin.  (!!!)  He’ll be holding onto something, then get distracted or pick up a toy, and just let go of his support and stay up for a bit.  I really think the disposables helped with that.  The cloth diapers are so convenient in not having to run to the store, and if they can slow down Noah’s walking, that’s a bonus convenience.

driving the boat

We went up to the cabin for Labour Day weekend- we drove up Friday afternoon in Steve’s jeep. It was dank because passenger side door was loose, and it leaked during the past rain storms. I discovered that pool of water when I drove it earlier that week- I also discovered a slow leak in one tire, which other people knew about but not me, that meant I had a flat within a couple of miles. My phone was dead, and I had to pull all our gear out, including Noah’s car seat, to finally find the tools under the back seat, then put on the temporary spare. Noah was really good about it, but after that I just turned around and drove back to Angel and Earl’s to spend the day with Eleanor, and wait for Dave to drive us home after work.

Anyway, the day we left for the cabin we rode up with Dave in the morning, and I went and moved our stuff into the Jeep, but I didn’t want to go inside because Steve had a terrible flu, we suspected H1N1. So I took Noah out for breakfast at Panera, then to Target, then the mall, then the library, and we had a great day in Exton. He got to smile at lots of people, and meet some other kids at the library. Of course, these were all good places to catch a flu, too. I was really struck at the library, because there was another baby there, about Noah’s age but much fatter and not crawling. I had Noah in a disposable diaper, so he was wearing his hoodie ray t-shirt, and brown cords and shoes, and he was standing up grabbing books, and he just didn’t look like a baby- he looked like a bald, growth-stunted toddler.

Noah’s been having a lot of fun at the cabin this weekend, although he’s also been having some big tantrums. A friend of Dave’s dad is up with his 10-year-old daughter, and Noah loves watching Janey play dominoes. We also got to visit Dave’s cousins Jess and Jamie, and they were lots of fun and their cabin had a jenga game with really nice blocks for Noah to hold. On Saturday, we did a neat little hike that was just across the bay from the cabin- we went through a clearing with an apple tree, so Noah got to eat part of two apples, one on the way in and one on the way out.

apple-ing

The end of the hike comes out at another part of Raquette Lake, on Silver Beach, which was completely empty. It was so warm at that point- Jess and I did some wading, and Noah did a little skinny-dipping.

swimmin'

We stayed at Jess’s cabin for pizza and a bonfire, and we bundled Noah up in his Polarfleece skunk suit from last year- it’s a roomy 6-month size, and he can still wear it when he’s in disposable diapers, so we’ve been using it for crossing the lake at night here. I’m glad he fits it because it’s really adorable- I think we can use it for at least part of the winter if he wears mittens and booties, because the arms and legs can be either capped or open.

Noah also went on his first canoe trips.  The first time we went, I sat in the middle holding him, Janey paddled up front, and Dave did the steering.  Noah had a great time- he spent most of the trip hanging over the side of the canoe, trying to splash the water.  The second time we took him out didn’t go as well- I was paddling in the rear, and Dave was holding Noah up front.  At first it seemed good- the front made a nice little triangle that he could stand up in, so we thought he’d have a good time up there.  But then he decided that he wanted his mommy, and he started screaming for me.  Nothing we could do was good enough- Dave was playing and cuddling with him, and he turned around so he could see me, and we tried to just wait it out, but he wouldn’t quit crying and struggling to get to me.  There was nowhere on the river easy enough to get out and rearrange with the baby, so we ended up with me holding Noah and Dave paddling us from the front.

paddling

There was actually a lot of crying this trip.  Even though Noah seemed like he was having fun, he would get really worked up at little things, mostly needing his mommy.  Like when we were cleaning up to leave, he was playing with the bag of recycling on the floor, and I was wiping counters, watching him but not hanging out.  I asked Dave to keep an eye on him with the plastic bag so I could go to the bathroom, and he started screaming as soon as I walked away.  There were also times when he was playing happily with Angel or Dave for a long time, but then I walked into the room, he remembered I existed, and he started screaming until he got me.  He was mostly happy, but touchy.  We’re not sure if he was overtired from the exciting disrupted routine, or had a stomach ache from vacation eating, or is hitting more separation anxiety or a growth spurt.  Since we got back, he’s been much happier, but also nursing a lot and sleeping more when I hold him.  So he’d better be growing.  He definitely is reaching the top of the table easier now- he doesn’t have to go on tippy-toes at all. 

We had more fun in the first two days than the whole week we were up last time.  It was a great trip.  On Monday, Dave hooked up the batteries so we actually ran the lights and the coffee maker off of battery power before we left.  This might be our last trip to the cabin this summer- we like going, but the drive is really exhausting with Noah, and we have to worry about mouse poison in the corners.

Today, Noah learned about the plug in the bathtub.  It’s one of those universal mat plugs, because the inside mechanism is broken, so it’s pretty easy to use.  When he picks it up, it makes a sound, and if he puts it back in the right spot, it sucks down as he puts it down.  So he picked it up and put it back in the right spot about 5 times in a row.

Also, Patina learned that she can find puffed rice around the bottom of Noah’s high chair.  It’s a vicious circle, because if she’s down there eating the puffs that he’s dropped, then he leans over to look at her and is more likely to drop more puffs.

Right now, Noah is working on rolling yogurt containers.  They don’t roll straight, so they can’t get too far away from him, and they sure are fun!

We’ve been test driving lots of cars lately- two weekends ago, we drove a Prius, then last weekend we took out a Honda Fit, and tried to drive a VW Jetta Sportswagen diesel, but the salesman at the dealership we went to was so horrible and sell-y and shifty and we ended up just leaving as soon as we reasonably could. Then on Wednesday, we went to a different VW dealership, and we drove a Sportswagen, though it was not the manual and not the diesel version. Apparently pretty much all 2009 Sportswagens in the US have been snapped up- they were hard to come by as it was, and then the cash for clunkers program drove up demand for both the Sportswagen and the Prius. It’s about the worst time to be buying a fuel-efficient car right now, especially as we had no clunker to trade in. There is a $1500 tax credit to buy the Sportswagen, but I’m not sure we could even get one by the end of the year if we ordered one now.

So, a comparison of the cars: The Prius (51 city/49 highway) has a great backseat for getting Noah in and out of. It’s very high tech, though I don’t really care for the look or layout of the instrument panel. Of course we love the mileage, and the warranty on the batteries has been upped to 100 000 miles, which means Toyota expects them to last even longer than that. Plus, we trust Toyota to build a good reliable car. The newer Prius has a lot of space in the backseat, and the seats fold flat for good cargo carrying. We would have to wait to order one, though not as long as for the sportswagen. Dave found that it was boring to drive- not great acceleration or handling, but it has lots of safety features made standard.

The Fit (29 city/33-35 highway) was a fun little car. It gets called things like “surprisingly spacious” and “safe for its size” which are all positive, but positive for a car of its size. It’s very small, but the backseat folds in two different ways, depending on what shape a thing you want to haul. We fit comfortably in the front seats- I was cramped in the back seat with Noah’s car seat in the middle, but it wouldn’t be too bad for someone my size without the seat. The car seat did not sit very firmly in the center, because the “middle seat” was a raised area, narrower than the car seat base. We drove the manual version, and it had lots of pep, certainly a fun drive. Visibility was excellent for a station wagon. We would go for the sport model, which includes better wheels, stereo, and exterior trim. The sports model is still super cheap- it starts at about $17 000. It’s a great price, which I guess you’re paying for having a smaller car, and some of the finishes were really cheap. We think the engine would be pretty reliable. We also really liked the sales guy that took us out in the Fit- he was classy and really knew his stuff, even though he was only there 6 weeks so far. I think if I were single or if it were just Dave and I, we would really dig the Fit.

The Sportswagen (30 city/40highway) is the only one that wouldn’t fit it our garage- the Prius squeezes in, and the Fit definitely does. It was definitely the smoothest, funnest drive- no vibration at all at high speeds, and good acceleration. The interior was the nicest by far, very good quality and good design. We certainly liked being in the VW the best, but it’s also the most expensive of our top 3, starting at about $26k. Plus, we’d have to order it in and wait until 2010 production started. The clean diesel engine is very new, and may be less reliable and less long-term fuel efficient than the earlier versions.

We still haven’t decided, but right now we’re thinking the Prius is the frontrunner. It’s safer and more spacious than the Fit, and will be cheaper, more reliable, and more fuel efficient than the VW. Also, it’s a car for me, not Dave, so it doesn’t matter that it’s less fun to drive and less attractive than the VW, because those aren’t things that mean as much to me. We’re also thinking of looking at a Civic and possibly a Ford Focus…though it would be nice to be done test driving. Noah has been remarkably patient, but it sucks for him to have to drive to a dealership, sit through a test drive, sit through grown-ups talking and ignoring him, then drive home. It’s a horrible afternoon for a baby, and not really a treat for us, either.