When the cat is away...

... the mice will play.

 

When Mini is at school, Grande gets free reign over the toys and tears the place up.  Without the big sister yelling no and yanking toys away, this little guy is so busy mouthing all the toys and dumping everything out.  Plus, he gets to play with her "special" toys that are otherwise untouchable.

Too Hot Today

It hit 80 degrees in SF today, which is pretty hot for us.  This called for ice cream as dinner and people watching in West Portal.  Then we headed home for bike and trike time in the driveway. 

Sleep Training Success

In the last month, we've been able to get Grande to sleep in his crib. It usually takes about a few minutes of holding him to calm him down. Then we can put him down in the crib. He'll lie there and murmur his sweet baby talk for a while as his lids become droopy. Then he'll slowly drift off to sleep. He's been needing a feeding once a night since then but the last two nights he's made it though the night without it. When he does wake up during the night you can just put a hand on him and rock him gently and he'll go back to sleep. Sometimes he'll be on all fours crying and as soon as you put your hand on him, he'll flop down on the bed, which is pretty funny. This morning, he woke up and just played in his crib for a good 20 minutes cooing to himself. On top of that he's been sick so I'm really impressed at how well he's been sleeping. It's such a different experience than we still have with Mini.

Communicating

This post is months overdue but here it is.  Grande is learning to communicate.  He can grunt in response to you, has one hand sign, and connects a good number of words including bird, dog, milk, and Kayla.

He learned the finger curl as "lai" or "come here" in Chinese (which coincidentally looks like the hand sign for milk so he uses it when he is hungry).  He loves seeing animals and snaps his head around if you say "go go" or "niao niao". I'm teaching him "ma" right now but I don't know if he distinguishes between horse and mama.  Grande also shows an affinity for cars and buses.  Loves watching the Muni go by.

He definitely understands "bu kei yi" and smiles devilishly at you as he does whatever he shouldn't be doing.  He's turned it into a game by looking at you, waiting for the no-no, and then doing it followed with a laugh.  His favorite bu kei yi is chipping the paint off his crib with his four teeth.  He also loves making a beeline for the toilet and reaching in.  Grossness.  I've already thrown out three toys that were dunked in.

And he loves gabbing (really just making baby noises) on the phone - be it toy or cell or landline.  I once saw him bear hug Kayla and grab the phone from her to grunt with grandma.  And it's hilarious because he holds it to his ear backwards, upside down, in his mouth, any which way.  And he can hold a conversation for minutes on the phone.  Maybe we've got another chatty kathy on our hands.

Tub Time

We threw them in the tub together and hoped for the best.  It turned out well with Grande able to stand without slipping and Mini being safe with lil bro.  This should save us some time if they bathe together now.

Grande Steps

Grande took 50 steps down our hallway yesterday. He is officially walking. He's still unstable and likes to hold onto things or brace himself on the wall but sometimes he'll just go for it like he did yesterday.

Mini is still Mini

Yesterday, I measured Mini at 37" and 28.5 lbs. She's grown about an inch and 2 pounds in the last year...so mini...

Grande Entrance

The last couple weeks, when I get home from work, Grande gets really excited and crawls over to the front door to greet me. I remember Mini doing the same around 12-18 months when she first learned to walk. Nowadays she's usually watching tv and doesn't blink when I get home. Actually now that I think about it, Grande gets excited whenever the front door is opened so maybe it's not me he's excited about.

Almost Diaper-Free

Mini wakes up dry now, maybe for three weeks now.  Her little body can finally hold it through the night.  But the diapers will stay on for a bit longer until she learns to pee immediately upon waking.

On a side note, it is increasingly difficult to change Grande's diapers bc he just won't stay still.  It's a struggle every time.  I was warned this would happen with boys.  We were too spoiled with Mini and her diaper changing ease.

Walking

You're walking on your own!  It's a series of steps for short distances.  The confidence is growing, you've got this!

You eat everything!

You really do try to eat everything.  Sigh.

On this occassion, you tasted dirt, rocks, leaves, flowers, grass, branches, your sister's boot, bubble soap, paint water, chalk, and the sidewalk.  I have to do a better job of watching you but you're just so fast.  

The Red Bandit

Mini is in a super hero phase.  Superman, Spiderman, Batman, etc.  Influenced by classmates, books, and not sure where else.  She runs around as fast as she can trying to make her cape fly.  I pretend that she's so fast that I don't see her.  Taking advantage of this, she once grabbed a piece of candy thinking I couldn't see her.  When I said something, she ran off saying that I shouldn't be able to see her.

But this is her disguise - red everything and banana gun.  Actually, the gun is probably a laser gun since she makes a "pew pew" noise.  This photo is taken outside of the grocery store and she's shooting at the cars going by.  

Mini Skis Part Deux

Since she really enjoyed skiing last month, we decided to go to Tahoe again for round 2. This time, we went to Sierra-at-Tahoe. The magic carpet was probably twice as long as at Alpine Meadows and the slope was steeper as well. Last time, after an hour, she was telling me not to go with her and she was able to go up the lift and ski down by herself. This time, she was too afraid of going too fast. She still couldn't wedge well enough to slow or stop. We did work on her turns and she was able to get a few turns in but once she started going too fast, she would forget about turning and I'd have to catch her. She fell a few times trying to turn and there were a few whiny cries, but we stayed until they closed and she still loved it. The other day, she asked if we could get a house in Tahoe and move there.

Mini Protects Grande

On our trip to Tahoe, we rented a 2-story cabin. It was the first time we had stayed in a 2 story place since Grande became mobile. And as with every mobile baby, the just love the stairs. The first time he went up the stairs to the second floor where Mini was, I followed him up. As he crawled around the landing at the top, Mini kept grabbing his shirt and saying "No, be careful". Sitting on the stairs, I kept telling her not to worry because I was watching him but she kept being really worried about him falling down the stairs. It was cute as she did this for 10 or 15 minutes, not letting him go anywhere, even away from the stairs.

Nut Allergy?

On the way back from Tahoe, Mama gave Grande a cashew. Not long after, his lips started swelling and his face turned red. When I finally saw him after stopping for dinner, it looked like he had been an a boxing match and lost...badly. Unfortunately, we didn't take a picture. We hope he doesn't really have a nut allergy, and hopefully, he doesn't develop more food allergies in the future.

Grande is fascinated by the vacuum.  Since he could recognize it, he's been intrigued by it.  The handheld dust buster too.  

He likes to chase after it, play with the attachments, and hang on the handle.