What We Do With Ourselves

We are deep into the hectic phase with Nick. I remember this in Xander, too. He had a really easy period around 3 and 4 months old; other than that, Year 1 and half of Year 2 were just busy and breathless. I am having flashbacks to all that now. The good news for me is that the first year is almost over. Soon he will be walking (maybe? he has all the skills but hesitates to do it on his own) and even though that is exhausting, it will be exciting.

Nick is also going through a want-Mommy, want-Daddy, want-Xander phase. Everyone else makes him a little leery these days. Today he actually had fun playing with toys...because he was sitting on my lap. I believe he even said "dog" several times as we picked up his Little People dog! The other things that have made him happy in this fussy, screamy time are playing with Daddy, watching/helping Daddy play guitar, listening to music in general, and having Xander carry him or take him down the slide. (I "help" by doing the almost all of the holding during these activities, and had a little talk with Xander about what he cannot do with Nick by himself.)

This afternoon, Xander told me he was tired and needed to go to sleep. So I carried him to bed and he is sleeping. This is about the third time in his life he has EVER told me or admitted to me that he was tired. I think it's a sign of maturity. :)

We tried to go on a little walk before nap. I pushed Nick in the umbrella stroller and Xander took his scooter. Xander had to get used to steering the scooter and got tired out within a quarter of a block because of all the energy he used to do the scooting. He just needs practice. Luckily we left it on a positive note. Nick was jealous of the scooter, meanwhile, and tried to fall out of his stroller. We stopped in at a neighbor's house, the older couple a few houses down, when she flagged us down. They really love seeing the kids, especially the baby. Nick cried when she wanted to hold him and the rest of the time went after their breakables. Xander showed off a little bit, sensing he had a friendly audience. I think the couple enjoyed it, though. They say hardly any of the neighbors even say hello.

Speaking of neighbors, we also went across the street and played with the just-3-year-old Mason and his mom last week. We'll probably do the same this week. It's so convenient and at this time of year we can just play outside. (Their house smells plastered with cigarette smoke.) I can't remember Mason's mom's name right now but she was very pleasant and put out baby toys and blanket for Nick. Which he got dirty and she insisted on cleaning up for us when we left.