Let's Go For a Wander

Our daily walks have become wanders now that the Bear is walking. He would rather walk than be pushed in a stroller and when he's out walking he doesn't have a set path. Some days we make it around the block (rare) and some days we don't leave the front yard! Most days we make it halfway down the block. It took me some getting used to; I had to learn to let go of my control and my set path (otherwise I would become frustrated) and become like water and wander along with him.


wanders from erin kawamata on Vimeo.

Birthing Class Reunion : A Year Later

We went to a Bulls game last Sunday with the three couples that we have kept in touch with from our birthing class. It was the first time I've seen some of them since Stanley Bear was a week old or so. Another couple had been living in Japan for 10 months. So it was quite the reunion!

Here are the before and after pics:

What's neat is they've all got a head of hair and they are all fairly tall for their age! All but one is walking. One is really good at blowing kisses and can point at people's ears and noses on command. They are all delightful boys and I can't wait to get together again soon! Here is the before and after of the Papas:

Don't you think they look kinda scared in the before picture? and totally at ease and happy with their babies in the after pic? So cute.

Cowstar

Stanley Bear loves his Cowstar. Sometimes we resort to spelling it out or giving it initials because he knows what we're talking about when we say "COWSTAR". We've even given it a pet name. One evening Mike said, "Do you know where C.C.S. is?" and I said, "Yes. Wait, what does C.C.S. stand for?" and Mike said, "Cowy Cowstar." Hahahaha. Cowy Cowstar we love you. I think we need to make Cowstar T-shirts. Who wants one?

Anyhoo. The Bear and I have an evening time ritual (or even a nap time ritual) where we go from room to room looking for Cowstar. I first say, "Where's Cowstar?" and Stanley throws up his hands in his "I don't know, where is he?" So I pick him up and we look around the room and I say, "Is Cowstar in the living room?" and Stanley looks around. I say, "I don't see Cowstar here. Is Cowstar in Mama's bedroom?" and Stanley looks around. We go to every room until we get to where Cowstar is and Stanley will spot him and point and smile. I will lean him over to let him grab Cowstar up himself and he will pull him to his chest for a big Bear hug or stick stinky ol' Cowstar in his mouth.

Tuka Bazooka & Nana Banana

Tuka, Nana, me and the sleeping Bear on the speed boat.

We were lucky to get to Idaho to visit the Mike's parents and even luckier that they so graciously hosted my parents for a week in their home. It was a double grandparent extravaganza!

Mike, Bear, Tuka and Grandma on the boat.

Stan Bear took to my dad immediately, who I've decided to call Tuka (TOO-KAH) which is a merge of the two words Tutu and Kane. Tutu Kane means grandfather in Hawaiian.  Almost as soon as my Dad walked in the door Stan Bear pointed at him and smiled. I wonder if he remembers taking a nap on his chest when we were in California last March? He likes his Nana too, of course:

Here he is being taxied by Nana on a morning walk. I think they just saw the train go by!

I think they are playing with a rock here. Who knew rocks were this much fun!

Communication Breakthroughs

Mike bought the book Baby Signs when I was pregnant and told me about the success of his sisters using sign language with their kiddos. Basically it said that you can start signing while talking to them from the get go but can start as late as 6 months, or something like that, and they should still pick up on it. The book explained that most babies learn how to wave hello early on because when people say hi or bye they wave. Waving is a form of sign language and babies can start waving long before they can speak...that is the case with Stan Bear anyways. So if they can learn to wave bye why can't they learn to say "more" or "all done" or "diaper" or "food" or "milk"? It makes complete sense. So I started early on. I think I was the most consistent with the sign for milk because he understood that one early on. (He spits out his pacifier [if he has it in his mouth] and may start panting with anticipation and if I'm not fast enough de-bra-ing he will start smacking my chest.) This is the sign for milk:

The great thing with sign is that you can sort of make up signs too, you don't have to follow the book to a T. In my sign for milk I leave my thumb sticking up. They also say that when the baby finally is able to do the sign that they may not do it perfectly but as long as you understand what he is doing then the sign language is working. The other sign that I was consistent with was "more" although he points at the bowl or plate of food when he wants more which seems to work but the other day he actually did it! It was very exciting. Our sign for more is making loose fists and tapping our fingers together, kinda like this:        

                                                                                                                      

So when Stan Bear did his sign for more, it wasn't perfect but it got the point across. We got so excited when he did it but I think I need to not get so spastic about it when he does it because I think it makes him self-conscious (I'm probably just projecting this onto him) but I think he won't do it again for awhile (kinda like walking, little by little, and then BAM, he's running, or signing "more" all the time, even when he doesn't mean it.) Signing "more" is almost like clapping and he claps all the time now. So that muscle memory has had some practice for awhile. Other signs we do are "hot". We do that a lot. It's not really a sign but the word hot plus us blowing out of our mouths as if blowing on a spoonful of hot soup to cool it down. Not only do I do that one for food but I also do it for surfaces like fireplaces, fire pits, hot concrete, the oven, etc. I know he understands it. They say that the child will understand the sign first(like how he understands "milk") then he will begin to do the sign himself and then comes the speaking part. It's such a great way to communicate with wee ones. We also do "all done", which is basically throwing your hands up in the air, he actually does that...but he does that for "pick me up!" too. His new one is the sign for "where is it?" which started from playing a la ka kevin on the plane. We were in the sandbox at the museum and we heard the little train go CHOO CHOO! and Stan Bear stood up and threw his hands up in the air as if to say, "Where is it?" It was very very very cute. We also do the sign for "food" which looks like we're putting something in our mouth. There is a sign for diaper change but I rarely use it. I should start using it more to get ready for potty training (eventually). I think that's it. I love seeing it actually work and happen! I will report back with any new signs and communication breakthroughs.

Images from http://judgingjester.blogspot.com/ and http://fromwhatiheard.com

Try, Try, Try Again

When we got to Idaho the Bear was crawling and walking. By the end of the trip he wasn't crawling anymore...it was rare to see him crawl. For instance, if he fell he wouldn't crawl, he would pick himself up and walk. Once he learns something he wants to do it over and over again...he's the spokesboy for the quote, "If at first you don't succeed, try, try, try again." Here he is practicing walking downhill, falling, getting up and try, try, trying again:


downhill from erin kawamata on Vimeo.

Flying With a 13 Month Old

The Bear took his first flight at the age of about 8 months. He flew to California.  He was not quite crawling yet. He was a great flyer; he received multiple compliments from fellow passengers. We've done two road trips up to Maryland and one to the beach and he has done great on all of those too. Now, he is walking and he is a solid 25 pounds. I was much more anxious about our flight to Idaho than I was on any of these other trips because he is now very mobile and boisterous. So, I sought advice from some experienced mommy travelers. Here are some of the things that they recommended:

• Books. One for each our of the flight.
• Kid friendly phone apps (Duck, Duck, Moose)
• Old wallet full of pictures of family
• Band-Aids
• Mini-post it notes and pen
• Things you can hide in a sock - show him something he loves and stuff it down in the bottom of a tube sock and let him try and pull it out.
• Sit cross legged in the chair and let him stand on the floor in front of you and hold onto your chair - great to exercise the legs
• Small snacks dropped into the bottom of a large plastic tumbler that he can reach into and get
• Walk the aisles as much as you can - everybody understands you being up :)
• Benedryl, just in case

BOOKS I brought two of his favorite, one cloth, and 7 or 8 of these little tiny books that fit perfectly in his hands (maybe 2.5" x 2.5") The cloth book held his attention the most probably because it was a touch and feel book and the mouse squeaks when you squeeze it.
KID APPS We are luddites. We don't have smart phones or tablets of any sort. (Someone recently said to me, "Is that a flip phone!???" hahaha. It will be worth money one day, it's so old.)
WALLET OF PICTURES What a great idea. We didn't do this. I will though, especially since our family is far away; good to keep the Bear familiar with his pack. I'd like to have something like this to keep pics of family in at home (he has one at daycare).
BAND AIDS  Another great idea that we didn't do. Instead I brought a roll of painters tape. I would rip pieces off and stick them on the tray, the back of the seat in front of us. Stan Bear enjoyed peeling them off and crunching them up (and sticking them in his mouth.) It ended soon when he tried to shake the sticky crumpled up tape balls off of his hands and they wouldn't shake loose! - he would get frustrated. But it was about 10 minutes of distraction fun.
POST-IT NOTES AND PEN This was fun. I stuck some post-its to the back of the seat in front of us he enjoyed retrieving them and crumpling them up and trying to figure out how to stick them back on. It does become a bit messy everywhere (crumpled post-it notes on the floor everywhere...but then the spilled Os trumped that...) I forgot to bring out the pen but he probably would have drawn on airline property, so my forgetfulness was helpful in this instance. I ended up handing him the entire pad of post-its which he enjoyed pulling apart, chewing on and crumpling up.
SMALL TOYS AND A SOCK  This was great...it's sort of like peek-a-boo with toys in a sock. He started to throw the small toys which could potentially enter into another travelers' space so I then figured out that showing him how to drop a toy in the sock and seeing it disappear is kinda intriguing. So he enjoyed doing that. If we do this again I will bring a less stretchy sock, and one that is shorter, because he had trouble retrieving items from the sock. This lasted at least 15 minutes...which is AMAZING. ha.
LET HIM STAND IN FRONT OF YOU We did this. Sometimes he liked it, sometimes he didn't. He even sat on the floor in front of me sometimes - but it's pretty gross down there...old food from previous flights, litter, blech...and he wants to put EVERYTHING in his mouth these days. Perhaps an old towel to throw down there would be good if he really wanted to spend more time down there without putting an old, half chewed raisin in his mouth. Grody to the max.
SMALL SNACKS IN A TUMBLER I wish I did this. Next time. I think he would love doing this.
WALK THE AISLES Mike and I would trade off. Stan Bear loves people and people watching so this is always good. I would walk up and down the length of the plane.
BENEDRYL We didn't bring any. We like to live on the edge.

Other things I brought:
SNACKS I brought his juice bottle which we will fill up with half orange or apple juice and half water. I brought snacks like Mum-Mums, Os, fruit. I nursed him on most take offs and some landings. The cabin pressure doesn't seem to bother him, thank goodness.
A BOWL AND SPOON He loves to sit there and try to use the spoon like Ma and Pa do. Even with nothing in the bowl. Although you have to watch out for the flying spoon (and bowl for that matter).
TOMAS THE BEAR or any stuffed animal that can double as a pillow for resting your arm while nursing or propping up your head while catnapping. Plus the Bear likes hugging and biting T the Bear.
BLANKET to be more discreet while nursing, to cover up the baby while sleeping, to play peek-a-boo.
TEETHING TOYS So he can bite things other than his mommy.

Things that we figured out as we went:
LET HIM STAND ON YOUR LAP This way he can see the neighbors behind you and chat and flirt and play with them if the neighbors are so kind (and most of them are).
LET HIM PLAY WITH THE ARM REST He enjoyed moving the arm rest up and down. UPdownUPdownUPdown. Forever and ever. This could be done with the window shade too if we had the window seat.
CLEAR THE SEAT POCKET IN FRONT OF YOU If you don't your child will clear it for you. I put all of my stuff in Mike's pocket and many times I, or the Bear, have found trash in there - sometimes yucky sometimes not so yucky, so it's good to clear it out ahead of time. I filled that pocket back up with OUR stuff: books, juice, snacks, toys, etc.
HANG OUT IN THE BATHROOM Maybe that's disgusting sounding but if you pull down the changing table and let him stand on that thing he will go to town on the papertowels - maybe that's wasteful but at least you're not sitting in between two adults in a cramped space. Plus you can go in there and scream and not be stared at.
PLAY "A LA KA ZAM KEVIN" We sat next to this lovely gentleman named Kevin on our last trip. Usually I'm pretty good about not entering our neighbor's space, even if they say they like kids. We are bound to accidentally kick/touch their leg or arm or toss (!) something their way during the length of the flight but I always apologize. So far we've only had great neighbors. On this last flight Stan Bear threw his wee bag of pretzels at Kevin's lap and then they fell between Kevin and my legs and were blocked by the arm rest so the Bear couldn't see them. Kevin immediately put his hands up and said, "Where did they go?" and then proceeded to wave his hands in front of Stan Bear as if doing magic and then sneakily grabbing the dropped bag of pretzels and saying "A LA KA ZAM!!!" and it was THE BEST THING EVER according to the look of pleasure on the Bear's smiling face. So then Stan Bear snatched the bag of pretzels and what do you think he did? Yes, he threw them at Kevin again and they fell in the same spot and he and Kevin played this about 10 more times. Each time was just as great as the first. After maybe the 4th time Stanley threw the pretzels and put his hands up as if to say, "Where did they go?" It was adorable for me, Mike and even Kevin to see. Then Stanley would put up his hands and then rotate them at his wrists trying to mimic Kevin's magic hand movements. It was amazing. It was like playing magical peek-a-boo with pretzels. Now when I ask him where something is, like his cowstar, he will throw up his hands as if to say, "I don't know. Where could cowstar be?" It's my new favorite thing.

All in all it wasn't bad. He never really cried, if he did he was tired and it was pretty easy to remedy that. I think his squirminess is the most challenging thing. We never had a free seat next to us like we did when we flew to California. What a difference it would have made. He is getting so big, so fast. When he's two we will be required to purchase a seat for him but I think it will be a relief even if there is an extra cost involved.

Check out this side by side comparison of him at 8 months to 13 months:

That hair!!

Throwing Rocks...

...and flowers. He could spend all day throwing rocks into the lake. Really.
throwing rocks from erin kawamata on Vimeo.

Comfortable in His Shoes

So, I got these new bendable shoes at the Kid's Exchange. They are all leather, very much like moccasins. He walks much more easily in them than the first couple pairs of shoes I got for him. 

They are by a shoe maker called Robeez; I highly recommend them. They come in all sorts of styles. The kind I found for him have little turtles on them.

He has worn them A LOT. I just recently retried one of the first two pairs of shoes I got for him and he wore them much better this time. I think he's getting used to the feeling of shoes.

Sliding Down the Grassy Hill

We spent a good amount of time pulling him up and down the hill on this little floaty pad. He enjoyed it. I think he will like roller coasters.


ride! from erin kawamata on Vimeo.

The Perfect Squat

Somewhere between mastering standing and walking comes mastering the squat. Our boy does it well:

Speed

Huggy Bear didn't like the speed boat at first. Perhaps it was the noise, the speed, the wind or all of the above. He came around though especially when put at the helm with Grandpa Bear. I might have a video of it too (I have so much video footage to go through!)

There he is, a bit happier with Grandma Bear and Papa!

Huggy Bear

The Bear got a little puppy for his birthday from Grandma and Grandpa, it's a toy puppy. He loved it... cast aside his adored cow star and gave the puppy a big hug.

The Train

On our afternoon walk to see the train. I think we flattened a penny on the track this time. I wish I knew where that penny was. Dad? do you have it?

At first I was the one that got excited about seeing the train but now when we even hear a choo choo!! from afar the Bear points out the window.

Three Generations

Baby Bear, Papa Bear and Grandpa Bear.

In His PFD

He disliked his Personal Flotation Device (PFD) at first and he has kind of gotten used to it now...he can walk in it now...he sort of just fell over before.

With Grandma on the dock

Tipped over with an O in his mouth and he can't get up.

Views of the Lake

The view from the dock:

The view from the lakeside dinner table:

 

We now are making the Bear wear a life vest while on the dock because he gets so close to the edge sometimes. He doesn't love the vest though. He has trouble moving in it. If he gets on his tummy he can't seem to get up. It's kind of funny but I can tell he hates it. 

Practicing His Rowing Skills

Blueberries and Raspberries

There are blueberry bushes and raspberry vines that the Bear and I and Mike have enjoyed nibbling on while here in Idaho. Nothing like a ripe, warm berry straight from the source:

At the raspberry vine.

Blueberries! and tons of them!

Finishing off his pail of blueberries.

Mike's bowl o' blueberries.

Straight from the vine.

We look forward to hiking in higher elevation to find some huckleberries next!

The Trail to the Lake

Yes, there's the lake but the trail down to it is just as fun!

There are all sorts of flowers.

There are stone steps which are perfect for pushing my little red car down.

...and I can help install solar trail lights so Grandpa can take a load off. (Just kidding, he is un-installing the solar lights.)

First Boat Ride

Our little family of three plopped ourselves in a row boat and Papa Bear rowed us out into the lake!

The Bear seemed to like it!

The Bear's First Visit to Camp Sandpoint

That's what we call Grandma and Grandpa's Idaho home. It's GORGEOUS. Here he and his Pa are walking down to the lake:

Here he is lakeside (Lake Pend O'Reille):

 Gratuitous, sandy butt shot:

We're having fun! He wants to be outside all of the time!