Kellan's Play Group

I posted a photo of our play group back in March. Here they are again this week. We're missing Griffin, have an addition of Caden (little boy second from left), and have lost Aili (little girl in the March photo on far right). Other than that, the gang's all here. We meet every Wednesday and Kel sees most of these guys in other activities during the week as well. They're his close circle of friends (and their mothers are the most important women in my life -- aside from my own mother and sister).

We were afraid of this...

This comic is from Ellen over at Dot Moms

Had I seen it a couple of months back, this comic would have resulted in stress, rather than laughter. I had similar visions in my head when we still had an 18 month old in our bed. Luckily he's moved into his own room now and we're a happier (and somewhat better rested) family because of it.

Kellan (19 months old)

We attended the Fall Festival downtown this weekend. It was a beautiful day (though a bit hot) and we all had a wonderful time. Kellan loved the parade. With each batch of horses that came by, Kellan would "moo" in increasing excitement. Most of his friends from play group were also there. Olivia and her mom, Kate, are pictured here. Kellan didn't have much time for posing. There was just far too much to do. But here are the photos anyway.

Messy Face

It was one Fun Shop mother's bright idea to hand out chocolate bars in celebration of her son's second birthday. Yes, a whole Hershey's bar to each 16-24 month old child in attendance. And, yes, I let Kellan eat it!

By the way, those are Grandpa's glasses.

Some photos from Grandma and Grandpa's visit

An early start to the sick season

We've had a long sleepless week. Kellan has another lung infection going and, though he seems to be feeling reasonably well, he's awake most of the night coughing and I haven't had anything near my usual lack of a night's sleep since last weekend. He just can't sleep for coughing and when he can't sleep, he needs mommy (or, more correctly, he needs "nursies"). He's back on the nebulizer, inhaling albuterol and a steroid at four hourly intervals, but I haven't noticed much improvement yet. We have two weeks of treatment to complete and only started on Wednesday night, so hopefully he will be on the mend shortly.

I broke down and bought a new Elmo's World video for him to watch during treatments. Both for us and for him. You can only watch Dora the Explorer so many times a day! He's also recently started on The Wiggles, but generally just likes the singing and dancing, rather than the between song chat. Dora and Elmo remain his firm favourites. I wouldn't normally condone so much television time, but I challenge you to coax a 19 month old to sit still for 30 minutes and breath in the nebulizer treatments some other way!

Bye Bye Bapa

After a nice week spent with my parents and watching Kellan interact joyously with them each day, I wonder at the social and emotional cost of living so far from both of our families. He is so happy when he has his grandma and grandpa (or granny and grandad) here to stay. He is easy, cheerful, charming, and a 24 hour pleasure to know. He has a sense of belonging and gains a larger circle of love, trust, and security. He is able to go to any one of four people when he needs something or simply wants to show off his latest trick. He is guaranteed constant rounds of applause and admiration.

When my parents left this morning, Kellan was heartbroken. They were putting on shoes and had bags packed. He realised that they were leaving. He grabbed his shoes and gave them to my dad (now known as "Bapa"), saying "Eshs, eshs" (shoes), hoping that by having his shoes on, he would not be left behind. But when it was time for them to get in the car, he completely lost it. He was pointing at the car while sobbing, saying "I ent at, I ent at" (I want that), begging to be put into his carseat in the car where we'd spent a fun week touring central Illinois with my parents. He would not give them kisses because he did not want anything to distract from his pleas to be let into the car. Eventually, much to everybody's dismay, they had to depart, waving as he sobbed in my arms. When I got him back into the house, he rushed over to his Megablocks (a favourite toy for playing with grandma and grandpa), grabbed two, then ran to the front door asking through his tears, "Ent at? Ent at?" (want that?), hoping that they might come back to play. But of course the driveway was empty, the car was not there, his grandparents were gone, and all that Kellan could do was to fall to the floor in his grief at having been abandoned by the family that he had only been allowed a week to love.

I cried too. I held my little boy and I cried partially because I would miss my parents, but mostly because of the sorrow that their departure had caused him. There is nothing quite so sad as an 18 month old with a broken heart.

Creating a Monster Indeed

I have to take a moment to thumb my nose at every book and well intentioned individual who said that we mustn't co-sleep with Kellan because we would create a monster and still have him in our bed six years on. Kellan slept with us from the week that we brought him home until he was 18 months old. He moved into his own room and bed in one night without a single bit of fuss or fight, without a whine or whimper. He has been in his bed all night, every night, since the move 10 days ago and we've never slept more peacefully. All of us. So there!

New Sounds

Seems like there is something new every week and I don't want to forget Kellan's silly sounds and phrases, so I shall document some of the current favourites here.

Kellan's current animal sounds --

Puppy: Wo wo / Ru ru / Ro ro
Cow: Mmmmmmm
Monkey: Nh nh
Kitty: Eeya (very high pitched)
Ghost: Aaaaahhhhh

Kellan's favourite words and phrases --

I 'ent that
Nigh nigh
Nie, nie, nie / na, na, na (no)
Eez (nursies)
Eeth (teeth)
Ess (Cheerios)
Iss (shoes)
Puppo / Poppo
Eet (kitty)
Eesh (fish)
Drah (truck)
Ball
Bapak (backpack)
Daaa (Dora, sometimes Elmo)
Taaa (star)
Daddy / Diddy
Da da (bye bye)
Hi

You might note that there is often a bit of confusion in our house because so many words sound so very similar, but he's getting better. Not so long ago, shoes, nursies, Cheerios, fish, and a few other words were identical. We're getting there.

Playing in our Bedroom (now sans crib!)

Stern Face

This is Kellan's impression of me giving him "the look". You know the one. The "you'd better knock it off right now or else..." look. As it turns out, Kellan finds it hilarious. What doesn't he find hilarious? He's a funny wee man. So, when I'm trying to get him settled down or look at him sternly, this is now the face that greets me in response. It is always followed by a huge "ppppffffttttt!!!!" sound and raucous laughter. And can I keep a straight face when confronted with all of this silliness? Not a chance.

A Farewell to the Crib

The crib has been posted on Freecycle, the final step in Kellan's transition from baby to full fledged big boy. Well, ok, that's a bit dramatic, as he's still in diapers, nurses on demand, and has a vocabulary which largely consists of "puppo", "daddy", "eesh" (fish), "eez" (nursies), and a bunch of words that sound like "Da-uh". But still, he has spent three nights in his own room without any problems whatsoever. In fact, he has spent three nights in his own room and we've all had three glorious nights of sleep. The first two nights he woke around midnight to nurse, then again just before waking for the day near 6am. Last night, he woke at 1:30am to nurse and didn't wake again until nearly 7am. Its too soon to know if he's making a shift from two to one night nursings (dare I even imagine such a gift?), but twice is still monumentally better than the every hour or more that we were doing previously. Twice is luxury. Twice is wonderful. Please do not misunderstand me. One day I would love to have 8 hours consecutive sleep again, but for now, a whole night with only two interruptions will suit me just fine.