Nehemiah really wants to crawl. He gets up on his hands and knees in the middle of the night and works at it. During the day he lunges from a sitting position to his belly in order to try and crawl. He rocks and squirms and wriggles and pushes, constantly trying to get somewhere. Anywhere. At any moment he could tip over the brink from trying to crawl to cruising about to his hearts content.
I find his compulsion to crawl to be singularly fascinating. He doesn’t seem to know what crawling is, and yet has an overwhelming desire to learn this new skill. He’s never seen another child crawl and yet seems to have some instinctive idea of how to do it. It’s a lot like his rolling compulsion back before he became a certified “Master Roller”. Although he hated to be on his belly he couldn’t help but roll onto his belly. He would wake up in the night screaming after deliberately rolling from his back, again and again and again. This is merely the next stage in his uncontrollable quest to become a little boy instead of a baby, and he’ll be successful soon.
As you may have heard by now, Jennifer and I are expecting twins this spring. Their expected arrival date is a mere three days before Nehemiah’s birthday, and as such we’ll likely have three little ones under the age of a year old. It’s really all quite overwhelming. Most people are lavish with their congratulations and excitement irregardless of the stress that the imminent arrival of two small infants is causing. To put things quite bluntly, I’m overwhelmingly terrified. No doubt we’ll cope in some manner, yet it is certain to be quite an exhausting challenge.
Over the weekend we decided to be a little spontaneous, since spontaneitywill likely cease when the twins arrive in our household, and we decided quite suddenly to take young Nehemiah to the zoo for his very first visit. It was a nice day, bright and sunny and unseasonably warm and quite uncrowded given the time of year. Although Jennifer and I greatly enjoyed the visit and strolled around looking at the animals, Nehemiah was quite a bit more interested in the other people. The only animal he seemed to really notice was a Humboldt Penguin that we were able to get very close to, and he watched it swim to and fro for quite some time. All in all it was quite nice to get out of the house and spend some time walking about in the brisk winter air, despite Nehemiah’s patent lack of interest in the animals. Ah well, I’m sure he’ll enjoy them in some future visit.
If you haven’t checked it recently, take a look at our photo blog, as a number of recent pictures have been uploaded to it, and I think you might enjoy them.
A lot has happened recently. Nehemiah has cut his first two teeth now, and of course they enhance his innate cuteness considerably. He was quite a bit fussier with the second tooth than the first, but all things considered he handled it quite well. On the food front he’s now quite familiar with a variety of baby cereals – rice, oatmeal, barley and mixed grain. A couple of days we started him on mushed carrots, which he seems to enjoy, though I must say the sight of soggy, orange mush just doesn’t seem appetizing to me.
Clayton and Rhianna loaned us a bouncy chair thingy for Nehemiah to play with. It was initially purchased to entertain Bryson, their nephew and Nehemiah’s honorary cousin when he visited Colorado some time ago. Since he’s not here right now it was decided that Nehemiah might enjoy it and indeed he does. He’s quite content sitting in it for long periods of time, bouncing and turning and playing with all the many gadgets that it contains. See the following video for proof that he thinks it’s fantastic:
Besides cutting teeth, playing with crazy toys and exploring the world of mashed, unappetizing baby foods, Nehemiah has also officially become a Master Roller. It took him quite a while to learn to roll over to begin with, and when he did he could only manage rolling from his back to his belly. He’s been in this situation for quite a while, but Saturday afternoon he began rolling from belly to back and now he won’t stop! It’s rather exciting not only because it means he can roll himself over if he’s not happy in his current position, but also because in learning to roll from belly to back he’s started pulling his legs up underneath him – an important step towards crawling.
Am I rambling? I guess I don’t have anything particularly focused to talk about, just general updates on Nehemiah’s growth and development. In short he’s a big, chunky, happy baby who’s constantly learning – I think that about sums him up.
Posted in Life, Nehemiah on November 6, 2008 by mcrill
It’s windy outside, howling and tearing the few remaining golden leaves off the trees in the park across the street. It’s a cold wind, bitter and chilly, a perfect Fall wind. Some people miss the summer on days like this. I like it. Today is the sort of day that makes me think of hot cinnamon-apple cider, of peppermint hot chocolate with lots of marshmallows or an extra-hot English toffee mocha, sipping while buried in a big thick blanket with a good, very long book. I’m look forward to the first snowfall of the year, which is even better than windy fall days, and I hope it won’t be too far away.
Nehemiah doesn’t seem to have an opinion one way or the other. He likes looking out the window with the blinds open, but then he likes looking at everything. He’s quite a visual boy, though of late he’s gotten a great deal of enjoyment out of learning to stick toys and other miscellaneous objects into his mouth. Last night he managed to fit the end of a remote into his mouth and turn off the audio book Jennifer and I were listening to. Then he giggled.
I’ve been told that Nehemiah’s a good natured, easy baby and I believe it. I’ve been dreading teething, after hearing horror stories of babies that cried all the night through and all the day long, and now it is upon us. Sunday he was a little bit fussier than normal and we could feel the bump of a tooth getting ready to start cutting through the gum. Since then it’s become more and more noticeable to the touch, but it doesn’t seem to bother him much. It bothered him some Monday and Tuesday, but when he got too upset he just went to sleep and awoke happy. All in all it doesn’t seem to bother him much, for which I’m very grateful. As others have said, he’s a happy boy, and that doesn’t seem to be changing, teeth or no teeth.
In other news he’s been making great strides in his sleeping habits. Sunday and Monday nights he slept the whole night through and didn’t wake up until Jennifer and I arose to start the day. It was very nice to not need to get up in the middle of the night to feed a crying little boy. He’s also become quite the adept at rolling over, with a couple of caveats. He can only roll from his back to his belly, and he can only roll over to his right. I’m sure rolling to the left and rolling from belly to back will come in time, with patience and perseverance.
In completely non-Nehemiah or weather related news I received a call today from a salesperson wanted to sell me subscriptions to the Denver Post and/or New York Times. I responded that my decision to take out a description depended on who (if anyone) they endorsed for candidate, and that seemed to completely boggle his mind. “What’s that got to do with you wantin’ the paper?” was his none-too-clever response. He didn’t seem to understand (even when I explained it slowly, and used small words so that he’d be sure to understand) that I think the purpose of a newspaper ought to be to provide the news, not politically biased editorial content on how the country should be run and on how their readers should vote on election day. He wasn’t a very good salesperson, and obviously didn’t understand the political target audience of the product he was selling. Needless to say I didn’t purchase a subscription.
This week Nehemiah has mastered a new skill: rolling from his back onto his belly. He can’t roll the other way, and he doesn’t like being on his belly (more specifically he hates it), but today he simply will not stay on his back! He’s been constantly rolling over and screaming until I flip him back onto his back. It’s making it hard for me to get anything done.
On Monday Nehemiah was pronounced quite healthy do the doctor. He now ways 16 pounds, 4 ounces, he’s 25 inches long and his head is 17″ in circumference. He got another set of shots, which made him feel bad for a while and resulted in a couple of rough nights, but he seems to be feeling better now. He’s quite excited about going down to Longmont for the weekend to see his grandparents and his aunt & uncle.
For those of you who may not have heard, Jennifer and I are also expecting another baby! that’s right, he (or she) will be due in June, just as Nehemiah is turning a year old. They’ll be pretty close together, but that’s how we wanted it. I’m sure it’ll be a whole lot of work having two kids that young, but we’ll hopefully manage to survive somehow. Needless to say, my parents are happy. In a span of 1 1/4 years they will have received no fewer than 4 grandchildren. Talk about a population explosion.
Nehemiah is turning out to be quite a chubby guy. He’s gaining weight rapidly, and we’ll find out on Monday just how massive he really is. He’s working hard to learn how to sit up on his own, and often gets fussy if he’s just laying on the floor. Of course when he’s propped up in a sitting position it isn’t long before he tips himself over and starts whining. I’m sure he’ll get the hang of it eventually, but he’s still got a way to go.
He’s also become a giggler. He particularly likes being rocked vigorously in his bouncy chair, at which he giggles wildly with his mouth open wide and his eyes full of happiness. When it stops he gets mad.
Last week we took a drive up into the mountains to see the changing leaves and let Nehemiah experience them. He wore some brand new clothes including a fantastic dinosaur hat. Check out our photo blog and you’ll see some neat pictures of the trees and Nehemiah’s cool hat and his chubby face.
I suppose I should post on here more often, but we’re quite busy with school, taking care of Nehemiah and trying to organize the house. Stay tuned, and perhaps we’ll post a little more often.
Posted in Nehemiah on September 14, 2008 by jcrill
It’s hard to believe that Nehemiah is already three months old. After reading Rebekah’s posts about Hailey, I decided that I should regularly update everyone on Nehi’s growth and development.
Stats: Weight – 15.5 pounds Height – 26 inches Favorites – he loves sticking his tongue out, licking and sucking on his fingers, watching the turtle, and having his books read to him. Least favorites – still tummy time, poopy diapers, and getting sleepy. Major breakthroughs – he is beginning to sleep through the night (sometimes as much as 8.5 hours at a time), and he can sometimes put himself to sleep.
Posted in Nehemiah on September 14, 2008 by jcrill
Well, you’ve heard Michael’s side of things – about being a stay-at-home-dad, but I’ve never shared my experience as a working mom. It’s hard to believe that it has already been a month since school started and that I’ve been working for six weeks. I feel like time just flies, especially when I see how much Nehemiah has changed. As all working moms know, it is hard to leave, but I feel more at ease, knowing that Michael is taking care of him. Sometimes I feel guilty because at school I just don’t have any free time to think about him, I’m too busy caring for the 23 darlings entrusted to my care. At the end of the day, I hurry home to see my family, usually bringing work home with me (a teacher’s work is never done), which I do when Nehemiah has gone to bed for the night. When I get home, Nehemiah has a big smile for me. It is nice to be the novel one. I hear a lot of moms say that they take care of their kids all day and then the kids are happier to see their dad, and it makes them feel unappreciated. I know that Nehi loves it when I come home, and Michael does, too. By far, the favorite part of my day is the evening, and my favorite part of the week is the weekend when I get to be mommy. I don’t mind the diapers, the late-night feedings, or even a crying baby. I’m just happy that I get to be with my family.
Posted in Nehemiah on September 13, 2008 by jcrill
Last Monday, Michael and I were sitting on the couch making funny faces at Nehemiah. Usually, Nehemiah just smiles and coos at us. This time, however, he started giggling! They were very clear, distinct giggles! Then, once he got going, we didn’t even have to make faces to keep him giggling – all we had to do was giggle back at him. It was one of the most wonderful nights of my life, just sitting on the couch with my family and giggling.
