Developments

Well, I certainly have fallen off the blogging mark when it comes to recording Tyler's milestones, especially in comparison to his sister. Lately by the time we get them to bed I usually just want to vegetate in front of the TV and take a break from parenthood for a few minutes.  So, first teeth, sitting up, pulling up, crawling... all have gone undocumented.  Today I put the big iron gate up to keep him away from the stairs and wondered where the heck the last ten months have gone!

TyTy has some very sweet personality traits that I did want to remember to document though.  Lately, all I have to do is put a blanket on my shoulder at nap time or night time, and that is his cue to snuggle in while I sing to him - as long as he is tired enough.  It is the best thing ever.  I could sit there for an hour like that if he would let me.  It really helps to fill the empty mommy tank.  He also has started to develop his own little sense of humor.  Tonight it took him over 30 minutes to get through a bottle because he decided he wanted to "share" with mommy.  Every time I pretended to slurp some milk he erupted in giggles.  Then he would take a couple of sips and do it again.  Repeat x50! 

KK's developments lately primarily revolve around artistic endeavors and vocabulary.   Her coloring abilities are quite amazing for her age - lots of patience and attention to detail - and she draws some beautiful and creative pictures too.  Last week she painted four separate pictures:  a tornado, a cave, planets, and hands... all from her own imagination with no suggestions from mom.  It would be great if I had one to post right now... I have a big pile to scan but again there is - as mentioned at the beginning of this blog post -  that pesky time/energy issue in life lately.  She also loves to use and mis-use large words and I really need to try to make a list.  It would make for a really entertaining and memorable post.  Recently she told me her bangs were preventative and I therefore couldn't cut them.  She also likes to talk a lot about responsibilities and how being a mommy, big sister, etc is a "big responsibility."  She talks pretty much non-stop most days so my brain does get a little fried and I am sure I miss some great nuggets sometimes.  Many sentences start with one of the following: "Mommy, I need to tell you something...."  "Mommy are you listening?" "Mommy...mommy.....mommy......mommy......mommy"

And now mommy must go to bed.

Norman Mackenzie

Last Saturday, Katelynn was thrilled to get her first pet - a bright blue Betta fish that she named Norman Mackenzie.  Norman from one of her favorite books; Mackenzie because "it's such a beautiful name."  Her friends Bobby and Lindsay had both acquired similar fish a couple weeks prior.  Once mommy and daddy saw that they only required a $20 "Betta kit" and no fancy filtration systems, we were pretty easy to cajole into the purchase.

Norman Mackenzie died this morning, just 4 days after KK so proudly brought him home.

Last night I noticed that he wasn't looking so hot.  He was in a strange position within his plastic plant and did not swim to the top to get his food.  I convinced myself that fish sleep...  Then this morning I became more concerned as he was sitting all the way at the bottom of the tank.  Two hours later he was upside down.

Now the question became what to do?  My little girl has a pretty sensitive heart. As a mommy, I really wanted to just avoid this whole reality-of-death situation and forever protect her innocence.  I decided to leave Norman in his tank; she hadn't been paying too much attention to him and perhaps I could execute a switcheroo tomorrow when my babysitter is here.  However, tonight KK decided to check in on Norman.  A sweet little voice asked:  "Mommy, is he sick?"   Mommy's heart sank.  I told her the truth.

She seemed to be in shock, absorbing the whole situation and making sad little statements like "He was such a kind fish" and "He just swam around happily and was nice to me."  Eventually one big tear rolled down her cheek and lots of assurances followed that we would get a new fish just like him tomorrow.  After books/prayers/songs with both mommy and daddy, she was left with her own thoughts in her room.  Later she appeared in the kitchen, acting strangely.  When I pressed her a bit about what was wrong, she burst into tears and said "It's just that my fish died, mommy!"

Poor sweet girl.  Poor Norman.  RIP Norman. And may God protect my little girl's tender heart.... and please, please keep Norman Mackenzie II alive a little longer.

Tyler's Babyality

Years ago on this blog I had a post about Katelynn's "Babyality", i.e. her baby personality.  Little Tyler's babyality has really started to shine over the past couple of months.  He can be cranky like his big sister was as a baby, but he doesn't get inconsolable the way she did.  He likes to study people and makes adorable little furrowed-eyebrow expressions when doing so.  "TyTy" is constantly moving - flapping his arms, bouncing up and down.  He loves his big sis and squeals loudly at her various forms of entertainment.  He also loves his crib which has been wonderful for mommy.  Since learning to sleep through the night, he has not awakened in the middle of the night requesting attention ONCE.  No, not ONCE.  (Knock on wood.)  He also has never awakened too early... he is up around 7:00AM like clockwork and he will play in his crib for at least 30 minutes.  He pushes up on his little tummy and gives me a big grin from his crib as I walk out the door of his room.  He likes his pacifier for sleeping but rarely needs it during awake time.

He is a fabulous eater thus far, but extremely picky about liquids.  Only breastmilk for this little man.  Bottles are ok with him but only if warmed to 99.8 degrees.  He finds formula extremely offensive. This has made it challenging to put weight onto him! All those fruits, veggies and grains are not very high in calories.

I sure do love and treasure this sweet boy.  The first year is absolutely flying by, even more quickly than it did with KK. 

9 Month Pics

 Tyler wasn't feeling the greatest at his 9-month pictures - a post photo-shoot massive blowout was proof of that! However, Emily still managed to get some great shots. She is the manager at the JCPenney in Lewisville and I highly recommend her!  I always request her for all the kids' photos now, and with the online coupons available you can't beat the prices there too.

I'm posting a few of my favorites here.

Tyler's Noggin

Tyler just had his 9-month checkup. His “stats” are pretty funny – 5% for weight at 16.8 pounds, 50% for length, and 80% for his head! Our pediatrician is not overly concerned about his weight since he eats like a little piggy (30 ounces of food per day-off the charts for his age) and is probably just built how his daddy was as a baby. Gene was a pretty scrappy little kid and didn’t really fill out till college. We are still trying some things to get a little more weight on the kiddo, but I don't see how I could possibly feed him more!

Dr. Nanna (she is so smart about medical topics – among other things) said that his brains are just using up all that food. Then she sent me the little medical article below which confirms this. I decided to attach the article because I thought it was really interesting. The study cited notes that Einstein’s brain used and needed more energy than the average brain. So...this concerned mama is going with the theory that we have a budding little Einstein in our home.

Article----------------------------
The brain makes up 2% of a person's weight. Despite this, even at rest, the brain consumes 20% of the body's energy. The brain consumes energy at 10 times the rate of the rest of the body per gram of tissue. The average power consumption of a typical adult is 100 Watts and the brain consumes 20% of this making the power of the brain 20 W.
Based on a 2400 calorie diet (Adapted from Yang)
2400 "food calorie" = 2400 kcal
2400 kcal / 24 hr = 100 kcal/hr = 27.8 cal/sec = 116.38 J/s = 116 W
20% x 116 W = 23.3 W
Glucose is the main energy source for the brain. As the size and complexity of the brain increases, energy requirements increase.
The human brain is one of the most energy hungry organs in the body thereby increasing its vulnerability. If the energy supply is cut off for 10 minutes, there is permanent brain damage. There is no other organ nearly as sensitive to changes in its energy supply.
In 1955, Albert Einstein's brain was preserved for research. Three scientific papers have been published examining the features of Einstein's brain. Albert Einstein's brain differed to normal men's brain in that his brain had more glial cells per neuron that might indicate that neurons in Einstein's brain had an increased "metabolic need"-- they needed and used more energy. Einstein's brain weighed only 1,230 grams, which is less than the average adult male brain (about 1,400 grams). The thickness of Einstein's cerebral cortex was thinner. However, the density of neurons in Einstein's brain was greater. In other words, Einstein was able to pack more neurons in a given area of cortex.
The most recent study concerning Einstein's brain was published in the British medical journal The Lancet, on June 19, 1999. They found that a portion of the brain that governs mathematical abilities and spatial reasoning -- 2 key ingredients to the sort of thinking Einstein did best -- was 15% wider than average allowing better connection between its cells, which could have allowed them to work together more efficiently.
Jacqueline Ling -- 2001

French Braids

Recently Katelynn informed me that she is growing her hair out. No more cute bobs for this mommy...one of the first of many areas of control where I have to let go! She has also been requesting braids, braids, braids. I knew the concept of french braiding but have virtually zero experience. KK and I watched a YouTube video together; she informed me without hesitation that I could do it now that I had watched a video. Gotta' love the confidence of a 4 year old! So I gave it a try. I was pretty pleased with the results. It took about 30 minutes; hopefully with practice I will get a bit speedier. If she must have long hair, I do love the look of french braids.

Jokes & Sarcasm

Katelynn loves cheesy kid jokes now, even though she doesn't seem to completely "get" a lot of them yet. Today she heard a joke on TV and a lightbulb did seem to go off for her. She came to me giggling: "Mommy, who does a bee marry? [Pause] HIS HONEY!" [Hysterical laughing] I find it fascinating how sophisticated humor truly is, now that I see my four-year old trying to understand all the innuendos, plays on words, etc. I have heard a saying that you truly understand a culture once you "get" their jokes/sense of humor, and I really do think that is true.

She has also started to figure out that I don't always mean exactly what I say, but she still doesn't quite understand the nuances of sarcasm. Today Tyler spit up on me (yet again- daily occurrence, multiple times per day) and I said "Thank-you so much Tyler." Katelynn was confused, so I told her: "I said 'thank you' but didn't really mean it. That is called sarcasm. You can tell I didn't mean it by the tone of my voice." Katelynn: "That's silly to say thank you for spit up, mommy!"

Well, she does have a point...