Raspberry World

Italian Ice

Originally uploaded by Raspberry World.

Suddenly, it’s summer! Hooray! Here’s Alex enjoying his very first Italian ice earlier this month. I thought we’d share one, but he didn’t want to give it back to me!

Mother’s Day, 2007

Originally uploaded by Raspberry World.

Today I was strapping Alex into his car seat as we were leaving the grocery store and he started tapping one hand against his thigh. This is the sign for “dog” in American Sign Language. “Where’s a dog?” I asked, just making conversation.

Then I looked up and saw a big dog sitting in the passenger seat of the SUV parked beside us. Alex was looking right at the dog, making the sign for “dog.”

Things like that are happening more and more frequently. He can use many signs, and he recognizes many, many more. I’ve seen him use the following:

dog
cat
fish
sleep
milk
eat (or food)
car
shoes
more
bath
ball
baby
finished (all done)

I am looking forward to when Alex starts to speak, but it is so cool to be able to communicate now instead of being frustrated (both of us) by a lack of understanding. Not only does he sign to let us know what he wants (milk, food), he also understands what we say more quickly when we use signs along with spoken words.

If you are interested in trying sign language with a baby or toddler, I recommend Signing Time. We only have two of the DVDs (so far), but they are great! I started using a few basic signs with Alex almost a year ago, and he did learn “milk” (his first sign) from me, but most of the signs he knows have come since we started watching Signing Time a few times a week.

Fourteen years ago today, Marty and I were married. It was a hot, sunny Tuesday in Central Pennsylvania. We were married by the justice of the peace and went out to dinner that night with our families. What a fun day.

Now that I look back on it, 24 seems very young to marry. But don’t forget, we had already known each other for 10 years. So I guess we thought we knew what we were doing. Luckily, we were right.

Happy anniversary, honey! I love you!

Hmmm… what’s this?

Originally uploaded by Raspberry World.

This morning, Alex and I attended an event put on by his daycare center. It was at a park we had never been to before, and when we walked up and saw all his teachers there, Alex was really taken aback. It took him thirty minutes to let go of my leg and go look around! He enjoyed the music though, and before we left he even let me take a picture of him with his teachers.

We’re finally enjoying some spring weather. The trees are all blooming now (at last) and so is our hayfever (unfortunately). The bulbs we planted last fall have come up as yellow tulips in front of our door. And Alex noticed his first dandelion last week when we visited a farm with Amanda and Julia. Check out the April gallery for a few more pictures.

Well, we had bad news and good news at the doctor today.

Alex had a fever this weekend, so I called his doctor and took him in this morning. He has another ear infection. I’m not even counting anymore, but this must be his seventh or eighth since last October. He’s on antibiotics now, so I hope he’ll feel better soon.

The primary cause of all these ear infections, of course, are the colds he picks up at daycare and other places we go. The underlying cause is most likely a narrow ear canal he inherited from Marty. Little children do, in general, have narrow ear canals that are not built for drainage, but some clearly have more problems with ear infections than others. Marty was one of these kids, and Alex is, too.

Then, this afternoon, we had our long-awaited appointment with the pediatric ophthalmologist. That is, a kids’ eye doctor. We haven’t noticed any problems with Alex’s vision, but considering his genes, we thought it would be a good idea to get a baseline of his vision as soon as we could. Apparently, even though vision problems like myopia generally develop later on in childhood, doctors are able to look at a one-year-old’s eyes and tell whether or not they are likely to have problems later. Imagine my relief when the doctor declared Alex’s eyes “perfect.”

Marty had Lasik (laser eye surgery) in 2002 to correct his severe myopia. (If diopter -11 means anything to you, you’ll understand what I mean by “severe.”) We are both very happy that Alex has apparently inherited my better-than-20/20 vision!

Now we’re just hoping he gets Marty’s left-handedness and ability to drive a stick shift!

You might not guess it from my infrequent pattern of updating, but I often run across something and think, “I should blog about that.” Life is so busy these days that I never seem to get around to it. So here, at least, are a couple of things I’ve been thinking about lately.

• Sometimes the Internet seems very small. There’s this recipe blog I enjoy very much: Coconut and Lime. I like reading this blogger’s recipes and her thoughts on the recipes, and I think she takes great pictures of the food as well. I really like that she makes up all her own recipes. And I also like how she clearly has a very strong sense of civic pride in her hometown, Baltimore. I used to read another blog by a woman in Baltimore, maybe five or six years ago. A personal blog by a young woman. And it is just within the last week that I have realized — these two blogs are written by the same person.
• The book Mindset by Carole Dweck is really interesting. I picked it up after hearing her talking about her research on NPR one day. In a nutshell, it’s about the difference between having a “fixed” mindset or a “growth” mindset — meaning whether you believe intelligence is fixed or that you can develop your ability with effort. I wanted to read this book because I thought it would help me be a better parent, but as I read it I am starting to wish I’d read it fifteen years ago for my own benefit!

That’s it for tonight, and now it’s bedtime. But keep reading for an update on Alex at 14 months, directly below…

Alex

Originally uploaded by Raspberry World.

Look at that big boy.

He can walk just about anywhere, climb up and down stairs, and let you know what he wants without saying a word.

When it’s time to go bye-bye, he blows kisses to everyone, including the janitor.

Sometimes if he hears us laughing, he laughs too — just to be companionable.

He recognizes a bunch of words in sign language and can do a few signs as well: milk, bath, car, cat, dog.

He knows where his head and his toes are and can point them out.

He has three brand new teeth (for a total of seven) and knows how to brush them.

What a funny, sunny little guy he is!

Alex’s favorite part of the fire truck

Originally uploaded by Raspberry World.

March has really gotten away from me. Work has been so busy… I’ve even tried to work a couple of extra days, but it always seems to backfire. Alex gets sick and then I end up having to stay home later in the week (on a day I usually work).

But anyway, we’ve managed to have some fun in March despite the busy-ness! Alex and I visited a firehouse yesterday with our playgroup, and we had a great time. There are a few pictures in the March gallery on Flickr.

Marty spent the weekend putting down a new floor in our living room. It looks great! So much nicer than the ancient carpet and vinyl that was in there before. See?

Fun with the cape

Originally uploaded by Raspberry World.

On Wednesday, Alex had his first haircut.

“But he’s bald!” I hear you say.

That’s what you think. It was getting pretty long in the back!

Since it was the first time, and I’m no expert, I decided to take him for a professional haircut. I have to admit, I also wanted to take some pictures, so doing it myself was not an option.

We drove all the way to Southington (about 25 minutes away) to a salon that specializes in kids’ haircuts, Snip-Its. Alex loved it there. He was interested in everything from the minute we walked in the door. He enjoyed sitting up high in the kid-sized chair, and he liked his pretty young stylist.

She did a great job, too. It only took her about five minutes. And it looked so easy. In fact, next time around, I’m going to try to do it myself!

Milk

Originally uploaded by Raspberry World.

Alex could drink milk all day long. He wakes up in the morning and makes the sign for “milk” before he’s even out of his crib. He slurps down a cup while I’m fixing his breakfast, and then asks for more. He loves milk!