Milestone Minutiae

(Emmett's numbers are in parentheses for comparison.) Weight: 12 lb 6 oz (13 lb 7oz) Length: 23.5 inches (24.5 inches) Head circumference: 40.5 cm (41.5 cm) These numbers are about 55th percentile for weight, 70th for length, and 65th for head circumference. Although he didn't make up much ground on Emmett for weight or length since birth, the head circumference is turning into the real horse-race. Emmett was up by 2 cm at birth, but only 1.5 at two weeks, and is only 1 cm ahead at the two month mark. Luke started life around the 35-40th percentile for head circumference, was at 50th percentile at two weeks, and has now moved up to around the 65th percentile (at this age, Emmett was around the 80-85th percentile, about the same as he was at birth). Emmett finished out his first year with a 95th percentile head circumference, so we'll see if Luke can keep making up ground. Luke got a bunch of vaccines, and he was a real champ. Ok, that's not quite true. He cried

Emmett likes playing in the sink. Now that he's figured out how to turn the water on and off himself in the bathroom, sometimes he'll go play there. To turn the water on and off, he'll climb up the cabinets a little and rest his tummy on the edge of the sink so he can reach. I've also seen him kneel on the counter to open the medicine cabinet. The first time I saw him climbing, it scared me. But in reality, it's not a big deal, and he really likes to be able to turn the water on and off himself. While playing in the bathtub or sink, Emmett likes to play with a couple of syringes and some tubing. He'll put water in the tubing and then blow it out with his mouth or the syringe. Yesterday, I saw Emmett splash some water on the mirror. He then grabbed a small towel, climbed onto the counter until he was standing on it, and wiped up the mirror. Trying not to freak out, I said, "So do you do that a lot?" He said "Yeah." Since then I'

Now that I've relaxed about the thumb sucking,* it's kind of funny. Of course Luke still doesn't have great control of his hands. When he's trying to get his thumb, he mouths his hand and other fingers for a bit first. During this time, he has an irritated / discontented look on his face. When he finally does get his thumb, he can't yet make a fist with the rest of his fingers so they wag in front of his face and bug him. He'll blink a bit, and look irritated some more. Since Luke seems happy only for about the first half of a grocery trip, I'm actually glad he can find his thumb. UPDATE: While Luke was napping today, he started making a little noise so David went to check on him. When he came back, he said Luke was trying to get his thumb into his mouth, but had unfortunately tucked his thumb into his fist so he couldn't find it. *From the little research I've done, it looks like dentists don't worry until kids are around 4, the vast ma

The good news is that Emmett wakes up when he has to go to the bathroom at night. The bad news is that this happens a few hours after bedtime almost every night. Most nights he doesn't know that that is why he woke up. But after a while, we realized that he would stay asleep better if we took him to the bathroom when he gets up, so now we always do.

Today I shamelessly snagged a friend's idea of a Thanksgiving tree of thanks. I drew an outline of a tree (about two and a half feet tall) and let Emmett color it in. We talked about nice things in our life, and I told him things I was thankful for. Then I cut out a bunch of leaves from construction paper, and asked Emmett what he was thankful for. His answer? Grapes. So the first leaf on the tree said "grapes." We plan to add to it each day until Thanksgiving. I think he's catching on. Just before dinner he said he was thankful for dinner, and before bed he said he was thankful that I got him some water.

Luke's motor control continues to improve (duh). At this point, I call him my little woodpecker or bobble-head a lot. All of his movements are jerky, even if he does have some control. There is a strong tendency towards oscillation. This baby is clearly underdamped. Which makes perfect sense if you know some of what's going on with his brain development (the messages go much slower than normal right now).

Emmett has really been blossoming in music class. He sings along and really seems to enjoy himself. I also see him playing games from class after we get home. We're taking a class now for three and four year olds where the kids are offered rhythm and tonal patterns to do solo (if they want). Emmett is always eager to participate, and does pretty well with them. It's fun to see him continue to grow with these classes.

Luke is very interactive these days. Smiles are easy to come by - just smile and coo at him and he'll return the favor. It's lots of fun. He also expresses a clear preference for not wanting to look in the same direction for too long. Luke has also started sucking on his fists quite a bit. A few times, he's gotten his left thumb into his mouth. Emmett never sucked his fingers so I was a little surprised, but I shouldn't have been. When I was trying to get him to nurse the first time (minutes after birth), the biggest problem was getting his hands away from his mouth.

Luke is getting pretty good at holding his head. Now he's more like a bobble-head than a rag-doll. Or maybe a woodpecker. His head is clearly underdamped, in any case. He's also much more interactive and smiley. :) Emmett went to a birthday party last weekend. He really liked the pinata - we'll have to see about getting one for his birthday. Earlier today, Emmett was talking about California, and how it doesn't take that long to get there. I mentioned that Grandma and Grandpa were probably coming here for Christmas, and he said, "Then I can stop missing them!"

Emmett has learned how to swing by himself! He can pump his legs with enough coordination to maintain medium-height swinging! He's not very confident, so it takes some prodding (and he still likes to be pushed) but he can do it.

We had a great Halloween. Luke spent a long time (15 minutes?) under his gym batting at toys. This is by far the longest he was self-entertained this way. It was especially nice because it gave me time to prepare for our Halloween party hopping afternoon. First we went to a party at the Birth and Family Place. Emmett was brave and ate a sticky candy eyeball, and enjoyed the dry ice in the punch. He loved saying "OOOOooooooo" and waving his arms to scare people with his ghost costume. Luke napped, adorable in his pumpkin suit. Then it was on to the Tenfold party. The office was decorated and there were lots of fun activities. Emmett loved the "fishing" game, where you throw a line over a barricade and someone clips candy on it for you to "catch." There was also a "spooky tunnel" between some cubes. It was dark-ish, with smoke and spooky music. Emmett had to really work up his courage, but he went through. Afterwards, he called that his