Nursing Rules

When Julie is nursing, Stanley will occasionally test the waters with a bite. Julie has decided to try and institute the rule that if he bites while nursing, she says, "No, no, we don't bite," and then doesn't nurse him for five minutes.

What usually ensues is a good deal of weeping, wailing, and gnashing of tooth. He'll learn, though, or wean trying.

living hand to mouth

If you put stan on the floor with a bunch of his toys, he doesn't last long, but if you put him on the floor with, say, a piece of grass or a tiny rock or a piece of fluff from a quilting project, he will stay happy for a long time. He's like a little vacuum cleaner, moving from tiny thing to tiny thing. He zeroes in, scoots over to it, picks it up with his thumb and finger, and puts it in his mouth. Unless I take it away first, that is. I went to Scott's elders quorum basketball game on Saturday and sat up on the stage with stan. He had a great time and I came home with a pocket full of tiny things.

a message from stan

niiiiimn v tf jn78 h 5gru 7hnnrt 7 ibf vbghyn nm

Cheerio!

Cheerios Infestation 2005 

things that sometimes make stan stop crying

1. taking him to look in the mirror at himself, especially the medicine cabinet mirrors because I can angle the mirrors to make a whole bunch of him.
2. sitting him on the piano bench and letting him play for a while. He's working on refining a few of his more modern compositions.
3. me playing something for him on the piano
4. turning on some music, especially ragtime, and dancing with him
5. stoping what i'm doing and playing with him :)
6. playing pat-a-cake (i lay him on his back and do it with his feet)
7. playing peek-a-boo. this is best when i'm behind something with more than one side to come out from behind, so that i can surprise him sometimes.
8. stepping outside onto the porch, or walking around the back yard or driveway, or going for a walk in the stroller
9. giving him some cheerios, or a cold carrot stick to chew on (until he gets another tooth and can bite a piece off to choke on)
10. go into a different room, if weve been in the same one for a while
11. put him on my hip and walk back and forth through the house

the new arrival

Stanley cried and cried all morning yesterday. In the afternoon, i put my finger in his mouth for him to chew on, thinking that might help, and lo and belold, i felt a tinly sharp tooth peeking through. It's still pretty small, and it's hard to get a look at, but it's really there! My baby has a tooth! i sat there imagining all these terrible things...I imagined him being 8 years old and playing in the yard by himself, I imagined him being 12 and growing out of his clothes, and passing the sacrament with white socks between his black pants and black shoes... It all became too much when i imagined him as a 17 year old, taller than me, walking in and out of the house like he owned the place...how can this happen? How will he ever grow up? and what if i dont' even notice while he's doing it, and then one day he's moving out? how is it possible that he wont' always be tiny and fat and cuddly and toothless? how could there be a time when he won't just ride around on my hip all day? I wish I had a Tivo for Stan...

bath day

the diaper was such that i used two wipes before i had even taken it off....

dad and boy 

nope, not bothered by it. nope, not at all. 

you may think it's funny, but it's snot. (Stan after a sneeze. gross!) 

ah-choo! these are some pictures of stan on his four week birthday 

 

who, me? 

 

he's so sweet!