Developmental Update

Reed at 12 weeks and Theo and Beckett at 4.1 years

The big boys are fully in the swing of summer and are enjoying swimming with their puddlejumpers, spraying each other and the house and garage and anything that moves or does not move in the yard or outside the house with their water guns and water cannons. The nakedness that has ensued in past summers continues in the summer of 2015. The neighbors joke about it. I see no reason to enforce clothing when said clothing is only going to get soaked through various fun play. Especially because our yard is mostly shaded most times of the day, so sunburn is not even a major concern.

This morning we went to Green Lakes with my friend Ana and her two little boys. Both of my guys had their puddlejumpers on and went wading out a ways, but Theo's the one who took off to the very far end of the buoys at the deep end and spent 20 minutes floating, swimming, kicking, and laying on his back, happy as a little clam. When he came in we had to establish a way I could signal to him with my arms in case I needed him to come in, since he was way beyond earshot, especially when the lake got crowded. Beck was happy to play with buckets and shovels and build sand castles with Ana's boys.

The boys are back to napping almost every day, somewhere between 1.5 and 2.5 hours. Our days go so, so much more smoothly when everyone is well-rested, so even though the naps mean that they go to sleep later because they are not tired earlier, I truly believe this is a happier existence for everyone. It also means that I generally spend the morning doing something focused on the big boys, like a park or playground, while Reed naps in the Mobywrap baby carrier on my chest (taking breaks for diaper changes and nursing) and then when the big boys go down for their nap, Reed and I have some meaningful alert time together and also usually a nap together. It's a nice little system and napping makes ALL of us much happier. It also means that on these long light evenings we don't worry much about getting them to bed, and they are more likely to be having fun and happy rather than nitpicking each other or us.

Since receiving Batman and Superman t-shirts with attached capes soon after Reed was born, both boys have glommed on and wear the shirts pretty regularly. And by pretty regularly, I mean Beckett wears his Superman shirt EVERY DAY. For those of us who remember that I wore a nurse's outfit every day for at least six months when I was the same age, this does not seem remarkable. However, I was an only child, and my dad washed my outfit most days. Especially because of the late bedtimes, but mostly because I have other stuff to do, I wash it every few days or whenever it is especially disgusting. He says he likes feeling powerful and feeling like a superhero, which I understand and think makes sense particularly since Reed's birth. He also talks about his superpowers a lot, both the ones he says he has (such as "eye-vision") and the ones he wishes he has (primarily flying).

Theo is interested in the superhero concept but more into Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. To me, this obsession with TMNT has come out of nowhere. I think back to Halloween last year, when their friend Preston dressed up like a Turtle, and the boys had no clue what that was. They have never seen a movie or tv show about the Turtles. I have no idea where it came from, but they have several Turtles now (some new, from Grandpa Stu, and some from the flea market from Mama) and love playing Turtle throughout the house. Theo is very interested in the catalog of Turtle paraphernalia that came with the new Turtles, and he loves telling us which items he wants (hint: everything that has ever been manufactured related to TMNT). Theo is also getting more and more interested in drawing, coloring, and especially painting and watercolors. He is happiest when given a template of some sort, a traced outline or shape to guide his work. Both boys are getting so much more adept at cutting and gluing and other fine motor skills. Theo especially has a lot of patience for coloring and is very particular about coloring in the lines.

Reed continues to be a pretty mellow guy. Since about 6 weeks he has been sleeping at least 5 hours straight each night, but starting around 7 or 8 weeks he's been sleeping 7, 8 or 9 hours straight. We had two very hot nights about two weeks ago when he was very uncomfortable and woke up every hour and a half or so but besides that it's usually about 9 hours from 9pm until 6am. It's probably the only reason I am halfway sane right now, that I get a good chunk of sleep at night (except when the big boys wake me up) and usually also a nap in the mid-afternoon. He usually has an alert period in the morning between 7-9am, another in the early afternoon or around lunchtime, and then is usually pretty awake from 5pm to when he goes to bed, though he often catnaps a little in the evening. When he is awake he is very happy to listen to and watch his brothers, and often smiles and giggles at them, and also us. He still loves being in the Mobywrap and spends a good three to eight hours in it every day! Reed is still pooping once every two or three days, so sometimes when he gets grunty and squishy-faced and grumpy I suspect he is working on moving his bowels. Though sometimes the gruntiness doesn't match up with an immediate blowout.

I've been really enjoying watching the relationship between Theo and Beckett and Reed. Neither Jeff nor I had siblings in our early childhood (I'm an only child and Jeff's brother Jon was born when Jeff was 10), so it's all new to us. Theo and Beckett truly love Reed, and they say so pretty frequently. They seem to really enjoy him and take pride in him. Beckett often refers to Reed as "our baby" or "everyone's baby." They often pause their play to watch him, to make him smile, to comment on his face or outfit, or to suggest something that he would like to do (there's a small list: nursing and burps). One of my favorite things to observe is that the boys occasionally "nurse" their toys. I think I've seen stuffed animals and puppets but also trucks and Turtles. My favorite was last week when Theo was doing some kind of make-believe game with a hand puppet lamb and then asked if she was hungry. Then he carried her into another room where there was a stool in a quiet corner. He sat down on the stool, pulled up his shirt, and held the puppet up to his belly. For a few moments, he sat very calmly, looking all around the room, and then pulled the puppet away and pulled his shirt down. I love it!