Taking a break from Tinnitus...
My little pint-size, never ending energy Espresso has never liked to drink much. He gets that from his daddy. We always had a hard time getting him to drink anything, including sweet things, like juice.
A few weeks ago we had a blizzard, by southern terms, and I took my son out to play in the snow. We got wet and cold, and what you look forward to the most is coming in for some hot chocolate. Of course, I obliged!
Recently, we went to Chick-fil-a for dinner (before I gave up that sort of food) and I ordered a kids meal with chocolate milk for my E. I thought he would like it and hoped he would drink more than his usual amount. He has, after all, inherited my sweet tooth. :) His first sip of chocolate milk, he said, "hot chocolate." My husband and I corrected him and said, "No. This is cold. It's chocolate milk." He took another sip, "hot chocolate." We repeated our explanation that he was drinking something cold. From that conversation, ALL that stuck was cold, and our little Espresso is now a fan of "cold chocolate."
Every day at every meal I am asked, "cold chocolate?"
Cold chocolate, anyone?
Showing posts with label My Espresso. Show all posts
Showing posts with label My Espresso. Show all posts
Friday, January 22, 2010
Thursday, April 23, 2009
A year in review
My little Espresso turned 1 a couple weeks ago. Unlike most parents, I didn't think the first year flew by too fast. There were times I thought it was dragging on incredibly slow. I think that could have been due in part to my anticipation of my Espresso reaching certain milestones, which he did not reach in a "normal" time frame.
My hubby and I were discussing last night, after our Espresso FINALLY had his first tooth come in, that since about the 6th month, our son has been on his own time table with development and milestones. He took a LONG time to crawl, his first tooth did not come in within his first year, and he has no real interest in pulling up or even standing (even if we hold him), while so many other babies are walking, or at least pulling up and/or cruising, by their first birthday.
What I have noticed about my Espresso is that he seems MUCH more mentally aware, alert, cognizant and perceptive than many other babies his age. Perhaps I'm just a proud, biased parent, but when we compare his mental abilities and alertness with other babies his age, our Espresso surpasses them all. If I am in the room with my Espresso, it is impossible for me to sneak out of the room, sneak in the room or sneak anything by him. When he casts glances in my direction, it doesn't take very long for the little neurons to connect in his brain - he knows something is going on and all eyes are on me or what I'm trying to "sneak" by him. He notices new things almost instantaneously. We don't have to wait for him to find it. When we enter a room, his eyes are always scanning the room and he'll find that "new thing" within seconds. Today while we were at the park, there were two identical twin boys dressed the same. I watched my Espresso try to figure out how there were two of them. He kept looking back and forth between the boys. I think he finally figured it out, but he never took his eyes off those boys. He could have cared less about swinging (something he loves). Instead, he was more interested in the boys playing around him.
Now that the weather is warm, we go on walks, sometimes several in a day. Once again, our Espresso scans the world around him. He reaches out his hand to touch plants, notices street signs and wants to see what is on them, and is captivated by trees (trees have done that to him since he was 2 months old). When he spots another walker, he starts to wave even if they are over a block away. Unfortunately, most of the time, they do not see him, so he doesn't get a wave back. In stores, I think his arm is going to fall off he waves so much and will have the strongest cheek muscles from smiling at everyone who walks by. He also watches with incredible perception and curiosity everything I put in the shopping cart. He does not take his eyes off the item. When he recognizes his Cheerio box or some other treat I buy for him, he starts to reach for it, which I then have to let him hold it, until he sees something else more interesting he'd like to hold and tosses the whatever it is he's holding on to the floor.
His curiosity level is amazing. We see no point in buying toys. Our Espresso is interested in everything in this house and ends up playing with nightlights to coasters rather than his own toys. The other day, our Espresso escaped beyond the gate into the hallway to his room. In that hallway is a nightlight that helps us find our way to his room, if our son should wake up in the middle of the night. (Thankfully, that has come to an end!) Our little Espresso saw that nightlight and immediately made a b-line for it. Of course, he pulled it off and chewed on it a few times, but what surprised my hubby and I is that he tried to put it back in, and almost (coordination still a bit weak) was able to do so.
While our little Espresso doesn't have many words in his vocabulary, the one word he uses the most is "touch." And he wants to "touch" everything - particularly electronics. He knows those buttons do things and it's his goal to figure out what.
I like that he is (always been) curious about the world around him. I do hope he stays this way.
My hubby and I were discussing last night, after our Espresso FINALLY had his first tooth come in, that since about the 6th month, our son has been on his own time table with development and milestones. He took a LONG time to crawl, his first tooth did not come in within his first year, and he has no real interest in pulling up or even standing (even if we hold him), while so many other babies are walking, or at least pulling up and/or cruising, by their first birthday.
What I have noticed about my Espresso is that he seems MUCH more mentally aware, alert, cognizant and perceptive than many other babies his age. Perhaps I'm just a proud, biased parent, but when we compare his mental abilities and alertness with other babies his age, our Espresso surpasses them all. If I am in the room with my Espresso, it is impossible for me to sneak out of the room, sneak in the room or sneak anything by him. When he casts glances in my direction, it doesn't take very long for the little neurons to connect in his brain - he knows something is going on and all eyes are on me or what I'm trying to "sneak" by him. He notices new things almost instantaneously. We don't have to wait for him to find it. When we enter a room, his eyes are always scanning the room and he'll find that "new thing" within seconds. Today while we were at the park, there were two identical twin boys dressed the same. I watched my Espresso try to figure out how there were two of them. He kept looking back and forth between the boys. I think he finally figured it out, but he never took his eyes off those boys. He could have cared less about swinging (something he loves). Instead, he was more interested in the boys playing around him.
Now that the weather is warm, we go on walks, sometimes several in a day. Once again, our Espresso scans the world around him. He reaches out his hand to touch plants, notices street signs and wants to see what is on them, and is captivated by trees (trees have done that to him since he was 2 months old). When he spots another walker, he starts to wave even if they are over a block away. Unfortunately, most of the time, they do not see him, so he doesn't get a wave back. In stores, I think his arm is going to fall off he waves so much and will have the strongest cheek muscles from smiling at everyone who walks by. He also watches with incredible perception and curiosity everything I put in the shopping cart. He does not take his eyes off the item. When he recognizes his Cheerio box or some other treat I buy for him, he starts to reach for it, which I then have to let him hold it, until he sees something else more interesting he'd like to hold and tosses the whatever it is he's holding on to the floor.
His curiosity level is amazing. We see no point in buying toys. Our Espresso is interested in everything in this house and ends up playing with nightlights to coasters rather than his own toys. The other day, our Espresso escaped beyond the gate into the hallway to his room. In that hallway is a nightlight that helps us find our way to his room, if our son should wake up in the middle of the night. (Thankfully, that has come to an end!) Our little Espresso saw that nightlight and immediately made a b-line for it. Of course, he pulled it off and chewed on it a few times, but what surprised my hubby and I is that he tried to put it back in, and almost (coordination still a bit weak) was able to do so.
While our little Espresso doesn't have many words in his vocabulary, the one word he uses the most is "touch." And he wants to "touch" everything - particularly electronics. He knows those buttons do things and it's his goal to figure out what.
I like that he is (always been) curious about the world around him. I do hope he stays this way.
Thursday, April 2, 2009
How $10.80 saved my sanity!
One of the hardest challenges as a parent can be to teach your baby the difference between day and night. The day is for playing (and a couple naps) and the night is for SLEEPING! Some babies catch on quickly and for other babies, it takes some long nights and many futile attempts before your baby will sleep through the night.
Our little Espresso's problem was that he has (still is) never been good at comforting himself. If something upsets him, I have an unhappy (crying, fussing) baby until I can find something to distract him not momentarily, but consistently for about a period of 10 minutes. Then it's safe to say that he can continue on (hopefully happily) playing.
At 2 months, our Espresso was sleeping almost through the night. We would put our son to bed at 9 and he would wake once during the night, usually around 3 am, but would go back to sleep quickly after something to eat and would sleep until 7 or 8 in the morning. I thought this was great and figured he would just sleep longer and longer and night as he got older until he was sleeping ALL the way through the night. BUT...that didn't happen.
When our Espresso was 5 months, he decided that he would start this new routine of waking up at 1 or 2 am, cry, act like he was hungry but not eat. It was his ploy to have mommy hold him and comfort him back to sleep. It didn't take ME too long to figure this out and I told my hubby that we were going to put an end to this. Enter Chester.
On July 4, 2008, we bought our Espresso his first teddy bear. He cost $10.80! According to my hubby, EVERY boy needs a teddy bear. We christened our Espresso's teddy bear, Chester and Chester sat in the corner of our Espresso's crib patiently waiting until our Espresso was ready for some teddy lovin'.
Chester was introduced as our Espresso's comfort, rather than his mommy or daddy. During those first few nights of introducing Chester as his comfort, our Espresso had the 'caffeine' (crying fit) of 100 lattes! He's a rather persistent and determined little boy. Thankfully, after two hard nights of enduring cries, yells and blood curdling screams, our Espresso cuddled up with his teddy Chester and this began our son seeking out Chester, rather than mommy, to help him fall back to sleep. The rest is history and I have my sanity thanks to the consistent 7-9 hours of sleep I now get every night thanks to Chester.
Every night when we put our Espresso to bed, we place Chester by our little boy's side and he grabs Chester and gives him a ferocious hug. At times, I have watched from the door to our son's room as he reaches out and grabs Chester and cuddles up with him. It is one of the sweetest sites for a parent (or anyone for that matter) to see. Chester is doing everything a teddy bear should do for a boy: offering love, companionship AND giving a mommy and daddy a good nights sleep!
I love you Chester! :)
Hubby with his teddy bear he had as a boy and my Espresso & Chester.
Our little Espresso's problem was that he has (still is) never been good at comforting himself. If something upsets him, I have an unhappy (crying, fussing) baby until I can find something to distract him not momentarily, but consistently for about a period of 10 minutes. Then it's safe to say that he can continue on (hopefully happily) playing.
At 2 months, our Espresso was sleeping almost through the night. We would put our son to bed at 9 and he would wake once during the night, usually around 3 am, but would go back to sleep quickly after something to eat and would sleep until 7 or 8 in the morning. I thought this was great and figured he would just sleep longer and longer and night as he got older until he was sleeping ALL the way through the night. BUT...that didn't happen.
When our Espresso was 5 months, he decided that he would start this new routine of waking up at 1 or 2 am, cry, act like he was hungry but not eat. It was his ploy to have mommy hold him and comfort him back to sleep. It didn't take ME too long to figure this out and I told my hubby that we were going to put an end to this. Enter Chester.
On July 4, 2008, we bought our Espresso his first teddy bear. He cost $10.80! According to my hubby, EVERY boy needs a teddy bear. We christened our Espresso's teddy bear, Chester and Chester sat in the corner of our Espresso's crib patiently waiting until our Espresso was ready for some teddy lovin'.
Chester was introduced as our Espresso's comfort, rather than his mommy or daddy. During those first few nights of introducing Chester as his comfort, our Espresso had the 'caffeine' (crying fit) of 100 lattes! He's a rather persistent and determined little boy. Thankfully, after two hard nights of enduring cries, yells and blood curdling screams, our Espresso cuddled up with his teddy Chester and this began our son seeking out Chester, rather than mommy, to help him fall back to sleep. The rest is history and I have my sanity thanks to the consistent 7-9 hours of sleep I now get every night thanks to Chester.
Every night when we put our Espresso to bed, we place Chester by our little boy's side and he grabs Chester and gives him a ferocious hug. At times, I have watched from the door to our son's room as he reaches out and grabs Chester and cuddles up with him. It is one of the sweetest sites for a parent (or anyone for that matter) to see. Chester is doing everything a teddy bear should do for a boy: offering love, companionship AND giving a mommy and daddy a good nights sleep!
I love you Chester! :)
Hubby with his teddy bear he had as a boy and my Espresso & Chester.
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
The new teething rules
My little espresso, as I like to call my son, has been teething what seems to be like forever. He has a nice row of teeth snug in his gums, but so far, they don't want to pop through. I've received countless advice from other mommies but my little espresso is not taking to any of those methods. If my son could offer his teething advice, this is what he would tell other parents of teething babies:
1. Hold or play with something because the child will want it. Note to parent: It is best not to hold anything valuable or breakable during this phase.
2. If the dishwasher is open, let your child chew on the edge or let them pull out forks & spoons to chew on. It's beneficial because they may take in some dried food for extra nutrition.
3. Give them a remote (not a play or old one), but the tv or dvr remote, and let them slobber and chew the dickens out of. You don't really need a remote. You can always get yourself up off the couch and change the channel's manually.
4. Get them addicted to teething drops so they will wiggle, smile and scream for them.
5. Offer your chin as a teether.
6. If you would not like offer your chin as a teether, an empty egg cartons work wonders too.
7. If the child is no longer interested in your chin or egg cartons, offer them the antenna on a cordless phone. This would need to be a phone you use every day, not an old one you could care less about.
8. Leave your shoes scattered about the house. Teething children, like puppies, can't resist shoes!
9. Mommies, leave your purse in a place when the child can chew on the straps. If you leave it open, make sure there are packs of gum accessible where child can chew your gum.
10. Cut a lemon and make it accessible within their reach at the table. If you're lucky and they grab it the sourness will distract them momentarily and you'll get a kick out of their sour expression!
Before any one takes this seriously, please don't. These just seem to be the things that my son WANTS to chew on or do during his teething phase. I really don't let him chew on the edge of the dishwasher or forks and spoons. What kind of a mom do you think I am! :p
1. Hold or play with something because the child will want it. Note to parent: It is best not to hold anything valuable or breakable during this phase.
2. If the dishwasher is open, let your child chew on the edge or let them pull out forks & spoons to chew on. It's beneficial because they may take in some dried food for extra nutrition.
3. Give them a remote (not a play or old one), but the tv or dvr remote, and let them slobber and chew the dickens out of. You don't really need a remote. You can always get yourself up off the couch and change the channel's manually.
4. Get them addicted to teething drops so they will wiggle, smile and scream for them.
5. Offer your chin as a teether.
6. If you would not like offer your chin as a teether, an empty egg cartons work wonders too.
7. If the child is no longer interested in your chin or egg cartons, offer them the antenna on a cordless phone. This would need to be a phone you use every day, not an old one you could care less about.
8. Leave your shoes scattered about the house. Teething children, like puppies, can't resist shoes!
9. Mommies, leave your purse in a place when the child can chew on the straps. If you leave it open, make sure there are packs of gum accessible where child can chew your gum.
10. Cut a lemon and make it accessible within their reach at the table. If you're lucky and they grab it the sourness will distract them momentarily and you'll get a kick out of their sour expression!
Before any one takes this seriously, please don't. These just seem to be the things that my son WANTS to chew on or do during his teething phase. I really don't let him chew on the edge of the dishwasher or forks and spoons. What kind of a mom do you think I am! :p
Monday, December 22, 2008
The year 2008 as seen by Ethan Matthew (my Espresso)
I started out this year all cozy warm in my Mommy’s belly. I had lots of room to move around and do flips and somersaults. One of my most favorite memories of being inside Mommy was listening to Mommy sing me songs and Daddy saying, “hello in there little boy. I can’t wait to meet you.” But I didn’t stay little. I grew and grew until I was getting too crowded in Mommy’s belly. One day, when Mommy was at the doctor’s office, I heard the doctor say that it was time for me to come out. Mommy’s body was sick with high blood pressure. I was anxious to meet Mommy and Daddy. I was hoping they would like me. And on April 11, 2008 (very early in the morning!), I met Mommy and Daddy and they were so happy to see me. Mommy held me and gave me kisses and so did Daddy. But Mommy was still a little sick because of her blood pressure and some medicine they gave her. Finally she was all better, and I knew they really liked me because they took me home with them - even though my head was floppy and wouldn’t stay up in the car seat.
Mommy and Daddy had a special place for me to sleep and warm clothes for me to wear. Daddy stayed home for 2 whole weeks to be with me before he had to return to something called “work.” When Mommy and Daddy moved here, Daddy worked for the Navy, but he recently changed jobs to work for the Missile Defense Agency (MDA). Daddy’s so smart. But Mommy doesn’t work. She stays home with me and we have so much fun together. When the weather was warm, me and Mommy went on walks every day. I loved looking at the mountains, the trees, the lake and sometimes I even saw some turtles go “plop” in the lake as we walked by.
I couldn’t do many things when I was just a little baby, but I’m not a little baby any more. I can sit up, roll over, get up on my hands and knees, jump really hard and long in my jumperoo, hold my own bottle and say dadda and mama. Mommy says that I’m working on something called teeth, but I don’t have any yet.
We’ve had lots of visitors at our house this year - my Pops and Nana; Grandma & Grandpa Spate; Uncle Seth; Uncle Nate & Auntie Tara and ALL my cousins: Jonathan, Emily, Elizabeth and Esther; my adopted Uncle Theron and Mommy and Daddy’s good friend, Miss Tammy McKinley.
In August, me, Mommy and Daddy made a trip to Virginia. It was my first time on an airplane. I did just what my Mommy and Daddy wanted me to do - look around, drink from my bottle and sleep. In Fredericksburg, we visited Kenmore and Ferry Farm and I met a lot of nice people - Mr. Rob & Mrs. Jackie Hix and their two boys: Noah & Daniel; Mr. Nathan & Mrs. Deidre Morrow and their children: Jacob, Rebekah & Isaac; Mr. Mike & Mrs. Jennifer Sayre; Mr. & Mrs. Keller; Mr. Brad & Mrs. Jennifer Church and their nice children: Megan, Lilly, Luke & Joel. Luke and Joel made me laugh! We also took a trip to Virginia Beach and I met my Grammy & Poppy T. I think there are lots of nice people in Virginia and I can’t wait to see them all again. I think Mommy and Daddy really miss them, and that makes me a little sad.
When we got back from our trip to Virginia, Mommy had to go see an ear doctor (ENT). She said she was having a hard time hearing & understanding Daddy . The ENT said Mommy’s bones in her middle ear had gotten really, really hard and she had something called Otosclerosis. The ENT said Mommy had only two ways to make her ears better: hearing aides or surgery. Daddy, because he is something called an Engineer, wanted to talk to more doctors. So Mommy had to wait to make a decision, even though her ears make her very frustrated. Mommy is a brave Mommy and she is going to have surgery so she can hear better. But it is going to take 6 months or more because she has to wait that long between each ear. She needs to hurry up because I’m going to be talking her ears off in hers and Daddy’s language very soon! Mommy will have her first surgery after Christmas in January.
I keep hearing about this thing called Christmas - and it seems to be a big deal! There are all of these things wrapped in this crinkly, colorful paper under this tree Mommy and Daddy brought inside and covered in lights and sparkly ornaments. But I think it really has something to do with another baby born a long time ago - somebody called Jesus. Mommy and Daddy say Christmas is Jesus’ birthday. I hope He has a good birthday. Happy Birthday Jesus and a Merry Christmas to everyone.
Eric, Priscilla & Ethan
Isaiah 9:6
Mommy and Daddy had a special place for me to sleep and warm clothes for me to wear. Daddy stayed home for 2 whole weeks to be with me before he had to return to something called “work.” When Mommy and Daddy moved here, Daddy worked for the Navy, but he recently changed jobs to work for the Missile Defense Agency (MDA). Daddy’s so smart. But Mommy doesn’t work. She stays home with me and we have so much fun together. When the weather was warm, me and Mommy went on walks every day. I loved looking at the mountains, the trees, the lake and sometimes I even saw some turtles go “plop” in the lake as we walked by.
I couldn’t do many things when I was just a little baby, but I’m not a little baby any more. I can sit up, roll over, get up on my hands and knees, jump really hard and long in my jumperoo, hold my own bottle and say dadda and mama. Mommy says that I’m working on something called teeth, but I don’t have any yet.
We’ve had lots of visitors at our house this year - my Pops and Nana; Grandma & Grandpa Spate; Uncle Seth; Uncle Nate & Auntie Tara and ALL my cousins: Jonathan, Emily, Elizabeth and Esther; my adopted Uncle Theron and Mommy and Daddy’s good friend, Miss Tammy McKinley.
In August, me, Mommy and Daddy made a trip to Virginia. It was my first time on an airplane. I did just what my Mommy and Daddy wanted me to do - look around, drink from my bottle and sleep. In Fredericksburg, we visited Kenmore and Ferry Farm and I met a lot of nice people - Mr. Rob & Mrs. Jackie Hix and their two boys: Noah & Daniel; Mr. Nathan & Mrs. Deidre Morrow and their children: Jacob, Rebekah & Isaac; Mr. Mike & Mrs. Jennifer Sayre; Mr. & Mrs. Keller; Mr. Brad & Mrs. Jennifer Church and their nice children: Megan, Lilly, Luke & Joel. Luke and Joel made me laugh! We also took a trip to Virginia Beach and I met my Grammy & Poppy T. I think there are lots of nice people in Virginia and I can’t wait to see them all again. I think Mommy and Daddy really miss them, and that makes me a little sad.
When we got back from our trip to Virginia, Mommy had to go see an ear doctor (ENT). She said she was having a hard time hearing & understanding Daddy . The ENT said Mommy’s bones in her middle ear had gotten really, really hard and she had something called Otosclerosis. The ENT said Mommy had only two ways to make her ears better: hearing aides or surgery. Daddy, because he is something called an Engineer, wanted to talk to more doctors. So Mommy had to wait to make a decision, even though her ears make her very frustrated. Mommy is a brave Mommy and she is going to have surgery so she can hear better. But it is going to take 6 months or more because she has to wait that long between each ear. She needs to hurry up because I’m going to be talking her ears off in hers and Daddy’s language very soon! Mommy will have her first surgery after Christmas in January.
I keep hearing about this thing called Christmas - and it seems to be a big deal! There are all of these things wrapped in this crinkly, colorful paper under this tree Mommy and Daddy brought inside and covered in lights and sparkly ornaments. But I think it really has something to do with another baby born a long time ago - somebody called Jesus. Mommy and Daddy say Christmas is Jesus’ birthday. I hope He has a good birthday. Happy Birthday Jesus and a Merry Christmas to everyone.
Eric, Priscilla & Ethan
Isaiah 9:6
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