Soren Update: 16 Months

This past month has been rough for Soren, so I guess it's no wonder he hasn't always been his usual happy-go-lucky self.  There was the flu, then the double ear infection and then what I thought was just diarrhea from the antibiotics, but was in fact probably a mild version of the Norovirus.  At least the antibiotics worked the first try in treating the ear infection, the Norovirus was just more gross than debilitating, and by the start of this week, not a single person even had a runny nose. With everyone finally recovered, including our poor nanny, I hope February will be a better month. 

The only nice part about Soren being ill is that I got to hold him a lot.  He's definitely your typical clingy baby when he's sick.  Oliver never clung.  But Soren just didn't want to be put down.  My co-workers felt so bad to hear one of my kids had the flu, but those with older kids did listen with longing when I told them how much he wanted to snuggle.  I hear this from parents of older kids so often - they miss the cuddling. 

I knew Soren was recovering when I noticed he was babbling more.  It was reassuring to hear his sweet baby voice talking about his world.  We're starting to recognize actual words amidst his babble.  Real words still catch us offgaurd when we hear them, like we didn't believe what we just heard, but we're pretty sure he can say, book, ball, bye (or bye bye), go and aqua, or at least words that somewhat resemble these words. 

Soren continues to communicate nonverbally too by pointing at things he's curious about, run to the pantry and stand below the snack cupboard, throw his sippy cup on the floor, push his glass away when he doesn't want anything more to drink, and of course whine and cry for things. 

He still HATES baths, but surprisingly hasn't minded me brushing his teeth lately.  He chills out in my arms like the tooth brush is providing a gum massage. 

He's testing his independence.  He'll wander away and play, then come back to me for either a hug or to briefly sit in my lap. 

Just like his brother, Soren likes to help in the kitchen.  When I bake, I pull two dining room chairs up on either side of me at the kitchen counter and while Oliver measures flour, I let Soren bang away with an extra set of measuring cups and assorted wooden spoons.  He just likes to feel part of the action.  One afternoon I'd pulled his booster sit into the kitchen so he could eat a snack while I got dinner started, and when he saw me rifling through a kitchen drawer looking for a wooden spoon, he started to whine and reach towards the drawer.  I happen to have a miniature wooden spoon, which I found and gave to him, so he could hold his own spoon while I sauteed onions at the stove.  He was such a happy guy hanging out with mom.  Soren was probably the happiest though when he got to decorate sugar cookies with Liula for Valentine's Day.  Not surprisingly, more of the icing went in his mouth than on the cookies.  Oliver and his friend helped decorate cookies too, and between the three of them, they managed to decorate enough cookies to bring to ECFE and give to their teachers as gifts and classmates. 

For about a week and a half, Soren had developed the routine of waking up at 4:30 a.m. or 5:00 a.m., and for the first time ever with either of my kids, we let him sleep in our bed.  Well, at first I thought Chris was trying to get Soren to go back to sleep in his crib until I felt a baby plop down next to me as Chris would decide it was easier to put Soren in our bed and then go to the gym before work.  It was so nice to wrap my arms around him and snuggle him against my chest.  Unfortunately, neither of us sleep well with this arrangement, which is why I've never co-slept before, and so for the umpteenth time, I commenced sleep training and Soren resumed his twelve-hour stints of sleep in just a day or two.