Soren Update: 20 Months

The biggest milestone Soren experienced this past month was transitioning from his crib to his bed.  Actually, we ended up transitioning him much earlier than planned, so his "bed" is his crib mattress on the floor.  After my surgery, Chris and his parents were able to take care of the kids while I recovered, which was essential since I wasn't allowed to lift anything heavier than 10 pounds.  Oliver and Soren are self-sufficient enough that once I got through the worst of my recovery, I could take care of them as long as I didn't have to lift them.  The only solution to not having to lift Soren in and out of his crib seemed to be to eliminate the crib altogether.  In the 15 minutes it took to Chris to dismantle the crib and haul it down to the basement, Soren left another piece of babyhood behind.

Soren cried when we put him down in his new "bed" that first night, but he's been doing that a lot lately right at bedtime, so we weren't sure if his protesting was actually because he was not in his crib or not.  The only challenge we encountered was that Soren's bedroom door didn't latch and Soren discovered he was no longer contained in his room!  The first morning I found it cute when I rolled over and Soren was standing at my bedside and smiling at me from behind his pacifier.  And his crawling into bed with Oliver was ueber heart-warming.  But the morning I took five trips from my warm bed between 5:07 a.m. and 6:00 a.m. when I gave up fetching Soren from either the living room or the staircase was not stoking my motherly love.  I was frustrated, tired and also nervous that Soren would hurt himself since he was doing all this exploring in his sleepsack.  Soren spent the next few nights and naps in his pack 'n' play until Chris could fix the latch on the door and that solved the problem. 

Soren is getting more clever, beyond figuring out he can break out of his room. If he wants to get up on the couch, he knows he can fetch the little stool we have in the kitchen and bring it over to the couch to help him climb up.  When I wasn't allowed to lift him, I'd put the stool by his chair and he'd climb up into his booster seat with just a bit of assistance.

He's also in a testing boundaries phase. He likes a good chase, especially when Mom wants him to go one direction and he decides to go in the other. When he books down the sidewalk, I thought at first I could ignore him because he'd eventually become scared if got too far away from me. That tactic doesn't seem to work, so off I go after him. He's still got a bit of a yoda-like run, but he's still quick!

Soren is picking up a few more words, like "bubble" and "water".  But the sweetest new word is "Oliver" and he actually does quite a good job pronouncing it.  When we picked the name Oliver, we had no idea how difficult the letter "l" is for little kids to pronounce. 

When Soren gets really excited about something, such as the prospect of a snack, he flaps his arms up and down and bounces up and down.  But watch out, if for some reason he thinks the thing he was so excited about is not going to materialize, he starts bawling and it's a pitiful sight!

He picked up another random virus this past month, the third in two months.  He always had a really high fever for a couple of days, but not many other symptoms.  At the first visit they took his blood, a throat swab and then a urine sample.  The nurses gave him as much apple juice as he wanted, but it still took an hour and a half to get his sample and then the results came back showing nothing.  The second trip to the doctor came after his temperature approached 105.  I left work pronto and took him in and still just some random, unknown virus.  Yet another fever two weeks ago brought us back to the doctor, who diagnosed an ear infection.  I know this spate of illnesses could be a lot worse, but I'm hoping for a sickness-free stretch for the summer. 

What I realized I missed the most this past month was being able to pick up Soren up and cuddle him.  He's such an active toddler that unless I'm holding him, the cuddles and hugs on are on his terms.  We snuggled while reading stories, or he'd stop playing to get a reassuring hug from me, but he hardly stays still for long.  I used to cart him around the house on my hip and he loved being with me every moment he could.  I've been able to lift him more, but I'm afraid my days of Soren being my sidekick are behind me.