Mami's thoughts on Paola and Kobe

Kobe has finally started to sleep on his own rather than have to be held.  Of course that only happened once we started putting him on his stomach.  The difference was amazing- instead of unending crying when he was put down or having to be rocked to sleep, while on his tummy and with a pacifier, he fell asleep almost immediately for his naps.  Also instead of waking up screaming after 20 minutes of "nap" he is finally taking longer naps of at least an hour.  At night he is still waking up once or twice, but the one-feeding nights are happening more often.  I was a little nervous about putting him on his stomach, but we keep the room cool and took the bumper and all blankets out of the crib.  We just couldn't go on the way we were before with him hardly sleeping during the day and making everyone including himself miserable.

He did sleep one night from 9:30pm to 8:30am, but that was after getting four shots earlier in the day.  It seems that after "traumatic" experiences like that, he deals with them by shutting down for awhile to recuperate.  That is so different than his sister who might express hurt at the time of an injury/shots, etc., but is back to running 100 miles a minute the next second.

Today Kobe was laughing at Paola dancing and jumping around.  He is becoming more cognizant of his surroundings.  In the last couple of weeks he has started grabbing at links, holding his hands, noticing his feet, and laughing at toys and people around him.  His laugh is really sweet and soft at this time.

Interestingly, even though Kobe is evening out some and giving me and Paola more of a break during the day, Paola has increased her intesity the last few days.  Once again she won't take naps, so by the time dinnertime arrives, everything is a cause for a dramatic scene.  Yesterday we were out running errands during naptime, so she slept in the car, and the difference in demeanor was amazing.

However, she is still amazing us with how smart she is.  She remembers everything that goes on around her.  Every once in awhile she brings up experiences that happened months ago and is able to express what happened.  It is fun to hear her over the monitor in her room at night as she reads the books she has memorized to her animals.  I am so glad that she has such a love a books and learning.  We are also impressed and entertained by her creativity.  All day long she is saying "pretend this" and "pretend that" and makes up stories and songs.  The most consistent play is with her baby doll she calls either "your Kobe" ( as opposed to "real Kobe") and baby bear.  She handles the doll exactly as I treat Kobe from breast feeding to putting him in all the baby accessories to talking to him in exactly the same words that I use.  It is a little weird to hear my words and see my actions mirrored, and sometimes I realize just how silly I must sound.  Even worse, it is quite humbling when I see my faults reflected back to me in her, and I realize how on guard I need to be about how I act!

Paola is doing good with Kobe.  She still has some issues with sharing time and toys - she often wants to direct which of his toys and accessories he can and can't use.  But when he is in need, she is there and wants to help him even though she is often perplexed by him.  The most warm moments are when he is crying and Mami can't tend to him right away.  Whether it be in the car or when he is lying under the activity gym, she will imitate me saying to him: "Don't cry Kobe, it's okay" or "I know, I know, I know it's hard" or "There's no reason to cry."  Or she will try to show him some toys, or she tries to give him the pacifier- whether he wants it or not.  And if all that fails, she comes to tell me "He wants his Mami to feed him or to hold him."

We are going to try to play with some more friends this week since I think some of her intensity is a result of not going to many playgroups lately.  We think that she really needs the social outlet to expend some of her energy otherwise it just turns into frustration.  She is really enjoying having new experiences and meeting new people even if in the moment she acts shy.  She is still talking about meeting Sarah Hickman, and even before we went to meet her, Paola kept repeating "not be shy with Sarah Hickman." All day long she recounts experiences of being around others - always prefaced with "Last night..." which is her catch-all word designating that something happened in the past. For example: Last night we met Sarah Hickman; last night we went to Daddy's frog office; last night we see Kayleigh; last night I ate chips at Jaxon's party; last night we see Dave running.  One day we were supposed to have our neighbor Reagan who is 1 week older over to play, but it didn't work out.  But since she knew about it, she has been fixated on that Reagan needs to come over.  So throughout the day when I tell her that she needs to do something, she often says "yeah... before Reagan comes."  She acts like she really wants her to come over, but then of course, she then proceeds with a list of things that she doesn't want Reagan to play with.  Silly kid!

11:37:04 PM    comment []