Reading in a Dump Truck

I'm enjoying my Sunday AM coffee shop date with myself, strolling back through recent posts when I noticed something.  Where is Yogi?  I haven't posted a picture of the boy in entirely too long.  The larger problem is that I haven't taken a picture of the boy in way too long.  Bad Mama.  I spend quite a bit of time thinking about how he is growing up so fast and he's a different boy every day and yet..... I'm not taking pictures.  :(  Oh well.  Course correction ahead.

For now, here are some pictures I took recently with the phone on my camera.  Yogi's grandparents found this nifty little dump truck and he decided that it made the perfect reading nook.  Here he is "reading" one of his tiny board books.  Muzzie taught him how to put his face right into the center and chatter at top volume.  Yogi reads!!!

 

This is the "I've finished my book and now I can't get out of this thing" face.  Help!!!

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Yogi and the Fork

Although I miss the snuggly sweetness of mealtime when he was entirely milk-fed, Yogi with a fork has his own brand of charm.  And yes, I did say Yogi with a fork.  The times they are a changing.

The high chair with tray is waiting patiently in the basement for Monkey and Yogi now sits in the chair that we should have coughed up the money for in the beginning.  It pushes right up to the table and can easily adjust as he grows.  I initially balked at the price (and by balked I mean harassed my wife for the suggestion that we spend that kind of money on a chair for anyone, much less a baby), but now I think that if you can swing it, you'll be glad you did.  This is the chair and cushion that we chose.

Once we get him in the chair and push him up to the table, it's on.  As you all know, there were days when I wondered if he would ever eat food that didn't come through a bottle, but now he eats with gusto.  After reading lots of Montessori theory, we made the decision to forgo plastic kiddie type plates and utensils and Yogi eats on our plates (the small one for salads) and he does what he can with his fork and spoon.  We bought two sets (meaning we have two spoons and two forks) and we just wash them after each meal.  They look something like this when compared to a regular fork:

Most of what he eats is picked up with  his hands, but he plays/works with the fork at every meal.  He likes to pierce the occasional blueberry (bee-bee), cheese square (che) or black bean (bean) with his fork.  The chatter is fairly constant while he eats.  If he's not actually chewing and swallowing at.that.second, he's telling you about what's on his plate or the fact that a car is driving by (cahhh - sounds kind of like a Boston version of the word) or that Baker is coming down the stairs (dah).  The spoon seems to be less compelling, but he can use it fairly smoothly.  He's much better with it than the fork, but I think it's not as fun. 

Mealtime with Yogi can be a headache (Really Yogi?  Hand washing is not a torture technique), but it's also a lot of fun. 

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Shake, Rattle & Roll

One thing that will be a welcome change when Monkey arrives is that I will have a relatively passive person to diaper.  It has been quite some time since I've experienced a diaper change that felt like something other than the capture of a wild animal.  

It's about perspective, right?

So, I've mentioned in previous months that Yogi believes my request that he stop playing long enough to be changed to be completely unreasonable.  I've tried (per your suggestion) to diaper him standing up, but I'm not anywhere near coordinated enough for that.  

That leaves me with one strategy - NEVER STOP PLAYING!  See Yogi, Mama does listen. ;)

What we do now (that actually works) is play on the changing table.  When it's time for a change I usually ask Yogi to pick a book from the bookshelf and he settles in for a quick story.  It works best if I ask him questions ("Can you find the apple?  Show Mama the bunny."), but it's pretty foolproof.  The boy loves to read and it's a great distraction.

I'm telling you this story today because yesterday we had a game changer.  Yogi's tambourine was lying on the bookshelf and when it came time for the diaper change he picked it up.  He shake, rattle and rolled his way through the diaper change and this morning when I asked him to pick a book, he dug through his toy chest until he found what he wanted.  The tambourine.  

When he was a newborn and diaper changes were significantly stimulating enough to be considered an activity in his day, I never dreamed of this. 

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