Kara had been voicing some concerns about Clark being slow to talk, and so I decided to list all the words he knows, and at what level he knows them. I thought of three levels at which he has demonstrated proficiency: Some words he can say and understand, some words he can sign (baby sign language), and some words he can't say or sign - but he clearly understands.
For speaking: Momma, Dadda, baby, kitty, quack (when asked what a duck says - or when he sees a duck), bye-bye (sometimes meaning he wants to leave - other times to say good bye to someone who is leaving), wa-wa - meaning water (coupled with the sign - which he's modified to a covering of the mouth as he was wa-wa), baa (which is what a sheep says), na-na (meaning banana - I don't think I've ever heard him ask for a na-na - but if you ask him if he wants a banana - or sometimes if you show one to him - he'll start saying na-na), and more recently tickle and bubble. I think he's now saying puppy - but I'm not certain enough to put it on the list.
For signing only: more (his first sign - which is very common with baby sign), eat, help, potty, bath, brush teeth.
For understanding: ball, book, head, ear, tongue, stomp feet, bring me..., all done, door, dog, put in, take out, gentle, hug, no, shoes, clap, music, cherrio, high chair, binky, dance, coat, and....???? I suspect there's lots more that he understands - he keeps surprising us. It was a great day when he and I were in one room, and I started asking him to get me a ball, then a book, then a shoe, etc etc - and he kept leaving the room and returning with the object.
When I made the list, it made Kara (and myself, I'll admit) feel a lot better. He's got work to do on forming the words, but his understanding is great, and I suspect that since he got his teeth so late (and half are still coming in) that might have slowed him some on learning how to form the words.
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Yay - Poopy!
Well, I was very tired this morning and didn't really want to get up to keep Clark busy - but Kara wanted some extra sleep and she has been doing so much lately that I just couldn't say no (although I did dawdle a little).
Now, as I try to write this, Clark who was playing nicely by himself, just stood up and started giving me lots of full face smiles and making his little noises of joy.
Ok -- got him back to playing.
Well - after we got up - Darwin had to go out - so we all went out back. The weather was great (it has been very humid lately - but not at 7am this morning). We walked around the yard picking up branches and talked about what branches are and about leaves, etc. We did this for about 15 minutes or so - and it was a very nice little outing.
Then, we came in and Clark practically inhaled a big banana (but with a short interruption), then we both had some apple with cheese, then some bread. Clark made a small mess, but was in a pretty good mood throughout.
The highlight of the morning, however, came while Clark was eatting the banana. When I put Clark into the highchair, I then went to get the banana and a knife to cut it up. As I returned to him, he was making the potty sign (opening and closing his hand - and he was looking at me expectantly.) I was still half asleep, and I was in feed-him-banana mode, so I didn't really pick up on it. But then, during the first half of eating the banana, he kept making the potty sign again and again, and it finally sunk in that this was the potty sign. So, I ran him to the potty, and his diaper was clean, but he quickly starting pooping and peeing.
WOOT WOOT -- YAY CLARK -- POOPY IN THE POTTY!! -- WAY TO GO -- YOU'RE A GREAT LITTLE POOPER. And so on.
Kara's been working on getting Clark to go on the potty for quite some time - since Clark was about 6 months I believe. We learned this was possible from a work friend of mine with a strong European background. He said that in Europe they often potty train by about a year or so. We did some research and found out this was true - but you had to pay close attention to the child throughout the day, and rush them to the potty when they show any indication that they're going or when you know they tend to go, and give lots of praise for going on the potty. Our trying to teach Clark some sign language has also helped. For months Kara's been working this. I can be a little slow sometimes, and so when I'm home I mostly get to be the cheerleader (sometimes I even make up little cheers about going to the potty as he's doing it). This morning was the first time for me that he clearly said (with the sign language) that he had to go, and the first time that I got him on the potty in time with no fuss or hassle. But with lots of praise: GO CLARK GO - POOP POOP POOP - PUSH IT OUT SHOVE IT OUT WAY OUT - GO CLARK GO - YAAAAY CLARK.
Quite the sureal life - being a parent. But also very rewarding.
(first posted on facebook on August 22, 2009)
Now, as I try to write this, Clark who was playing nicely by himself, just stood up and started giving me lots of full face smiles and making his little noises of joy.
Ok -- got him back to playing.
Well - after we got up - Darwin had to go out - so we all went out back. The weather was great (it has been very humid lately - but not at 7am this morning). We walked around the yard picking up branches and talked about what branches are and about leaves, etc. We did this for about 15 minutes or so - and it was a very nice little outing.
Then, we came in and Clark practically inhaled a big banana (but with a short interruption), then we both had some apple with cheese, then some bread. Clark made a small mess, but was in a pretty good mood throughout.
The highlight of the morning, however, came while Clark was eatting the banana. When I put Clark into the highchair, I then went to get the banana and a knife to cut it up. As I returned to him, he was making the potty sign (opening and closing his hand - and he was looking at me expectantly.) I was still half asleep, and I was in feed-him-banana mode, so I didn't really pick up on it. But then, during the first half of eating the banana, he kept making the potty sign again and again, and it finally sunk in that this was the potty sign. So, I ran him to the potty, and his diaper was clean, but he quickly starting pooping and peeing.
WOOT WOOT -- YAY CLARK -- POOPY IN THE POTTY!! -- WAY TO GO -- YOU'RE A GREAT LITTLE POOPER. And so on.
Kara's been working on getting Clark to go on the potty for quite some time - since Clark was about 6 months I believe. We learned this was possible from a work friend of mine with a strong European background. He said that in Europe they often potty train by about a year or so. We did some research and found out this was true - but you had to pay close attention to the child throughout the day, and rush them to the potty when they show any indication that they're going or when you know they tend to go, and give lots of praise for going on the potty. Our trying to teach Clark some sign language has also helped. For months Kara's been working this. I can be a little slow sometimes, and so when I'm home I mostly get to be the cheerleader (sometimes I even make up little cheers about going to the potty as he's doing it). This morning was the first time for me that he clearly said (with the sign language) that he had to go, and the first time that I got him on the potty in time with no fuss or hassle. But with lots of praise: GO CLARK GO - POOP POOP POOP - PUSH IT OUT SHOVE IT OUT WAY OUT - GO CLARK GO - YAAAAY CLARK.
Quite the sureal life - being a parent. But also very rewarding.
(first posted on facebook on August 22, 2009)
The year in review
Well, 2008 has come to a close, and what a year it was!
In January we learned that Kara was pregnant.
Around this same time, I started finding family and friends, old and new, on Facebook. Many of these were old Army buddies I hadn't communicated with in over 20 years!
The winters here in Cleveland are hard on Kara and I, but knowing we had a baby coming, plus the excitement of periodically getting back in touch with more and more old friends, made for a relatively nice winter.
When we went for the first ultrasound, we didn't really expect to see much, and mostly we were just hoping to verify that the baby was there and healthy.
Our hearts melted and we both teared up when instead there was this little baby - arms, legs, head and body - all moving around. It even looked like it waved at us!
Kara pulled out all the stops with her research abilities, and found a hospital with midwives and a birthing center that would allow her to at least try and have the most natural birth possible.
It was kind of far, about a 50 minute drive, but everyone said at least for a first birth that should be plenty of time. The baby was due in October, and so the weather shouldn't be a hindrance.
We visited the birthing center, and another place that was much closer and probably our second choice, and it was like night and day.
If we went with the birthing center, I could be with Kara for the entire time no matter what happened, they would never take the baby out of the room, they wouldn't push drugs (but they'd be available), etc.
If we went with the nearby hospital, Kara would be treated like she was sick. The place looked, sounded, and just felt like a hospital. There would be times I couldn't be with her, and they'd take the baby away from us from time to time.
No way! We were going with the birthing center.
Kara was also interested in maybe using a doula. Through a friend at work who had just had a baby, I had learned about a doula who sounded great. But she was a little pricey, and Kara was going with a midwife instead of a doctor, and so we had pretty much decided on not going with a doula.
Kara and I both enjoyed taking classes to learn about the birthing process, infant care, etc. And the birthing center allowed water-births, which Kara really wanted to do. When Kara and I went to a water-birth class, the doula my friend had mentioned was teaching, and Kara and I just loved her.
Around this same time I was surprised with a promotion at work, which not only put me in a job that is a lot less stressful and a little less tedious, but also gave us enough extra income that we decided we could afford the doula.
And what a great investment that was! She did a great job prepping us for the birth, including giving us some inside info that they don't give you at the classes (which are put on by the medical providers).
She also made sure that the birth was a great experience. We had nice music playing, the lights were turned down low, she gave Kara massages during the labor, etc.
I had also gone on a pretty successful diet starting in July and had lost about 25 pounds, which gave me a lot more energy, enough that I was able to do a pretty good job of proving support throughout the entire birth. As a fairly introverted person, I have never been all that good at focusing on others, and here I was completely focused on Kara for over ten hours. It was a transcending experience for me.
And Kara was just amazing. One of the things I've always loved about her is her inner strength. She sometimes loses sight of it and doubts herself, but it's always there, and she always amazes me with how well she does with the big things in life.
The pregnancy was hard, Kara was sick for almost the entire nine months. She couldn't keep vitamins down, and she worried about that, but she eats a well rounded diet, and I suspect her body knew that she was getting what she needed naturally and didn't need the vitamins. The last few months she was getting little sleep, which is especially hard for her since she normally needs about 10 hours a night.
The birth was hard too, with a lot of pain, and Kara came very close to getting an epidural, but we're both very glad that turned out to not be necessary, although it was by the narrowest of margins.
Kara had been in labor for about 18 hours, and the last 6 of those were very painful, and she decided she just couldn't continue with the pain and asked for the epidural. Ok, but there were some things that had to be done first. She had to be given an IV to make sure she was adequately hydrated, and they had to draw blood and have it tested first. All this would take about an hour.
About an hour later, just as they were about to go get the anesthesiologist, Kara said she thought she could do without it. I could see in her face that something had changed. The doula said her endorphines had kicked in. I don't know what was going on inside her head at this time, had she turned inward, was she someplace else? I could tell, however, that she wasn't the same. She no longer needed the drugs.
The last fews hours of the labor were in a big tub, and at the end, the doula made sure the lights were down (they used a flashlight to monitor the baby coming out) and nice relaxing music was playing (Bob Marley, in fact, at the exact moment of birth).
Clark was immediately placed on Kara's chest, and he was smiling a huge smile, all wide eyed, looking back and forth at Kara and me. I've never known such joy.
Kara and I were lost in time with Clark, oblivious to the rest of the world. We couldn't stay like that forever, although it felt like it. No one was pressuring us at all to end this moment. I'm pretty sure we were like that for at least a half hour.
But then we finally had to reenter this plane of existence, and we've been “living the life” ever since. There have been some hard parts, but with the support of family and friends we're managing, and just loving it all.
I loved in the beginning learning how to get Clark to stop crying. For the first week I just wanted to hold him every waking moment. Kara's Mom had come out for the birth and stayed for over a week, and but for her I'm not sure if Kara and I would have eaten or slept – it feels like we would have just held Clark staring at him until we all withered away.
Clark was very expressive from the first day, and continues to become more and more so. He's developed the most wonderful full-faced smile, and his coos and ooos are the greatest music I've ever heard. He's now starting to hug me when I walk around with him, which is the most fantastic feeling in the world.
I am also very much blessed with a wonderful marriage. Kara is not only my soul mate, she's also my best friend. My favorite past time is simply being with her. I really don't care that much what we're doing just so long as I can do it with her. The past year has deepened our relationship greatly, and I look forward to us continuing on our journey of two becoming one as we work to raise Clark together and struggle with whatever challenges the future holds for us.
In the past, whenever I did an end of year assessment of how things were progressing for me, I would often become very depressed. Progress for me always seemed to be just to slow to really see it in year long increments. I learned instead to focus on the bigger picture – 5 or 10 year increments – and in that way I could see the progress I was making. This year, however, maybe the first time in my adult life that I really don't need to do that all.
And, when looking forward, this is my most hopeful of New Years as well. I do not really much like where I live, I hate that I'm not near my family to better share all this with them, I am deeply torn on where I would live if given the choice (near my family, near Kara's family, someplace sunny and warm???), I find little personal satisfaction in my work, I am overweight, not exercising enough, and feeling it. But despite all that, I have never been anywhere this satisfied with my life, nor ever been looking forward this much to the future I see likely out there for me.
Happy New Years to all!
(first posted on facebook on January 1, 2009)
In January we learned that Kara was pregnant.
Around this same time, I started finding family and friends, old and new, on Facebook. Many of these were old Army buddies I hadn't communicated with in over 20 years!
The winters here in Cleveland are hard on Kara and I, but knowing we had a baby coming, plus the excitement of periodically getting back in touch with more and more old friends, made for a relatively nice winter.
When we went for the first ultrasound, we didn't really expect to see much, and mostly we were just hoping to verify that the baby was there and healthy.
Our hearts melted and we both teared up when instead there was this little baby - arms, legs, head and body - all moving around. It even looked like it waved at us!
Kara pulled out all the stops with her research abilities, and found a hospital with midwives and a birthing center that would allow her to at least try and have the most natural birth possible.
It was kind of far, about a 50 minute drive, but everyone said at least for a first birth that should be plenty of time. The baby was due in October, and so the weather shouldn't be a hindrance.
We visited the birthing center, and another place that was much closer and probably our second choice, and it was like night and day.
If we went with the birthing center, I could be with Kara for the entire time no matter what happened, they would never take the baby out of the room, they wouldn't push drugs (but they'd be available), etc.
If we went with the nearby hospital, Kara would be treated like she was sick. The place looked, sounded, and just felt like a hospital. There would be times I couldn't be with her, and they'd take the baby away from us from time to time.
No way! We were going with the birthing center.
Kara was also interested in maybe using a doula. Through a friend at work who had just had a baby, I had learned about a doula who sounded great. But she was a little pricey, and Kara was going with a midwife instead of a doctor, and so we had pretty much decided on not going with a doula.
Kara and I both enjoyed taking classes to learn about the birthing process, infant care, etc. And the birthing center allowed water-births, which Kara really wanted to do. When Kara and I went to a water-birth class, the doula my friend had mentioned was teaching, and Kara and I just loved her.
Around this same time I was surprised with a promotion at work, which not only put me in a job that is a lot less stressful and a little less tedious, but also gave us enough extra income that we decided we could afford the doula.
And what a great investment that was! She did a great job prepping us for the birth, including giving us some inside info that they don't give you at the classes (which are put on by the medical providers).
She also made sure that the birth was a great experience. We had nice music playing, the lights were turned down low, she gave Kara massages during the labor, etc.
I had also gone on a pretty successful diet starting in July and had lost about 25 pounds, which gave me a lot more energy, enough that I was able to do a pretty good job of proving support throughout the entire birth. As a fairly introverted person, I have never been all that good at focusing on others, and here I was completely focused on Kara for over ten hours. It was a transcending experience for me.
And Kara was just amazing. One of the things I've always loved about her is her inner strength. She sometimes loses sight of it and doubts herself, but it's always there, and she always amazes me with how well she does with the big things in life.
The pregnancy was hard, Kara was sick for almost the entire nine months. She couldn't keep vitamins down, and she worried about that, but she eats a well rounded diet, and I suspect her body knew that she was getting what she needed naturally and didn't need the vitamins. The last few months she was getting little sleep, which is especially hard for her since she normally needs about 10 hours a night.
The birth was hard too, with a lot of pain, and Kara came very close to getting an epidural, but we're both very glad that turned out to not be necessary, although it was by the narrowest of margins.
Kara had been in labor for about 18 hours, and the last 6 of those were very painful, and she decided she just couldn't continue with the pain and asked for the epidural. Ok, but there were some things that had to be done first. She had to be given an IV to make sure she was adequately hydrated, and they had to draw blood and have it tested first. All this would take about an hour.
About an hour later, just as they were about to go get the anesthesiologist, Kara said she thought she could do without it. I could see in her face that something had changed. The doula said her endorphines had kicked in. I don't know what was going on inside her head at this time, had she turned inward, was she someplace else? I could tell, however, that she wasn't the same. She no longer needed the drugs.
The last fews hours of the labor were in a big tub, and at the end, the doula made sure the lights were down (they used a flashlight to monitor the baby coming out) and nice relaxing music was playing (Bob Marley, in fact, at the exact moment of birth).
Clark was immediately placed on Kara's chest, and he was smiling a huge smile, all wide eyed, looking back and forth at Kara and me. I've never known such joy.
Kara and I were lost in time with Clark, oblivious to the rest of the world. We couldn't stay like that forever, although it felt like it. No one was pressuring us at all to end this moment. I'm pretty sure we were like that for at least a half hour.
But then we finally had to reenter this plane of existence, and we've been “living the life” ever since. There have been some hard parts, but with the support of family and friends we're managing, and just loving it all.
I loved in the beginning learning how to get Clark to stop crying. For the first week I just wanted to hold him every waking moment. Kara's Mom had come out for the birth and stayed for over a week, and but for her I'm not sure if Kara and I would have eaten or slept – it feels like we would have just held Clark staring at him until we all withered away.
Clark was very expressive from the first day, and continues to become more and more so. He's developed the most wonderful full-faced smile, and his coos and ooos are the greatest music I've ever heard. He's now starting to hug me when I walk around with him, which is the most fantastic feeling in the world.
I am also very much blessed with a wonderful marriage. Kara is not only my soul mate, she's also my best friend. My favorite past time is simply being with her. I really don't care that much what we're doing just so long as I can do it with her. The past year has deepened our relationship greatly, and I look forward to us continuing on our journey of two becoming one as we work to raise Clark together and struggle with whatever challenges the future holds for us.
In the past, whenever I did an end of year assessment of how things were progressing for me, I would often become very depressed. Progress for me always seemed to be just to slow to really see it in year long increments. I learned instead to focus on the bigger picture – 5 or 10 year increments – and in that way I could see the progress I was making. This year, however, maybe the first time in my adult life that I really don't need to do that all.
And, when looking forward, this is my most hopeful of New Years as well. I do not really much like where I live, I hate that I'm not near my family to better share all this with them, I am deeply torn on where I would live if given the choice (near my family, near Kara's family, someplace sunny and warm???), I find little personal satisfaction in my work, I am overweight, not exercising enough, and feeling it. But despite all that, I have never been anywhere this satisfied with my life, nor ever been looking forward this much to the future I see likely out there for me.
Happy New Years to all!
(first posted on facebook on January 1, 2009)
Clark is born
Clark Griffith Patterson was born to Chris and Kara (a most amazing woman) on October 7, 2008 at 12:16am. He was 6 lbs 15 oz, 19 1/2 inches long. Ten fingers and ten toes, and everything else seems in order too! He got a great 9.9 apgar (ata boy!! -- they said they don't give 10s) Mommy is doing great! Clark is eatting heartily, pooping and peeing like he should -- ata boy! Grandmom Griffith is awesome - not sure what we'd do without her! We're all tired - but overjoyed!
(first put on facebook October 10, 2008)
(first put on facebook October 10, 2008)
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