twins?

Well, Jack doesn't look like Shannon, but he does look a lot like my mom's baby pictures. They could be twins, except for the fify-some year difference, they have different mothers, and the gender difference. (I realize there is such a thing as fraternal twins, but those have no more likelihood of looking alike than any other pair of siblings.) But, they do look similar, especially in the eyebrows and forehead.



A further discovery of Jack's sensitive side: While Shannon cared neither who was holding him nor if he was being held, Jack seems to be quite particular. He doesn't necessarily need to be held more than Shannon. But, if a "stranger" attempts to hold him, his bottom lip curls and he winds into a full-lung howl. Sean and I have noticed that Jack has been quite a bit more sensitive from birth. He had a few breastfeeding issues, while Shannon had none. He seems to care when his diaper is soaked, where Shannon never seemed to notice. Jack responds to pain with crying, where Shannon seemed to respond with a mixture of curiosity and discomfort. I'm guessing that in the future, we won't see Jack running full-tilt into walls like his big brother. Or, if he does, he'll do more than wince and giggle.

Hopefully Jack's fear of strangers is merely a temporary phase. It really isn't an issue except on Sunday mornings when Jack goes to nursery. I don't at all enjoy listening to my boy howl when I know I could comfort him, but ultimately I know Jack will be fine. But I feel bad for the people stuck with a screaming baby. This past Sunday, he was able to quiet himself several times. But when another baby started crying, Jack's calm was shattered, and he was back to howling. I teach 2-year-old discovery hour and lead the 2-4 year old music activity time during second service. And, while he could be with me when I'm just with the 2-year-olds, neither he nor I would be able to do it during the music activity time. I'm standing and need both my arms, and he wouldn't enjoy the managed, noisy chaos of 20-30 2-4 year-olds dancing and singing.

I guess despite his size, he'll just be my big, sweet teddy bear, with such a cute, dimpled smile. :) And he is such a sweet, sweet kid. I can hardly wait until he wakes up so I can kiss his cheeks. I love when his face is up by mine, he puts his thumb (the left one, of course) in his mouth, he "brushes" my face with the fingers of his thumb-sucking hand, and the other hand wraps around the back of my head and plays with my hair. It's my wonderful little Jack hug.

where do big boys go pee-pee?

As part of the "toilet training in less than a day" method, you spend a lot of time talking about pottying. So, I had to get a video of Shannon answering the question, "Where do big boys go pee-pee?" Anyway, you're getting two videos because I couldn't decide which I liked better. And, because I'm his mother, I nearly fall on the floor when I watch them, but I understand that won't be everyone's reaction. :)



(Shannon translation: "Pee in potty. Not in pants.")

You might also be interested in how he's doing with the potty. Well, the potty training was a little on the stressful side, but he's doing pretty well. While at first I would have called the weekend less than a success, Shannon, as usual, has surprised me with how he learns. He will act dis-interested like he's not paying attention. Then, you give him a day and you realize he heard and absorbed EVERYTHING you said. So, while it looked like he was absently staring out the window and answering every question with a yes (despite me shaking my head no), he was really listening.

Anyway, he has a trouble sometimes during naps and at night. But, I think the trouble at naps was because he was sick, and the nights are normal. Other than that, he's only had one accident in the last several days. However, he still needs to learn to poop in the potty. So, overall, I would call the weekend a success. Hopefully we'll get the pooping thing down pretty soon, but I'm using the paper-towel-in-the-underwear trick from my mom which is helping. :)

a little fall fun

We are trying to spend Sunday afternoons doing fun family activities together. Yesterday, we decided to try raking, which served the dual purpose of a) family fun and b)well ... raking the lawn. :) Here are a couple photos:

a few updates

Here a few updates of things happening in the cov household:

• Jack started solids. I started Shannon at about five months too. He seems to be enjoying it.


• We attempted the "toilet training in less than a day" method with Shannon this weekend. It was a stressful weekend, but he's getting the hang of it. He likes to climb up on the potty, throw his arms out to each side and say "ta-da!" And, he enjoys telling me that he needs to "poot in the potty"--especially when he is supposed to be going to sleep.


• Jack is inch-worming. I noticed it first last night, but he will pull both legs up under his chest and propel himself slightly forward toward an object. Shannon crawled at 10 days shy of 6 months so it might not be too long for Jack either.


• Jack has also gotten to the point where he thoroughly enjoys watching Shannon. He just gets the biggest smiles watching Shannon do anything. Shannon can be sitting quietly reading a book, and Jack will just talk and smile and make happy sounds. Tonight, I was helping Jack tickle Shannon, and they both got quite a kick out of it.


• Sean has played the piano publicly. We acquired a piano from my parents about a month ago. Sean immediately began teaching himself to play. Then, the last two weeks he has played piano at church for a couple songs. He, of course, says it really isn't that big of a deal since he already understood chords from the guitar. But, I'm still amazed.

fairness and puzzles

Shannon has not yet used the word "fair," but he is beginning to be exposed to the concept. Shannon was never a thumb-sucker, but he occassionally puts his fingers in his mouth--all of them. At this point, we are trying to discourage this behavior, so he is often instructed to get his hand out of his mouth.

Today, Jack was merrily sucking his thumb while lying on his little play mat. Shannon was on the opposite side of the room playing with his train puzzle. At one point, Shannon got up, walked to Jack, pulled Jack's hand from his mouth and said, "hand out of mouth." Then, he went back to his train.

So, it appears that Sean and I will now be navigating a more complicated terrain of parenting.

A little more on Shannon's train puzzle. Shannon has not been very exposed to puzzles in his two and half years. But this summer, I purchased at a garage sale a five-foot floor puzzle in the shape of a train. The box indicated that the recommended age range was 4+. I know that these are generalizations, and that many children will enjoy the item sooner than the recommended age. But, I was guessing that it would be a good six months before Shannon really got into this puzzle.

Given that assumption, we had gotten the puzzle out only a few times. Shannon would just play with the individual pieces and occassionally try to put pieces together. But, he didn't really seem to be trying to put like pieces together--just any pieces. Then I put the puzzle together for him a couple times with him watching. The next thing I know, Shannon is sorting the puzzle by train cars and putting it together. Now, he hasn't actually put the whole thing together, but he has put a couple of the cars nearly together in one sitting. This after having been exposed to this particular puzzle only a handful of times and puzzling in general only occassionally over the last couple months!

What a smart boy! I'm really enjoying this age of learning and discovery where he so often surprises me with how quickly he picks up on things I didn't even realize he was learning.

a few of shannon's faces

I've captured a few of Shannon's expressions. There are a few more I'm hoping to get before he stops making them, but I thought I would share these for now.
Laughing:

Smiling:

Concentrating/reading a book. Believe it or not, we saw Shannon's furrowed brow while he was still in the womb. When I was 36 weeks pregnant, we had an ultrasound. At one point, they changed the view of the ultrasound so it was more 3-D--like you were actually looking at the baby in the womb. Anyway, he furrowed his brow several times--a trait he inherited from his father.

Raised-eyebrows-silly-face:

Smiling-for-the-camera face:

a happy boy in the bath

Here are a couple short clips of Jack in the bath.