11.21.2013 Nine Weeks With Clark

11.21.2013

A good, but tiring day today!  Clark had a case of the "can't go blues" so basically until those blues were over around 2:30, he could only snatch little 30 minute ClarkNaps.  We were both relieved when the issue was resolved; 15 minutes later he was asleep, just about the time his Mom came home.

Clark and I watched this video today - he was rapt!  He loved the movement and the music and all the faces!  Do we have another musician in the making?

http://www.amazingoasis.org/2013/11/best-coin-ever-spent.html

I'm heading to Idaho to see Josh and Megan for Thanksgiving week, so Clark will just have to handle things without me for the next 10 days.  His Auntie Hannah is going to hang out with him next Monday - Wednesday and then he will be seeing all sorts of family on the long Thanksgiving weekend. I hope I will get a big smile when I see him next in the early hours of December 2 instead of a puzzled look and a "who is THIS?"

Is he practicing his maestro directing moves?  OR
is he trying to coax that spit blanket onto my left shoulder,
which ALWAYS happens before he magically ascends to that aforementioned shoulder?

here is he trying to get that durn ceiling light to respond to all his commentary!

11.20.2013 Nine Weeks With Clark

11.20.2013  As Clark gets older and is awake more and more during the day, I find that I'm more and more tired by the time 3:30 comes around.  :)  He still had 3 naps today, the second of which was a good 2 hours long (with a 15 minute awake break for grousing) but as he gets more and more active, he needs more toys, more floor time, more reading of the books (oh man, is he active during book time!  the arms are waving, the legs are shuffling, smiling insanely!) - too little to entertain himself as of yet, I am his prime source of entertainment during the day.  Stuff he found amazing two weeks ago is not quite as amazing now.  Big Sigh.

BUT a good day today was had by Clark and his Granny.  

Looking at the pictures below, I'm pretty sure we can conclude that Clark has his mother's eyes...  Bright bright blue!

11.19.2013 Nine Weeks With Clark

11.19.2013

Another good day - with only intermittent disgruntled grousing about this and that...from CLARK, not me.  Well, perhaps I groused a bit today as well, but only because he didn't really want to nap.  Oh sure, he NEEDED to nap, but he didn't want to.  Not really.

He did fall asleep on his own on the floor this morning, after a round of not this bed, not that bed, oh NO, not THIS bundle thing, hey, where's the bundle thing??   So I thought ok, I'll turn on the cartoon network and see if he'll calm down.  SO we went into the front room, I put him on the rug/yoga mat/comfy blanket set up, and before I even grabbed the remote, he was asleep.

Clark has this great big smile; not an open mouth smile, but a mouth stretching, cheek bulging smile that is the cutest thing.  I'll try to capture it, but usually, I'm too busy smiling back...  :D

Yep, a Yarbrough Foot

Grousing..not shrieking, just grousing

man oh man, the flash on that camera is bright!  :)

11.18.2013 Nine Weeks with Clark

11.18.2013

because of all the tornadoes and storms in Indiana yesterday, I didn't drive up to Lafayette until this morning. I didn't see much damage along the road I take; I know some communities got hit hard.  :(

The kids lost their electricity yesterday afternoon and it didn't come back on until about 5 pm today.  Luckily it wasn't really cold out today, so Clark and I stayed fairly comfortable.  We spent a lot of time in his room on the floor - it's the sunniest room in the house.

We had a good day today, despite the fact that his naps were nearly non-existent.  Of course, the good side to tiny naps during the day is that he sleeps like a log at night.  So it's all good.


I took a series of pictures today as the light was excellent in the kitchen and his expression changed from second to second.  :)

Please Granny...may I have some MILK?

What?  You say I drank it all?

No MILK?  What to do?  What to do?

No Milk?  Inconceivable!

Hey....whatcha got over there?  I see MILK!

Ho Ho Ho..good one!!

And there it is...and it's all warmed up!!  whoo hoo!

11.15.2013 Nine Weeks With Clark

11.15.2013

What a good day with Clark - I truly enjoyed today!  Lots of play on the floor time, some story time, and he fell asleep fairly easy for his naps.

He's such a handsome little guy and has the BEST smiles.  I never seem to have my camera ready when he smiles REALLY big, because if the camera is up, he's interested in that and not so much in smiling.  But here's one that makes me smile.

Have you ever looked at a baby from the TOP of his head; you know, like when he is laying down on a changing table, and you stand above him and he looks back and up at you.  It's kind of creepy, in a cute way.

Anyway, hanging out in his bedroom, he was perfectly happy looking at his rainbow blanket or gazing out the window or practicing his leg pumps all the while sucking on his hands, so I went thru his dresser and removed the clothes that no longer fit him.  He's such a LONG baby, that even some of the clothes labelled 3-6 months are just too short.

I came across a hat I'd crocheted for him out of this really soft yarn I bought at Hobby Lobby.  So onto his head it went and outside to the back yard we traveled for some ball kicking and fresh air.  :)  Below he's actually looking at himself in the mirror while I take the picture.  He thought he was extremely amusing and gave himself GREAT big smiles...until I pulled out the camera.  :)

11.14.2013 Nine Weeks with Clark

11.14.2013

Today was a decent day marred by the fact that Clark's naps were too short - first nap he fell asleep on the floor - slept for nearly 90 minutes.  But the 2nd and 3rd naps?  way too short.  WAY too short.  2nd nap?  Charlotte the cat woke him up with her yowling for Timmy.  3rd nap?  Not sure why he woke up, but he was NOT happy that his sleeping had been interrupted.

So I dumped him into the stroller and we walked for 30 minutes.  i figured he'd fall asleep immediately, but no, he stayed awake the entire time and only began grousing when we were nearly back to the house.  Luckily, his MOM was already home and she took over.  I headed back out for more walks.

So the issue was that he just could NOT stay asleep and then he just could NOT wake up all the way.

And yes, he shared his dismay.

:)

however I did take a few pictures today...of course.i couldn't choose between these two despite them being nearly the same - so heck, I included both.

Tim put the Halloween jack o'lanterns back by the garage - the squirrels moved in.

11.13.2013 Nine Weeks with Clark

11.13.2013

Naps at 8 am, 12 noon, and just now down again at 3 pm...sleeping for 90 minutes the first two times and hoping for 90 minutes this last time.  That would give Mary and Tim enough time to get into the house and relax for a change instead of turning instantly into Mom and Dad mode.  :)

Could this be a routine?  Here's how it went today...

Tim and Mary left around 7:30...we hang out until around 8 when he looks sleepy.  I wrap him into his bundle and then walk around the house, with his head in the crook of my elbow, his legs hanging over my right arm.   Bounce Bounce Bounce...Shhhh Shhhhh Shhhh Shhhhh.  He stares at the ceiling until he can't stare anymore and falls into a deep trance and then sleep.

He's been asleep for about an hour - I heat up a pan of water to nearly boiling and , and then when I hear his waking up noises (sucking, shrieking, yelling...it changes each time) I plop one of his bottles in the water to heat up.  We spend about 15 minutes getting him up from his nap...talking to his crib animals, getting him out of his sleep sack, checking his diaper and getting him into his clothes for the day.  Today?  A red thermal shirt and fuzzy gray pants and red socks!  :)

by the time we get into the kitchen, his bottle is warmed up; he gets plopped into his bouncer and fed his 4-6 ounces.  and then he poops.  Back to the bedroom for his hilarious diaper change routine and then an hour or so of playtime, reading books, etc.

Reaching for, but not quite grabbing some bug eyed little toys!

And then when he starts looking sleepy, we repeat!

Side note...this 3 pm nap only lasted until 3:30.  he woke up about 5 minutes after Mary got home.  I think he sensed her presence!

This morning we walked down to the Methodist church - they have a day care which I wanted to check out.  I'd met the day care director during our October strolls; I used their parking lot to do some laps while Clark was sleeping.  For this walk  I didn't bother with the stroller; just carried him.  He was NOT a fan of the brisk breeze or the sunshine in his face!  But he did like being carried down the street like a bag of potatoes. :)

I posted on FB yesterday

Kathy Yarbrough Franklin

Yesterday

I just watched my grandson Clark fall asleep while smiling at a stuffed Cat in the Hat. PERFECT

Here's Clark with his friend, the smiley Cat in the Hat

11.12.2013 Nine Weeks with Clark

11.12.13

Snow!  Clark's first Snow!  and yep I thought that at some point i should take him outside and roll him around in it, just because it IS his first snow.  But I didn't want to deal with the horrifying shrieks that might have occurred, so we just stayed inside.

Today Clark fell asleep on the floor!  We'd been playing in his room, reading books, rolling around, and suddenly, he turned on his side and settled in to look out the window and look at the textures and rainbow colors of a knitted blanket that I hung from the rocker for JUST that purpose.  I wrapped him up in the soft blanket he was laying on, laid down behind him, and patted his bundled leg.  He put his left fingers in his mouth, grabbed a sock monkey with his right, and shut his eyes.  That was it!  Asleep!  I crept out,  he slept for over an hour and when he woke up, he was perfectly happy.  The only reason I knew he was awake was i heard sucking noises as I passed by the door.

The rest of the day was good - he took 3 naps, each only an hour and a bit long, but he was in a good mood each time he woke up.   

at one point, i threw this little blanket on Clark's head and he was at first flummoxed...SOMETHING IS ON MY HEAD!!!!"

but then he liked it!  and he sat there very happy for quite some time with that blanket on his head.  :)

11.11.2013 Nine Weeks with Clark

11.11.2013  Veteran's Day was chilly, overcast, and eventually rainy.  So no walk today!  We stayed snug in the house and today just might have been our best day yet!

Clark finally had one of those mythical 2 hour naps...which actually stretched out to 2.5 hours!   Bundled up, laid down in the big crib with his thunder machine storming, Clark smiled, turned his head and fell asleep.  He woke up once, wanting to suck his fingers but not able to get them out of his bundle.  so i undid the velcro a bit, and he went back to sleep with 2 fingers in his mouth.

Finally awake, I dressed him in some clothes, wandered into the kitchen to give him his bottle.  he drank the entire 6 ounces and then laid cozily in his bouncer chair, too full and warm and happy to do anything else but grin occasionally like a goof ball.  He had one more decent nap, after which we played on the floor in his room for quite a long time, just rolling around and reading Dr. Seuss' ABC book.  He was just about to drift off for nap number 3 when his Mom came home...   a GREAT DAY!

11.9-10.2013 Nine Weeks with Clark

11.9-10.2013  I drive home on Friday afternoons and return on Sunday nights to resume my Granny Nanny status on Monday mornings.  This past weekend, I returned home to Scott and started to prep a Saturday dinner for Tim, Mary, Clark.  Sam and Scott's Aunt Jeannie.  Jenna could not make it as she is busy working in a Bloomington Theater.

The kids showed up midday Saturday - it was great to have at least a few of my kids in the house.  Brats and potatoes for lunch followed by meat loaf and corn casserole and apple pie for dinner.

Clark is growing so fast - here's a few pictures I took this past weekend.

It's hard work being so cute allll the time!

11.08.2013 Nine Weeks With Clark

11.08.2013

Another good day;  I sure do enjoy hanging out with Clark while his Mom and Dad are at work.   But by 3:30, I am ready to turn him over to his Mom, especially on a day like today, when we again spent quite a bit of time on the floor.  Granted, I think I am in better shape than I was 4 weeks ago, but still, that floor is hard!

 Clark sure is a cutie!  His expressions and moods change so fast, it's sometimes hard to keep up with him.

Anyway - I saw a commercial today about Velveeta Cheesy Skillets.  have you seen it?  if not, here's the link.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=23wbRufct-o

It makes me laugh each time I see it...one of the phrases in it is something like "smite them with the liquid gold until there can be no more smiting"   I decided to share the you tube link on FB and watched it once or twice more, laughing at the silliness of it.

Meanwhile, Clark was spending some time in his bouncy chair and I was babbling at him, yammering some version of that phrase from the Velveeta commercial.  He thought I was hysterical and his reaction was this..

yep, evidently he thought I was hilarious!  

Big smile after big smile followed by him trying to repeat my incessant yammering about smiting...I grabbed the camera and taped a little video.  He was more interested in the camera than in making big smiles, but he does keep up the talking...

11.07.2013 Nine Weeks with Clark

11.07.2013  Today was a good day, marred by the fact that Clark's customary noise machine seems to be malfunctioning.  He commonly sleeps to a soothing thunderstorm!  (yes, it is soothing) but during today's first nap, the thunderstorm turned into a very loud heartbeat..which woke Clark up.

sigh

but we overcame that mishap, returned fairly quickly to happiness and smiles, and spent about an hour on the floor, practicing our turnovers.  He's not quite there, but he will be in the next few weeks!

After awhile, we took a long walk; the sky was very blue and the temp crisp; Clark was warm in his zip up fuzzy.  We went into the Dollar store and bought some baby wipes and a stacking cup set and yes, he was admired by all we passed.

I discovered he does NOT like it when I wear sunglasses.  I'm pretty sure he did not recognize me, but he looked really relieved when I took them off and then gave me big smile.

anyway - here is a video of Clark practicing his turnovers.

11.06.2013 Nine Weeks with Clark

11.06.2013

Today is rapidly shaping up to be a stellar day!   :)

And funny, because it's cold and damp and windy and rainy outside so we won't be walking...at least, Clark won't be.  I'm not going to be the reason for his first big cold!

But we're snug in the house, and he's just been great today..we're getting a new routine for naps which includes endless repeats of Edelweiss while he's cuddling on my shoulder, and then a dump into the crib on a waiting fuzzy blanket, which I then tuck in around him.  He's bundled at night and sleeps very well, so it finally dawned on me that perhaps he needs to be bundled for naps as well right now.  Took me long, enough...sheesh.

anyway - he's currently sleeping in his crib for nap 3 of 3.  First Nap was a crib nap, the second nap....omigosh!  he put himself to sleep in the bouncy chair!  He did that once before, weeks ago, but not until today was there a repeat!

here he is, happy and smiling at me AND the ceiling light!

here he is, seconds later!  whoo hoo!

So I'm hoping this is the beginning of a trend.
 If you're full and you're happy, complete with a clean diaper, for  goodness sake's,
put your sweet self to sleep without fighting it!

After waking up, we had a wonderful hour or so of laying on the floor, rolling around.  His hour just might have been less painful than my hour, but roll we both did.  And he did some Tummy Time!  which wore him out, resulting in
 1. a need for a few drinks and
2. a need for nap number 3

...for HIM, not me..

:)

When was the last time you were mere inches from a baby face?  It's a beautiful thing!  His eyes are amazing; the whites are so white and the blues are so blue!  He was laying on his side, resting from being on his tummy, hands jammed into his mouth, drooling like a St. Bernard; I was laying on MY side, facing him..I was not drooling nor were my hands in my mouth.  We looked into each other's eyes, he studied me, and then took his hands out of his mouth and smiled a big ol' baby smile at me...

and then sloshed his wet hand all over my face.  

It was great!

11.05.2013 Nine Weeks with Clark

11.05.2013

Today was a good day!   Twice I put Clark down for his nap in his big crib - all bundled up like a parcel, on his side and he slept for a good while, both times just over an hour.  The third time?  well, it didn't work so well, because during his sleep he developed hiccups and pooped...or did the poop cause the hiccups?

I dunno - but he didn't get extremely angry any of the times he woke up in the crib, so I feel it was kind of a success!  you know..kind of...

Here you see the sleeping peaceful child...a rare sight!
notice the colorful visually appealing blankie, mere inches from his face,
placed there in the hopes that when he opens his eyes,
he'll be instantly rapt and not shriek in disgust at his location.
the wild pink and orange stuffed creature is propping him up on his side,
 in the hopes that in this position he will remain asleep for at least 2 hours
(and therefore wake up refreshed and not shrieking.)
Didn't quite make it to two hours,
but he likes having the soft fuzzy head of the creature rubbed on his head and cheeks.

His Dad Tim came home for a brief time at lunch time - Clark was very smiley at the sight of his Dad!

We went for an hour long, from 2 -3 - he slept for most of it.  We got back into the house and he had a little yell fest all by himself.  I used that yell time to prep a bottle...which he proceeded to suck down just as if he hadn't been fed an entire bottle just 2 hours before.

And then his mother was home!  and he was extremely happy...

11.04.2013 Nine Weeks with Clark

11.04.2013

Mondays are hard.

You'd think I would be fresh from the weekend, but I seem to get tired really fast on Mondays.   Clark does too.  Maybe because he is adjusting on Mondays to the absence of his parents (for ONLY 8 hours!!!), maybe he doesn't really want to adjust to the way I do things and hey, maybe the time change had something to do with it (yep, I napped during one of his naps)... but hey, today was hard.  He had a major meltdown in the middle of the day - I'm gonna say he shrieked for the joy of shrieking.

except, really...it wasn't joyful at all.  not...at...all...

He was angry and he didn't appreciate it at all when I put him down..when I picked him up...when I didn't give him a bottle...when I gave him a bottle...when I put him in the swing..when I took him OUT of the swing.

His friend the Ceiling Light didn't even make him happy.  sigh.

On the other hand, when he wasn't shrieking, he was smiling and practicing mouth movements and ALMOST laughing occasionally.  He has certainly learned how to flap his hands around, and if his hands aren't in his mouth or clasped in front of him like a monk, he's flapping his arms and hands.

He spent some quality time in his crib today after one of his diaper changes.  I hung over the side and we smiled at each other and practiced our word formation  :)  and later on, I put him in there after he fell asleep on my shoulder.  He slept for about 45 minutes and wasn't really shrieking to get out,,,more like letting me know he was disgruntled.  I talked as I neared the room "where's that baby!" and when i walked INTO the room i walked right past the crib ... "I know he's here somewhere!  where's that baby!  ohh there he is!"  and he smiled at me when I finally looked at him.  

We finally went for a walk in the afternoon and instead of using the stroller, I decided to try the baby carrier that straps him to my chest (yep, my back REALLY hurts right now.)  We walked about an hour - he slept for most of it, but I think he enjoyed being up high, being able to see everything.  At least, he didn't cry nor did he struggle at all when I was putting him into the harness.  Hmm, not quite sure why not.  I think the feeling of being encased in soft fluff makes him feel a little wary about what is going on.  He gets really quiet and still when he's all zipped up

what's with the scarf?  i used it to shelter his face from the occasional breeze. 

11.01.2013 Nine Weeks With Clark

11.01.2013

Today was an EXCELLENT day with Clark!

He fussed very little, lots of smiles and somehow, he seemed just a little bit more...oh what's a good word...AWARE of stuff.  Aware that being put down for a nap in the swing was what he wanted and he should just go ahead and shut his eyes without fussing...aware that if I left the room, he wasn't being abandoned forever...aware that he COULD stuff that fuzzy stuffed dog into his mouth with his hands but perhaps it wasn't the best option.  :)

Here is a picture of Clark in his crib.  After each diaper change, I put him in there for a bit while I wash my hands.  At first, he was NOT happy with the crib, but now that it's part of our diaper routine, he seems to be ok with it (most of the time.)  He lies there and looks at the ceiling light, watches the pattern on the blanket I drape over the side to see just what it might do, and occasionally I catch him looking at a stuffed animal with interest.

I'd read about babies being taught signs to indicate what it was they wanted before they could actually talk.   I didn't do that with my boys, so i thought I'd try it with Clark.  If he is acting like he wants to be picked up, I throw my arms in the air, wave my hands around and say "whoo hoo!  Clark!  Put your hands in the air and say Pick Me Up Grannie!  Pick me up!"

and yes, he looks at me like I've lost my mind, but the past two days, he DOES put his arms up in the air and waves them around!  Now, whether it is to protect himself from me OR whether he is mimicking me I'm not sure, but either way, if he throws his hands up in the air, I pick him up!

Which is what he wanted.  so it's all good!  Below is a picture of him as he's lowering his arms.  Yep, it was hard to get a picture of his arms in motion while mine were also in motion  but after about 10 shots, I managed to get a decent one. and yep, he got picked up and hugged!