What's on my head?
Why is everyone laughing?Greg planned a "surprise" weekend for Heather in San Francisco this past weekend to celebrate their 4th wedding anniversary, so G'ma and G'pa stayed at their house with Maggie and Emmett. It was quite the adventure for us. It was the first time we had stayed with them over night and experienced "a day in the life" of a 1-year old (they will be 1 on the 22nd.)
Luckily, Heather printed us their daily schedule and a list of what to feed them for meals, so we had a handy reference as the days unfolded. Mags and Em are used to us being around, as we have seen them often in that last few weeks, so they were quite cooperative with having the "novices" provide their care. Actually, I think they were already "on to us" and knew they could get by with a few more things than with Mom and Dad. (no, I won't give any details here -- G&H read this blog - ha!)
They are very adept at feeding themselves all sorts of finger foods, such as cheerios, cut-up fruit, veggies, pasta, sweet potato fries, and their favorite -- little tiny cubes of cheese. (G&H don't buy baby food -- they prepare all their food from fresh organic fruits and veggies, etc.) Emmett is always hungry at mealtime so he uses a very efficient method of eating -- take as much food from his tray as he can get in his fat little hand, and stuff it into his mouth; chew it as little as possible, swallow it, repeat. Maggie is much more delicate in her approach (and a lot quieter at mealtime too) as she carefully picks up each little piece of food by pinching it between her index finger and her thumb and carefully placing it in her mouth; she actually chews her food before swallowing.
In addition to finger foods, the babies get applesauce, yogurt, cereal, etc. Sometimes the person feeding via the spoon method must "persuade" the recipient that he/she really DOES want to eat that food. Emmett's method of not accepting the food is usually to refuse to open his mouth. The way around that tactic is to get him to smile (which is VERY easy to do) and then quickly put the spoon into his mouth. Maggie, again, is much more elegant -- she merely shakes her head "no" (and she does it very quickly, and many times in succession). Heather always says "no thank you" to her when she does that. It's so cute, I have to refrain from laughing out loud. The way around her tactic is to just wait a bit and offer it to her again, and USUALLY she will give it another try.
When Emmett is finished eating, he lets us know; and he does it very loudly. There is no doubt in our minds that he is FINISHED! And he wants down right NOW. Maggie just sits there quietly eating the rest of her meal. Even if she is finished eating, she just sits there quietly and waits for her hands and face to be washed, and then she gets to get down.
I am sure you have figured out already, that these two couldn't be any different. And it is the same with everything they do, whether it's playing, walking, talking, going to sleep, getting up, riding in the car, getting dressed or undressed, or taking a bath. It's just so much fun watching them. Hardly an hour (or less!) goes by that we are not laughing at their antics.
Seattle weather turned HOT on Saturday when Denise and Roger came over to help us babysit. So in the afternoon, we decided to all pack up and go to their house, as they have A/C. We didn't take any toys along, as we remembered that Tupperware actually IS a good toy. And the kids agreed and had great fun playing with Denise's stash of containers. Emmett (always the noisy one) got two pieces (a big bowl and a smaller bowl) and commenced to walk the length of the house banging them together; Maggie sat quietly putting smaller pieces inside larger pieces, looking each piece over in very serious, thoughtful expressions.
Suffice it to say that we had a great weekend. I didn't even mind one bit getting up in the night to find a "binky" or a "silkie" for one of them, or waking up early when they were ready to get up (always by 6am) because it was just so great to spend time with them. We always knew we would love to have grandkids, but we had no idea it would be this much fun!
Luckily, Heather printed us their daily schedule and a list of what to feed them for meals, so we had a handy reference as the days unfolded. Mags and Em are used to us being around, as we have seen them often in that last few weeks, so they were quite cooperative with having the "novices" provide their care. Actually, I think they were already "on to us" and knew they could get by with a few more things than with Mom and Dad. (no, I won't give any details here -- G&H read this blog - ha!)
They are very adept at feeding themselves all sorts of finger foods, such as cheerios, cut-up fruit, veggies, pasta, sweet potato fries, and their favorite -- little tiny cubes of cheese. (G&H don't buy baby food -- they prepare all their food from fresh organic fruits and veggies, etc.) Emmett is always hungry at mealtime so he uses a very efficient method of eating -- take as much food from his tray as he can get in his fat little hand, and stuff it into his mouth; chew it as little as possible, swallow it, repeat. Maggie is much more delicate in her approach (and a lot quieter at mealtime too) as she carefully picks up each little piece of food by pinching it between her index finger and her thumb and carefully placing it in her mouth; she actually chews her food before swallowing.
In addition to finger foods, the babies get applesauce, yogurt, cereal, etc. Sometimes the person feeding via the spoon method must "persuade" the recipient that he/she really DOES want to eat that food. Emmett's method of not accepting the food is usually to refuse to open his mouth. The way around that tactic is to get him to smile (which is VERY easy to do) and then quickly put the spoon into his mouth. Maggie, again, is much more elegant -- she merely shakes her head "no" (and she does it very quickly, and many times in succession). Heather always says "no thank you" to her when she does that. It's so cute, I have to refrain from laughing out loud. The way around her tactic is to just wait a bit and offer it to her again, and USUALLY she will give it another try.
When Emmett is finished eating, he lets us know; and he does it very loudly. There is no doubt in our minds that he is FINISHED! And he wants down right NOW. Maggie just sits there quietly eating the rest of her meal. Even if she is finished eating, she just sits there quietly and waits for her hands and face to be washed, and then she gets to get down.
I am sure you have figured out already, that these two couldn't be any different. And it is the same with everything they do, whether it's playing, walking, talking, going to sleep, getting up, riding in the car, getting dressed or undressed, or taking a bath. It's just so much fun watching them. Hardly an hour (or less!) goes by that we are not laughing at their antics.
Seattle weather turned HOT on Saturday when Denise and Roger came over to help us babysit. So in the afternoon, we decided to all pack up and go to their house, as they have A/C. We didn't take any toys along, as we remembered that Tupperware actually IS a good toy. And the kids agreed and had great fun playing with Denise's stash of containers. Emmett (always the noisy one) got two pieces (a big bowl and a smaller bowl) and commenced to walk the length of the house banging them together; Maggie sat quietly putting smaller pieces inside larger pieces, looking each piece over in very serious, thoughtful expressions.
Suffice it to say that we had a great weekend. I didn't even mind one bit getting up in the night to find a "binky" or a "silkie" for one of them, or waking up early when they were ready to get up (always by 6am) because it was just so great to spend time with them. We always knew we would love to have grandkids, but we had no idea it would be this much fun!
3 comments:
Pam do they eat at the same time? If they do it It sounds like you had a ball
hoorsy for grandma! we are happy you had fun- we did too! i absolutely loved reading this post! :)
pam, i love this blog entry! now i'm curious what the kids "got away with" when mom & dad were outta town...ha!
hope you guys are good,
lauren
Post a Comment