Meet James at 6-12 Months, Part I

James was my mellow easy baby the first six months, but he became the more difficult one between six and twelve months as he got more mobile. As he learned more skills like flipping over, clapping, crawling, and pulling himself up, he would not easily go down for naps because all he wanted to do was practice his new skills. It was cute - you could sometimes hear James awake in the middle of the night, clapping - but it also made things challenging. When the twins would be put down for naps, James would pull up and stand in his crib on the side next to Julia's and jump up and down excitedly like an ape, and then neither would sleep. Between that and the first one waking up in the morning waking up the other with their crying, we ended up moving Julia to a separate room.

James pulling himself up for the first time. You can see Mommy in the mirror taking a photo of this momentous occasion. (9 1/2 months)

Rrrrrrrrrrrrip! (9 1/2 months)

James became very willful and hated being thwarted from something he was doing. Basically he entered the terrible twos at 11 months. He was just a boy with a busy schedule of changing table shelves to bang on, hardwood floors to bang on, mirrored doors to bang on, and toys to bang together, and he didn't like being interrupted from those activities.

James was harder these months but he was still my Sweet Boy and my Sweetie who loved affection and being held. He also had the softest, happiest voice when he babbled. Like Julia he liked playing with our faces but he was much more gentle. His stranger anxiety was at its peak these months and when a new person would smile at him and we'd see his lower lip start protruding, we knew we were in trouble. To strangers James was our serious shy boy, but at home he was my Giggles.


Our gentle face explorer. (8 1/2 months)

We had to hide books and bottles from James or he'd cry upon seeing them if he couldn't get to them. He also was very vocal during solid feedings and always wanted the food faster or wanted to skip the food entirely to get to the bottle. Even though he was crying he'd continue to eat so it was hard to know when he was actually done. There were few foods that James didn't like; we called him The Garbage Disposal.

I fed the babies milk in Boppy pillows until about 10 months. When James would finish his bottle, he'd just flip over and crawl off. He was a boy that loved flipping over. As soon as he mastered that, taking monthly growth photos of him lying down next to Patrick Pup became a two person activity - one to photograph, the other to wrangle. James would flip over (or try to) on the changing table and in the crib. He was the potato bug of babies. And then for a week or two in the middle of the night he'd wake up and, confused as to why he was flipped over and unable to right himself, he'd cry out and we'd have to right him like a turtle. I would put the babies in Bumbo seats for reading time and James figured out how to hurl himself backwards out of his seat. He also liked to upend the Bumbo seat like the Hulk.


This is the last time I took monthly growth photos on my own. Notice that James is already in mid-flip. (9 months)


James likes to wrestle his Bumbo seat. (9 months)


"Hmmm... Me not sure how I feel about Bumbo seat staying on ground. Hulk have to think about this." (33 years?)

Kathy's Unsolicited Advice for Parents-to-Be, Part IV

16. Don't wash your hands.

I developed a terrible case of eczema that the dermatologist says won't go away for about 3 years ("until they're out of diapers") because of all the bottle and hand washing. I'll spare you the details (#14 on this page), but I recommend washing your hands as little as possible, not using hot water, wearing vinyl gloves to wash bottles (or making someone else do it), using Dove Sensitive Skin soap, and putting vaseline on your hands before bed (and then putting cotton gloves on your hands) to de-stress them.


17. Buy tubes - not tubs - of Desitin for diaper rash.

It's only an "e" but it makes all the difference. Yes tubs are more economical, but with tubs you end up with Desitin everywhere - it's especially hard to avoid as you probe deeper into the Desitin tub. It's like that maple syrup container at your local diner that's always covered with maple syrup.

Your hand and wrist will look like this...

...But you'll feel like this.

(for the record these are not our children)

18. Sing.

I was amazed at how my singing was enough to silence crying babies, especially when they were little. (Related tip: Whistling works ever BETTER than singing. I try to reserve it for "special" occasions - like complete meltdowns - so they don't get desensitized to it. I have a certain song when we go out ("The Lion Sleeps Tonight") and just my singing it excites them because they know a trip outside is in store. Plus I have certain songs reserved for taking naps (such as "Let's All Sing Like the Birdies Sing" from The Tiki Room at Disneyland), a song I made up for diapering ("Here We Go a Diaperin'"), and more songs I made up for meal times ("Yogurt Starts with a Y" and "Apricots: They're Small and They're Orange".)


Worst Advice (a.k.a. Non-Advice)


1) Get your sleep now!

Thanks. I think I'll go hibernate for three months.


2) Your body will never be the same!

Thanks, Mom, for telling me this repeatedly. You're not bitter about something I did, are you?

Separated at Birth: Baby Edition

I've noticed that at different times growing up my babies have resembled certain celebrities. Some are less flattering comparisons than others, especially for James in those lean months where he looked like he had male pattern baldness. Julia's (other) twins are all really really odd.


Alfred Hitchcock

It's more that James resembles the classic Hitchcock profile. The jowls don't hurt either.

Butch from The Little Rascals

Grandma noticed this resemblance at one week old, particularly when James cried.

Kit-Cat Clock

Winston Churchill

James Pilloff, the slightly-British-on-his-mother's-side bulldog.

Dwight D. Eisenhower

World War II figure? Check. Bald? Yep. Must look like James then.

Hannibal Lechter

Mayor of Munchkinland



Michelin Man


I don't know about the new Michelin Man's "scarf."


The Cockatoo from Baretta

One day I will have to style Julia's hair straight up into an awesome mohawk.

The Joker



Gene Simmons

Brendan found the picture on the left disturbing so he made this not-at-all disturbing version on the right.

Mr. T

John McCain



Nikita Khruschev

Once when James didn't get his way he banged Julia's shoe right into his mouth.


Popeye

The Grand Poobah from the Loyal Order of Water Buffaloes

Rush Limbaugh

I saw this New Yorker cover and was like, "That's James when he cries!"


Tweedledee (or Tweedledum)

Some that I skipped because I decided they were to weak include Leonid Brezhnev, Konstantin Chernenko (who?), Ivan "I must break you" Drago, Jonathan Winters, and King Hippo. And if I included John McCain and Nikita Khruschev you know these must have been weak.

Kathy's Unsolicited Advice for Parents-to-Be, Part III

11. Toys are good bribes.

As your babies get to be 4-6 months, it's good to bribe them with toys on the changing table and in the car. Changing table toys keep little hands away from the task at hand and keep them happy. Also, be sure to give them plastic, easily cleanable toys. The last thing you want is a fabric toy to land in that dirty diaper.


12. Stock up on those hospital blue pad things that your doctor and hospital uses for changing and weighing babies.

They're disposable and great for putting on who-knows-what's-been-there travel changing tables.


13. Brush your teeth in front of them.

Early on, I was so busy I didn't have a chance to brush my teeth. Or so I thought. If you brush your teeth in front of them (at least with an electric tooth brush), they're fascinated and stop everything just to watch you.


14. Don't buy a thermometer.

Yep, that's right. When I was leaving the ER for the SECOND time with James, the nurse gave me a regular electronic thermometer and said to put it in his armpit to take his temperature. I was originally told that when you take it this way (referred to as "axially") you need to add a degree, and when you take it rectally you need to subtract a degree, but according to this chart it's more accurate to add .5 to 1.0 degrees. It takes awhile to get an axial reading but it's a lot easier than taking a rectal temperature in the middle of the night.


15. Join a playgroup, go for strolls, and get out!

Kaiser's Newborn Club used to try to encourage me to go to Mom and Me classes when the babies were first born, and all I could think was, "Are you kidding me? I don't have time!" But now I realize it was more about getting the mom out of the house and around other moms. I wish I'd connected with other moms earlier. Although we have playdates with individual babies or sets of twins, I'm envious of people who see the same group of people every week for a playdate.

My babies at a playdate where they waited like vultures under their friend Ronan's high chair waiting for him to fling down chunks of tofu. (Thanks Stacy for the picture!) (14 months)

I also thought going for strolls was too big an ordeal - especially with twins - so I avoided that for the first two months. And then I went out with my mom one day and it was like a revelation - the babies were quiet during the stroll and JUST looked around or slept. Walks are a nice mental break.


Time to whip out our legs in different directions at the same time!

And lastly, when it's safe to take your baby out in public, definitely go out to restaurants. I thought it would be a disaster to go during the first six months, but who knew that they fall asleep in their strollers and give you a nice peaceful meal? This stage doesn't last long so take advantage of it. Because the doctor recommended my twins not be in public places for three months, my mom and I used to go to The Old Spaghetti Factory and sit in a spare room all to ourselves, and it was delightful.


Brendan and Lila join us in the Chevys bar even though it means they have to be in the presence of babies. (2 1/2 months)

James and Julia at Armadillo Willy's. For some reason this is Julia's favorite place to poop. She's gone three out of four visits (and that fourth visit we discovered she'd pooped when we got home so she probably was attempting some sort of fecal grand slam). (10 1/2 months)