5 Against 1

Sticking with numerical themes...

Wyatt is finally getting his first tooth. It is just starting to break through his lower jaw. No more toothless wonder.

Parks is also getting another tooth, his fifth. He now has three on top and two on bottom and loves using them. He's graduated to some larger puffs cereal. Furthermore, might I say that he is a very neat eater. He rarely gets food anywhere outside his mouth and will only chew with his mouth closed.

Wyatt, on the other hand, seems to have a hole in his bottom lip in which some thing drops out with every bite, inevitably getting something on his clothes at most meals. He gets this from his mother, and from his father, he has the poor-mannered habit of chewing with his mouth open.

1..2..3..4..Give Me 5

The boys are developing such unique personalities. The other day we were at dinner, and I had one boy on each side of me. It was like night and day. Wyatt, our little details oriented son, was checking out the lines on the tablecloth. He studied every one intensely. He stared at them. He touched them. He tried to put his mouth on them. Parks, on the other hand, was banging a toy phone to the beat of the music playing over the airwaves and babbling ceaselessly.

Wyatt has also become fascinated with his hands and feet. Whenever he is in a high chair, he props one of his legs up and crosses it over his other leg. He loves to bend his fingers down, like forming numbers, and examine them. So, I started counting numbers on my hand, counting 1..2..3..4.. Parks likes things on more on the rambunctious side. He has started giving high-5's on command. He will raise his little hand up and spread his fingers out waiting for you to slap it. Now, in order to keep both of them entertained at the same time, we have combined the two styles. Now, to get them both laughing we go 1..2..3..4..Give me 5.

Looking Back

I found this video of Wyatt and Parks from the first day we brought Wyatt home after six weeks in the NICU. They look so different now than they did back then. Parks is the first baby and Wyatt is the second one.

Helmets and Bananas

Wyatt got some new digs for his helmet this week. For any of you out there with Starband helmets, rub-on transfers work best. We wanted superheros or Tonka trucks, but the closest we could find was fishing. Wyatt goes tomorrow to get his helmet adjusted. He has rubbed one nasty raw spot and developed a heat rash up the back of his head. Hopefully, we will only need the helmet a couple more weeks. He has made such improvements. The shape of his head is noticeably different. I will have to attach a copy of the final head scan when it's all said and done.Today, the boys and I were eating a real banana, not the semi-liquid, semi-solid mush that comes from Gerber. We have really started to practice verbalizing and signing objects. The easiest items have been foods and pets. A big help has been the Baby Signing Time series that the boys absolutely love...and that their parents unfortunately can sing all the songs in their sleep. They perk up two rooms away when they hear the theme music. It is the only television that we let them watch, other than some sports. They are boys.

Back to the story. We were eating the banana, and I'm showing them how to peel it, showing them the sign for banana, and slowly enunciating each syllable before saying the whole thing together. Park is laughing hysterically. Then he starts repeating what I'm saying. "Bah-nan-na-na-na". It sounded soooo much like banana, I ran back to get Randi to have her confirm it. He did it only once for her, but must have done it 6 times prior to that. I'm not going to say it's his first word, but he is starting to parrot what we are saying. This made Randi's warnings hit home. We'd better watch what we say around him.