Friday, September 30, 2011

Three Grandkids Now

I've been neglecting this blog, but hope to be more active here.

Nathan is now 3 years old. He is a funny little boy - smart and silly and interested in many things. His baby brother was born in June, so now he is a big brother. Jennifer stayed home with the boys for 12 weeks, and just went back to work last week. Nate had become very attached to Jen while she was home, and shows signs of separation anxiety. He cries when she leaves, or when he is left at our house or at preschool, which he just started attending when she went back to work. None of it is unexpected or unusual for a child his age in these circumstances, so I think he is just fine.

Nathan is very gentle with baby Noah, just like he has always been with Anna. But I've noticed a sort of aggression that he seems to be controlling just barely. He has done it for a while with Anna. He runs up behind her when she is walking, (toddling really) and puts his hand on her back as if he wants to push her, but then he backs up quickly and says, "I didn't make her fall down!" I've seen him do it several times. He accidentally tripped her once and she did fall, and he was immediately concerned and very contrite. It was clearly an accident. But these other events are aggressive looking, not accidental at all. His face is scrunched up as if with anger, and his fists are clenched, and his movements are aggressive. But he always controls himself, and he never has hurt her.

Now he does a similar thing with Noah. He gets right in his face, as if to kiss him, but with clenched fists. He even trembles with the intensity of what he is feeling, but he never loses control and never hurts him. It's very interesting to watch. I really believe that it is totally normal to feel angry at a new sibling, especially for a pampered first child, which Nathan definitely is. Nathan is a gentle soul by nature, and it fascinates me to see how transparent he is with his feelings, and how he manages to maintain his gentleness in spite of his emotions.

Nate has been able to identify letters since he was a little over a year old. He would go find them on the refrigerator (magnetic letters that live there) when I asked for them. I would name a letter at random, and he would bring it to me. I knew then that he was very smart. Now he is learning how to write letters.

Anna was a colicky baby, who cried an awful lot when she was tiny. Fortunately she outgrew that, and now she is a darling, fun little girl. She has a temper and many opinions, but she is affectionate and curious and silly. She is sweet and loving, and she loves Grumpa better than she loves me. She understands most of what is said to her, and goes to the refrigerator when she wants a bottle, or goes to the baby's room when her diaper needs to be changed. She understands "no" but often ignores it when she is exploring something. She is the busiest child I've ever known, and has great concentration when she is interested in what she is doing.

She is over 14 months old now, and is just recently starting to really talk. She repeats many things, and will suddenly come up with a word, and then not say it again for a while. For example, one day she was playing with my shoe. I took it from her, and told her, "No, shoes are dirty. Don't play with them. Go find your toys." She left, and in a minute she came back and handed me the other shoe. "Dirty!" she said. I haven't heard her say it since.

Noah is just 3 months old now. He is doing everything he should be doing at his age. His newest trick is to reach for things. He loves the play mat, and spends 10 or 15 minutes at a time batting at the lion and giraffe hanging above his head. He is a very social baby. He even smiles and talks while taking his bottle. He loves it if one of us gets right at his level and looks him in the eyes.

Noah was born with a cleft lip, and will be having corrective surgery in a couple of weeks. He has not had any problems nursing, and has been growing very well. He does not like a bottle, however, and fussed a lot for me last week, which was Jen's first week back at work. He is doing much better now though.