Singing and talking

I know it's been forever since I posted, but I have to get down some of the things Oscar's been doing the last few weeks as he gets to 22 months old. So much talking, signing, and singing - so much personality. First, he definitely likes having my attention. Even his brothers get exasperated because he will say loudly, "MAAAAA-ma," over and over (talking over them) until I reply (and sometimes even if I already have been replying). His main question lately is "Where _____?" with his hands open. Asking where Dada, where Michael, where Joe, where Papi, where Grandma, where Malcolm. He loves playing outside, in the backyard or at playgrounds, and has gotten into the routine of going outside with Michael for his snack after we get home in the afternoons. He really likes playing with his big brothers, and seems to really like sharing his room with Joseph. I can hear them talking most nights after the lights are out.  If Joseph sneaks out to talk to us again, Oscar will start yelling, "JOOOOOE-Joe" until he comes back.

Oscar pulled up a stool and grabbed some note paper at the library to help me search for a few books

Oscar really likes the picture of the pony in his animals book so he was excited to sit on this at the children's museum

I know Oscar has always liked music, but the past month he's really started trying to sing himself. He just started singing "Baa Baa, Black Sheep" and the ABC song this week. He's been singing our "Good Day" song a lot, and when we sing other children's or Signing Time songs, he listens along and chimes in on certain words he knows.  He requests "Sigh Time Mudic" for the Treeschooler CDs a lot when he's not allowed to actually watch a movie.  One of his favorite songs from our Making Music CD is the regular chant version of Agnus Dei.  Unfortunately the whole song only lasts 30 seconds, so you have to sing it a lot of times when he demands, "Ag-uh De-ih!"  He starts singing quietly to himself when we go for walks in the stroller or drive in the car, so you can tell the music is on his mind :)  In the car he, along with Joseph, have liked the Holy Heroes Stations of the Cross CD we have, so he frequently requests "Stay-shuh Craw!" This does not translate into great behavior at Mass or anything - we have been spending a fair amount of time in the vestibule when he starts acting up, usually right around Communion time.


Oscar knows which shoe basket is his, knows how to turn on his sleep sounds, knows several letters (A, B, D, H, K, J, L, M, O, P, U), knows to get (and use) a "poon" for his food, and knows exactly how to get into trouble by getting into things he's not supposed to :) (Yesterday he snuck into my closet, found a leftover Halloween bucket, and located a lollipop, which he proudly displayed and announced about sixteen times.) He can cry or whine on a dime but shut it off just as fast. He is just a delightful and exhausting and cheerful little guy, and we are all so happy he's a part of our family :)

Meeting the chimpanzee at the zoo

Lounging in bed

Oscar signs "play" every time we go by a playground - he LOVES being outside

Seventeen months

At 17 months, Oscar is a busy little guy who is very pleased at all the things he can do by himself. Last week we caught him going up and down the step to the living room without holding onto the side wall. He can go down slides by himself at the playground. He wants to eat by himself, too - a very messy endeavor, but he will holler and yell, "No!" while twisting away from you if you try to feed him, but then accept the food if you let him tackle it himself.

He signs "signing" and says "Si-tie!" for Signing Time, which he loves to watch as much as he can get away with. We had a rough couple of nights over the past two months -- one pair of nights due to teething with molars again, and one pair of nights where he had hand foot and mouth virus so his mouth hurt again :( -- and in the middle of the night the only thing that would calm him down a few times was Signing Time. He would just sit with me all sad and drooly with his frozen teething rings until finally he was calmed down enough to nurse and go back to sleep. So, add another reason to be thankful for these DVDs!

Oscar can say "Ah-men," "Cook-kuh," and "cack-ah." He has a distinct word for each of his brothers' names, though we can't exactly make them out yet. He has a cheeky little streak of turning to run away and make you chase him if you're trying to stop him from doing something he shouldn't. And he loves to laugh when you ask him where is his "lenguita" and stick out your tongue :)

Joseph and Oscar waiting for corn dogs at the state fair

He's not in the small bathtub anymore but he did like it a lot

At breakfast with Mom and Dad

Busy guy with all the pots and pans. And all the rosaries.

More donuts, please

Fifteen months

New signs this month include boy, girl, grapes, and ice cream. He can say hat, up, and off. His favorite thing to do is take things off of shelves and out of cabinets and redistribute them to various places on the floor in other rooms. He still likes to snuggle with Mom and Dad, let Malcolm carry him around the house, beg for food, sing songs, read his Jesus book in the car, and play silly games.

Signing "ball"

Signing and playing at 14 months

We have had a bit of a language explosion this month.  In addition to more, eat, milk, hot, cold, hungry, please, all done, and dog, Oscar has also picked up flower, agua, shoes, Jesus, sun, fish, hat, apple, rain, and baby in the past two weeks. It is so wonderful to see how much he is learning and how happy he is to be able to communicate all these words, mostly without talking. (For talking we have hot, uh-oh, dah (down), ah-duh (all done), and an approximation of Jesus.) He also likes to do our Making Music versions of Joshua Fit the Battle of Jericho and Humpty Dumpty, where you make the beat by slapping on your leg and then fall down at the appropriate times - he will start patting his leg with a hopeful look and come wiggle right up to sit down with me so I'll sing. He also tries to sign "sun" for Itsy Bitsy Spider. And he still thinks every phone will show him a picture of a dog, or if it's my phone, will let him talk to Dad. It's pretty great.

Concrete bleachers in background: conquered

I didn't think he could back down stairs but he climbed all the way up the concrete bleachers at Malcolm's baseball game and backed all the way back down last weekend, so I guess he's pretty good on that now? He can slide off our bed and the fireplace hearth also. He's pretty cautious - if he can't reach down with his hand he'll turn around and scoot backwards - but extremely determined.

Finally, Oscar also likes to play swords or lightsabers with his brothers (a little, at least), and to bang cups and everything else he can find on the ground. Loudly. If you ask him to be quiet he usually screeches in reply. But he mostly behaves at church if you let him go back and forth in the pew.

Baby Jedi

Summer afternoon

 We had a little picnic at the apartment yesterday before Malcolm's baseball game, to celebrate my, my mom's, and my dad's birthdays this month.  It was a hot summer afternoon but we tried to stay cool and enjoy the nice weather.

Me and Oscar beating the heat at Malcolm's baseball game

Oscar and Papi

Holding my sweet little newest niece

Oscar signing "flower"!

Molar blues

Oscar hasn't cut any teeth since February - just has the four on top and two on bottom.  Last Saturday he started getting really fussy, so I tried to feel if he was cutting any molars.  I did feel one, and it turned out to be awful for him.  All day - and night - Sunday and Monday he was just miserable.  He  soaked through four bibs each day and wouldn't eat any thing except cold yogurt, even though he was clearly hungry for more.  He even had a lot of trouble nursing.  Every hour or two at night he would wake up crying so we'd just cuddle and watch YouTube videos until he calmed down enough to rest some more.  Thankfully, after a few days of this, he is feeling back to his usual cheerful self, which is a huge relief for everyone. There is still only one molar, so hopefully he doesn't have to go through this exact sequence three more times, but at least he is good for now!

13 months

Oscar is thirteen months old!  Accomplishments this month include: walking, standing up from sitting (without holding on to a wall or chair), banging things loudly on the floors and tables, begging for food, peeking over the edge of the table to see if he can reach any food, and putting small bits of food from the floor in his mouth. He sure does like food.  He can sign "eat" very well, along with "cold," "hungry," and "please" (kind of).  He learned how to sign "dog" last week and now he very cutely thinks every animal is a dog.  He really likes watching "Signing Time" and kind of makes the "signing" sign to ask for the DVD.  But he also learned how to say one new word: "Uh oh!"

Oscar also loves looking at picture books and snuggling with me and Mike - and sometimes even Malcolm. And finally, he can climb.  Eek!  None of the other children were really climbers as I recall, but Oscar can climb on the couches, Joseph's bed, and the fireplace, and can quickly make it up a whole flight of stairs.  He knows how to slide off our bed or a couch on his belly, but he is definitely NOT safe to back down stairs yet.  So, we are fully in follow-the-baby-around mode.

Rocking some shades

Loves pulling books off the shelf and checking them out

Result of a successful raid on the kitchen table

We REALLY like food around here

Celebration

Again, I'll write more later, but here are a few pictures from the special weekend we celebrated this past weekend, with Michael's First Communion and Oscar's first birthday.  It was wonderful to be able to celebrate with friends and family and we're thankful for all those who made a trip to be here! (The Chicago and DC relatives have no idea how bummed the boys were for two days after they left.)  We are very happy, and particularly proud of Michael for how much he is learning about his faith and this big milestone for him.

Birthday boy!

It is hard to believe this baby boy is ONE! He is such a joyful, playful little guy who is always on the move.  I will post more later, but wanted to get a few recent pictures up here.  The biggest milestone we've seen lately is his first spoken-and-signed  word, "hot."  We would hold his hand out carefully over steam on the stove and say and sign "hot".  He would always smile and look like he was thinking hard about the concept.  Finally last week he actually said it and moved his arm for the sign! Every time we pass by the stove he says it.  It's awesome (and how excited the big brothers are for him to say it is pretty great, too).  His only other signs (improving a bit) are eat, milk, and more.  And he says "Ah-duh" to repeat you when you say "All done."  If you ask if he wants water he'll start looking around for his cup.  And if you ask him where the "one baby" book is he'll crawl over to the bookshelf and pull down the right book and try to open it to see the picture.  So neat to see the wheels turning.

Better hair

Despite my own haircut not turning out as planned, I did cut Oscar's hair last week (second time) and it went pretty well.  He got too squirmy at the end to finish all the way around his ears but I think he was happy to have hair out of his eyes!  Cutie.

Nine months old!

Slapping down the pop up animals

Checking out books in his room

Somebody decided he loves baby food - as long as it's not boring cereal

Trying to grab my plate at Chili's

Mr. Oscar Becket is nine months old today!  I can't get over how focused and independent he is already.  The shoe bench has worked for a few weeks to keep him somewhat contained to his play area - but he's actually figured out how to squeeze himself around the table on the side to escape.  He doesn't revel in his success, just sets about crawling to other rooms determinedly.  On the other side of the house, we'll sometimes set him down to explore the room, then sit back amused at his brothers chasing him around saying, "No, Oscar! Don't eat the book!"  At least everyone's on the lookout for choking hazards.  Oscar is particularly fond of eating paper.

He likes most types of jarred baby food and puffs, and loves nursing.  He does not like bland baby cereal or formula, and will push it away.  I *think* he is starting to get signs - it's not *quite* there but I think he has signed "more" a couple of times this week and he definitely gets "hungry" and "milk".  He's just starting to wave to people.  He loves catching people's attention by tilting his head all the way sideways and grinning at them until they notice him and imitate him.  It's pretty cute.

He still wakes up once or twice a night but he does well sleeping in the same room as Joseph (and so does Joseph), which was a relief to us when we finally moved him over at six months.  Love this little sweet boy!

2 + 4 = Ouch

Oscar has been gumming away and fussing all day. We knew he had been getting his top two teeth (finally - two whole months after those little bottom ones came up), but the other day I discovered it was actually all four of the top front teeth.  Poor baby!  Four in one week is a lot.  I think #3 has broken through as of yesterday and #4 is just about there.  In the meantime, Oscar did enjoy some fresh air with his brothers, who all took turns pushing him today.  We are all loving this high-70s-in-winter weather.  There's only so much running in the house that Mom can take, after all!

Hello there

Oscar is not content to stay in one place.  Within the space of a few weeks he's mastered crawling and pulling up.  Because he likes to scale obstacles, I've had to rearrange some furniture to keep him confined to his play area in the media room.  Maybe that'll hold him a few more weeks...

In with the new

Happy New Year's!  Hey, maybe I'll write a blog this year.  Or maybe I'll just keep alternately snuggling and trying to keep up with this cutie -- and his three older clones (who are nonetheless all *quite* different... :)