Baby Kendrick

Taken January 19th:

Taken yesterday:

Cool, huh?

A few nights ago, to help keep William hydrated as he gets over the stomach flu we were all struck with, we placed a bottle of water next to him so he’d have something to drink when he woke up in the middle of the night.

Except for 5am last night (when it became apparent he was hungry, and not just thirsty), he seems to be sleeping through the night. Are we on the cusp of a wonderful new world? One with nights that are no longer interrupted 2 or 3 times by a crying baby? One where I can stay in my own bed for 6, 8, even 10 hours straight?

Probably not.

• Clap - Can’t believe I forgot this one, it was one of the first he seemed to understand consistently.
• High-five - Another self-explanatory one.
• Peek-a-boo - If you get him in the right mood (esp. if he’s got some cloth to cover his face with), he’ll try to hide at least one eye for a few seconds. :)

I’ve tried to come up with a list of words that William obviously understands. He still doesn’t say any “real” words back, though does he try to say “kitty” and “banana”.

• hug (usually hugs a stuffed animal, sometimes hugs people :) )
• kitty (usually looks for a cat)
• put it away / close it (SOMEtimes puts things back)
• up! (my instruction for pulling laundry out of the front-loading washer)
• where’s the moon? (finds the moon and points at it - this one’s awesome, in my opinion)
• where’s your nose? (sometimes touches his nose, sometimes hits himself in the forehead)
• jump (i usually need to be jumping; he can’t actually jump yet)
• are you hungry? (if he is, he’ll start hyperventilating)
• more? (sometimes he does the more sign, usually he shows other signs of wanting more)
• all done (he often waves his arm, baby-signs-style, back)
• bye-bye (he’ll wave if someone’s leaving, he’ll follow me if i leave the room)
• brush your teeth (he’ll do the brushing motion, even without a toothbrush)
• mama? (he usually just says “mum-mum-mum-mum!”)
• pat pat pat (he’ll pat something)
• gentle! (he’ll pet your face, or the cat)
• can i have it? (he’ll hand something he just picked up to you; useful when he finds dirt)
• banana? (he usually tries to say it back, when he sees a banana)
• kiss (you usually get a nice, open-mouth, Star Trek salt monster “kiss” on the cheek)

I’ll let Melissa post if she can think of any more.

I’ve added links to some photo albums on my Facebook account, almost all taken with my cellphone camera, and upload to Facebook via their Mobile tool. (See the new “Photos” section on the sidebar on the right side of pages on this blog.) Check them often, since I’m always adding new photos!

One of William’s favorites on YouTube is Kitty Cat Dance. Here’s a video of him watching it (and doing his typical ‘freak-out’ response, when not distracted by the camera).

A few months back, we had a portrait session with the photographer who shot our wedding. The proofs are online for your pleasure (and purchasing convenience).

We’ve been trying to get the word out on this for weeks, but the printer doesn’t work or there’s no time to go to the copy shop, or the URL is too long to write in a Christmas card… It never occurred to either of us to post it in the place where we put news about William.

Have we mentioned that he still doesn’t sleep through the night? :P

Edit: We were all sick, plus Bill and William had pink eye on the day of the photo shoot, so sadly (and/or amusingly) there’s a high frequency of swollen, lopsided grins in this collection. We got some real gems, too.

After much digging around in various hard drives, I’ve posted photos and videos from William’s birthday party and first train ride in December, as well as some photos from November, and a few videos we found from weeks 15, 17 and 19.

Enjoy

Year of, that is.

Thursday, December 20
You are likely to be the center of attention today. People find you exciting, interesting, with a childlike charm that really gets their attention. Let yourself be a little playful. Your inner child really wants to run and play today.

Uncanny!

William loves magnets. And I love that William loves magnets, as his fascination with the things that stick to the refrigerator buys me a few precious minutes here and there to work in the kitchen. Recently, he acquired a magnetic embarassment of riches in the form of Leapfrog’s Fridge Phonics set, a full alphabet of magnets and a small electronic device (also magnetic) that plays the alphabet song and cheerfully offers handy information like, “P goes pah.”

He has had this device for roughly eight hours.  Its future in our household already looks grim.

We didn’t know what happened the first time. Bill rushed in to the bedroom, a distraught infant in his arms. “What’s wrong with him?” he asked me. “He was playing with his magnet toy and he just started crying!” But there was nothing wrong with him. He wasn’t even hungry.

The second time, we were watching. He pushed the button.  The childlike voice announced the letter and its corresponding sound, and then the device began to play the alphabet song. William’s face scrunched up in distress and tears flooded his eyes. The tinny electronic voice, we decided… Though one of the best we’ve heard, clearly it offended his ears.

I never heard what happened the third time. Bill suddenly announced to me, “It’s not the toy, it’s the alphabet song!” I frowned, studied William a moment, and then I sung “A… B… C… D…” He let out a whimper that quickly evolved into a despondant wailing.

William has a few toys that play the alphabet song, or its twin, Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star. We haven’t tested every single one (that would be unethical), but with a consistancy that seems to be greater than mere chance, the alphabet song, in all its permutations, makes him cry.

And the worst part is, it’s no mystery.

William hates diaper changes. We pull out every distraction technique to get through them, but all too often his raging fury is unabated. We give him toys, we let him play with diapering supplies, we sing songs, we tickle him… We even hung a painting over the changing table when he was a little teeny baby, to give him something to look at. It’s a brightly colored alphabet, and we often point out all the letters to him (wait for it…) while we sing the alphabet song.

In retrospect, we probably should have seen this one coming.