The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time

Okay, so I've gotten a little behind on my book club blogging (surprise surprise). We read this book for our August meeting, and were looking for something a little shorter and lighter than some of the fare we've previously read. I had read this book before, and suggested it thinking that it would fit the bill perfectly.

Well, as it turns out, not everyone felt that way about it. Some complained that it was hard to get in to because the action didn't move fast enough (a point I can agree with a little bit). Others complained that the "twists" were predictable (while admittedly I didn't catch them, I can see how figuring them out in advance would make the book less interesting). Overall, the consensus was just "meh" on this book.

Why then, you may ask, did I recommend it in the first place? What was it that made me think it was a worthwhile read? In short: the narrator. The book is told from the perspective of an autistic boy, which was just fascinating to me. It was so interesting to see the world from his point of view, to see how phrases we take for granted (like raining cats and dogs) can lead to a world of confusion for someone who lives in a literal world, to see how math and numbers and patterns could be so important in someone's life. Maybe it was the math geek in me that got me drawn in to the numbers and patterns in the book; maybe it was the literary nerd who enjoyed thinking about idiomatic expressions in their literal sense; heck, maybe it was just my appreciation for seeing the world through someone else's eyes that caused me to read the book in a matter of days. Whatever the reason, I really enjoyed it. And I standby my recommendation of it (although I felt really bad that it was not well-received by everyone in my book club).

I guess I can't necessarily recommend that everyone read this book, because apparently it isn't for everyone. That being said, I do think that anyone who works with or knows someone who is autistic (or really even just any sort of special needs child) should definitely read this book. Granted, I don't have a lot of experience with autistic children myself so I can't speak to the authenticity of this book, but based on the author's credentials it seems pretty believable that the book is a fair representation of how the mind of an autistic child would work. Which to me makes it well worth the read.

William: Five Months!

Our little buddy is a whooping five months old! And what a big boy he is getting to be! I've officially retired all of his three-month clothing; it's probably something I should have done a few weeks ago, but I'd prefer to have his clothes fitting more on the snug side than the loose side, so I kept him in them even when they were a little small (for the record--this isn't just a baby thing. Darrell did a major wardrobe rehaul the first few years we were dating. All through high school and during his years at GT he bought clothes a size or two too large for him so that he could "grow into" them. Needless to say, that never happened. So after some encouragement from me, he finally started buying clothes in the appropriate size--and it was a great improvement!). William is still managing to squeeze into size two diapers, although as soon as we finish the package that is currently open we're moving up to size three. Every time he poops I feel like we are flirting with a potential blowout disaster. No official stats on height or weight, although he's definitely still growing like a weed (and it seems like his length is starting to overtake his weight--we've had to put him in long-sleeves a few times recently, and while they are baggy on his body, they are a few inches short on the arms. Who knew Darrell and I would have a "tall" kid?)

William continues to be fairly easy going; I can't really think of anything in particular that routinely makes him upset (baths used to do that, but we finally figured out that he just didn't like the bath chair we were using and now bath time is a blast!), although when he gets tired he goes from happy-go-lucky to screaming in a heartbeat. His sleep bounced back pretty quickly after a rough stretch right around four months, although I'm not holding my breath that it will last; I've heard the six-month growth spurt is a doozy, plus the growth spurt will likely coincide with his next Wonder Week (and--if the stars align properly--both with overlap with my state soccer tournament. Joy).

The biggest new development is that we now have a sitter! I mentioned during our Labor Day Camping recap that he was starting to show significant progress, and he went from "progress" to "perfection" nearly overnight. I maybe shouldn't say that he's totally perfect (although I'm the mom, so of course I can say he's perfect), but he can definitely sit and play unassisted for upwards of ten minutes. The only downside is that he can't get himself into a sitting position yet, so once he gets bored with being on his belly (which happens quickly because he still hasn't figured out the crawling thing), he fusses until he is helped into the sitting position. Rolling back to front still happens all the time, but he's still showing no interest in rolling front to back. Goofy kid.

A quick run-down of a few other developments/changes we've noticed in the past month:

--Faces have become waaay more interesting. His hands and fingers are constantly going to our faces, in our mouths, even up our noses. He's even managed to distract himself from nursing because he gets so focused on playing with my face.

--Pictures have become entertaining for him. We're pretty sure he can recognize Darrell and I in photos, and he spent a good three minutes laughing at one the other day. And when I'm home with him during the day he sometimes reaches out toward photos of Darrell.

--And speaking of reaching out, he is constantly reaching for and lunging toward things that he wants. Not such a helpful skill when we are trying to hold him (especially when we aren't ready for the lunge), but definitely a helpful skill when Mom is at Target trying to decide which teething rings to buy (I just held the two options up and let William reach toward the one that he wanted. Easy peasy).

--He has a little bit of awareness to "follow" objects even when he can no longer see them. If he drops something out of his high chair, he'll occasionally lean over like he's trying to look for it on the floor. And if I put a toy behind him that he's been playing with, he'll try to turn around to get it back.

--Separation anxiety is definitely rearing its ugly head. He does okay (most of the time) with my parents, but he had his first stay with a non-family sitter a few weeks ago. We won't say exactly how it went, but if we were to rank activities starting with the one he did most, it would go a little something like this: cry/scream, sleep, play. Thankfully, our friends were totally understanding about it and have even offered to watch him again.

I think that's all for now; we're so in love with our peek-a-boo playing, belly laughing, goofy squealing little five-month old!

Showing off his blonde locks (and his sitting up efforts)!

Mom made the mistake of sitting in front of the chair to try to get him to smile. It didn't take him long to lunge toward me--but at least it made for a cute picture!

Grapes of Wrath

Want to know a surefire way to wake a sleeping baby? Frozen grapes. More specifically, four cups worth of frozen grapes spilling out of your freezer and all over your floor. Seriously sounded like a mini machine gun going off in our house. Some female in this house (I won't say who...) apparently did not do a very good job putting the tray in the freezer, and when Darrell opened it last night to make smoothies--BAM. Disaster all over our kitchen. And the icing on the cake? William, who had been asleep for only 45 minutes or so, responded to the incident like he had been woken up from a nap--wide awake and ready to play. Not exactly high on Mom and Dad's priority list at 9:00 at night. Lessons learned: place items in the freezer with more caution and frozen grapes get seriously hard. And maybe reconsider smoothie making once William is asleep, especially given the proximity of his room to the kitchen (because I was finally close to getting him settled back down and then BAM--Darrell ran the blender to get the smoothies made. Progress undone).

(For what it's worth, the smoothies were delicious. But after the battle we had getting William back to sleep I found myself wishing we had spiked them--at least just a little bit.)

Zucchini Nut Bread

I know I probably should have shared this recipe with you before I shared the zucchini brownies because now that you've tried those you are probably never going to make anything else with your zucchini again... But on the off-chance you need to make something for an event or get-together where brownies aren't appropriate (not that I can think of what kind of event that might be) or if you want something a little healthier to start your day with (although a brownie for breakfast? Totally okay in my book), this is definitely the recipe for you. In fact, this is always the first recipe Darrell requests once we get our first zucchini out of our garden, and since it is a recipe from Mama Shirley, I'm always willing to oblige him. And of course, happy to oblige him as well, since the recipe is wonderfully delicious. Maybe I should even try throwing some cocoa powder into this recipe just to see what happens? Hmm.... The possibilities... Although as Darrell would say, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it".

Zucchini Nut Bread
(from Mama Shirley)

4 cups coarsely shredded zucchini
3 cups flour
2 1/2 cups sugar
1 1/4 cup vegetable oil
4 eggs, beaten
1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup chopped nuts (we usually use walnuts or pecans)

Preheat oven to 325*. Grease bottoms only of two loaf pans. Blend all ingredients on low speed for one minute, scraping bowl constantly. Beat on medium speed for another minute. Pour into prepared loaf pans. Bake for 50-60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool ten minutes. Remove from pan; place on wire rack and cool completely.

Labor Day Camping 2013

Well, we successfully managed to camp with a 4.5 month old. And the people around us were still smiling at us by the end of the weekend! Always a good sign. Granted, we only spent two nights (and less than two days) at the campground--partially due to weather (low temperatures of 78 are not conducive to sleeping in a tent--especially with an infant) and partially due to our schedules not allowing us time to get ready any sooner (I should have gotten a picture of how stuffed our car was!), but it was still a great experience. And William seemed to enjoy himself too! Here are a few highlights of our trip:

--We got a new tent! I'm not entirely sure William's pack and play would have even fit into our old tent, let alone have there be room for Darrell and I. So we purchased a "family" tent, and after using it this weekend we're pretty confident it's the last tent we'll ever have to buy. Not only is there space for two adults, a pack and play, and any future children that we might have, but it can also withstand the elements. It stormed Saturday night (wind, rain, thunder, lightning--although places closer to Sioux Falls got golf-ball sized hail), and we didn't get a lick of water in the tent (pee, though, well, that's a different story).

Our new digs

There's even some shelving inside--how cool is that?!? Plus there's a hinged door--it seemed kind of unnecessary at first, but we totally loved it by the end of the trip

There's even plenty of room for William to play with his toys in the tent

--William made some serious progress on sitting unassisted! Of course, that development probably has nothing to do with the fact that we were camping, but it was still pretty cool.

Look mom, no hands!

--We went on our first family hike! William was pretty wide-eyed for about the first ten minutes, and then he was out. In fact, that was pretty par for the course for the weekend--whenever William was awake his eyes were wide open and taking everything in. Definitely a little over-stimulating at times (and we ended up paying for it in the sleep department).

--William got to experience all sorts of manly things. He even managed to get tons of dirt under his fingernails, even though we had him on a blanket when he was on the ground. Not sure how that happened, but I'm sure it's only a harbinger of things to come.

Enjoying the fire from a distance

A little too eager to get close to the fire

 

Caught red-handed!

At least he's enjoying his beverage under Daddy's supervision this time

He even got to drive Grandpa's pontoon at the lake on Monday (and he somehow managed to put the boat into neutral while we were cruising around the lake. Silly boy!)

--And last (but certainly not least), we discovered that William enjoys swinging! You can bet we'll be making plenty of trips to the park near our house now that we know this.

Looking forward to many more camping trips with these two cuties!

August Randoms

I might as well just start calling these posts a William photo dump because that's pretty much all they end up being. Not that there is any issue with that--just stating the facts.

Monkey Face!

Too cool for just his thumb

All dressed up to watch Aunt Macy try on wedding dresses!

Out to eat with the family--and sitting at the table like a big boy! (PS--notice how my plate is clean and Darrell's is full? Having an infant means sometimes having to eat in shifts. We're pretty used to it)

Sleepy smiles

Playtime while Grandma is babysitting!

Sleepy boy

Being a big boy and using his spoon the right way! (We haven't started solids yet, but we're letting him "play" with his spoons to get used to the idea of them. He's getting pretty good about getting them in his mouth the right way--and he's generally more happy about it than he looks in the picture)

No, we didn't turn William into a grasshopper. This was just too cool of a picture not to share

He's so peaceful when he's sleeping....

This was probably the last time he'll wear this outfit so I just had to get a picture because it's one of my favorites!

Unimpressed with his jungle gym

End of Summer

So, way back in January, before I had any idea how having a baby would impact our lives, I made a list of goals I wanted to accomplish this summer. And since Labor Day is the unofficial end of summer, I decided now would be as good as time as any to check in and see how we did (and, quite frankly, if I didn't do it now it probably wouldn't get done). So, here's the list:

--Have at least two bonfires

--Attend at least five Sioux Falls Saints baseball games

--Go hiking at least twice

--Make time for at least two "Mommy and Daddy" only dates

--Participate in a road race

--Have at least two lunch dates downtown with Daddy

--Go to the lake cabin at least once

--Attend at least one large public event (Jazz Fest, Rib Fest, Sioux Empire Fair, etc)

--Get together with friends for at least four social gatherings

--Go on at least one long bike ride

The final verdict? We managed just over 50%. I was hoping for better, but honestly, I had some unrealistic expectations of what we'd be able to do with William (and honestly, somewhat unrealistic ideas of what would make good summer activities). Here's how we did:

I should have realized this when I made the list, but bonfires are not good summertime activities. Granted, we had some cooler than normal stretches this summer, but bonfires are best at dusk (and when we're getting up two, three, four times a night with baby, late nights around the fire were not appealing. Plus dusk was usually around the time we were taking turns trying to get William to sleep anyway).

I didn't exactly keep track of the exact number of games, but we definitely made it to more than five Saints games. I can't exactly say William was a good luck charm--but hey, he was there.

Hiking is also not a great summer activity. Not around here. Definitely a better spring/fall activity. And I know, this wasn't a terribly hot summer and there were days that were more than suitable for hiking... But it just didn't happen. Maybe if there were more desirable hikes around here (you know, like mountains and waterfalls), I would have pushed the issue a little more. We did put him in his carrier (which he doesn't mind terribly) and do some walking around the mall a few times--close enough?

We didn't have a lot of "Mommy and Daddy" only time, but we did leave William with my parents for an evening so we could go out to dinner, and when we were at the beach Darrell's parents watched William and we went out with his siblings and their spouses, so I count that as good enough.

A road race? Meesh. I was foolish to put that on there. I've run once (a single mile!) since having William (and pretty much never while I was pregnant). So no way did a road race sound appealing. I did get suckered into playing co-ed soccer this fall, so I'll have to do some running for that. Maybe this fall I can do a road race. Maybe (although I do have to do some at some point to make my 30 miles before my 30th birthday goal).

Do the lunch dates count if it wasn't just William, Darrell, and I? Wait, why I am giving you the option to decide? It's my game, so my rules. Of course they count. We were downtown, we were having lunch, and Darrell was there. And so was my dad, brother, and sister's husband (and occasionally my mom and brother's fiancé). Minor details.

I think we made it to the lake cabin twice this summer? Which is as many times as we've made it in previous summers, so good enough in my book. Plus William went for a pontoon ride on Lake Pickerel the weekend of my sister's wedding, and visited Lake Okoboji--so I think he got plenty of lake time in this summer.

We took William to JazzFest, and it was pretty successful. Of course, I was motivated to go mostly because I wanted a funnel cake and not because of this list of goals, but whatever.

This probably isn't a comprehensive list, but between weddings (two), book club (William came with me once or twice), lunch/play dates with friends (two or three), dinners out with friends (I can only think of one, but I'm sure there were more) and a picnic with girls from my book club, I think we managed to keep up with our social calendar just fine.

So you know those fancy bike trailers? Yeah, I was all set to get one so we could take William on our long bike ride this summer. Something I didn't know? Apparently those things aren't exactly made for newborns. Something about head control and bouncing and the like. Really didn't think that one through.

Hopefully as we approach next summer I'll have a better idea of what reasonable goals will be (although I've never had a one-year old before, so I'm sure I'll be just as clueless as I was this time around). The more pressing issue though: what to do with an infant during (what is predicted to be) a miserably cold winter? I predict lots of going stir crazy if we don't have things to do out of the house.