Arlo is fourteen months old now, and even though we still like to call him our baby, he’s not a baby anymore, really. He’s skinny legs and arms and walking everywhere and trying desperately to communicate with us. He understands so much, and is trying to tell us things with signs and pointing and animal noises but almost no words.
We were trying not to be worried about his lack of proper words - after all, developmental milestones all have such wide windows of normal. But the ear nose and throat specialist (ENT) we visited last week was worried. He was also worried about Arlo’s sleep apnoea and restless sleep, his darth vader mouth breathing, and his difficulty chewing food. He put a little camera up Arlo’s nose (now that was fun) and looked at his adenoids, and said that if he could take them out tomorrow he would. We were shocked, and really pushed the ENT about whether this was the most conservative treatment he could suggest. He said crankily, ‘I have offered you the most conservative treatment!’, and we later found out that he has a reputation as one of the most conservative ENTs around. It’s pretty clear - Arlo really needs to have his adenoids out, and next Thursday is the big day.
It’s a bit scary, but mostly we are just enormously relieved that something is going to be done to make life a bit easier for our baby toddler. We are also tremendously grateful to Owlie from enough grows who is going to somehow mind Huey plus her own two gorgeous girls so that both bean and I can be there when Arlo wakes up from the general anaesthetic. How lucky are we!
PS Preserved lemons are good with Moroccan food, and they are also great with fish and chicken. We like to chop it up finely and mix it with cous cous to eat with salmon cutlets (baked in the oven). Yum!
PPS The synchronous one sleep day continues - we hardly know ourselves!
A few weeks ago, when bean’s grandmother was staying with us, we went to a friend’s house to preserve lemons. It was one of the first glorious days of spring, and everything was right. All three boys (our two and my friend’s nine month old) slept for about an hour and half at the same time, and we spent this precious time stuffing salt into lemons and talking. We tried not to giggle as bean’s grandmother delicately sprinkled the salt over the lemons (she was worried that they would be too salty) and bemoaned the loss of jars cracked by my friend’s uneven oven. The finished product looks spectacular (we shan’t know if they actually worked until we can open them in October).
When we got home there was a parcel on the front doorstep. A parcel! We love a parcel. And this was one of the best - the lovely Ika from Now and Rome had sekritly gone and knitted our boys the most adorable jumper and hat.
It was such a lovely day that it is still bright in my mind’s eye.
(This post was brought to you by an unbelievable synchronous nap that is currently two and a half hours long and counting. All hail the synchronous one sleep day!)
Today our little Huey is ten months old. He drags a book across the floor for you to read to him, and actually sits through it all. He carefully puts food on his spoon, lifts it up, and then uses his fingers to get the food off the spoon and into his mouth. He is very interested in placing objects on ledges - toy on edge of bath, food on a mother. He says ‘boh boh’ when he sees the chooks and ‘aaahhhh’ when he sees the cat and ‘mama’ to both of us. His anger (usually when something is taken from him) is fierce and furious, but over very quickly (especially when the item is returned). His joy is infectious and delightful. Several times a day we find ourselves saying to each other ‘i LOVE him!’
He also loves to post, as the video illustrates. Huey, may you always greet your successes with such emphasis and enthusiasm.
ETA: Pointing! Huey pointed clearly today, at a kitten in a book, and then at the swing when I took him out of it before he was ready (accompanied by that fierce anger I was talking about above). Oh how I love those little baby pointer fingers!
