baby olympics!

The Olympic Spirit is alive all over the world, and our little enclave is not missing out. We've decided to start the Baby Olympics (we initially titled them the "Babeolympics" but decided that sounded more like something from spring break. We will accept more entertaining, yet appropriate, names if you have them. Until then, Baby Olympics it is!)

Our keystone event is the Crib Deposit, in which the competitors must lull their babies to sleep at a ludicrous hour of the morning, usually around 3am, and then place them into their cribs. Babies must remain asleep after the deposit has taken place and, if not, the competitor must start the lulling routine over again. If the baby stirs upon depositing but doesn't wake this counts as a full deposit, however there is a deduction of style points. Style points are also deducted if the competitor resorts to army crawling out of the room. The most interesting part of the Deposit is that each competitor has his or her own unique style of lulling - some are quite still, others sing, some bounce madly around the room. In preparation for the Crib Deposit, competitors are deprived of sleep for a minimum of two months prior to the event.

Another exciting event is the Balancing Hurdles. In this fun program the competitors are sent on a series of activities, similar to a scavenger hunt. The biggest challenge is that the competitors are each given multiple small children, at least one of which is able to walk/run and at least one must be an infant on a three-hour feeding cycle. They are required to complete each activity in a short time period. Points are deducted for any public screaming fits (by either the children or the competitor), inability to complete activities, and missed feedings.

There are also events in which babies compete. There's the well-known Projectile Vomiting, the winner of which combines quantity and distance into a spectacular splatter, preferably on another person, pet, or furniture. A similar event is the Super P, more familiarly known as the explosive poo. And, of course, there is the Breakdown, when babies try to cause a breakdown in their caretakers by any means possible (relentless screaming is a popular technique, as is repeated performances of the Super P.)

cough cough

I am glad that February is a short month, because it has so far been a germy one for our household. Nate started it off with a cough turned pneumonia, which our pediatrician diagnosed not as walking pneumonia but "running pneumonia," since this is Nate we're talking about. Nate then graciously passed the cough part on to Anja, and my two germy kids gave it to me (Tag! I'm it!) Anja seems to be recovered now, and I have only a bit of residual stuffiness and a mild cough. So, of course, yesterday Thad comes down with some sort of gross GI bug and, to spare you, that is all I will say about that.

rolling rolling rolling

Anja had her two month doctor's appointment yesterday and got a big thumbs up. She's now a little over nine and a half pounds ( pounds 9.5 oz, to be exact), and they said she grew about an inch, making her a whopping 22.33 inches tall. She also got her first set of immunizations and handled them well considering she got poked three times and had to drink something she apparently did not want.

Our doctor was asking about Anja's personality and activity level, and I told him she was mellow and easy-going. Then I told him she had started rolling over, which he found quite unusual for a two-month-old, since this is typically a 4-6 month milestone for most babies. We then discussed the possibility that Anja might actually be an active baby, but since I'm comparing her to Nate (who rolled over at one month) my perspective is probably a little skewed. This was confirmed by what I am told is very advanced neck strength (once again, to refresh your memories, Nate was born with freakish neck strength and even knocked the oxygen bubble off his head in the NICU). That said, I still think Anja's mellow and easy-going, but perhaps she is more active/strong than I've previously reported. She still seems floppy to me!

On the subject of rolling, here's the video proof of Anja's Super Bowl Roll:

old news

Nate came down with pneumonia about a week and a half ago. It was a mild case and he is doing much better, and was pretty much back on his feet within a couple of days. I, on the other hand, am only now getting caught up on things. Go figure.

So, what have you missed over the past couple of weeks? The biggest news (from a three-year-old's perspective) was that Nate met Curious George at the opening of the new exhibit at the Children's Museum. At said exhibit opening Nate very much did not like the big Peep costume. Here is a photo synopsis of some of our recent happenings:

nate's superbowl halftime report

We watched some of the Superbowl tonight with Nate (until bedtime arrived). He didn't seem to care all that much about the game except that he liked watching people kick field goals. He was definitely opinionated about the commercials, though. In general, he gave them all a big thumbs down. He particularly disliked the Bud Lite voice box commercial and "I Wear No Pants" and covered his ears for both of them. He also disliked the ones with KISS and Punxatawny Polamalu, which "made him nervous." I must agree that the latter was pretty creepy. On the other hand, the highlight of the evening was the beaver playing the violin, which Nate really (really) enjoyed.
















Anja didn't seem all that interested in critiquing tonight's commercials, but she impressed us by rolling over twice! I even got one on video, so I'll upload that soon so you too can be amazed!