Xander's first Christmas was decidedly low-key. Mom and dad decided to stay in Colorado this year (which, incidentally, was a wise decision given all the flight cancellations on the east coast this week), so it was just the three wise Swydan's alone for Xander's first Christmas. As is his mom and dad's custom, he got to open one present on Christmas Eve. Then it was off to bed in his "My First Christmas" sleeper onesy.
Even though there was no one else in the house, through the magic of Skype, Xander was able to open a present from each of his grandparents and from his great aunt Mary with them watching on the other end. It was a lot of fun for them to watch, but even more fun for Xander, as he loves the computer, and loves it even more when he sees people on the screen! He Skype'd with his grandparents on his mom's side first, opening a package of clothes, and then with his grandparent's on his dad's side, where he opened the Hess truck/plane combo that they bought him, and finally with his great aunt Mary, with whom he opened a package of clothes as well.
Xander piled up an impressive amount of clothes, which mom and dad were thankful for, since he needed clothes more than toys. But his favorite present to date was one of the few toys he got - his Fisher Price "Laugh & Learn Love To Play Puppy." According to his Sittoo (that's Arabic for "grandmother"), it was the most popular toy on the market this holiday season, and it's not hard to understand why. Nearly every part of his body lights up and/or has a song, color or something else fun associated with it. Xander hasn't quite got the hang of it just yet - the words "blue ear" can be heard over and over - but he is definitely enjoying the heck out of it, and that's the definition of a great Christmas present.
Tuesday, December 28, 2010
How To Climb Out Of Your Bouncer
Step 1: Cry whenever you are strapped into your bouncer, which will trick your parents into leaving you in your bouncer untethered, seemingly for your comfort, but secretly to plot your escape. This was a step that Xander the Cunning mastered early. Crying on command is one of his specialties, but he does it so rare that each cry provokes the maximum response from mom and dad.
Step 2: Rotate your body so that you're facing the bouncer. Xander had this one figured out a month ago. From this position, you are no longer enveloped in the hammock-esque nature of the bouncer and are able to move around with greater ease.
Step 3: Slide down so that your legs dangle over the front of the bouncer. This step was the trickiest for little X. At first, he tried to hook his legs over diagonally. This was problematic, because then he could only balance himself with one arm instead of two. But once his legs were part of the way over, he couldn't wriggle back onto the bouncer either, and became trapped in mid-air as though in a spider's web.
Step 4: Use your arms and upper body to push off until your legs touch the ground. This is not a complicated step, but the strength to pull it off doesn't come overnight. For Xander, the ability came a couple of weeks after the discovery.
Step 5: With your legs on the ground, slide your hands back underneath you, until you are standing and are using the bouncer as a sort of walker. As with Step 4, Step 5 requires a little bit of upper body strength, but unlike Step 4, the strength for Step 5 came to Xander a little quicker.
Step 6: Push yourself backwards, breaking free of the bouncer, i.e. sit down. Xander had come close to the final step a week or so ago, but whether he just wasn't ready to break free, or got tired, or whatever the reason, he didn't want to do it. He would just stand there, feet on the ground, leaning on his bouncer, with a sort of half-smile, half-cry plastered on his face. But last Sunday, as the Patriots were busy throttling the Buffalo Bills, Xander broke free of his bouncer once and for all.
To add insult to injury for ye ole bouncer, once X was free of it, he decided he wanted to eat the little green rubber bases that serve as its feet. Luckily, they don't detach, but Xander was strong enough to lift them up to his mouth and slobber all over them. The bouncer retained a modicum of its dignity when it subsequently pinned Xander's leg, but it was a minor victory at best. Soon enough, Xander slithered out from under the bouncer's control, and while he still enjoys taking naps and watching his Baby Einstein videos (or whatever sporting event daddy is watching) from the comfort of his bouncer, Xander has shown decisively that he now has the upper hand.
Step 2: Rotate your body so that you're facing the bouncer. Xander had this one figured out a month ago. From this position, you are no longer enveloped in the hammock-esque nature of the bouncer and are able to move around with greater ease.
Step 3: Slide down so that your legs dangle over the front of the bouncer. This step was the trickiest for little X. At first, he tried to hook his legs over diagonally. This was problematic, because then he could only balance himself with one arm instead of two. But once his legs were part of the way over, he couldn't wriggle back onto the bouncer either, and became trapped in mid-air as though in a spider's web.
Step 4: Use your arms and upper body to push off until your legs touch the ground. This is not a complicated step, but the strength to pull it off doesn't come overnight. For Xander, the ability came a couple of weeks after the discovery.
Step 5: With your legs on the ground, slide your hands back underneath you, until you are standing and are using the bouncer as a sort of walker. As with Step 4, Step 5 requires a little bit of upper body strength, but unlike Step 4, the strength for Step 5 came to Xander a little quicker.
Step 6: Push yourself backwards, breaking free of the bouncer, i.e. sit down. Xander had come close to the final step a week or so ago, but whether he just wasn't ready to break free, or got tired, or whatever the reason, he didn't want to do it. He would just stand there, feet on the ground, leaning on his bouncer, with a sort of half-smile, half-cry plastered on his face. But last Sunday, as the Patriots were busy throttling the Buffalo Bills, Xander broke free of his bouncer once and for all.
To add insult to injury for ye ole bouncer, once X was free of it, he decided he wanted to eat the little green rubber bases that serve as its feet. Luckily, they don't detach, but Xander was strong enough to lift them up to his mouth and slobber all over them. The bouncer retained a modicum of its dignity when it subsequently pinned Xander's leg, but it was a minor victory at best. Soon enough, Xander slithered out from under the bouncer's control, and while he still enjoys taking naps and watching his Baby Einstein videos (or whatever sporting event daddy is watching) from the comfort of his bouncer, Xander has shown decisively that he now has the upper hand.
Monday, December 20, 2010
Prelude To A Crawl
Xander is an active boy. He started rolling over pretty early. In fact, while he was still in day care, the folks there told us that he was rolling over onto his stomach faster than kids that were months older than him. That was in full display on the day of the daycare Halloween parade, when Xander, or rather Darth Xander (he dressed up as Darth Vader for his first Halloween) was on the play mat with four other infants. They were all placed on their backs. But while the other four remained relatively motionless, on their backs, Xander quickly rolled over onto his stomach. Mom and dad took this as a good sign. Soon thereafter, he started what mom and dad call "Supermans," where he be on his stomach, but lift his hands and feet in the air like he was Superman. Good times.
Fast forward a month or so, and now Xander was sitting up without support. Then he started to be able to scooch himself forward on his bum, and rotate himself in place on his bum, and then he started pulling himself onto things from a sitting position. Last week, however, was big. Xander started scooching backwards on the carpet. He would lean forward from a seated position, and push himself backwards. Last Thursday, he pushed himself a good 10-15 feet in as many seconds before getting his legs wedged around one of the poles to his play mat. Had he been older, a move like that would have deeply hurt him for several minutes, but luckily he is still an infant and was okay. However, that doesn't mean he wasn't royally pissed about having his progress stopped.
Does all of this mean he is on the verge of crawling? Well, not necessarily. Our pediatrician told us that some babies skip crawling and move you to straight to walking. Which would be fine. But Xander likes being close to the ground, so crawling may very well be in his future, and he is seemingly sowing new seeds towards that goal each and every day.
Fast forward a month or so, and now Xander was sitting up without support. Then he started to be able to scooch himself forward on his bum, and rotate himself in place on his bum, and then he started pulling himself onto things from a sitting position. Last week, however, was big. Xander started scooching backwards on the carpet. He would lean forward from a seated position, and push himself backwards. Last Thursday, he pushed himself a good 10-15 feet in as many seconds before getting his legs wedged around one of the poles to his play mat. Had he been older, a move like that would have deeply hurt him for several minutes, but luckily he is still an infant and was okay. However, that doesn't mean he wasn't royally pissed about having his progress stopped.
Does all of this mean he is on the verge of crawling? Well, not necessarily. Our pediatrician told us that some babies skip crawling and move you to straight to walking. Which would be fine. But Xander likes being close to the ground, so crawling may very well be in his future, and he is seemingly sowing new seeds towards that goal each and every day.
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
One Mission
It started slowly. First it was his toys, and infant toys pose no threat, so that wasn't an issue. Then, the way he chewed his pacifier changed. He would twist it with his hands and sort of chew on the side of it. Again, he couldn't get it down his throat, and it wasn't harmful, so no big deal. But as time has passed, things have crystallized for little Xander. He now has one main mission in life: to get everything in his grasp into his mouth.
Whether it's a toy, a teether, a book, the stuffed animals hanging from his play mat, the pole or the mirror of his play mat, a Rockies 2006 suites cup, a fake Christmas tree, an envelope, keys (be they plastic or real), a DVD cover, a flash card, a shoelace, the remote control, your cell phone, hand, face, shirt, arm or leg, if he can grab it, he's going to try to eat it. For the most part, this is all in good fun, though one does wonder what kind of an appetite he's going to have when he actually grows teeth. Since the On Eating post, his appetite has gone from wavering to salacious in no time. He is drooling and eating so much that he needs three to four bibs a day. Fortunately, mommy and daddy have like 7,500 bibs, so it's not an issue. Where Mission: Eat Everything becomes an issue is when that bottle of dish detergent or the cord of a laptop (or the laptop itself for that matter) is within reach. As George Costanza once said, mommy and daddy have to be vigilant when watching such a little whirling dervish.
As Xander gets older, he'll learn what can and can not be eaten, but right now he has one mission, and one mission only - to eat everything in his path. He will not tire, he will not falter, and he will not fail. Consider yourself warned.
Whether it's a toy, a teether, a book, the stuffed animals hanging from his play mat, the pole or the mirror of his play mat, a Rockies 2006 suites cup, a fake Christmas tree, an envelope, keys (be they plastic or real), a DVD cover, a flash card, a shoelace, the remote control, your cell phone, hand, face, shirt, arm or leg, if he can grab it, he's going to try to eat it. For the most part, this is all in good fun, though one does wonder what kind of an appetite he's going to have when he actually grows teeth. Since the On Eating post, his appetite has gone from wavering to salacious in no time. He is drooling and eating so much that he needs three to four bibs a day. Fortunately, mommy and daddy have like 7,500 bibs, so it's not an issue. Where Mission: Eat Everything becomes an issue is when that bottle of dish detergent or the cord of a laptop (or the laptop itself for that matter) is within reach. As George Costanza once said, mommy and daddy have to be vigilant when watching such a little whirling dervish.
As Xander gets older, he'll learn what can and can not be eaten, but right now he has one mission, and one mission only - to eat everything in his path. He will not tire, he will not falter, and he will not fail. Consider yourself warned.
Sunday, December 12, 2010
Superstar
When Xander was first born, he was like any baby boy. He would patiently look at you for a few seconds, but then he was off staring at a light, or whatever else caught his eye. On his second day, the hospital sent in a professional photographer to take pictures of him, and after a couple of minutes, the photographer remarked what a good boy he was being. Famous last words. Right then, he started crying, and kicking, and flailing, and it took a maximum effort to get him to cooperate for the photos.
Fast forward six-plus months and it's the complete opposite. Whenever Xander sees a camera, not only does he look right at it, but now he even mugs for the camera, flashing his best little Xander smile. Yesterday, a friend came over to take our first-ever Christmas card photo, and Xander smiled big for all nine photos, though on one he turned towards his mommy because she distracted him. Xander was debatably a more patient subject than mom and dad.
So whereas before, his mom and dad were concerned that he wasn't focusing on things, which may have been an unfounded concern, now the concern is that taking 30+ pictures of Xander could be fueling a "me" mentality, a mentality that Xander is always the center of attention. Of course, that's not stopping mom and dad from taking those 30+ pictures a month. After all, he's just too cute!
Fast forward six-plus months and it's the complete opposite. Whenever Xander sees a camera, not only does he look right at it, but now he even mugs for the camera, flashing his best little Xander smile. Yesterday, a friend came over to take our first-ever Christmas card photo, and Xander smiled big for all nine photos, though on one he turned towards his mommy because she distracted him. Xander was debatably a more patient subject than mom and dad.
So whereas before, his mom and dad were concerned that he wasn't focusing on things, which may have been an unfounded concern, now the concern is that taking 30+ pictures of Xander could be fueling a "me" mentality, a mentality that Xander is always the center of attention. Of course, that's not stopping mom and dad from taking those 30+ pictures a month. After all, he's just too cute!
Thursday, December 9, 2010
The Penguin
A couple of months ago, Xander got his very own exersaucer. He had begun to play in one at day care, and he really liked it, so his mom and dad got him one for home. Actually, his grandma got it for him. It's a Baby Einstein exersaucer, and he really likes it.
This exersaucer is fully loaded. It's got a three key piano that plays songs or nature sounds. Xander likes the songs, so we leave it on that. It's got a little bird that spins in place vertically, with a felt top that he can suck on. It's got two giant purple circles with pictures of animals that hang from a tree that he can swing at and pull. It's got a lion puppet that people can put their hand in and play with him, he really likes that. It has a drum, a little bendy giraffe, an abacus-like thing with three little circles that he can swing from one side the other and two pandas on a see-saw. Finally, it has a penguin. The penguin is perched above a cylinder that contains a bunch of little balls. When you turn the penguin, the balls roll around the cylinder, making a noise that Xander really likes.
There was just one problem - Xander couldn't turn the penguin to spin the balls himself. He liked it whenever mom or dad did it for him, but when he would look at it, all he could think to do was hit it. While this never hurt him (Xander is a strong little boy) it also never made the penguin move. That is, until yesterday. For the first time, Xander was turning the penguin all by himself! To see the joy on his face when he turned it was indescribable. But you don't want to jump the gun on these things, maybe it was just a fluke, and he'd quickly forget what he learned. Not a chance. This morning, Xander had exersaucer time shortly after breakfast, as is quick becoming custom, and as soon as he got tired of banging on his piano keys, he spun around, and sure enough, started working that penguin over good. Sometimes breakthroughs take awhile, or they may seem like they take awhile for an adult, but when they happen, they are magic.
This exersaucer is fully loaded. It's got a three key piano that plays songs or nature sounds. Xander likes the songs, so we leave it on that. It's got a little bird that spins in place vertically, with a felt top that he can suck on. It's got two giant purple circles with pictures of animals that hang from a tree that he can swing at and pull. It's got a lion puppet that people can put their hand in and play with him, he really likes that. It has a drum, a little bendy giraffe, an abacus-like thing with three little circles that he can swing from one side the other and two pandas on a see-saw. Finally, it has a penguin. The penguin is perched above a cylinder that contains a bunch of little balls. When you turn the penguin, the balls roll around the cylinder, making a noise that Xander really likes.
There was just one problem - Xander couldn't turn the penguin to spin the balls himself. He liked it whenever mom or dad did it for him, but when he would look at it, all he could think to do was hit it. While this never hurt him (Xander is a strong little boy) it also never made the penguin move. That is, until yesterday. For the first time, Xander was turning the penguin all by himself! To see the joy on his face when he turned it was indescribable. But you don't want to jump the gun on these things, maybe it was just a fluke, and he'd quickly forget what he learned. Not a chance. This morning, Xander had exersaucer time shortly after breakfast, as is quick becoming custom, and as soon as he got tired of banging on his piano keys, he spun around, and sure enough, started working that penguin over good. Sometimes breakthroughs take awhile, or they may seem like they take awhile for an adult, but when they happen, they are magic.
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
On Eating
You can tell right away whether or not Xander is hungry for food. We have been feeding him for two months now, and once he is strapped into his high chair, he generally has one of two reactions. The more common reaction is a blank stare, or worse, the raised eyebrow, which he has quickly learned from his daddy. The raised eyebrow says, "You're kidding, right? I'm not going to do anything you want me to do." If he gives you this look, then you know meal time will be a chore. Whether it's breakfast, lunch or dinner, if Xander doesn't want it, you are going to have to do near stand on your head to get him to eat it. Misdirection was an early game we'd play - trying to get him to focus on the non-feeding parent, while the parent feeding him slyly slid food over his tongue. This worked for about a day and a half. Next was pleading. Pleading can sometimes work, depending on your tone, but only for a short period of time. Next comes singing. Generally, the best songs are the ones you make up on the spot, because those tend to be the goofiest, and the goofier they are, the more he likes them, because when you're smiling, he's smiling. A lot of the time though, none of that will work, and you simply just have to wait out a crying fit or pack it in and promise to do better next time.
But sometimes, you will see the gleam in his eye. When Xander is excited about his food, watch out. First, he starts breathing heavy with anticipation. Then comes the lunging. You have to be really good with your spoon work when the lunging starts. Xander gets so excited that if half of what's on the spoon winds up on his cheek, neck or bib, he is not a bit concerned. And if he's excited, cleaning him up mid-meal can be a lost cause. He is going to attack that spoon, lunging over his tray time after time, and his perfectly round, and sometimes rosy cheeks end up looking more like the start of a canvas painting, slathered in taupe, amber or goldenrod. But he's happy, and he's excited about eating, and so rather than worry that his face is covered in sweet potatoes, you're happy that he's happy.
Xander has been in "lunging" mode during each of his past two meals - last night with his sweet potatoes, and this morning with his oatmeal cereal. It's a positive development, one that I'm not sure has occurred in the past. And if you lump in the positive developments at lunch yesterday with bananas, thanks in part to daddy's "Ohhhh, Banana" song that he made up, that's three straight good to great meals. Maybe this is because Xander is eating three times a day now instead of two, maybe it's because he really likes food now, or maybe it's random chance, and today's lunch will once again be a challenge. But for right now, Xander is happy, and if he's happy, we're happy.
But sometimes, you will see the gleam in his eye. When Xander is excited about his food, watch out. First, he starts breathing heavy with anticipation. Then comes the lunging. You have to be really good with your spoon work when the lunging starts. Xander gets so excited that if half of what's on the spoon winds up on his cheek, neck or bib, he is not a bit concerned. And if he's excited, cleaning him up mid-meal can be a lost cause. He is going to attack that spoon, lunging over his tray time after time, and his perfectly round, and sometimes rosy cheeks end up looking more like the start of a canvas painting, slathered in taupe, amber or goldenrod. But he's happy, and he's excited about eating, and so rather than worry that his face is covered in sweet potatoes, you're happy that he's happy.
Xander has been in "lunging" mode during each of his past two meals - last night with his sweet potatoes, and this morning with his oatmeal cereal. It's a positive development, one that I'm not sure has occurred in the past. And if you lump in the positive developments at lunch yesterday with bananas, thanks in part to daddy's "Ohhhh, Banana" song that he made up, that's three straight good to great meals. Maybe this is because Xander is eating three times a day now instead of two, maybe it's because he really likes food now, or maybe it's random chance, and today's lunch will once again be a challenge. But for right now, Xander is happy, and if he's happy, we're happy.
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
Welcome
I've decided to start a new blog to chronicle my time as a stay-at-home dad with my son Xander. You can find my musings on everything sports and pop culture related on my other blog, but this one will be dedicated strictly to Xander.
Today is my second full day as a stay-at-home dad with my son Xander. Prior to this, I worked for the Colorado Rockies Baseball Club for 7 years. I spent the last four years working on Rockies Magazine, which is the Club's gameday magazine. Before that, I earned my MBA from the University of Denver, and had several jobs that lasted far less than seven years, including a sports PR firm that I started with my college roommate and ran for a little more than two years. I am from Massachusetts originally, but have lived in Denver since 2003 when I came out to pursue my MBA. I have been married to my gorgeous wife Summer for five blissful years.
But enough about me. My son Xander was born on May 31 of this year, so he is just over six months old. Now that I am staying home with him, I wanted to attempt to chronicle what he's doing everyday, because I have a terrible memory and want to be able to remember these times when I get older.
Yesterday, Xander was a ball of fun. A couple of weeks ago, he started being able to stay sitting up on his own. Now, he is starting to scoot on his bum. He grabs at whatever he can to pull himself in the direction he wants to go. Soon, he'll be crawling, but this is a start. That was never more obvious than yesterday. I sat him on the kitchen counter while I was warming up his bottle. The lip of our porcelain sink extends over the counter, and Xander was able to scoot the little way over to the lip. He then grabbed the lip and pulled himself over to the edge of the counter. Before I knew it, he was halfway into the sink! I grabbed him in time, fortunately, but it was cool/horrifying to see him move so quickly.
Unfortunately, he wouldn't sleep much yesterday. He took three naps, but only for a half hour each time, and usually he takes at least one nap of at least an hour and a half each day, so he was a sleepy boy come night time. He fell asleep on top of Summer at 6:30, and didn't wake up, so he didn't get to have his sweet potatoes for dinner. But that will be part of the adjustment process as he transitions from day care to full-time to being at home with daddy full-time. His naps today have already been longer.
One note - it is highly unlikely that I will be posting pictures or video to this blog. My wife and I believe pretty strongly that we don't want his image plastered all over the Internet at such an early age. "It's harmless," you'll say, and you're probably right, but we'd like to keep our little guy's cute face private for now.
Today is my second full day as a stay-at-home dad with my son Xander. Prior to this, I worked for the Colorado Rockies Baseball Club for 7 years. I spent the last four years working on Rockies Magazine, which is the Club's gameday magazine. Before that, I earned my MBA from the University of Denver, and had several jobs that lasted far less than seven years, including a sports PR firm that I started with my college roommate and ran for a little more than two years. I am from Massachusetts originally, but have lived in Denver since 2003 when I came out to pursue my MBA. I have been married to my gorgeous wife Summer for five blissful years.
But enough about me. My son Xander was born on May 31 of this year, so he is just over six months old. Now that I am staying home with him, I wanted to attempt to chronicle what he's doing everyday, because I have a terrible memory and want to be able to remember these times when I get older.
Yesterday, Xander was a ball of fun. A couple of weeks ago, he started being able to stay sitting up on his own. Now, he is starting to scoot on his bum. He grabs at whatever he can to pull himself in the direction he wants to go. Soon, he'll be crawling, but this is a start. That was never more obvious than yesterday. I sat him on the kitchen counter while I was warming up his bottle. The lip of our porcelain sink extends over the counter, and Xander was able to scoot the little way over to the lip. He then grabbed the lip and pulled himself over to the edge of the counter. Before I knew it, he was halfway into the sink! I grabbed him in time, fortunately, but it was cool/horrifying to see him move so quickly.
Unfortunately, he wouldn't sleep much yesterday. He took three naps, but only for a half hour each time, and usually he takes at least one nap of at least an hour and a half each day, so he was a sleepy boy come night time. He fell asleep on top of Summer at 6:30, and didn't wake up, so he didn't get to have his sweet potatoes for dinner. But that will be part of the adjustment process as he transitions from day care to full-time to being at home with daddy full-time. His naps today have already been longer.
One note - it is highly unlikely that I will be posting pictures or video to this blog. My wife and I believe pretty strongly that we don't want his image plastered all over the Internet at such an early age. "It's harmless," you'll say, and you're probably right, but we'd like to keep our little guy's cute face private for now.
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