Rake, Rake, Rake Senora
The boys seem to be handling their vaccinations much better today. They’re still sleepier than usual, but now that they’re being pumped full of acetaminophen on a regular schedule, they’re back to their normal, happy, lay-on-the-floor-while-I-pull-pacifiers-that-she-somehow-found-again-out-of-Abbie’s-mouth selves. We’ve had no mysterious inconsolable meltdowns today. The key word is “mysterious,” as we know exactly why Ian suffered a meltdown tonight.
Feeding the twins at night is a quiet family affair. We turn the TV off, the lights go down low, and Ellie and I take a baby in our laps while Abbie plays softly nearby. After about two minutes of quiet time, Abbie pulls out one of her many noisy toys, such as the dancing monkey that looked like a much better idea in the store than in our home, and punctuates the remainder of feeding time with hyperactive toddler music.
Tonight she decided to interact with us. Sometimes her interactions involve throwing a book dangerously close to a baby’s head to make us read. Trying to read with the lights dimmed causes problems for Ellie as she tries to figure out if that’s a horse or a sweater that Abbie is pointing to. Fortunately I’ve memorized every book in the house during my endless hours at home, and know even in the dark that Abbie is actually pointing to a bus.
Tonight though, her interactions involved pestering her brothers. This behavior has improved greatly since the twins’ earliest days when Abbie constantly tried to steal their bottles and stick her finger in their mouths. She apparently learned that such disobedience leads to scolding and no longer does that. Instead her vice when she wants our attention is raking her fingers across their heads; she’ll place her fingers on a head in a claw-like fashion, and drag them across the delicate skin fingernails first. She rarely draws blood, but boy does it tick off the babies.
She performed her patented rake move tonight on Ian, except in the dark she missed his forehead and raked him across his left eye area. Fortunately his eyes were shut in his pre-bedtime feeding bliss preventing any actual damage, but we lost his concentration for the rest of the night. We scarcely had it anyway since I think he was hurting a little from the vaccinations, plus we were forcing formula down him, which he barely tolerates even in a good mood.
As Ian screamed we told Abbie to go to her room, which she complied with by screaming the whole way and slamming her door behind her. The “go to your room” command is by far the coolest trick we’ve taught her. We tried bringing Ian back to the formula, and then to milk when he refused to suck. When he wouldn’t even take the milk, we knew he was gone for the night. I tried giving him his dose of acetaminophen before putting him down, but he was too busy screaming to slow down and drink. The entire dose disappeared in his mouth, though I’m not sure how much he swallowed and how much he inhaled. I set Tory down while Ellie calmed Ian from his acetaminophen inhalation. Once they went down, I opened the door to Abbie’s room and found her happily reading on the floor. I can only hope that she’s learning that scratching her brothers leads to scolding.
Feeding the twins at night is a quiet family affair. We turn the TV off, the lights go down low, and Ellie and I take a baby in our laps while Abbie plays softly nearby. After about two minutes of quiet time, Abbie pulls out one of her many noisy toys, such as the dancing monkey that looked like a much better idea in the store than in our home, and punctuates the remainder of feeding time with hyperactive toddler music.
Tonight she decided to interact with us. Sometimes her interactions involve throwing a book dangerously close to a baby’s head to make us read. Trying to read with the lights dimmed causes problems for Ellie as she tries to figure out if that’s a horse or a sweater that Abbie is pointing to. Fortunately I’ve memorized every book in the house during my endless hours at home, and know even in the dark that Abbie is actually pointing to a bus.
Tonight though, her interactions involved pestering her brothers. This behavior has improved greatly since the twins’ earliest days when Abbie constantly tried to steal their bottles and stick her finger in their mouths. She apparently learned that such disobedience leads to scolding and no longer does that. Instead her vice when she wants our attention is raking her fingers across their heads; she’ll place her fingers on a head in a claw-like fashion, and drag them across the delicate skin fingernails first. She rarely draws blood, but boy does it tick off the babies.
She performed her patented rake move tonight on Ian, except in the dark she missed his forehead and raked him across his left eye area. Fortunately his eyes were shut in his pre-bedtime feeding bliss preventing any actual damage, but we lost his concentration for the rest of the night. We scarcely had it anyway since I think he was hurting a little from the vaccinations, plus we were forcing formula down him, which he barely tolerates even in a good mood.
As Ian screamed we told Abbie to go to her room, which she complied with by screaming the whole way and slamming her door behind her. The “go to your room” command is by far the coolest trick we’ve taught her. We tried bringing Ian back to the formula, and then to milk when he refused to suck. When he wouldn’t even take the milk, we knew he was gone for the night. I tried giving him his dose of acetaminophen before putting him down, but he was too busy screaming to slow down and drink. The entire dose disappeared in his mouth, though I’m not sure how much he swallowed and how much he inhaled. I set Tory down while Ellie calmed Ian from his acetaminophen inhalation. Once they went down, I opened the door to Abbie’s room and found her happily reading on the floor. I can only hope that she’s learning that scratching her brothers leads to scolding.
posted by Matt at
11:03 PM
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