Niklas used to love these.







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  • 2007-03-04: Niklas has recently displayed the ability to get tired of things much faster than mortal humans. As excited as he was about the peas at first, by the third day, he was quite sick of them. We want to appease his expanding palate, so the next day peaches debuted to rave reviews. By the second day, though, these were also right out. Today, he tried out some prunes. He went straight to hating those.

    Niklas's grandma, grandpa and great-grandma Meeker came to visit him today. Niklas is working on another 72 hour poop (60+ hours right now) so he was a bit fussy. Also, the excitement of seeing his grandparents trumped his desire for sleeping leading to even further fussing. Still, a good time was had by all. I particularly enjoyed the part where there were so many people around who wanted to hold Niklas that I got to take a nap.

    It's possible that today's fussing was caused by this instead of the poop or sleep issues. Parenting is all about compromise. Not between the parents and the child, but between the two parents. Apparently, this is not acceptable Easter attire. Oh well, he's had a pretty good run of looking cool.

    There are some new pictures up here. Be warned, there are lots of pictures of the boy eating. It's not for the faint of heart.

    I've archived the February news here. A bunch of tales about eating and pooping? How can you go wrong?


    2007-03-05: Good news! Niklas had his gigantic poop today, so he's no longer fussy. The even better news is that I was at work while it happened. Tammy has nannied for several babies and she says this was the biggest poop she has ever seen from such a little guy. I'm almost sorry I missed it*. In other news, Niklas is becoming adept at making impressive splashes while he's in his bathtub. I'm afraid he's only a couple of weeks away from mastering the sit-and-kick method of getting water all over me, the floor, the wall and probably a bunch of stuff that I don't want to get water on.

    *This is not at all true.


    2007-03-06: There's lots of stuff I could tell you about Niklas today. He wore his Penguins jumper which spurred the Pens to a dramatic comeback victory. He also had a fabulous good time playing with his mommy this afternoon. He followed that up by spitting up all over the chair in his room. On top of everything else, the peaches made a triumphant return to his good graces today. Still, Niklas being Niklas and me being me, all I'm going to tell you about is how Niklas pooped on his own head.

    It's a short story. While Niklas was taking a nap this afternoon, he took a poop so large that it leaked out the back of his diaper. This, combined with Niklas's propensity for traveling about the crib while sleeping led to poop getting all over his back all the way up to his head. This amuses me greatly, especially because I wasn't the one who had to clean it up. Thanks, Tammy!

    There are a few new pictures up. Sadly, there are none of today's hilariously disastrous poop.
    2007-03-07: Niklas has taken to screeching. He's not necessarily upset about anything, he just seems to enjoy emitting loud, high pitched noises that make him sound like a howler monkey. This summer, we'll have to take him to the zoo so he can meet his spiritual relatives. Also, I will get some ice cream and giggle my way through the monkey house and penguin habitat. It's going to be awesome!


    2007-03-08: I don't know how old most boys are when they start to think that fart jokes are funniest things in the world, but for Niklas, that age is apparently six months. Andrya discovered this tonight when giving him a bath. His first ever bottle of Johnson's baby shampoo is nearly empty. As is often the case with near empty bottles, it made a brrrwwwaaamph sound when Andrya squeezed out some shampoo to wash his hair. When he heard the sound, he started giggling like crazy. Later, he had a fabulous good time splashing about in the tub which reputable sources indicate may have been too full.


    2007-03-09: Niklas is hitting the road tomorrow. Andrya has a meeting in her hometown of Bloomington on Sunday, so we're all headed down to see Niklas's grandma and grandpa Meeker. This will provide me with the opportunity to eat pizza at the Lucca Grill and see the finest professional ice hockey that the Bloomington-Normal area has to offer. Also, with any luck, I'll be able to get Niklas a stuffed hockey playing buffalo. Niklas's grandparents, on the other hand, will have the opportunity to hear top notch screeching and wailing in their own home. If they're lucky, he won't fling mushed up peas onto their floor. I would say the edge goes to me in this deal, but the boy is a powerful draw. Regardless of who wins, the real loser will be whoever has to change his next dirty diaper as he's once again commenced work on a prodigious poop.


    2007-03-12: Well, Niklas had a lot of fun on his weekend adventure trip. Things didn't go as smoothly as I might have hoped on Saturday due to Niklas's unilateral decision to revise his sleep schedule. He woke up crazy early, took a short morning nap and then pretty much stayed up for the rest of the day. He didn't even sleep in the car on the way down, which is an uprecedented development. This, along with the building of the super-poop and some teeth-related issues led to a high levels of fussitude and disgruntlocity. The next day, though, he was back in top form. He regaled his grandparents with saga length tales that were completely devoid of screeching, developed an attachment to a couple of rattles and went for a walk outside with his grandma (who made mention of his increasing heavitude). For lunch, I smeared carrots all over his face. There are rumors that he was able to eat some of the carrots, but I can't confirm that. He also got back on his nap schedule, so that was a plus.

    We're still waiting on the 100+ hour poop. He has his six month checkup tomorrow. We'll put medical science in charge of solving this thing if it hasn't worked itself out by then.


    2007-03-13 (AM): Niklas has his doctor's appointment today at 11:30, but there's some news that can't wait. First, the Niklas Smith Poop Production Facility appears to be back online. He had a big-boy style poop (which is to say... more... formed... I don't want to get too much into this, let's move on) which shattered the recently established records for volume and icky-ness. Second, he rolled over from his back onto his belly. That's the first time he's done this, though given his hatred for being on is belly, I don't know if he'll be making a habit of it.

    I'm setting the over/under for Niklas's weight at 19 pounds, 3 ounces. Place your bets now.


    2007-03-13 (PM): Today is Niklas's Half-Birthday. Happy Half-Birthday, baby! Niklas is finally old enough to play with his six month and up toys. First and foremost amongst these (according to the official spokesman of Niklas... me), is the Drop and Roar Dinosaur. He had a great time batting the balls around on the floor and trying to grab the dinosaur's head whenever a ball rolled out of it.

    His doctor's visit went very well. The doctor was very impressed with his motor skills and mental development and she said he's very healthy. I was way off on my estimate of his weight, though, as he's only up to 17 pounds, 10 ounces. This makes the under a big winner (thanks a lot, inaccurate bathroom scale). I didn't guess as to his height, but if I had said he was 26 inches tall, I would have made up for my horrible weight projection.

    Dr. Sharma recommended that we give him prune juice to help regulate the poop manufacturing. He had some today and did not scream and cry the way that I would if presented with prune juice. He's apparently pretty tough.

    There are some new pictures up here. Nothing as graphic as this, thankfully.


    2007-03-18: There's been a lot going on lately. A good part of the aforementioned "a lot" has been Andrya and I trying to avoid passing our debilitating colds onto Niklas. So far, he's proven to be impervious to illness other than the occasional sneeze. This is great, except when he sneezes with a mouthful of peas.

    Niklas has tried and not hated several new foods lately including green beans (which smelled horrible) and bananas (which smelled both horrible and absolutely nothing like bananas). I even managed to feed him without this happening. Today, Andrya gave him some water out of a big boy cup.

    Niklas's godfather Josh came to visit him this weekend. Niklas had a fabulous good time playing with him on Saturday. Peek-a-boo was definitely the highlight, though he enjoyed some hanging out and playing with blocks, too. Niklas's favorite game with the blocks is to have somebody stack them up so he can take a swipe at them and knock them down.

    Niklas has started rolling over in his sleep. On Friday, I heard screaming at about 4:30. When I went in to check on him, he was lying on his belly. He had his head lifted up and was screaming like he was auditioning for Scream 4 and the way to get the role he was auditioning for was to scream really loudly and for a long time. Anyway, I rolled him over and gave him a pacifier and he went right back to sleep. He did the same thing last night. He's asleep on his belly right now, I assume he's waiting until we go to sleep to start the wailing.


    2007-03-19: There was one other big development this past weekend that I forgot to mention (I've been ill... I'm also using that as an excuse for typos, insufficient facts and a complete lack of the funny lately). We had to move the mattress in Niklas's crib down to the lower position to stop him from grabbing his mobile and literally pulling the stars from the sky. Since the top rail of the crib is higher than my waist, lowering the mattress makes it very difficult to bend over the rail and access the sleeping area of the crib. Unfortunately, this is where Niklas and I conduct the vast majority of our crib-related business. The crib manufacturer considered this in the design of the crib and there is a way to drop the rail down for easier access. For the first couple nights, I was under the impression that this was accomplished by shaking the rail and swearing at it until the desired effect was achieved. This morning, Andrya showed me an alternate (some might say correct) method that involves much much less (perhaps no) shaking and swearing. Thanks, Andrya.


    2007-03-21: Niklas's album of the day yesterday was Wine Cooler Blowout by the JJ Paradise Player's Club. Niklas, though, featured a diaper blowout as opposed to something Bartell's and James would have gone on about in the eighties. After a couple of days without a poop, he was back with a vengeance. Hilariously, his vendetta was pretty much directed at himself. During his afternoon nap, he managed to exceed diaper capacity to such an extent that there poop from the back of his neck all the way down to his toes. I guess there was a bit of vendetta toward Tammy as she had the misfortune of having to clean him up after carpet bombed himself with his own waste.

    Niklas has really been enjoying the solid (or, if you will, watery and mushed up) food he's been getting. Before he gets his first spoonful, he'll strain against the straps of his high chair trying to force his head toward the sweet potatoes or whatever. His eyes get all big and his mouth gapes open... I'd take a picture but I'm too busy shaking with laughter to hold the camera steady enough.


    2007-03-23: Niklas is convinced that he needs to get up at about 4:30 in the morning. Andrya, his doctor, several authors of notable baby owner's manuals and I are convinced that he does not. This has resulted in the delightful sound of screaming coming from his room for an hour or so every morning. Pleasant. He quiets down if you give him a pacifier, but Andrya, his doctor and the aforementioned authors are opposed to this. I am not, but the alpha and omega of my position is "so sleepy... please quiet." Andrya and her cabaal of experts, on the other hand, have the "Blah, blah, blah, bad habits, blah, blah" argument. They're probably much more articulate than that, but brain no function well sleep without.


    2007-03-25: Niklas had a pretty eventful weekend. The weather was really nice, so he got to go on a couple of walks with his mommy and sit on the couch with me. He also declared tummy time to be over and done with now and forever by mastering the art of rolling from his stomach to his back. We'd put him on his belly and within five seconds or so, he would flop his way onto his back. Niklas found this to be great fun as he has a longstanding hatred for tummy time. His newfound mobility also translated into exciting (sort of) sleep action. He's developed an affinity for wedging himself into the corner of his crib within moments of going to sleep. It would be interesting to put him down for the night in the middle of the living room floor and see how far he could get. I'll set the over/under at ten feet, taking all bets. Anyway, whilst in the corner, it's now pretty much inevitable that he'll stick one or both of his feet through the bars of his crib. Earlier today, he had both feet through all the way up to his knees. This doesn't seem to bother him, so there's that.

    New pictures? You bet.


    2007-03-27: There have been a couple of tremendously messy incidents lately. I'm happy to report that neither one directly involves me. The first happened last Friday at bathtime. To facilitate the bathing, we take Niklas's clothes off in his room and then carry him to the tub which we put on the kitchen counter. To prevent any incidents of a pee related nature, we cover the Boy's boys with a washcloth for the transfer. We keep it on him in the tub, too, due to his complete lack of reliability in the "don't pee on other people" department. However, he's now mastered the art of grabbing stuff and throwing it about. On Friday, "stuff" was defined as "the pee shield washcloth". As soon as he got it out of the way, he did his best impression of this famous piece of statuary. As I indicated before, my clothes remained blissfully urine free. Andrya, on the other hand, was not so lucky.

    The second debacle was food related. I wasn't there, so I can't give you a full report. What I can tell you is that when Tammy was feeding him peas yesterday, he discovered that he could spit them out if he chose to do so and that he did indeed choose to do so. To quote Tammy, "he looked like a green monster." I'm envisioning this.


    2007-03-28: Niklas got to stay up past his bed time, today. Sadly for him, it wasn't because I let him stay up to watch hockey (maybe come playoff time) but rather because there was a fire alarm going off in the building. Niklas didn't seem too concerned. He didn't even care when we took him past the blaring alarms in the hall. Apparently, my perpetual loudness has prepared him for rackets of all sorts. Anyway, I don't know what the deal was (there wasn't any smoke or anything) but we still had to hang out in the parking garage for a half hour or so. Niklas got to spend bonus time with his mommy, so he was cool with the whole thing. After we got back upstairs, he scarfed down some sweet potatoes and pears and went to sleep.


    2007-03-29: As I'm sure I've mentioned before (or not, babies make people forgetful), Niklas's godfather Josh was in town to visit him a couple of weeks ago. While Josh once again failed to walk around with an orange in his mouth for my... I mean, Niklas's amusement, he did take a few camera phone photos. To wit:


    Note the dangerous proximity of the remote to Niklas. Don't even think about it, boy.


    Here's a good shot of Niklas lounging about while he's supposed to captaining his ship. Slacker.


    Note the lack of amusing orange. Somebody needs to step it up.

    Niklas once again thanks Josh for visiting and wants him to know that he had a really good time playing with him. Niklas conveyed this to me this morning as a series of squeaks that ended with him spitting up.