Toe Walker – First Follow-up

It has been three weeks since I wrote the article “Toe Walking – Not Just For Ballerinas Anymore” pertaining to toe walking in toddlers. Two office visits and more than 10 hours of exercises later, I thought I’d update you all to our progress, and perhaps get a little more conversation going around this surprisingly common subject.

First, let me say that I really like the doctors we are seeing at Children’s Memorial Hospital. They are knowledgeable, patient, and willing to crawl around on the floor walking like a bear or crab, and rolling large padded columns up and down inclines. They are also expensive, like much of our healthcare in America. Billing at slightly higher than $400 for 30 minutes of thoughtful and targeted exercise is very excessive in my opinion, but I will leave it at that for the healthcare topic. The point is that those weekly visits will not be weekly, but rather bi-weekly or even monthly depending on our feelings about Xavier’s progress. After all, the 30 minute sessions in the office aren’t going to correct the issue, our 30 minutes a day at home will, so other than to officially monitor progress or offer tips and additional exercise ideas, we will save ourselves and the (ahem) insurance company the cost of weekly $400 visits.

Xavier is progressing decently, though slow progress is to be expected. He is physically able to walk with a healthy heel-strike-first gait, a big advantage. His range of motion is normal, so whenever we remind him to “walk on flat feet” he immediately begins walking correctly…for a little while anyway. This is actually one of the more important things we have been advised to do is to constantly observe his walk, and remind him to get off his toes. It is both amusing and annoying to listen to us walk down the street having a normal conversation interrupted every couple of minutes or so with a “FLAT FEET” or “HEELS DOWN” reminder tossed the way of my little man. To his credit, he never complains, and drops his heels down every time, no questions asked.

The other important element of the treatment is the exercise routine. About 30 minutes of each day (not all at one time) we do fun little exercises to strengthen Xavier’s core muscles designed to make it easier and more natural for him to steer his balance back to his heels from his toes. Some of these exercises include:

• Duck Walking – Stand with feet close together and bending at the knees, put hands just below each knee. Take small steps across the room or around the playground, quacking like a duck while walking. This is both the toughest exercise, but also might be the most effective according to the therapists. Done correctly, it is very difficult to do this without the body weight being centered over the heels.
• Air Kick-Ball – Lay on back and try to grab a ball held above your chest with both feet, or instead of grabbing, just kicking is OK. Try this once yourself and it will be obvious that this is designed to strengthen the abdominal muscles making it easier to keep body weight balanced over the heels. Xavier actually thinks this one is really fun and will interrupt a regular game of kick-ball to do this exercise.
• Squat Toy Pick-up – Stand with feet about shoulder-width apart. Keeping heels planted on the floor, squat at the knees and with both hands pick up a toy or small object placed between feet and slightly behind heels. Note that I personally have never been able to squat down with my feet flat on the floor, but can only do so on my toes with heels elevated.
• Bear Walk – With feet as flat as possible and bending mostly at the waist (as opposed to the knees) place hands on the floor and walk across the room or around playground.
• Crab Walk – Same concept as the Bear Walk, but with stomach and chest facing the sky as opposed to facing the floor.
• Push Something Heavy – Push a short and reasonably heavy object along the floor keeping feet as flat as possible, or even better…
• Pull Something Heavy – Same as above but pull while walking backward. This almost forces the heels to the floor first.
• Superman (or woman) – Have child lay on stomach across your lap with most of upper body hanging over the side of your lap unsupported. Have the child reach for a ball or other object with both hands. The object should be held high and far enough away so that a good stretch up and out is needed to grab the object. This is designed to strengthen the lower back muscles and complements the abdominal core exercise above. The nice thing with this exercise is that you can easily touch the child’s lower back and feel it working.

There are a handful of others we have been given, but these are in the standard rotation. Xavier is showing progress, and will sometimes stand or walk on flat feet without prompting, but still has a long way to go. It is interesting to me how many people either have a child or know a child who has been through this and has had both success and a definite lack of success in correcting it, even with serial bracing. I am very hopeful our little dancer will be fine, but not without significant effort. I wish nothing but the best to anyone else who is working on the same thing, and would love to hear about your experiences as well.

Be Well!

T.V. Or Not T.V. – That Is The Question

I love television! You love television too. C’mon, admit it, even if you think you spend too much time watching T.V., you love it. Television is an incredible invention and tool. It informs, entertains, passes the time, and creates loads of water cooler topics for us all to chat about while we aren’t watching T.V. Now, with the advent of first, cable programming, then satellite television, there are a seemingly endless supply of shows we can watch. Too many, in fact, for a single person to watch all of, so along came Picture-in-Picture, TiVo and DVRs, followed quickly by DVDs of television shows, webcasts, and iPod downloads. We watch comedies, drama, sports, documentaries, reality shows, then shows about reality shows, and awful “celebrity news” programs about the people on the shows about reality shows. Let me just sum this paragraph up by simply stating the following: TMZ? OMG!

I have also loved television for as long as I remember. I have very fond and vivid memories of watching “Sesame Street”, “Electric Company”, and “Zoom” on PBS back when I was four or five years old living on the north side of Chicago. I remember the intro music to the nightly news shows my dad watched religiously (and still does). I can still sing word-for-word the jingles for Empire Carpets, Aronson Furniture, and Townhouse T.V. and Appliances. I remember all those Saturday morning cartoons and watching sitcom after sitcom like “Welcome Back Kotter”, “Barney Miller”, and “Alice” after school every day. In recent years I was truly addicted to several shows including “Lost”, “Survivor”, “The Amazing Race”, and “CSI” (yes, the Vegas one – do the others even deserve the “CSI” name?). Finally, of course, I don’t let a Sunday go by without watching 6+ hours of NFL football, though I do try to get out of the house and be social for those.

Wow, sounds like I must have a rotted brain, obese body, high blood pressure, and a propensity for violent behavior, right? Nope. Aside from being a little softer around the middle, and perhaps a little less sharp than my interestingly television-free college years, I am a pretty healthy, happy, and good natured person with a good head on his shoulders, thank you. Does this mean that too much T.V. is in no way detrimental to human development? No way!

Many studies have been done that effectively demonstrate that excessive television viewing in early childhood leads to a higher risk of all the nastiness I listed above. Just to reinforce, that was obesity, high blood pressure, delayed or reduced capacity to learn reading and writing skills, and aggressive or violent behavior and mannerisms. I guess the key question is what constitutes “too much”? It appears as though the general consensus is that any television is worse than no television, but let’s be honest about the reality of a child growing up in America and never watching any television. From what I have read, it sounds like the scientific suggestion is that 4 hours or more daily is excessive, and progressively less than that is progressively better. So, now you know what to do with your children, just cut back that television time, right? Wrong.

Like almost everything else in life, that is simplifying the issue way too much. Let’s assume that children are going to watch television. In my case, the primary child watching television is my two and a half year old son, Xavier. Xavier likes a handful of television programs, and probably watches too much television. It is frustrating for both my wife and I as we would like to curtail his viewing habits more than we have, but between my money-making efforts and her caring for seven month old Hayden in addition to Xavier, television is a convenient distraction, and allows us to get the necessities done. You might think that makes us bad parents, and you have a right to your opinion, but there is more to it than that.

Here are some of the ways that we try to make the time he spends watching television effective, and hopefully less damaging to his development:

• Avoid programming that includes commercials. Fortunately, we get the Disney Channel, Nickelodeon, and Noggin to complement our PBS channel. I know that Disney and PBS are commercial free, and I believe Noggin is as well. Commercials suck! They are well-produced and have a very definite objective to sell products and/or services to us. The benefit that they entertain us only makes their messages more powerful, and is in no way their primary objective. Children, toddlers in particular, can’t discern between commercials and regular programming, and can often immediately want the things they see on commercials. They can do the same with things they see on television programs, but generally the programs aren’t specifically trying to sell them something, so the impact is perhaps lessened.
• Choose programming that encourages the viewers to be interactive, physically active, and thinking. Perhaps “Mickey Mouse Clubhouse” isn’t the greatest, but throughout that show, the characters ask questions directly to the “camera” and even pause so the child can respond. Mickey and his pals will also encourage the child to get up off his or her butt and march, dance, skip, and stretch. Other favorites of ours that at least try to be educational include “Word World” and “Sid the Science Kid”. I am not claiming that these shows will turn our young boy into a super-genius (his genes will do that), but they are relatively entertaining even for adults which helps us interact as well and ask him questions about what he watched, what he thought of it, and heap praise on him when he demonstrates having learned something during the show.
• Get him actively playing and exploring outside the home for several hours each day, or inside if and outdoor excursion is either unmanageable or unaffordable. We utilize a local playground, the nearby train stations, and our very walkable urban neighborhood. Xavier has had the opportunity to explore some of the greatest museums our country has to offer, including the outstanding Children’s Museum on Navy Pier. FYI, if you live in Chicago, you can go to any local library and check out free passes to most of the city’s museums, pending their availability, of course.
• Read to him every night before bed, and randomly throughout the day. During reading, it is important to keep the child engaged by asking questions about the story, what he thinks might happen next, what he would do in that situation, and other questions along those lines. We need to make more time to read to him, and encourage him to “read” alone as well.

With all that said, there are some weak points we need to correct, but struggle to balance. I have mentioned often in the past that Xavier loves trains. It is no surprise he would, they are big powerful machines that are ever present in our neighborhood as we live only blocks away from the two major commuter train stations in Chicago (Union Station and Ogilvie Transportation Center), and steps from the Green/Pink CTA elevated line (the “El”). Along with that love of trains comes a love for train videos and shows. Xavier will watch everything from “Thomas the Tank Engine”, to a DVD series appropriately title “I Love Toy Trains”, and a surprisingly gargantuan assortment of train videos available for viewing on YouTube.

While the train videos seem innocent, they have a few drawbacks that are causing us to become more strict about his time spent viewing them. First, while not commercials, they are selling us something…toy trains, imagine that! I have to admit that I have at times gotten swept into the collectible nature of the Thomas the Tank Engine characters, of which there are many more than you might imagine. We use the wooden variety (they also are available in die cast and a plastic motorized version), which cost anywhere from $10-$30 retail per character. The various buildings and accouterments are even more wallet-thinning ringing in for prices extending well into the $100+ range. Now that he has discovered actual “O” and “HO” scale toy trains I can only imagine how high the prices of his wish lists will climb.

These shows and videos can also be quite violent. Not in the shooting way that cop shows and war movies are, nor in the reality defying catastrophic injury manner of such cartoons as “Bugs Bunny” or “Tom and Jerry” are, but rather in the frequency and seriousness of the train derailments and other disasters that saturate the Thomas series. Even in the “I Love Toy Trains” series which features video of actual toy train layouts in various shops and basements, the “funny” moments involve trains crashing and derailing. I have no doubt in my mind that Xavier’s tendency to involve crashing in all aspects of his play come directly from our decision to introduce him to the “Thomas the Tank Engine” video series. Recently, I have found myself catching him in the midst of reenacting scenes from the videos, stopping him from completing the scene, and explaining that trains crashing is actually very far from funny, and that people get very hurt when train crashes happen (regardless of how incredibly powerful they are to watch).

So, I’m not so much looking for advice as much as sharing our experience with television, and wondering if others would be willing to share their challenges with this battle (and by battle, I men with the ubiquitousness of television more than the battle with the child wanting to watch it). This is something that is very difficult to avoid due to the demands on our time, and can’t be even close to unique to us.

I’d also love to know from the parents out there if and by how much having children has curtailed their own television watching habits. I have significantly reduced mine, and now will not even watch a single episode of a new show knowing my own propensity to becoming “hooked”. I still watch “Heroes”, will not miss “Lost”, and try to keep up with “The Amazing Race”. I still watch a lot of football on Sunday and most Monday Nights. I have lost touch with “How I Met Your Mother”, “Survivor”, and “The Big Bang Theory”. The only other show in the rotation is “The Biggest Loser” which, at two hours per episode is both way too long and easy to cut away from sporadically to get things done. Those people on that show are both inspirational and indicative of the epidemic of obesity in America, and it is something I like to keep up with.

Thank you, and Goodnight.

My Lil’ Kicker

This afternoon I officially registered my son for his first soccer “team”. We will be attending the Lil’ Kickers program here in Chicago. We are in the Thumpers division for 2-year olds, and start classes on December 2nd. I discovered that at the first class he would get his first uniform, and I openly chuckled at myself for how excited that made me feel.

From all I’ve read, it sound like a really nice program aimed at teaching children about soccer, yes, but also about listening skills, balance, coordination, and teamwork, the first and last of which Xavier could use a little coaching on. Lil’ Kickers is a franchise organization with 100 locations in 28 states and enrollment of over 237,000 kids! You can read more about Lil’ Kickers here.

If you have or had your own children in Lil’ Kickers, I would very much like to hear about your experience with them. If you haven’t, and you are interested in possibly signing up your own lil’ kicker(s), stay tuned, and I will post regularly about how it goes for us.

Be Well!

The Halloween That Was

So, as we leave the three-day period known by the Catholics at Hallowmas, I can’t help but reflect a bit on one of the most fun, but also one of the most meaningless of all the holidays we celebrate today. Additionally, now that my son is beginning to understand some of the more entertaining elements of the celebration, i.e. getting candy, I wanted to understand at what point the candy element became part of the holiday. It struck me, like so many elements of the other major holidays, as just more American consumerism overwhelming the true meaning of a widely celebrated holiday. Finally, as I attempt to eat healthier and take better care of mine and my family’s diets, I wanted to see if there was some way I could start a movement to eliminate some of the candy overload we are all forced to participate in every year on October 31.

So, the consensus is that the modern celebration of Halloween originated with the ancient Celtic festival of Samhein (pronounced Sow-in). See, the ancient Celts lived in what is now Ireland, Britain, and parts of Northern France. What many people do not realize due to the climate moderating currents in the Northern Atlantic Ocean is that the United Kingdom sits as far north as cities like Calgary, Edmonton, Moscow, and Stockholm. The winters there, while not as cold as those continental cities in Canada and Russia, still hover near freezing, and the days in the winter get very short, and correspondingly very long in the summer. Imagine a winter there without the aid of electricity, heat, accessible food, modern plumbing, and pre-wrapped bite size chocolate candy…brr, gives me the chills just thinking about it.

Samhein for the Celts marked the end of the summer as they had completed harvesting their crops and were in the process of slaughtering their livestock for their winter stores. The Celts also lived in a time and place that was still unfamiliar with Christianity, Islam, and probably even Judaism. Their gods were those who controlled the elements around them, and their belief in an afterlife was of a spiritual world of the dead which existed separate from their world of the living. During Samhein, the Celts believed that the boundaries between the realms of the living and the dead became “ill-defined” allowing co-mingling with dead spirits both harmless and harmful. The Celts donned disguises during this festival often depicting the evil spirits that might do them harm. Sensibly, they believed that if they looked like an evil spirit themselves, perhaps the real evil spirits would leave them alone. Finally, in preparation for the long cold winter, the Celtic Druids would build massive bonfires upon which the Celts would burn crops and livestock as sacrificial offerings to the gods…so much for logic, eh?

The Romans finally arrived in the lands of the Celts around 40 A.D., bringing with them a couple of late-fall festivals called Feralia and Pomona that became combined with Samhein. The Roman festival of Pomona specifically honored the Roman goddess of fruit and trees, and its symbol was an apple. This symbol likely led to the tradition of bobbing for apples in later years. Later, the Catholic Church created the holidays of All Saints Day on November 1st and All Souls Day on November 2nd in order to bring a semblance of Christianity to the celebration known collectively as Hallowmas.

Not until the mid-1800s did the traditions of dressing up and going door to door asking for food or money emerge in America. Gradually, Halloween became more about community and big Halloween parties. Community leaders and schools gradually made an effort to remove the mischief and superstition from the holiday, and by the middle of the 20th century the holiday became secular and aimed primarily at the youth of America. Trick-or-Treating became the custom and flourished as a way for the community to “share” the cost together, and theoretically prevent “tricks” to their household and property by providing treats for the children. Halloween is now estimated to be a $7 billion industry, second commercially only to Christmas.

For a time, children would often receive apples coated in candy, toffee, caramel, and sometimes nuts. These homemade treats, while certainly scrumptious, provided fodder for hysteria as rumors of ne’er-do-well hiding blades and needles in these treats scared most parents into forbidding the eating of such treats in favor of well-sealed confections made by big candy companies. In fact, most unsealed candy and treats are now considered some of the most detestable of treats one can receive on Halloween, and may even subject the treat provider to some “tricks” for their audacity. Convenient circumstances for companies such as Hershey, Mars, Cadbury, and Nestle to swoop in with solutions for every American home.

So, what are the kids today celebrating? Instead of being frightened by spirits of scamps and rascals or stories of mischief and terror, we are more scared of other people surely intending harm. Most trick-or-treat parades appear populated with parents herding munchkins still dressed as vampires and pirates, but also as Teletubbies, Thomas the Tank Engine, and other popular icons of the day. While more sanitized, these aren’t too far off my own memories of Halloweens past.

Most of my candy-hauling took place during the early 1980s and involved loads of Snickers, Milky Way, 3 Musketeers, and Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, but also way too much Good n’ Plenty, Necco wafers, Double Bubble, and those annoying Peanut Butter nougat chews in the Orange and Black wrappers. I was an unabashedly terrible costume creator, but loved the “thrill of the hunt”, and during my best years went with a handful of friends sans parental supervision. We would stop off at home from time to time to empty our load and head out to a different zone (or occasionally hit some of the “good” houses a second or even third time). By the end of those nights, I had undoubtedly collected a year’s worth or more of candy, and ate a good portion of it immediately after the mandatory sort-and-trade session. I was a big fan of Almond Joy and Mounds which I could score for a song from most of my friends.

Some of my most entertaining Halloween memories, however, were not of trick-or-treating, but rather the all too rare Halloween party involving those Taffy Apples, apple-bobbing, and various games. I wore some pretty cool costumes (mostly homemade) back when it was my mother, rather than me, choosing my disguise, and later admired the handiwork of my more imaginative friends.

I guess now, as a parent, I am hopeful that we can find a home in a place where those old-school parties of the past will take place, and my kids can have the same great memories of this holiday beyond just the brands of candy and fears of the dark strangers of the world to interfere. And here is a thought for all parents next year, how about being one of those “bad” houses and give away something other than candy for a change? How about shiny quarters, or dollar coins if you are able? Perhaps Clif bars if you must give a candy-like treat? If you already have made this change, what did you give out? I am just thinking in the spirit of helping our country be a little less obese, perhaps we can help delay the orgy of sweets that typically begins with Halloween and extends right on through New Year’s Day every year.

And please, if you absolutely must give out candy, just don’t, whatever you do, be the house giving out those wretched Black and Orange wrapped Peanut Butter nougat chews. If you do, may the trick be on you!

Happy Halloween that was!

Toe Walking – Not Just For Ballerinas Anymore

I know nothing about dancing. I’ve never been fond of dancing myself. Aside from some occasional thrashing about in nightclubs back in my early twenties, I am generally standing on the sidelines, or more likely, near the food/bar. From what I understand however, dancers, particular those in the ballet, work long and hard to build the strength and flexibility in their calves to allow for dancing on their toes. Apparently this makes movements more graceful and beautiful.

In children, toe walking takes on a completely different meaning. Many children walk on their tip-toes as they learn to walk, and will generally abandon that for a more typical heel-first walking style early on. Sometimes, children do not shake the habit, however, and despite its cuteness, can be pretty damaging both physically and emotionally. We have just begun officially dealing with this in our own little toe-walking son.

A neighbor of ours brought it to our attention over a year ago now. She told us about her own son’s toe-walking, and his need for a serial brace work for portions of every day in order to stretch out the tendons in the Achilles area to allow for a heel-first strike. Xavier advanced through most of his physical milestones early than average, and began walking just as he turned 10 months. Very shortly thereafter, he began running and kicking (I proudly share that he already has “mad” soccer skills). I must admit, it was tough to hear that my budding athlete might have an issue with his legs, but our neighbor’s warning was accurate, and after Xavier failed to shake the habit after more than a year and a half of walking, we decided to have a consultation with a physical therapist at Children’s Memorial Hospital.

The session was held in a typical doctor’s office, but the staff was a bit different. Instead of stethoscopes and tongue depressors, they came equipped with what appeared to be some sort of protractor, some toy cars, and a basketball. As far as Xavier was concerned, there couldn’t be a more entertaining doctor’s office to visit! They asked Xavier to do a series of things like squat down, lay on his stomach (so they could measure the angles his stretched tendons would allow), and walk like a duck. He behaved wonderfully, following every request and suggestion perfectly. Eventually, we made our way to a more gym-like room where other exercises followed.

The result is that while bracing is not necessary right now, we do have some exercises to perform daily with Xavier at home, and will be heading to therapy weekly for the next 4-6 weeks. The exercises are fairly entertaining, so Xavier doesn’t put up a fuss (for now), but it does take even more discipline and diligence in all of us to make sure we are doing them regularly and correctly. I have a high degree of confidence that we are taking care of this early enough that we will be able to correct his walking through exercise alone, but time will tell. Either way, it takes nothing away from his abilities or coordination (remember…MAD SKILLS), so I am not worried.

A word of warning, however, for other parents out there. We were told that though this could just be something natural that he was predisposed to do, some things can exacerbate the problem. Among those things are the family of “exer-saucers” and “walking aids” that seem pretty ubiquitous in children’s playtime rota. Before Xavier was walking, we would frequently let him play in his Rainforest Jumperoo by Fisher-Price. It seemed like an excellent toy to us – he loved it, it appeared to strengthen his legs, and it kept him occupied without crawling all over the condo like some drunken marine doing basic training drills. Come to find out that these toys encourage the child to brace their weight on their toes early on until they graduate to walking. Then, in an evil follow-up, the “walking toys” that seem to help the child walk actually force the child out of control, and that is exactly their problem. When used, the child is encouraged to walk with their weight forward on their toes in order to keep up with the rolling toy. Again, Xavier LOVED his “walker”, though due to frequent collisions with objects both inanimate (the wall or a pile of toys) and animate (my foot or the cat), we were less in love with this one, and will happily forgo its use with Hayden.

Xavier in his Rainforest Jumperoo, a.k.a. Tendon Compactor

In place of these toys, the therapists suggest loads of “tummy time”. If you are a parent, you know what “tummy time” is, and if your not a parent…well, you can guess. Another problem that comes with toe-walking (or is it a cause – I can’t remember) is weak abdominal muscles. Strong abdominal muscles are developed during tummy time, and in turn encourage the weight to fall back on the heels when walking, standing, etc. You can actually see it on Xavier when he tries to perform a sit-up of sorts. A ridge running vertically down the middle of the stomach pushes up as he tenses his abdominals. This ridge, along with a noticeable flaring of the ribcage is the result of the two sides not yet “coming together” (again, I don’t know the scientific terminology). This too should be corrected with these exercises we are performing.

So, if you child, or soon to be child displays the toe-walking and abdominal ridge after 18 months of age, I suggest a visit to a good physical therapist to catch the problem before it becomes an impairment that needs correcting during school years. Kids can be cruel. We’ve all been there – probably on both sides of the teasing battlefield – and whether the child is forced to wear orthopedic shoes, or walk like a ballerina, chances are some taunts will be uttered in their direction.

If you have a very young child who hasn’t yet gotten into a Jumperoo-type or walking-assistance product, heed my advice, and stick with “tummy time”. Not only is it better for your child, but it will save you a few bucks as well.

Be well!

Actually…maybe.

I have heard it said on more than a handful of occasions that children are the toughest job and the greatest joy one can experience. While I am sure that isn’t exactly true for everyone, it is for me. One of the greatest challenges that I have had with my young children is understanding what the hell they are talking about.

Obviously, little Hayden at 6 months old isn’t talking yet, but she is definitely communicating. Her cries, whimpers, screams, giggles, and coos all mean something, and can often mean several things…oh, wait…maybe she is speaking Hawaiian?

Kerry seems to understand her better than I do. She seems to know that one kicking fit means Hayden is hungry while another means she is tired. For me she is either happy, sad, content, or asleep. While simple, it seems to work between Hayden and I, until it’s time to eat, of course.

Xavier’s speech, on the other hand, has exploded recently. Just 7 months ago on his second birthday, Xavier possessed a handful of words and could compose a rare, brief, and somewhat intelligible sentence to ask for water or to see a train. Today, he speaks primarily in sentences, and possesses a shockingly complex vocabulary (along with a word or two I wished he hadn’t picked up on – though sure to get a bit saltier in future years). According to one of my favorite “assistance books”, What To Expect, The Toddler Years, children about Xavier’s age should be able to carry on a conversation of 2 or 3 sentences, so he is right on target, but it still amazes me.

Among his favorite words of late are actually and maybe. Listening to him talk gives me perspective on what it must be like for immigrants to this country, suddenly trying to learn the English language. “Maybe” doesn’t so much mean that something might or might not happen, but rather acts as a lead in to a request for something…assuming a yes response, of course.

“Maybe us go see trains?”

“Maybe I can have juice?”

“Actually” is even more enjoyable to listen to. Xavier sounds like a wise instructor always correcting our sentences.

“Actually we are watching Nemo.”

“Actually us going to the park today.”

Every day brings new developments, and already the word maybe seems to be finding its’ more proper role as a frequently used adverb to express the possibility of something. He has thankfully picked up on “please” in the last few days, and now politely asks for things like water, or to see trains…unless we say no, that is.

The 4-month comparison

The last time I did this picture comparison was at 7 weeks. Today, 8/10 is Hayden’s 4-month “birthday”, so wanted to give it another go.

Xavier in his swing at 4 months old

Let’s start with Xavier. He is as happy as a clam just three days after officially turning 4 months old. Pay special attention to the longer and darker hair he was sporting as compared with Hayden.

Hayden in the same swing on her 4 month birthday

Then we have Hayden. Believe it or not, Hayden is bigger at the same age than Xavier was, and he was a big boy until he was almost a year old. Her hair is a bit lighter, and does not lay down yet like Xavier’s did. The other thing I notice is that her eyes are a little larger and rounder, but it is subtle.

So, what do you all think? They definitely look like siblings, don’t they?

I’ll kill you with cute!

OK, this is cheating, but I am going to let pictures speak for me tonight.  My pride and joy…First Xavier back in 2007 at 7 weeks old.

Ready for Lincoln Park Zoo at 7 Weeks Old

Then, my daughter, Hayden at 7 weeks old…

Hayden - 7 weeks old.

So, cute enough for you?  Do you see resemblance?  They definitely look like brother/sister, but some definite differences, right?