Sunday, February 28, 2010

14 Months...

M is 14 Months old today! Everyday he seems to be learning a new word, acquiring a new skill. He is filled with wonderment, excitement and joy at the world around him. He loves to CLIMB on anything he can manage (especially the couches and the bench in the entryway of the house). He adores the outdoors and goes into a panic when he realizes someone is going outside without him. He loves all the fur babies - especially his pal, Finley, who curls up and sleeps outside of his bedroom all day and night. When he does get outside, if he gets the slightest inkling you might try to take him back indoors, he "dead weights" himself and hits the floor with the hope that he is now too heavy to be lifted. He doesn't want to run in the grass - he wants to run on the sidewalk. In fact, he doesn't want to be steered, he just wants to go wherever the fun appears to be (ie, chasing after the school bus). When he lets himself slow down, he is a super snuggley bug. He loves to bury his face into his mom and dad's shoulders and wraps his arms around our necks. He also snuggles anything stuffed or living in the animal form in our home.

He has words. So many words. He loves to wave while he says "Hi" and "Bye." He says "book" and "baby" and "Ma MEE" and "Da DEE" plus a few others like ball, juice, shoes and THIS THIS THIS (*insert chubby pointing fingers here*).

He loves his new mega blocks, and is already erecting towers in our living room with his new favorite toy.

His sleeping patterns have changed. He no longer takes several naps throughout the day, now only taking 1 very long nap after lunch (typically 2-3 hours). Thankfully, he hits the pillow for an amazing 12 hours straight every night (like he has been doing since he was about 4 months old) so that is wonderful.

We love him so much, we might just explode (in a good way, of course).




Thursday, February 25, 2010

February in Arizona...

*sigh*

Sorry to those of you still freezing your butt's off, but we've hit a nice row of days here in AZ that are in the low 70's and perfect :)

We've been barbecuing at night:

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We've been playing in the sand:

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And running through the grass:

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And running away from mom!

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And sliding down the slide!

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Loving the playground in general...

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I hope everyone else is having a wonderful week!

Friday, February 19, 2010

Everybody's Changing...

I couldn't have asked for a better week. M loves the new sitter. I love the new sitter. She rocks, sends me a few emails throughout the days and if she has the chance a picture with her phone. It is so great to see M having a blast. He has so much fun playing with his new friend (the sitter's oldest son, who happens to be 2.5). The best part of all? Not only is he happier at daycare, but he is in such an amazing mood in the afternoon for J and I. Smiling, happy, wonderful baby that I remember. *sighs with relief*

I've been doing a lot of internet window shopping this last few weeks. I'm in love with these Lodge Cast Iron Enamel Dutch Ovens. And of course, I need want a Kindle or a Nook. Besides internet window shopping, I've been lovin on my music collection and turning up my headphones full blast to listen to Muse, Keane, Kidneythieves, Toadies, Leona Lewis and Michael Franti. I'm especially addicted to Say Hey by Michael Franti & The Spearheads, and I have had the song ready to play on my Zune when I pick M up from the sitter's so I can serenade him on the way home. He seems to enjoy it, but perhaps he is actually only amused at his wack ass mother dancing like a fool in the front seat?

But more than anything? I've been daydreaming.. about sleep. Beautiful, blessed, precious sleep, and all the sleeping I'm going to do in the mornings when J's saint of a mother arrives at our home tomorrow to spend the whole week with her very favoritest grand baby.Yes, sleep, you shall be mine. And after I've gotten enough sleep, I'm going to unpack some boxes and finally finish moving into this house.

Friday, February 12, 2010

Beastie Boy...

You know you have issues when your sitter starts telling you daily through verbal and written expression that your son is the spawn of the devil. Ok, maybe she didn't say it quite like that, but she did essentially tell me that my 13 month old is the class bully.

Sitter: "He hits the other kids with toys."
Me: Uhhhh... sorry?

Sitter: He pulls the little girl's hair
Me: Uhm... sorry?

Sitter: He screams. Not in anger, but in joy. He expresses himself by screaming
Me: Oh - yeah, I knew about that. You don't think that is cute? Uh - sorry?

After spending the last month apologizing, and trying to teach my 13 month old about "nice hands" and "inside voices" I wasn't really getting anywhere. I had only seen him behave like a perfect angel with other little kids - giving kisses and hugs and playing mostly nice.

I guess our sitter finally had enough, because she broke up with us yesterday. Told me I had a week to find a new sitter, and she had enough and couldn't take anymore because she couldn't get Mikey to play "cohesively" with the other babies.

For real? Cohesively with others? Mikey doesn't even fully understand what OTHERS is, let alone playing nice. And my fears of having a 1 year old that could pass for a 3 year old are coming true. Poor fella. I thought it was normal for a 1 year old to behave the way he does, but I guess I was wrong. And this must be some sort of record. My 13 month old was expelled from daycare.

I'm sure some day I will look back on this and laugh. Sure.

And while I get a new sitter squared away, here are some pictures of February, so far:

I finally got Mikey's laundry organized!
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Mikey is walking in shoes! (ummm, sort of)
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Mikey LOVES reading!
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And also, climbing on to things he shouldn't:
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And getting booboo's:
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Wednesday, February 3, 2010

If you're wondering if I want you to...

And we're off! I can't believe we are already firmly into February - the days sure are flying by.

I'm still recovering from a weekend of traveling. J and I took the baby out to the west side of Phoenix to hang with some pals (with two kids of their own) that we don't often get to see. We had a great time, but I have to admit that a huge part of that has to do with the fact that their home is completely baby proofed. Josh and I were mostly able to relax the whole time we were there while the kids ran around and entertained eachother. My best friend has a 3.5 year old boy and a 20 month old girl. We've always joked that her little girl and my little boy are going to get married someday so we can finally be "related." Of course, her little girl is all about kissing, and Mikey is too, except he doesn't quite understand the concept of closing his mouth to make the kissy face, so he just comes at you with his mouth wide open, drool spilling everywhere. Lovely. Ohwell, my friends sweet daughter didn't seem to mind his drooly kisses.

After watching Mikey interact with these kids over the weekend, I have no earthly idea what the baby sitter is talking about. She has recently let us know that other parents have been complaining about Mikey leaving MARKS on their children because he hits them with toys. She said the behavior isn't malicious - just some kids are hitters and some are biters, and apparently Mikey is of the hitting variety. But yikes - marks? On the other toddlers? Thankfully, it hasn't been an issue in about a week, but everyday I dread picking him up and hearing about him being a 13 month old "class bully" (seriously? are you kidding me?).

So - one benefit to having a friend that has a little boy 2.5 years older than yours? HAND ME DOWNS! Holy heck! We were gifted with 4 trash bags full of clothes AND a rubbermaid container full as well, along with a bag of boy's shoes of various sizes. Not that Mikey's fat baby feet fit into any of them, lol. Of course - best friend to the rescue - she bought a pair of Skidders for Mikey that work like a charm. They are technically socks with rubber bottoms, but they really do the trick. Plus, they help him from sliding all over the tile! Thanks Val!

Since it is early in February, I thought I'd post here what my ambitions are for the rest of the month. First - I would like to get all the rest of the boxes unpacked so we can start parking our cars in the garage. Second - I want to do a $500.00 makeover on the house. We are dealing with a pretty blank slate, and since we are living in a rental I don't feel like painting walls only to have to paint them back - so that means I'm going to need to get creative. Plus, $500.00 for a whole house isn't a heck of a lot. I'm going to be scouring the internet for ideas, but I have a feeling that a lot of my budget will go to vinyl wall art that I can peel off when our lease is up, lol.

And what about those goals I made in January?

Well, in terms of physical improvement, I ended up shifting weight loss strategies during the month,and settled on a diet of the low carb variety. After losing and gaining the same 3 pounds, I finally have found something that is working for me and I'm down 8 pounds. Only 73 more pounds to go to reach my goal weight. Boo. I will dedicate a whole post to my diet/exercise program on February 25th when I have a month's worth of data to write about. I am doing terribly in all other aspects of the physical goal. My hair sucks. I hate the color. I hate the bangs. Doesn't having awful hair suck? Anyway - my bangs are almost long enough to start flipping them back into a "pin-up" esque type do, and I'm going to go ahead and dye my own damn hair since paying to have it done isn't getting me anywhere. Just going to slap some super dark brown on it and keep it up at home, which should save me $100.00 every 6 weeks. And makeup? Makeup... Makeup... Oh, I'm dolling my face up about once or twice a week. Not all 5 days. Really need to work harder at getting out of bed at a time that actually allows for the application of makeup.

The goal of loving my family? I am doing much better at this, but as always there is room for improvement. I've been loving the crap out of my baby, but I'm pretty positive that the Husband could use some more attention. This is something I'm always striving for - so I will continue to strive to improve in this department.

Finally - the 3rd goal of working towards becoming a SAHM has flown out the window. Husband and I have some serious goals to work towards in terms of providing for our family (college, cars, weddings, etc) not to mention retirement, and it isn't going to happen on one income alone in our case. So - I've converted my 3rd goal and redirected myself to becoming a super star at my office again.

There you have it. February should be filled with fun posts!