Another attack...

...of mommy brain.



Surprise: postponed due to my inability to understand a calendar and use a clock. Ahem. Sorry about that.



However, we have another shocking development.



I've lost my battle to keep my toddler off the couch. He's outsmarted the second step behind our planning ahead when we agonized over what couch to buy.



1) we choose a dark couch to repel stains that were sure to arrive once a baby did and cat hair (ewwww)



2) we bought a sofa sleeper, so it's higher up, and in my brain, naturally defended itself against climbing toddlers. Not too mention it could welcome wonderful family to come help care for said baby once he arrived.



But not mine.



Hopefully he doesn't soon disprove reason #1. I'll keep my fingers crossed.

BTW: He just now crawled across the couch to watch himself on video. And 'dat?' is the cat he saw coming down the stairs. He loves that cat!

Injured

The Booger has upgraded his 'owie' status, and created a whole new milestone for himself.

Facial injuries.
Awesome.

He loves to 'ride' bikes and was doing just that, when his feet got all tangled and his face met the less than soft sidewalk. Poor boy had scrapes and a big bruise and bump on his forehead right away, and his nose and upper lip scabbed up by the next morning. Like the champ that he is, he cried, (insert blood curdling scream) cuddled with mommy (who wanted cuddles just as much) for a nap and woke up ready to play, and was riding a bike the next day.

He thought, since he was injured, he needed grandpa's cane more than grandpa, who is still taking it easy after getting a new hip.

He thought he needed a little grandpa love too.

New words?

I think my little booger will soon be learning that sometimes going "ow-si" means "ow-ie".

Finger lickin' good

Since the Booger's mastered the ever evasive sippy cup skill, we thought we'd try the next step in tableware... utensils.

So far..... so messy!

What you lookin at Momma?

Remind you of this?

He has eaten cereal and applesauce, with his spoon in hand



and his cereal in the other!

Umm, didn't I pay for a bottomless bowl?

Some new developments

The Booger has been oh so busy lately growing and learning a million and five things and I've been so busy enjoying it that I haven't much kept track of some of these little milestones in my boy's life. Thought I take a quick recap of his latest abilities.

1) No tears at day care in the morning (and this with a recent change in venue!)

2) Walking like a champ- can even stand up without pulling up on something

Up, up

and away!

3) A sudden ability to hold and actually drink out of his sippy cup!

4) An unending curiousity about everything. He asks "a dat?" (translation: what's that?) no less than 1,000,003 times a day. To which we answer every time. Cause that's why we're here.

He's recently begun exclaiming something else too, but I'm not sure quite yet what exactly that something means. He also says "hi", "dada", "mommmmmma", something in the nature of "I want" or "I need", "uh oh oh oh" (often just before he throws his cup or spoon on the floor...), might also say"outside"..? It resembles "what's that" but is a wee bit different... And he might say "I got!" from time to time. Hey, I'm a mom, not a translator...

5) He can climb on his little baby scooter thing a ma jigs...

Practicing inside (with no clothes to trip on...?)

Showing off outside- with clothes on...

But he can't quite ride them...

Sorry bubba- had to share this one...
he's fine if you're concerned

6) He knows animals make noises- and will growl at any animal or picture of an animal he sees. Even ducks.

7) He knows you say 'hi' on the phone- any phone he gets his hands on, he puts it to his ear and says "hi"! He has also been known to use any given object as a phone throughout the day and says "hi" to it too!

8) I think we've achieved a solution to the seemingly endless diaper and laundry issue. My washer thanks the makers of Silk!

9) His paci is officially retired. With no dramatic issues (except for Saturday morning when Momma can catch an extra half hour of zzz's if she gives it to him while they cuddle. Yes, it's worth it.)

10) He throws a terrific toddler tantrum. Need I say more?

Oh, and he's driving. Yes, I know, he's advanced. We're hoping he can reach the pedals by the winter. Then he's getting a cab. Gotta earn his goldfish crackers!

New and improved

The Booger's shaggy look is history and he looks like such a 'kid' now! My baby boy is nearly history too! He was so good the whole time, a little whining and wiggling, but it was said and done super fast, giving him little time to protest. After the semi traumatic event, he played and flirted with the other stylist while I took my turn.

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

He's a big 'un!

The big ol' 13 month old had his 12 month (oops...) check up yesterday. All checked out well, despite the wrestling match it took to make it through the usual checklist, and the blood curdling, mommy heart breaking, angry screams that preceded the brightly colored bandaids that now adorn the Booger's legs.

The stats:

22 lbs 12 oz

30 inches tall

cute as a button (like you didn't know!)

Milestones

I promise to celebrate each milestone in your life.

That, my boy, is why I began writing here. I have done my best to capture them as they happen.

We have surpassed so many, some of my favorites are

* your first smiles and laughs

* the first time you rolled over- you were so surprised!

* the first time you ate cereal

* the first kisses you gave us

* the first time you turned the pages of a book

* when you said 'boo' and played peek-a-boo

First time you switched toy from one hand to the other!

We have many more to go, and I promise we will celebrate each and every one.

Promise 1
Promise 2
Promise 3
Promise 4

Promise 5

Pro- fessional!

The Booger is growing and changing by leaps and bounds. His newest joy in life is immediately heading off to do this...

(Don't mind the piles on the steps- and ignore that they are Christmas gifts from nearly a month ago...they are the least of the mess in this house)

...as soon as he is freed from his highchair after dinner.

Oh and in case you were wondering about our snow day... we stayed in our jammies with crazy snow day bed head for quite a large portion of the day. Glorious!

(However, the extra day off was terribly shocking for the Booger once he realized he was not, like he had hoped, staying home with mommy and daddy forever and he would eventually be going back to day care... the shock was slightly delayed- occuring at 7:35 this morning... and boy was it heartbreaking!)

Now entering...

...the picky eater stage! Enough to drive a mother craaaazzzy. Especially one whose child has never-ever been picky. Broccoli, bring it on. Broccoli's pigmentless cousin (aka cauliflower), umm-hmm. Mango, yup. Pasta, absolutely. Turkey, beef, chicken, delicious. Pears, peaches, bananas, of course!

Let us preview the previously scrumptious dinner menu offered this week.

Monday: Spaghetti, peas and carrots, Cheddar Rice Quakes, water

Tuesday: Boca burger, strips of American cheese, peas and carrots, Cheddar Rice Quakes, water

Wednesday: Boca Burger (keep trying right?) Cottage cheese, Sweet Potato Gerber Puffs, water

What you ask, has actually been consumed?

Monday: Rice quakes

Tuesday: cheese, peas (one night and one night only!)

Wednesday: cottage cheese

The consistent hit: good ol' H2O.

It's gonna be a bumpy ride.

Not wasting any time

The Booger has been non-stop movement since he discovered his abilities. Really since the day he was born, but now he's more mobile. Although, despite his ability to follow us around, he has instead decided to display his tearful-self whenever we are not within sight or at times within reach. For example- he is currently cuddling with daddy because he has refused to nap since we got home from running around two hours ago.

Since he loves crawling, he decided not to wait long to master the next skill. He is pulling himself to standing on anything and everything that allows him to (and a few things that aren't so willing).

Hey mom- this thing is awesome!

I can stand up here too! Who knew?

This is his famous move to avoid naps!

Notice he is semi-clothed in every picture? It's getting colder out!

I have yet to capture Party Pictures to play along with Baby Picture Sunday, but don't let that stop you from stopping by Debi's to see the adorable babies who have been partyin' it up. Happy birthday Will and Emma!

Just some cuteness

The Booger took his first bath sans infant tub last week, but since I've been crazy (not so) super mom, this is the first time I've had to share.

Here he is in all his cute slipperiness!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Mommy moment Monday

Thanks to Jamie, I am happy to share a mommy moment from this week.

The Booger has figured out how to crawl as of the middle of last week. Crazy to me that on Sunday when Grandma and Grandma K were here, he was still on the verge, and by Thursday he was off like a shot.

Lucky mommy that I am- Friday, when I got home he saw me, left his toys in the dust he and crawled right over to me. Then he turned to his sitter and waved. To me, that means "My amazing and wonderful favorite mom in the whole wide world is here, you are no longer necessary, thank you very much."

Don't get me wrong- he seems to love his sitter- has taken to her really well and she takes great care of him, but, really, that's what he meant. Mom's honor.

If you'd like to check out his new skills, scroll on down!

Movin' on up!

I think I can...

I think I can....

I can do it!

Off to a good start

While I've been slacking, the Booger definitely has not. He has been super busy figuring out how to move and wiggle around and get from wherever he is to wherever he wants to be. Which, undeniably, are always two different places.

His newest ability, I have yet to capture on camera. He can manuever himself from his belly to his butt. The other day, I would've sworn he'd done it, but then that thought... no way, couldn't be. Lo and Behold- he was in his crib the next night, and hadn't gone to sleep yet, so I wandered upstairs to see what I could do to cojole him into sleep. Only to discover- he was happily sitting up on his butt, playing with the sides of his crib. He turned around and smiled a satisfied little smile like he'd been doing it for years.

He added this skill to an ever increasing repotoire of movements that now also includes getting from his butt to his hands and knees, his butt to his belly, pulling himself up from sitting to kneeling, climbing up the both of us- presumably to reach some object of desire, army crawling, and rolling. Holy my! He's so on the verge of actually crawling I know he's gonna do it when I'm not looking any minute.

Between my lack of opportunity, and the silliness of my camera, I have very little of this whirl of movement to share with you, but here are a few. Plus, I know you need to see some pictures to end this terrible withdrawal I've put you through.

Lesser known milestone # 3

The Booger is learning new things... like always! One- we're pretty sure he really is cutting teeth (he's psyched us out a few times), but when I can wrestle his mouth open and have the luck to get his tongue out of the way, I see two little bitty white dots. So- we may have some cute tooth pictures soon.

Now for the lesser known milestone # 3. Scooting around in circles! Every night, he seems to end up at the opposite end of his crib, on the opposite side of his body from where he started. When I check on him during naps, I can usually count at least 3 different positions. We were playing today, and I got it on tape.

This video is great- it 'features' a ton of super cute stuff he's doing now. He is starting to rock on his knees (mental note- double check baby proofing!), squealing and gurgling, and he spends a good minute or two flirtin it up with the camera. You'd think he was a model- he combines his come hither look with a purr, then throws in some great smiles. Enjoy!

Big boy!

Some milestones we've covered lately... a little lesser celebrated by others, but milestones none- the- less...

Lesser known milestone # 1

Resturaunt high chairs

(ewwww- I forgot to bring the cool cover Lisa and her mom gave us)

and

Lesser known milestone # 2

shopping carts

(ewww again!)

Despite the slobber and who knows what else that was on these wonderfully public items, the Booger loved sitting up and being able to check things out without the blinders of his carseat. He was super excited to be able to look around and watch people walk by him at Fazoli's and flirted with anyone who looked his way, then showed off his rasberry blowing skills in attempts to impress them even more! (I believe it worked- one of these days he's gonna catch himself a baby girlfriend with his slick moves). He liked rolling by things in the shopping cart to- almost like the car, but even better because he could see everything, and even tried to reach out and grab things as we went by.

What are some the milestones you and yours have celebrated? Any traditions you celebrate just in your family?