New Year's Resolution in March....

Is it too late to come up with a New Year's Resolution?  Or call it what you will, something I want to do differently.  I can indeed be quite a lazy bum.  After working a long day, going to a class twice a week, coming home and helping with dinner, cleaning up, throwing a load of laundry in, playing with William before he goes to bed...let's face it, I'm beat.  I'm still trying to make it routine to work out after little man goes to bed too.  Whew, I'm exhausted just typing it. 

That's not my resolution though. 

I want to make sure we are getting off our bums and getting outside to play...like everyday if we can.  I judged my own parenting when the weather got nice and I took William outside and he was terrified to walk in the grass.  My kid was afraid of the grass.  Oh my goodness, I have failed.  Of course my kid won't walk in the grass, I haven't taken him outside in it since he started walking.  (judge away...judge away...)

So I've been making it a point to take him outside.  (don't worry....he's not afraid of that green stuff anymore)  I try to point out the birds and show him the sound they make.  I try to teach him that when he walks down the driveway towards the street, he has to hold my hand.  (read: teaching a one year old to hold you hand just leads to a melt down every.single.time)  We have been going on family bike rides since we bought one of those buggy thingys.  We walk into the field across the street from us and let the dog run around.  It's been awesome so far and it's barely into spring!

I just want to make a promise to myself and to William that we will make a point to get out and explore and get dirty and learn together!

How could I resist this....

Ahw Gah and a Little LMFAO

I'm pretty sure my husband and I offer no hope to our son being able to learn to talk.

It started with "uh oh."  It came out of our son's mouth and we both couldn't believe it!  It was adorable and 100% in the correct context!  He's a little genius.  Then to show everyone how adorable our child is that knows how to say "uh oh" we tried to get him to say it all the time.  At first I'm guessing he was thinking, "Mom...that's totally not the correct context.  There's nothing to be uh-ohing about."  Then I'm sure he finally got to the point where, yup, this is a really cool thing to say and people think I'm cute when I do it.  What does it mean again?

Then he said it all.the.time.  Totally losing any idea of what it actually means.

Then we wanted to teach him to tell us when he was done with his meal or to let him know when he needs to calm his shit down because the yogurt is, indeed, all gone.  So we would say it after every meal and at the end of every yogurt cup.  All gone.  Then our adorable William said it back - "Ahw gah**!"  Holy crap, he's adorable.  Once again - totally in the correct context.  Then we ruined another phrase by saying it all the time to hear him say it because, well, it's frickin adorable.

Now he says it all.the.time.  Again...totally losing any concept of what the context is. 

Then there is the song by LMFAO - "Sexy and I Know It."  My son.  Yeah, the cute one in all of my pictures, yeah him.  Totally says wiggle because we sing that part all the time.  Another word that will add about no value to his speech skills but it's hilarious and so cute I want to kiss his fat cheeks. 

That is all. 

**It is totally hard to spell out all gone in the way a 16 month old says it.  This was the best I could do. hehe

Good thing he has a cute behind...

William is on the move.

I mean, like, constantly. 

People would say - "Watch out when he starts walking!" and I would think - "Umm...he does a pretty dang good job of being a non-stop mover getting into trouble now and he's crawling...I know what I'm doing, yo."

And now I wish to go back to my past self and slap her across the face because I should never assume I even had a clue.  Seriously.  And that makes me scared of what's to come. 

So moving on - I take a lot of pictures with my cell phone.  More pictures there than with my camera these days just because it's handy. 

Cell phone pictures plus toddler on the move all.the.time equals lots of pictures from behind (or fuzzy because who has time to stop a pose for a picture, mom...).  Here are some of the priceless gems recently. 

Mr. Independent at the pool last week.  Mom who?

OK, he's not moving in this picture, but that didn't last for long.  If I can't get one from the front, I have to sneak up behind him to catch one.  On another note, my kid is in love with American Idol and Glee and anything that has music.

Yeah...he's the cool kid with a box on his head and one pants leg up.  What of it?

He's too cool to sit and watch a basketball game, he'd rather dance in front of this audience that obviously was assembled just for him...

Exploring during a trip to the mall.  He spent about 25 minutes running circles around this magical, musical and talking vending machine. 

The dog has a bit of holiday weight....

Some people are cat people.  Me?  I'm a dog person.  I have always grown up with dogs and having one of my own now, I can honestly say that he has added so much value to our lives.  He cuddles and plays and is such an amazing big brother and companion for William.  He's our "other" baby - Tressel. 

I recently took Tressel to the vet for his annual vaccinations and check-up.  Tressel is a black lab and had previously weighed about 79 or 80 pounds.  Big boy is now up to 86 pounds.  That's quite a steep jump and I could see their vet, judgy eyes looking at me as if I'm a horrible dog parent that let their child's weight get away from them.

They took us to the tiny room where Tressel roamed and sniffed and I was feeling guilty that my dog had let himself go (which means I suck as a doggy mommy).  The questions come.  Any problems since your last visit?  No.  What kind of food do you feed him?  Oh boy, here it comes.  Does he get exercise? Well, yes, but umm, it's been cold and we've been busy...  Does he get table food?  Umm...why yes, we do have a one year old.....

I blamed it on William....

As you can see, Tressel claims his spot immediately next to William for all three meals.  It didn't take long for him to figure that one out.  Makes for the floor clean-up quite easy after meals....

Just act cool, Tressel.....they are watching.  You can have some of my food in a minute....

We are now a 'sposie family

I've admitted defeat against diapers and against toddler butts andn against moisture and against diaper rash.  They have won and I give up.  We are now a disposable diaper family.  I still absolutely love my cloth diapers and would absolutely recommend to anyone looking to try them.

We have been battling diaper rash since about the day he was born.  We have tried every single combination of diapers, wipes, creams and powders known to the world.  We have tried changing his diaper immediately after becoming wet or dirty.  We have tried baths and "no diaper" time.  I"ve stripped the cloth diapers every which way.  Offer up any suggestion, we have probably tried it. 

I'm not just talking a little diaper rash.  I'm talking broken skin and bleeding diaper rush.  I'm talking screaming from the pain when he sits or even held.  I'm talking horrible bouts of diaper rash.  And nearly constant, at least mild, diaper rash for the past fifteen months. 

We finally found a bit of a combination that seems to be working and we are going to stick with it for now and it includes disposibles.  Huggies diapers, Huggies sensitive wipes and California Baby Cream - basically slathering it on at every diaper change. 

I absolutely see where CDs would be great for babies with sensitive skin - without the added chemicals.  But with William's case, he just can't have a drop of moisture before all baby butt hell breaks loose. 

I don't know who is more frustrated, him or me.  I'm just looking forward to potty training.....for real....

Little hands

I am sitting on the couch with my laptop while William is playing with his toys on the floor.  Watching him play is almost more fun than getting on the floor with him to play.  I always wonder what is going on in his mind. I can see him figure things out and I can see him get frustrated.  It's adorable. 

Although it doesn't seem related, I vacuumed yesterday.

So now you have a mini picture.  I'm on the couch.  He's on floor.  Floor should be relatively clean.

He walks over to me and holds out his hand as if to give me something.  I hold out mine.  He hands me a piece of a leaf about the size of lady bug.  He seems so proud.  He makes eye contact as if to say "Aren't you so proud, Mom?  I helped clean up since you are just sitting on the couch doing nothing and I'm left to play in this mess." 

I'm just wondering how the heck he finds this stuff!

My new favorite time of the day

About a year ago I wrote about my favorite time of day.  It was first thing in the morning while I nursed him.  A year later I almost don't remember what that was like.  Things have completely changed and William has grown and developed and those cuddles seem so far away. 

I have a different favorite time of a day.

I watch him play.  I tickle him to get him to laugh.  He rubs his eyes and yawns.  I ask him if he's ready for bed and he walks and waits for me to open the gate so he can climb upstairs.  Diaper change and soft pajamas.  We brush his teeth and then he brushes mine.

Then we sit.  We sit in the rocking chair my mom gave my dad when they got married.  We rock and I ask what song we should sing tonight.  He doesn't respond because he has no idea what I'm saying, but I know one day he'll be able to answer.  I pick a song and I sing in his ear.  He puts his head down on my chest.  He's always so tired.  He starts to hum to the song.  My heart just melts with this.  I kiss his cheek and tell him good night and that I love him.

I lay him down and cover him with his favorite blanket and he pulls it up to his shoulders.  I push his glow worm.  I step outside.  I hear him from in the hall push the glow worm again and again and again.  Then nothing.  He's asleep. 

Updates

So I'm getting some complaints from friends and family that I'm such a slacker and I haven't blogged in over a month. We are all still alive and well just busier than ever before.  I"m sure I could write about a hundred different things so instead I will just make a list (I'm good with lists) of what's new....

• William is officially walking - like finally officially walking.  It was about three weeks ago he one decided he liked walking more than crawling and he was off.
• I'm continuing to train for my first triathlon sprint.  To keep me motivated, I signed up and the race is in two months!  I've set the bar pretty low - finish and just don't die.....
• I am loving on American Idol this season and I have like five favorites and no idea who might win.
• Last weekend, I spent my first few nights in a row away from William.  It was definitely different and I missed him like crazy!  I loved walking in the house after three days away and seeing his face light up when he saw me!
• Diaper changes are kinda like torture because William doesn't want to lay down, then he doesn't want to sit still, then he wants to grab his privates (that are probably completely covered in poop), then he has had horrible diaper rash and he screams because he's in pain.  All around pretty sucky.
• Last night I took William to the indoor kiddie pool at our gym.  He absolutely loved it.  He squealed with delight at all the kids running around.  He splashed like mad (and for once our bathroom wasn't the wet disaster afterwards).  I bent over and tried to show him how to blow bubbles.  He bent over and stuck his face in the water and took a drink.  Hmm...we'll have to work on that.
• He's starting to "talk" more.  He babbles all the time.  He seems to be starting to repeat sounds we make - like words.  It's so much fun!
• He is definitely understanding things we say - I say, "Let's go to bed," and he'll walk to the steps and wait for me to open the gate.  Adam will say, "Do you want some food?"  He'll walk over to the highchair for lunch.  Beware...he's smarter than he appears! 
• We have an awesome bedtime routine.  One of my favorite parts is when I brush his teeth and then hand him the toothbrush and his face just lights up.  He takes to brushing his own teeth (or basically chewing on the toothbrush) and then he smiles and attempts to brush mine too.  It's adorable!
• Speaking of adorable, he kissed me on the lips the other day.  I asked for a kiss and puckered my lips and he leaned in to put his lips on mine.  Melt.my.heart....
• I'm like half the rest of the world - I'm obsessed with Pinterest.
• I'm ready for spring and for the time change and for summer and for leaves to come back and for the ability to enjoy outside without being frozen.  Someone remind me to appreciate the summer when it becomes 95 degrees outside....

I think that's enough for now.  Will do my best to keep up on things - if not for myself and a journal type thing for William, then to get Stefanie and my mom off my back.  hehe love you both

Wordless Wednesday - Fort with Mom

When is the time right?

So lately the hubby and I have been asking ourselves the "when is it time for another one" question.  My husband's answer varies greatly from mine at this time (and for the past year).  His answer is "now, please."  Mine is more like "whoa whoa whoa, at least buy me dinner...." 

One of my reasons is that I feel like I have just gotten my body back or reclaimed or whatever you want to call it.  Although I was so sad to be done with nursing, at the same time it was such a relief to not worry about pumping or nursing on schedule.  Also, William is at such an amazing stage right now!  He goes to bed at 8 without a fuss.  He sleeps 10-13 hours a night.  We don't really have to worry about packing him special food when we go out since he eats just about anything.  He is so much fun to play with.  He wants to play with his toys.  He wants to toss a ball.  He wants to wrestle.  He wants to dance and listen to music.  He snuggles when I rock with him before bed.  He will drop a toy to come give me a hug.  It's pretty much amazing.  Then there's the question I hear a lot of first time parents ask themselves - "How could we possibly love another child more than we do now?"  I'm not too worried about that last one because I realize we could and would.  But I still can't prevent it from entering my mind.

Then there's "logistical" discussions.  Adam finishes school in about December of 2013 - do we wait until after that?  My sister gets married in June 2013 - do we plan around that?  What time of the year do we want our next kid?  Can we afford another one?  Is our house ready for a second little one?  Are WE really ready for another one?

Then I stop and wonder if perhaps I'm over thinking it all.  Other times my heart about bursts thinking about the possibility of feeling a baby kick or having a chance at a VBAC or introducing William to his little brother or sister or nursing another little one.  There are other times when I wonder if we should just throw our hands up and let things happen like they are supposed to happen....


[No, Mom...this does not mean we are trying to conceive your second grandchild....we are just simple talking.  hehe]

Triathlon Training Begins

In 2010, before getting pregnant, I had started training for a triathlon sprint with my husband and his friend.  I was working out about five and six days a week and was feeling great.  Then I got pregnant and didn't want to hardly breath for fear of doing something wrong or hurting myself or the baby.  Since I wasn't much into excerising before getting pregnant, I decided to cool it on the training and skip the triathlon.  I watched my husband and his friend complete two triathlons that summer and I was disappointed that I hadn't had a chance to do the same. 

Last year, I was hoping to train and finish one but having a newborn and exclusively nursing and no set routine and working fulltime, it made it a teensy bit tricky to get to the gym once a week much less five days a week. 

This year, I'm determined.  I WILL complete a triathlon if I have to crawl to the end.  To ensure I will be prepared, I have already started a beginners training schedule and I hope to complete my first sprint at the end of April.  There are a few others I'm looking at and hopefully I will have a chance to do at least one or two more after that this summer.  If it means I have to {gasp} get out of bed early before work to make it to the gym or I have to make it a habit to head there right after putting William to bed after the hubby gets home, I will make it work. 

Let the training begin...

Wordless Wednesday - Baby's 1st Haircut

It was time...to get rid of baby mullet...

Nothing an orange sucker can't help with...

"Who is that?  Who cares...this is delicious!"

"Yup, I'm a stud."

Christmas Recap

I realize I'm like two weeks late for a Christmas update, but I still wanted to get some notes and pictures down before it's Christmas again.

Since we have families that live over five hours apart, with families that both celebrate the big holiday on Christmas Eve, the hubby and I have compromised that we do every other year at eachother's families.  This year was our year to be with my family in Cincinnati, Ohio.  We got there on the 23rd and since I (and my sister and brother) haven't changed since I was a little kid, I wanted to open presents.  The opening not being nearly as fun as the giving as I've gotten older.  So we went to town with our family gift exchange before bed!  Christmas Eve was spent with my mom's side of the family - family, lots of kiddies, a fun gift exchange, tons of great food and good times.  It is, without a doubt, my favorite day of the entire year.  It always has been.  Christmas morning, it was fun to watch Wiliam open presents from Santa!  We stayed another few days before heading back to Illinois, and it was wonderful - some wedding planning for my sister, a trip to the Cincinnati museum center with Adam, overall relaxing. 

Hope everyone also had wonderful holidays and happy new year!!

Hanging with Grandpa

The newly engaged couple

"It's a....it's a....A BOX!!"

First music lesson with Uncle Jordan

"Santa? You still coming tonight?" 

Hurry, snap the shot with Auntie Mel before meltdown...

Christmas morning snuggles with mom

"Merry Christmas!!"

Hugs for Grandma

My son's vocabulary

So I'm trying not to be offended by my son's growing vocabulary, but it is getting more and more difficult.  My son will tell you hi if you pass him in the supermarket.  My son will point out any children by saying "baby".  He has known "dada" for quite some time.  Some newer ones are "uh oh", "pees" (I'm guessing is please?) and something that sounds exactly like shit that we can't figure out what he means.

Every time he speaks, it is a reminder that he is a toddler that is continuing to grow and I'm so proud.  At the same time, it's kinda hard to not notice that he still hasn't said the name of the person who birthed him - his mama.  Maybe it wouldn't be as big of a deal if his beginner "dada" hadn't evolved into straight up "dad".  The garage door will open and Adam will walk in and it's "DAD!"  I get him up from his nap and we walk downstairs and it's "Hi, Dad!"  That little shithead cute frickin' brat still hasn't said mama.  What up with that? 

The rest of the time, he pretty much talks like the Ewoks from Star Wars but I'm pretty sure if he starts speaking in complete sentences before that word comes out of his cute mouth, I might have to make him get a job...just saying. 

"What can I say?  I love my dad!"