15 Month Snapshot

I admit that I have been a terrible blogger as of late, chasing my son around takes up much of my free time and renders me a vegetable on the couch after bedtime most nights that I am quickly falling behind in my updates. 

I find it truly amazing and terrifying how much my little guy is growing up these days. It seems that we took a trip for the holidays and brought back a completely different child who can communicate, walk, and whose little personality is becoming plain as day.  At our check up, he is still falling off the charts in size, but his chubby cheeks and insatiable appetite are no verdict on his measurements.  He finally had 3 teeth bust through at the age of 15 and a half months, and I have to constantly remind myself that I have another task to take care of at bedtime.  He loves to be outside in any weather, is more interested in the wheels of cars than he is at the playground equipment, can actually sit still and look a books for several minutes, yet is otherwise in constant motion. What mother doesn't do a little comparison to other kids? My child vs. my neighbor's child.  The little guy next door will stand and watch as my son runs and touches the cars 3 doors down, then falls in a puddle, runs to our front stoop and throws the dirt out of the planter, pulls a handful of leaves off a bush, and does about 3 laps around our driveway.  This might happen in the span of 5 minutes.  Wow. You wonder where I have been huh?  I am learning that I need to keep this one entertained with mobile objects; so the exercise ball is once again a family fave, any cylindrical object is now a toy, and my dog is willingly becoming a pony.  
He will still eat just about anything, but has definitely found favorites in bananas (nanas), bread, Cheerios, and eggs.  It is definitely like having mini version of my husband when it comes to meal preparation!  
The doctor also wanted basically a list of all the words that he can say, I know he has many things that he can say, yet under the pressure I forgot about half of them!  Let me try some recall here: nana, mama, dada, good girl(for Sierra), good, hot, ball, agua, bread, milk (ma), mas (more), bubbles, bath, dogs go woof woof, monkeys go ah ah, cats go mah, tick tock for clock, bike, car, bell, hat, I'm sure I could figure out more, but this is better than what I produced at the doctor's office!
He definitely has sorted out his likes and dislikes, animals capture his attention, he does not like being told no, and is happiest when I let him run around and discover his world, especially our garage!  I am once again happy to have the opportunity to bear witness to the changes that happen on a daily basis. 

It's About Time

This looks like torture to get a tiny glimpse

I feel like I have been posting about impending teeth for some time now, and I must say that I blame my major lack of knowledge on the subject led me to believe that teeth were right around the corner almost a year ago.  This parenting learning curve is a tough path man.  We now officially have a tooth, my dear boy must have caught on that his much younger buddies were beginning to out-teethe him so he felt that at 15 months it was time to knuckle up.  I must say that I think the painful part is when the teeth are coming towards the surface, as my little guy has actually been sleeping longer the past few days. 
Good-bye gummy grin, I will miss you.  

The Cup Tippeth Over

A cup is a cup, correct?  But go to any baby section of a store and you will find that they typically have a  vast wall of cups to choose from.  Each one touting that they are spill-proof, easy to clean, and great for dental development.  Huh?  I just want one that doesn't spill milk all over my freshly mopped floor all the time.  Does. Not. Exist.  I promise you.  I am quite lucky that my little guy learned to prefer to drink out of a straw at 7 months, so that has indeed narrowed down the contestants to ones that have a straw.  I have a camelbak water bottle that is awesome for water and even juice but is a pain in the neck to get milk out of all the straw crevices.  So I ended up with one other cheapo cup snagged from the land of Wal Mart on a whim, that has been great for milk drinking.  Not so great on milk overflow all over the table, counter, floor, etc.  I have been on the hunt for a replacement set to regain some sanity.  First of all, I do believe it is a woman's world, and this starts as soon as one enters the world. As I peruse these walls of cups, I am faced with princess cups, flower cups, and exuberantly pink cups.  I have been tempted just to go with it out of desperation, but I cant do that to my little guy.  I really just want neutral colors.  Nope.  After several stores, I find a set that are not too girly and bring them home to properly sanitize them for consumption.  Have you ever had one of those awesome super thick milkshakes? The one that makes you look like a fish and makes your tongue go numb?  That is what these were.  Terrible.  They also leaked like a sieve the moment that they were tipped on their side.  So I re-sanitized them, carefully taped them back in the box  and took them back the next day.  I ended up back a Wal Mart, purchasing two more of the cheapo cups.  Some things are not worth the gas.    

Even more things I've learned

1. Lentils are chock-full of fiber.
2. I stopped letting my nails grow for a good reason.  See above
3. I now know that newborns cry ALOT. Mostly for reasons beyond our control which is frustrating.  You have to get used to only using one arm for about 4 months. 
4. Immunizations= Long naps for my no-nap child:)
5. Long sleeves are a bad call for bath time.  
6. Always check the shower before you get in for random shoes, toys, and personal items. 
7. Teething takes MONTHS.
8. A entire roll of toilet paper can be unrolled in less than 20 seconds.
9. Finger diaper checks usually don't don't have a good end result.
10. Turning off the monitor can be a good thing. 

Show Me Those Pearly Whites

Remember back a few weeks ago when I joyously announced that my over a year old child had a tooth? Well I can confirm that was now a piece of pasta leftover from lunch. Gross!  As with just about anything with parenting; I really had no idea what teething entails and had only heard the numerous horror stories of sleepless nights, swollen gums, and a general replacement of your baby with a spawn of the lower regions.  On the flip side, I had read in those idiotic books that teething is blamed for so many ailments from fever, to diarrhea, to spontaneous combustion, that I just figured I would wing it as best as I have done so far.  I have fastidiously fastened a Baltic amber teething necklace to my son's neck since he was 6 months old in hopes that I would just one day wake up to a full grill.  As the months without teeth dragged on, I figured that the necklace is more of a teeth preventer than a pain reliever.  
But here we are. 14 months old and teething is finally here.  I am faced with a child that is by night an insomniac, up at least 3-4 times a night. This is  even with doses of Tylenol and teething tablets in his system.  By day, my child is clingy, crabby, sensitive, needy, generally unable to please for more than 5 minutes at a time.  And the boy that lives to eat, merely nibbles now all the while fussing as if he is starving. Of course I am deliriously contemplating fixing him a sandwich at 3am as I am positive that he is hungry from not eating much dinner.  But I know better than to jump on THAT train.  Needless to say, I am guiltily happy when nap time and bedtime arrive to glean some sort of reprieve from the swollen mouthed crabby child that has replaced my sweet baby boy.  My friend's child just finished getting in all of his teeth at 16 months, he started at 5 months.  Another year of this and I may just be having  only one child and a sudden interest in wine.  

Mom's Resolutions

I know I am about a week late on resoluting, but tardy is the way things are done these days.  The past year of parenting has crested that terrifying hill where I feel way more comfortable in my own skin (for now..) and can look back on those delirious days and make amends.  Everyone annoyingly keeps telling me that the baby days do just fly by, and early on I felt as if I was stuck in a vortex of spit up, crying, and breastmilk and couldn't wait for time to pass.  I realize now that my now mobile child does not want to be in momma;s arms all day and I sadly regret not enjoying those times more than I did.  So the essence of my mommy resolutions this year are to create and enjoy more time.  We will see how good I do come June.


1. More cuddle time.  I have found it all too easy to just spring out of bed in the morning, anxious to get the day going and miss out on some quality sleepy boy cuddle time.  The 3 of us started to lounge in bed for at least 10 minutes or more during our holiday trip and I found these moments positively luxurious and have vowed that I will take the opportunity each morning to give my guy(s) one on one time and attention.  This will also tie in with my after nap cuddle bug, whom I will vigorously love on as I now know that this time is truly fleeting.
2. Create more time through organization.  If you know me, I can be a bit type A, so your mind is probably wondering how I am going to undo all this inner pressure to complete daily tasks AND cuddle all day.  Enter my other friend, organization.  I am in the midst of creating this huge plan book of cleaning duties, meal plans, and shopping time savers to aid myself in accomplishing these daily chores.  Rather than spend one whole day completing all of the house cleaning, I intend to tackle one chore a day, 5 days a week.  Larger items I tend to overtax myself with twice I year, I will break up into one duty a month.  Meal planning I am terrified of.  I am anal on many degrees, but am nervous of cornering myself into a weekly menu, this is a house, not Applebee's for Pete's sake!  Yet, I know that this is a great idea for me to follow since I spend a great portion of mine and the baby's lunchtime digging through cookbooks and the freezer so that I can hope that I have all ingredients to make said meal.  Total time waster! Maybe the time saved is just minutes a day, but these are precious minutes.
3. RELAX. Parenting is a tough career and many of us are hard on ourselves (see ALL earlier posts) as it is.  My son is happy, healthy, and I am one lucky gal to have such a wonderful family and the opportunity to enjoy each day with them.  The small stuff is just that, minuscule.  I'm going to keep the sweat in the gym.      

What Santa Brought

Noah received some great gifts this year, as 80% of the tree was dedicated to spoiling this child.  So much so that we have to mail a package of these gifts home!  He also received a gift that will last a lifetime, literally.  My son is officially walking. One moment he was hanging by the coffee table in the living room, the next, he was precariously toddling towards me while I was setting up my computer.  We are having a tough time keeping up in a tiny apartment, I dread to see how home will be with stairs and many more square feet!