Giveaway!

There is an amazing photo giveaway happening!

http://woobox.com/ctutgh

Check out the link and enter to win.

I joke with Jared about going on Shark Tank for money to buy equipment for a start up photography business.  If I with this I won't have to.

Twue Wuv

Dear Bean,

I just wanted to write this down really quick so I don't forget it.  You've started doing a new cute thing lately that once again melts my heart.

After I scoop you up in my arms for a hug, you squeeze me so tight and lay your head on my shoulder. You've been doing this for a while, but the new thing is while you are still squeezing me you will raise your head just slightly so you can look me in the eyes.  You smile so big and then you go in for a kiss.  I just die when you do that because I can really see the sweet love in your eyes.  I also love that I don't have to ask for it, you give it because you want to.  It truly is the little things in life that are the best.

Love,
Mama

20-ish Months

Dear Bean,

What a joy you have been these past few months.  You keep me on my toes and busy every second of every day (which is part of the reason why I haven't been writing as much).

You still love to be outside.  "Out" is one of the select few words in your vocabulary right now.  Although your favorite way to ask to go outside is by bringing me your shoes and sitting down in my lap.  After I put them on you go and find mine too.  Always my little helper.

One of the things that has really been making me smile lately is your love for Ella.  I think the two of you are one of the cutest things I've ever seen.  Almost every time you see her lately you run up to her with your arms spread wide ready for a big hug.  If she's in an accepting mood she will wrap her little arms around you too and rest her head on your shoulder.  If the hug lasts long enough you will start to gently pat her back (the way I do when I hug you).  It warms my heart so much seeing your sweet friendship.

You love to help out with any kind of chore around the house.  Some of your favorites are emptying the dishwasher, putting away groceries, sweeping your grandparent's porch, and pushing the swiffer around the house.  Last night while you were helping with the dishwasher I mused with your father about how we hope these lovely habits continue onto your teenage years. . . .I don't think I'll hold my breath though. :-)

Playing hide and go seek is one of your favorite games to play with your Daddy.  He will put you in the family room and throw a blanket over your head, and then run and hide somewhere on the main floor of the house.  You stay under for a few seconds, fling the blanket off and then go running in search of him.  Sometimes if your seeking takes too long you will start to call his name.  "DAAAAA!" you yell at the top of your lungs until he softly calls to you giving away his position.  It makes me a little jealous how much you call for your Daddy because despite my attempts you still rarely call me Mama.  I've heard it a few times, but the only consistent way you say it is if you hurt yourself and cry.  Not the most desirable situation.

Lately I've been trying to teach you how to give kisses with your mouth closed.  You still hold your mouth open as wide as it will go when giving kisses, and sometimes you will stick your tongue out too.  Not only can it get very wet but sometimes you will chomp down after you make contact, which can leave your recipient with a bitten lip.  Ouch!  Hopefully we will break that habit soon.

I can't believe it's almost fall.  Pretty soon we will be in that last quick stretch of the year where the rest of the months fly even faster.  I am so excited for the holidays this year.  Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas are going to be so much more special sharing them with you and being a family of three.  Before we know it will be your second birthday.  It's so true what they say.  You see time go by so much faster when you watch your child growing.

All of my love,
Mama

The Tantrum Heard Round The World (of Target and Kohls)

We have been having many behavior problems with Bean lately.  Today I had one of the most embarrassing experiences of my life taking him to the store.  Taking Bean to the store is usually hit or miss.  Usually as long as I don't linger in one section of the store too long he tolerates it relatively well; other times not so much.  Today was one of those other times.  It started when I spent too much time looking at the clearance racks at Kohls.  He just started this blood curdling scream at the top of his lungs.  Every clothes rack we would pass by he would reach and try and rip the clothes off.  I tried to bribe him by giving him my car keys and cell phone.  That worked for a little while, but we still had to go to Target to pick up some things.  While at Target I ran into a woman I went to high school with (who apparently works there).  It turns out she has a daughter just two months younger then Bean.  I was hoping to talk and catch up for a second.  Bean reached up for me to hold him so I took him out of the cart and held him.

That was my big mistake.  Then he wanted to be released to wreak havoc on the store.  First of all he ran to all the t-shirt racks and began to toss all the clothes on the floor.  I was so afraid to tell him no because I knew he would loose it, but I was also horrified because here I am trying to chat with this woman and my son is destroying the section of the store she was cleaning.  I finally just mumbled that I had to go and tried to just grab him and run.

I was right, that's when he lost it.  He flailed, wriggled and pushed to get away from me, all while doing the blood curdling scream at the top of his lungs refusing to go back into the cart or even be held.  I tried to hold him close so I wouldn't drop him (all while trying to push my cart and make a run for the check out).  He proceeded to smack me in the face, pulled my hair, bit my shoulder and ripped my hoop earrings out of my ear.  I was so mortified.

My toddler beat me up.

It was pretty much the same even after we left the store.  He went stiff as a board and wouldn't let me strap him in his car seat.  With the way he was screaming you seriously would have thought I was sticking bamboo shoots under his nails or something.  Then when I tried to get him in he kept grabbing for my hands as I was strapping him in to try and bite me again.  The tantrum continued as we got home.  He was throwing himself on the ground, kicking his legs and screaming.  Nothing I could do would calm him down.  I tried to distract him, (shamed to admit) I yelled, I tried to cuddle him. . .finally I had to just let him throw a fit and got dinner ready and eventually was able to distract him with food.

He throws tantrums but I have never seen him this bad for this long.  It was so so horrible.

While I was trying to calm him down he continued to hit and bite me, so then I had to put him in time out. . . . which pissed him off even more and just perpetuated the tantrum.  I don't want to reward his bad behavior, but the only way to calm him down when he gets that worked up is to placate him and not punish him when he tries to harm me?  I don't know, that doesn't seem right either.

I wish kids came with a manual.  Hopefully tomorrow will be a better day and I will have my happy boy back.

On 30

Once again it has been a while since I've blogged so I figured with some things coming up (cough my30thbirthday cough) it was time to sit and blog.

Sooooooooo, turning 30.

Do I feel old?  Not really.  Honestly I still feel like a dumb teenager who has no idea what the hell I'm doing sometimes.  I ask myself frequently when I'm going to feel like a grown up.  I have a husband, a house, a job, 2 cars, A SON. . . .aren't I supposed to feel like an adult yet?  I guess when I was younger I thought there was a point in life where it all clicks and suddenly you are this worldly adult with all the answers.  One of the big things I realize as I get older is how dumb I was in the previous year.  Ha! I guess that's life though.  Live and learn.  While I do know I'm getting a bit wiser; I still feel like a kid sometimes, but at least I know I'm growing.

Am I freaking out?  Really I think my only response to turning 30 has been to be a little braver with my clothing choices.  I do realize that some day I may not be as firm as I am now, so I'm trying to tell my doubty self in the mirror that "You DO look good!  Wear that tight shirt!"  It's been hard, especially after having a baby when your body changes so much.  I was pretty unhappy with my self image after I had Bean, but now 18 months later I'm starting to feel comfy in my skin again.  So after 2 years of not buying anything for myself, it's been nice the past few months to pick up an item for myself here and there.  I actually bought a bikini for our vacation after I swore I'd never wear them after having a baby.

I'm really not sure what else to say on the matter. . . .watch out 30, here I come. . .in a tight shirt and bikini. :-)

2006, Our Honeymoon.

2012, Mexico Vacation

16 Months

I have to confess. After my whole 365 photo project and monthly letters to Bean I got REALLY burnt out on blogging and photography. I've been taking pictures but I haven't edited one of them, and obviously I haven't been blogging on here this month.

But I digress. . . .onto the actual post.

Dear Bean,

I seriously cannot count the number of times I look at you every day and think I can't believe how big you are, and how different things are from this time last year. Your second year is going by WAY faster then your first. Don't get me wrong, the first year definitely went by fast, but I seriously feel like I blink an eye and another month has past.  (I started this post when you turned 15 months, but now you are almost 16.5 months. . . .yikes)

One of your favorite things to do lately is lead people around. You will grab any hand you can reach and drag your unsuspecting victim all over.

You vocabulary is still pretty limited. You can say Dada, all done (ah da), doggie (dee dee), banana (na-na), yeah, choo (shoe), and are finally starting to say Mama without screaming. . . .although it's still most commonly heard when you are upset.

In terms of gross motor you are a pretty awesome walker now.  Lately we have been trying to get you to eat with a fork or spoon.  It's pretty funny to watch.  You take the fork with both hands and sort of pinch the very end of the handle from the top part (the type of grasp you would use if you going to dip something I think?)  Then you attempt to pierce the food.  Sometimes you are gentle, but most times it's like you are trying to murder something.  I'm not sure how you get such force behind your fork with that silly grasp.  Once you have got some food on the end you will flip/twirl the fork in your hand once instead of simply bringing it to your mouth.  This is the portion of the processes that you are most efficient at.  Then finally once the food is in your mouth you look at us and applaud yourself.  Haha, I think all the positive reinforcement your father and I are giving you is making an impression.

Definitely the best thing you are doing now is giving intentional hugs and kisses.  I always know when you want to give me a kiss because you come at me with your mouth wide open and saying "ahhhhhhhh."  Then you plant a big slobbery one on my cheek.  With hugging you will usually run over and tackle me.  When I scoop you up in my arms you will lay your head on my shoulder, wrap your arms around me, and squeeze.  I had a laugh the other day because I noticed if I gently pat/rub your back while you are hugging me, you start to do the same thing back to me.

Right now I think you are in the process of transitioning to one nap a day.  It's frustrating for me because I'm back to not being able to make any plans during the day because I have no idea when or how long you will sleep for.  I've been spoiled for a while with your very predicable sleep schedule.  I'd really like your one nap to be an afternoon one (around 2), but you just can't seem to make it that long.  Some days you are ready to nap at 9am (if you got up early) and you sleep for 2.5 hours and then refuse to take an afternoon nap.  The problem then is you are a MONSTER by bedtime.  Oh well, I'm sure we will get back into a routine sometime soon.  Hopefully. . .

You LOVE to push anything that will move.  Push toys, chairs, trucks, a snow shovel, the lawn mower, anything that is bigger then you you will push around.  The bad part about this is you get SO angry if whatever you are pushing stops moving or gets stuck.  This means that I usually have to follow you around when you are doing this otherwise it's tantrum city.

Speaking of angry, you have quite the temper now.  If you don't get your way, watch out!  If it's a minor fit you will just hang on our pants and stomp your feet and scream.  A full out tantrum consists of you literally throwing yourself on the ground, screaming, kicking your legs, etc.  Last week when Daddy was watching you you threw one of the bad fits and when you threw yourself on the ground you sliced the little muscle attachment between your upper front teeth and your lip with your lower teeth.  Daddy said you were gushing and spitting blood all over.  So scary!  I wish you would stop doing that.  Fortunately your lip seems to be healing just fine.

Every day you grow and change a little more.  Pretty soon if I don't get this letter finished you will be 18 months!  Who knows what new fun things you will be up to then?

You are so very very loved,
Mama

You Capture - Sunshine

It's been a long long while since I've done this, but I actually took some photos yesterday that apply to this week's You Capture, so I thought I'd share. Who knew my backyard had such beautiful sunshine? All photos are SOOC!

Head on over to Beth's to see more You Capture Sunshine photos.

New Things

There are so many cute things that Bean has been doing lately.

So BIG!

- Gives kisses: When you ask for a kiss he opens his mouth super wide and plants it on any body part that is close to him. Sometimes though he closes his mouth and bites! I found this out the hard way when I puckered my lips and let him plant a big one on me, only to have him take a big chomp on my lower lip (he has upper and lower teeth now. . . ouch).

- Talking: Welllllll, kind of. He for sure can say Dada, kitty, and yeah. I thought he had Mama down, but I think he thinks Mama means milk and not me. I'm not sure though. There are times where I swear he has said doggy (at least his version of it, it sounds more like daga), and all done (sounds more like ah-dan). He is extremely verbal though. Constantly talking in his own babble language. It's crazy how much it mimics normal conversation sounds, with all the inflection he uses. It seems like he is so close to talking a ton, I'm just waiting for the day for the words to start pouring out.

- Smarty Pants: It's true, he understands a TON now. Simple tricks no longer work, like hiding toys out of sight and telling him they are gone. If he sees the general place you stashed it he will go hunting for it.

Ok so now I want to talk about some of the challenges we are facing lately.

- Picky Eater: He is quickly becoming a very picky eater. At meals if I give him food he doesn't like I swear he just chugs down his milk and fills up on that. If I give him food he likes he will maybe drink half a sippy cup of milk with it. With a meal that he doesn't like he will drink a cup and a half! He used to love veggies and now he just throws them. I'm never sure what to do when he refuses to eat. I feel guilty and don't want him to go hungry, and also selfishly I know if he doesn't eat something he will be a huge crab. I also feel like he is still too little to do the whole "eat what's in front of you or don't eat" thing. I just don't know what to do.

- Hitting: I'm thinking (hoping) that this is just from communication frustration, but Bean has begun to hit (mainly me). If he is into something that he shouldn't be and I pick him up he will try to smack me in the face or rip my glasses off. The other day he was flailing in my arms and ripped a big chunk of hair out of my head. It's rough. . . and again, I'm not sure how to handle it. All I've been doing is grabbing the hand he is hitting me with and saying "no hit," but it doesn't seem to be working.

- Screaming for diaper changes: I remember when Bean was a new born and he loved to have his diaper changed. He would kick his legs and smile so big. Now he runs in the opposite direction when it's time to change his diaper. He kicks his legs and screams his head off. This gets old really fast because since we are cloth diapering I have to change him at least every 2 hours. That's a lot of baby wrangling. I should also note that he only does this for Hubs and I. If my parents or the sitter changes his diaper he's fine with it. He just sits there all nice and plays with a toy. The first time I saw him be so good I couldn't believe my eyes. It's hard not to take it personal.

- Not listening: Recently Bean has discovered how to shake his head no. . . . and ever since then he refuses to do anything I tell him to do. It usually goes like this:

Me: Come here Bean!

Bean: *shakes head no* runs in opposite direction

Me: Give Mama's phone back Bean.

Bean: *shakes head no* runs in opposite direction

etc etc etc

The second year of Bean's life is proving much more difficult then the first. I suppose other then breast feeding issues he was a really easy infant. I think a lot of it is communication issues. I try to teach him sign language, but maybe I'm not trying hard enough with it as I should.

Next post I'm going to try and put a bunch of other cute/fun things Bean is doing, because it seems like this post has turned into me complaining. Sorry about that!

We Are The Icky Yucky Gerrrrrrms (and random pictures)

*Pictures have nothing to do with this post. They are just some of my favorite shots from the past two months. I'm too lazy to make a separate post.

The title to this post about sums up February for me. The cold that would never die. Ugh.

Happy Birthday Bean!

It all started beginning of the month about two days before Hubs was going to leave on a 9 day business trip. I could just feel it coming on, and did my best to chug vitamin C and get plenty of rest while he was here to take care of the Bean.

Play time with Pappy

The morning he left is when it hit me hard; never ending boogers and a horrible dry cough. Let me tell you, I thought it was horrible when Bean was sick and I was up all night with him. It is way way way worse being alone, sick and having to take care of a healthy energetic toddler. Mom's don't get sick days, especially single ones. (It just so happened my parents were also sick during all this so I couldn't even go to them for help.)

Playing in the snow with Daddy

So after about 5-6 days of feeling like walking death I started to feel better, the boogers tapered off and my cough was less frequent. Naturally that is when Bean started to get sick. Poor little guy had a super congested cough and tons of snot. Fun.

Then FINALLY Hubs returns from his trip on a Friday. Saturday morning I go to work, and I swear up and down that I'm starting to feel sick again. Two days later, the boogers return with a vengeance and this time I have a super congested cough like Bean does (he was still sick).

This one was the cold bug from hell. It took Bean about 13 days to get over it, and for me. . . well I still have a slight occasional cough, and randomly through out the day my nose will run. It's weird, but I suppose I'm maybe over it? I still don't honestly feel 100%, maybe like. . .96 but I'm not quite there yet.

Yep, February sucked.

I'm sure March will be better. I know we've had an awesome winter this year in terms of snow fall, and I feel bad complaining. . . but I'm ready for spring. There have been a few days where mother nature will tease us with a 60+ degree day (always when I work so I can't enjoy it) and it makes me feel so light and happy. I can't wait!

Cute Things

I just wanted to jot down some things that Bean has been doing lately, because they are cute and I don't want to forget them.

1. He plays around my legs. Tonight when we were visiting at my parents house the dog was chasing him/he was chasing the dog. When it was his turn to run, he would toddle over to me giggling, grab me, and then hide his face in my legs. He also did something similar when Bestie came for a visit on Saturday night. We were all in the kitchen and she was trying to say hi to him. He toddled over to me and wrapped his arms around my legs and peaked around the side of me at her. Mr. Shy Guy.

2. Tonight when we got back from my parents house I let Bean toddle around the family room while I put some stuff away. I was in the kitchen and he came walking in holding my big 32oz water bottle in his hands. It was such a sight to see; this little guy (with his snow hat still on), in his brown fleece sweat suit, walking, holding onto my water bottle with both hands, and drinking all at the same time. He must have been thirsty. It was one of those moments where you don't have a camera so you say to yourself, remember this remember this. It was just so adorable. . . .and so grown up looking.

A Rough January

The first month of the year has been a rough one for our little Bean. I feel like in the past two weeks my sweet baby boy has been replaced with Mr. Grumpy Pants.

First of all I think he's teething. He still only has just the bottom and top two teeth and he's 13 months old. Those lateral incisors are bound to be trying to pop through soon.

Second is weaning. Over the past 5 weeks we have weaned down to only nursing first thing in the morning when he wakes up. This is the one time of day I can ensure that I will always be there to nurse him (because of work). It's been hard for both of us I think. One of the most heart breaking things is I feel like I'm taking it away from him just when he learned how to ask for it (by signing). My milk supply has never been great, so even if he asks during the day now, and I let him try to nurse; there is nothing there to drink so he gets frustrated and cries.

The final thing has been a change in routine. Most mornings I will go get him, nurse him in bed, and then we will snuggle and watch cartoons for maybe 30-45 minutes. Well lately on my days off I've been trying to be more active by getting stuff done, and I don't think he likes it.

He's only 13 months old and I swear he throws temper tantrums. The other night while I was trying to cook dinner he screamed the whole time it took me to make it (almost 45 minutes). He was pulling on my pants and throwing himself on the ground. I would pick him up and he would push me away, and then I'd put him down and he would scream even louder. I even tried putting him in the Ergo so I could still cook and he didn't want that either. This fit all started when I took his paci away.

I know he's frustrated because he can't communicate and he doesn't fully understand what's going on. . . .but it's so hard to handle when he's like that. I also don't want to hold, coddle, or give him his pacifier to calm him too often because I don't want to create bad habits.

So any advice for me? Any parenting books to recommend? Is this just a phase? If it is, I sure hope it passes quickly.

Oh Hello There

I've been pretty absent from my blog lately. The only posts I've been writing are Bean's monthly letters, and honestly my only motivation for doing that was because I wanted to put them in my 365 photo project book.

Did everybody have a nice holiday season?

Ours was busy. I'm used to a very calm laid back holiday. I'm an only child, my mother is an only child and my father's side of the family (2 aunts, 2 uncles, 4 cousins with spouses) all live very far away. . . so yeah, our holidays were pretty much just us. Now between my husband's family, and Bean's birthday. . . things are nuts.

I plan to remedy this by celebrating Bean's half birthday in the summer once he gets old enough to realize what birthdays are. Summer birthday parties are always so much more fun. Plus then he will get presents twice a year evenly spaced out. My birthday is July, I always loved where it fell in the year (except I was always sad I never got my locker decorated during school). . . .speaking of I'm turning the big 3-0 this year. Yikes.

Anyway, I've been working on laying out my 365 photo book in MyPublisher. It's A LOT of work. I've been working on it for over a month and a half now. While the 365 was fun, and I learned a lot, I've decided not to do one again this year. I like how I have a photo a day (mostly of Bean). Watching him grow is so cool, but some photos are junky cell phone ones (not to trash cell phone pictures, some come out beautiful). I am going to keep taking lots of pictures, but I'm not going to stress about getting THAT photo for the day. I'm also going to do another photo book, but it will just be a "2012" one, not a 365. . . MyPublisher is such a cool program, I really hope that the book comes out as neat in real life as it looks on my computer screen.

And just for fun, here is Bean sleeping with his little tushie in the air. Love it when they do that.

12 Months

Dear Bean,

Well we survived our first year together!

Twelve incredible months made up of so many special moments I can't even count.

Today when I was nursing you in our rocker you popped off and signed "milk" to me. Lately you have really starting using the three signs we taught you: milk, more and all done. Then after you signed to me you smiled and continued to nurse. I looked down on you and asked you if it was yummy; I do this a lot when you are eating anything. Again you popped off, babbled "bum bum" (I think you meant yum yum) and then went back to nursing.

After you finished nursing I called downstairs to your Daddy, yelling his first name really loudly. Right after I said that you followed up by yelling, "Da!" You've done this several times in the past few days and it melts my heart when you do it.

Last week you started standing on your own. For the longest time whenever you would stand and let go you would immediately plop on your butt, then all of a sudden you started doing it like it was no big deal. A few days later your Grandma and Grandpa came over and you were showing off your standing skills and took a few steps on your own. I thought it was a fluke but you have been walking more and more every day. Today you took about 5-6 steps before you fell, I think in a week or two you will have it down pat. Then I will really be in trouble keeping up with you.

You are a very musical baby. This month you finally started to clap while I sing "If You're Happy and You Know It." Sometimes if there is music on the t.v. you will do this little dance where you stand and bend your knees and bop your little butt. I think it might be the cutest thing ever. A close second might be when you wave hello and bye bye. Sometimes I swear you even say bye bye too.

While you were staying with your Grandma and Grandpa's for new years eve they said you were playing catch; not only catching the ball but throwing it back. They also taught you how to gently pet Olive, instead of whacking her in the head or pulling her beard. I'm sure she appreciates that new lesson.

You are starting to remind me of a little sponge, picking things up faster and faster. I am so proud to call myself your mother. Watching you grow and develop these past 12 months has been one of the most incredible experiences in my life. Not a day goes by that I don't look at you and think how lucky I am to have you in my life, and how blessed your Daddy and I are to have you as our son.

I love you to the moon and back,

Mama

We Made It

I never thought I'd make it, but here I am nearly 12 months later and still breast feeding.

What a roller coaster it has been. The first five months were ROUGH. Nursing strikes, screaming until let down, herbal supplements, walking while nursing, highs, lows, ups, downs. . . .*big sigh*

It did get better though, but we still had/have rough times. Lately Bean has started to self wean a little. Oddly enough he's giving up his before bed nursing session. I think it's because he's tired and impatient and NEVER wants to wait for let down and my supply is always lowest in the evening too. I don't have the patience to use my tricks to get him to nurse until let down, so lately I've just been trying for a minute or two, and if he screams I just put him to bed. And you know what? It's kinda nice.

Now that he's eating three meals a day and drinks sippy cups of water and juice, there really isn't that pressure to get him to do it. I remember how stressed I was in those first few months being the only one that could feed him, and the only source of food. Having to get up to pump even if Hubs took a feeding because I had to keep my supply up. The lack of sleep. . .oh the lack of sleep. . . .

It's a lot of pressure. Sometimes I questioned my decision to breast feed. Was I ruining his newborn/early months by stressing myself out over this? I'm supposed to be enjoying this because it goes by so quickly. Obviously I never quite got to that point where it was too much, but I'm telling you I teetered on the edge more than a few times.

When I first started breast feeding I couldn't wait until weaning, then things got better and I started having mixed feelings. Maybe I would breast feed longer then 12 months? I never thought that was for me, but I find myself holding onto it for some reason. I think it's because Bean is such an on the go kid, so those sweet moments where we cuddle and he nurses (when it goes well) are so important to me. Also? Change is hard for me. I'm a gal that likes my routine, which is hard to accept (in general) as a parent because things are constantly changing as your child grows. On the flip side I am SO looking forward to not having to pump any more before bed and at work, and I'm crossing my fingers that maybe my boobs will shrink a little because they are way too big for my liking. NONE of my old tops fit. It's really annoying.

Anyway, I'm not quite sure yet how the next month will play out, but I'm definitely proud of myself for making it this far! It was quite a tough journey. I'm going to try and not be sad about weaning and focus on getting excited that after almost two years to finally have my body back to myself!

11 Months

Dear Bean,

I can't believe we are one quick month away from your first birthday. The older you get the bigger your personality gets. It makes me a little nervous that you are only 11 months old and already have such a strong will and mind of your own.

In the past month you have discovered button pushing. You love to cruise over to the cable box and push the on/off button over and over. Cable on! Cable off! Cable on! Cable off! It cracks me up. You have also learned that sometimes buttons do things. When you are pushing the cable box button you will watch the t.v. go on and off. You will also watch the t.v. to do stuff when I let you play with the remote. You are so smart!

I caved and gave you one of your Christmas presents early. A barn yard magnet toy for the fridge. You love to stand and rip the magnets off the fridge and fling them every which way. There is also a button on the top of the barn that you love to push as well, it makes the barn play music.

I have been trying over and over to teach you to clap your hands while we sing "If You're Happy and You Know It," but all I can get you to do is flail your arms up and down excitedly. You haven't quite grasped the concept yet, but it makes me smile to watch you try.

You are babbling all sorts of sounds now, but I'm not sure if you know what any of them mean. You are also finally babbling dada (much to your father's delight). There are some things I know you understand though. "No" because you always cry and get upset when I say it. "Come here" you will usually come to me when I say that, and "more." I have been trying to teach you the sign language sign for "more." You will do it on occasion, but only when I prompt you, I've never seen you do it on your own yet.

You still love eating. Pretty much anything we put in front of you you gobble up. Lately you've started to throw your food on the floor when you are done eating. I feel like I'm on constant clean up duty in the kitchen, especially since you eat 3 meals a day now. Sometimes I feel like as soon as I get the breakfast mess cleaned up it's time to feed you lunch!

You love to walk with your dino push toy. You get so proud when you are walking and giggle the entire time you do it. You haven't figure out how to steer it yet. You get going so fast and then collide with anything that gets in your way.

You don't like reading books yet. Every time we show you an open book, you crawl over and close it and then gnaw on the corners. The only books that slightly hold your attention are the "touch and feel" type books. You love to "pat the bunny." This might also explain why you love grabbing handfuls of cat hair off the cat.

You are no longer my squishy little new born. Always on the go and into everything I see you turning into a toddler before my very eyes. It blows my mind to think of having conversations with you in just a few short months, but I know it will be here before I know it because this year has gone by so fast.

Happy 11 months baby.

Love,

Mama

10 Months

Only two weeks late on this! Progress! :-)

Oh Bean, what a little person you are starting to turn into.

Two days after your ten month birthday you finally cut your first tooth, the bottom front left! The bottom front right is almost popping through. Pretty soon you will be a reverse bunny.

You are growing by leaps and bounds. Still cruising on furniture and trying to stand alone (only successfully for a second or two).

You love to eat. When we sit you in your high chair with food on the tray you sometimes will take three or four handfuls of food to your mouth before you will attempt to chew. You will also pound both hands on your food tray when you want to be fed. You can't talk yet, but you sure have your ways of communicating with us.

You love Grandma and Grandpa's dog Olive. She is actually brave enough to run up to you and lick your face when we let her. You giggle and shriek every time she does. I think you two are going to be great friends as you both grow up.

You are very willful. . .I think that's the nice term for stubborn right? You throw a fit if I take something away that you aren't supposed to have, or heaven forbid I tell you "no." You do your "crazy man" cry and start to scream, but as soon as you get a little cuddle or a new toy you can turn if off in an instant. I call you my little Drama King.

You have such an adventurous spirit. You want to go every where and see everything. It makes me sad that you don't really cuddle, but we still have our sweet moments when you nurse.

You finally are enjoying baths. We bought you a bath mat so you can crawl around the tub without wiping out. . . .now you cry when we take you out of the tub.

The things you hate most are anything that involves sitting still: diaper changes, getting dressed, or your physical therapy stretches. Oh how you scream.

One of your favorite games to play is taking things out of any kind of container. You will sit and rip every toy out of your toy basket, or when you see me folding laundry you love to pull the folded clothes out of the basket.

I can't believe that I have to start thinking about and planning your first birthday party. Now that we are into the end of year holiday season I know these next two months are going to fly by. It's going to be a busy and exciting two months!

9 Months - Briefly

Well I didn't get Bean's 9 month post written. . . .although I have been blogging about all of his doctor visits, so that's pretty much what he's been up to. Here is a quickie.

Quick side note, this photo was SO hard to get. 2 seconds before the photo shoot Bean whacked his head on the floor. I tried to edit it out but you can still see the red mark on his forehead.

Stats: 18lbs 1 oz, 28 inches

He is starting to eat finger foods for dinner. His favorite by far is meatballs. I will put a big variety on his tray and he always goes for the meat first. I think a close second are the Happy Baby brand yogurt melts. My son may have inherited my sweet tooth.

Motor wise Bean is super mobile now. He is cruising on furniture and can even climb stairs! We have 14 stairs from our main floor to the second floor and he can go all the way to the top. Occasionally he will even try to stand by himself but he hasn't done it successfully yet, he usually just plops down on the floor. He likes to chase the cat but she is still too fast for him. He will give her a run for her money when he's walking which I think will be before his 1st birthday.

Bean loves babbling up a storm. He will shriek like a banshee when he sees the cat. He also likes to babble "Mama." I think the months of me saying it to him have finally paid off.

I love when I walk into a room he gets a huge smile on his face and kicks his legs with excitement.

He still hates baths. He wants so bad to be mobile in the tub, but he usually just wipes out and conks his head on the tub. I think we need to get him a non slip bath mat.

We are still successfully breast feeding, but this week we finally had to give him a 50/50 mix of breast milk and formula because we burned through my frozen stash. We made it almost 10 months, not too shabby. The only reason why we need to do this is work only gives me one break to pump, I just can't keep up with him that way, even with the extra pumping I do at night.

His favorite toy right now is a stuffed ball that we won from Dave and Busters. If you sit him on the floor he can even catch the ball. You tell him to be ready and he holds his arms out in anticipation. If you lob it just right he'll catch it and then try to eat it.

He still puts EVERYTHING in his mouth.

Bean also got his first cold last month. It was horrible! He was all stuffed up and he slept almost the whole night on my chest in the rocker, from 9pm to 4am. He ran a 102 fever for about 2 days. Having a sick baby is no fun at all. The only upside to it was the fact that he cuddled with me the night he slept on my chest. Much to my dismay Bean is not a cuddler, he is on the move and into everything.

Hopefully when he is older he will cuddle with me in bed and we can watch cartoons together.

This ended up being a lot longer then I planned. :-) Only 6 more days till Bean is 10 months. Once Halloween hits the end of the year flies by. I'm not ready for this!

Tilty

What a month this has been.

So busy. . . full of not so fun things, namely doctors visits.

Two weeks ago was Bean's PT evaluation, and I think we might possibly have gotten some answers. The diagnosis? Torticolis.

I know what you are thinking. "Wait Kris, you said you talked to your pediatrician and you both agreed it couldn't be torticolis because the tilting was only occasional??"

Yeah I thought the same thing. So I asked the physical therapist the exact same question. The answer I got was this: Bean's torticolis is extremely mild. So mild, that to the untrained eye he sometimes looks like he's not tilting at all when he's feeling good. The tilting will also seem to get worse when he's not feeling well, teething, learning a new gross motor, or overly tired.

Hmmmmm. . . .ok.

Honestly at first I didn't completely buy it, but then she pointed out a few other indicators to me. When he goes from a sitting position to crawling he almost always leads with his right leg. Torticolis kids don't like to bear weight on the side of the torticolis (Bean's is the left side). He can do the left, but he'll only do it when forced to. I've been watching him all this week and she was right, he totally does that!

So now I have to do some stretches with him twice a day, and he's going to physical therapy once a week.

Hopefully this will be the end of the tilting saga. Phew.

Sadly though this will not be the end of our visits to specialists. Bean is going to need surgery soon. Nothing life threatening, but it's something that needs to be taken care of and he will need to go under general anesthesia for. . .which is scary. Not sure when it will all go down yet, but probably some time before his first birthday.

Yay more doctors! (that's sarcasm in case you missed it)

Hemp, Yeah Mon!

We are still trucking along in our cloth diapering journey. Since I have at least one friend that is also starting this journey, and a few friends having babies soon that might be interested, I thought I'd write another post about some particular favorites in my cloth diaper stash.

In this post I'd like to talk about my favorite doubler.

For those of you that don't know, a doubler is an extra insert to put into a pocket diaper. They can be made of various materials: hemp, bamboo, cotton, micro fiber, etc.

- Hemp Babies brand hemp doublers are my favorite doubler for sure. They are very thin, dry really fast (even when I line dry), and are super absorbent.

I guess I should back up a little and explain why these are my new favorite. We started having leaking problems a few weeks ago. It was SO annoying. Putting clothes on a squirmy wormy baby who wants to crawl away is not fun. So when he was leaking around his legs 2-3 times a day I was at my whits end. Now I'm going to be honest here and I'm not entirely sure why the diapers were leaking. First thing I did was do a little stripping of my diapers, which is just washing them over and over with no detergent (to clean any detergent build up out). Then I thought about it and the times that the diapers were leaking, the inserts were TOTALLY soaked. This lead me to think that maybe Bean is just peeing more. I only single stuffed my diapers up until that point; so I started double stuffing.

Double stuffed diapers are pretty bulky if you use the regular micro fiber insert with the new born insert that most pockets come with. This is why I love the Hemp Babies doublers. They are so thin that I don't really notice much of a difference between a double and single stuffed diaper. Also, since I started doing this we haven't had one leak!

Generally we will change Bean about every 1.5-2 hours when we are at home (just to be safe), but sometimes when you are out this isn't so easy. Cue hemp doublers! Bean can go at least 3 hours in one of these diapers with no leaking, maybe more if you feel lucky (I think we once did over 4).

Another thing I love about these doublers is the price! Usually a hemp doubler will run around 5 bucks each, Hemp Babies are only 3 dollars at Kelly's Closet (see link above).

I've also tried the Baby Kicks hemp doublers as well. They are really thick and nice for over nights. The down sides? Very bulky and they take FOREVER to dry. Even the rare occasion when I throw my inserts into the dyer the baby kicks hemp is still slightly damp after a full cycle. It's pretty annoying, and not energy efficient.

Anyway, I hope some of this info helps, and that everybody is having a good week.

Eye Check Up

Just wanted to do a quick post about Bean's ophthalmologist appointment.

To summarize:

We went on Wednesday. The doctor was great. He basically said he thought the neurologist was nuts for suggesting anything was wrong with his eyes because he looked so perfect. He did a bunch of quick tests. No eye muscle problems, no vision problems, no need for glasses, just a cute little boy who was super brave and didn't even cry when he had eye drops to dilate his eyes.

He said we didn't even need to go back or follow up unless I felt there was a need or another problem.

Sigh

It was just so refreshing to actually have a doctor say he was ok and there was nothing to worry about (his eyes at least).

I also enjoyed the fact that he literally said word for word what I've been telling Hubs, "If it was a problem with his vision it wouldn't be intermittent." EXACTLY! Thank you Mr. Doctor. Maybe you don't all stink.

Next week is PT evaluation and his 9 month well visit. I can't wait till all this is over.