Monday Picture

Random Cell Phone Pictures

I suppose the title says it all, but here are some completely random cell phone pictures for the past little while.

Mr. Yogurt Face. Please notice the spoon in his right hand. I would like to point out that while he insists on holding a spoon, he in no way actually uses the spoon. He will attempt to use a fork, but not a spoon. Perhaps he sees spoons as an inferior utensil?

Because with a toddler you never know when a tantrum will hit. Perhaps someone just told him that Hokey Pokey Elmo was taking a break, or maybe Kitty looked at him funny. We'll never know.

Mike's first ear infection. We had a lot of snuggle time that week. I believe his internal monologue was "sit on you mommy" (hi mom!)

My dad made this table for us for Christmas 2 years ago. Mike thinks that Grandpa made him his own personal jungle gym. In all honestly Mike is probably right about this one.

Nothing weird about taking a chair for a walk in Lowe's.

Sunday Walk

It was 70+ degrees on Sunday and Brad was postcall (running on 2 hours of sleep and badly in need of a nap), so Mike and I decided (ok, I decided) to get out of the house, enjoy the nice weather and give Brad a chance to sleep. We headed over to a local park with a nice little walking/biking trail that has a nice short loop. To say Mike loved it would be quite the understatement. He openly laughed at leaves as they blew down the path in front of us and stopped to point, laugh and wave at every single dog that passed us. We were rather slow so A LOT of dogs passed us. He flirted with old couples and stared in awe as kids whizzed by on bicycles. He tapped things with a stick we found and insisted on carrying his own jacket. The loop we did is probably around 1/3-1/2 of a mile and it took us about 30 minutes. Though to be fair, half of the time someone would pass us going the opposite direction, Mike would happily toddle after them.

Sweet Sam

Years before the idea of a "real" baby had even crossed our minds, we adopted our first baby. A sweet, little girl named Sammy. Over the years Sam (Sam-O, Samboni, Pumpkin, Slam, Sam-burrito, and a ton more that I can't think of right now) has been the best dog we could have ever asked for. Even though she is a "vicious Pit Bull," she is the sweetest dog I've ever had hands down. She is a loving, gentle creature who tolerates our son and loves her cat. She is my little brown dog.

This was taken the weekend after we got her, which also coincided with her first trip to Wyoming.

She loves to play tetherball. I think she was more than a little mad when my dad took down the tetherball pole. Anytime we are at a playground with one, she still plays.

A little older and a little more grey, but still our Sweet Sam.

Monday Picture

Spring? Is that you?

Ouch

Mike had an unfortunate interaction with the sidewalk on our walk last night. He gets so excited and his little legs get going and his little arms are swinging and then before he knows what has happened his toe has hit a crack and his head hits the cement. He usually has so much momentum that his arms help catch him, but his big head keeps going and smacks into the ground (yes, this has happened more than once). This time he has a big, red, blotchy goose egg to show for his spill.

The Aftermath

This is what everyone's kitchen looks like after a dinner party...right???

Nose

When you ask Michael where his nose is, he will usually take both hands and cover his nose with them. A second or two later, he will point one index finger straight out and slowly drop the other than and press his little nose down with that extended finger.

Another second or two will pass and he will slowly slide his finger down his nose, onto his top lip and then back up into his nose.

He will hold this pose for another second or two before slowly dropping his finger down enough so it isn't obviously stuck up his nose anymore.

Ah babies.

Monday Picture: Happy Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day! I hope you get to spend it with someone you love, and I hope they make you delicious heart shaped strawberry cupcakes with strawberry icing.

(mmmmm, and yes, it is as good as it looks)

Yay Friday!

It is a good thing Sam is so tolerant

Cupcakes

These are one of the things I made for the Superbowl party we went to on Sunday. When Brad walked into the kitchen minutes after I had finished frosting them he asked me "who is number 6." Boys! Sheesh.

Things to Remember: A boy and his dog

Mike is becoming less and less of a baby and more and more a little boy. He is becoming more aware of his surroundings, and while he still doesn't talk hardly at all he knows what he wants and how to indicate to us what he needs/wants (well most of the time). He also watches us and tries to imitate what we do - whether it be putting on hats (a game we have cleverly named "hats"), eating with utensils, or taking Sammy for a walk. He is truly a little sponge.

One of his newest things is to take care of Sammy. If her collar is laying within his reach (we take it off when she is inside because the tags are loud, and she scratches at it all the time) he will find it, take it over to her, and lay it across her neck. Also, anyone who knows Sam knows that she likes to be covered up and has her own blankets. Apparently Mike has become aware of this also, because whenever she is laying on the couch and she is not covered up he will find her blanket, drag it over to her, and do his best to cover her up.

Monday Picture

Happy Birthday Dad!

Happy Birthday Dad! I wish we could be there to celebrate with you!

On being a mom: Sick Kids

During our snow day earlier this week I could tell there wasn't something quite right with Mike. He was a little extra clingy and a little extra grumpy. I kept saying to Brad "I really hope he isn't coming down with something." Unfortunately, come down with something he did. Tuesday night, well I guess technically Wednesday morning around 12:45 we were awoken by a screaming little boy. I ran into his room and scooped him out of his crib. As soon as I touched him, I knew. I felt like I was holding a hot water bottle. We took his temperate...a steamy 102.3 and searched for the infant Tylenol. After about 30 minutes of pacing, and rocking, and singing he finally fell back asleep (I don't take credit for this, I'm fully aware that is just about how long it takes Tylenol to kick in). He woke up again at 2am, 3am, and 4am. Each time I held his hot little body and rocked him back to sleep.

The next morning (later that morning?) an ear infection was confirmed and antibiotics were prescribed. I stayed home with him on Wednesday and did the 4 hour Tylenol dance. Dose, wait 20ish minutes, have happy, seemingly normal little boy, then as the time ticks away to the 4 hour mark he gets grumpy and hot all over again. I was hopeful that the antibiotics would kick in and quickly do their job. Thinking I maybe would even be able to go back to work on Thursday. Unfortunately around midnight we were once again awoken by a screaming, hot little boy. We gave him more Tylenol and I waited and waited for it to kick in, but as the minutes ticked by, he didn't get more calm and sleepy, quite the opposite, he seemed to get angrier. It wasn't long before I found out why. As I was pacing up and down the hallway with his little head on my shoulder he started making awful noises. Before I knew it he and I were both covered in vomit and more was coming. I called to Brad to get a bath going and quickly ran Mike into the bathroom where I stripped him down and we cleaned him up. After losing the entire contents of his stomache, he finally seemed to be at peace and feel into a fitful sleep in my arms. After he was snugly in his crib, and Brad was snoring away in our bed I collected all of the soiled clothes and went downstairs to begin a load of laundry at 1am. He thankfully slept until 6am when he woke up with a fever of 102 again. I gave him some Tylenol and emailed my boss to let her know I would be working from home again. Fortunately the antibiotics seem to be kicking in and by 7:30ish he temperature was back down to normal. Now, his temperature is still normal, so I'm hoping we are past the worst of it.

This is where mothers come in. No one can ever explain the love you will have for your child. The sacrifices you will be willing to make. The things you can put up with. If I could take the infection out of his body and give it to myself I would do it in an instant so he would not have to suffer.

Walk

Mike is now an active participant in our family walks. It takes us a little bit longer but is totally worth the excitement on Mike's face...well, until he trips on a crack in the sidewalk and faceplants onto the concrete...but that usually only happens once, or twice, or three times tops per walk, and he always gets up and toddles on his way.

Snow Day

Because of "Snowmaggedon 2011" Peabody closed yesterday and Mike and I had a nice snow day together (of course Brad still had to go to work). While I did spend a big chunk of the day working from home (thank you Mike for your 2 naps totaling almost 5 hours), Mike and I had lots of fun!


Mike began the day by playing in his water table for a grand total of 3.5 minutes. It took me WAY longer to fill up.



After he was done with the water table we both got out our laptops and got to work. He practiced waving "bye-bye" every time he shut the lid on his computer (and I do mean E.V.E.R.Y.T.I.M.E) while I did normal boring accountant stuff.


After his morning nap and lunch we decided baking cookies was the perfect snow day activity. We decided on peanut butter and set about with our task. Mike did an excellent job sitting on the counter, supervising and licking spoons and beaters as necessary.


See...look at those professional beater licking skills. You would hardly believe it was his first time.


While our cookies were in the oven, Mike took his supervising skills over to the front window to see how the snow/ice/sleet situation was shaping up.


He decided he needed a closer look, and going outside to actually inspect the white stuff was definitely necessary. Now for you Utah/Wyoming naysayers out there: yeah, you can totally still see grass in this picture, however if you look at the bush just behind Mike you will notice that it is covered in ice. Slippery, scary ice. So while we may not have feet of snow, the ice is enough to keep me at home. By the way, the white stuff isn't snow at all...it is sleet. Accumulating sleet. Crazy Missouri.


After his afternoon nap (and more working on my part), we decided it was high time for an art project. I constructed this beautiful easel out of a paper box and Mike set to work.

As his assistant, it was my job to hold the bowls of paint, obviously. In case you were wondering, Brad got off early and made it home safe and sound!

"Snowmaggedon"

Saint Louis is currently in the middle of the "storm of the century." It started yesterday afternoon with rain which turned into freezing rain last night. We are to expect up to an inch of freezing rain today followed by 16 or more inches of snow. I will be the first to admit that when Saint Louis starts freaking out about a winter storm I chuckle (remember this). This one is a bit different. You throw freezing rain/ice into the mix and I'm as big of a wuss as anyone, so imagine my joy when I checked my email this morning only to find an email from Peabody saying the office was closed. I feel like I'm in elementary school again and have a snow day...except I have a work laptop and probably should get some work done. For anyone who is worried, Brad is safely at the hospital and Mike and I are safely home. I'll try to post pictures later of the "extreme weather."

Things

There have been a bunch of things I meant to blog about in the past couple of months and have just forgotten so this will be a random post of the things I meant to tell you, but never got around to.

1) Remember this bruise? The bruise that I got from the IV when I gave birth to Mike almost 14 months ago? Yeah, that bruise. It still hasn't gone away.

2) Mikes 12 month stats: Weight = 23 lb 10 oz; Height = 30.5 inches; Head Circumference = 49cm. For height and weight he is right around the 75th percentile. His head however ranks him in the 97th percentile.

3) Brad has pretty much made Mike's aquarium his own. When we decided to get Mike a goldfish bowl, I thought it would be just that. A bowl with a few goldfish in it. Brad had other plans. We began with the "starter" aquarium kit a little 3 gallon tank that included everything you needed...just add fish and water. After a few months Brad decided we needed to upgrade so a 10 gallon tank was purchased and additional fish were bought. Now we have two of the original three goldfish, 5 tetras (all named Gill) a sucker fish and a missing frog. Brad also added a monstrosity of a castle to "give the fish somewhere to hide." Whatever works. Mike loves to watch the fish and erupts into fits of giggles if he is looking through the glass on one side and you look through the glass on the other side.

And of course the obligatory picture of Mike...