Andrew is working on his Andy the Plumber look. He actually looks like his Uncle Joe the plumber from behind.
I guess we need to make sure this kid wears a onesie as much as possible.
Things have been so crazy busy lately. Not much to report in about. I did a volunteer program today where I taught a classroom of 5th graders about business for 4 hours. I’m exhausted.
I also found a gray hair the other day. My very first one. I came home and showed Lois. “Yep,” she said. “And look, I found another one.” I feel like its a badge of honor or something. I figure only 2 gray hairs before I turn 32, that’s not so bad. (knocking on wood, my birthday is still months 10 weeks away). My father had 100 gray hairs at this age. I’m way ahead of the game.
Hope everyone is having a great week. I have a lot more to ramble about, but for now I’ll leave you with this…..
Andrew is 15 months old today. I can’t freakin’ believe it!
As always, he is quite the little personality. I’m trying to think of all the new things he does.
He loves airplanes and birds, anything in the sky. We live near a tiny airport so many small planes fly overhead. When he starts to hear them, he points towards the sky, says “ehhhh” and usually throws his arms into the “I don’t know” pose when he doesn’t see it.
He dances. Well. Sort of.
He is doing very well with eating again. For some reason, he went through a week where he would eat almost nothing. Now, he is definitely pickier than he was but he is usually pretty content if you let him feed himself. Last night, this involve flinging ravioli, one of which I discovered stuck to the sliding glass door 15 minutes later.
He likes walking backwards. He will walk backwards across a room then sit down on whatever gets in his way.
Because of this, we’ve discovered that he can play the piano with his butt.
He likes standing and turning around and around. This just started. Not sure where it came from but he sometimes makes ga-ga noises when he does it.
He still doesn’t say much but he has said “yo-gurt” and we swear he’s said “kitty kat” a few times. He does say Ma-ma, but it’s more like ma-ma-ma-ma-maaaaaaaa. We think he says things from time to time like up, down, more, no, dog, and a few other things but they are not usually clear. He says Coo-kee very clearly and just tonight was saying MAAARRRR for more.
He will walk into a room, stick his belly out, slap his thigh, look up, look down, slap his thigh again, pull on his diaper, grab his belly, spit out his binky and giggle. He’s a riot.
He has a tendency to pull his socks off and smack himself in the head as he does it. He doesn’t usually cry and I try very hard not to giggle.
And he’s still very vocal. He blows raspberries, babbles endlessly and pretty much cracks us (and himself) up over and over again.
He’s definitely not a pushover kid. He wants what he wants, just as he always has. He has temper flares (bonfires, actually) when we say “no” and throws a fit if we don’t let him play on the stairs, take him in from outside, don’t let him push buttons on the computer, play with screwdrivers, knives, etc.
All he wants to do is be OUTSIDE!!!
He loves brushing his own teeth and recently has started using an electric toothbrush.
He discovered that the paper tower holder hangs low enough for him to pull out 150 sheets at once.
He can open the oven. He has located and rummaged through our junk drawer. And he’s figured out the child locks on the cabinets in the kitchen. We are running out of places to keep dangerous items.
He can be very cuddly and loving (sometimes), but it’s usually for a second then he’s off. He also listens well (sometimes) and if you tell him to bring Mama her shoes, he will pick them up and carry them to Mama.
He likes his books but we still don’t get to actually read through any of them. Even the baby’s first words books are pretty much an adventure in speedreading.
He loves sitting behind the wheel of a car and honking the horn. Thank you Mema and Pop-Pop for teaching him this.
He feels too advanced for sippy cups. He’d much rather use a glass with a straw. Of course, we have not mastered the “not turning the glass upside down” thing yet.
He’s discovered that he can stick his finger up his nose. Apparently, this is really funny to him.
He also discovered his pee-pee. We haven’t encountered too much of a problem with this yet because…well…he’s a chubby kid…and…let’s just say he can’t see it unless he’s sitting down.
He just wants to be free and go somewhere. He still has very little interest in TV. Which is totally fine with us.
He loves opening and closing doors. Especially the slider. He loves banging them shut, if at all possible.
He loves banging anything. Any new item or toy is tested against the hardwood floor, the heating vent and the pantry door for its noise potential.
He loves hugging stuffed animals, giving them kisses, saying “ahhhh” then throwing them down the stairs.
Even despite the constant temper tantrums and exasperation on his mommies’ part, we loved him to the ends of the earth.
He’s a little person. Our little boy is a toddler. When did that happen?
I’m really trying to balance work and life. It’s ridiculous. This weekend, as I was driving home from my office on a Saturday afternoon, I truly almost suffered a big breakdown.
It was about time and money. What else.
I started writing it all out. Writing out what’s in my head. It’s now 5 pages long and I’ve lost 1.6 billable hours this morning.
I’m not going to bore everyone with the budgetary dilemmas and “woe is me” thoughts in my head. I know everyone is struggling lately. I just hit a wall where I feel like I’ve been busting my ass and I guess I expected to see some pressure lifted off another area as a result of my hard work.
The last thing I need to do is take my stress out on my amazing wife who’s busting her own butt to keep everything functioning with the home, the boy and her part time job. And I know how lucky I am to have what I do have. Every time I do feel like this, I mostly need to refrain from the urge to kick myself repeatedly for bitching at all.
I was on the phone with my mother last Monday (at the beginning of a week from hell) and she made a comment about my crankiness. “Why are you cranky! That’s not like you!” Is it not like me?!!? I’m not sure, ask Lois.
So, I’m trying particularly hard to make sure I am not exuding my stress or crankiness on the outside. And I’m sorry for neglecting my family, friends and blogging pals recently.
On that note, here’s some Shmoo TV. Here is the reason I work hard to keep my family happy and healthy.
This video is 2 minutes long and probably boring as hell for anyone else, but I love it - the Shmoo eating with a big boy fork!
We had another open house this weekend. At least some people showed up this time, but I’m not keeping my hopes up.
My mother has sold her condo and is closing in 2 weeks. This, of course, has heightened my anxiety to sell our place but I think I’m falling into acceptance that it will never sell for what we need to sell it at. I’m trying to not get frustrated or depressed about it, but everything seems to be coming back to money lately and we have a lot to figure out. More on this later, don’t want to dampen anyone’s spirits on a Monday morning.
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As for the Shmoo, he’s been testing us more than usual lately. We’ve always been very lucky that he would eat anything and everything we gave him. Some people said “that will change!” and others said “you are lucky – hope he stays that way!”
Last Wednesday, our bliss came to a screeching halt when he decided to eat almost NOTHING we tried to feed him. What the hell?!?!!?
For two weeks, this kid LOVED yogurt. He even said “yo-gut” one day. As of Wednesday, he points to the yogurt, you open it, he won’t even try one bite. He turns his head away, whines, etc.
We thought it was because he wanted to do it himself. Nope. Allowing him to self-feed just means that the yogurt will end up on the wall.
His vast array of food items seems to be fruit only right now. He will eat pear, blueberries and cantaloupe. All fresh fruit, not jarred anything.
He will eat some cheerios, but just this weekend turned down peas, ham, beef, chicken, rice, noodles, oatmeal, jarred baby food fruit concoctions, etc.
It is so bizarre and we don’t want to rush to the doctor and announce that there is something wrong with him, but he’s also been so damn needy lately. And I think he’s got allergies or a sinus thing going on.
He will take bottles and he’s been sleeping okay, so we’re not thinking ear infection (aside from the fact he’s never had an ear infection!)
We’re just wondering when we start worrying. I think he is getting enough to eat and I don’t want to force him but sheesh. What happened to our great little eater?!?!
Thanks for enduring my long winded confusing whine. Just for sticking it out, I’ll reward you with some pictures of the boy.
Don’t worry Dollface, I’ll give you a ride!
I like to swing with my BFF Kaden. Where did Kaden go?!?
Check out my new shoes. Aunt Laura got them for me so I could look as cool as her. Mommy, don’t I need to wear work boots with shorts to be really as cool as Aunt Laura?!?!?! (tee hee)
I didn’t do it. I swear. Really.
Hope everyone had a wonderful weekend! And thanks for sending our your prayers to E. and S.! We can’t wait to see more pictures of A. from the comfort of his home!
Not sure how it came about, but we’re now calling the boy “Schmoo”.
It started as Andrew Schmandrew. Now, he’s “Schmoo”.
Schmoo has a cold going on. He’s not been his usually self lately. We’re still not sure what the usual self is.
Let’s just say he’s been more whiney than busy the last 2 days. And we totally caved and had him in bed with us for two nights. I know, I know. We’re undoing all of that hard work to keep him in his crib. Sigh.
I decided that Schmoo could be a money maker for us. Not in the “let’s sell his face on cereal boxes” kind of way, but I have an actual job for him.
“Child Proof” Tester
I’m sure some design engineers for child locks and child proof bottles would be very intrigued by his abilities. I certainly am.
I cannot imagine how many 14 month olds can break a lazy susan child lock, rip the toilet lock off the toilet, take apart a dental floss container, screw open a bottle of mouthwash (we were right there – he didn’t drink any) and try to pull an outlet cover off with a plastic screwdriver all within a matter of seconds. Plus, he’s “this close” to figuring out the child gate. (He’s already pulled down the one that doesn’t screw into the wall)
It’s rather exhausting. And it means that nothing is safe anymore.
It took Lois 6 attempts to take a shower yesterday morning. The toilet lock, dental floss and mouthwash all came into play during this time. Once he pulled the toilet lock off, he tried throwing things from the garbage into the toilet. Then he tried throwing the entire garbage can into the toilet. Then he tried to get at the toilet brush. Ewwwww.
You can’t have him in the bathroom. You can’t leave him anywhere else. You may think his room is child proof. He can find something you didn’t think of. He won’t hang in his room by himself. He will freak out and scream bloody murder if you try to gate him in there. And we don’t want him to hate his room by thinking it’s a trap.
That being said, don’t go calling DCF on us because you think we are letting our kid loose on the bathroom cabinets, filled with medications and cleaning solutions.
We are in this position right now where we don’t want to drill holes into every cabinet in the kitchen and bathroom because we are trying to sell our place. However, we have been moving everything to different locations and leave safe stuff in the accessible places.
Usually, Schmoo goes right to a specific kitchen drawer and stands there pulling everything out and throwing it over his shoulder. Like good parents, we have removed the knives, matches and skewers and allowed him access to the whisks and rubber spatulas. He is getting frustrated because we are also trying to limit his access to the metal measuring cups that he likes banging on the hardwood floor (again, we are trying to sell this place and don’t need any more “Schmoo dents” in the hardwood than are already there).
I am glad that it’s getting nice out and this kid can be outside more. With his busy-ness, he needs to be OUTSIDE! Oh yeah, another new thing is that he now almost can’t stand to be inside and is whiney when he’s not outside 100% of the time. This is going to get old.
We should have known when he was doing cartwheels in utero that this kid was going to be active.
I do not define myself as an environmentalist. I have always been conscientious of recycling, litter, etc. but I’m not as proactive as I could be.
I was moved by An Inconvenien*t Truth mostly because I realized that I don’t want my kids and their children and grandchildren to be facing the end of the world due to our complete ignorance.
So, I am definitely taking steps, small and imperfect ones, to help make my “human footprint” (another documentary everyone should watch) less of a divot out of the earth.
Earth Day is a once-a-year event, but I hope that by blogging about it, all of my readers will do what I do and try to think about things more when we are creating waste or when an opportunity arises for us to save more energy.
One step…
I drive a hybrid. It’s definitely not as cool and as fast as my former vehicle, Sexy Rexy the WRX, but it’s a step for me.
I have received several questions about the hybrid and how I like it. I do like it, a lot. It’s definitely made me slow down a little. I am finding it easier to drive slower since my competitive personality now has me in a game with myself to see how I can get the best gas mileage without driving under 70 mph.
I drive 60 highway miles per day. And we live in Connecticut. It is not flat highway – there are a ton of hills. I get awesome gas mileage going downhill and terrible gas mileage when my 4 cylinder engine struggles up a hill. Plus, the speed limit on this road is 65. I used to drive it at between 79-82 (my ticket last May was for 83).
Now, I usually do cruise control at about 72. That puts me at about 39-42 mpg on average. If I drive 74 on cruise control, I average about 36. If I drove slower, I’m sure I would probably end up with about 45.
It wasn’t a cheap car for me since I had to eat some $ on the WRX, but saving on gas is great – for my own pocketbook reasons, not just for the environment. Plus you save on insurance and if you buy new, you get a tax refund.
Even if you don’t want to be an environmentally-friendly consumer, you can still buy a hybrid. My conservative brother-in-law just bought one and he wants to find a bumper sticker that says “I’m not a Liberal, I’m just cheap.”
There are little things we can do every day. Such as, think before we print out from our computer, change to energy efficient light bulbs, etc. For some ideas, visit this site.
I say, let’s all take this opportunity to pay more attention to our everyday existence and the habitual things we do to see what we can improve. I will make more of an effort as well.
Let’s try to make a better place for our children to live.
Lois has been lovin’ D*nica for years. I have totally accepted the fact that she would leave me in a heartbeat if D*nica showed up at our door.
We also have an ongoing conversation about how our next child is going to be a girl and we shall name her D*nica.
We are very excited in our household!!! Great job D*nica, we can’t wait to watch you win many more!
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Do you ever wish you could just slow time down a little?
Like the time those Norwegians were here?!?! It was 4 weeks and on Friday, I drove a Norwegian mommy and baby to J.F.K. (3 hours there, 1.5 hours home). It was very sad to see them leave. They will be back in September or October, so hopefully we will be in a house by then so they won’t need to sleep on the floor of Andrew’s room.
I also wish weekends wouldn’t go so fast. I’m not ready to go back to work tomorrow.
Andrew had tons of outdoor time this weekend and he never wants to be in the house anymore. And he is EVERYWHERE!
He also doesn’t think his little quad is nearly cool enough anymore.
What else is the boy up to lately?
He may have said some words in the past few days. He does say Mama, but he may have added “yeah” and “yogurt” (Lois is the only person that’s heard him say that) but, of course, he also seems to say “no.”
First of all - Big Big Thanks to Robin for putting this together.
I wanted to participate in Robin’s idea so I could express my appreciation to all of my readers!
When I look back at when I started this blog, I never knew I would meet so many amazing people and share so much of my life with everyone. My readers know a lot more about us than most of our family and friends.
Your comments and growing friendships have opened up a new world to me and I am forever grateful. I know sometimes I get sappy or boring. Sometimes we get a little self-centered (I guess that’s what blogging is about - ourselves). But our readers are always there! You have helped me through some rough spots and laughed at me when I deserved it. I have appreciated every comment and continue to read every blog that I’ve found through comments!
I’ve recently looked back and reread many of the comments from when we found out we were pregnant or even after the boy was born! Thank you everyone for sharing these moments with us.
I never thought anyone would find our lives or my writing even remotely interesting. I do realize that most of you probably only read to see a picture of the boy, not to read my ramblings!!
We have a fabulous community. I have been posting every blogger that comments in my bloglines and can’t believe how much we’ve all shared with each other and how each of us has grown (as our families have grown!)
Thank you loyal readers for keeping us in your hearts and minds! And we are always keeping you in ours!
We had the walk this weekend for the Ron*ald McDonald Family Room and the children’s hospital. It was a little colder than we hoped for – the day before was 72 degrees! – but we had a blast! (Donations are still being accepted by our Firstgiving site)
K*n was definitely a “star” and it was a nice event.
For those of you who know how close we are to K*n and his mommy, you know what they have been through in the past 2 years. K*n is such a remarkable, special child. He has gone through two major open heart surgeries already and still has one more to go two years from now. He won’t get to do everything that every other kid or young man would be able to do in terms of contact sports or other things, but I really think he’s going to always be a remarkable person.
You can’t really tell from the pictures, but there were hundreds of families at the children’s hospital walk yesterday. Being there and seeing how many children and families have been served by the hospital and seeing the pictures of many children who did not survive to share their story…it’s….I don’t know…it’s so heart wrenching.
We will never take our son and his health for granted even for one day. Everyone who has a child is blessed. Every child is so special and amazing.
I can’t imagine the fear of knowing your child is sick. It kills me inside to know that there are many people out there who will mistreat their child for crying too hard or lay a hand on their child for no reason. And here are these families that will fight so hard with their child to see the light of day outside of a hospital room.
Every child is a gift. And we have been so blessed.
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