Mother's Day

I love being a mom.
I love my mom.
I love my mother-in-law.
That's a lot of love.

This weekend was a celebration of some of the most important people in my life.  Though you've undoubtedly seen dozens of updates, tweets and posts from other people about how great their mothers and children are, I'm here to tell you mine are the best.  My mom has been my best friend for 30 years, my mother-in-law loves me like one of her own, and Eli has brought more joy to our family than I can describe.  I am so thankful that God has blessed me with the opportunity to be a mom and to learn from the best.

Because I am spoiled rotten, my boys didn't just give me a Mother's Day, but we celebrated all weekend.  Saturday I started the day with a 7:30 hair appointment (if you're up anyway...why not get your hair done??).  I am a few months shy of 30 and this was the very first time I have ever colored my hair. Ever.  Unless you count chlorine, which I don't.  Next up was a run at Anneberg Park with both of my boys.  I'm currently training for a 10K and Ryan has joined in for a couple of the long runs.  I love the company.  The rest of the day was spent hanging out with the little man, working in the yard (I love being outside - I don't care why) and getting to see my parents and their dear friends.  Such a wonderful, wonderful day.

Sunday was just as great as Eli, Ryan and I got to celebrate with the women who have taught us what real mothers are made of.  Connie, Jane and Marge we don't know what we'd do without you.

Lots of mama love today and every day!

Baby Check: 10 months

Life with a 10 month old goes something like this:
Eli and I arrive home from work/daycare with a trunk full of groceries.  Do I....
A) Leave Eli in his carseat while I unload?  No - he will protest.  A lot.
B) Set Eli on the kitchen floor and go back out to unload?  No - he will crawl directly for the stairs.
C) Set Eli by the kitchen door so I can see him while I unload?  No - he will try to crawl down the garage stairs.
D) Set Eli on the garage floor and hope he doesn't crawl under the car.   Yes - Seems like the best option I've got.

While Answer D did not result in my child crawling under the car, I did turn around to find him chewing on something which leads us to our next dilemma.  Do I...
A) Do a quick finger sweep with Walmart germs on my hands?  No.  Ew.
B) Let him chew on mystery object until I carry him inside, wash my hands and then do said finger sweep?  Again, seems like the best option I've got.

Before I completed option B, however, the little dude spit out the tiny pebble he found on the garage floor.  Must not have had much flavor.  I'll attribute that to how meticulously clean my husband keeps our garage (though as he's reading this, he's thinking to himself, 'What is she talking about?  Our garage is a disaster!!)

I can't look now, mom, I'm busy!

There has been so much going on this month, but yet I've blogged about nothing. Therefore, this post will be a summary of Eli's Daily Memory Journal and other completely random ramblings. Side note: I have LOVED this journal and have been surprisingly consistent. About every 3-4 days I go back and write the highlight of each day, something new he has learned, or something important that has happened in the world. Over time we will rack up memories from year to year and be able to see what he was doing a year ago or two or three, on that date. This month's journal entries have included things like:

The next Collin Klein?

-  April 4 - First forward movement!  You've figured out how to inch worm where you want to go.
- April 6 - We hung your swing under the deck today.  It's a little lot high, but you love your hammock in the sky.
- April 9 - Current favorite toys include beach ball, farm truck, maracas, and anything that's not actually a toy.  And of course, the usual suspects, Sophie, your buckets, scoot scoot, and books.
- April 10 - You like ground beef and hate pureed chicken.  I think we'll stick to meat in its natural form.
- April 20 - We have to keep you in long sleeves and pants to keep you from getting rug burns.  You army crawl everywhere!

Yahooooooo!!

- April 22 - Today you learned that not only can you crawl to a toy you can crawl OUT of a room and INTO the next one. On your first journey you discovered the stairs, the laundry room and the bathroom in about 2.3 seconds. Let the games begin.
-April 23 - Snow?!?  Eli, I promise this is not normal!!
- April 26 - You love to splash.  Like - flood the bathroom kind of splash.
- April 27 - Eli's first Wildcat football game!
- April 28 - BYE BYE!  You waved (responsively) for the first time today!

The first of many trips to Bill Snyder Family Stadium

I do actually have every day filled in, but these are some of the highlights.   While we're at it, I might as well mention that during this month we also celebrated our 6th wedding anniversary (went to see 42 and eat at Wahoo! Fire and Ice - highly recommend both!), celebrated Ryan's 29th birthday (he received Cheez-its and chocoloate chip cookies - so high maintenance), and we are getting ready to celebrate my first real Mother's Day.  May is a busy little month!

We are quickly closing in on the one year mark.  Cannot.Believe.It.

Love you Eli!

Baby Check: 9 months

Not only do we have a 9 month old in this house....we have a mobile 9 month old.  Yippee!!  Yikes :)

Whatcha been hiding in here mama?

What a fun age 9 months is.  You're happy, you're playful, you can entertain yourself, you can interact with others, you laugh at your own jokes, and you're learning like crazy.

What a challenging age 9 months is.  You are demanding, you are into everything, you are requiring us to start thinking about how to discipline and teach you boundaries, you're cutting more teeth. 

Why so serious?

This month you had a LOT of firsts....
- Your first spring break - may this be the first of many my child.  If I teach you anything it will be to choose a profession that will give you a spring break for the rest of your life :)
-Your first haircut.  By dad.  In the bathtub.  Yep - he mohawked it then cut it off with the kitchen scissors.  Poor kid.

Mama, does dad know what he's doing???

- YOUR FIRST SWIM!!!  It was SO fun...until you got cold.  But you did great floating in your 'raft' and floating on your back.  You didn't even mind having water in your ears.  Yay!

- First night in a hotel (we all slept like babies...literally.)
- You started rolling to get where you wanted to go.  No longer is your world contained on the living room rug.  You figured out you can roll, scoot and turn anywhere you want.

Here I go!

- After a week or two your rolling turned into full fledged army-crawling.  No longer do you have to attack your target with a sideways roll.  You can now attack it straight-on.  (You're not crawling on all fours yet, but you're good enough to get whatever you want if mom and dad aren't watching :)

- Also this month - you had one glorious day of 'mamamamamas' Haven't heard it since.  You love to play catch, you throw everything, and you will no longer stay in your carseat at restaurants.  You are  eating finger foods (puffs, cheerios, banana, avocado, potato and pasta) and learning to drink from a sippy cup.  You are also eating mostly formula.  Your verbal and fine motor skills still seem strong and your gross motor skills aren't too shabby either. 

Eli, you are so much fun to hang-out with.  This month you really turned into a whole new kid.  You are into everything and definitely mobile.  You are still so sweet, happy and playful.  However, daddy and I don't allow you to spit your food which has created a bit of a predicament considering you like to spit your food.  Hmm.  Let the battle of wills begin.

Maybe, if I'm really good, I'll come back and update your stats.  We go to the doctor next Monday.  Hopefully the little dude will be growing and released from his reflux meds.  We'll see!

Adventures in Baby Cuisine

I can't open any wider.....feed me!

Pediatricians may say to keep babies on a liquid diet until at least 6 months for health reasons.  In this house, we needed the extra time to figure out what in the heck we were doing :)  Here is a scattered, non-research-based, unofficial account of Eli's adventures in baby cuisine.

- Eli started rice cereal right around 6 months.  The recommended ratio of milk to cereal (4 parts milk to 1 part cereal) essentially makes...milk.  We were basically feeding his bottle off of a spoon.  It didn't take long before we ditched all measuring utensils and slowly thickened the texture until it was like cream of wheat.  Followed baby's lead on this one.

- After about a week or two of cereal (I told you this was going to be precise), we started introducing vegetables.  Luckily (in my opinion) we have the most laid back pediatrician (S.O. Dr. G!!)  His direct quote at Eli's 4 month appointment was 'Don't make it harder than it needs to be.'  I had heard and read about what order to introduce foods, how to alternate foods, how to mix foods, etc.  Can you say overwhelming?  Yikes!  Eli began with squash and moved his way through green beans and sweet potatoes.  This solid food thing wasn't so hard after all.  We did follow the 'three day rule' (waiting three days before introducing each new food) to watch for any allergic reactions.  So far, so good.

Who's this pretty girl feeding me??  I like her!

I had originally thought that I wanted to feed Eli homemade baby food.  For some reason, when the rubber hit the road that was also overwhelming.  Thankfully a neighbor had given us some jarred food her son was not going to eat (don't worry, it wasn't expired).  When I looked at the ingredients they read 'squash, water.'  Um, what about all the preservatives and unpronounceable ingredients I assumed were in jarred baby food?  Not there.  And these jars (which Eli will eat half of) cost 50 cents.  Thus my mind was changed and Eli and I trucked it to Dillons to load up on jarred baby food.  

- Then it was time for fruit.  I decided it couldn't be that hard to mash up a banana and thus began our adventures in homemade baby food.  We went from bananas to avadados to sweet potatoes (these I could mash with a fork....still had no idea how to buy a food processor without spending a fortune).

- After researching Cuisineart food processors as well as Baby Beaba and Baby Breza, I decided I didn't want to invest a fortune.  A quick trip to Target and a shiny new Magic Bullet ($35) was ours!

- Fast forward 2 months and Eli is eating a wide variety of fruits and veggies.  Some jarred, some homemade.  The number one advantage to making his food is the variety.  I tend to buy the foods that are inconvenient to make and make the foods that aren't sold in jars.  I introduced him to foods in this order...kind of...I think.  Squash, green beans, banana, avacado, sweet potato, peas, applesauce, carrots, pineapple, blueberries, zucchini, broccoli, peaches, potato.  Next on the list are strawberries and edamame!!

So, if you're still here after all of this rambling.  This, folks, is how I cook.  (Note:  I cook like my father.  If the kitchen isn't a mess when we're done, then the meal's not any good).

The remains of my first attempt at squash

1.  I use a mixture of fresh and frozen fruits and veggies - organic and non-organic. 
2. After giving them a toss in the MB I either pour them in ice cube trays (3/4 oz per cube) or into (previously used and washed) baby food jars (4 oz when full). 

Blueberries and peaches - like a tropical vacay.

3.  Each morning I grab an empty jar and throw 2 fruit cubes in to eat with his oatmeal at daycare.  I also grab him a frozen veggie jar and he's good to go.

4.  At home I just throw cubes into a glass ramekin and thaw for 20 seconds to make his dinner.  This makes it super easy to mix and match foods. 

At first I was just making cubes and putting them in the jars to send to daycare.  However, the jars only hold 2 cubes which is not enough food anymore.  By freezing it in the jars I can get 3-4 ounces in there.

I guess there's not a whole lot else to tell.  I hope you've enjoyed this riveting post or maybe even found it helpful.  At the very least I'm hoping it will help me not feel so lost the next time I do this (hopefully).  

Lately

 In a nutshell...

1.  Spring came.  

Higher!!

Watching Wormey roll to his imminent death

2.  Spring went.

Shovel trip 1 of 3. 

3.  Eli built a snowman

Abra-ka-dabra!

 4.  Eli's hands got cold.

isth thtuck to my tongue mom

 5.  Gryff came to visit.

Come play with me doggie!

Maybe if I yell louder he'll hear me.

6.  Eli met Winston.

Maybe this doggie will play with me?!?

  7.  Dean came to town.

You talkin' to us?

So....three guys walk into a bar...

Dude, where are they taking us now?

Here, let me give you a hand.

Um...???

Haha.  No caption needed.

Baby Check: 8 months

This little dude is becoming a little boy.  Be still my heart.  As much as I love everything about this stage, part of me cannot wait until he's running around, laughing, talking and being silly.  He has the best* personality and I can't wait to see it continue develop.  (*In this instance, 'best' clearly means silly and ornery with a little attitude on the side). 

Eli during your 8th month of life you...
- got to enjoy the warm weather in your stroller....like a big boy!
- went to the park and got to swing for the first time.  You love it!
-  spent  your first evening with a {paid} babysitter - Taylor Kayser.  You were asleep the entire time she was here and didn't even know we were gone :)
- watched daddy shovel...and shovel...and shovel...and promise to buy a snowblower next year.
- want anything you don't have.  If you have a ball, you want the block.  If you have the block, you want the ball.
- have started pulling your knees underneath you.  Oh boy.
- spent two weeks with Gryff at our house.  You love him and think playing fetch is the best game ever.  He's slowly warming up to you.
- have a new cousin - Joel Dean.  You two are sure to get into some trouble in the coming years!
- took your first road trip.  We loaded you up at bedtime to make the 10.5 hour trip to Houston and you did GREAT!  Now we'll hope your first plane ride this summer goes just as smoothly.

Now you see it...

Now you don't!

Eli, you grow and change every day.  You are looking and acting more and more like a little boy.  Miss Dawn says she loves watching you and we get compliments all the time about how adorable you are.  You are starting to look more and more like your daddy and seem to be favoring your left hand.  You love eating anything we put in front of you (including pineapple) and love playing with your stacking bear, reading books, and staring out the window.

Can't wait to see what this spring will bring!

Spread the Word...

March 6th is National Spread the Word to End the Word Day. When you say the word retard or retarded in a derogatory manner towards someone or to indicate you think something is dumb, lame or stupid, it sends a hurtful message to those who live with intellectual disabilities. WORDS MATTER! Please visit http://r-word.org/ to take the pledge to stop using this word. The only R word we should be talking about is RESPECT!

 

As many of you know, I feel very, very strongly about the use of the R-word.  If you don't know my opinion on this, then you probably haven't used this word in front of me.  Way to go and thank you!  While I hate confrontation almost as much as I hate raisins, this is a topic that I will call someone out on...anywhere, anytime.  Most people's response is "I didn't mean it disrespectfully."  Too bad - it was.  This is a topic in which 'intent' does not matter.  It doesn't hurt the person, their friends or their family any less because you qualify it as a joke, a habit or a 'generational thing.'

 

Okay, I will kindly step off of my soap box, but thank you for taking a minute to indulge my passion.  

 

Happy Wednesday!