Hooray for good weather!

We are down at the beach for New Years, and the weather is fantastic. We went to the local playground today after lunch, and it looks like the little dude might be outgrowing his hatred of swings!

Par-tay!

One of my aunts got my brother and me a huge box of Mardi Gras beads when we were little. We played with them for years. We're visiting my parents right now, and the tradition continues...

Most Obnoxious Toy Ever?

First of all, Merry Christmas from the little guy. Here he is cheesing from a small box amid the morning wreckage:

We (I) got the little dude a ball-popper for Christmas. The good news is that his aunt and uncle who got him a percussion set (seriously) don't have to worry about being blacklisted. The ball-popper is quite possibly more loud and annoying... but he loves it!

What was I thinking?

Change in Plans!

I was planning to write about how we can't wait until he's old enough to take the dogs out. The little dude loves playing with the dogs' leashes. He also like to try and grab the leashes when they are on the dogs. Unfortunately, even the small dog has a couple of pounds on him right now, so it will be a loooong time before we can assign him this chore. But then he figured out how to ride his scooter today! Even though he can't really steer very well!

And then he wasn't great at it:

Apparently that was loud more than painful, which is always a good way to hit your head. He's fine, really.
Posting might be light over the next week or so, but then we'll be back to normal for 2011 (lucky you!).

Better than the "White Man's Overbite"

We put Toddler Tunes on the TV after dinner tonight. I think he liked it:

I had to stop recording to keep him from unplugging everything, but he kept on dancing for several more songs. What a goober!

Our Little Einstein

It's too early to tell if he'll be a revolutionary theoretical physicist, but he's got the hair for it.

Changing the subject, the little guy loves opening the lazy-Susan style cabinets in our kitchen. He gets stuff out to bring to us, which drives his dad nuts. His favorite thing to get (besides the food coloring, which I moved) is a taco seasoning packet. His dad hid it behind some pasta the other day, and the little dude rooted around until he found it.

Isn't he helpful? And doesn't his hair look awful?

Treeburns!

Our church had an Ugly-Christmas-Sweater/Mustache/Cookie-Exchange potluck last night (we get a lot done in one party, what can I say?) and the little dude's dad had a creative idea for his sideburns:

When I took the clippers to his face to create the treeburns, the little dude threw a fit! He totally panicked and ran over, grabbed his daddy's legs and wailed. He even tried to push me away. It was tragic. He was ok with his dad clipping his own face, but I don't think he trusted me not to kill somebody. Once we got the little guy a big snack he calmed right down. It's nice to know he prioritizes food over his dad's neck.

Spoiled Rotten

This is what I saw when I walked into the kitchen yesterday. Apparently, the little dude was having trouble specifying what he wanted to eat, so his dad just put him on the counter and let him get his own food out of the cabinet.

Around late-afternoon snack time, this is what I found on the couch:

I know his clothes are as ridiculous as his posture and facial expression, but that's kind of an involved story. Anyway, just as a bonus, here he is jamming to Old MacDonald (lucky you!).

He's a Maniac!

Here are my two guys getting in some much-needed roughhousing.

The little dude's rough-and-tumble friends at daycare have moved up a room, and there's nobody there for him to wrestle with anymore. He'll move up pretty soon, though, and the wild boys can all play together again.

Animal Sounds?

The little dude is starting to learn some animal sounds. He can say Aaooooo (like the big dog), Moo, and occasionally he'll say Baa. I think he knows the cow and sheep sounds because of the book Moo Baa La La La, one of his favorites. The only downside is that his newest animal sound is "La La La," which is what singing pigs say.

What you can't see very well is that to make the L sound, he sticks his tongue all the way out of his mouth.

Our Little Bottomless Pit!

The little dude has started making the sign for "more" every time he wanders into the kitchen. He looks so hopeful- it's adorably pathetic.

He had his first navel orange slices at breakfast this morning. They were a hit!

And it looks like his spaghetti at dinner was literally finger-licking good!

What a happy, messy, sticky boy!

Another First!

Today was the first day he cried on the way out of daycare. First, the little guy tried to hitch a ride on the bye-bye buggy instead of leaving with me. When that didn't work, he toddled over to the director and tried to get her to pick him up and carry him around. He was bawling as I carried him out the door... way to show me you care, little dude.

I didn't get any new pictures today, so the above one is from before he started breaking my heart almost daily.

Presented without comment...

Thing 1:


And Thing 2:

We're such good parents!

That was sarcasm, in case you were wondering.

We decided to go out for dinner tonight, even though it has been less than 15 degrees outside all day (brrrrr!). Apparently I forgot to put the little guy's shoes on him before we left the house. Then he took his socks off in the car. Neither his dad nor I noticed that the little dude was completely barefoot as we carried him through the frigid air across the huge parking lot into the restaurant. His poor toes!

I always have to steal my kisses from you...

The big dog licked some yogurt out of the little dude's mouth today. It was pretty gross, but who could resist this?

 Definitely not her:

Lessons Learned Today, Episode 2

1. Dark fleece pants are a bad wardrobe choice for rolling around in a dog crate belonging to a light-haired dog.

2. Only so much bagel will fit into your mouth at one time, no matter how enthusiastically you ask for more.

3. Looking at a book while on it and in a yoga pose may make it more interesting, especially if you can't read.

4. If one song is good, two songs at once are better!

Our day was pretty much chaos... as usual.

Sunny day, sweepin' the clouds away!

Today was warmer than it has been, and most likely a lot warmer than it will be for a while. To celebrate, we went to the park! It didn't occur to me that the ground would be sopping wet because of all the melted snow. Luckily, we were the only people at the whole park (my mom will be so proud) so we just wandered around the paved roads and parking lots. The little dude didn't seem to mind.

It was so nice out that we ended up getting the dogs and going to the dog park. The little guy had a great time playing in the leaves and watching all the dogs run around.

The dogs had a nice time at the park, too. The big dog ran around and played like crazy. The little dog systematically peed on every single tree and shrub (seriously, from right to left and uphill to downhill across the entire dog park).

Heart Attack in the Making

The little guy looooooves the stairs. His favorite thing to do is play on the landing. It gives me heart palpitations. Here he is sliding down then climbing up the stairs. He's gotten really fast at going downstairs, and you can see how proud of himself he is at the end.

Also, here he is trying to give me a complete heart attack.

Did you see that look he gave me? He's all "Geez, mom, calm down." The attitude on this one is unreal. And why am I apologizing to a baby for trying to save his life? *sigh*

Eureka! We've figured it out!

The problem with his baby spoons is that they aren't dangerous enough! Look at what happens when the little guy gets his hands on a dinner fork:

 He could probably kill somebody with that thing, and he loves it! I don't know why he's scrunching his face up like that, though. He does it all the time now. See?

His daycare teachers even asked me if he was pulling those faces at home. (Then they asked if he eats off the floor at home. I'm totally busted.)He's not even 14 months old and we already can't take him anywhere!

Self-Flagellation?

We've been wrapping a few presents around here lately, and the little guy has been wandering around the house with an empty wrapping-paper tube. I'm not sure it's a great idea, because he's already enough of a menace without a huge tube to knock into stuff. On the other hand, it's a lot of fun to hit him in the head with the tube. It doesn't seem to hurt, it makes a loud noise, and he likes it. See?

What a ridiculous kid. I guess we're all a little ridiculous around here.

This kid is bananas! B-A-N-A-N-A-S!

The little guy's dad can't stand food messes. He also really doesn't like bananas. Having a beginning eater has been tough on him, and having a beginning eater who likes bananas has made it even worse. That changed tonight, because now the little dude can bite off his own pieces of banana!

Wahoo! No more banana-hands for the adults in the house! We also have a video, if you're interested:

The Little Stinker's Guide to Eating Right

I should have knocked on wood after saying he made progress with utensils. Here's a step-by-step (oh baby) guide to eating the way the little dude did tonight.

Step 1: Put your cup in your bowl.

Step 2: Bring the cup to your lips using the bowl. This may not work very well.

Step 3: Start over.

Step 4: Turn the cup around with one hand, because you must not let go of the bowl for any reason.

Step 5: Make a terrible face.

Step 6: Repeat steps 1-5.

Progress?

He will hold onto a spoon at mealtimes now. Tonight, for example, he didn't eat with the spoon, but he waved it around with one hand while cramming fistfuls of chili into his mouth with the other. The little dude still has several key spoon skills to master, including how to get and keep food on the spoon.

 I think the little dude's dad is starting to see a distant light at the end of the dinner-is-a-giant-mess tunnel.

It's a very distant light, but it's there.

Money, money, money, money! Money!

The little guy spent a long time today emptying my wallet... literally. We're going to have to enroll the kid in a Dave Ramsey class if he keeps slinging plastic around like this.

Then he wore my work bag around the house. I probably need to clean it out, because it was so heavy that he was struggling.

In other news, he kissed me on the cheek today! It was the first non-blown kiss he's given, and it was pretty sweet but also really disgustingly wet... less of a kiss and more of a "here, let me put my wide open mouth on your face and say mwah!"

Master of the Stairs!

Over Thanksgiving, the little dude's Nana spent a lot of time helping him learn how to climb up and down stairs. He's a quick learner!

Sorry my foot intruded at the end there...

Not so cute, actually...

My parents got the little guy an adorable wooden giraffe for his birthday. It has all of these elastic joints so you can reposition it. I really like how it's cute and wholesome in an old-fashioned kind of way. The little dude enjoys playing with it, too. See? Awwww.

It all seemed so idyllic... until I watched the little dude deliberately bend the giraffe's neck in half. Ouch!

Then he held the giraffe by its head and slapped its limp body against the beagle's crate.  Yikes!

That's kind of disturbing!

He's a hot mess!

The little guy hadn't gotten into the dog's water dish in ages... until today. He spiked a fever at daycare, so he was home and in pajamas for most of the afternoon. He seems fine-- cheerful, but feverish. Medicine is keeping his fever down, but we'll be home tomorrow. Anyway, here he is splashing in the water dish using his hands and part of our church bulletin. He was very deliberate about it.

By the time I got to him, he was sopping wet, which is why he's wearing different pajamas to wrestle with his dad before bed.

He's clearly feeling fine. What a nut!

He's such a little gentleman (sometimes)

He finally learned how to say 'please' in baby sign language, sort of. It's supposed to be your right hand rubbing a little circle on your chest. Here's what he does:

He's going to be spoiled rotten if he doesn't stop being so cute! How can you say no to that? Of course, if you are a little slow getting the food to him, he gets a little demanding.

It's pretty easy to say no to that face, so I think we'll be alright.

Wahoo!

Go Seminoles! Today was an AMAZING day for the 'Noles. The little dude and I proudly wore our garnet and gold.

The little guy was super-cuddly during the game today. Here are the three boys (well, man, boy, male dog) snuggling on the couch:

And here's the little guy being really sweet with the beagle:

He's wearing a jacket because he kept taking his pants off, but it's cold! It's way too cold to wear a t-shirt and a diaper, so he wore a t-shirt, jacket, and diaper.

Back to normal...

Happy Thanksgiving! The little guy tried to eat some rocks yesterday, but settled for a pretty traditional meal with banana pudding for dessert.

We're all home now, dogs included, and after a much-needed trip to the grocery store tomorrow everything should be back to normal for a while. The little guy was pretty excited to see the dogs. Here he is terrorizing the beagle:

And here's the coonhound, making us both jump:

She always comes home hoarse after we board her. She'll get her bay back in about a week.

Belated Halloween Costume Idea?

There is a little cardboard box on the kitchen floor right now. Since the dogs are gone this week, I've been putting some crackers and a cup of water on the box for the little dude's after-work snack.

Tonight I realized he looks a little, um, like a hobo. A small table may be in his future.

Why I Should Not Be Left Alone with This Child, Part 1

I love to dip my grilled-cheese sandwiches in barbecue sauce. The little dude has eaten barbecue before (and baked beans, which is barbecue-ish) and loved it. I've read that toddlers like to dip their food in sauce. Plus, he had (really mild) honey-mustard sauce on chicken last week and it was a hit.

So, tonight I gave him cheese-toast with a side of barbecue sauce for dinner. He stuck his hand in the sauce, licked his fingers, and seemed happy... so it was going well, right? This is the kid who eats almost anything, right? Yup. Until he started crying and clawing at his tongue. The sauce was apparently a little hotter than I thought it was. Continuing my streak of pure genius, I gave him a piece of toast that I had already dipped in the sauce. That made it worse, of course. (Duh.) Then I gave him some water, which obviously didn't help out either.

Finally I grabbed a yogurt out of the fridge-- he didn't want milk since the water was ineffective. The yogurt worked, thank goodness, and he calmed down. What the heck was I thinking?

Here he is finishing his peas after all was forgiven:

He never did eat the rest of his cheese-toast. I think this was my worst idea yet!

Sleepy Boy

He was a sleepy boy tonight, which means that he's both really cuddly and quite serious about his food. Here he is being cuddly:

And here's a video of him inspecting and then demolishing his burrito:

The bruise down the middle of his forehead is from face-planting into a chair leg.

We didn't leave anything in San Francisco...

We got back from four days in San Francisco today. The trip was great-- the little guy was amazingly well-behaved on the plane and we had a great time (even though I had to work). But, like an idiot, I left my camera in the hotel room for most of our sightseeing. Here are some highlights that I managed to catch from our trip.

1. Baby's first room service! What can I say? We travel in style...

2. The city, as seen from the top of the MOMA. The weather was perfect and the city is stunning.

3. The little guy, giving me a heart attack. This is five stories up, and I have a somewhat paralyzing fear of heights. It was terrible. I was trying to keep an eye on him and not look at the same time. The picture isn't anywhere close to as stomach-churning as the reality.

4. The little guy sacked out in his crib at the hotel. Play hard, sleep hard. 

All in all, it was a wonderful trip but it's always nice to be back home.

I never thought my feet were particulary large...

... but my shoes look enormous when baby feet are in them.

Do you like his cell phone? He managed to text my mom the other day... 25 cents down the drain. If he keeps this up we might actually have to get a texting plan. We're such luddites.

Bu-bu-bu

I'm out of town this week, so these are previously-recorded postings. Here is a video that I never got around to posting earlier.

He still loves to do this, but now he puts his hands out and tries to make our mouths do the noise. It's a little disgusting, but sweet.

Fridge toy!

I think we might need to move this toy up a little.

What do you think?

In other news, last night we tickled the little dude until he farted, which was hilarious. While we were doing that, the big dog ate all of the leftover pizza out of the box, which was fairly tragic.

Kisses!

Daycare taught the little guy to blow kisses... sort of. They're big, sloppy, open-mouth affairs and he uses the back of his hand instead of the front. I think it's great. I keep calling it his new trick, but I think tricks are for dogs. Apparently, children develop skills instead of learning tricks.

Today was the second day that he's walked into the infant room on his own and gone to the breakfast table without even turning around to wave or anything. The sound you heard this morning at 7:50 was my heart breaking. I guess he's the child I deserve (sorry, mom).

Sunday best...

What should you do when you are wearing your Sunday best? Let's see:
1. Climb into the dog's crate.

2. Eat spaghetti.

3. Be thankful for stain-stick because all of those clothes are borrowed (the bib is ours).

What a handsome guy!

He was chowing down on a burrito today (toddler burrito, great recipe) when I took this flattering picture:

 I don't know how he got burrito up his nose, but there it is! When he uses his manners, though, he's actually kind of a cute eater. See?

Awwwww. Look at those shiny eyes.