Saturday, January 30, 2010

Getting ready to try out for.... Blue Man Group

What?  They aren't taking casting calls for short, cute, and ambitious almost 2 year olds!?!

Hmm... Maybe someone should have informed J BEFORE he ate that marker as a teething soother an afternoon snack.

And my only thought(s)... Good thing it wasn't permanent.  Glad it happened at daycare, so Mr. M could not blame me for letting it happen.  I'm very bad at letting him be a rough & tumble boy, as long as he isn't endangering himself in any way. 

And... Oh boy, I have to get pictures of this...












Only on film, it didn't look soooo bad.  Bummer, because it was pretty cute...  Although, the extra scrubbing he got in during bath time, may cause him pause in repeating this

Friday, January 29, 2010

2nd birthday celebration has officially kicked-off…

While J will not be 2 until February 9th, his buddy Dottie recently celebrated her 2nd birthday.  Today we did a get together with the kiddos, and Dottie was kind enough to share her party with Jacob...

Officially kicking-off his birthday celebration. 

First, there was lots of play time... Since J was the only boy amongst two girls, he began by playing on his own - around the girls.  Then he got bolder, injecting himself into the fray... And the girls seemed to realize, he really is not a bad guy.  Or maybe it was because he found Dottie's apple juice & hand delivered it to her.  After that, Dottie & Ava welcomed him into their fold. 

Shortly thereafter, we opened presents... I'm amazed at how little interest Jacob had in presents last year, as to it this year... Christmas really allowed J to build up his skills, and today he showed them off... When presented with his gift, he got right down to business...

That said, once the paper was all gone, he was content to go back to what he was playing...  I wonder if by next year the whole concept will have taken shape in his curious little brain...

Thank you to Dottie for sharing today's celebration & opening her home to us.  And a thank you to Ava for being such a good sport, having to wait until April to join in the celebration.  Lastly, thank you to both girls mom's for the great gifts.  I'm certain they will get much abuse love in the upcoming days...

Thursday, January 28, 2010

Unveiling of the *improved* sleep routine

Here is my first piece of advice...

If you have a working sleep routine, don't screw with it.  Don't take vacations.  Don't visit family.  Don't convert them out of the bed/crib they are in, to the grown up size version.  Don't allow anything to trample on your well oiled machine routine. 

How do I know this?  Well, I had a fabulous routine.  It wouldn't work for everyone, but it did work for us.  I was able to put J down to bed around 7:15 to 7:30 after a bath & exactly 3 books.  With me working, this was wonderful, as it gave me good one on one time with J, AND me time.  Me time, you know that time spent picking out clothes for the next day, getting my bags ready for my sneaking out in the dark.  And if I was really lucky, some time to watch TV or read.  Serious me time.

That said, I had 2 weeks of unused vacation time & few floating Holiday's to use before 2009 came to a close.  So what is a girl sick of the Midwest weather, who hasn't seen her parents in a few months, and has a FREE place to stay in sunny Marco to do?  Why book that plane ticket, of course.  (Sunny - hah, wasn't that joke on me?)

J spent an entire week out of his routine.  No bath right before bed, as we were generally doing those first thing, or right before going out to eat dinner.  Sleeping with mommy, instead of on his own, since we were on the sofa sleeper.  Coming back to his newly converted toddler bed, he really didn't want to go back to sleeping on his own - so I started to lay with him until he fell asleep.  Holiday's, well, over-stimulated is a given, but we tried to stay closer to his routine, so I can't shouldn't blame them.  Mostly, having mommy 24/7 for 2 and half weeks, made him very mommy focused.

Going back to work, back to routine, became an exercise in frustration & futility.  It was taking 2+ hours to get him to go to sleep at night, most of the time with me falling asleep before him.  He would sleep fitfully.  Waking at every creaking sound.  When he would sleep, Payton, annoyed she was not getting her time with me, would cry at the gate at his door.  Yes, this so delightfully would wake him up.  Thanks for asking. 

I was thisclose to calling it a day.  And the molar pain started in earnest. 

read:  Mommy is ready to give up.  Call Mercy!  My child has defeated me  Okay, so I did leave his room to say, I give up.  Or to have Mr. M say, Jacob you have totally defeated Mommy.  Only to have him get him to sleep in record time without all the muss or fuss.  I may or may not have even called Mr. M during these days in tears, at work, to tell him I was overwhelmed.  Smartly, he offered words of support & encouragement.

Then I spoke with a good friend who suggested I do the dreaded cry it out (CIO).  I was convinced I should try this.  Mr. M is the one who set me straight.  As good as it sounded on paper, I would execute it poorly.  I'm not sure if it my style as a mother, or my "Working Mom's Guilt", but I suck at letting Jacob cry going to sleep.  I don't mean the meltdown temper tantrums; I mean the hiccupping sobs that would ensue a CIO process.  Plus, there is the whole - J is no longer in his crib & how will we ensure his safety during the process factor too.

So taking on other advice she gave me, I changed other parts of our nighttime routine.  I've cut out TV time, with the exception of 30 mins of Barney.  He still gets a bath.  On my days off, I still try to read to him.  (Right now, he just is not into that)  But mostly, I just focus on him.  Even if I'm cooking, I talk & interact with him so he knows he is my first & foremost priority.  Then we play until around 6:15.  If I'm running late, we skip this & go straight into our bath routine.  He is out of the bath & dressed for bed by 6:45.  6:30 if I'm doing really well.  This puts us into bed on or before 7.  He's been going to sleep like a champ. 

As for staying asleep, well that depends on the swelling around his teeth.  But with a little gum nummer, a few mommy or daddy snuggles, and a glass of water, he generally is good again till morning...

That said... On Monday, Daddy asked I keep him up until after 8 when he got home from work.  He didn't plan on it being after 8, but traffic was a bear. 

So we watched 2 Barney episodes.  We jumped. 

We laughed.  We'd take snuggle with Mommy on the couch breaks.

We jumped so more.       
                                    
(Notice, Barney is jumping too!)

And finally, we spent all of 5 minutes saying "Hi" to Daddy before I shuffled him off to bed. 

Sleep.Sucked.Rocks.Big time.Seriously.

It took us 2 nights, including one where we just let him crash out with us so we could all sleep, because I was too sleep deprived to think clearly.

Last night, we went back to the routine, and he, I'm relieved happy to report... Was in bed by 7, asleep by 7:20, and slept blissfully all.night.long.  Ahh... Blessed Sleep.

.....Now.... If they only had books that taught me how to sleep train my dog, I might actually sleep beyond 3 AM.... 

Ahh... The dreams of mothers... So very different from those dreams during my single days, when all I wanted was the perfect happy family this.  And I don't believe I could be any happier than I am today. 

Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Jump...Jump...Drive...Jump...

Friday, we spent the day with my Mommy Group jumping. Okay, so we jumped, drove the school bus, loved on babies, jumped some more, climbed rock walls & went down big slides.



Oh, and we laughed. And I got Mommy time with other moms. Well, for a few seconds, here & there… But I got it.  That's what's important, right? 





We also kept wanting to wander off into the office part, because the door was open so that must mean Jacob had an open invitation, right? Right.  On a funny note, the guy working the desk must have been 12 6 ½ feet tall, so when he stood up & Jacob saw him, all of the sudden the lust curiosity over that room rapidly dissipated. And I do mean at an amazing rate.

Tuesday, January 26, 2010

He supports hockey too...



J looked so handsome sporting the latest in Detroit Redwing Chicago Blackhawk gear, Daddy asked me to grab a few pictures to share.  Okay, so Mr. M did stipulate to only take the pictures if he hadn't trashed looked cute.

Now, if I could only get him to smile on demand.  I've gotten good at catching him looking at the camera, but posing nicely still a pipe dream not so much.

Monday, January 25, 2010

Can I catch a break?

I do believe this is the question my darling son was asking this weekend...

First, Friday, I ended up having to work after a morning of jumping. Which meant, I did not have the time to focus on getting him down for a nap. Which translates into a Very.Overtired.AND.Seriously.Cranky.Jacob.

And a very tired Mommy. We went to sleep at 8:30. We did not fall asleep till 9:30 because Jacob was not ready to sleep. He just chattered away at me... I know it is in part that he is just so happy on Friday's to have my full attention & I cheated him - but man, I was soooo tired.

Payton, well, she woke us up bright & early at 6:20. Dog nails on hardwood = baby waking up WAAAYYY to early. Ugh...

After having breakfast with my best gal pal Kari, we went birthday shopping for him (I love this age), and for his friend Dottie. Overtired almost 2 year old shopping... How do you think it went?

As a side note: Yes, I would like to thank those wonderful customers ahead of me in line at Border's. I really did appreciate your letting me jump ahead to remove my screaming child from your viewing pleasure.

After this, we went home & a nap was not only in order, but mandated. However, I must say - I LOVE the days when it takes 2 hours for J to settle down to sleep - then only sleep 45 minutes. Yes. I.love.these.days.

However, by 6:30 he was pooped & crashed relatively easy & for the night... Sunday was a much better day...

That said, I've somehow misplaced by camera cord, and I must find it because I do have some cute pictures from the better moments of this past weekend... He really is a wonderful little boy.

Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Enjoying a cookie - Mommy style...


On the counter of course...

After eating a great dinner, I offered Jacob an oatmeal raisin cookie from Panera. As he was already out of his high chair, Payton promptly stuck her nose in his face & J reacted by throwing the cookie on the floor for her to devour in 2 seconds.
As Payton was inhaling, Jacob looked at me sooo innocently saying "Cookie pwwweeease".
So this time, he let me place him out of the nosey, greedy, pushy & 3x's as heavy doggie way, to enjoy his cookie in peace. Mommy loved sitting on the counter while Grandma worked in the kitchen, so I'm happy to pass this habit onto Jacob.
As for the cookie... After half of it was gone, J wanted to get down again. So I played defense against the puppy nose. Until J decided to *rest* it on the floor, against my advice mind you, when I let Payton scoop it up before J could apply the 10 second rule.
He was not happy. Oh well, maybe next time he'll listen to me when I say to rest it on the counter - not the floor. Luckily he was easily distracted by his new indoor trampoline.
Oh and sleep... While it came quickly, it was interrupted often (3 times to be exact)... So I'm thinking we may be on the rough road to getting those bottom molars. If this new routine sticks, I will share it next week...

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

My ode to sleep...

Sleep, sleep... Oh how I miss you...
Sleep, sleep... Please come back...
Sleep, sleep... I promise to never take you for granted again.
No late nights reading, doing laundry or getting the rare bit of "me" time.
No accidentally leaving Barney or Elmo to close to J, so that he may land on them awaking to their chores of "I love you" or "ABC".

Sleep I ask you bless my darling wonderful son with your magic juices, so I may once again have the many benefits sleep. And when you do, it'd be nice if you didn't wait until 10 PM when I'm feeling defeated & my son has witnessed Gray's - as he is getting to the age, I really need him to NOT watch my very rare bit of TV viewing.

I know beggars should not be choosers, but I am in deed begging AND choosing.

Thank you in advance,
Lacking Sleep Mom


Doesn't he look like such an Angel asleep like this? Oh, what relief I felt when he finally gave in to it...

Oh, and the lack of sleep, does in deed contribute to the lack of posts...

Thursday, January 14, 2010

Driving Mr. Fluffy

Jacob has been having a blast learning to "drive" his Hummer in the house, as it is way to cold to go outside...

While on Holiday break, Aunt Liz & I decided to see how Fluffy would do being driving around by Mr. Jacob. After having to be put back in the car once, we believe he decided he was safer in the car than out, as he hung out in there a long time (relatively speaking) for him...



Payton, well, she ran for our bedroom to take cover...

As for our walls & couch, they may not make it till summer... J has more fun pushing the gas than actually driving the vehicle.

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

While we were at my brother & sister-in-law's, Jacob decided to show his true colors...





Yes Dear Mr. M, that is indeed a Spartan your son is sporting so happily. And doesn't it fit him nicely?

(I know Grandpa P is loving this...)

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

Mallory's Baptism

I've been going through the process to become Catholic since fall of 2008. I started the classes to late to be a part of the 2009 Baptismal class, but my faithfulness in attending enabled me to be a part of the upcoming 2010 class.

So when my brother & sister-in-law asked me to be their daughter Mallory's Godmother, I was just plainly tickled. I was so very honored to be asked, and look forward to helping grow & develop Mallory's relationship with the Lord, even as mine is still growing. I will hope & pray that she finds similar peace and joy within the Lord's family. I hope you will all pray for this with me.

Mallory was incredibly happy during her Baptism.




Monday, January 11, 2010

Eat a cookie, wear a cookie...

I should be downloading pictures of my niece (& Goddaughter) baptism. I should. She was beautiful happy baby as she was reborn into Christ's family yesterday. However, as Jacob made his presence known in the church, much to my total chagrin, he is bumping her today as well...

Why, well because he was just so darn happy today. As in, rolling over in bed to give me a hug before snuggling down to sleep. As in, stalling sleep off some more by sitting up to give me a kiss goodnight saying "Nighty, night!" Or poking at my nose "Noze", ears "earzz", eyes "eyezz", hair "hair", and I'm sure you get the picture... He didn't want to sleep, and yet this child could not have been a happier boy if I'd bribed him with a cookie...

...Speaking of cookies... Here is a picture from Friday when, in an effort to gain myself 5 minutes of laundry folding, switching from the washer & starting the next load, I gave a certain little boy refusing to nap a bribe...
Yes, that is chocolate up by his eye... Thankfully wet wipes had him clean in moments after I finished the laundry & he finished his cookie...
Granted the cookie probably didn't help the lack of nap, but it helped my sanity & that's what counts, right?

Wednesday, January 6, 2010

Pics from FL - pool time...

On our last day of play, it did warm up to the mid-to high 70's... So I threw J in his swim suit & we hit the pool... Well, actually, Grandpa took him to the beach for ball throwing time first, so Mommy could relax...

Luckily (snicker), we had it all to ourselves, as we were the only ones crazy enough to go in it...

After a few minutes, J was ready to get out & have some lunch... So I got him ready for nap time, Grandpa fed him & then put him down for a nap. He napped forever, and Mommy finally got some much needed downtime.

Granted, the nap paid me back 10 fold when he wouldn't go to bed for the night until oh, 11 PM ET...

Tuesday, January 5, 2010

Pics from FL - day at the mall...

As I look at these pictures, I realize - Jacob is wearing the - exact - same - sweatsuit everyday. I promise, he did get a shower & dressed differently every night for dinner... However, I did not want to believe the 10 day forecast, so my child had many more shorts than sweatsuits packed. Heck, he had more swimsuits than sweatsuits.


Mother Nature, she had plans for more sweatsuits than swimsuits. Hence, the same clothes...

In an effort to entertain the active almost 2 year old, we spent a morning playing in the kids area of the Naples Mall. We had eye-spied it our first trip there, when we went to walk it & kill time avoiding the cold that we hoped would soon depart. (by the way, it finally broke as we were loading the car for Ft. Lauderdale's airport)

Jacob was in love with the play area. He could touch things without hearing "No, Jacob!" He could run full speed, from one thing to the next... :) And best of all, it gave him a chance to really master the slide...



Here he is at the top of the slide. They hid it inside a tree that the older kids climbed all over, giving me a heart stoppage as J would jump off the slide at the bottom & turn to go to the stairs - right in the bigger kids direct line when jumping off the tree... Thankfully, there were no major collisions.

He really navigated getting in & out of the canoe rather well, for a first timer...



And when we got home, after a nice long nap, Grandpa took us on the beach for some more time to RUN! Jacob is getting really good at throwing the ball & fetching it. Catching it is something he still shies away from a bit, but that will come in time too...

As you can see, Grandpa had even pulled out a coat - and this was the warmest time of the day... Sigh... However, even at it coldest, it was still MUCH warmer than Chicagoland...

Monday, January 4, 2010

Pics from FL - day at the park...

Today we re-entered "the real world"... The world of work and daycare... Schedules and routines...

So as promised, here are pics from our FL trip...

Marco Island has this wonderful little park, which Jacob totally enjoyed...










With lots of guidance by Grandpa P...
Until, Mommy let him push the big swing and it, um, conked him in the eye - which may or may not have turned black & blue as a result... It was totally normal by our flight home, so it wasn't too bad...

Friday, January 1, 2010

Christmas 2009 - at Grandma & Grandpa M's

As good as Santa was to him at our house, the M family's generosity made him think Santa accidentally visited him twice.
Mommy's favorite new addition... It holds a lot of his toys, and as J has experimented, it holds him easily. Daddy loves the theme and that it allows him to 'forget' his house is no longer his...
Just love that smile....
And a great picture with Grandma M...
Isn't this just too cute?!?!? Thanks Aunt Liz!!!
Thank you so very much to Grandma & Grandpa M, Uncle Jon & Kim, Aunt Liz, and Aunt Joan. Your love and generosity for our son is more than we could have ever dreamt. We appreciate it more than I could ever post in words.