Thanksgiving 2009

Due to Mr. M's work schedule, spending Holiday's with the P side of the family is near impossible... So as typical for most Holiday's, we spent Thanksgiving as a family with the M side of the family.

And, as typical, Grandma M's food was wonderful.

rough housing with Aunt Liz & Uncle Jon earned many giggles & squeals of laughter...

Grandma P's find of a "Gobble Gobble" plate was filled, and devoured expeditiously....

After which, J was rewarded for being such a good eater...

Grandma M presented him with his own - homemade - Elmo cake....















to which, he quickly devoured....



















Leaving Mommy to wonder.... Where does all that food go?

21.5 month stats

Last Friday, I took J in to the Dr., as he had a low grade fever of 100.6. Since this seemed to be rising from his lingering infection that had him home last Thursday, I was worried... A week just seemed to long for this to be a typical virus. Luckily, his Dr.'s office agreed and was not busy.

The diagnosis... A double ear infection. The Dr said J's left ear was pink, as if that might be on the tail-end of what caused his fever to spike last Thursday, but his right ear was a flaming red. As this is his 2nd, basically undiagnosed ear infection (we caught the first at his 1st flu shot appt), we now have new ground rules for bringing him in for a check up. Prior rule of thumb was fever of 101.6 for 24 hours, now it is any low grade fever coupled with him not sleeping through the night.

He is also being watched to refer him to an ENT (ear, nose, throat Dr) as we believe this is genetic, as opposed to viral or contagious bacterial. (I had my tonsils & adenoids removed before I was 4 and tubes twice as a child. His cousin C had her adenoids removed and tubes before she was 3)

Now... For the important stuff...

He measured in at 36 inches ~ above 95th percentile *
He weighed in at 27lbs. ~ between 25th and 50th percentile*

*according to the calculator on Babycenter.com

Liz babysitting J - 1

Aunt Liz generously offered to watch J while I got some me time.

(read: time to disguise my roots & get my brows back to looking like a female)

What Liz did not know was… J had all kinds of plans for her… Nor, that she would be getting 2 or 3 weeks worth of workouts in the 2 hours I was gone.

At first, he was content to sit & ride...















Sporting the new Sox hat Aunt Liz arrived with...

But then, he decided having Aunt Liz chase him, while pulling the wagon, would be more fun...

Then he slowed down, as he found he can do his Grandma M trick outside with a bigger broom...















Aunt Liz enjoyed a moment of catching her breath...

And then, in a total like me style, enjoyed relaxing a few more moments, while J entertained himself safely....
















She said, he took these out of the garage, lined them up, then she'd say "Okay J, let's clean up" and he'd return them to their appropriate location... Only to redo it a few moments later...

not Me - Monday!

Welcome to MckMama's blog train of "Not Me! Monday's"....

Are you feeling guilty about anything? Or did you have any embarrassing event happen that left you hoping no one witnessed it? Or witness your spouse, child, dog... do something that horrifies you in "how did that just happen" sort of way?

If the answer is yes, then listen to Mama - MckMama that is!

"Well don't be! Not Me! Monday was born out of my desire to admit some of my imperfections and reveal a few moments I'd rather forget. You may find it therapeutic to join in and do the same thing!"

Write about what did not happen in your house in your blog, use her MckLinkey to link up your blog entry. What, you don't have a blog - that's okay... We'd still love to read your "not" happenings in her comment section.

Mr M. did not make me a single mom this weekend (okay, just Sunday). Nope! Not My Husband! He'd never do a thing like that... Never... He always ranks me higher than Bruce (Springsteen, that is) in his hierarchy of what is important in his life.

This would not happen in the same weekend that I find out J has not 1, but 2 ear infections. These ear infections would not have been brought to my attention simply by listening to my Mother's Gut phenomenon, as I'm always on top of these types of things... His Dr would not then tell me to start bringing him in when he stops sleeping through the night AND running a low grade fever, as those are his only sign's he's sick.

I did not book a trip for me & J to go visit my parents in FL. Nope! Not Me! I'd never plan a trip without Mr. M. I would not be so excited about this trip that I bought J clothes for it over the weekend, having already washed AND packed said clothes.

While shopping, I did not walk into the Stride Rite store to get J's feet measured, with zero intention of buying shoes. My son's feet did not measure larger than the size 7 shoes he was wearing. Oops! This did not send me into a shoe shopping spree. J does not now have a new pair of Nike's, a pair of loafers, AND a pair of boots all in size 8.

And I did not lament on how all of his too small shoes were brand new in August, being big on him then...

Lastly, I'm not soooo excited to share the Christmas season with my son this year, that I've bought Holiday DVDs, and boat loads of books (from Frosty to Why we celebrate Christmas? The story of Jesus) to read to him in place of his normal nightly books.

Oh... 1 more... I'm not so thankful that I don't have any real confessions this week, that I'm smiling as I type this.... Nope! Not Me! I'd never be grateful for the small things in life...

Bath Time...Play Time...

Enjoy....

....and....

....and the memory shot....

Grandma M's new trick is sticking...

While J - sitting, Grandma M taught J how to sweep.  She made it a game.  Now, it is J's favorite activity...

Oh, what hard work... I need to take a break...

Hmm... I knew I was doing something wrong...  I'd hear from other mom's on how their kiddos help them clean... And in my inexperienced first-time-mom brain, I thought it was J was just too cool young to help clean.

Learn something new every day... As he was even back to work on Sunday....

Yep, that's right J...  Get that dust!

Gee Mom, Payton just keeps creating more work for me shedding...

Yes darling son... Your father has already suggested I get her in to be shaved...

In the meantime, can you keep sweeping?

What a weekend....

With J not feeling well on Wednesday night, we took the whole weekend easy to ensure he was well recovered to return to daycare tomorrow. (He was with Grandma M today, pre-planned to accomodate Daddy's Bruce trip)

Thursday night started out my fun, with J crying non-stop every time I tried to lay him down to sleep. And I'm not talking fussing, I'm talking all out crying.

No fever, not hungry.

Nothing.worked.to.stop.the.escalating.tears. BUT me walking around carrying him... 

Finally, after 3 hours and my being close to tears myself, I tried sitting up in bed with him - he fell asleep. After a couple of hours sleep, I moved him to his crib. At that point, he transitioned to sleep perfectly (so long as I slept on his floor - okay totally doable).

With this kind of start, I should have known what kind of interesting weekend I was in for... And to explain why, I was so totally exhausted, there was no blogging to be had.

I got to experience (note* order not relevant):

• J's new tricks
• read climbing onto our dinner table & going after the light above it
• read also climbing on the couch, then up the back and finally onto the counter top
• J's strong affection for saying
• fun! "eewwweee" and shaking his head
• not so fun! "No!" while shaking his finger at me
• J's downward sprial migration to the terrible 2's
• read his strong desire to hit, pull my hair and earrings
• read also in general - melt down like only 2 year olds in training can manage

We did have some great moments. The moments that you want to capture on film, so I did... Just to remind me, on days like these... He really is a great & wonderful kid...

And this is just a phase....just.a.phase...just.a.phase...

Breakfast with my great friend Miss Kari


Snuggling on the couch...

Didn't he pull that blanket down like a pro?

and pestering petting Payton!

 

Please, don't remind me that it is followed by the horrible 3's... I need to grow into accepting that reality

Other cool news... I heard Santa has started shopping for this little guy... Do you think somone should whisper in his ear about the being naughty or nice?

and He call's me a jinx?!?!?

Yep... That's right... On Tuesday night, Mr. M said, in response to my comment on my B friend's 6 month old daughter finally recovering from the Swine Flu, "Wow!  Thank God (knocking on our wood cabinets) J has been healthy.  We are so lucky!"

Um, you didn't just say that right?  Wouldn't that be the exact type language you would tell me just set us up for a 'jinx'?

Yep.... And Yes, it is true.  J is sitting at 102.6 degree fever last night.  Only wanting to be held by mommy.  Sleep, not really in his list of wants or needs.  So we spent a lot of time watching Elmo & Comcast OnDemand Baby Boost DVD (Thank you Liz!  Best Birthday present ever!)  Most of all snuggling.

Thankfully, his snot is clear, while very runny, and his fever was down so I'm hoping this is just teething, but regardless, he gets a day of Grandma M loving to help get him back to full strength before he does his overnight there on Sunday so Daddy can go see Bruce in Milwaukee, and Mommy can work.  Joy! Joy!

Okay, so Mr. M is going to work on Monday too, just staying Northside to do it...

(I get more pity ignoring this detail though, don't I?)

His & Her Home Work Center

Since I work during the week, I try really hard not to let my blogging interfere with J time. Hence, why I am generally MIA on the weekends. And why most of my posts are at such an obnoxiously early time of day...

Today, I'm running late, so I will make this short & sweet... But I had to share, from a pre-haircut Saturday, J taking time out to *work* while Mommy blogged.



Okay, so maybe it was just time for him to drink his bottle glass of milk, but for a busy mommy - whatever works is my favorite motto.

Last fall visit from Grandpa P...2009

We said a fall goodbye to Grandma P back in October, and on Sunday, we said it to Grandpa P, as he is leaving to join Grandma in the warmer climate...
J did get a bonus of opening a Christmas present already though!  He is much more into the whole concept, and now Mr. M & I are very much looking forward to seeing how he reacts this year to his visit from Santa.

Isn't that nice of him to hand each torn piece to Grandpa, so it doesn't get left lost on the floor?

Of course, he had to check it out...

I'd say, it's a hit!

After The Bears Game dinner & entertaining J, Grandpa said good-bye! 

Bye Dad!  It was great seeing you again!  Be safe driving!  We love you!

1st Haircut...

It was time… Time for J to stop looking so much like a baby boy and move into his role of being a young man.


I mean, aside from the meltdowns, repeatedly stating “No!”, and the general rapid migration into 3T clothes, he is was my baby boy…

Now, he’s a little man. (pause for sniffle moment)

After trying for 3 weeks to find a time when both Mr. M & I could take J to get his hair cut, Mr. M finally said – “just go do it. You will be better at capturing it on film, and it really needs to be done. J’s getting peeved in the morning when his hair is in his eyes.”

So off we went to Pigtails & Crewcuts…

J was plopped into the Taxi, as the fire truck was directly in the sun & Dianna (his hair stylist) thought the heat from the sun might add a layer of distress we just didn’t need during a 1st cut. Being very experienced with cutting kiddos hair, they promptly started Elmo.  Then, when the going got rough subject got bored, pulled out the DumDum's...

Which, by the way, was J's first.ever.  However, he took to it like a seasoned pro!

Before...During...After...

Isn't he just too handsome??? 

Looking for Daddy...

This is what a typical Saturday looks like in our house...

As J awaits Daddy's return from work, to be all his on Sunday... 

and this is sooo NOT his week... The Lip.

So yesterday we were all I was laughing over J's black eye, and how cute it was... Then today I laughed till I cried, when I learned - J ran full speed ahead into a 3 year old 44 pound kiddo... Promptly bouncing off and landing face first on the floor.

So what do you think?  Am I the worst mother ever for laughing?  Mr. M was slightly annoyed unimpressed by my laughter.  On the flip side, Grandma & Grandpa P both got a good chuckle out of it... So maybe it is just in my genes to not sweat bumps, bangs, black eyes or busted lips.

It certainly did NOT slow J down at all... As he got waffles for dinner, followed by a pudding pop, both of which were inhaled in the style only a hungry almost 21 month old achieve...

Yes, that is my son disregarding any and all manners to have his mouth full of waffle, hand full of waffle and be stabbing with his fork to obtain even more waffle goodness.

Which was followed by a pudding pop, in my attempt to ice his lip.

And with that, I'd better grab a certain child, currently struggling to get out of his highchair, and place his very messy self in the bathtub...

His first Shiner

Yes… You read that right… J has his first shiner. And the funny part is, I wish I could tell you he got it in some manly way, but the simple fact is…

He didn’t.

He got it thanks to an older woman named Addi.

(Okay, so she is only 6 months older, but that is a minor detail)

J was playing with his very manly truck. Miss Addi decided she wanted it. So she came over to him to take it. My son has not learned the art of sharing yet, so he grabbed it back.

A struggle ensued.

Miss Angie, the DCP*, directed Miss Addi to let go, as Jacob was playing with that first.  (Yes, my son is one of her favorites) Miss Addi did. The car conked J right on the side his left eye with the full force of his pull to keep his car.

*Daycare Provider

Okay, so now that I have the picture uploaded, it doesn't look sooo bad... But if you enlarge it & look to the left side of his left eye, you will see purple.  Yes, that's what I'm calling his first shiner.

And when he is old enough to know that I blogged about this, I'm eagerly looking forward to the blush he will wear when I tease him of how he got his first one courtsey of a GIRL.

Halloween 2009 - day 2

Day 2 of Halloween festivities was the real deal...

So we started with a must have nap:

Isn't that belly adorable?

Then visit from Grandma M & Aunt Liz:

And of course, this came with goodies... of all kinds... Edible (cookie/cupcakes), wearable (White Sox gear), and we learned Sunday – tear-able.  Mommy hates to see books get torn, but in the haste of the looming terrible 2s, J ripped a page out of his new Elmo book. Luckily, Mommy was able to reattach it, thanks to scotch tape.  Lots of it.

So after getting loved on and getting to help love on Payton...

We headed over towards the neighborhood parade starting point:

and got ready to be apart of the parade.  It was nice, a lot of our neighbors came out to support the kiddos.

Even the doggies got in on the action:

Naturally, my well behaved doggies we at home barking resting in our absence.

After the parade, we grabbed a cookie & took a break getting some Mommy love....

Before heading back home...

Hope everyone had a Happy & Safe Halloween!

Here's the memory shot!

Doesn't he just look so thrilled to be walking in the parade?  :)

Halloween 2009 - day 1

We celebrated Halloween over 2 days this year...

Day 1
Stop 1 - Daycare...

No pictures... Absolute Disaster...  Will.Not.Repeat.

J is very much into a parent's phase, which defaults to a Mommy phase if I'm in the general vicinity.  If not, then Daddy works.  Regardless, it has to be me one of us with him at.all.times.  Seriously.

Back to our Daycare stop... J was so leery of being left, he would not leave my leg for a second.  His DCP, Angie, tried holding him & like every other day that lead to an utter...total...meltdown.  The fellow kiddos kept trying to play with Elmo.  Petting his fur, snuggling up to him... All would have made for great memories pictures, had J given me an inch of room to move.  

So after a half hour, we said good-bye and headed towards my work... 

Elmo, err J, caught some rest on the way.

 

Meltdown are hard work exhausting...

Stop 2 - Work...

Sorry no pictures here... Unlike last year:

Elmo was not content to just sit... And work is, well work... So child proofing is non-existent leading to no time for mommy to not be mommy for even a photographic second.

Stop 3 - Mommy & Me Party...

Okay... So this is really stop 4, because we did go home for lunch and a "nap". 

   (read:  J not napping, but instead trying out his new trampoline (aka: bed))

After our daycare stop, I was very leery on how this would go... However, unlike our daycare stop, J was very happy... He dug right in on playing with the boys toys...  

Even decided to demonstrate for the first time - what a real big boy he is.....

He came running to me with a space gun in one hand & a snake (yes, snake) in the other....

After almost 3 hours of great fun, we headed home to have dinner, followed by his bath/bed routine.  As my boy is a "sleep begets sleep" boy... I'm sure it now makes sense, why I was sleeping on his floor...

not ME - Monday!

Welcome to MckMama's blog train of "Not Me! Monday's"....

Are you feeling guilty about anything? Or did you have any embarrassing event happen that left you hoping no one witnessed it? Or witness your spouse, child, dog... do something that horrifies you in "how did that just happen" sort of way?

If the answer is yes, then listen to Mama - MckMama that is!

"Well don't be! Not Me! Monday was born out of my desire to admit some of my imperfections and reveal a few moments I'd rather forget. You may find it therapeutic to join in and do the same thing!"

Write about what did not happen in your house in your blog, use her MckLinkey to link up your blog entry. What, you don't have a blog - that's okay... We'd still love to read your "not" happenings in her comment section.

*Please Note* Due to Stellan's recent bout of SVT, I'm not sure MckMama will be doing her normal Monday blog... Regardless, I wanted to post mine in the "spirit" of her Not Me! Monday's!

I did not witness my husband offering our 20 month old a 'sip' or 10 of his Diet Pepsi. Nope! Not My Husband! He'd NEVER do something so asinine. And if he were to have done this, I would not leave the room silently horrified thinking, "Pick your battles, Ali... Pick your battles..." Nope! Not Me! This would not be a new thing for me, as I always bite my tongue.

Just ask my husband... As he would not laugh in your face for saying such a thing....

I did not serve my son waffles for breakfast, knowing he would be covered in syrup needing a shower (in addition to the prior evenings bath) before we head out in public, simply so I could make my Almond Flour pancakes from scratch for me. Nope! Not Me! I'd never create more work for myself...

And if I did, I would not then give him my empty Diet Pepsi bottle to play with while I logged on to check my work email before heading in to my day off of work. I'd never do that! Nope! Not Me!

My husband did not bring our son, who is 20 months, into our bed even though he has never co-slept with us all night before. If he did, I would not say that is the best night sleep I've had since J was moved to his crib from the pack-n-play bassinet. This would not inspire me to try to co-sleep J on my own while DH was out of town that week. Nope! Not Me! I'd never want to chance breaking such strong good habits I instituted when J was born. If I did, that would just show poor judgement on my part. And I never make poor decisions.

I would not then pay for allowing J to co-sleep with me, by spending the next two nights on his floor as I transitioned him back to his crib. DH would not suggest I blow up the air mattress. I would not glare at him in response. Nope! Not me! I never give dirty looks.

On a more serious note, I would not spend so much time praying for a child I've never met (read: Stellan) that I thought this week would be a great opportunity to introduce J to prayer. J would not react to said prayer in such a joking manner. Nope! Not my child! He definitely did not decide our prayer time was the perfect time to try out his bed as a trampoline.

And with that... We do not get to start a whole new week... :)