Houston, We Have a Problem

 

Hey Mom, I wanna ride my Radio Flyer Rocket Grammie & Grandpa sent me from Michigan... can you put me on it?

 

Okay. Ready.... Go!

 

Um. It's not moving.  Maybe if I try it one-handed....

 

Nope. That didn't work.  Ummmmm.... 

 

Maybe that cat over there will give me a push-start.  Hey! Cat!

 

Nuts. He just walked right past me.

 

Mooommmmmm... why isn't it going?

 

Aw forget it, I'll just get off and push.

Four Score, some spinach, and a Poll...

Well... actually it's more like four TEETH!  Yup - little O has 4 teeth!  Can you see 'em past all the squash?

In other news... our little bear still hasn't decided if he wants to walk or crawl... but I'm leaning toward walking before crawling!  He love, love, LOVES to stand up on things and has even tried letting go a couple of times!  Then there are days where he'll be rockin' back and fourth from the sitting position to the crawling position...

 

So what do you think?   Cast your vote on the poll at the top right of the page!

Also he's added quite a few things to his diet lately - he now eats: apples, pears, (pureed)prunes, green beans, broccoli, spinach (raw and/or steamed), peaches, scrambled eggs, baked sweet potato spears, frozen squash (that has been previously cooked/mashed), avocado (sliced) and carrots.  He also drinks a little water every day, out of a normal cup!  Although he did try a sippy cup at a friends house the other day, and did really well with it, so we'll have to get him one of those soon! 

I can't believe how fast he's growing up!

Christmas Cheer

I've been enjoying every last second with the family as we become filled with the Spirit of Christmas and spread our Christmas cheer.  First it was making from-scratch buckeyes with little Owen (okay, so mostly he watched and banged on his high chair tray while eating his peach), then it was capturing Owen's cute little smile, creating a card and mailing it to all our out of town family and friends, then it was making from-scratch sugar cookies with hubby, frosting and decorating each one, then it was handing out our goodies to some of our friends, and today it was capturing the beauty of our Christmas tree all aglow. 

 There's just something about the warm glow of Christmas lights that makes me all happy inside :) 

           

Their soft glow just makes me all warm and snuggle-y and brings back such memories of Christmas's past.

Just before I set my camera down I snapped this one - not what I was hoping it would turn out to look like, but Owen started crying and I had to run and check on him.

I love that the heart fell right on the top of the flag... so representative of the Place the Stole My Heart :)

Merry Christmas from our family to yours! And may you feel all warm and snuggle-y this holiday season too! :)

3lbs of Powdered Sugar

A blog I read does a fun little post every week called "Not Me Monday."  It's a place for bloggers to fess up to the things they've done... er... not done that week.  It's a lot of fun so I thought I'd join in.  Here goes:




I most certainly did not make a recipe that called for 3lbs of powdered sugar and 1lb of butter.  Nope.  We eat healthy around here and recipes should never be measured by POUNDS of sugar and butter.  That's. Just. Crazy.

I would never put my son's footed pajamas on backwards, and then not notice until 9am the next morning.  What kind of mother do you think I am, anyway?

Also, I wouldn't even think about trying to get that 'perfect' Christmas card photo exactly 9 days before Christmas, exactly 20 minutes past his nap time. And if I did try it, it wouldn't take me exactly 137 frames before getting one kinda-okay-a-tiny-bit-blurry-but-it-doesn't-matter-because-it's-only-a-small-card photo of him smiling in front of the Christmas tree.  And then I wouldn't keep a couple dozen of the ones I didn't use because of the adorable expressions he was making, even if they were out of focus. And I would never publish those to my blog letting the whole world see my mad photography skillz, with a Z.

:)

In Which it Takes 137 Frames

 "What's that momma? You wanna take my picture in front of the tree for our Christmas card photo?"

 "Ok! Look, here's my smile!!!!!"

 "Oh I was moving to fast and it was blurry. Well. I'm terribly sorry."

 "HOW BOUT THIS MOMMA!?"

 "What? You don't want a picture of me yelling either? K, fine then I'll just sit here."

 "Ho hum.  This is kinda boring momma."

 "Juuuusstt kidding.  You know I love it when you take my picture."

 "How about a close up? I'll lean in for ya!!"

 "Oh. That was too close?  Well sorry.  Here, let me lean back."

 "Mom! Why'd you freak out, I wasn't gonna fall off the ottoman!"

 "Okay. I'll sit really still. Ready. Go."

 "Well, are we done or what?  Seriously? I don't feel like smiling right now I'm ready for my nap."

 "Moooommmmmm. Seriously?!"

"Nope. Not gonna smile.  I want my snack and I want my nap.  That's all."

If at First...

I'll let the pictures do the talking:

Owen can't decide if he wants to walk or crawl first!  Some days he's all about standing up and trying to let go... other times he's rockin' and lunging from siting to crawling position.  He still hasn't gotten either of them down yet, but he rolls, rolls, rolls in the meantime!

Our Little Foodie

A month and a half ago Owen wasn't all that thrilled with solids - he was a milk baby all the way.  But he's turned into quite the foodie lately!  His food repertoire is growing pretty rapidly!  All his foods are whole - we give him a big enough chunk that he can hold onto it and take bites out of it as he wants to. 
He now eats:
Broccoli (steamed)

  

Carrots (one whole fresh carrot, cut in 1/2, steamed)

   

Green Beans (frozen whole green beans, steamed)

 

Pears (whole raw Bosch pears, quartered, peeled, cored)

 

Apples (whole raw pink lady apples, quartered, peeled, cored)

 

The other day I gave him a quarter of an apple and he ate all but three dime-sized pieces of it!  I couldn't believe it!

Bananas (whole banana, peeled)

The most he's ever eaten was 1/2 a banana, but that's because we stay away from those because they're constipating, and moving to solid foods has already proven to be... interesting... with the BMs. :)

And his favorite: Sweet Potato Fries

 

He'd eat these three times a day every day if I let him!  He usually eats 3 in a sitting! (I just cut them from a fresh sweet potato - they're about the length of an adult finger and cut like steak fries, I toss them in a smidge of olive oil and bake 'em) I once asked him "You want some sweet tater fries?" and showed them too him before warming them up... he was so heartbroken that I didn't give them to him right away.  He did the whole eyes-real-big-mouth-wide-open-lip-sticking-out-slow-cry-with-crocodile-tears.... it was pitiful.  I have since learned not to show him the food until it's ready for him to eat. :)

He does a great job, and hardly ever gets so much off the piece that he gags, but when he does, his body takes over and he spits it out.  It's actually pretty cute to watch because he purses his lips real tight and spits and sometimes (depending on the food) it shoots out like a rocket.

When he's finished he will just leave the food pieces on the tray and start banging the tray with his hands.... we're working on the sign for 'all done' but he's not quite there yet. :) 

I did try pureeing some pears the other day to see if I could get more down into his system (pears help with constipation) and he did pretty well eating off the spoon, he got tired of it after a little while though and I gave him the other chunk to gnaw on and he was happy.

I love that he can feed himself and I'm glad we stuck with the Baby Led Weaning, but it is bittersweet because of how old it makes him seem :)  Eating solid foods at only 7 months and all... he's growing so fast!  He's still nursing on demand - which ends up being every 3-4 hours usually, and we give him solid foods (or at least try to) three times a day - at the same time we eat meals.  We all sit at the table together (him in his highchair of course) and eat together.  I love it and I love that we're starting off early eating meals together around the table.  :)

It's Been A While

... since I've said this:

"I love my job."

So I thought I'd document it.  :)

Hehehe, it's true.  I really do love my new job.  I get to spend two hours a day, two days a week, with a great group of 5 kids, having fun and doing activities to help them grow in reading, math and writing.  I get to show them I care about them, learn about their lives, and be a role-model to them.  I get to teach them how to learn, how to have good character and how to be responsible.  I work for people that value me (they sent me a thank you card for attending a (required, paid) staff training (where they fed us a complete meal, I mean, come on!).  I only have to spend about an hour or two a month grading papers/doing progress reports.  AND I get paid for it.  I get paid in a way that much more represents my worth than what I was getting paid/being made to do working in public schools.  It's a win-win situation.  And I haven't even started the Saturdays portion of the job yet! 

Thank you Jesus for this new season, where I can stay home with my little one and watch him grow every day, and still bring in a little income for our family, and for this season where I can finally say, I. Love. My. Job. 

A Puppy Named Socks

When I was little, growing up on Little Long Lake in the quaint little town of Hickory Corners, my parents made me one happy little girl - they got me a puppy. 
From what I can remember, he was an outdoor-only type of puppy.  His rambunctious ways were too unruly for the house so we got him a dog house and a generous length of chain and let him roam the front yard attached to our big tree.  And his name was Socks.  Why?  Because he loved, loved chewing on socks.  Especially my dad's really long tube-socks (hey, it was the 80's in Michigan, tube socks were all the rage).  So we named him Socks, and relegated to tying tube socks in knots for him to play with and chew on.  Then one day we woke up and he was gone.  Stolen.  Dog house and all.  I was sad.  I mean, I was four years old, what's a girl to do when her puppy gets stolen?
Flash forward 23 years and that sweet little girl is all grown up, married and now has a child of her own.  The precious little boy is growing up in subdivision in the big city of Charlotte.  But he doesn't need a dog named socks.  All he needs are socks. 

  

  

    

    

That's right, folks.  My son casts aside his baby toy to go after his socks.  He yanks them off (trying with all his might until he gets it) and stuffs them as hard and fast as he can right into his mouth.  He gnaws on them.  Yanks on it as its hanging out of his mouth, and when he's satisfied with one, he goes for the other. Socks.  They're all the rage these days.