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.

In Which A Cheap Horror Movie was Filmed in My Kitchen

So this morning when I came downstairs I saw a HUGE (like at least 4 inches long, literally!) bright red centipede running at super sonic speed (in circles) on my kitchen floor.  Oh and also, saw my two cats curiously standing around it thinking it was their new playtoy.

Don't worry.  I certainly didn't do the 'holy-crap-I-almost-peed-my-pants-dance' in the living room after putting Owen in the safety of the pack & play.  I definitely did not shoo the cats away and reach for the nearest Tupperware bowl to trap it under, making sure it was a clear one so I could see through it and monitor the nasty little thing.  And then I most assuredly did not find the biggest Bible we had and put it on top of said bowl because the cat was swatting at it and I thought the thing might escape.  I'm too brave for that nonsense. 
And then I did not call my husband and ask him to stop working and come home and rescue me.  And I didn't dry heave into my mouth when he suggested sliding a piece of paper under the bowl and throwing it outside. (Get that close to it!?!?  Are you bleeping kidding me?! It could be poisonous!)  And I definitely didn't then stack two more Bibles and a 48oz bottle of Juicy Juice on top of it, just to be sure the little critter couldn't get out.  And it would be silly of me to take Owen and retreat to the safety of the upstairs while we waited for Bill to get home, so don't worry, I didn't.

And when hubby got home (just-for-the-record) he said, "Woa, that thing is nasty!" when seeing it through my clear Tupperware trap.  And when he tried his little paper trick, the thing DID escape (SEE that's why there was no way in Tokyo I was gonna do that!) .... well he almost escaped... Bill smashed the bowl back down really fast, managing to cut the buggers head right off (after sawing the bowl back and forth a few times, he tells me)!  And it kept scurrying around in circles!  HEADLESS!   People, I'm not making this stuff up.  It's like a cheap, crappy horror show went down in my kitchen while Owen and I watched in our PJ's from the stair case (just 1/2 way up in case things really got out of hand - centipedes can't go up stairs, right?)
So then he found a case of CD's and smashed it down on the nasty thing and smushed it to smithereens. Thank. Heavens.  And he then put it in a styrofoam cup leftover from dinner the night before and put it in the outside dumpster because there was no way I'd be able to cope with it being put into the trash can under the sink.  Even if it was reduced to blood and guts.

Gross.

So my hubby is my hero.  And I made him a cake for all his heroic-ness.  A milk chocolate with chocolate chips double-layer cake with Joe-Joe's (Trader Joe's version of Oeros and WAY better, might I add) smashed up between the layers, whipped buttercream frosting and more Joe-Joe's sprinkled on top. 

And. Just for the record.  I made him promise me I wasn't over-reacting about the bug before he left to go back to work.  And he did.  That thing really was nasty.  I do kind of wish I was brave enough to take pictures of it.  But I wasn't.  So you'll just have to settle with my non-illustrated story.

The End.

Don't Poke Me With a Sharp Object

I'm bad at keeping secrets.  There.  I said it. 
Well. 
Wait.  Let me clarify. 
I'm good at keeping secrets, I'm actually very trustworthy when it comes to keeping things on the DL if a friend confides in me. 

What I'm horrible at is keeping news inside.  You know.  Like when we found out we were pregnant it was all I could do to stop myself from running down the street in my pajamas waving the stick that I just peed on in the air and shouting from the top of my lungs. 

Okay, maybe that's a bit of an exaggeration. 

Or like when I got hubby's birthday present (wireless headphones) a whole two weeks before his birthday and I had to just look at it sitting in Owen's closet all wrapped up and pretty while his old headphones were (literally) falling apart before my very eyes.  Two weeks, people.  It was torture.  Until I let him open it exactly two days before his actual birthday.  See.  I told you it was bad. 

So it's understandable that I'm having trouble keeping this exciting news inside.  It's killing me!  Okay.  Maybe not.  I do still have a pulse.  But seriously.  It's been... ummm exactly 3 or 4 weeks and I am bursting at the seams! (Not literally, I've actually lost all the baby weight... but that's besides the point).  It's just so flippin' exciting and I just want to run down the street screaming out to the world "$%(@)$%%(@)!{]\{";(&#!@#@#*%~`[}>/" (sorry, had to censor that).  Or like in the grocery stores when I'm checking out I want to be like, "Hey guess what?!  {]\@#^$*#&!$<*&%)>@)?\"  Or like when we're hanging out at Life Group, or 'meeting and greeting' before church or when I'm at work, or well... always. I always want to tell people! 

But I can't.  Not yet.  It has to stay a secret for a little while longer. 

So if you see me around, do me a favor.  Don't poke me with a sharp object.  Or I'm likely to spill it.  Or them.  You know.  The "Beans."


Ps.  If you think you know the beans, you can guess all you want.  I'm not gonna tell. 
Just in case you were wondering.

Condiments

Holy mustard little Owen has been growing faster than I can blog about it!  I so love that I get to stay home and relish every moment!  It's time to ketchup before I get in a pickle and start forgetting!  (yes, the condiment jokes are over now, you can quit rolling your eyes)

November 2nd
His first time coloring!  Okay, well, he mostly tried to eat the crayons, but he did manage to get a few scribbles on the paper, and with momma's help he made a smashing card for Papa's birthday :)

   

November 3rd
I put him down on his blanket to play with some toys while I fixed lunch and about 5 minutes later I turned around and saw that he had migrated pretty far!  He still isn't crawling, but he sure can scoot around when he wants to!

  

November 6th (ish)
He was laying on the couch next to me and a big part of his blanket was up above his head, so he grabbed it trying to eat it, well when it  (unexpectedly) covered his whole face he got such a kick out of it he was giggling like mad!  Ever since, if there's a blanket nearby that he can pull over himself, he'll do it.  Every so often he'll peek out at us and start giggling!

November 10th
Mommy finally took the plunge and cut his bangs!  Poor kid's bangs were down to his nose, so I just took a deep breath, told him to hold reeeeeaaaallllly still, and did it!  It didn't turn out too bad, and there were no eyes gouged out or ears cut off! :)

  

November 11th (ish)Owen has been practicing his 'th' sound... but he draws his out so it almost sounds like he's hissing... but with a lisp.  It's pretty darn cute. I caught it on camera the other day!

November 12th (ish)
Owen discovered how to make noise - intentionally!  He was sitting in his highchair while I was making lunch and he dropped his orange monkey toy on the tray (making a loud noise).  Well, apparently he thought that was cool because he picked it up and continued banging it as hard as he could on the tray over and over again, kicking his feet and giggling the whole time!

November 13th (ish)
Owen has been lunging!  When he's sitting up he's been lunging forward onto his hands and knees.. well, mostly just his hands and belly really - it's like he wants to crawl... usually he ends up toppling over (as seen below) but it's cute to watch and I think there may be movement in the future!

This day was also Owen's first time wearing a size 3 diaper!  The kid came out wearing a size one, and was in two's for quite a while... but now we're on to three's!

November 14th
Owen has always loved bath time, and has always been a big splasher.  Well, he's graduated in the splashing category  - he know splashes with his hands and his feet!  He was kicking away and dropped his toy and when he went for it he splashed himself in the face.  After getting over the shock of it he decided he liked it and went crazy! (in unrelated news, mom got a shower that night - free of charge and fully clothed.)  :)
This day was also Owen's first outting alone with daddy!  They headed to the mall while momma was working and wouldn't ya know, the Santa people asked him to be a baby model for their advertising!  Bill said he didn't want to sign the waiver without me there, but I thought it was too sweet!

Food -
We're continuing with the BLW approach and have not tried any purees.  We're sticking with veggies first to help him acquire a taste for them.  When possible, we give him organically grown veggies.  We're avoiding all starches, carbs and processed foods right now.  Right now is more of an 'exploration' stage, getting him to explore and try different tastes and textures.  He still nurses on demand all day and gets all his nutrition from that. 

So far we've tried (in this order):
Baked and mashed Acorn Squash - negative
Sliced Avacodo - negative
Baked and cubed Butternut Squash - negative
Baked and mashed Butternut Squash - negative
Celery (raw) - Positive! He loves to chew on it, but when it gets to be room temperature he usually is done.. I think he likes it for more of a teether than actual food :)
Steamed Broccoli - undecided
We seem to have found somewhat of a pattern (maybe) in that he doesn't like squishy foods.  So we're going to try broccoli another time or two and next on the menu will be (homemade) sweet potato fries!

Whew, that's a lot!  Glad I finally got it all down though!

Squish

That's what Owen did when he tried his first food on Monday. 

He squished it. 

And smeared it.

And put a tiny bit in his mouth.

And then spit it out and continued the squishing.

   

He was not a fan. 

I'll be making Owen's baby food and we're excited that he's ready to start solids in fall with so many good foods in season.  For his first try we started with acorn squash.

 

We chopped it in 1/2, threw it on the stone with some water in the pan and baked it for about 45 minutes.  Then it scooped out and we mashed it up a little bit for him.  Viola!  Our pediatrician recommended something called Baby Led Weaning (I don't know why they call it that, they should call it baby led feeding).  So I looked it up and I really like the concept.  (You can read about it here) Basically the baby starts off by feeding himself - rather than using a spoon.  That way the baby eats it if he likes it/wants it and stops if he doesn't want any more.  We will probably not use this exclusively but we are definitely starting with it.  The ped. said that all the babies she knows that have done this method are really good eaters, and tend to be less picky.  We'll see how it goes :)  He really dislikes the acorn squash.  He didn't fuss too much on Monday, but on Tuesday when we tried round two he was not havin' it.  He cried and did his mad face at me.  I giggled a little (hey, it was cute) and then gave him some of his bottle and he was a happy camper.  I think I'm going to try butternut squash next and see how that goes.  In the meantime I'm still nursing him (and plan to for quite some time) so he's getting all the nutrients he needs.  

His stats for his 6 month check-up: 18lbs 8oz, 28" long. (That puts him in the 75% for weight and the 97% for length!)  That explains why he has to wear 9-12 month clothes these days!  Any smaller size pants look like capri's on him and smaller shirts look like 3/4 sleeves instead of long sleeves. He'll be a big hockey player some day! :)

Untitled (you may want to get your fork)

I was gonna title this post, "Seasons".  But then I didn't.  Because that's cliche.  It's all Christian-y-cliche and it kind of makes me want to gouge my ears out with forks.  But unfortunately, I can't think of a better way to describe life lately... I've (we've) just moved from one season to the next...
You know how they say (they being the general Christian culture) when you're going through a rough time (especially) "Ohh, it's just a season," or "This too shall pass" and then you feel like punching 'them' in the face?  Yea.  Um. Well, I was in that place with my job (yes, again!) not too long ago. 
At first I thought I would love nannying - I mean what better job is there?! I love kids, it meant I got to stay home with Owen, and get paid for it!  Not to mention the way I found the job was totally God working behind the scenes.  Well, after about a month I realized that it was not what I thought it was going to be.  The mom and I totally did not see eye-to-eye when it came to parenting.  Her unrealistic expectations had me in tears at least a handful of times because I was so stressed out and felt so bad for her little one.  I hated waking him up to eat every three hours.  I hated making him eat solid foods when he wasn't developmentally ready for it.  I hated making him eat on the same exact schedule every day (and trying myself to conform to that schedule meant not leaving the house very often).  And I hated that when I brought these things to her she was passive about it and never actually confronted me.  So for the past month I had been job hunting and debating on when to give her my two-week's notice.  Among the hunt I kept thinking, "Why am I here again?  Hating my job, frustrated all the time, stressed beyond belief, and wishing my days away."  I hated, loathed the fact that I was wishing my days away.  I wanted to cherish every moment I had with Owen, not wish them away because watching this other child/trying to meet her expectations stressed me out.
So one night at our small group I threw out a general "Pray for my job situation" prayer request.  The next day I had three jobs on the table.  I'm not joking.  It was crazy.  So I took a tutoring job that I could work on Saturdays (Praise Jesus!) with the option of adding weekdays in once I quit nannying.  Perfect!  I'd give her some notice so she could find someone else and I'd do this.  It was then that I realized this was just another changing of seasons (yes, I'll excuse you while you gouge your eyeballs out at the cliche, told you that you'd need a fork).  At the time, nannying was what I needed - so I could stay home with Owen.  But now that he's older and I'm ready to let him stay with other people, the time has come for me to move on. 
So that's just what I'm doing.  Nannying is officially over and I start my new job this weekend.  It's funny how things worked out - she actually 'quit' me all of a sudden over some silly reasons, but God is still providing for us because I've got paid training this weekend for my new job... and I already had a job when she stopped bringing him, and I'm getting paid in one hour at this job, what I was getting paid for an entire day nannying.  Praise God!  Seriously!  I will be working about 8 hours a week and making more than what I made working 45 hours a week!  I'm SO thankful for this change in seasons... and I can feel the stress released from my body and the peace restored to our home already.  Today was an amazing day of relaxing, cuddling, laughing and playing with Owen and I soaked in every. single. second of it.
I'm thankful to serve a God that takes such good care of me, honestly - this is all Him and I wouldn't have it any other way.  Okay, you can put your fork away now.