Da da da DAAAAA!

Sound the trumpets! Gather the villagers! Set off some sort of explosives!

20 pounds have been lost!* I am very excited and prouder than a peacock. Since I have reached this goal, I have decided a new goal is in order. I really really would love to lose another 20. But I really really love food. But I also pretty much like to workout, so hopefully we can keep this train a-chuggin'.

*Weight amount and celebration based on a one time weighing at 6am, Thursday, October 29th, 2010. Any future weighings that result in a heavier weight will be stricken from the record and never spoken of again.

In the dark

You would think the longer we have this kid around, we maybe just might start to feel more comfortable and knowledgeable in our roles as parents. You would be wrong. The amount of things that prove we have absolutely no clue what we are doing is sometimes staggering.

Example 1: Clothing size
Every manufacturer makes clothes a little differently, this is common knowledge. But this morning we were talking about the fact that we should probably get Alex a winter coat...you know since it is a high of 43 degrees today with a wind chill making it feel like 35 degrees, and I dropped him off wearing no shoes and a hoodie. I am certain daycare is impressed daily. Back to the jacket. Travis made a good point that we need to make sure we get a size that will fit throughout the winter. Alex is currently in 18 months sized clothes. But that is not going to be the case all the way to spring. So I'm thinkin' 24 months. But then what about 2T? What's the difference between 24 months and 2T? Yeah...I had to Google it. I swear I should just let daycare and Google raise my child. Anywho, turns out they are very close, with most people saying 24 month stuff is wider and 2T is longer. Super duper. We are headed out tonight to find something snuggly for the beast.

Example 2: Development
We have no idea what is normal for him to know at this age. Is it normal that he can (eventually) successfully nest his alphabet blocks, or do we have an engineer in the works? Is it normal that he can pick his own shoes out of a pile of shoes, or is he honing a shoe obsession? One thing I am pretty sure is normal is his utter joy and amusement in letting milk dribble out of his mouth and down his shirt. Funny little man.

To tree or not to tree

I believe maybe, perhaps, once or twice, I have mentioned that our house is not big. It is adequate size..for now. We are going to have to move to something bigger in the near future, but we will cross that bridge later. Bigger housing isn't 100% in the budget these days. Shit. It isn't 1% in the budget these days. Kids are expensive little buggers.

Aaaaaaanyway, the reason the lack of largeness our house exhibits has popped into my little head, is that Christmas is sneaking up on us. Which means putting up a Christmas tree. To which I say HAHAHAHHAAA!

I am fairly certain we are going to have to go without a Christmas tree this year. Normally we move a small end table and have our little tree set up in front of our living room window. However, our living room has been transformed over the last 16 months into a play room/toy storage. Everything in that room, save the TV and radio stuff, is fair game for little chubby fingers. The addition of an off-limits 5' tree covered in sparkly and shiny things is not going to fly. Not to mention I feel like it would be some sort of horrible torture to put a 5' sparkly shiny thing in the middle of Alex's world and then be adamant about him not touching it. Here honey, look at this amazing thing that you will no doubt love and be curious about...but DON'T TOUCH IT. Totally fair. And totally something I want to exert constant energy on. Yeah, no.

The only solution I have come up with so far is to get those anti-shatter ornaments and try to find lights that don't get hot. Add that to bolting the damn tree to the floor so he can't pull it over on top of himself while he is pulling off (read: yanking from the tree and breaking) the anti-shatter ornaments and burning his fingers on the lights that claim they don't get hot, and we will be all set. Good then.

Cubby

Alex has his own cubby at daycare now. It has a change of clothes, a blanket, a nuk, and some medicine if needed. I no longer have to lug a diaper bag to and from daycare everyday. It almost made me cry this morning. Just another reminder that he is getting SO OLD.

19 and Counting

19! That is how many pounds of me no longer exist!

I cannot express how excited I am to get to 20. More so how excited I am that someone might ask me how much weight I have lost and will be able to say "20 pounds! 20!!!" And then do a cartwheel and fart sparkly rainbows...it's a side effect of weight loss.

Welcome to the club!

This morning has been smooth sailing so far. Alex let me sleep until 6:30 and then only had one whiny moment when I was cream cheesing my bagel. He car seat danced and sang most of the way to daycare. When we got there, his favorite teacher was in his room for the day. There wasn't one whimper when I went to leave. He walked up to the little 3/4 door and reached up, but when I said, "See ya later alligator!" he giggled and went back to playing. Such a delightful and stark contrast to yesterday. It never ceases to amaze me how his reaction to being dropped off can make or break my day. Such an odd feeling that my entire mood can be controlled by this tiny little person that smears Spaghetti-O's in his hair and has a fly swatter as his "toy" of choice.

It's still weird when I think about the fact that I am a mom. For 30 years, "Mom" was not my title (well except for the people that worked for us, they called me Mom quite often). And then Whamo! Mom. Anyway, leaving daycare today, my mom-ness hit me square in the face. In a good way though. All of a sudden there is much more of a feeling of camaraderie among the parents. At least it feels that way to me. This morning there were just a lot of smiles and happy waves and good mornings. It's not like it was a Battle Royale other days, but this morning it just seemed...different. I don't know. But what I do know is that as I was driving off, I realized I am a mom...and I all of sudden have a whole different group of people to relate to and be friendly with.

I realize it wouldn't have taken most people a year and four weeks to figure all of this out, but whatever. Let's just all revel in the beauty of me finally accepting that new things can be really good.

Control

I have come to realize I have an irrational fear of Alex getting older. I know it is shocking to hear I am afraid of something...especially when that something is change. But lately I can't stop myself from worrying about things that might or could or probably will happen as he grows up.

Every night while we are sitting and rocking before bed I can't help but think about how fast he is growing up. And in no time at all, I will not be able to fix the things that hurt him. He will have to figure things out for himself. The fears, the hurt feelings, the anxiety, the everything that comes with growing up. I realize there will be a lot of really good things too, but I don't have to worry about those things. Is it legal to put him in a giant hamster ball and protect all information in and out?

It is beyond dumb to worry about it since, guess what, there is nothing I can do about it, but here I am.

Teeth.

Why aren't we just born with teeth already through the gums? What purpose does not having any teeth serve? I mean I get the whole thing where our digestive systems can't digest solid food and we are only ready for liquid nourishment and we can only suck and haven't figure out how to chew yet, but come on.

Wanna take a stab at how many teeth are ripping their way through my child's gums? Four. Four teeth simultaneously busting into his mouth. Fun fun for everyone. I feel so bad for him...and me...and Trav...and the daycare teachers...but mostly for him. As soon as the ibuprofen wears off he gets all fidgety and keeps making this sound like a sick cow, only stopping to say, "mamamamamamama" in the saddest little whiny voice.

Sleeping has also become an issue. Apparently teeth don't sleep. They are jerks 24/7. Achy teeth=lots 'o snuggling=not lots 'o sleep=cranky mommy.

Happy Friday!

The amount of mushed banana I have on the sleeves of my black sweatshirt is super impressive and professional.

That is all.

Blocks

I bought these nesting alaphet block thingys for Alex the other day. He really likes them and is getting pretty good at getting them all nested. He also likes to build towers with them. And he really really likes to knock the towers over.

http://sharing.theflip.com/session/4ec30c161f56619022f2ed5dcac57965/video/19609571

Should I be concerned above his love of destruction? There's a future in that, right? Right?

That bitch

Last week was not good on the workout front. Between people telling us they are having a baby, the Camry taking a giant poop and in turn requiring a drive to my parents' to borrow their car until ours is fixed, and just being kinda tired in general...working out was not high on my list...all week. Wait! Except for Sunday and Friday. I went running on those days!

Last night I knew it was time to bite the bullet. I was on a slippery slope of couch riding laziness and had to stop the non-workout pattern into which I was quickly falling. Travis was helpful in that he went to the grocery store for the week so I had time...and no excuse...to get my sweat on. So, I got reacquainted with Jillian.

I wussed out and only did Level 1. Ummm, yeah. Pretty sure that was a good idea. Based on my performance on Level 1, Level 2 would have possibly killed me. But whatever. I worked out. And reaffirmed that Jillian is evil and is trying to kill off the population one sweaty little workout bee at a time.

This morning, the scale said I am down 17.5lbs. That right there? That my friends is motivation to stay on the shaky legged, sore chest, sweaty butt workout train. ALL ABOARD!

Good to know

Since Alex has been on his antibiotics we have been relatively meltdown free around our house. Which is nice.

Speaking of his antibiotics...I picked up the prescription at the pharmacy, went through all the dosage instructions with the pharmacist, and went on my merry way. When I got home and opened the bottle to give Alex his first dose, I noticed the safety seal had clearly been ripped off. So I called the pharmacy to see what was up. Now the nice thing about Walgreen's, you can pick up a prescription, some Twizzlers and a Halloween costume at any time day or night. The not so nice thing, they don't have the personalized care a smaller pharmacy would have. So when you call the pharmacy department at Walgreen's you have to leave a message. Which I did. And then we waited. I wasn't about to give Alex medicine that had the safety seal ripped off...I won't use deodorant if the plastic inside cover thingy is missing.

Anyway, we were getting frustrated as it was sneaking up on Alex's bedtime and we wanted to give him his medicine before he went to sleep. Travis got sick of waiting, so he drove over to Walgreen's to ask what the dealio was. The pharmacist informed him that he was the one that removed the safety seal. Apparently the magic pink liquid comes concentrated and the pharmacist has to add water to it, so ipso facto the seal has to be removed.

Now this is all good and well, but Gee Whiz Mr. Pharmacist, you didn't think that might be something worth mentioning to the parent that is about to funnel this stuff into their BABY?!?

Can you say that into my good ear?

5:30 this morning, I was woken up by weird noises. Weird noises I thought were coming through the monitor. I my sleepy haze it sounded like Alex was gurgling and having a hard time breathing. So I bolted out of bed, ran downstairs and burst into his room....to find him wiggling around in his crib, completely and totally fine. Completely fine except that now he was more awake than before I burst in there. And he saw me so there was no leaving without instigating a crib-centered riot. So I picked him up and shuffled to the couch where he, the dog and I snuggled in.

While he was squirming around finding the exact spot he wanted to sleep, I heard the weird noises again...coming from the dog's stomach.

Chill out Mom, I got this.

At every "well baby" check-up the nurses and doctor ask you a bunch of questions regarding your kid's development. Everything from what he is eating to if he can do algebraic equations with his eyes closed yet.

Every time I answer as honestly as I can because I want to immediately know if we are missing some life altering milestone. Because that's rational. I have realized when it comes to Alex accomplishing new and different things, I have no ability to complete a rational thought. If he has attained a new skill, I am ridiculously brimming with pride and excitement. If another kid his age has mastered something that still alludes my kid, within a millisecond I am positive I have done something wrong and ruined my child. Don't even talk to me if a younger kid is passing up my baby in milestones. Say it with me now...irrational.

Anywho, I leave most appointments feeling kinda uneasy, kinda satisfied that we haven't completely screwed up this kid. I just don't like it if we aren't where we are "supposed" to be. I know every kid develops at different rates, but smack dab average would do wonders to settle my anxiety. At this last appointment, they asked if he is talking. Yep. I mean he is talking, technically. Just not in a language anyone of this planet can understand. So then they ask if he is saying 5-10 words that we can understand. At that moment all I could think of was his two definitions for no. That counts for 2 of the 5-10, right?

My point is this. Alex has once again shown me that his only purpose and goal in life is to prove me wrong. I left that appointment thinking we were never going to understand our child, and were going to have to find whatever alien taught him to speak for a full translation. But since that appointment words are popping up everywhere. This morning, he handed me his shoe. I said, "Do you want your shoes on?" He looks me square in the eye and says, "Sho." I need to relax.

Icky

This kid never ceases to amaze me. Double ear infection, crusty eye and a cough that would rival a life long Lucky Strike smoker. Doctor prescribed drops for the eye...that outta be fun. And amoxicillin for the cough and ears. Yay for magic pink liquid.

Now I can pretty much guarantee if I had ear infections in both ears, a crusty eye and a cough like that, I would be a miserable...well...bitch to put it lightly. But not this kid. He is not phased in the least. Running around, vrooming cars all over the living room, and roaring like a ferocious lion. Yeah, he roars now when you ask him what a lion says. It's more of a "RAAAAAH!" than a "ROAR!", but it is super cute. And he is very proud of himself, so the smile of accomplishment after ain't so bad either.

Haaaack!

Alex has a cough due to cold. And a snotty nose. And as of this morning a crusty right eye. Boo. At his check-up last week, his doctor said if it hadn't gone away in 4-5 days to give a call and see if antibiotics are needed. Well, it's been a bit over 4-5 days so I called and the doctor wants to see him. Which I understand, but part of me wishes he could just say, "Yep...here's a prescription for some magic liquid that will make him feel better." A big part of me wishes that. It would save the $20 office visit charge and the time of taking him into the clinic.

But! I don't have to worry about the time this time! Travis gets to take him. Have I said how much I like having Travis not working an hour away from home? Because I like it. A lot. And now it's really paying off! And based on how much Alex likes going to the doctor now...I am super duper happy I get to sit this one out.

Obviously I trust Travis to take care of getting the boy there and all that. But little things like letting him drink bath water until he pukes and putting Alex's shoes on the wrong feet one of the last times I was gone, has me a bit hesitant. Yep. He did that. And he also admitted they didn't look right, but he swore the Velcro straps aimed in and not out, so he went with it. Umm...didn't look right is an understatement. I mean when was the last time you saw someone with the shoes on the wrong feet and thought, "Hmm...that looks a little off, but the Velcro straps are going the way I somehow think they should go so...must be right!" I'm gonna go with, never. Never is the last time you thought that. Killin' me.

So cute. So old.

We turned Alex's car seat around on Sunday. He is now a forward facing baby. And he loves it. Unfortunately I wasn't along for the maiden forward facing voyage. Travis called me about .7 minutes after they pulled out of the driveway to tell me Alex was laughing and yelling and all around excited. And then I got a text about 2 minutes after that saying, "Ok...he is squealing now!"

Well apparently the sense of wonder wore off yesterday because this morning was not nearly as exciting. It is fun that I can see him now though. He thinks it's pretty funny that I can turn around and we can see each other. He giggles just about every time. But there was no squealing or yelling this morning. I'm gonna blame it on him being tired, and not admit that all of a sudden he likes Travis waaaaay more than he likes me.

And in case you were wondering, he looks about 17 sitting there all facing forward and stuff.