Saturday, October 15, 2011

October 15, 2011 ~ Goodness, Gracious! Great Falls of VA!

Today Billy got to go to Great Falls, VA for an outing with some of Mommy and Daddy's friends. If I hadn't been there, I would have thought this child had been born outside. He just loves being outside. We explored the locks, walked along the rocks and studied all of the sticks and leaves we could find. He carried sticks all through the park, whacking at hikers and wailing if we took the sticks away. What we didn't do is any water fun. Mommy kept us a safe distance from the cliff edge, so we didn't see much of the falls, but Daddy and two friends top-roped up the cliffs and I'm sure they had some awesome views from there.



While Daddy was climbing, Mommy, Billy and some friends left the park to go get lunch. Billy ate 4 inches of a cold cut sub, half a bag of chips and had a juice box. Probably not the healthiest lunch, but Billy only wants to eat what Mommy is eating and when we are out I've just thrown in the towel. He eats healthy at home, so a treat once and awhile I guess is ok. Still, I can't believe how much he ate!

When we got home Billy was ready to get back outside and have more outdoor fun. So he hopped on his trike, that good ole Green Piece of Awesome, and rode circles around our court until Auntie Sara arrived. I think Billy would have stayed out until dusk if I hadn't  dragged him in for a visit. He showed off his musical instruments, jumped around in the pillow pile, and gave Auntie Sara some big hugs.

For dinner I fixed him chicken and succotash, but he rejected it entirely in favor of yogurt. Each spoonful had to be decorated with a cheerio before being consumed. After a whole container of yogurt he was still hungry but continued to refuse the tasty chicken with veggies. No Go Mommy. It didn't help that some cookeis were on the table where he could see them. So, he got two cookies to round out his yogurt and cheerio dinner. I tried to go healthy, but who can blame a kid for wanting dessert?

Before bed Billy danced around to Mommy's iTunes, shaking his maracas and bouncing up and down. Now that he knows how, he just loves to dance.

What day is done without learning something new? Daddy showed him how to stack nestling blocks to make a tower. Boy, was that awesome. He giggled and giggled and stacked them higher, then ripped them down again. Once he was done it was off to bed with dreams of his days adventures to keep him giggling through the baby monitor for an hour after being put down.

BTW, Daddy decided to do his Silly Dance while I wrote this just to distract me, so I apologize if this post seems to wander. Silly Daddy!

October 14, 2011 ~ No Batteries Required

Billy started the morning playing with a new toy in his room. It's not really a new toy- it was Daddy's when he was a boy, but new to Billy. Daddy found it last night when he was digging through a box of stuff. It's a blue bulldozer that clicks when it rolls.

Well, Billy pushed that truck on every flat surface in the house he could find- carpet, area rugs, wood floor, linoleum, the coffe table- you get the picture. But he refused to get ready for daycare because he wanted to play with his truck. He was very late to daycare and I was equally late to work as a result.

Before dinner Billy was back to pushing that truck around. Then he switched over to he musical instuments- all wood percusive instruments, of which he has a whole collection. These are new and so far he prefers the maracas.

After dinner it was bathtime. Again, Red Boat was tossed from the tub. Nemo too, so I guess Red Truck shouldn't feel too lonely. Daddy added a new old toy to bathtime, an airplane that was his. Billy did not want the airplane in the tub with him and kept tossing it out. Daddy kept dive-bombing the tub in return. So Billy started saying "aw play ow, aw play ow!" I think this translates to "airplane out!"

After bath it was time to play in his room and immediately he was toting around Yellow Bear and Winnie. He even started brushing my hair for me with his little baby brush after watching me demonstrate how to use it. And we pulled some books down from the shelf- he loves to look at books, but currently does NOT want Mommy to read them- he can do it himself! He even turns the pages (although often the book is upside down).


Billy carried his own bottle in to bed and then it was sleep time. When I put him down he curled up with Winnie and Yellow Bear and fell fast asleep, happy and sated.

He spent the whole day sans toys with batteries and had an absolutely fun day and I don't think he missed those singing, blinking, battery-powered toys at all. Sometimes when it comes to toddler fun, no batteries are required.

Thursday, October 13, 2011

October 13, 2011 ~ Mr. Crankypants Gets a Fajita

Yesterday Billy skipped a nap. The consquence: Mr. Crankypants.

The first thing he did this morning when he got up was to lay right down on the floor next to the crib, face on the floor, bum in the air and start crying. Poor guy, he just wanted to sleep, but woke up and couldn't go back to sleep. Boy was he Upset Baby all morning. Cheerios? Wah! Milk? Thrown on the floor. Yogurt.. ok, yum- but not fast enough with the spoon brought another Wah! Time for shoes? Wah! Everything brought tears. It's tough to be a tired lil guy.


At dinnertime Grandpop and Uncle Alex came over and we all went out. We ordered Billy a grilled cheese- his absolute favorite, but he didn't want it. Nope. He tried to throw it on the floor. We walked around the restaurant, mostly deserted from the weather, and closely examined the ceiling fans and overhead lights. Interesting enough, but still a cranypants.

But then all of the adult food arrived. Ooh... "Can I have some of that?" Did he want Grandpop's steak? Nope- fork yes, steak no. Did he want Daddy's mashed potatoes? Nope. Did he want Uncle Alex's food? Nope. Did he want Mommy's soda? YES! (Yeah, sorry, no chance on that one Lil Man). Did he want his sippy cup with water? No! Did he want Grandpop's water glass when Mommy offered it? YES! And he drank half of it while vehemently refusing to take the sippy cup. Did he want Mommy's food? YES!

So, Billy ended up eating Mommy's chicken fajitas for dinner with sour cream, cheese, lettuce and guacamole.  After every bite he threw his head back and opened wide- "More, Mommy, more!" The result? Giggles and laughs and all around happy baby. Apparently, fajitas cure the grumpypants. Who knew?

Wednesday, October 12, 2011

October 12, 2011 ~ Billy the puppy?

This morning Billy started crawling around. He refused to walk and wanted us to chase him. We didn't know what was going on with Walking Baby, who was suddenly back to Crawling Baby. Then he started making this "eh! eh!" noise. Oh... I got it. Billy is pretending to be Buddy!

Billy has developed this "barking" sound to talk to Buddy. By the way, it sounds NOTHING like barking. When Buddy barks, Billy repeats the bark pattern with "eh! eh!" It's the Billy Bark.

I'm actually not surprised that Billy thinks he's a dog. Everyone under the sun calls Billy "buddy". It's a cute pet name for a little boy- the problem is, it's OUR pet's name. I've asked the daycare ladies to stop calling him "buddy", but even Grandma and Grandpop and our close friends have difficulty not calling him "buddy". In hindsight, perhaps not the best name for a dog. Not that we named Buddy. I imagine it's VERY confusing to Billy that people called Buddy "Buddy" and Billy "buddy".

Dinnertime brought more dog behavior. Well, I laughed and recognized it, not that Lil Man knew the reference. He had pasta for dinner.




Yes, he was slurping pasta from his bowl one strand at a time just like Lady and Tramp do in the movie. In the photo he's almost finished sucking in a strand. As you can see, all baby haute cuisine comes with cheerios.

Adventures in Pasta was followed by a thorough hosing down. While in the tub he got a very pained look on his face and didn't want to play with his toys. Uh oh. "If you have to poop, wait until Mommy gets your diaper on!" (That's the LAST thing we need in the tub). He hopped out quickly and it was off to diaper up. What do you know? He waited and I had no messy cleanup. Maybe potty training won't be too hard when we get to it. (Fingers crossed!)

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

October 11, 2011 ~ Winnie the Pooh And Kittie Too?

We had an eventful morning. I gave Billy yogurt and cheerios for breakfast while I sat down to eat with a cup of coffee and some cookies. (I only like cookies for breakfast- it's weird, I know). Anyway, the end of the yogurt brought tears, fixed only by some milk. But then he saw me eat a cookie. Can we say epic meltdown? I had to put the cookies away and go to work without breakfast.

He settled down and waited patiently in his high chair while I packed up his food for daycare. When I turned around he was sitting there, hands folded, elbows on the tray waiting for me to finish. He looked like a little grown up. He just started folding his hands in the past couple of weeks, but it's a rare sight.

Grandma had to get Billy from daycare due to a major accident on my route home from work. It's the first time Grandma has gotten to see Billy's new room at daycare. The walls are covered with pink blobby pigs. Yesterday's outfit came home covered in pink paint...hmm.

Post daycare brought a trip to Sam's Club. I don't know how parents survived before Sam's Club. We buy all of our diapers and wipes there. Bulk is the only way to go. We'd be running to the store almost every day if we didn't buy in bulk. Formula especially, which we are lucky enough to be done with. I also buy his favorite fruits in bulk- he eats through them so fast that bulk is better for the favorites.

In Sam's Club Billy decided he didn't want to ride in the cart- he wanted to PUSH the cart. He tried to grab both sides of the cart so he could push, but his arms weren't long enough. He kept shuffling between the right and left upright bars trying to reach boths sides to push. In frustration he belly-flopped to the floor and tried to push the cart from the ground. No Go. Mommy put and end to that.

All of a sudden Billy has taken a huge interest in stuffed animals. He wants to carry them everywhere and he knows just which one he wants. By sudden, I mean since yesterday. He carried Winnie the Pooh all through Sam's Club. In fact, this morning he insisted the Pooh, who lives in the crib, come with him in the car. But when it came time to go into daycare, it was Kittie that had to go with him. Kittie lives in the car. He took Kittie in with him yesterday as well. Having Kittie seems to have elimated the most gut-wrenching, horrible Mommy experience- when your baby screams and kicks and calls out "Momma" when you leave them at daycare. Oh, I hate it. And every morning we, the daycare ladies and I, try to trick him so I can slip out. Even if I escape notice, by the time I'm down the hall he's noticed I'm missing and starts crying for me. I love Kittie. Now he wants to show off Kittie to his friends and it's ok for Mommy to leave. Whatever makes him happy.

I leave you today with a picture of dessert- a homemade Oreo curtesy of Nana Diana. (I apologize- it's from a couple of days ago. I spent an hour troubleshooting my camera but can't get it to communicate with the computer.) He had an Oreo today, too.

Monday, October 10, 2011

October 10, 2011 ~ First Scraped Knee :(

Billy was having a very klutzie day today. He fell on the playground at daycare and scraped his chin. When I brought him home we went outside to play and he fell on the flagstone path and scraped his knee. It was a minor scrap but a big scare for a little man. After lots of tears I cheered him up with a quick ride around the court on his Green Piece of Awesome (his trike) and then brought him inside for patching up.


He got to sit in the big chair while Mommy cleaned his knee up. Then he got a band-aid over his scrape. It's not a kiddie one, but I explained that he was old enough to have one of Mommy's. He seemed okay with that. He did rip it off immediately. But I grabbed it from him and stuck it back on his knee. Of course, a patched knee isn't complete without a kiss to make it better. After that he was off to the races like nothing had happened.

I have to be proud of my little man for his ability to take a lot. Last week he had his annual check-up. I don't know why they insist on torturing tiny babies, but every wellness check-up so far came with a round of shots. As a birthday present from the doctor he had to have 4 shots AND blood drawn. First they drew his blood. I think Mommy took it harder than he did. Not a single tear. In fact, he was curious about what they were doing. First shot, no tears. Second shot, still no tears. On the third shot he let out a big wail. I can't blame him- I wouldn't want 4 shots and a blood draw. Moreover, he still has a huge bruise where the third shot went in. I'm sure it was very painful. I bet if that one had been last he would not have cried until until the end. He's a tough little guy.

Now he's sound asleep, smiling... with a band-aid on his knee.

Sunday, October 9, 2011

October 9, 2011 ~ Fall Fun and Billy Learns to Dance!

I woke up this morning to two little hands and two laughing eyes peeping up over the edge of the mattress. When I opened my eyes I got a "Aah! Mamamamamama!" followed by lots of bouncing. That's a good way to wake up, especially since Daddy let me sleep in.

Billy got to try out his new toy storage.
He wasn't sure what to make of it. He kept looking under the coffee table where we used to keep a bunch of toys. But, it's much cleaner and he did start pulling things off the shelf that he wanted to play with.

Before nap time we headed out to Webber's Farm to have some fall fun. It wasn't very fall-like today. It was VERY hot and none of the trees have turned yet, but it was a good day to go out. Billy got to sit on a tractor, do a hay maze, meet some turkeys and goats and do a haunted house tour. The whole experience was a little overwhelming I think. He was very serious the whole time and wanted a death grip on Daddy's hand at all times. Still, he was very interested in everything and on the car ride home he was giggling to himself. Probably giggling over the giant bird with feathers sticking straight up out of its bum.


In the evening after a day of play I put on some party music just for fun. I picked up Billy and danced him around the den. When he was much smaller dancing with him in my arms was the only way to appease him if he were really fussy. Once we started in daycare though, we just fell out of the habit. Well, he wanted to get down. "Tequila" came on and I was dancing around to encourage him. The next thing I know he's stutter-stepping and bouncing up and down. Yup! He started to dance! The next song that came on was "The Twist" which didn't inspire him at all. But then Glenn Miller's "In the Mood" came on and he ran over to the speakers and started bouncing and stutter-stepping again. Lil Man can dance. :)

Bath time brought more new-toy-phobia. When I organized last night I put the new bath toys in the tub for him to use today. So I plopped him down and tossed in some old toys and some new ones. He picked up the new ones and threw them out of his baby tub. He got a little red boat which he took a particular hatred to. He threw it on to the bathroom floor. When I picked it up and held it he cried. So I handed it to him and he vehemently threw it on the floor again. Red Boat is NOT allowed in the bathtub apparently. Once all of the new toys were removed he went about happily playing. Maybe tomorrow Red Boat will find its way into his good graces.

Billy on his birthday


Saturday, Oct 8th, 2011 ~ Green Beans Suck and Disney Rules!

Billy started the day extra early. He got up at 7:30! Off to the races.

He came into the den where all of his toys are but still didn't know what to make of the giant pile of birthday presents. It's almost like he's afraid of his new toys, like they are invaders from outer space. I had to throw all of the toys into the pack'n'play and bring out the old toys to appease him.

I like background noise so I popped on Tangled. Ok, it's a girl movie. But while Mommy still gets to make the programming choices we're going to watch the kids movies that I find appealing. He doesn't really pay any attention to the tv anyway- a difficult feat, since the tv is half the wall. But when the Disney castle came on in the very beginning he ran over to the tv table, bounced up and down, clapped his hands and giggled. Once the movie started he began wildly banging his hands on the table in amusement. Disney fan in the making? Seems that way!

Grandma came over for a visit in the afternoon. Grandma, Billy, Buddy and myself went out into our court to enjoy the nice weather. I got out his brand new tricycle that Billy got for his birthday. While Buddy rolled in the grass, I pushed Billy around on this bright green plastic piece of awesome. Billy loves it. I push him around. Then he gets bored and hops off by himself. Then a few minutes later he's asking for me to push him around again (he tries to climb on by himself and gets frustrasted so comes over and pulls me towards the bike). When not riding around he was picking up sticks and chasing after Buddy with them. Sticks are endless hours of amusement.

Finally, we had to come inside for food. I plopped Billy in his chair and gave him some leftover peas and corn while I made grilled cheeses for all of us. He slowly picked each morsel off of his tray, held his hand over the edge, made sure Grandma or Mommy were watching and then released. Baby version of "I don't want this, gimme my grilled cheese!" Grilled cheese is his absolute favorite food.

Late afternoon brought a trip to Wal-Mart. I was tired of using the pack'n'play as a toy chest, so I wanted to find something better. Grandma went with us to pick up a few things for herself. Billy loves shopping carts but soon decided he wanted down. The next thing I know he's laying on the ground trying to push the cart from the bottom. It would have been funny if it weren't a dirty Wal-Mart floor!

After Wal-Mart brought nap number two. At daycare Billy sleeps for 2-3 hours in the middle of the day. All of the kids are on the same schedule in his class. The thing is, he just had a growth spurt (went from size 9 month to size 18 month in 2 weeks) and since he started in the Toddler room he has been SUPER tired on the weekends. I guess I could push the one-nap-a-day, but usually I let him dictate what he needs. Honestly, I think he still needs two naps a day. He needs one long nap starting at 11am and one short nap in the late afternoon. He's very cranky by dinner if he doesn't get both.

I had to wake him up from Second Nap to give him dinner. It was going to be super easy- I had leftovers from last night. I had a plate all ready in the fridge of hot dogs and cut green beans that Daddy made for him. (Yeah, I know hot dogs are bad, but boy are they tasty). And here we go again. He started picking up the green beans one at a time and slowly dropping them on to the floor. We have to kick him of this habit! I was already prepping dinner for Chris and myself. So, a took a bunch of apples I was chopping up and cooked them them really fast in a pyrex cup in the microwave. He LOVES apples. Water + chopped apples + cinnamon + 3 minutes= yummy food for baby. He ate all of his apples and most of his hot dog. But when it came to the green beans it was a No Go. I tried spoon feeding, giving him a fork, etc. I ended up feeding him the peas he didn't eat from lunch. He ate those no problem. But with the green beans he actually pushed the plate away. Okay, okay! Mommy, gets the message!

I let him have dessert after dinner- leftover birthday cake. He probably didn't deserve it after the green bean stunt, but it's his cake and it won't be good for too much longer. Surprisingly, not much mess. Yup, he ate the cake with a fork and kept the mess to a minimum. Okay, there was some icing in his eyebrow and somehow on the back of his head, but his clothes were clean this time!

After dinner we went back to the den for more play time. Can we say sugar rush? It was a very tiny piece of cake, but boy was he all wound up! He pushed his popper all over the place! This is by far his favorite bday present- the one Mommy and Daddy let him pick out himself.

I decided to try out a "boy" movie for him as background noise. So I put on Tron Legacy. I thought that the graphics would be really cool for him. It might as well have been the evening news. After the bouncing and giggles over Tangled, Tron was totally ignored. It must be the bright colors that he loves to much. It's funny to think in a few years it will probably be the opposite.

Well, Daddy was running late and Billy was up until 9 wearing off his sugar rush, so it was off to bed late. He got two bedtime stories to help him wind down. Fortunately, after the bottle he was sound asleep and ready for tomorrow's new adventures!

I went to work! I assembled the new bookshelf we bought at Wal-Mart. The pack'n'play is gone and we have so much more floor space. I put all of his toys neatly on the shelves and his stuffed animals into a new decorative wicker basket that I bought. It looks great! He can see all of his toys and select what he wants to play with. I'm so excited to see how he likes it in the morning!

Welcome!

Hi there! I have been asked to create a daily blog about Billy, my precocious one-year-old son. So, here it is!

First, meet the cast of characters:
Myself, the mom, Sharon- a crazy creative from Baltimore
Chris, the dad- from DC and a technology guru
Grandma, my mother- a stay-at-home mom turned grandmom also from Baltimore
Grandpop, my father- another crazy creative turned medical profession big-wig who now lives on the eastern shore with my stepmom and brother.
Buddy, the dog- our elderly cocker spaniel

Let me catch you up on the past year:

Billy was born 9-30-10 in the middle of a tropical depression. I'm a weather junkie, so it goes to figure there would be major weather on his birth day. In fact, I work in Fells Point and have been waiting to see it flood for 6 years (it's a low-lying area prone to flooding) and missed all the flooding because I was giving birth. That's ok; I can wait. Billy is so much cooler.

So, on a VERY rainy Thursday morning at 9:18 my little man joined the world. He weighed 7lb 10oz.

I was able to get three months of maternity leave, so I stayed home with him through the end of 2010. It was the daily ritual of bottle, play, nap. Pat-a-cake was a winner. The dog, Buddy- endless hours of entertainment. Going out was a big deal for him, when, of course, he wasn't sleeping. I took him everywhere that I went, including an embassy dinner, a charity auction and a multitude of parties. He's always been very socialable and ready to party. On Thanksgiving he was still giggling and going strong while the adults were ready to retire!

Billy has been a bottle baby the majority of his life. While still in the hospital, I developed post-partum PUPP. It's extremely rare and was not diagnosed correctly. It's hives in your stretch marks (I know- ew, right?) and is hormonal in natural, so can't be treated by medicine. I was giving medication to treat regular hives. Well, the medication dried me up. I fully breast fed for two days at home. By the second day Billy cried constantly- he was hungry. My husband got fed up and started supplimenting with formula. I started pumping. I pumped for six weeks, had multiple lactation consulations, bought tons of equipment to try and help it along. After six weeks of constant pumping to get no more than 8 ounces of milk for the day (the combined total of 4-8 20 min pumpings), I broke down into a fit of tears. My husband convinced me to give up and go to formula. Life has been so much happier since then.

After New Years I went back to work. It was tough leaving Lil Man at day care, but work felt like a vacation once I got there. I feel guilty about that, but it was nice to have people to converse with.

Once 2011 started Billy has been going, going, going. He went from being a cute little lump to a ball of fire. In January he started on rice cereal, his first solids and could stand up. February brought vegetables and fruits, sitting unassisted, pulling up unassisted, standing and walking along furniture. March were his first ventures outside and he fell in love with being outside. By April he finally started sleeping through the night and started crawling. He also went on his first camping trip. May was more camping and the first trip to the beach and learning to whistle. In June he started clapping and finally got his first tooth. On July 4th he took his first steps. July also brought another trip to the ocean and his first plane ride. August was the month spent at the river house with Grandma. He learned to wave. He got moved up to the toddler room at daycare. And of course, he did a lot of swimming- no fear of the water. In Septmeber Billy started parrotting words. He hasn't said anything with meaning yet, but has repeated "byebye, Buddy, Ganma, thank you, God bless you".

Now you're caught up. This little synopsis excludes all of the little anecdotes of his life thus far, but read on for all of the little silly and wonderful things Billy does.