shave and a haircut

Well, just a haircut, sans shave. Hopefully we have a few more years before Blake will need to shave.

Blake had his first haircut! He did pretty well for about 5 minutes. But in the end I had to hold him while he laid his head on my shoulder. I guess getting your hair cut is kind of traumatic and exhausting.

"If you think this penguin cape is going to make me sit still, you've got another thing comin'."

"Ok, so it wasn't that bad."

Like father, like son!

What my neighbor complained about

I agreed with our ex-neighbor when he said that the sounds Blake made were really loud.

What I didn't agree with was that he thought I should keep Blake in one room. All day. Every day.

Idiot.

P.S. Blake puts his dirty diapers in his shopping cart and takes them to the trash can. Cutest.thing.ever.

binky model

work it

I know you were trying to be helpful...

but telling my 22 month old that everything will be ok as he throws the tantrum of all tantrums is not helpful. At all.

See how he's just screaming? See how he can't even control his own body? See how he's so out of his mind that even if I said, "Here's a big ol' cookie for you to eat right now!" he wouldn't be able to comprehend that I was actually giving him something amazing and would continue to cry?

Ya, so you, a stranger, telling my son, who remember, is out of his mind right now, that everything will be ok is the opposite of helpful. It just clues me in to 3 things:

1- I look like a terrible mother because my son is out of control.

2- I look like a terrible mother because I'm literally dragging my son out of the store and am about 2 seconds away from just leaving him there.

3- You may be considering calling child protective services because you can tell I'm about to lose it. (Luckily, we took a few minutes to compose ourselves outside. Well, I did. Blake kept screaming.)

Really, I know you were trying to be helpful. And I thank you for not making a rude comment about our spectacle. You really were very nice about it all.

But next time, just ignore us. Don't make any jokes about how it must be nap time. Don't even look at us. Because at that very moment, the moment where you want to stare and say something, I actually want to be invisible. So just pretend like we are.

Adventures with a 1 year old- Playing with the big(ger) kids

Most of our experiences at the playground involve Blake trying to get kids to chase him. And usually those kids aren't too interested. A few times Blake has tried to play with a group of little kids only to be rejected (usually it's girls who do the rejecting.)

But on a 60 degree January day, Blake was actually invited to join a group.

"Come on! We're gonna make pizza! Tell him to come on!"

Blake happily ran around with 2 other boys while one of them pretended to make pizza. And then pretended that someone was touching their pizza and ran around trying to defend their imaginary pie. All Blake understood was that these boys were running and he wanted to run around with them.

Pretty much the cutest thing ever.

Adventures with a 1 year old-Walking...everywhere

Blake is nearly 30 lbs.

His stroller is about 9 lbs.

That means I'm hoisting close to 40 lbs up and down our stairs, up and down subway stairs, up and down the stairs of friends we visit.

So in recent weeks I've started taking Blake out without his stroller. Our first attempt ended in me throwing him over my shoulder and swearing I'd only take him out if he was strapped into something. It all fell apart when he refused to hold my hand as we crossed the street.

But, after some practicing around the neighborhood, Blake does pretty well walking with me on our little outings. The rule is he either holds my hand or I have to carry him. He generally opts to hold my hand.

It is a pain when he decides to throw a tantrum as we're walking and everything we do takes twice as long when he walks, but it's nice to not have to worry about taking the stroller everywhere.


I've also added a few phrases to my daily vocabulary:

Don't step in the poop!

Hurry hurry hurry hurry!

Do you want me to carry you? (No is usually the answer.)

If you don't hold my hand then I have to carry you.

Yes, it's a rock. Can we please keep going?!



I can't believe that soon I'll be writing about my adventures with a 2 year old!

Adventures with a 1 year old- Bathtub art

I saw this idea on pinterest, perhaps one of the most addicting websites ever. I was hesitant at first because I didn't want Blake to put any of this stuff in his mouth. But I think we are finally past that stage, except for the occasional acorn.

To make these bath paints, just mix shaving cream and food coloring together. I mix mine in little plastic containers. You can also use a muffin tin. Blake loves doing this before bath time. And I have to say it gives me a good ten minutes to just sit and relax. I'm in the bathroom with him, but I don't sit on the edge of the tub because the tub is dry and not slippery.

Just a little warning: The food coloring has stained the grout on our shower wall, but it tends to fade after a while. And I have noticed that Blake's hands and wherever else he gets the paint are stained as well. It usually fades or is totally gone by the end of his bath. Totally worth it to me for all the fun he has with it.

little helper

Adventures with a 1 year old- Finger Painting

Lately I feel like I've been a lazy mom. I've lacked the motivation to take Blake to the playground because at the time of this post, we are experiencing a heat wave. And after a few days of being inside, playing with the same toys, the same games, the same books, we were ready for something new. I read that at 16 months, toddlers might enjoy scribbling with crayons. Obviously at this age Blake won't be able to sit quietly and color. In fact, sitting is never involved in anything he does except eating.

I took out some crayons and paper for him to play with the other day while I was making dinner. He spent about 2 minutes scribbling and then ran off with the crayons. Not wanting to scrub the walls of stray crayon marks, I chased him down and the crayons haven't been out since. I wasn't surprised at how our adventure with crayons went and his art work is even hanging on our fridge now.

Trying to break free of this bout of laziness, I decided finger painting would be fun to try with Blake. But with Blake's habit of tasting everything, I knew I didn't want to use actual paint. I saw a "recipe" for home made finger paint made with flour, water, and food coloring and whipped up 5 different colors for Blake to use.

I used small ziploc containers to mix the ingredients. I didn't really measure anything. I just added water or flour to get the consistency I wanted. Then I used a 9x13 pan to store all the materials we'd need. (paint, bowl of water and baby wipes for cleaning up). Then we headed outside to paint!

Instead of a paintbrush (because we don't have one), I gave Blake a wooden spoon to use.

 

 

We used the wooden spoon, a stick, a leaf, and our fingers to paint. Blake tasted the finger paint a few times, but I didn't have to freak out because I knew it wouldn't hurt him.

Overall, I think our finger painting experience went pretty well! It's definitely an activity I'll do with him again in the future.

It started to rain while we were painting, but we opted to stay outside and play. We usually walk a half mile to a playground to play in the sprinklers, so why not take advantage of nature's sprinklers, right?

slightly well visit

Blake had his 15 month check up yesterday. Well, actually he only had half of his check up. He was weighed (23 pounds, going on 40 I swear) and measured (32 inches), but luckily for him he didn't have to get any shots. Unluckily for him he has to sit on my lap 3 times a day for the next week while I hold a nebulizer under his mouth and nose in order to help break up the bronchitis that has settled in his lungs.

Fun.

When we arrived at the doctor's office I told the receptionist that Blake had a bit of a cold and asked her if we should wait in the sick waiting room even though we were there for a well visit. We proceeded to wait in the sick room while Blake played with Snotty McSnotterson. I won't be surprised if he catches whatever that kid had. I was trying to do the rest of the patients a favor by not letting Blake in the well waiting room. So if Blake caught whatever booger boy had, I'm gonna be annoyed.

I digress. I wasn't worried at all about Blake's cough. He'd had it for a few days and I've had a bit of a sore throat and stuffy nose. Regular cold stuff. And anytime I've been 100% positive Blake was sick and needed medication, I have been 100% wrong and $30 poorer. So I decided I wasn't going to call a 24-hour nurse hotline or his doctor and explain the symptoms. I was just going to ride the cough out and not be the hypochondriac I've been in the past.

And of course the one time I don't freak out, he has bronchitis. I wasn't even concerned when the nurse that weighed and measured Blake started frowning when I said he had a cold. I said, "Oh he just has a wet cough and can't seem to clear anything out." In my mind I was thinking, "It's just a cough, lady." Then Blake's doctor came in and listened to him breathe. I was surprised when she said she wanted to do a nebulizer treatment on Blake and that he wouldn't be getting any shots until he was better.

So what did we learn from this visit, kids? Freak out or don't freak out. It doesn't really matter. Oh, and we now know that our insurance covers a nebulizer machine. That we get to keep. So that's cool. I guess.

Adventures with a 1 year old- Poop...yes poop

This adventure actually starts out with a bout of heat rash. I took Blake to the playground one morning around 9:30 and made the mistake of putting him in sweatpants instead of shorts. Who knew it was going to be a scorcher at 9:30 am? He had on a short sleeve shirt and sandals, but apparently the sweatpants were enough to make him overheat and break out in a blotchy rash. Poor kid.

The next day we ventured into Manhattan with Aunt Tori to check out City Treehouse with some friends. When we got back, Blake was long overdue for a nap. So, being the smart momma that I am, I decided to strip Blakeyboo down to his birthday suit so he would be more comfortable. I figured his heat rash was bothering him, especially the areas that are covered by a diaper. Aunt Tori took off his crib sheet and we laid a towel down in case he accidentally peed during his nap. Except I didn't think about the possibility of an accidental poop.

After 20 minutes of strange noises and then a helpless cry, I decided to go check on Blake. As I entered his room I was smacked in the face with the smell of poop. I had an idea of what the scene would look like before I even turned on the lights. And I was right. "Poop is raining from the ceiling. Poop!"

I suspect it could have been a lot worse. It could have gotten all over the crib and on the wall. I should count myself lucky that it was somewhat contained. I'm also lucky that Aunt Tori was here to help me clean up the disgusting mess. I love my child and I'll do anything for him. But I'd be ok not having to do that again.

On a more disgusting note...I think he may have had a little taste, as evidenced by the poop 'stache. (shudder)

Adventures with a 1 year old- The Playground

I remember going to playgroup before Blake was able to crawl and sitting on the bench watching the other moms play with their kids. I would think to myself, "I feel kind of stupid just sitting here with a baby. I can't wait until Blake can walk around the playground and have fun." I really need to stop the whole, "I can't wait until my baby can do (insert milestone here)" thing. Newsflash: YOU CAN WAIT!

Now that Blake has mastered walking, our playground trips are a lot different.

There's lots of running away from Mommy

and picking up sticks in order to poke them through holes.

Sometimes if we're feeling brave, a trip down the slide will happen a few times. But absolutely no swinging on the swings. Blake in a swing=unhappy baby.

Of course there's lots of picking things up and putting them in the mouth (Blake, not me).

And the occasional bear stops by to play.

It's also becoming a tradition for Blake to get waaaaaaaaaaaay to close to an edge or try to man some stairs on his own.

And it wouldn't be a day at the playground if we didn't chase some pigeons. I'm just waiting for one to poop on Blake. Or for Blake to poop on one of the pigeons. Just kidding.

Adventures with a 1 year old- Bubbles

With the weather warming up I'm going to have to start planning a lot more things to do outside with Blake. This time last year Blake was only a month old so our days were spent mostly inside and mostly in our pajamas. I was a new mom just trying to get a solid hour of uninterrupted sleep.

So now that Blake is 13 months old, is interested in the world around him, can successfully walk without my help, and it's warm enough to be outside, our adventures in toddler-hood are beginning!

Today I decided we'd try playing with bubbles. I figured it would consist of me blowing bubbles and Blake trying to eat stuff off the ground. And that's pretty much how it went.

Me: Who wants to blow some bubbles outside?

Blake: Umm, actually I'd like to climb the steps, Mom.

Blake: Look! A flower! I'm going to eat it!
Me: (loud noise to signal it's not ok to eat)

Blake: (cute giggling) So if I eat this flower, you'll make that sound? I'm going to put everything I see in my mouth! It's a game! It's a game! We're playing a game!

Me: Oh no. I've created a monster.

(10 minutes after the "don't eat that" game)

Blake: Is it time to go in yet? I'm tired of not being able to eat stuff.

Me: No! We're having fun! Oooo I hear a siren!

Blake: Cah! Cah!

Me: Ya it's a car! 

Blake: Yea! Loud noises!

Blake: Hey! Where are they going?

Blake: Mmmm, this chipping paint looks delicious! I think I'll...

Me: Nooooo! You'll die if you eat that! Yuck!

Blake: Oh, oh! We're playing that game again! I'm just going to open my mouth and taste it.

Me: I think it's time to go inside. 

Blake: Awww man. It was just getting good. We were going to play that game again where I eat stuff and you make loud noises and I laugh an insanely cute laugh so you keep making that noise. Remember that game, Mom?

Me: Yes I remember that game.

Blake: Ok, let's go in.

Blake: You comin'?

Me: Yes, yes I'm coming!