Mike's Christmas Surprise

Mike has been talking for a long time about how he needed a "man-cave" for his stuff.  That he needed some Mike time ( I reminded him that he was married and that went away when he got married..but it fell on deaf ears), basically he needed somewhere to go play his video games where he could hide from my nagging him about the taking the trash out and my eye rolls at his TV viewing choices.
So, this year Mike got a Christmas miracle. I worked every moment I had that he was at work and Erik was asleep to transform out teeny tiny basement (that we used as storage) into his "Man-Cave".  I dragged furniture down, I hung up sports stuff, and added a 26 inch hi-def flat screen TV (complete with cable) to round the whole thing out.
Since he has to stay home while we go to the beach for Christmas, I decided to give it to him early...besides anyone who knows me knows I couldn't keep this much fun a secret!!  So I gave it to him tonight.  I think he likes it.  It's pretty cold down there, but hey, no one's nagging him to turn the channel off football, and I'm happy upstairs watching Oprah!  It's a win win all the way around!
Merry Christmas my Love - Hope you have fun!

Tanta!

Since seeing Santa (and we all remember how happy Erik was then), Erik has not stopped talking about "Tanta".  Although when I ask if he wants to go see Santa...not so much,  But he loves pictures, shows, songs....anything about him.



He still loves that bathtime and while I was trying to catch him singing, which is usually what he does, one long note after another, he was trying to blow bubbles here. Towards the end, after all the boring splashing and babbling, he notices something bothering him in between his legs, but he really can't quite get a good look, since his tummy and bubbles are in the way.



Happy Sunday!!

16 Months

It's impossible that this child is 16 months old, but today he is.  He can not grow up this fast.  There has to be a way to slow it down.

This picture was taken a few minutes ago, he has discovered that he likes pasta....in his eyes.  I'd better go run a bath, I can cry into it and wish him to stay little.

Christmas through his eyes!

Christmas is one of my favorite holidays, next to Halloween, St. Patricks Day and Easter (I like them all).  I love the lights and the twinkliness that is everywhere.  It almost makes it worth getting dark earlier. 
Christmas is even MORE amazing through the eyes of a child.  Everything is new (and sometimes scary...Santa!), and full of excitement.  Erik begs to go out, and he just wants to look around.
He loves the decorations in the yard, and the "Sismas tree" as he calls it. 

Yesterday we went to a benefit for a friends child care program at the Ritz Carlton in Half Moon Bay (kicking myself for living there for so long and never going out there!), it was gingerbread house contest and tree lighting ceremony. 

Erik saw his first gingerbread houses, and had the first cookie of his life - that was a big hit. 

Seriously, the fire pits, the animated snow projected onto the building,the view of the ocean, the girls acapella choir, all the hot chocolate and egg nog you could drink.....it was very romantic, too bad Mike was working. It was slightly raining so the picture doesn't do it justice, but that place is seriously gorgeous...if you ever get the chance to go.

 Since I now know how lovely it is, I'll be taking my hubby next time.

Erik very intently studying the different gingerbread houses on display.  He loved any that had a train!

Notice that cookie and the green lips?  He threw it down a moment later, but that's all it took to learn what a cookie was, the next one went down much faster!

I'm so grateful to see Christmas through his eyes this year, it makes everything just a bit more shiny!  Wishing all of you a wonderful and shiny new holiday season!

Ta Ta!!

Erik has a new love for Thomas the Tank Engine.  He can't actually say Thomas so he calls him Ta-Ta, and with enthusiasm as in TA TA!!!!!
Nothing like walking through Target (where many Thomas items exist, seriously he spotted Thomas on toothpaste) with your son yelling TA TA's! at the top of his lungs and then madly laughing.
Men snicker, women giggle.  It reminds me of my little brother who substituted his F's for his T's when he was little and he really REALLY liked trucks.  Mom had to stop taking him to the store until he could pronounce his T's.  I'll be sure not to take Erik to Hooter's any time soon.

Scary Santa

We hit the mall early this morning for the annual picture on Santa's lap.  Knowing that Erik is at the age where he's not totally fond of strangers we were prepared for a crying picture.  We were not prepared for the AWESOME reaction on Santa's face.
My mom didn't get pictures with us with Santa, I'm sure because there were just too many kids to wrangle around Santa's lap and someone (ahem....Kerrie) would have been screaming their head off.  It's too bad, I think everyone needs a picture of being scarred forever by an old man in a red suit.

Complete with large Alligator tear going down one cheek.

Thanks

It's that time of year again when we give thanks for all we are grateful for, that obligatory pass around the table where everyone says what they've loved about the year.  Someday I think it would be fun to have an
"un" thanksgiving so we have a day we can just bitch about all the crap we've also been through, sometime in May would be good, 6 months from the thankful day.  I'll bitch in May, right now I'll say I'm grateful for my family, my life, my job and caffeine, the one thing that gets me through it all.

Here's a little video of some of the things that make Erik happy.  It took me hours to figure out how to splice these all together, Erik will probably be able to make his own this time next year. Please forgive the mistakes in it, it's my first editing attempt - (for some reasons theres a couple "enter text here" things going on, ignore them!) I hear elementary kids can do this for school projects.  Geez, it has taken me two solid evenings

Wishing you all a wonderful holiday filled with family, food and fun!

Spanish Lesson

Child counting rocks
Uno, dos, tres, taco , cinco....
Me:oh! You speak Spanish!
Child: Only the numbers

Jealous?

Erik's been sick lately.....the Dr. said to "watch him"....I watched him, really closely.  He did this.  It's been a very messy weekend.  Guess we need to go back to the Dr.

And this was 10 minutes after his bath...(and you can't see it all behind him!), we both had to get in the bath after this......

15 months old

Seriously, he's 15 months old today.  That amazes me, soon he will be 2 and 3 and 30!!!!  It has to stop.  He can't keep growing like this.  I don't age this quickly, I don't understand how he can.

I tried to make a compilation video of a bunch of snippets of his months to emphasise that it feels about as fast a video to me the way he grows.  But, I can't figure it out, I worked on it forever....and then it started be all wonky so I gave up.

SO instead I will tell you what he's like now.  his hair is coming in curly....well, he has a spot on the top of his head where there is a bit of hair...and in that section he has ONE curl!!  I hope it keeps coming in curly!

See it right there?  On top?  Doesn't he just look like the head of the Lollipop Guild?  That one munchkin with the big Lollipop and one fat curl on top of his head. "Weeeeeee represent the lollipop guild....." and look he even spent some time on Halloween with Dorothy!

He still doesn't walk, but he's beginning to crawl and even though we vacuum every single day he finds the tiniest things to put in his mouth.   Chicken and Peas?  No thanks!  Cat Hair?  YUM!!  He's also very concerned about the screws holding this border down, he spends a good deal of time trying to pick the screws out. 

We took him to the Aquarium a while back and he LOVED it!  He's been interested in fish for a while (all the books) and knows they swim and make a bubbly noise.  We didn't realize they made him so happy!  It was funny at the aquarium when we went in he began laughing and cackling and shaking he was so excited to see real fish!!  I took a little video of it, it's very dark...but you get the gist.  And he did this at EVERY TANK all day long.

He's been a little sick this week.....trying to figure out if it's teeth, ears, a virus.....who knows.   But man he's sure been grumpy.  This last picture was taken today - he turned 15 months old.  He likes to sit on this airplane, however he is very unstable - as soon as I snapped this picture he fell off and hit his head.  Sigh....I think we have a world of bumps and bruises ahead of us.

God and Preschool

Yesterday a new child was visiting my program and she brought along her older brother to visit with her.
He was......energetic.  At one point I did have to tell him that he needed to follow our rules (and then I told him what they were), the conversation went like this.
Me: You can use the stairs to to get onto the stage - we don't jump
Him: Grown-Ups can jump
Me: Nope grown ups use the stairs too
Him: My big brother can jump
Me: Nope EVERYONE uses the stairs
Him: Well....GOD can jump, because he's God and he could just levitate up there.
Me: Yes he could, but God likes it when people obey the rules so I'm sure God would use the stairs to be a good example for the little kids.
Him: Well, God could do whatever he wants.......and he went on and on and on...and ON, about all the things God could do and how God was the boss of the world.
Me (after listening for far too long about God and how he was the boss): Well, God may be the boss of the world, but I'm the boss here and you can use the stairs to get on the stage or you don't go on the stage.
He used the stairs..........and then started the same conversation with Santa Claus.
I walked away this time.

Crawler!!!

He crawls!!!  He crawls!!!  He finally crawls!!!!  He may not be completely up on all fours.....but that's definite crawling.  See??

October

October is typically one of my favorite months, because fall begins and there's that little holiday HALLOWEEN!  I love everything about October, to me it feels like a new beginning.  A new season, a time to dress up and be someone else!  We decorate the house in a big way, and I love it.  Apparently Erik is my child because he has loved it too!  Today being the 2nd of November all the Halloween decorations are gone (replaced with Turkeys and Scarecrows of course), and Erik is missing them.  I took him to Big Lots tonight (because as soon as I get home each day he insists on "BYE BYE MAMA!!" - again, totally my child), and of course the Halloween items were all thrown into one corner in a sad sale heap.  Erik looked sad.  He began to cry, for the unwanted Halloween decorations.  Sighing loudly and saying over and over "Bye Bye Pumpums, bye bye skeletons!"  I distracted him with singing Christmas decorations. 

He had a great time passing out candy, dressing up as a frog and going to Mommy's school's Halloween party.  When we were passing out candy I was afraid the big teenagers and their scary masks would scare Erik.  Nope, the scarier they were the harder he clapped!!  I hope he grows quickly, finally someone to do scary things and ride scary rides with.......I'll be set between him and niece Ava for riding scary rides while Mike waits on the sides.

Here we are at the school party.....The Princess and the Frog .

 We also took a long weekend trip to Reno (whoa that place is NOT Vegas).  We tried to find things to do for Erik......this was it.  He was happy sitting under an Elephants Crotch banging the balls and making Elephant sounds.

One day we went to the Train Museum in Carson City (insert long boring sigh here), and as much as Erik is my child, he is also very related to Daddy since he lit up with happiness to see the "Choo Choo's" and spent the entire two hours we were there saying "Choo Choo" over and over.   And now Mike has someone to spend hours looking at trains with......and it doesn't have to be me...WHEE! ;)





We did the usual Pumpkin Patch family trip and our pumpkin obsessed child LOVED the pumpkin patch!

The funniest part of the trip to the Pumpkin Patch was Erik riding a pony.  I walked with him holding him on for the first lap and then the handler told me he would watch him so I didn't have to walk.  I was VERY clear that Erik didn't really sit up well and he would need to hold him and not let him go.  He assured me he would.

As he walks away with Erik I tell the other guy (in Spanish) to PLEASE go make sure he doesn't fall he isn't very stable....just as he goes to help Erik falls, you can see it here. 

Man they are lucky he didn't fall completely off that horse!

Oh......and to end the month he pooped in the tub.  Probably won't be the last time....so yucky.

Making Mike Crazy?

My husband is a rule follower....a serious, follow EVERY thing to the letter, rule follower.  I make him crazy.
We can't cook together, seriously he can't take it.  I change things, or I don't measure things perfectly, and it just unwinds him.
He really can't stand it if I don't turn on the timer for something in the oven.  Sometimes I do it on purpose just to see steam come out of his ears. 
Tonight we were making calzones and he had done all the prep work and then I came in to put them together....and there he stood watching me, telling me "the recipe says to put 1/8th of the mixture inside and then fold it over with a 1/2 inch seam"....you're kidding right?  I laughed and then wildly threw a whole spoonful (without measuring...GASP!) onto the dough and folded it over...without measuring 1/2 inch.  Then...hold your breath for this one....I put it in the oven WITHOUT setting the timer!!!  Oh No!!  How will I ever know when it's done?

I'm not a rule follower when it comes to little things like recipes, or fashion (glitter is good for me any day of the year), I am a rule follower with things like job, taxes, etc.  Perhaps we balance each other out this way, or make each other crazy.

I love that silly recipe follower, complete with timers and measuring devices.  But, as much as I love him, I can't cook with him any more........it's just too much.

I'm sure he will kill me for making this picture public....oops! ;)  I wanted to show that while a serious rule follower, sometimes....SOMETIMES, he gets a little wild.  He just went crazy here!

Cat Attack

Mom tells me not to pull the cats tail, and not to bite him or lick him. But, I really like how cat hair tastes and I just can't help but to find him and bite him!  Today, as soon as Mommy left the room I rolled (really I crawled - but I only crawl to catch a Kitty....muahahaha) to the cat and bit him right on the tail.  He didn't like it, and he scratched me.

And I cried and cried and cried....Mommy hopes this will make me not do it again, I doubt it, I REALLY like to get the kitty!

 See the hole in my head?  You can't see I also have a scratch behind each ear, and on my right shoulder.  I'll get that kitty someday, I'm making plans.

Circle Time Silliness

     I've been teaching preschool for 20 years now and many people over the years, after hearing my daily stories have told me I should write a book.  While this blog has been mainly about Erik ...well, he is the cutest boy in the world.... it is supposed to be about our "crazy lives"....and the things that make it crazy are our jobs. Want to know what craziness happened in Mike's job life?  His SUPER brainy wife, who redid his resume for him a few weeks ago put the WRONG (never a good word to use in combination with resume) phone number on it.  So, people can't get a hold of him!!  He's been sending it out for weeks!!! He has applied for over 100 jobs, with the wrong number on his resume. UGH...seriously I need a big kick in the head for that one!
    My job on the other hand is as crazy (the children) as it usually is, I adore my job, it makes me laugh on a daily basis.  I have decided that I will post stories from the depths of day care (no names of course), to share the crazy, zany things the children do and say. 
     This week there have been some gems!!
     Today at story time I was reading a story when one child sneezed all over the side of the face and shoulder of another child.  The "victim" looked at the sneezer and said "Ewwww!!!" and then looked at me and said "Teeeeeecha!"......"She blessyou'd on me!".
     It took me a few seconds to understand what she said....and then I just cracked up!
     This is after I spent the morning telling one child put his penis back in his pants several times, I finally asked him "Why do I still see your penis peeking out?" (Do you ever say things like that in YOUR job?)
      His response......"I'm cooling him off, he told me he was hot"

     In these Chronicles of child care I will also post a "Preschool Rules", which is something I have heard a child quote (yell) to another child during the week.
     This week's lesson :  "It's not OK to pick your butt at circle time, if you pick your butt at circle time you have to wash your hands right away."

Ahhh.....the craziness that is our lives...WELCOME!

    

14 MONTHS

Erik is 14 months old, as of yesterday.  How is that possible?

How is it possible that he still doesn't crawl or walk?

Must be all the development his brain is doing.....he speaks in sentences, and really, I'm sure he'll walk soon, at least by Kindergarten.  I'm not too worried about it.  (well maybe just a touch - if he's not walking by 2...)

His obsession with books is still very high. Along with his new obsession - all things Halloween. He loves pumpkins and bats and anything black or orange.  See these pj's he has on tonight?  The first time I put them on him I said..."here are your skeleton pj's" He looked at me a repeated "sketon?" and pointed to his shirt.  He repeats everything we say....a little parrot.

I miss Baby Erik, who wold cuddle with me and let me cover him in kisses, this new toddler version pushes me away and says "All done!" when he wants nothing more to do with me!!  My little independent man.

My phone pooped out...seriously a big poop out....yesterday and I lost everything, and while it's a huge pain in the neck to reprogram everyone's phone numbers - I'm most bummed that I lost all my photos and videos of Erik.  Thank\ goodness I uploaded this one just before it crashed!

Erik's new recent favorite word (and he uses this one correctly) is AWESOME!  I am like totally raising a surfer.

I would not be surprised if as I was changing his clothes tomorrow he said "DUDE!  This Elmo shirt is like totally AWESOME!

The Library

Today was gorgeous, I decided to take advantage of it and take Erik to the library. This is an appropriate outing for my book obsessed child. I mean OBSESSED, he goes no where without books....even in the bath this child has a book. We are lucky enough to have a library about a 15 minute walk from our our house.

We loaded up into the stroller and off we went.

I haven't walked anywhere in a while........I should walk more.

We arrived at 4:30ish. The place was FULL of after school kids running a muck. Seriously, a muck. I haven't been in a library to find an actual book for pleasure in several years. All the research I did these last years in school consisted of online databases and text books. I was surprised at how high tech the library was...there was a cafe! In the library!!! There were tutors just out and about for the children to access. Pretty cool!

Erik and I quickly found our way to the baby books which were conveniently located in little baskets for babies to crawl around and pull out...SMART! I sat Erik next to a basket and he went to town pulling out book after book while I looked for some to check out for him. He was in book heaven I tell you. He didn't even care that I wasn't reading to him, he was just happy to leaf through books himself.

Erik had never been turned loose with so many books, he was enthralled.  I was happy to just sit back and watch him.



 When he started to pull those books off the shelf above him, the ones not meant for babies, I decided to intervene and put him in the middle of the rug, and allow him to roll to the basket of his choice.
I put him in the middle of the rug and turned around to clean up the pile we left on the floor.  When I turned back around this is what I saw.......

A little Hispanic girl rubbing Erik's bald head...as if he were a Buddha, or a good luck charm. She was trying to be sneaky about it and sit behind him, maybe she thought he wouldn't notice.  She couldn't stop herself...she rubbed and rubbed and rubbed.  Erik sat there, not knowing what to think of this strange child rubbing his head.  He tried to hand her books, she just rubbed his head.  He flapped his arms, he smiled, cooed, laughed....and she rubbed and rubbed.  I finally moved him to another spot so he could enjoy some books and not be "rubbed".  I turned around to put the rest of the books away and this time when I turned back she had multiplied!

I'm sure Erik is thinking..."Oh no!  TWO rubbers!"  These little girls never moved from his side (where was their mother??  who knows).  I don't think these children had ever had a book read to them, I began to read to Erik and they were glued to my side. 

We got up and moved to another part of the library and they followed us. 

I set Erik down again in another section by more baskets and the rubbing continued, but by now Erik was not going to be the only one rubbed......he was going to do some rubbing of his own!

But.....before we left, she got in a couple really good rubs for luck!

                        

Salad Places

It's been really hot here. So hot that turning the oven on in my little house is unthinkable. So we say let's go out!
Going out to eat with a loud, food slinging baby, also unthinkable.

We've been avoiding restaurants lately - because the whole experience is just too stressful for me.
I used to be a waitress at a place called Pioneer Pies (all you Oklahoma people will know that!) very similar to Marie Calender's. I'd see families come in with toddlers and try to send mind messages with my eyes to the hostess.

"Not in my section! Not in my section!"

She always sat them in my section.

Oh Man!!!! It was like a tornado went through there - and I always thought the parents were so rude to allow their child to throw food all over the floor!! I now know, it cannot be helped.

The food thrower (insert Erik's name here), is a pro. He can't walk yet - but he has the quick aim of a practiced sports figure. Things fly from his hands to the floor. I've starting tethering his sippy cup to the highchair. That's working for now, but food can't be tied down.

So, we can't NOT go out just because we have a child - but there are certain places we just can't go (Sam's Chowder House - I miss you). Salad Places to the rescue!! You know what I'm talking about - Fresh Choice, Soupersalad, Sweet Tomato's. Different name, same concept.

As a grown up with out children I steered very clear of these establishments, because they were FULL of children. I always wondered why.....do children like SALAD?? VEGGIES?? Not that I've noticed at school, can't be much different at home. Nope.....but in these places they can fill their plates with an assortment of cheese, olives, croutons, and anything else that goes in a salad but isn't technically a vegetable. I saw one child go by me tonight with a plate piled high with shredded cheese, just cheese. I think she had a dinner of cheese - and the dessert bar.

In this place there is chaos, there are loud children (louder than mine!), and there is no waiting waiting waiting for your food - you just get up and get whatever you want.

This is a haven for parents of young children. As I looked around I noticed the place was packed with college students (it's also cheap), young families, and seniors. No young couples in love holding hands, no families with children who are older than 5 and don't fling food.

I am shocked at my willingness to go there. I never enjoyed it before. Because it was just too many little children, and I get that all day long. I used to want peaceful quiet dinners. Now I'd just like to eat while my food is still warm.
Here my child can drop his food, he can yell, he can be...........a toddler. No one gives us dirty looks, because their children are doing it to.

I now understand why some restaurants play their music so loud. It's to drown out the shrieks of toddlers with newly discovered voices, the tantrums of two years wanting chocolate milk, and the soft sound of mother's pulling out their hair. Bless you, family restaurants for not cursing the hundred crackers on the floor under my child's chair, I promise I remember those waitress days - and I top well now. Thank you for being here for those of us with screeching, food throwing children!

I seem to be letting go of many things - if you see me going anywhere near a Chuck E. Cheese ....... Ever......Please intervene!!!

FREEBIES!!!!

Anyone who knows me well, knows I am all about the free stuff, coupons and special offers.

Today I received a coupon in the mail for a new store in San Jose that just opened on Tuesday called Buy Buy Baby. I went home from work to get Erik and check it out (and take advantage of my coupon!).

Since the store is SO new they had a core, brand new staff who really had no idea what they were doing. As Erik and I walked in and were browsing, a young woman literally came running over and asked for my help is the photography studio. She had seen Erik from across the store and thought he was gorgeous.....now this was either a very honest young woman (or someone who know how to make sale!).

She said because the photo studio was new and this was the first store of this chain in California that they had no local models (models!) and she would like to use Erik as a model.

I had to sign a release and then she did the rest. He was wearing a terrible outfit for pictures and I didn't want to buy more clothes to add to his already huge collection so I asked her to do naked shots! And she did! JC Penny wouldn't do naked shots after 9 months....and I really wanted some of his cute little hiney. She said as long as he was under 1...........well come on, he's only 20 days over.

I said he was almost 1. What a bad example. Never do what I do. I'm bad.

She wanted me to fill out a ton of paperwork for him to get paid for the session - and then she showed me the price of the pictures and I about fainted. SO instead we did a trade!! He got $300.00 worth of photos - and she got a gorgeous model.

I must say it was the deal of the day!!! Here's a few of the good ones.

I love a bargain!

B-O-O-K

We have a secret language we now speak in our house, it's called S-P-E-L-L-I-N-G. There are certain words we NEVER speak. One of those words is "Book".
Erik is obsessed with books, it's all he wants to do. I probably should edit the amount of books he has. I think it's about 50 now. Hey, I used to work at Barnes and Noble....I stocked up.

When I say he loves books, I'm not kidding. We can't say the word, or we're reading for the next hour. He usually just throws books at us when he wants us to read. Today he added the word "GEN!" (again), as he tossed the book at Mike.

When I came home from work there was a purple package in the mailbox. A new book from Papa and Grandma Liz. Mike couldn't get it open fast enough. As soon as Erik saw it was a book he was chanting, book, book book and flapping his arms.

We read it right away. As you can see - he really liked it.

Zoo

Erik is really into animals. Like really. I spend his waking hours making animal sounds. It's what makes him happy. It makes me want to pluck out my eyelashes....especially the Mooing. He can do most of the noises, and some of the signs that go with them. His favorite animals today are Roosters and Elephants (last week was Cows, he's an equal animal attention giver).
We thought it was now time for his first trip to the zoo.
Going to the zoo in San Francisco in the summer requires ski hats, coats and mittens. It's so very odd to live 50 miles down the road in the regular weather - but San Francisco is like going to the other side of the world - always the opposite season. So we bundled Erik up in his best winter clothes (I know! It's August!) and away we went!

Of course we stopped for the obligatory overpriced "entrance" pictures.

We headed out promising Elephants, Lions and Roosters....Oh My! We found the duck statue...which was cool. But still not a rooster. We did eventually find one weird looking rooster. But Erik was more interested in YELLING...... BAA!! at every four legged animal that walked by at the petting zoo.

We looked every where for the Elephants, finally I asked "Lion Security" ...The Lions have their own security to keep the idiots known as dumb people out of their cages. Lion security told me the elephants were dead....Dead? Yep, like they died a few YEARS ago! If you're the zoo....don't you try to replace the Elephants pretty quickly? I mean aren't they one of the main attractions? Seriously, it's like checking out what rides are closed at Disneyland before you go. If the good ones are closed, whats the point. Had I known there were no elephants we would have gone to another zoo. We went for the elephants!! I felt like there should be a sign on the entrance stating "No Elephants" ....at least save my feet from walking around and thinking...gee they've got to be here somewhere!!! He was very interested in this gorilla who sat stone still and looked pretty pissed off at having to sit on a rock while people looked at him. Erik kept growling at him, and then signing "sleep" I don't think he's as sweet as the little gorilla in Goodnight GorillaHe even went to bed in his "zoo animal" PJ's. All in all it was a fun trip to the zoo, disappointing in the Elephant category, but...fun!

ZZZZZZzzzzzz

Today was Erik's one year check up. The Dr. was thrilled with his vocabulary, especially all his animal impersonations and when I said "what does a Dr. say?" he shook his head and little finger imitating the Dr. from the Monkey song (no more Monkey's jumping on the bed), he won her heart in that moment.

She said he was thriving and she had no worries about his development. So....for all of the people in the world who keep asking "is he walking yet?".......NOPE...and guess what? TOTALLY NORMAL!!! I'm beginning to get a complex about it because as soon as I say "not yet" I can hear the cluck clucking of the tongues.

I know most children walk around a year. But many do not because they are working on their cognitive skills (smarts) so, your child may be walking, but mine is busy reading books and growing his brain. They will all catch up and be on the same plane by kindergarten so everyone please chill out - he will walk, when he's ready to walk. I promise to notify you the second it happens.

He also had to have those one year shots. Mike bowed out of this appointment long ago since he did the last ones and said there was no way he was holding him through that again. I felt so bad for the little guy. Every time the lady came out to call another victim into the injection clinic Erik would blow her a kiss. Blow her a kiss!! He had no idea in a matter of moments she was going to cause him lots of pain.

And she did. There was lots of pain, tears and thrashing about. I hate that part of these check ups. Luckily he didn't cry for too long - but after the first shot in the leg he looked at me and signed "all done!!" with big tears in his eyes, and he was signing "all done" through the next two shots until I could tell him it was all done.

We spent all morning in the Dr.'s office so Erik missed his nap. He slept for ten minutes on the way home which energized him for the afternoon. 5:00pm hit and he was tired, so I decided to feed him dinner, and this is what happened.

One Year

It's been a year, since our lives changed forever. I feel like I was pregnant for YEARS, but this year just flew by in the flash. These are the little things that have made this year move like a speeding bullet. I've heard that once you have children life goes at double speed. It's true.

This year I learned:

• The most beautiful thing on the planet is Erik's smile.
  


• Life is so much more precious now.
  


• The word Mama melts me....especially since Dada is much more common.
  


• Staying up all night and working the next day is possible, not easy, but possible.
  


• People with more than one children who manage to work, and get dinner on the table each night are pretty awesome in my book!



• Sometimes the greatest trials end up being the best situations.



• I love the sweet smell of wet sloppy baby kisses.

I also learned:

• Baby vomit is really hard to get out of your hair - if you forget it's there for a couple days
  


• My child's favorite thing in this world is my....HAIR



• My husband can sing nursery rhymes in a way that cracks me up.



• Wet babies are SO slippery!



• Breast milk stains everything.



• One child's voice can carry through a very crowded restaurant very quickly.



• Yo Gabba Gabba is a very strange thing that babies love.



• 20 years of taking care of children, still did not prepare me for parenthood.

I hope the next years go much slower. I want to soak it all in and remember each little tidbit.

Mike and Erik, thank you for this year of love (and sometimes, tears).

Plaid

I came home today to find Erik in this.

The following conversation happened:

Becky - What is he wearing?

Mike - What?

Becky - He doesn't match, it's like a bad scene from the 70's

Mike - He DOES match, see the pattern of the lines is the same.

Becky - But, um, the colors aren't the same, isn't it hurting your eyes?

Mike - It DOES match.

Becky - Under my breath so Mike doesn't hear.

Not in THIS universe!

The business of the non-busy

For so many years I have been extra busy, working, going to school, trying to get pregnant and the baby that followed. I somehow managed it all. Now, that school is over, I find myself with not enough hours in the day to get everything done, when before I had plenty of time and managed to fit in homework as well!! What happened to me in 2 months?

July has been one of the craziest months so far. I stopped the Coumadin (blood thinners) and had to endure the Doctor's threat of "call me immediately if you feel anything weird" WHAT? I am ALWAYS feeling weird!!!! It has taken me the whole month of gradually getting through each day with less and less anxiety that I could die from a blood clot at any moment. Funny how when things get down to life or death we revert right back into those tried and true ways that make us feel better....mine - the old Mormon standard of prayers and promises........and comfort food.

I have been cooking nothing but Ree Drummond food. An amazing cook with super easy recipes. Problem is they are easy, delicious and not fat free. So I'm noticing a weight creep up - also a side effect of stopping the coumadin. Why is "skinniness" never a side effect in anything I consume? Anyway - the risks are less with each passing day that I will suddenly die (aren't you glad to know that?) and with each day I relax a little more.

It's also my dreaded birthday month......41.....has been creeping up all year, and tomorrow it will arrive. I plan on a pedicure and lunch out with girlfriends where I don't have to apologize for the crackers on the floor. For my present I have received a Wii Fit. It was my choice - no hints from hubby. It's actually SO fun, except for the part where I had to make an avatar of myself. When I stepped on the platform for the body test my avatar literally blew up...not so fun. She blew up so fat that her arms waved and she looked down at her body, then looked at me shaking her head as if to say "what the hell have you done?" Nice.........I'm getting guilt from my own avatar. Ugh

Let's see; the rest of this month has included: Erik's first birthday. I know, a little early, but it was a good date for his cousins to come (since everyone else lives in Oklahoma) and really - he's 1 - he could have cared less. He had tons of fun with the kids, but he is going through a stage where he likes singing - but only one person singing at a time - so when we all started singing Happy Birthday he flipped and looked like this!

Last week we took a vacation to the beach house, and threw in a quick one day trip to Disneyland to go with it. Disneyland was much different through the eyes of a parent. Lesson learned - Disney crammed into one day makes for VERY grumpy people! Next time we get a hotel. No more bottles and naps in Main Street USA while trying to avoid loud parades. Erik did have a barbershop quartet all to himself - they began to sing a quiet beautiful lullaby of When You Wish Upon A Star, when they all joined in together Erik was over it - such loud schreeching they stopped mid - song. He would have been fine if they had sung one at a time.

This was also my first trip to Disneyland when I felt like a grown up. A fuddy duddy old grown up with hip pain from walking around, and feet pain. I had no desire to run from ride to ride and get on as many things as possible. I have embraced middle age - there is no fighting it anymore. I am 41. I hope this decade is nice

I'll do my best to post more often from now on!

*Special Thanks to my brainy cousin Sara for figuring out how to re size my masthead!*