Big bang and the aftermath

The bigger they get, the harder they fall- right? Or perhaps with kids it should go, the bigger they get the more often they fall. MR had his first big bang-up today when he and the side table had a throwdown. I'm pretty sure mister came out on the worse end of the fight, though he didn't seem to notice or mind. In fact, right after the initial crying from impact he continued to be as happy as a clam and didn't even seem to be aware that he had a large swelling protuberance above his right eye topped with a bright red slash. Not quite a gash, but a little worse than a scratch. Bets are on that it will be a black eye by morning.


I think our parental psyche was more damaged than the kiddo, in any emotional sort of way. We will have to see if he takes notice of his battle scar tomorrow. In other news, things are looking a little bright around here. MR's cold seems to be in retreat (knock knock KNOCK on wood), and so he has been slowly returning to his sweet and independent self. The house stuff is also getting better too. We did put an offer on a house, had it accepted... and then we turned it down. It was a beautiful house and it was in a lovely location BUT we realized after much heartwrenching discussion that it simply would not meet our space needs for more than four years at the most. It was only a four bedroom, the fourth being a study space located on the main floor next to the door. Not exactly ideal for ever being used as a bedroom. So as much as we loved the house, we just had to let it go. We are hoping to stay in this next house for atleast the next six or seven years, and we need it to comfortable accommodate any expansions we might have in this family of ours. I said things were better though, right? Well we do have another house, a five bedroom, in mind at present. All that remains is to put in an offer for this one and see where it leads us. Here's hoping we keep moving forward with all this, and in a positive direction. We're ready for a home of our own.

Running low

It's been a week, a weekend, heck even a day. Whatever the increment, it has been long. We had some great things happen this week. We had our anniversary, for which BL gave me an incredibly thoughtful gift and we did get to go out and have a lovely dinner. We also found out that we have the means to buy a home of our very own, so we have been experiencing the highs of searching for a house. Then again, we have also been suffering from the lows of that search too. Fortunately we are both much of the same mind as to what we want out of a house, but the physical and mental aspects of all the looking has really taken it's toll. Not to mention that we (willingly) opened our choices up to the criticism of our parents, so that was fun. The cherry on top of this, MR is sick. He is pushing through some more molars, and I thought that his congestion was at first because of this. What he has now is some full blown phlegmy coughing and a very runny nose, all leaving him a stage five clinger and never more than a step away from another tantrum. Again, fun. I am exhausted.

It was supposed to be a fun weekend too, I had some old friends come into town for Portland's brewfest and some general catching up. We did manage a quick dinner and a short hello when the kiddo was still in decent shape, but other than that the weekend was largely a loss. I felt bad for my baby and I felt bad for me. Sad, right? Right now I am just hoping for a happier boy in the morning and some good news on the home front tomorrow.

Wordless Wednesday: Michelin baby, One year ago

Happy Anniversary

Happy second anniversary baby, here's to the years we have seen and those yet to come. There are exciting things afoot and so much more in store for us and our little family.

Thanks goodness I have you to hold my hand through it all. I love you.

Catching up

It may just be me but I always feel like I am trying to catch up here. I swear we don't really do that much, but before I know it half a week and all it's occurrences have passed. Summertime does bring more photo opportunities, but still. It seems like I have to smush together so many different things into one post to regain my footing and catch up on time. Not that this will stop me from serving up a mishmash once again.

The MR has been getting lots of quality outdoor time lately. My parents have a wonderful backyard and there are several great parks nearby that the kiddo is just in love with. We went to one this past Friday when I was so lucky as to get off of work early.

His favorite parts of this particular park is the swings and the bark chips. He likes the swings for their swinginess and the bark chips for the eating, yes I said eating. Poor kid puts a handful in his mouth and then tries to extract the offending chips with a still bark covered hand. You would think this would deter him from a repeat act, but you would think wrong.

I think it is also important to mention that my child has a milkshake addiction. There is a local chain of fast food around here that uses all local produce and has THE best milkshakes ever. MR is enjoying the remains of my fresh raspberry shake above. As soon as he spies the cup he will toddle over and smile sweetly, knowing full well he will be sharing the dregs of our drink. Once he gets his hands on the cup though he is all business, and he doesn't take kindly to any direction or correction in how best to use the straw in this situation.

And last but not least, we went to another wedding this weekend. This should be our last for this year, which is good because I can only get so much mileage out of one dress. We ended up not taking the kiddo with us as it was a five hour drive and to the wedding location and we didn't really envision that going over to well with our 15 month old. We had a great time and were glad to share in our friends day, it had been a long time coming for them as the groom was one of the many whose deployments to Iraq was extended consequently missing their original wedding date.

Coming up this week: Our anniversary and house hunting!

Wordless Wednesday- Book Thief

*taken by my mom at the library storytime today, as my son ran away with his book.

Another good weekend

Not much to say beyond what the pictures can show. Another sunny weekend filled with sweet outdoor adventures. Summer + baby = fun.

Quince

MR is fifteen months old today. He also said the word yellow for the first time today too, though to be completely accurate he actually said lello. He has a book of colors that uses different animals to demonstrate the different hues. Lion is yellow. Tonight while I was getting him ready for bed and we were brushing his teeth he looked down at his toothbrush, pointed at the little lion on it, and said 'Lello'. I asked him what color the lion is, he looked at me and then the lion and said it again, 'Lello'. Now the question is does he only think lions are lello, or does he recognize the color lello in general. Time will tell.

It is incredible, this last week alone has been monumental in the mister's development. He suddenly has a vocabulary and he is walking everywhere. He does a thousand little endearing things that serve to remind me that he is growing and learning. He knows where his hair is and he knows that a brush is meant to be used on said hair. He knows shoes go on feet and hats go on heads, he also gets very frustrated when these items don't go on quite as he plans. He's been trying to use a fork lately, his favorite utensil by the way, but he often tries to use it with the tines facing the wrong direction. It's a start, but he also does not like to be corrected. He is a very independent little boy.

He has also become a very sweet and affectionate little bug. He waves hi and bye, and we are trying to teach him how to give kisses. One time I took a piece of grass and used it to tickle his upper lip. He made the most adorable little hissing sound in lieu of a giggle, smiling because it tickled. Now every time he picks up a stray piece of paper or bit of string he will hold it up to his lip and make his hiss hiss sound, then come over smiling to try and tickle us with his treasure.

I can't imagine what else our little man has in store for us, he has already shown us so many new and amazing things in such a short period of time. Happy fifteen months sweet bear.

Wordless Wednesday: My child the librarian

Or what happens when MR wears Nana's glasses

Walking and talking

These kids grow up so fast, I just can't believe it. We went out to BL's family cabin in Idaho for the fourth of July (and BL's 26th!) and by the time we came back we had a walking and more talkative child. It's amazing. The first day we got there the MR started taking five or six steps at a time in between the furniture. By the end of the day he was making strides towards crossing whole rooms. The next day he woke up and just started walking, and he hasn't stopped since. Frankly it's a little frightening, he is so able and mobile he just goes where he wants. Which, were we in our own tidy little childproofed home, wouldn't be a problem. But we are not, we are in my parents house surrounded by unlocked cabinets and expensive knick-knacks. *Gulp*

My little goob started picking up more words too, at an amazing rate. To be added to his list-o-vocab are the words: car, tree, bird, and tweet. I myself have heard car and tree (btw, he loves cars), but my dad is the only one who has heard the bird and tweet. I am just so blown away how quickly and suddenly my little kiddo has blossomed in just the past few weeks.

Our little holiday was pretty enjoyable. BL's parents have a cabin on Lake Hayden, it's a nice little retreat that we haven't had a chance to really enjoy for the past year what with moving and BL's dad's cancer. We all needed a break. For the majority of the trip it was just the three of us and BL's parents, the last few days BL's brother came to join us as well. The first day there was stressful, as usual, but once the MR got used to things he had a really great time. BL's parents had a contractor come out and fence in the deck area so that there was a safe enclosed space for the kiddo to play in outside. This little haven was perfect, we spent the majority of our time there playing with all the new water toys MR's nana got him. Good thing this kid isn't spoiled.

Here's the (long) weekend in pictures:

And the walking man...kind of slow and quiet, but the walking happens at the end. Btw, he is light years faster than this now. Scary.

Life update

So I haven't really done much (or any) updating on my life in the greater scheme of things. Mostly because things have evened out and there isn't really much to update on, but also because I think it would end up sounding like a broken record. We are still here with my parents, though it hasn't even been quite two months it often feels like longer. It took a lot of readjusting for all of us to learn how to live "comfortably" under the same roof. I use parentheses because there are still glaring areas of discomfort, mostly focused around my lazy-ass brother and the obvious anxieties that come along with trying to live amongst other people's belongings with a toddler. We have come back around to a semblance of a schedule with the mister, which makes everything a little bit better. He has finally accommodated to his new surroundings and really seems to be thriving in his new proximity to all of the family members (both in and out of this house).

BL has been extremely diligent in his search for a job, a process that has had both highs and lows. The great thing is that in the small period of time that we have been here there has been an exponential increase in the number of interviews and opportunities that he has been fielding. We spent almost a year prior to moving with him trying to find a job remotely and he only went on one interview. Since the move he has been on atleast four or five, and he continues to find more options. Of course the downside is that none of these has come to fruition. One offering turned out to be a scam, the latest possibility just wouldn't produce sufficient income soon enough. I continue to be impressed by BL's ability to rebound and endure through all of this, he really has thrown himself wholeheartedly into this search. Good things are bound to happen.


As for me, I am continuing to adjust myself to being back in the office and away from my baby. I have gotten used to the new schedule, and I do enjoy the interaction and reason to shower daily, but it is still incredibly hard to walk out that door every morning knowing that I won't see my sweet boy's face for another eight hours. It's hard, especially at this age when so many changes are occurring and my little guy is growing bigger every day.


Speaking of the MR, he has been doing big things as of late. He has started walking small distances unassisted. He won't use walking as a consistent mode of transportation, but he has taken up to ten steps forward all on his own. We figure his continued hesitance is more of a mental block. He is more than physically capable, he will literally run in circles while holding one of our hands. It is just hard for him to compute that our hands are not what is keeping him upright, his little legs are. The kiddo has also started building up his vocabulary. He now says hi, bye, more, dog, dada, mama (sounds more like meh-meh), and best/worst of all - ow. He started saying ow because I said ow when he bit me one day. I stood him in front of me and told him no, ow, biting hurts mama. And what does the little booger do? Looks me straight in the eye, grins, and says loud and clear 'Ow!'. He continues to mock me with this particularly when he is feeling impish or extra tired.


To top this off and call it good here are some pictures from the past weekend. It has been hot and sunny round here and we have been taking full advantage of it all. We took a walk down to the local farmer's market with a couple of our childless friends on Saturday, and then on Sunday we met back up with our other pair of friends who have the sweetest little girl Mae. She is a little over ten months old and brimming with vitality. She and the MR have had playdates off and on over the past months but this was the first time where their age difference didn't seem to matter since she can now crawl around on her own. Overall a pretty good way to spend a weekend.