More Updates

Pics from New West Fest!

Yes...that's a big boy haircut! Went to family dinner on thursday and auntie Christie cut my hair. Cousin Cavyn can walk as well as me and Cousin Maddox is a big boy too! I had fun with my family!

Sunday Update

This weekend Adrian went to the Loveland Corn Festival with Uncle Hayride and Daddy and Mommy! Yummy! The Fairgrounds park in LVLD has a wonderful play and water park area. I'll have to go back! Adrian had a blast! Last weekend we went to New West Fest...but cranky pants and mommy left early then went back later to pick up daddy who stayed with g'ma and g'pa and auntie and unks!

So the tuna things didn't quite work out as I hoped. They stayed soft. HHHMMM....Adrian picked at them but mainly mushed them around his tray then threw them on the floor.

Just cleaned up the freezer and consolidated all the frozen baby food I've made into one spot and jarred them up for easy access for meals. Still have quite a lot. I've smooshed fruit and filled jars 1/2 full so they're easy to add yogurt to...just like the store but without the extra sugar. He loves dates and yogurt, bananas and blueberries and yogurt. Also made green beans and swiss chard vegies to freeze for A. This morning we had oj, frozen strawberry, banana yogurt smoothies with a bowl of cheerios. YUM!!

He's a testing toddler. He throws things off his tray and hits when he's tired or over excited. I use timeout-either away from me (also called a natural consequence) such as he can't sit and play piano with me b/c he hit me. He walked ((yes WALKED hehehe) away crying and I said 'no hitting' and ignored him. Then he came back and we tried again. Same thing-just testing me to see if I'll be consistent or if he can get away with whatever he wants. He eventually stopped crying and played with his other toys. Sometimes he gets timeout in his crib when he won't stop hitting and chases you down just to hit you. Then it's 1 minute per year of age in his crib. He cries and has to stop in order for me to pick him up. Of course I reinforce 'be gentle'. I hate the word "NO" especially repeated for everything in unecessary circumstances. I have to remind those around him that 'no' is not a necessary word unless he's hurting himself or others...and then on top of that you can't just sit there and yell 'no'. You have to redirect him-show him the right way or a new thing to do. He's a baby for crying out loud...you have to teach him! Yelling 'no' does not teach!

Has refused an AM nap for the last 2 weeks and it is impossible to get him to sleep unless driving. Oh well...I always wanted a baby who took nice naps and so far he has but.....now he's a toddler and gets to make some of the rules I guess. He sure is whiney and cranky and miserable but there's no reasoning with a toddler!

He must take a little nap before we go to Adeline's 4 year b-day party or he'll fall asleep in the car on the way there. He's still fussing (2nd try)...1/2 hour now. Sounds sleepy and stubborn...moaning 'aaawoooooo' and babbling to himself. I think it only took him 40 min to fall asleep...woohoo...stubborn child takes after his father...both being Tauruses makes sense I guess.

Loves sitting on his potty!!! So cute and just practice...he doesn't get the connection yet and of course doesn't have the physical abilty yet either. He know's it's his though!

Adrian loves singing karaoke with Granma.

Work is super busy these days and I'm a little overwhelmed attempting to juggle the needs and newness of my new caseload! I wish the weekend was longer.

Kitty Cat Sitting....One for you, One for me. Yes that's a bite of cat food!

Making Toddler Food

I make Adrian's food still for the most part and I make it seperate b/c I work full time and can't always ensure we will be eating as healthy as I want him to. And he's still a little 'gaggy' with some foods.
Anyways, I've made chicken nuggets with spices and rolled the chopped chicken mixed with egg and spices into seasoned bread crumbs by the spoonfulls then baked for 12 minutes, freeze and heat and serve like store bought kind.
Today I made 'fish sticks'. I mixed a can of tuna with some tomato paste, can of veggies, some brussel sprouts and zucchini, an egg and some flax seed and brown rice baby cereal. The consistency I like is that similar to hamburger patties. I use egg and brown rice cereal to get this consistency. The egg helps the balls stay together also. I add seasoning such as garlic powder, parsley and pepper. Also parmesan cheese adds some good flavor. I rolled spoonfulls in a bread crumb/brown rice cereal and spices mix, baked and frozen. Simple and healthier. Took me 15 minutes.
Any meat/tofu and seasoning or vegie and meat and seasoning will work! It's fun and I feel accomplished! Adrian also enjoys them as much as store bought chicken nuggets and hopefully is healthier b/c of it.

FYI

If you get an email link when this blog is updated, be sure to click on the link or go to http://neshamah.blogspot.com to view pictures and videos b/c I don't think they come through the emails. Love, Neshamah

Garage Sailing-Saleing-Saling?

Whatever it's called~I enjoy it. I got 4 nice quaility shirts for $2.75 total, some big rugs to protect the carpeting, some shoes for Adrian and a pair of jammies, a file box to organize Adrian's 'stuff' I'm keeping for him such as first artwork and doctor visit sheets, etc. I'm a collector of everything so if I dont' keep it organized it piles up in boxes and soon gets out of control. I almost scored an art easel for kids but it was gone by the time I made it to the sale. Oh well, next time! I usually go out with a general idea of stuff I want to find. I'm still looking for a butter dish, some leap pad books/cartridges for Adrian's new leap pad, cheap quality clothes of course, an art easel now, king size bed frame, art for the walls if I see something I love. I try not to buy a bunch of junk I'll never use and so far I've done well. I've probably spent no more than $75 all summer and gotten some useful cool things. I love the mirrors I found and it's nice not having to buy new clothes or shoes when there are perfectly good barely used ones for $.10-$.50 each!
And if I get a spot right next to the house to park, Adrian takes a nap while I go shopping! He will stay asleep too when I carry him to bed when we get home! Some kids don't do that so I'm pretty lucky.
I stayed up late cleaning my house last night. Probably not the best idea since I don't get to sleep in anymore and Mr. Adrian doesn't 'do' morning naps so much anymore. He's combined them into one LONG one 2.5-5 hours long. I wish he'd just take 2 but I guess he's in charge of himself and their's no changing that. All I have to do today is put away laundry, vacuum, and mop...which I should be doing right now...or should I be napping also? That sounds better.

Cat Sitting

We are cat sitting for a friend this week until next Friday. 2 cats that look like cows with names of Cow and Mabel! They are warming up to us and didn't run and hide tonight when I visited them (they are quarantined to the 'inside cat' room). We have 4 cats, one named turtle and one named cow, 2 outside and 2 inside kinds, 2 dogs and another nieghborhood one that wanders into our yard, even a loose pit bull that likes to eat children from what I hear, and more than the usual number of neighborhood children. We may all develop identity crises at any moment now and even forget who lives where. How exciting is your Friday night compared to that?

Adrian is walking!! He has over this week started walking more and more and crawling less and less and today we've seen by far the most walking ever! It seems to be his main mode of transportation at this point! He walked across the entire street by himself-with dad and mom beside him of course. He fell 3 times but stood back up by himself and continued walking. We have a toddler on our hands now. What happened to my baby?

I love that he is such a happy laughing jokester these days too! He babbles and laughs at himself on car rides. He loves piggy back rides and tickle fights.

He gets frightened when Barry and I play around and tickle each other...he thinks we're hurting each other and starts to almost cry out of fear. Such a sad sight.

It's the weekend of New West Fest!

We found out Auntie Ronnie soon to be Mrs. Auntie Ronnie can't come out as we hoped at the end of the month :( Understandable but still sad.

Precocious

Fort Fun

Union Day at Fort Fun! Thanks Grandma!
July 2009

Long Update!

We love to go to the concerts in Civic Center Park on Thurday evenings from 6-8. They have a different kind of music every time and Adrian likes to splash in the fountain and climb on the rocks, cheer on the band by yelling right next to them and watch all the hundreds of children running after giant balls and dancing. Daddy sometimes comes with us and Aunt Laurie came last week also.

Adrian loves his musical instruments and drumming on everything. He sings too! Daddy shows him how to play the baritone ukelele and the harmonica and drums. The piano is a favorite activity also. He'll have to take lessons in a couple years.

We love to play outside! Still a favorite daily activity and mommy got Adrian a "sliding pond" as those out East might call them, for $2 at a garage sale.

Cousin Cavyn and Adrian Playing with New Toy...Naked...Because it's more fun that way!

Mom's been garage sale-ing a lot lately. Found a potty seat for $1, a folding potty seat for $1, some clothes usually $.25 a piece, and other cool stuff for super cheap...things I would never buy new like the toy vacuum Adrian loves or the toyhouse with a bucket full of peoples and furniture.

On that note: yes I let my son play with babies, with a toy house and little people, with my make up and hair brushes, etc. There is nothing that I won't let him play with b/c all children need to mimic what they see in their lives in order to learn. I want him to someday think it's ok to care for children, to want to be in a helping profession, to not be limited to anything by social boundaries so I let him play with what some might call "girl" toys. And if a kid's going to be gay it's not because they played with one toy or another or ever had a pink sippy cup despite what you might believe.

Adrian tests boundaries sometimes. He understands no and is a great listener. He follows quite a few commands such as 'come here' or 'be gentle' and understands other cues such as 'eat' or 'blankie' etc... He's been signing all done for quite some time now and just started signing 'more' 'eat' 'milk' and 'please.' For 'more' he uses as a sign for 'more' but also for 'want'. He points to something and then signs 'more'. It's great-that's a two word phrase right there. He signs please if you show him. At first he was using more for everything, including all done but now understands the difference. He mimics sounds a lot and you could swear he copies words sometimes. He says 'gog' and 'woof', 'gat' and 'meaooooooow' in a high pitched voice, shakes his head 'no' when he doesn't want something, and the same old other stuff he's been doing. He waves goodbye pretty consistently now and says 'hello' on the phone. We think he's pretty smart!

Reading is pretty important for a kid's success in school. We read but not as much as I'd like. Adrian enjoys reading and will pick out books to read. He'll sit quietly and turn pages and look at books also.

He loves his aunts and uncles and g'parents and cousins! He gets excited to see them! Barry thinks he likes me more than him (it's probably true since we're still breastfeeding in the AM and Nights). I told Barry that's normal and he'll get over that and like him by next year probably. It's a normal trend kids go through-prefering one parent over the other depending on the stages they're going through.

Adrian's been fighting naps these days. He usually will nap 2 hrs around 9am and 2 hrs around 2pm. If you don't lay him down right when he gets sleepy he'll fight it and maybe not nap. Thur and Fri he slept 5 hrs straight for Amber (babysitter). Who knows. Babies still need 2 naps until about 18 months then they usually only take one nap in the afternoon. Depends on the kid though.

Adrian feeds himself with a spoon or fork. He loves yogurt; we sometimes add almond butter and honey! He doesn't love to eat and he takes awhile to start eating so it takes patience to feed him sometimes. He's picky about actually eating but will eat almost anything. He gags pretty easily and will throw everything up if he gags. No fun since it took awhile to get him to actually eat in the first place usually.

We've had a couple pooping on the floor incidents: not wearing a diaper and then mom gets preoccupied doing something like the dishes, next thing you know there's poop on the floor. Not too big a deal-better than pooping in pants during potty training episodes. The floor's easier to clean at least. I'm not looking forward to potty training. I let Adrian play with his little potty and he thinks it's fun to take apart. I showed him how to sit on it and then he pooped on the floor 2 minutes later...he's too quick for me. I need better timing. I do have some supplies for potty training but he probably won't show interest for another few months at least.

Lee Martinez Farm

Aug 1st Mommy took Adrian to Lee Martinez Farm aka "the Farm" with Lexi, Jacki, and Julian and their g'ma and mom. The big girls got to ride horses and Adrian will too when he's 2! Adrian fed goats and sheep and chickens and cried when mommy took him away from the chickens! Drinking water from the pump was great and all the kids pumped the water for Adrian!

15 Months and Counting...

not steps if you're wondering. Still testing out the whole walking thing.

Adrian likes to show off his walking especially in the grass or on thick carpet. He's pretty good about wanting to hold a hand and walk, but on his own is more timid. It's just faster to get around crawling. Sometimes when the grass is wet, it forces him to stand up and crawl. He's got great balance and can stand unnassisted for long periods of time, even while swinging bats or playing with dogs, etc.