Busy Boy

Maddox and Adrian

Pony Rides at the Farm
Adrian, Rowan, Maddox at the Farm

Swinging-Library Park

Chicken Fingers-a whole new meaning

Goofball

Flying Goofball

"GAGA!"

Posing with his babies "Cheese"

Avery Park

Pretending to be tough guys

Pretending to be a rabbit

Water that little brain...

Devilish Grin--so excited to fly on an airplane (Oct 29 to Nov 5 to NJ) and have his own suitcase

Puzzle Practice...smart boy

Autumn is upon us...the cool air in the morning and the heat during the day and then confusion by evening...how am I supposed to dress for this weather...well...take it from Adrian...sweatshirt and flip-flops covers all potential.

Counting to 9: 1-2-3-laugh, 4-5-6-laugh, 7-8-laugh, 9!!!

Knows red, white, green, orange, and sometimes yellow. Learning blue and black and purple and all others.

Loves rocket ships, dinosaurs, cars and trucks and especially 'wooowooos' aka 'firetrucks' because he's "Adrin" (as he says it) and a 'Fighter'. At the video store, Adrian got to see a firetruck and ambulance and ems help someone who passed out. Since he sat and watched the whole time until the unblocked our car, he got two stickers and a fireman told him that he's a 'junior fire fighter'! He was so excited he could barely say 'thank you' and stood there with his mouth hanging open and was practically drooling (which he does when he's concentrating very hard on something).

Must be rocked to sleep at night (he gets one minute or twenty rocks and then falls fast asleep in his bed with his new pillow he calls 'squish').

And what happened to letting him dress himself, well sometimes it's just faster to help a 2 year old...patience is key at this age. Even I find myself saying 'hurry' and know that's not fair or even comprehendable to a two year old. Sometimes we race but I must always give myself time for him to observe and learn aka be distracted by every little thing and turn a run into the library into a field trip to explore the elevator, bathroom and all the rows of books while attempting to play hide and seek. No Daddy did not get any movies or books...somewhere my patience goes out the window and that was it...but I figure Daddy didn't miss what he didn't have and also it's the thought that counts...but we didn't want to tell him that or else he would have missed what he didn't have...I know him.

What else: Talking up a storm, singing songs, 'what's that? what's this?', proud of himself, shows off, loves to jump, run races, still has good manners-is now saying 'you're welcome' if someone says thank you to him, loves to use public restrooms whenever we're out-doesn't miss a chance, PRETENDING-so cool to watch him talk to his people, cars, Loves the dogs and enjoys having licking wars with Harley-so gross I know, Also drinks out of the dog's water bowl like a dog-also not encouraged, does chores with mommy and daddy like pick up toys, fill the dog's water bowl, the cat's food bowl, and help put dishes away, cook/mix/makes coffee. Very helpful...I should probably have more if they can all be this helpful.

Anyways... still only 3 feet tall and 27.8 lbs...but that brain sure is growing.

Jumping Castle

Tour de Fat 2010 Fort Collins

A PRACTICE RUN

Adrian and Barry had a blast at Tour de Fat! Barry of course built a contraption and rode it backwards much of the time. Adrian had fun...he's a people watcher!


THE REAL RUN





All while Mommy was in Wisconsin at friends Monica and Brandon's wedding with friends Patti and Erin. Adrian did great and had a fun weekend with Daddy :) Got to see Milwaukee and a lake with waves, eat cheese curds and enjoy some time away with the girls.

September

We're going to NJ from Oct 29 to Nov 5th for Ronnie and Romi's Halloween Wedding! Adrian's going to be a ring bearer :)

Adrian can now recognize red and green and can point them out consistently. Driving in the car, he says 'green go!' when the light turns green.

This weekend I'm going to WI to a friend and coworker's wedding. Adrian is staying home with daddy and they are riding bikes in Tour de Fat!!
Happy Labor Day Weekend!

August

I would like to ask 'where has August gone?' actually 'where has the summer gone?' It's getting dark earlier and getting cooler...except yesterday which was 98 degrees.

My Adrian is getting big and talking a lot. Things are going well though and he's a good boy...I count 1-2-3 and then he gets a consequence. He usually listens by 2. Doesn't really bother him but it gives him a choice at least. My biggest issues I discipline for 1. not listening to mommy when mommy says to do something 2. Running away from mommy in public and not wanting to hold hands or sit in cart. 3. Biting, hitting, pinching, scratching. Timeout still works and he usually stays for at least a minute or two...always says sorry too. He says sorry if you get hurt and he was in the other room. He says excuse me, when rushing or squeezing past someone, he says thank you to everything he gets and bless you when you sneeze. He has the best manners :)
Had our first night time accident last night...of course it was in mommy and daddy's bed but on daddy's side...haha. I now have two mattress pads on our bed...since he often ends up there still. He's taken a liking to Dinosaurs!!! He likes to read about and watch "my Caillou" as he calls it. Likes toy trains. train stories, Thomas the Train, and real trains! Also enjoys 'Little Einsteins' show. He actually likes TV in general and is a TV head. It bother's me and he doesn't get to watch too much but he definitely watches more than I though I'd ever be ok with. I did not grow up with a TV in the home until I was at least 12. It makes me feel good that he LOVES to read. Went to the library this evening to pick out books.
Signing off till next update....too tired to think anymore.

27 Months Old

Adrian is fully potty trained since July 26th...All night, All day, Everyday! We don't wear diapers anymore!!!! Rarely have accidents either although those may happen.
The secret to our success: he's a genius! Maybe, but we just started potty training around 18 months with standing at the potty to pee then the last week or two of July we encouraged him to poop on the potty (or accidently on the floor or outside...)since we just didn't put a diaper on him at home most of the time. Anyways...he was easy and some kids just are. A trick for wiping-have him touch his toes.
Now what to do with my diaper stock pile.....??? Well, some ideas are that we can pretend Adrian is a baby and put a diaper on him as he really really wanted last night....just to rip it promptly off...or we could dress every stuffed animal in a diaper...the dog and Hamburger the cow had one on too last night.

PHASES and ACCOMPLISHEMENTS OF A TWO YEAR OLD:
1. Crying and Whining
2. Hitting and Pinching and Scratching
3. Putting Self in Timeout when Naughty
4. Blowing Rasberries on Mommy at Innapropriate Times and Places (Like my Face or Foot)
5. Loves To Read, Color, Play PlayDo, Practice Cutting with Scissors
6. Playing with Friends and Cousins
7. Singing :)
8. Dressing Self and Undressing Self (Even in the Restaurant Waiting for our To Go Order) including Putting Shoes On and Off By Himself
9. Buckling Self Into Carseat
10. Sitting Still During Haircuts and No Longer Getting Hysterical

Potty Trained....Almost

My little boy is growing up so fast. He wakes up dry...naps and bedtime!!! He pees in the potty all the time. He wears "unders" and can go potty by himself. He usually poops out in the back yard band sometimes in the potty but I don't think I've had to change a diaper in quite some time. I take him out places without diapers on all the time now so pretty soon we won't even use them anymore! Tonight he's wearing cloth training pants so hopefully it will be uncomfortable if he pees in the night. I still give him water at night too so I'm thoroughly impressed.
We have a sticker chart in the bathroom as well as 'chocwat' which right now is gummy frogs. He doesn't ask for 'Chocwat' if we're not at home and still successfully uses the potty.

Talking is amazing! 'Dinosaur' and all sorts of other big words and sentences. He copies whatever I say when I'm on the phone. He sings 'tinkle tinkle' and other songs. He and his cousin have conversations and use manners with each other 'please and thank you and sess you (bless you) and scuseee (excuse me)." He is also whining and throwing fits so much more. The 'throw yourself on the floor quite dramatically and cry because mommy tried to help me or touched me' kind of fits. I just walk away. Drives me craaaazy! Also kicking, throwing things at and hitting mommy and daddy when I'm mad stage is here and/or back. Timeout is instantaneous even if he misses (at least with mommy).

Adrian is also a very big helper. He helped mommy make pumpkin bread last weekend and he helps clean up and pick up and feed his toads and clean himself in the bath and water plants and find things.

We've enjoyed a bike ride and picnic in the park with Daddy last week, going to the river this past weekend, taking walks and playing with the neighbor kids, hanging out with cousin Cavyn on Mondays, and the hot weather. We have not enjoyed mommy working late hours at her demanding job, all the drama happening around us, and the fact that the summer is flying by so quickly.

Summer Fun

Hanging at the Poudre River July 18 2010

Chasing Wildlife at the Farm

Splish Splash...taking part of a photo shoot for the Coloradoan
Cousin Cavyn got to be in the newspaper as did the back of Adrian's head...next time perhaps....

Awww...cousins

Little CowPoke

June 24-28th New Jersey

Adrian did great on the airplane to NJ for PopPops 50th Birthday Camping Trip! Daddy thinks we need to get to the aiport 2 hours before our flight, mommy likes to get to the airport, get on the plane and leave! Mommy won with more than enough time to buy coffee and eat McD's for breakfast! We had to buy Adrian his own seat at full price since he's over the age of 2 and looks like he's almost 3. He sat in it most of the time. He loved going 'up up up' and eating fruit snacks to make his ears pop. We had a layover in Dallas/Fort Worth. We walked from gate C17 to C39 only to be sent back to C20. That's only a hassle when you're carting 2 carryon size suitcases, a backpack a kid backpack, a mommy bag, a carseat and a kid with no stroller who likes to walk in front of oncoming traffic and a pack mule daddy. It wasn't that bad but it sure was a hassle.
Daddy drove us out of NY city in rush hour traffic and then up to Kymer's to go camping Thursday night to Sunday morning. Adrian had so much fun-making friends with all the girls in the campground, swimming, catching bugs, sleeping in the loft, dancing on the deck, getting to know his Aunt Leanne, Uncle Shane, Mima and PopPop. Also got to see Aunt Ronnie and soon to be Uncle Romi! Said hi to Great Gma Phyllis when we first got to NJ also. Cousin Neelie, Bob and Gianna, Ethan and Dylan stopped by and we all got to meet the boys. We ate delicious food every day-taylor ham sandwiches for breakfast which we miss out on living in CO, chocoloate chip pancakes, brazilian style spinner chicken :), mussels, clams, filet mignon, I could go on....we had a feast for PopPop's Birthday! Adrian helped blow out the candles on the cake
Then on Sunday morning we went to spend the day/night with mommy's family Aunt Sharon, Uncle Joe, Eric and Justin. Great Grandpa and Aunt Ann and Cousin Lauren all came over for dinner. Grandpa brought mommy a birthday cake :) We relit the candles fo Adrian to blow them out. Adrian loved all the attention and time with his family! Mommy loved having a break from work and being with family too!
Sadly on the way back, mommy left her phone and all the pictures on it in the airplane. Someone has not sent it back yet (United Airlines).

July 4th and Toads

Adrian had a blast with all the fireworks! Since it rained in the afternoon (and he didn't have a nap until 6pm till 8:30), we watched fireworks at home. Barry's friend Steve is visiting from NJ and bought $200 worth of big fireworks from WY!! The illegal kind. There was about a 3 hour show all combined. Afterwards. Adrian, mommy, granma and 'papa' drove up Horsetooth to watch all the fireworks all over Fort Collins, including the show at City Park! The day before we went to a BBQ at Aunt Laurie's and Barry made home-made salsa and Barry and Steve set off lots of fireworks there too! There was a swimming pool set up and a fire!

In other news, we found the perfect pets! Toads! Don't need to be handled...actually are mildly toxic. Feed 3x a week, water daily! Found 2 of them near Aunt Laurie's kiddie swimming pool and put them in the bug catcher. They didn't die of shock from being handled by 2 very excited little boys so we took them home and set up a terrarium in Adrian's room. He was so excited the first night that he actually slept next to the little cage all night! What a perfect cuddly pet toads make :) Little did I know they could live 10 years before I brought them home. What have I gotten myself into now? Just when the pet to human ratio was equaling out.

And one more...

Or so we thought it was a good idea....

Pictures....

Trying out the new undies...new hat...new boots!

Avery Park, FoCo

Loving on the daddy!

One...Two...Three...Jump!

Big climber!

What mom? What?
4 Bugs in a Bed

Summer Pics Continued...

Walking the blankie...

Oh the faces we make....

Downtown FoCo...sitting on a bear!

__________________________________________________________

That fountain does not look safe to me....

RRRUUUUNNNN!

June Pictures: Enjoying Summertime!

Cowboy Bob!

Farmer loves his sheep.

Playing at Gma D's with "Camyn"

Team Toddler!

Weekend Plans

Old Man Jerry Cat!

We're garage sale-ing tomorrow! Got ready for it tonight with Julie, Chris, Cavyn and Adrian! Ordered chinese and priced each and every item. Barry skipped out to go camping with Uncle Judah.

Sunday is Father's Day-We'll just BBQ here at the house. Surf and Turf on sale everywhere!!

Work is busy-lots to do in the last 3 days before we leave! I don't even have time to plan our trip at this point...which reminds me that I need to pack this weekend also.

Adrian is not sleeping well in his big boy bed. He wakes up an average of 7 times a night which means I wake up at least 7 times a night. He said he wanted his crib back tonight so I propped the rail against his bed and he talked himself to sleep and didn't cry once. I think we like the crib idea still and aren't ready for the big boy bed just yet. Fine with me if I get some sleep ;) There is no need to grow up fast, that will come soon enough.

Still doing well, peeing in the potty. Now he says 'come see' and demands 'chocwat'!

Another current cute saying is 'I see you!' and "I hide.'

Adrian is so tall at 35" that everyone always compares their three and four year olds to him. He's gonna be tall like his grandads!

Anyways...must be up early to set up the garage sale so I better go to bed now! Hopefully Adrian will sleep in and I'll sleep all night :)

25 Months

Adrian is a big talker these days...oh wait...he's always been a big talker. He says things like 'are you ok?' 'what's happening?' "I want chokwat' (chocolate), 'I want wimins' (vitamins). 'I want outsiiiide."
He's refusing to sit in his high chair anymore and prefers to sleep in "mommy's bed". Last night he was kicking Barry out of bed, no matter where Barry tried to lay, he threw a fit and kept kicking and subsequently landed in his own bed. Tonight he dissapeared and I found him curled up in the dark on my bed ready for sleep. He has not been falling right to sleep since his 2 year bday. He'll stay up and talk for at least 20 minutes no matter when I put him down...I've tried earlier and I've tried later.
He's getting better at eating more textures...didn't spit any grapes out tonight. Usually he gets thrown off by skins or tougher textures. Dip Dip helps most things go down though. Still loves fruit, yogurt, avocados, hotdogs, and soy soy (soymilk). He's an all around healthy eater though and will try anything.
He's only 35" tall. I measured the other day...after the doctor visit had him measured at 36". And I thought he was getting taller.
Adrian pees in the potty whenever he's running around naked. Unless he's outside-somehow little boys think it's ok to pee whereever they are when outside. I never even encouraged it. Weird. No pooping in the potty yet though. He still baracades himself in the corners arranging all sorts of furniture around him. I try reasoning with the 2 year old that the bathroom is much more private and that I can still see him despite his attempts. One step at a time: in the bathroom is number one.
I've been working a lot lately-9 hours every day for the last couple weeks. Not too bad since we spend time together in the morning and then Barry has more time with him in the evening. Makes for a rushed dinner/bedtime routine though. Luckily I have an excellent cook for a husband!

June 24-28 we're headed to NJ! We're going out to celebrate PopPop's 50th Birthday!

Big Boy Update

My baby has a stuffy nose :(
He's been sleeping through the night lately which is fun news!
He took off a poopy diaper for Barry this evening and said "stinky" and threw it in the trash...now all we have to do is the toilet practice part. He pees in the potty on his own if he's naked otherwise he just wets his pants or diaper. We run around naked a lot and he'll go when he needs to. Still haven't mastered pooping on the potty yet though.
He's talking up a storm. He's whining a little less as we went through a whiney period.
He loves visiting Gma D on Mondays and taking walks with Gma and Papa on nice days!

Adrian went to his friend Ashden's birthday party last Saturday.

Smarty Pants

Adrian introduced me to the stranger standing in line at the store this evening...pointing...'that my mommy'! What a social bug he is!
He's starting to show more of his likes and dislikes. He knows what he wants...but he's stubborn and doesn't want to say please first or to sit in his carseat. He wants to get his mommy to get him things without asking with manners and he wants to sit in the front seat instead of his carseat.
In the morning when we make our usual turns to Papa and Grammy's house, he says 'no that way' and tries to get me to take him with me to work. He says it before we turn which makes me think he has his father's sense of direction, and not my sense of confusion. Probably a good thing.
When I dropped him off to Gma D's on Monday, his face lit up and he waved wildly, "Hi! Hi!" then ran to climb into the carseat without being asked twice. "Bye Mom!" What a treat to have extended family in his life almost daily!
Uncle Bobby left today on the greyhound bus for Portland. Next stop: Alaska! Working for Princess Cruise Ships/Hotels for the summer with some friends! We'll see him again in September. Adrian is already missing him. He loves his uncle "Bobbo" "Bobby" "BobBob"...whatever name of the day he decides to call him!

Tall and skinny

Went to the Dr. Capes for our 2 year well check Friday evening. Opted out of the chicken pox vaccine as well as the flu vaccines this year. Everything about Adrian looks good. He's a little skinny for his height but no concerns...26lbs puts him at 36th percentile for weight while 36inches tall puts him at 90th percentile for height. Dry bumpy skin (inherited from mom)-should decrease the baths and use Eucerin lotion daily. Which we use anyway. Doesn't have to see a dentist till 3 years old.

Height Predictor Adrian will likely be 6 ft 2 in by the age of 18. Both great grandfathers are very tall, as well as lots of tall people scattered throughout both sides of the family.

Today I made lima bean soup, spinach mashed potatoes, and sweet potato applesause to freeze for Adrian's healthy lunches (and dinners when we're running late). I still cook, puree, freeze in baby food jars some of his food because he eats it best when it's mush. I don't care as long as he eats healthfully and I don't have to substitute junk for organic or natural fruits and vegies and protein options. Making it is WAAAY cheaper than buying the 50%+ watered down baby food at the store. I froze individual (baby food jars) sized servings of edamame for Adrian in chicken stock with a dash of soy. Ready to eat! I also made some banana bread and steam cleaned the upstairs and cleaned out 1/2 the refridgerator. Sometimes I forget to finish a task when I have too many going... I also intended on making a couple dishes of lasagna to freeze for weekday dinners but alas got carried away with the rug cleaning. Adrian ran mad dashes and crazy circles on the wet carpet for at least 1/2 hr straight and still didn't want to go to sleep past regular bedtime hour.

Last night I gave Adrian a bath, then hopped in the shower with him to rinse off myself. We got out and he went downstairs to run in circles naked all the while screeching at the top of his lungs (you could call this activity 'normal' in our house)....then I hear the door open and then the screen door slam. I barely got my robe on before I run outside and he was already at the sidewalk and as soon as he saw me, dashed straight into the street. He was still naked and it was just getting dark outside. Of course a neighbor is walking their giant dog and our dogs get out and the other neighbor dogs have to walk over to investigate. 5 dogs, a naked baby, mom in her bathrobe barely and a neighbor (who we don't know well enough to chat with while barely dressed). My cat Turtle, was probably outside also because he never likes to miss a chance to take a walk with his family.

Needless to say, this fun hullabaloo was followed by a 'timeout'. It is so hard to impress my fear of Adrian getting run over to a two year old, who answers that 'I want out' and is 'all done' with timeout. 'Fun, mom. Thanks but done now...next activity could be you chasing me and wrestling me down to brush my teeth. That makes you laugh, you say because now you are happy I have clean teeth but I think because you think you've won! Wahahaha!'

Another new fun 2 year old activity is 'breaking bowls'. 2 in 2 days. 'Is mom going to assume I learned my lesson and give me another expensive, special, ceramic bowl, or has she learned her lesson and will now only use cancer ridden plastics to serve me my nutritious and delicious snacks?'

Some other new tricks include 'I pinch'. 'I scratch', and hair pulling. I'm sporting a scratch across my chest for the 'I pinch' and 'I scratch' attack. Also we're back to pushing babies over and hitting them stage. We love drawing murals on the floor and the underside of the train table. On the bright side of life, Adrian's attention span has dramatically increased....he will sit through many books in a row/all if you keep going, and long stories including Curious George at 48 pages long. Then he says 'again?'. This attention span include playing with toys, by himself, and alas, staring at the tv (although this is rare when mom is around.) Calliou, Handy Manny, Sesame Street, in spanish Plazo Sesamo, and Little Einsteins are the shows he's been allowed to watch so far. Adrian loves animal planet and discovery shows of insects and animals as well. Listing those makes it seem like he watches a lot of tv however this is not the case, nor is it encouraged.

Playing outside is still the most favorite pasttime of this 2 year old. He gets daily walks when at Papa Tim's and G'ma Linda's. There is also a park to play at, a dog run with obstacle course, a pool, and a nearby bridge to throw rocks into the water.

Adrian uses sentences...3 words and more at a time. He can say most words now. He is babbling again but in paragraphs and using some sort of jibberish that is new to our ears. He whines because he knows some will give attention for it and because some get attention for it. Monkey see, Monkey do.

This evening, he found a little black beetle and let it crawl on his hand and looked at through his bug magnifying glass. Then he set if free outside, as we had done with the spider a few days ago. What a good and useful memory!

Ok that's enough update for now..my eyes are blurrily seeing double double

"Pider"

Adrian was crying earlier..."I want more pider"...yes...we caught and let a jumping spider go free and he wanted to find more and catch them...sad day when no more spiders are to be found in the toybox :(Oh to be 2 and have no fears...I'm trying not to socialize fear into him...although I did tell him not to touch the spider b/c it would bite him out of fear for his own life. I don't think he understood yet, however that spider probably understood it was good to be very afraid of a two year old giant.

Went to Denver today, had lunch with Fabien at his elementary school! Adrian made all the children laugh over and over by running away and making Fabien chase him down to bring him back to the table. He would sneak then bolt and laugh when the other kids laughed. Fabien took Adrian and showed him off to all of his friends, his little 'cousin'.

2 Year Old: Party

Adrian is 2!!!! We had a nice bbq birthday party! Lots of people came to celebrate our baby boy! The weather even held out with a few sprinkling raindrops and we ended the night with a release of 2 of our bday balloons...they're on their way right now to visit gma and gpa in Maui! They're both red and say Happy 2nd Birthday in case you see one floating by.

Quick Update

23 Months

Adrian refers to himself as 'Addrin' and calls his cousin "Ashden" his old friend's name. He tries to say Cavyn and came up with 'Tim' somehow or another.
Adrian pees in the potty all the time like a big boy standing up! He hates wearing a diaper and will take it of any chance he gets!
His favorite activiities are playing outside, squirting water bottles, playing aka fighting with his cousin and neighbor kiddos.
Saying full sentences and more and more.
Uncle Bobby is visiting for a month :) Adrian loves his 'Uncle Bobby" and "Uncle Duuduu or Duudah" (Judah).
Only one more week of training and then I'll be done and in town all week. That will be nice since Adrian wakes at night and cries and makes Barry search the house for me. They have fun together though.

I have to start planning his Bday soon. We're doing a BBQ at the house on May 2nd Sunday!

Spring is near....

So this week is week 4 out of 8 weeks of training. I am currently down in Parker CO at the 3 days per 7 weeks of training at the University Center at Chapelle with the Buttler Institute who does some of our training. It's a great training and I'm learning a lot. Actually, despite how long it seems to take, I think that the material and time to process it is necessary. I feel lucky that I get training before being given a case load and having to figure it out as I go. The days I am now down her in Parker, I am learning in the office and shadowing activities and other workers. At times I feel pretty overwhelmed by this new responsibility and at other times I feel ready to start already.

Adrian is doing great with me being gone for so much of the time which just attests to his good relationship with his daddy. Barry even gets him to bed earlier than I do :) He must appreciate his free time more than I do...haha. They actually just called me to say goodnight a little while ago. He's back to calling me 'mommy'.

Adrian is doing such a good job being a big boy toddler. He loves spending our warm days playing outside, taking walks, stuffing his pockets and fists full of rocks. He's talking more with up to 3 word sentences. I keep thinking that by the time I'm done with all my training, he'll be talking full time. He always says 'thank you' and 'excuse me'. He is still learning to 'use his words' and tends to whine a lot as well as bite/hit/pull hair when frustrated. He's mostly good though. A great helper-he loves to wash his hands, clean up spills, mop, sweep, play with the dogs, feed the cats, put wet laundry in the dryer, help me shop. We're still working on potty training and he'll use the potty with encouragement. He's learning to tease and hide and make people laugh! I love every minute of it.

We're looking forward to nicer days for the park and walks with cousin Cavyn. They are such good buddies and play so nicely together. It's odd to see the do this since at this age, it's hard for toddlers to play 'together', if even nicely next to one another.

Feb 2010 is almost over...is it really 2010 yet?

Wow...time seriously flies. My baby is a toddler and almost 2! I've been at my job for almost 2 years now. I've been out of school for over 2 years. We've been married for 2.5 years and together for 9.5. WOW! Grandparents are in nearing 50's and some are over. How does this happen?

So today an 8.8 earthquake hit Chile. Hawaii was listening to 5 hrs of warning sirens for the expected tsunami. Thankfully no big waves hit the islands from what I know. I tried to get through to Maui forever and the lines were busy but Julie got through and all is well :)

Barry and I had a wonderful day spending time with Adrian and each other. We went to Centerra and to the LVLD Outlet Malls while Adrian napped in the car, then we took him to 'Jumpin' a jumping castle place for kids. He loved it!! Barry has been looking forward to taking him there for some time now. Adrian got so excited that he let out his high pitched squeals of joy while running from slide to toddler area to castle! It was hard to 'wait' in line and he continuously tried to cut the line. Also holding up the line is a good attention getting trick-some of those big kids don't have time and 'helped' him up by carrying him up the bouncy steps. After that we debated about where to eat and chose PF Changs for some yummy Chinese soup, dumplings, chicken and beef, and even mini desserts. We shared a big old booth so Adrian had some running room between us and kept himself occupied, only trying to get away 3 times.

Adrian got to hang out with Monica and Brandon while Barry and I went to see Avatar 3D! I love the movies :) We ate popcorn and soda and my legs only fell asleep once in the entire 3 hours. Avatar story was pretty good. Barry really enjoyed it!

Adrian Update:
What a biter! Adrian bites for attention and when he gets excited and sometimes instead of kissing.
Adrian is loving his 'daddy' time. He calls me 'mom' and he's not even two yet :( He calls to us sometimes together 'mom' and 'bar'! Cracks me up but I try not to encourage it.
He's learned to say 'bless you' and uses it when people sneeze. He said it on Monday to Julie and Grandma D, and on Tuesday to Grandma and Grandpa Tim! They call him 'genius!' He's so full of manners 'scuse me' and 'thank you' and 'please' (especially when he wants some more dessert or to go outside). He is talking more each day and loving to read, even to himself. He's also become a tv head which makes me upset. I try to minimize the tv and mute/pause the commercials. He says "I want..."
Adrian still is 25 lbs. Skinny string bean but he is eating a lot lately and looks taller! He loves fruit and chocolate! Sure sounds like the same diet I had when I was pregnant with him.
Mommy and Adrian got haircuts on Thursday! He looks like a big boy with short hair.
Anyways...tomorrow I will be packing for my long 3 days away from my family and baby :( Only 7 weeks...I'll have to plan his birthday in the interim. Save the date: May 2nd Party probably at our house.

February Updates

Weekend of Valentine's Day

Fabien's 7th Bakugan Birthday party was fun fun fun! Lots of kiddos for Adrian to follow around! I learned how to play RockBand too so that was pretty fun, not that I'm any good but at least I learned how :) Also nice to see my friend again :) I miss living next door to her.

Valentine's was fun! We hung out at home and made pink pancakes for breakfast! It was Barry's and my engagement anniversary-probably 5th...I'm so bad at remembering those things. The important thing is that it happened, right? Anyways it was our 9.5 year anniversary together.

Work

I was hired as ongoing caseworker for the county :) I'm really excited but also nervous the change in work, responsibility and a new team. Training will consist of 7 weeks with 3 days each in Parker and the other 2 here. I'm excited to be getting all the training up front, however, I'm having a little anxiety about being away from Adrian for 3 days in a row (2 nights) :( We'll survive.

Adrian

Adrian has a new caregiver routine since our Amber moved away. He goes to Grandma D's house on Mondays with Cousin Cavyn. He goes to G'ma and G'pa Tim on Tue and Wed, and to G'pa Tim on Thurs and Frid. Adrian seems taller but still weighs 25lbs...skinny boy. We practiced naked time, sitting on the potty and even wearing underwear today (that was the time he decided to go potty. Our timing is off still.) Some day I won't have to buy diapers...not that he uses that many a day, maybe 3 or 4 on average.

Adrian is such a talker! I love his voice, I love his little commands to 'sit' or 'push' (which means 'get up' as he pushes you up), 'dance'! He loves to show off, he loves to include you in his games or dancing. He enjoys playing 'ars' (cars), with the 'doggies' of course and reading 'book' after 'book' after 'book'! Snow is 'ice' and so is icecream and of course ice. We sure have a lot of that this weekend! I hope it stops and spring comes to town. Adrian is learning his colors! He likes 'red' 'boo' 'lellow' 'pupl' 'geen'! He loves anything 'fish'! I have considered getting a little goldfish but don't know if I can handle anymore responsiblity at this point in my life (unless of course it's a sibling for Adrian-then I could).

Adrian is learning to count. 'one' 'one' 'one' hmmmm. He knows about the number 1! We counted to 10 the other day together but one is still his fave. Adrian is obsessed with my belly-he hugs and kisses it and blows rasberries and tickles and likes to lay with his belly on mine. What a silly boy! He loves to get tickled and to play hide and seek, even though he sometimes hides in closets without telling us he's playing. Running around the house chasing the animals with a water spraybottle is loads of laughable fun.

Running around the store while mommy chases Adrian is also pretty funny, and turns so disappointing when he finds out that pulling all the shoes off the shelves is not ok. Also upsetting is that not everything that lands in the shopping cart can come home with us, including the fun umbrella and purple sun hat he carried/wore around Target...(what can I say, the purple hat matched his left purple toe nail).

Adrian got a ribbon for finishing his gymnastics series. We can do it again and probably will again soon! He loved making up his last session with cousin Cavyn on Friday morning since we went to Denver instead of our last Saturday session.

Whining, pretending to get owies for attention, screaming, running or walking into the street, hitting when mad, screaming when mad, and biting for fun are all toddler-isms that we're working on. Mostly though he's a good good boy! And a great helper. Still using timeout effectively.

Family

Grandpa Amato's brother, Great Uncle Andrew passed away this month. Makes me wish our family that doesn't live nearby.

We're hoping to get tickets to NJ this summer for a long weekend. PopPop will be 50!!! Aunt Ronnie is getting married to Uncle Romi! Family misses us and we miss them.

Uncle Judah came over tonight to say hi! Saved dinner by stopping to get some limes for my coconut lime rice! Made cookies and hung with Adrian who call him 'duda' and tries to get him to play our games. Uncle Duda needs 'Adrian game training' as well as 'kissing practice'. Adrian pretends to get hurt and wants kisses. Judah doesn't 'do' kisses. Aunt Sharon is getting her doctorate!!! Very exciting.

Aunt Christie is going to cut Adrian and my hair soon...we're in need. I had to actually trim Adrian's bangs today b/c they were in his eyes. His hair is growing down his neck and past his ears, which actually looks cute but needs some straightening out since I was the l ast to unprofessionally cut it. My hair hasn't even been trimmed since last summer time.

Aunt Melissa's bday is here :)

Saturday Again!

How'd that happen so fast?
We went to gymnastics again and Adrian thought it was funny to run away from his mommy. It's too bad his mommy encouraged him by laughing. It was pretty funny...sneaky pants.
We went shopping and had lunch at Whole Foods with Jami and the kiddos.
Tomorrow is superbowl! I look forward to the commercials and food. Couldn't tell you who's playing though.
Girls night tonight.

Just Another Day, A Saturday

Busy day so far...went to gymnastics this AM! Adrian had fun especially with the rings and with the ball pit. He's so fearless!
Then we went to the library...silly boy wasn't even throwing a fit or anything...just laid down and the floor and refused to keep walking at one point. I enticed him with a truck book though and strangers were kind enough to step around and over him until he was ready to move again. He liked that attention and smiled at them when they said hello to him. We even saw our friend Pam there! She's wonderful and mommy used to teach with her at UCC, but now sees her when she mentors our clients!
Then we were on our way to Whole Foods to get some tea trea oil and some special tea tree toothpicks for daddy when we were diverted by one of those guys holding a big sign and dancing on the side of the road "50% off Sale at 'Once Again Thrift Shop'. All proceeds go to Larimer County Youth. Mom got some shoes :) and a jacket and pants for only a couple bucks each and name brand stuff! Then a few throw pillows that actually match our couches for a couple bucks and some 10 cent board books for mommy's work clients and their kids.
Our next stop was whole foods. Then we checked out Bangkok Asian Market for some seaweed. Adrian was a hit there with the woman who gave us a bowl of spicy long life noodles with chicken and vegies from a cooking demo. Every Saturday at 11am there's a cooking demo! Sign me up.
Next door is a new bar and we said hello to some friends we know who were there and then we came home. Nap time was a little overdue :(
Maybe later Adrian (and mommy) will have a playdate with Lexi and Julian (and Jami). Then we'll eat stuffed portabellos with a nice salad for dinner.

Fun with Decorating

Did I brag about my decorating yet?
Well let me tell you! I bought 14 floating picture frames, on clearance. The photo floats in the center of two pieces of glass and then the frame borders the glass. I love them and often see them in therapists offices and other decorated places. Who decorates for them anyway? They usually have such nice art.
Then I printed out an 8x10 and 4 5x7 photos for the mantle. I call it the Maui Water Series. There's a black photo of ocean and whale swimming at viewer, a blue 50' wave with surfer gliding to the left, a closeup colorful smooth waterfall sliding down rock, a grey wave splashing up on big rock on beach, an da green tinted waterfall falling into a pool. They sit tilted on my mantle accompanied by a plant, a wicker basket, a lamp, 2 candles and hanging potted plants from ceiling.
I purchased, on sale of course, some wooden square carved wood flower decorations for the wall, as well as two rectangular wood etchings of flowers. The rectangular decorations will sit with tow rectangular floating frames that hold 2 4x6 photos each. Still to be decided upon. The carved wooden flowers sit diagonal to each other at base of stairs.
Then I have 5 more 8x10 frames that hold 5x7 photos for the other wall. Maybe a Tree Series....

"No" would be the answer...

Yes, it's happened. The answer to all questions is "no." That's ok though b/c if he burps he covers his mouth and says 'cuse me' as well as uses 'peas' and 'tank you' (even when it's your turn to use 'thank you' he'll remind you just in case you forget.)
I've decided, I just won't ask any questions unless I want a 'no' answer. "do I look aweful in this outfit?" "should we leave the house a mess?" "should we only eat icecream and cake all day?" Why haven't parents figured that one out yet I wonder.

I think that his fever off and on all week is due to 2 year molars coming in. I got bit 4 times but I think I can feel some molars trying to break through. Adrian always gets fevers with teething, every tooth so far, although there is debate now about whether or not children actually have fevers, diarrhea, etc related to actual teething. Our bodies sure know more than any doctor and I don't need professional opinion in such trite matters. It's normal: the body grows and changes therefore the body reacts.

We're very excited for our new cousin in the oven!! Another September baby for Julie and Chris!

Interview went well on Tuesday. Still waiting to hear back. I took some sick time this week because I was feeling aweful with a head cold and sore throat and body aches. I drank theraflu, took a nap, made myself some chicken soup, and went to bed early. Felt much better the next afternoon. I feel so spoiled actually getting sick time. I wish Barry had the same perks at work. People knock working for the government but it's the first real job I've had and I sure enjoy the holidays off, the vacation time, and the sick time...not too mention that I work with the population that has always interested me: children and families.

We're headed to gymnastics at 10am! Barry's on his way to Denver with Aunt Laurie to go to a bike swap (motorcycle=bike). He's spending the night and will be back tomorrow. He hopes to find some pieces to make his bike work...some ignition thingy. My car on the other hand refuses to start, randomly, when I'm at the store or trying to go to work. It won't even engage. I'm wondering if something is wrong with the starter column. It feels like the key just doesn't engage. I desperately need a new axle as well as every slight movement sends creaking shudders through the entire car. Don't even want to know how much it will cost but Barry has a friend who does my big car repairs.

Good News! & Sick Boy :(

I have an interview for Tuesday at 3pm for a caseworker position!! Could the 2nd try be the lucky one? Either way, still happy with work, most days.

Adrian's sick today. Fever and runny nose. Woke last night with fever after going to bed feeling just a little warm. We spent the day at the library and then at Bounce for a bday party. He must have picked up a bug from one of those places. Poor guy.

Adrian is in gymnastics on saturdays but yesterday was canceled for a gymnastics meet. Last weekend Adrian had gymnastics on Saturday, then a playdate with Lexi (3) on Sunday, and a playdate with Madison (7) on Monday since I was off. I used to watch Miss Madison ever since she was just a baby all the way till she went to school. I miss her so we had a day together. She's so great with younger children and knows how to play with them and never gets frustrated!

Otherwise, Adrian's working on potty training. He pees in the potty (and sometimes on the floor, bed, or rug). He's picking up about 10 words a day even though he doesn't use them all each day. He's definitely talking more. He's such a big helper; throws away trash whenever he finds it around the house. Throws away his diaper too! We are working on 'not whining' and 'using big boys words'. He's learning about 'owies' and how to get attention and kisses for them (even pretend owies). He's doing more 'pretend play' with little people and animal toys! He likes to make them dance to music or talk to each other. He drives them around in the car too!

For now though, he's just sitting on the couch trying to feel better and watching Sesame Street.

January Weekend

Long busy week is now over and I'm once again up too late catching up on things I enjoy to do, like watching tv, writing on my blog; simple things really that take time in my life and come after all the necessary to do's.
Updates on the Boy:
Pees in the potty standing up! Says anything you say. Some examples include 'window,' 'squeeze,' more 2 word phrases, 'stairs,' 'dance' 'rock' as in rock me in the rocking chair, 'babies'. He whines incessantly-drives me batty. He's a momma's boy especially when he's tired and I'm around. Barry feels left behind but I keep telling him his time will come. Timeouts are great-if not for redirection. I tell him to go or walk him to the bottom step where he sits. I tell him 'when you're all done ____________, you can get up.' He prefers to crawl out of timeout when he's done. Then he gets to 'be nice' or 'pick up' or 'use his inside voice.' Occasionally he tests and gets to revisit timeout. I use timeout as a behavior modifying tool that teaches him to be in charge of his actions and not as punishment. He's learning and it's my job to teach him and give consequences. I enjoy every moment of parenting and really try to focus more attention on him when he's behaving which I have to say is most of the time. When he's awake I make a point to attend to him and not my to do list, although if he helps me with chores, that's also a lesson so that's a 2 for 1!!!
Gymnastics bright and early-Aunt Laurie might come watch!

88 Weeks Old

My son is so old! He's a little boy now...a toddler. I don't consider him a baby anymore. It's hard to make that transition as a mom to a little momma's boy but it's happened and I'm happy for both of us.
Gymnastics was great. He's in the Moonbeamers class. He was so excited when we first got there that he took off across the room and joined a big kid's class. Barry and I both took him to his first day of class. He was new to the activities so with our guidance and telling him to 'wait' his turn, he did great. After warm up there was an obstacle course that teaches balance, depth perception, taking turns and waiting, using hands to protect face, etc. There was a balance beam exercise, a rings exercise, trampoline time, sensory ball activity, and a foam pit they had to slide into on their back straight down to the teacher. Then there was a cool down and he got stamps on his hands, feet and belly. For being new to the activities he sure was excited to try everything out. He's so observant also, he took time to just sit and watch what the other children were doing. I knew many of the participants in the classes from the daycare that I taught at so that was exciting.
I decided not to go to Denver last night b/c I was feeling really worn out and like I'm getting a cold. Adrian and I fell asleep at 10pm and Barry spent the night hanging out with Aunt Laurie. I'm trying to get Adrian to take an early nap so we can go to the kid's expo thing at noon but he's still awake and moaning about it.

Maui Pictures and Update

1st week of work is over now. What a week. I truly needed that vacation so that I could cope with work. It's just work, a part of my life, I can stand back now and take a deep breath now that I've had that break. Not to say it isn't hard work, but it's nice that I can put it in perspective again. Other news: I applied for another caseworker position. The previous I applied, I did not get although I did get the chance to interview for it!

Adrian is saying more and more each day. New words are spilling out by the mouthful! He mimics words and comes up with new sounds in his jibberish on a daily basis it seems. OieeeOieee seems to be todays rant. Also he mimiced 'table', says 'gen' for again, and is putting 2 word phrases together quite often such as 'get down' and more please'.

Adrian peed in the potty standing up two days in a row!!! So big! He gets raisinettes for treat and can pee on command if he has to go. Yay! He tries every evening and morning.

Tomorrow morning is a big day! He's going to gymnastics for the first time at Mountain Kids. There is a kid's expo event thingy this weekend also that we might attend on Sunday with cousin Cavyn and friends Lexi and Julian! Mom gets a night off to go hang out in Denver with friends from work on Saturday night.

I must apologize for not posting pictures yet...I forgot my computer crashed at home and must be dealt with... :(

Happy New Year!

It's 2010! I have a 20 month old little boy. Barely a baby anymore.
I think when he wakes up he still expects to be in Maui because it takes him some time to figure out where he is. He's enjoying chasing his dogs around-'shasha' and 'rara'! He does wish he could play outside in the sunshine without snow on the ground I think...or maybe that's just me.
He received a 'choo choo' from his Grandma Linda and Grandpa Tim! He recieved a dancing singing chipmunk from Amber (his caregiver)! He loves playing with all the singing dancing animals when he goes over to Amber's on Thurs and Fri but when his chipmunk sings he gets scared...we'll have to take it over with him so he can see it in context. What a silly boy!
I have to say that I think he's over his 'hitting littler kids' stage and now gives kisses instead! He's into a 'screaming at the top of his lungs' stage though and some people will give him attention for it but not his mother. He will soon be over the 'throwing food on the floor' stage because he sat in timeout about 5 times in a row today until he was all done with episode and will from now on when he throws food at home. I'm done with sticky floors and barely have time to mop more than once a week.
Anyways...we're home safe and sound and somehow or another we're into another year on this planet!