Cute, But Gross

Little boys are cute, but gross. Here are the latest skills my son has acquired.

Nose picking-followed by, you guessed it, sticking his finger into his mouth. Lovely.

Today, he has a diaper rash that has been around for a few days, so post-poop, I decided to give him a little nakey time to air it out. What better chance to let him sit on the potty, right? Well, he didn't pee-IN the potty. Instead, approximately 5 seconds after I lifted him off and placed him back on the floor, Ryan squatted like one of those pot-bellied third world children, and peed a nice stream on the bathroom floor! 

Oh the joys of motherhood!

12 Months, 18 Days

Yesterday was Ryan's 1 year check up the doctor. He weighs 19 pounds, is 29 1/2 inches tall, and his head was 46 (cm? not sure there). Anyway, this means he is holding steady at the 5-10 % point. No need to worry, because Jeff and I are petite people, therefore it would be worrisome if our son was some sort of BABY GIANT. Ryan took his shot like a man (crying, no screaming, and the binky helped), and the appointment was over!

The weirdest new thing about my almost-toddler is that he LOVES cooked onions. I had some on my plate that I cooked with chicken to give it flavor, but I was not planning to eat. He started pointing at them and signing for more. He had just eaten a whole banana, so I gave him a small bite of onion just waiting for the look of disgust at the mingling of those flavors. It did not happen. He gobbled up the onion and began signing for more. So now I won't waste my cooked onions in the compost bin, they are going through my baby bin instead. :)

Ryan's vocabulary is changing everyday too. Here is a list of current words-phonetically spelled : Claw (Claudia-our cat), key (kitty), momma, daddy, tay-too (thank you), zam (Shazam!- while pointing drink stirrer/imaginary magic wand), boo (moo-means cow, or what it says, not sure there), guh (grandma or pa-works for either), and Ahhh (noise made whenever someone is enjoying a refreshing beverage). For other communication he signs "more" by clapping his hands really hard and grunts and points to get his ideas across. He is also really good at pushing away his tray when finished eating.

Ryan's favorite things: Claudia, playing with the cat with a "kitty stick" (fishing pole type cat toy), moving all of one object to an area (animals from farm into silo or puzzle pieces into his easy chair), and taking a bath.

Due to my insane diligence of the past week, the boy has done both #1 and #2 in his potty chair. I was very excited but I don't think poor Ryan had a clue what was happening. I don't think cleaning poop out of a training potty is any less disgusting than changing a diaper, so we won't be pursuing that one again for a while. For now he is content to sit on the potty fully clothed while I do other mommy related bathroom business.

Picture catch up

Here is Ryan's Moose Cake, made with chocolate cake with frosting for the adults, and applesauce cake with no frosting for the birthday boy. He loved it! He ate/dropped almost 1/2 an antler on himself at the party.  We got 6 inches of snow on his b-day, so the festivities/guests were downsized. He still had a good time.

Also pictured, is Christmas. Grandma and Grandpa P were visiting for both occasions, so the little man has been plenty spoiled!

New Year's Quiz

1. What did you do in 2008 that you’d never done before?
Worked as a stay at home mom harder than I 've worked at any paying job.
2. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
No. I don't make them, they are meant to be broken.
3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
Lora, Jenni, Marisa. And those are the ones I can name right now, I'm sure there are more.
4. Did anyone close to you die?
Great Aunt Margaret, and my cat Lily.
5. What countries did you visit?
No out of country travel this year, but I did take an infant on 4 different airplane trips, does that count?
6. What would you like to have in 2009 that you lacked in 2008?
More sleep.
7. What dates from 2008 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
Election Day. It was a HUGE deal, and I'm the type who doesn't give a poo about politics.
8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
Being a mom.
9. What was your biggest failure?
Not standing up for myself more in my professional life.
10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
No, thank goodness. All illnesses ended at the end of my pregnancy at the end of 2007!
11. What was the best thing you bought?
A new car. 2009 Subaru Forester.
12. Whose behavior merited celebration?
Not sure.
13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?
Britney Spears
14. Where did most of your money go?
The mortgage, daycare, and groceries.
15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
Going to Southern California.
16. What song will always remind you of 2008?
That Coldplay Viva la Vida song.
17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
a) happier or sadder? Happier, because I now have a grasp on this mothering thing
b) thinner or fatter? Thinner
c) richer or poorer? Poorer monitarily, however, we are learning to do more and live more with less. (except the new car)
18. What do you wish you’d done more of?
Getting out to do "my thing" whatever that might be at the moment.
19. What do you wish you’d done less of?
Being mean to Jeff when I'm tired and the baby is crying, and I just want to rest.
20. How did you spend Christmas?
Snowed in, with in laws visiting.
21. Did you fall in love in 2008?
Yes, Ryan came home from the hospital one year ago today. That was when we really started to bond. All the tubes and machines were gone and we had a real live baby!
22. What was your favorite TV program?
The Office and Weeds
23. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year?
T-mobile at home. It's not a person, but it hardly ever works!
24. What was the best book you read?
Love in the Time of Cholera
25. What was your greatest musical discovery?
That you can get free songs from Starbucks once a week.
26. What did you want and get?
A new and bigger car.
27. What did you want and not get?
Paid for staying home with my baby, and free health insurance.
28. What was your favorite film of this year?
Australia. Does it count that it is the only film I've seen in a theater in 6 months?
29. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
Went out for Mexican with my husband, son and mother in law. 32.
30. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
A baby that sleeps through the night more than once a week.
31. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2008?
Can you say I found a pair of jeans that actually fit my no ass self?
32. What kept you sane? Sleeping pills, mommy blogs, and naptime.
33. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
Fancy, as in want to sleep with? Edward Norton, except I have NO DESIRE to see the Incredible Hulk.
34. What political issue stirred you the most?
The idoicy perpetuated by educated people via the forward and reply to all buttons on email.
35. Who did you miss?
My son when I'm at work, my husband when he's at work, my parents and siblings 95% of the time.
36. Who was the best new person you met?
I've gotten to know a lot of cool moms along the way.
37. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2008.
I can do this mommy thing.
38. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year.
Plant your love and let it grow - Eric Clapton.

One Year Ago

I was lying in a hospital bed, not sure what I was getting into. I had pre-eclampsia during my third trimester, which lead to one month of bedrest at home, and 3 weeks in the hospital. My hospital days consisted of: awakening to a phlebotomist poking my arm at 5 AM daily, measuring my pee and saving it in a jug, fetal stress tests, constant blood pressure checks, drooling while waiting for my meals to come, napping, computer time, lots of movies, magazines, and online Christmas shopping. Oh, and lots of visitors! I had a calendar in my room, and for every visitor, (and everyone who called) I asked them to pick my due date. My original due date was January 28, 2008, but once I was hospitalized, we knew Ryan would be early. Of all the guesses, I picked the winner --December 19. Basically, it was a waiting game. The constant monitoring of my kidney functioning made it so the doctors could wait as long as possible to allow Ryan to "cook". Every day he spent inside took 2 days off of the time he had to spend in the NICU. He ended up spending 2 weeks in the NICU, which was considered awesome by the doctors and nurses, Jeff and I were basketcases the entire time. But now, a year later, our little preemie (4lbs 15 oz at birth) is a whopping 20 lb crazy fast crawling, almost walking one year old! We are so blessed and love him to bits.

New Skills

So, some hardcore bloggers out there are doing one post a day for the month of November. My underachiever arse will be lucky to get 2 posts done the whole month!

Ryan is in a metamorphosis as the calendar trudges onward toward his first birthday and toddlerdom awaits! Here is a summary of new skills and ways to manipulate Mommy.

• Say momma momma momma momma over and over again, even when prompted to say dadda.
• Says Clau? (with a lilting questioning tone) which means Claudia (our cat). I use the same tone to call her. He's a freaking genius!
• Has 8 teeth in various stages of growth and sharp jaggedness. I just noticed teeth marks on the remote control! GA!
• Stood up like a phoenix amongst the rubble of toys and family members all by himself the other night! Stood for a whole 5 seconds before returning to the rubble.
• Eats Cheerios like they are going out of style.
• Mooches food like a starving pet. Especially when it is something that he CANNOT have yet. (chocolate, ice cream, salty chips)
• He claps his hands! So sweet. He does this after simple things, or when he enjoyed what just happened to him. When blow-drying my hair, I give him a little bit of air too, and he clapped to show his appreciation!

He will be 11 months old in just a few days. I'm not ready to have a one-year old yet. Can someone please stop time so I can enjoy his babyness just a little bit longer?

More for Monday

yes, I stole this from the Five for Friday idea...

• We went cold turkey on the baby swing at 1 AM Sunday morning. So far, so good. I returned it to our neighbors, so the temptation has left the building!
• My darling son took a bite out of a bar of soap over the weekend-ON PURPOSE. So I guess the old idea of washing his mouth out with soap as punishment is out the window...
• My husband asked me out on a date for tonight. I heart brinner. He's going to woo me over waffles. :)
• My kid is Charlie Brown for Halloween. What's yours?
• Here are pictures, for those of you who have been so patient...