stress eating
I gained 5 lbs last month. No one said starting a business would be easy, but they didn’t say I’d have trouble fitting into my favorite pants! Looks like Will and I will be headed to the gym this month…Heather fires any bridesmaids that turn into fatties, right? It’s a good thing my dress is a little big…after all of my camera problems this week (a huge thanks to Kelly and Brian for coming to my rescue and loaning me their rebel camera body) I’ll probably need all the extra room I can get.
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“shoes”
Will wouldn’t stop saying his new (as of today) word “shoes” while I put his sandals on him this afternoon. It’s so cute when he says it “shoosss.”
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telephone
One of the things that I like most about baby signing is that it gives little ones the tools they need to communicate, and even find their own ways of doing it. On two occassions, Will has made up his own signs to talk about whatever it was he wanted to say. I can’t remember what the first one was, but this weekend he made up a new sign: “telephone” is now putting your hand up to your ear.
And when he wants something and you’re just not getting it, he’ll always just take you by the hand, drag you near it, and say “dis?!” (this)
Yesterday he added a new word to his vocal vocabulary: “bubbles” (say it as fast as you can, and that’s a pretty good idea of how it sounds when Will says it)
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mmmm…cheese
We went to The Mona Lisa in Manitou Springs last night. It’s a local version of The Melting Pot.
Yum. So good.
A four course meal that started with a delicious salad, then cheese fondue with bread, fruit, and veggies (the grapes were our favorite), then meat and seafood (which reminded us of Chris and Manu, since we used the same type of raclette grill at their house in Germany), then dessert…which was crazy cool. We got “the turtle”–milk chocolate and caramel fondue (with walnuts) that they poured flaming alcohol over and we got to roast our marshmallows over the flame for a minute before dunking them in the chocolate! We also had wine and port, and even though I’d been fasting for much of the afternoon in anticipation of the two hour meal, I was so full I thought I might die. Nic kept reaching over and taking swigs of my port to hurry me along. (It was so yummy, but by the time we got to dessert our motto was “just take a tiny bite of everything.”)
We discovered their wine tasting bar on the way out and decided that we’ll definitely be back with friends to check that out…but this time we’ll stick to just the cheese and dessert. No need to kill yourself trying to pack 5000 calories into one meal.
Apparently The Mona Lisa is a big celebration spot, because everyone (from the time we made reservations to the time we paid the check) kept asking if we were celebrating anything…our answer? “Having a babysitter.”
And what a celebration it was!
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done.
It was a ton of work, but my website is live!
I knew that starting a business would be time consuming, but dude. Couple that with being a mom to Will and trying to keep the ants from invading our downstairs, and it’s…well…a lot. But good. Because I’m really happy with the website. I feel like it’s really me. I had huge angst over the logo–I hired a super talented designer, but wasn’t sure that any were any me. So I took one and played with it, and I’m really happy with it. I love that it was a collaboration–it means that it’s really…me.
If you see any mistakes, let me know! (except for the sound icon–there’s a sound icon in the upper right corner but no actual sound…I’m working removing that little icon.)
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techno baby
A few days ago I gave Will an empty DVD case to play with. He opened it up (which takes some strength), looked inside it for a little while, then walked over to the dvd player, turned it on, pressed the open button, grabbed the DVD from inside of it, carried it back to the DVD case, and tried to put it inside.
Dude. The kid’s a genius. We don’t even watch DVDs around him very often! (probably twice a month)
He loves the disc drives on our computers upstairs. Figured out how to turn on the computer, push the button to open it up, and push it back in months ago…and lately he’s been trying to stick the cds he finds on Nic’s desk in their proper position.
Yesterday I got a new memory card in the mail and it came with a photo recovery software cd (which is hilarious, since it is exactly four days too late–I had to purchase photo recovery software on Saturday)…anyway, Will took this little mini disc in its sleeve from me, spent a few minutes ripping open the packaging, and then took it over to the dvd player and tried to put it in.
In other Will stuff, he’s been walking around with his hands behind his back lately, or just standing around with his hands behind his back. We don’t know what it’s about, but it’s very cute.
He loves to drag me around places. For about two weeks he’s been coming over, grabbing my hand, and leading me to wherever he wants to go. If I don’t come willingly, he puts his whole weight into dragging me there.
He is obsessed with the outdoors. It’s nothing new, but it’s really sucking these last few days because it’s been too cold and rainy (last night it snowed and even stuck a tiny bit) to go outside. Will does not accept this. The first day I took him outside and he cried because it was cold…then cried when I took him inside because he was inside. Yesterday he just threw giant fits about it.
He’s been super cute signing old things in new contexts…he signed “lights” at lightning, “water” at the rain…and he’s learned some new signs, too. I made up one for gorilla, and he does it by waving his arms around in front of his chest. Yesterday we were reading one of his animal books and he got very angry with me for not giving signs to EVERY animal. Dude! Gimme a break! So I made up ones for elephant, owl, and chicken. He was very intent on getting one for chickens. I need an animal ASL dictionary!
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and we’re back
Things should be a little bit louder around here now. The laptop keyboard has been broken ever since I spilled cream soda all over it, so I haven’t been able to post while Will plays downstairs. But we’re back. And I am a friggin’ genius.
It’s true.
You’re probably thinking that Nic orchestrated and implemented the whole fix. But no. His idea was to buy an external keyboard attachment or even a new laptop. But genius that I am, I figured that I could probably buy a new keyboard part on Ebay. After all, my lappy is pretty old as far as lappies go (2-3 years), so probably most of its brothers and sisters are being sold for scrap parts by now.
I figured out the model number I needed, researched the part and best prices, ordered it, and signed for it–all by myself.
After pestering Nic to install it for a few days I took matters into my own hands…which means, yes, I am responsible for all of its genius, goodness, and general awesomeness from start to finish.
I would write some stuff about Will right now, but I’m too busy congratulating myself.
Off to crack open a beer to celebrate….at 7:30am on a Sunday. Maybe I should switch that to orange juice.
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when appliances help out
Sometimes my appliances feel badly that they can’t help out more. They see the chores I do, they see the chores I want to do but barely have time for…and so sometimes they think “hey–maybe I could help.”
Today, for example, my dishwasher decided to help by washing the kitchen floor. It knew that my nana is coming tomorrow, and it knew that I was going to mop…so it thought it would get things started.
I have no idea why we had bubble monsters taking over the kitchen. I know for a fact that I used the regular dishwashing powder–the same powder I used last night. Maybe I was soaking a pot in dishwashing liquid and forgot to rinse it? Maybe my dishwasher just really does want cleaner, more sparkely floors?
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there, there.
One of Will’s latest cute things is patting us. When he gives us a hug, he sometimes accompanies it with a little pat on the back. It’s hilariously cute.
Tonight we were playing outside while Nic put the last touches on his repairs to the sprinkler system. Nic made some kind of frustrated noise, and Will toddled over, patted him on the back, and then walked away again. As if to say, “There, there. It will be okay, Daddy.”
So. Freaking. Cute.
He’s also very into helping. Not only does he help me move the clothes from the washer into the dryer, and the silverware from the dishwasher into their little pots, he’s very good about wiping up messes. I wrote about how he “helped” clean up the Cheezits by rubbing a babywipe over them, and that continues. If he comes across something that he’s spilled, he’ll get a baby wipe or a towel and wipe at it. But our favorite happened this weekend when he went over to the baby wipes, grabbed a few, and started wiping the seat of his pants with them.
“Do you need a diaper change, buddy?” Nic asked, mostly joking.
But when we went to check, sure enough, he’d pooped. And was now trying to wipe himself.
Love of Jelly Bellies is now a shared part of our lives. I picked up a 2lb bag while I was at Office Max yesterday, and while I was making dinner last night, I turned around to see Will standing on the dining room chair, bag of Jelly Bellies in front of him (which he’d brought toward him from their original position in the middle of the table), eating them with both hands.
The kid has good taste. He can sniff out candy a mile away. He’s like his mother in that way.
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first haircut
We had wanted to make William’s first haircut super special…we planned to get it in Disney World. Only William didn’t have enough hair to warrant a haircut when we were in Disney World in September, so I changed the plan. We would wait until we are in Seattle in July to get his hair cut, and he could go to the woman who cuts my hair (whom I’m kind of a fanatic about).
But the mullet got the best of me. For a while I was able to just smooth down the curls at the nape of his neck, but for the last couple of weeks they’ve been a little out of control. So today we went off to the children’s hair salon!
Will fell asleep in the car, so I worked on my knitting in the parking lot and waited for him to wake up. I was hoping that he’d wake up in a really good mood…because I knew that if my child screamed and cried during a hair cut I would consider myself a total failure as a mother and give him up for adoption on the spot. But I knew it was a little risky…he could also wake up cranky and ready for blood.
As it turned out, it worked out better than I could ever have imagined. He woke up sleepy. He clearly wasn’t finished with his sleep cycle, which looked really bad at first. He was clingy when we walked in, and cried when I sat him in the fire truck chair.
Not like my Will at all.
They said he might do better if I held him in my lap, but I asked if we could just have a minute for him to wake up instead. The receptionist broke out the bubbles, and the stylist popped in a Wiggles DVD (dude–there’s DANCING on Wiggles DVDs–anyone know any babies that like dancing?). The next time I put Will in the chair, he was cool with it.
And for the rest of the haircut, he behaved like a tiny little angel.
Seriously. In fact, he almost fell asleep several times–he spent most of the haircut listing to one side or leaning his head on the stylist’s arm. She broke out the little baby clippers last, and said “this always makes them mad” except that it didn’t. Will just kept on chillin’ as he let her shave the nape of his neck and temples.
The stylist couldn’t stop talking about how good he was. I couldn’t stop thinking about how crazy awesome the timing was. I mean, I knew he wouldn’t cry…but I didn’t expect him not to wiggle and squirm! Where was my active Will?
He woke up just in time for me to pay, and then ran around the front of the store trying to knock all the styling products off their shelves.
The mullet is gone and he looks like a little boy even more now. I was prepared for him to look more grown up, but I wasn’t prepared for his hair to feel differently…and it does. Not so soft any whispy anymore. I rubbed my hand on his head shortly after the haircut (as I do about a thousand times a day) and was shocked that it felt differently. Made me a little sad.
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cuteness
Since that last post is kind of a downer, I thought I’d say this, too:
If you ask Will “give momma a kiss?” or just “momma kiss?” he gives me kisses.
And if you say, “do you want a hug?” He’ll come over and give you one.
And if you look at the back of his head, he has a curly little mullet going on. (We’re getting his hair cut this week. Hopefully he’ll be a little less Billy Ray Cyrus at the end of it.)
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tall+sneaky=trouble
Will is not yet 15 months old. Keep this in mind as you read the following.
Last night Will woke up at 11:30 (as usual–even when he sleeps through the night I can still hear him tossing and turning and talking in his sleep around 11:00). Because he’s been sick, I went into his room, nursed him, and lay him back down. At first he was buying it…then he decided he wanted out.
I closed his door, went back to our room and listened to him protest as I lay in semi-sleep and wondered when we’d once again have him sleeping through the night.
Then, twenty minutes later, I was completely awake. I’d heard three loud bangs–like someone hitting something. I knew it was probably just Will throwing toys out of the crib or ripping apart the walls…but for some reason it had me totally freaked. I woke Nic up, and made him go into the hall first.
We opened Will’s door and saw…
Will.
Standing there. Out of his crib.
He’d climbed out of his crib and banged on the door to be let out (Nic taught him to bang on the door while I’m in the bathroom…which I’m still trying to find a way to get back at him for).
I freaked out. I’m still freaking out. When you put a 14 month old baby into a crib, you expect him to be safe. You don’t expect to see him wandering around his bedroom twenty minutes later.
It sucks a lot. I don’t feel safe with him in his crib anymore. I don’t know how we’re going to be able to continue to work with him on sleeping through the night (every few weeks he’ll get sick or get teeth or something will happen to throw him off and we’ll have to work with him on sleeping through the night all. over. again.).
He didn’t seem hurt, so I would still love to see how he managed it–if it was a fall from the top railing or just a controlled climb down. But after such adventure we were both super awake, and I wasn’t about to put him back in his death trap crib, so I took him downstairs in the middle of the night. Two and a half hours later, we were both back in our respective beds. Though I kept his door open and slept on alert.
I won’t whine and complain about the lack of sleep since Friday…except that I will. Friday night Will kept up our entire household–including poor visiting Koko–by crying and crying and crying no matter what we did [nursing, holding, rocking, laying down with him] and only sleeping in five-ten minutes spurts…Saturday we had another up-in-the-middle-of-the-night for two hours party…and then yesterday we had the crib/midnight party fiasco.
Now, it would be one thing if he was waking up at night but catching up on that sleep by sleeping in. But no–the kid is still up at 0630, if not earlier. Or if he took some extra or just extra long naps. But no–the kid fights his nap harder than ever and it’s still just an hour. This weekend we’ve had to resort to “walking naps”–taking him in the stroller to get him to fall asleep. Which, if anyone’s keeping track, does me zero good, since I will get neither free time nor a nap by being his personal walker during a nap.
And all of this would be one thing, if he was an easy toddler to look after when he was awake. But no. The child is go-go-go. All. Of. The. Time.
And it’s hard as a mother of just the one, because you’re pretty sure that this isn’t normal, even for boys. Pretty sure that one child should not be this much work or this exhausting or this BUSY. But you don’t want to be like those people that are sure they’re special when really they’re just like everyone else, so you walk around trying to convince yourself that everyone else is going through the same thing.
My cousin JJ is an active little dude. He’s pretty much my only frame of reference, and he’s a good kid. So when my Koko was visiting here this week, I asked if Will reminded her of JJ. And she said no.
My grandmother is the mother of four boys and grandmother/greatgrandmother of three boys. I would say she’s got enough experience under her belt to be an expert on normal toddler boy behavior.
And you know what she said? She said the only one that reminded her of Will was my uncle Kent.
Validation.
Uncle Kent was her fourth boy, and she actually took him to a doctor when he was Will’s age to make sure that it wasn’t just her–that he really was crazy active/into everything. And you know what the doctor said? He offered to put him on medication.
More validation.
I love Will so much. But he is very difficult. Loving, smart, affectionate, hilarious…but insanely curious, active, and determined. It feels good to know that it’s not me. That he really is not normal. That mothering him really is tougher than mothering other children. That all the thoughts I have every day about me deserving a Congressional Medal of Honor if we both make it through the next 17 years without killing each other or turning into delinquent criminals are totally legit. That sometimes letting him lick the crusty gunk off the top of lotion bottles just so I can have five minutes where he’s happily occupied and not climbing the furniture like a deranged monkey is probably not the worst parenting crime ever commited.
Nic said this morning as he left for the sanctuary of work away from his sleep-deprived and unstable family that when Jesus was handing out babies he said “Oh my. This one’s gonna be tough. We’ll give him to Traci. She’s the only person that can make sure he turns out to be a loving productive member of society.”
This is a very nice way of looking at it, and I appreciate the sentiment very much. It’s much nicer than the “what did I ever do to you, God?!” train of thought that I was running. So I think I’ll look at it that way. As an honor.
And when I forget to look at it that way, Will and his cute face are right there–ready to and waiting give me kisses and hugs.
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another first…by william f.p.
Sometimes I get to do things for the first time. Like walk or sign “water” or say “ferret”…today I got to go to the hospital!
Koko flew into town yesterday, so I thought long and hard about things we could do with her. Mommy thought we should go to the park, or the zoo, or Old Colorado City…she went to a yarn class today, and while she was gone I got to play with Koko. Koko is FUN. So much fun that I thought the park or zoo or Old Colorado City just wouldn’t be exciting enough. So once Mommy got home I bonked my head on my toy box in just the perfect place near my eye!
I screamed for a minute, but I’m so brave that it only took a minute or two to calm me down. Then Koko and Mommy had to decide whether to take me to a doctor. They then called Daddy to talk about where exactly we could go. Our normal doctor’s office on base doesn’t have an ER, and the nearest military ERs were pretty far, so Mommy called Tricare and they said we could go anywhere we wanted.
Well, I know Mommy, so I knew exactly where we were going to go: the brand new hospital near our house that Mommy hasn’t shut up about. It’s beautiful from the outside–the coolest hospital you’ve ever seen. They’re building another hospital even nearer to our house, but Mommy always jokes that she would drive straight past it on the way to the PRETTY hospital in the even of an emergency. Lucky for her it isn’t finished yet, so off to Memorial North we went!
I didn’t cry at all while Mommy and Koko decided what to do, and not at all while we drove or checked in or waited. The nurses there were so nice–everyone wanted to be my friend, and everyone said I was cute and a doll and adorable. That’s probably because I was so brave about my cut! We had to wait a very long time, which made Mommy a little irritated, but I used that time to explore everywhere and everything…and my nurse Matt was my best buddy in the whole world! He gave me a bear, and crackers, and picked me up and took me all over the ER on little mini tours.
Eventually Daddy came home from work and got to wait with us…and that was pretty good.
Finally after what Mommy said was more than two hours, the doctor came. Matt was not my friend for a minute. He rolled me up tight in a blanket and held me still while that slowbee doctor glued my face to make it better! I really hated that. A lot. I screamed my best screams and cried my best cries, but Mommy didn’t even help me, and Koko didn’t even help me, and Daddy just stood there, too! I was very very angry.
But then Matt let me go and brought me a popsicle and then we were best pals again. I’m forgiving like that.
And then Mommy and Daddy and Koko took me to Panera Bread for my favorite broccoli cheddar soup, so I forgave them, too.
I was pretty tuckered our after my day of adventures, so I fell asleep on the way home and let Daddy carry me up to bed. Tomorrow Mommy will take a picture for you, though, so you can see my awesome wound.
Mommy was a little worried that the potential scar might ruin my otherwise adorable face, but then she remembered:
Chicks dig scars.
She thinks it will turn out all right in the end.
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another first…by william f.p.
Sometimes I get to do things for the first time. Like walk or sign “water” or say “ferret”…today I got to go to the hospital!
Koko flew into town yesterday, so I thought long and hard about things we could do with her. Mommy thought we should go to the park, or the zoo, or Old Colorado City…she went to a yarn class today, and while she was gone I got to play with Koko. Koko is FUN. So much fun that I thought the park or zoo or Old Colorado City just wouldn’t be exciting enough. So once Mommy got home I bonked my head on my toy box in just the perfect place near my eye!
I screamed for a minute, but I’m so brave that it only took a minute or two to calm me down. Then Koko and Mommy had to decide whether to take me to a doctor. They then called Daddy to talk about where exactly we could go. Our normal doctor’s office on base doesn’t have an ER, and the nearest military ERs were pretty far, so Mommy called Tricare and they said we could go anywhere we wanted.
Well, I know Mommy, so I knew exactly where we were going to go: the brand new hospital near our house that Mommy hasn’t shut up about. It’s beautiful from the outside–the coolest hospital you’ve ever seen. They’re building another hospital even nearer to our house, but Mommy always jokes that she would drive straight past it on the way to the PRETTY hospital in the even of an emergency. Lucky for her it isn’t finished yet, so off to Memorial North we went!
I didn’t cry at all while Mommy and Koko decided what to do, and not at all while we drove or checked in or waited. The nurses there were so nice–everyone wanted to be my friend, and everyone said I was cute and a doll and adorable. That’s probably because I was so brave about my cut! We had to wait a very long time, which made Mommy a little irritated, but I used that time to explore everywhere and everything…and my nurse Matt was my best buddy in the whole world! He gave me a bear, and crackers, and picked me up and took me all over the ER on little mini tours.
Eventually Daddy came home from work and got to wait with us…and that was pretty good.
Finally after what Mommy said was more than two hours, the doctor came. Matt was not my friend for a minute. He rolled me up tight in a blanket and held me still while that slowbee doctor glued my face to make it better! I really hated that. A lot. I screamed my best screams and cried my best cries, but Mommy didn’t even help me, and Koko didn’t even help me, and Daddy just stood there, too! I was very very angry.
But then Matt let me go and brought me a popsicle and then we were best pals again. I’m forgiving like that.
And then Mommy and Daddy and Koko took me to Panera Bread for my favorite broccoli cheddar soup, so I forgave them, too.
I was pretty tucked our after my day of adventures, so I fell asleep on the way home and let Daddy carry me up to bed. Tomorrow Mommy will take a picture for you, though, so you can see my awesome wound.
Mommy was a little worried that the potential scar might ruin my otherwise adorable face, but then she remembered:
Chicks dig scars.
She thinks it will turn out all right in the end.
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mr. affection
Will has been super cute lately on the love front. He has taken to coming over and hugging my back whenever I bend down to do something. And yesterday I said “do you want to kiss mommy?” not expecting him to understand at all, but he opened his mouth and gave me a kiss! (Will isn’t a pucker up kind of guy–his latest idea of kissing is opening his mouth wide and then touching his lips to your face. Super cute and not sloppy or gross like his Aunt Kelly’s kisses were when she was little!
My friend Erin came over for lunch today and let me practice for my photography sessions this week by photographing her little one. Sarah is super super cute and absolutely bribe-able with Craisins. If you have Craisins and Cheez-Its, you can pretty much rule the world.
Will got two shots at Peterson today and was very brave (because of some Cheez-Its). Then we went to the commissary which was a big mistake. He was already tired and cranky and the commissary did not put him in a good mood. He bit me, I said “no” so he slapped me in the face.
Yeah.
In public.
At the commissary.
With my cart overflowing with frozen dinners.
Yeah.
I was that mom today.
We’re going for sushi tomorrow night with Erin’s husband and daughter and another couple friend of theirs. After we clean the garage and hang pictures. And after I jump around all gloat-y like because I finished another slideshow tonight. It’s Will’s whole first year and it took me three days to do. I whittled down 10,000 pictures to 480. (Yes, 480 is a lot, but it’s a lot less than 10,000.) And it’s for me. And anyone else who happens to be crazy enough about Will to watch an entire year of his life set to pretty rockin’ music.
We will also tackle the weed monsters again. I’ve urged Nic not to use chemicals in our yard, but I’m thinking there’s only so many more hours he can pull dandelions before he cracks and hoses Will directly with some weed killer and then sets the lawn on fire, dandelions and all.
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slideshow
I made this slideshow today. It’s ginormous (108mb) and will probably take about 12 mins to download, but I promise it’s worth it. It made me cry and I’m the one that made it!
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my little helper-do.
William had a rough afternoon. The kind of afternoon that drives me to such rants as that last one. He woke up from his nap mad, and never got over it.
I’d reached the end of my rope and I knew it would still be at least 45 minutes before Nic came home (because I called and asked), so I gave Will an open box of Cheezits, put the Dyson on standby, sat down with a magazined, and decided that any mess was worth it.
And it was. I had a few blissful minutes to peace and quiet while Will sprinkled the Cheezit crumbs all over the downstairs (it was a box of broken Cheezits–it came to us that way). Like he was sowing little Cheezit seeds to be harvested at a later date.
Since this was going to do nothing to help our ant problem, I only let him play his Cheezit games for a few minutes before I got up and started putting the larger pieces into a ziplock bag for later snacking. Will followed me around until I asked him “will you help Mommy clean up the Cheezits?”
And then something surprising happened–he understood me, and he did help me. He picked up the big pieces, just as I was doing, and dumped them into the bag.
When we had finished, I went to get the vaccuum. When I came back, that precious boy had gotten a baby wipe and was wiping up the crumbs on the carpet.
I’m not lying. He had gotten a baby wipe and was trying to clean up all the tiny pieces by rubbing the carpet with a baby wipe, because when he’s done with every meal, I get down on the kitchen floor and clean up all the crumbs with a wet washcloth.
Sweet, sweet boy. I picked him up, gave him a kiss, then let him hold onto the vaccuum while we pushed it around to really clean up all the crumbs.
