Short Walks in the Rain

I love rainy days. And I love walks in the rain...

...especially with this cute little guy. :)

And luckily, LBB loves walks in the rain just as much as I do, so today we put on his rain coat and went for a short walk across the street (to get a snack and soda.)

As we were walking over, I asked my sweet little boy if it was raining, to which he happily and enthuasitically nodded "yes." Than I asked him "Where does rain come from?"

And my sweet boy pointed to the parking lot. :) Not quite. (A few weeks ago I asked him where wind comes from and he pointed straight up at the clouds. Smartie.)

He giggled as rain lightly fell on his face. He talked to the blue jay that was hopping around in the grass. And he laughed hysterically when the blue jay flew up in the tree.

Ah. Rainy days are so much better now that I'm a Mommy. :)

Biffed It

That's exactly what little man did yesterday. :)

True to his "Never Slow Down" mantra, LBB went running after a big bouncy ball yesterday...lost his footing...and used a patio stone as a landing strip. :( He originally had a chance. He used his hands to slow him down, but all the momentum that was built up in his little toddler self had nowhere to go but forward, and forward he went.

I've got to tell you...there's nothing more heart stopping than seeing blood coming out of your little one's mouth and streaking down his cheeks for the first time. But, once we got him cleaned up and all the dirt and muck off his face, LBB was no worse for the wear minus a patch of scrapes right by his eye. My parents and I were thinking he might get a black eye from it, but today he woke up just fine and no swelling or anything. Phew.

And I have to add...this time last year, if anything happened to LBB, I'd immediately start trying to figure out who was to blame and all that stuff. (You know...overprotective new mommy and all.) But...I'm so proud of myself because in the midst of it all, I got him cleaned up, made sure he was ok, and could honestly acknowlege that it was an accident.

And accidents happen.

And this is not going to be the only one that my active LBB gets into.

And...most importantly...that as Mommy, all I can do is clean him up. Check his boo-boos. Give him a kiss and some comfort. And give the rest to God.

Maybe I'm getting this Mommy thing down pretty good after all. :)

I Jinxed Myself...

Back in THIS post, I made a comment about how a can of Chef Boyardee Mini Beef Ravioli may become my best friend, remember?

I jinxed myself. Today at lunch, LBB took one bite, made a look of extreme displeasure with the ooey, saucey, pasta-ey (not a word, I know) bowl that was placed in front of him. Then he spit out his noodle.

Oy.

What is a Mom to do? This boy won't eat a thing!!!! I know, I know. Toddlers can be picky. Kids can be picky.

I don't think you understand. :)

This goes beyond picky. This is the far end of the spectrum picky. Sigh. My mom said something funny tonight:

"I kind of thought it'd be funny if you got a kid as picky as you were, but I didn't think this picky." Not word for word, mind you, but that was pretty close, right Mom? :)

So, as we talked about it at dinner at my parents' house this evening, my sis mentioned that if we ever had someone other than them babysit that we'd have a very long list of the food he won't eat. I suggested that it might be easier to just make a list of foods he does it. Here goes:

• Bread. But not french bread, crescent rolls, and whatnot. Just white. (Preferably Sara Lee Smooth Light) And Cinnamon Chunk from the grocery store


• Pinto Beans. But only from Chipotle.


• Rice. Any kind really. He likes rice.


• Bananas. Bananas. And more bananas.


• Strawberries.


• Black Berries


• Graham Crackers


• Cheese Quesadillas


• Corn. Corn. And more corn.


• Ritz Crackers.


• Gerber Puffs


• Target's Archer Farms Fruit Strips

I'd love to say there's more. But there's not. Isn't that sad? He's about as picky as they come. Sigh. At least it makes grocery shopping easy. :)

And I am crossing my fingers that I don't jinx myself again...I don't know what I'd feed him then.

Dedication

This past Mother's Day weekend, we had LBB's baby dedication at our church.

Dear Sweet Hubby and I have never been "keen" on baby baptism...mostly because we feel it should be LBB's choice to be baptized when he knows what it means. But...this baby dedication is exactly what we believe, and we are so blessed to have our church feel the same way.

If you want to read our church's view on the subject, click here. :)

Right before we got up on the stage, they played the sweetest video about children and dedication and raising them in the way of the Lord, and my overly-emotional Mommy-self came out and I had to fight back the tears. As I held my sweet little boy, all dressed in his dapper suit that was a gift from PaPa and GiGi, all I wanted to do was hug him and give him kisses on his little forehead...but since we were first in line, I had to be content just holding him tight. :)

And then during the ceremony, I couldn't help but feel my heart be filled with God's love and support as our Pastor talked about the dedication and what it meant...it's an amazing thing.

God blessed Dear Sweet Hubby and I with the profound gift of raising this little boy into a man who lives for God. God has given us a few basic tools...the Bible, prayer, and lots more prayer. And with those tools, we get to have a hand in teaching LBB the love of the Lord. What it means to be saved. And how to live his life for Christ.

What a big responsibility for two plain, simple humans, isn't it? And we're all like that. We're all given that responsibility as parents...children are a gift from God, and it is straight from the Bible that we are to raise them up in His name. And just when you think..."This is quite a daunting task. Where do I even start?"

God gives you a hint.

"Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up." Deuteronomy 6:5-7

Well...maybe not so much a hint. Maybe more of a smack on the forehead. :) God's pretty awesome at knowing what I need to read when I need to read it.

There's going to be struggles. There's going to be questions. There's going to be that nagging feeling of "Are we even doing this right?" But that's why God is there. That's why the Bible is our go-to guide. That's why He blessed us with family, friends, and a church family that is there to support us.

And that's why He gave us knees...because, goodness, they are going to get a lot of wear and tear over our lifetime as parents. Especially with that spirited little guy that God blessed us with...but the amazing thing is...even when LBB has a rough day, I know that God has great things in store for him.

And that, as a mom, is an AWESOME feeling.

Back When I Knew It All

When I was pregnant, I had all these beautiful visions of me and my little one enjoying trouble-free days, never watching tv, having fresh baked goodies on a regular basis, and making delicious dinners that could have their spot on Food Network.

And then I had LBB.

Trust me...I might as well have been having visions of hopping around a flower field with a lollipop in my hand.

There are moms out there who can do it...and I applaud them. Moms that can make gourmet, organic, all healthy meals that have never seen the inside of a canning factory. There are moms out there who can serve warm, fresh bread on a regular basis to their loving family, all while looking like they just stepped out of a 1950's Good Housekeeping Magazine.

I am not one of those moms.

In fact, I really think those moms are few and far between...figments of our pre-baby imagination where our little ones always listen, never throw a toy, and always eat their meals. That whole thinking that "When I have kids, I'm not going to feed them applesauce that isn't homemade" and "When my kids are the same age as that mother's, they are not going to throw a tantrum everytime I put them in the cart at Target." Trust me...if you don't have kids of your own yet, I know you're thinking those thoughts. :) I thought them. All. The. Time.

But...then you'll have kids.

And you'll realize that in the whole process of waking up, getting them ready, squeezing in a quick shower for yourself, and then chasing their active little bodies around all day, that somewhere in the middle...

They throw a fit.

They scream at the store.

They refuse to eat their dinner.

And a can of Chef Boyardee Mini Beef Ravioli's may very well become your best friend.

And that, my friends, is the wonderful thing about motherhood. It catches you off guard, in such an amazing way. When you invest long hours being awake in the middle of the night while your little one cries because of a tooth coming in or when you've had the day from *fiddlesticks* because your toddler decided to push every limit he could imagine, those "perfect" things just don't matter.

It's the bedtime kisses at night and being put in charge of watching his baby Anklyosaurus when he goes to bed that make you a good mom.

Nothing else matters much...although it would be pretty awesome to go hopping through a flower field.

Hello?

I'm at a crossroads...I'm not sure if I want to keep writing in this blog...I know I don't have a lot of readers, although that's not why I do it. If I wanted more I could always make it public, but it's more for friends and family to keep up with us...and even more importantly, a way to journal and document our life. I keep saying that someday I'm going to print the entries out on a regular basis and keep it for my LBB, but I'm thinking it might be more effective just to start writing in a journal and keeping it for him.

I love this outlet of writing, but sometimes I feel like I'm just talking to myself. Does this all sound whiny? It's really not meant to be. I'm just putting this question out there...how much does reading my little old blog mean to my readers? I'm starting to question if the effort that goes into writing in here and trying to stay current is really worth it? Are my blog entries boring or interesting? Is there any point to me doing this little blog?

Let me know what you think...

Tot School: Week 1

LBB is 16.5 Months.

Theme of the Week: Our Body

This was our first week of Tot School, and we had lots of fun! We are learning what works best for us. So, here's our weekly recap!

Monday

Dear Sweet Hubby was home when we did Tot School today, so LBB and Dear Sweet Hubby worked on putting the eyes, mouth, and nose on the face I cut out of cardstock paper. LBB did ok with this...but had more fun trying to eat the paper eyes. He did have lots of fun pointing out everyone's nose, and could point to his nose when asked. He still has a bit of trouble with his eyes and nose, but every so often he can point to them when asked. We went with my Mom to pick my Dad up, and on the way there, LBB had a blast pointing out the airplane he saw and all the trucks and buses. I am going to make sure we do a week about cars, trucks, planes, and trains. :)

LBB also had a blast dancing to Head Shoulders, Knees, and Toes. All in all, it was a wonderful first day of Tot School! We read "The Nose Book" by Al Perkins and his Sesame Street Babies Eyes & Nose, Mouth & Toes book.

Tuesday

We watched a Baby Einstein DVD called Baby DaVinci:From Head to Toe. We got through the eyes, mouth, and ears segment, and LBB was able to point to his eyes, ears, and nose more consistently, but not as often as just his nose. LBB played with his Sesame Street Your Body flashcards while I pointed to each body part on him, which he got a kick out of. We did pudding body paint in the evening (right before bathtime! HaHa!) and he had a blast painting his tummy and his arms.

But the most exciting thing was when we were reading a book called "Pirates" by Viviana Garofoli, he was able to find the little green bird that was on each page! The first time he did it with me I thought it was a fluke, but when Dear Sweet Hubby came home from work, I read the book to him, and LBB was able to find the little green bird each time as well! So exciting! We also read "The Shape of Me" by Dr. Seuss. (In the picture below.)

Wednesday

LBB was able to point to his knees while we were dancing to Head, Shoulders, Knees, & Toes today! I was so proud of him. He was also able to show me his foot when I asked him where it was. (He'd do this cute little leg lift thing and smile at me. Adorable.) We used his felt board and person that I made, but he was more interested in pulling the person off the felt board and trying to go for a walk with him than anything else, but that's ok. :) That's the fun of tot school! He also took his Melissa and Doug wooden food playset and fed his Bearemy a stick of butter. I asked him if he could feed Bearemy and put the food in his mouth, and LBB got it right away. :)

Thursday

We discovered that since this is usually storytime day, we are going to skip doing Tot School at home on the days he has storytime at the library. He gets so much stimulation from storytime that by the time we get home, neither of us seem very motivated to do Tot School. :)

At storytime, they learned about Springtime Animals (just in time for Easter). At the beginning of each class, they do a little drum song to introduce themselves, and as usual, LBB was nuts about the drum. He loves playing it and is the most vocal of all the kids in there when he gets the drum. They also played with little bunny and chick finger puppets, and after showing him once that it goes on the finger, he was able to put it on all by himself. He did great sharing with the others, and loved when it was parachute time. :) I love taking him to storytime because he has such fun.

When we got home, we worked on some Easter stuff. We made Jelly Bean Prayer Eggs for his PaPa, GiGi, Auntie, and Daddy, and he had a blast putting each bean in the egg. It's a great way to introduce colors! We also brought out his Easter Sensory Bin. I dyed some rice some nice springy colors, and then made some Egg Shakers out of plastic eggs (making sure to tape them shut so he couldn't get to the beans and such). We put some empty eggs in as well, and his grasshopper shovel and rake, and he went to town. LBB loves his sensory bin, and we are going to start changing it up each month with a new theme. He loves to scoop and dump the rice.

Friday

LBB didn't have any Tot School today, although we did introduce the Letter A to him. I made a Letter Basket (I'll have to take a picture this week) and put things in that start with the letter A. I also printed two A's off the computer and cut them both out. One I put some magnets on the back and put on the dishwasher (his magnet area), and the second I just let him tote around. We are taking an approach of slowly introducing each letter of the alphabet in play so that it doesn't get to structured right now. Once he gets used to Letter A and can point it out when asked, we'll introduce Letter B. :)

We also put LBB in nursery at church for the first time today! We were at the Good Friday service, and he was being very rowdy, so I brought him done there, and he did excellent! I was more nervous than he was! We also brought him on Easter, and he had even more fun, and found another little guy his age to play with. So sweet!

Saturday

LBB colored eggs today, and he had a BLAST! He loved dropping them in the dye and pulling them out (using his hands, of course.)

So, there's our week! We had tons of fun doing all the activities, and I look forward to this week. I noticed a big change in LBB...it really helps having some time each day taken out to focus on doing something with him. We played before, but it is easy to get distracted (Both he and I! HaHa!) so it's nice being focused. We've also had a lot more luck with meals now that I'm planning every single one of them...snacktimes included. I know I was doing a good job as a mom before, but I feel like I'm doing even better now! Yay!