14 Months

Little Boo-Boo is fourteen months old today! He gets cuter and cuter everyday, and we love being his parents. He's as busy as ever. As I write today, he has a swollen lip in two places and a bump on his forehead. He's had an "Ouch Report" everyday this week; he just keeps falling. He's way too busy to slow down. This past week he's learned the art of walking backwards. (Maybe that's why all the "Ouch Reports" are happening!) Some days he races around like his pants are on fire, throwing and pushing aside anything in his path. One of his teachers refers to him as the Tazmanian Devil, and I think the name fits. I've also heard his described as a Spinning Top, and yes that also fits. The boy moves! But I do have to say I have noticed that his quiet independent play time is increasing. I've seen him sit and play with a sorting toy for 10 minutes or more by himself. He's been really into fitting shaped pieces into different sorting bins lately. Tonight he played with an empty shampoo bottle in the bath for at least 20 minutes. These glimpses of long, quiet play time show me that he really is growing up.

It's fun to hear him continue to repeat words. Last Friday he said paper as clear as day. I looked at his teachers and asked if they heard that. They said, "Oh yeah, he talks a lot." This week they told me he knows how to say bird and bubbles. Trey shared with me this past week that he didn't think Holden was going to be a talker. He's definitely changed his opinion though. Our house is rarely quiet as Holden SCREAMS a lot of the time now. Even his gibberish sentences.

Holden has gotten two new molars in the last week. That makes a total of three molars, eleven teeth all together. They seem to just keep popping out everyday.

The most amazing thing I've noticed this month is that he is starting to make connections. I always used to play this game "Up, Doooowwwn" with him when I put in the carseat because he fought getting in. I would pull the sun window shade down, put him the seat and push the button to roll it up quickly and say "UP!" He would flinch and laugh, and then I would pull in back down, "Doooowwwn!" We would do a couple of rounds because I loved hearing him crack up. Well, not only does he walk around saying "upppp, doooowwww" now, but he is also applying it to new situations. One night he pulled the shower pull up on the tub spout and started the "Up, Down" song. He'll also sing it if he hears the word up or down used.

When it rained last week while he was at school, he walked over to the door pointed outside and said, "awa" (agua). One of his teachers, Lupe, speaks Spanish to him which Trey is thrilled about. These little connections are amazing to me. I know he knows what water is, but how did he know rain was water? I love it!

I don't know if Holden's entering a separation anxiety phase or what, but he cries sometimes when I leave. It is really sad. I know he's probably fine once I leave but I hate leaving him while he's crying for me. Now that I think about it, he may just be exerting his power because he also pushes me away (literally, he pushes against my legs until I back up) from activities, like doing the dishes and checking my e-mail, if he wants my attention. He's learning that he's quite a powerful little fella.

Role Model

Holden loves his daddy! This weekend Trey was doing lots of home improvement and Holden wanted to be in the mix – watching listening, pretending. He loved following his dad around, and loved the motorcycle ride breaks even more. These two are just too cute together!

Trying on Daddy's helmet.

What'cha doing Dad?

Getting a closer look - he plopped right down in Trey's lap.

Still in the mix.

Perfect Quote I Found Online Last Night

Parents often think that they are here to guide the little ones. When - in reality - the little ones come forth with clarity to guide you. --- Abraham

A Day in the Life of a Stay at Home Mom

We're now at the end of Spring Break week, and - whew! - it's been a fun, but tiring week. I decided to capture Friday on film because, like most of you know, all I do is take pictures of Holden when I'm home. (Remember the frequent blog updates when I was on maternity leave?) Friday morning after breakfast, I put on Holden's new Baby Einstein movie, On the Go, and gave him some paper and markers for a little art time in his high chair. (And some mommy-can-get-stuff-done-without-worrying-about-Holden-climbing-and-breaking-his-head time.) He was happy and I started doing chores around the house. He seemed way too quiet so I checked in on him and he had drawn all over his face with the blue marker and eaten the tip off of the orange highlighter. Lesson learned: There really is something to say for the Crayola washable markers. I had to scrub his face two or three times and it still wasn't totally clean.



Moving on, I put him down to play. Very shortly after he was crying "Ow-sie!" at the door. When I told him we'd go out in a little bit, he threw himself on the floor and cried. So much for chores. I got him dressed and we walked to the park by our house. He played and played. He loves to climb up the gym equipment and slide down the slide all by himself. He swung a couple of times, but he was more interested in throwing sand and climbing. We were back home by 9:30 and he went down easily for a nap. He slept for 2 and a half hours while I paid bills and dusted.


I fed him lunch, and then decided to get out of the house. On the car ride he did his usual routine, sucked on his left shoe and then took it off along with his sock. We went to the Birch Aquarium - it was great. We walked around through the exhibits, and he played with the water tables again. He loves those tables! I thought I identified his word for fish, but now, a couple of days later, I'm not so sure. At every tank, he would point and say (I stopped to write it down because I wanted to remember it) - Buh-duhhhh Buh-duhhhhh. Every tank. But I've also heard him saying it at the park, so who knows, it could just be his word of the week.

After the aquarium, we came back home and played a little before dinner and his bath. I think we had a half hour to 45 minutes before I could start the routine. In that short amount of time, he learned how to break into the GLASS bookcase we have (How do you babyproof that?!?!?) And he learned how to tear down the baby gate blocking all of the tv/stereo equipment. Dinner time couldn't come soon enough! I put him to bed around 6:45 - I was pooped at the end of the day! I have realized that teaching 27 ten year olds all day is a piece of cake compared to staying home full time. There are no recesses and lunch breaks when you're a mom!

A Note From Mommy

Dear Holden,

We're on Spring Break and I'm having the time of my life hanging out with you and being a full-time mommy. You are such an amazing little boy. You're hilarious. You crack me up all day long.

The way you get around is so cute. Sometimes you walk, sometimes you run (which looks like you're just keeping yourself from falling flat on your face - like you've gained momentum and if you stop you'll surely face-plant), and lately you sometimes crawl. I wonder how you decide. I can't help but smile when you run toward me with your arms straight up in the air, yelling "AHHHHHHH...ahhhhhh".

I love your deep belly laughs of pure and intense joy. They completely fill me up. I can live on those alone.

Even though it takes every ounce of patience I have, I'm grateful when you melt into a heap on the floor, throwing a full-blown temper tantrum because it means you are gaining your independence.

You're learning right from wrong. When you know you're doing something Mommy or Daddy doesn't want you to do (like standing on the oven door or on top of the coffee table), you look at me with an impish grin and shake your head no. It's like you're egging me on, "Com'on Mom, aren't you going to tell me no."

I love the way you want to be held. You're shy at first in new/big group situations, but you warm up quickly when your in my or Daddy's arms. Your 24.4 pounds get quite heavy though for the amount of time I've been holding you these days. I'm currently in the midst of frantically researching toddler carriers. I think we're gettting the ERGO carrier, although today I made a homemade sling out of an old pashmina that is pretty darn comfy.

I love the way you make gorilla calls when you want something. You half snort, and half gorilla grunt.

I love when you bring a book to me, and plop down on the couch next to me to listen. You will sit and listen to most of the book, which is a big change from a couple of months ago. (I couldn't get you to sit for anything!) You'll sit through all of Brown Bear, Brown Bear What Do You See? and Ten Little Ladybugs. Sometimes you'll even ask for seconds.

I love that you've learned how to give kisses. I can ask you for a kiss, and you'll stop what you're doing to come kiss me. You are a precious boy!

I can't lie, I love that you're taking two to three hour naps. I can get a lot of mommy stuff done in that amount of time. (like researching baby carriers - heehee)

Your new found passion for motorcycles is really darling. You run to the door, reach for the door handle and yell, "Ow-sie!" Once we're in the garage you'll point to the motorcylce and say "Ca-ca" (or sometimes ga-ga). You LOVE your rides with Daddy. They make your dad so happy too!

I love your long gibberish sentences. They always bring a smile to my face. You just sound so darn cute.

Holden, you're the greatest son a mom could ever wish for. Part of me wants you to slow down and stop growing. You're just growing up so fast. But I love it too. So just grow, learn and be you.

Love You,
Mommy

Happy Easter

The Sammis' invited us over for an Easter Brunch on Sunday. We had such a great time. Once everyone gathered, Clay went over the note that the Easter Bunny left him for the rules of the hunt. The toddlers (Holden and Kendall, Gavin too) were to head straight to the grass area for their hunt, the big kids (Carter and Sydney) had everywhere else. Each child had an egg with their name on it to find . The Easter Bunny also left an egg for each couple with their names on it. If anyone found an egg with someone's else name they couldn't take it, but they could re-hide it. The Easter Bunny even left some eggs with Cheerios in them for the little kids! Holden was not much into "hunting" for eggs, but he loved running on the grass and throwing the eggs that we gave him. Another big hit was the Easter grass.

After the hunt, we had a delicious breakfast! Egg casserole, creme brule French toast, five kinds of bacon, fresh fruit, crossiants, mmmmm.....mmmmmmm.......

Next, everyone went out for motorcylce rides. Trey bought a new motorcycle about a week ago, it is identical to the first bike he got when he was eight years old. It has been a huge hit around here since he brought it home. Trey and Holden go for rides around our cul-de-sac numerous times a day. Anyway, he rode it over to the Sammis' and all the kids wanted rides. Holden went first, followed by Sydney with her dad Shane. Sydney loved it and would fling her head back and spread her arms with joy. It was too cute. Next, Clay took Carter and baby Paxton in the Baby Bjorn. They were the most daring of the bunch, even with precious cargo attached to him, Clay let Carter steer for a quick second! Trey took Caydan around next, while the other kids rode the golf cart around with Shane. Shane challenged Trey to a race, golf cart vs. motorcycle around the property. Winner got a dollar. The kids were kicked off and all burst into tears that they couldn't ride. The whole thing was pretty hilarious.

After all the fun, I had to take Holden home for a nap. He was exhausted and fell asleep in the car almost instantly.

What an Easter! I hope we can make a tradition of it - it was a great day.

The Gang

Dad trying to show Holden how fun hunting can be.

The pool and gate were more of an interest than Easter eggs.

This way Holden...let's find an egg!

Throwing Eggs

Kind of getting the hang of things (with LOTS of guidance)!

We found his egg!!

Mom and Dad are letting me stand on the couch!

Carter stopping for a photo but saying, "But wait, I think I see one over there."

Sydney posing with her eggs. Her barbie went everywhere with her.

Shane and Hill's egg was at the top of the palm tree.

Teamwork, Caydan comes to the rescue.

Trey found our egg!

Fernanda and Kendall

Getting ready for the ride

Sydney and Shane taking a whirl around

The Sammis boys

The kids were kicked off and are all crying in this picture.

Shaving Cream Fun

Daycare had fun with shaving cream on Tuesday, April 3rd. Luckily, they took pictures and even a video of Holden. Holden's pants were too big and kept falling off, so they took off his pants and let him go to town with shaving cream outside. What fun!!!

Thirteen Months

Holden is growing and learning so much these days. He's talking up a storm, he loves to point and name objects. I think I've counted 12 words: ball (baa), book (ba), bath (baaa - baaa at very loud volumes), banana (na-na), shoes, (sha or shew), uh-oh, outside (ow-sa or sie), up, mama, balloon (ooooew), sock ( saw, or sok), cracker (ca-ca), flowers or plant - not sure which he means (cock). Yes, you saw the last word right - cock. Once he learned the /ck/ sound, everything became cock. He used that word to identify just about everything for about a week. Literally, everything was cock. We went to Red Robin and Holden starting yelling "cock" at the top of his lungs (I think he was identifying all the balloons, but who knows). Trey looked at me and said, "What do we do?" The next day, I took him to the Birch Aquarium (see post below). We were standing in front of the shark tank, waiting for the workers to feed the three sharks. People were starting to crowd around. Holden pointed and of course yelled, "cock". I said, "Yes, that's right Holden, that is a shark." People around started to look and I'm sure were thinking, What a brilliant one year old. Little did they know everything was cock for us lately. Luckily, we've moved beyond the cock stage and he's back to pointing and attempting the real word.

Holden got one of molars in this week. Yippee! That makes nine little pearly whites. How many more teeth to go?

He's willing to try more new foods, and he continues to practice using a spoon. Meal times are messy but are fun.

Birch Aquarium

Michelle and I took Holden and Gavin (Caydan was out of town) to the Birch Aquarium last week (3/24). We both bought year passes so we can take them for short trips whenever we're up for it. I can take anyone with me free and kids under two are free. So come visit everyone, we can go to the aquarium!