Showing posts with label Busy boy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Busy boy. Show all posts

Wednesday, March 7, 2012

Puddles and Mud and Rocks, Oh My!

Getting messy in the great outdoors

Today, with the beautiful spring weather, I got my first taste of what it will be like to parent a little boy. It's going to be SO FUN (and messy).

What you can see: my baby's muddy, puddle-soaked pants and boundless energy.

What you can't see: the pile of rocks and other outdoor treasures that created this muddy mess.

His curiosity and sense of adventure are just amazing. I love baby boys!

Thursday, January 26, 2012

Interim Break: Let's just call it a "half success"

Proof that I did accomplish something over interim break

Gah. I can't believe interim break is over in just a few short days. I had such a lovely six week break from reading scholarly articles and writing research papers. Alas, I have already started receiving assignments from my professors for next week.

So although I technically have a few days remaining, I'm going to throw in the towel and report on my interim break goals...

  1. Read three "fun" books (i.e. books that aren't assigned for grad school) — SUCCESS! I read five books actually... The Hunger Games (Suzanne Collins), Catching Fire (Suzanne Collins), Mockingjay (Suzanne Collins), The Night Circus (Erin Morgenstern) and Enrique's Journey (Sonia Nazario). All were fabulous (and read on my new Kindle!). I read the Hunger Games trilogy in literally five days. What can I say? I love young adult fiction. The Night Circus was both spooky and whimsical. I found it similar to work by Audrey Niffengger, who I love. And Enrique's Journey was an incredibly powerful portrayal of Central American boy's quest to find his mother, who came to the United States to try and provide a better life for him. It's also the Go Big Read book selection for 2012.
  2. Organize the hall closet, coat closet and laundry room closet — Half success. The hall closet is done (see photo above). And the coat closet is better. But the laundry room closet is still a disaster.
  3. Organize the basement and garage — FAIL. Ben did clean up the garage somewhat, but we need some shelves to really organize things. And we didn't even touch the basement. Oh well. Perhaps we'll try again over spring break.
  4. Paint Will's bed side table and book shelves — FAIL. But this isn't entirely my fault. The shelves are still on back order at IKEA. And I don't see the point of painting the bedside table now if I just have to get out all the supplies to paint the book shelves later.
  5. Plan out Will's activity schedule for the winter/spring — SUCCESS! Will and I go to story time on Tuesdays and music class on Thursdays. For bonus points, I also called about some two year old preschool options for the fall.
  6. Finish Will's 7-12 month baby book — Half success. I think I literally worked on one page. Sigh. But this is one thing I really, really want to finish before Monday. So hopefully I'll have this checked off by the end of the weekend.
  7. Start Will's 12-18 month baby book — FAIL. Didn't even start a new project in Shutterfly.
  8. Blog at least 3 times a week — SUCCESS! I did pretty darn good over break, don't you think?
  9. Start working out at least 3 times a week — FAIL. We did join a gym, but I've only been there twice in the last month. I have been going to yoga and pilates occasionally, but not nearly enough to make my weekly goal.

Thursday, December 22, 2011

Interim Break

Oh, how I love interim break. No classes. No homework. No group projects. I don't even know what to do with all my free time.

However, I could use some direction, so here's my goal list...

  1. Read three "fun" books (i.e. books that aren't assigned for grad school)
  2. Organize the hall closet, coat closet and laundry room closet
  3. Organize the basement and garage
  4. Paint Will's bed side table and book shelves
  5. Plan out Will's activity schedule for the winter/spring
  6. Finish Will's 7-12 month baby book
  7. Start Will's 12-18 month baby book
  8. Blog at least 3 times a week
  9. Start working out at least 3 times a week

Help me stay accountable, people! Interim break ends on January 30.

Wednesday, December 21, 2011

15 and 16 Months

These days, we can only get photos in motion

Dear Will,

As you can see from the title, this is my first combo month. Not to shabby really. I'm impressed I didn't drop the ball before now.

Here's the thing though, actually playing with you is so much more fun than writing about playing with you. So the blog goes by the wayside a bit. But I want so desperately to remember every second of your precious little life. So here we are.

At 16 months, you have quite the vocabulary. You're picking up new words each and every day, and you like to try and imitate what Daddy and I say. The words you use on a regular basis include: up, milk, more, apple, oatmeal, bread, cheese, truck, duck, Mama, Dada, shoe, book, hi, bye-bye and help. You also know a lot of animal sounds, including: horse, sheep, cow, dog, cat, elephant, lion, monkey, fish and bird. Granted, Daddy and I are often the only one's who know what you're saying, but we think you are the smartest child ever.

You continue to love books, but we've entered the stage where you want to read the same book over and over and over again. Like 10 times in a row. Literally. And I think you would want to keep going if I didn't hide the book ask you to pick another one. It can be mind numbing, but it's hard to say no to books. I love that you love reading, so we read them over and over and over again to your heart's content. Your favorite book this month is probably Dear Zoo (you like to lift the flaps and say all the animal noises) or Ollie.

Moving vehicles continue to be an obsession of yours.  Buses, trucks, trains, cars, you name it. If it has an engine and wheels, you're all about it. Tuesday is garbage day in our neighborhood, and you love to peer out the front window and watch the garbage truck head down the street. Several weeks ago you started crying as it rounded the corner. "Ma," (more) you cried to me and pointed. "Ma!"

Considering your parents both adore food (and adventurous food at that), you are an exceptionally picky eater. Your favorite foods are cheese, yogurt, apples, peanut butter, bread, bananas, waffles, kiwi and cinnamon graham crackers. But you still won't touch meat, and you turn up your nose at most vegetables. We've gotten pretty creative at sneaking vegetables into your meals. We've found you'll eat them if we mix them in with your yogurt or hide them in a peanut butter sandwich. Whatever it takes.

We were so excited to put up the Christmas tree earlier this month, but you know what? You could have cared less. I thought for sure you'd freak out over the bright twinkling lights, but you gave it a resounding "meh". On the plus side, that means you pretty much leave the tree and ornaments alone.

One of my favorite things you do right now is help Mama with the laundry. You toddle in the laundry room after me and announce "helper", which means you want to help put the wet laundry into the dryer. So I put a few pieces on the dryer door for you to throw in yourself. You love it. So much so that sometimes you take the wet laundry back out of the dryer, only to throw it right back in.

Your favorite toys this month are your yellow dump truck, fire truck "book", Zany Zoo (wooden activity center) and popper. Grandma picked up the popper for you at a garage sale because it looked just like one Daddy had when he was a little boy. It's in great condition and you love it. Often you just run back and forth across the house, pop pop popping away.

I can't tell you how much I love this age. You are so fun and funny, sweet and silly, inquisitive and energetic. It's not easy parenting a toddler, but we're having a blast. You are our whole world. I love you so much, my sweet baby boy.

Love,

Mama