Odds and Ends

Our Little Parrot...

I asked him to smile...this is what he gave me.
Notice the coozie on his sippy cup.  He wanted to be like mom and dad with our drinks. 

Beau's vocabulary has recently grown by leaps and bounds.  He adds approximately five new words a day.  Some of his more notable new words he has added to his vernacular - circle, yellow, stuck, want, itch.  It's amazing how often a toddler can properly use the words, "stuck," "want," and "itch." 

Feats of Strength...

The bouncy chair is officially retired (except under interludes of intense parental supervision.)  On Sunday Charlie was reclining in the chair, but he wanted to see what Beau, standing behind him, was doing.  He simply rolled over in the chair and pushed up.  Sheesh.  And that would be really impressive if I didn't catch him doing something else on Friday.  See on Friday he apparently did not have a good view of the action from his reclining position.  So, he grabbed the side of the bouncy chair and sat up.  Yes, he used his upper body strength along with his freakish core strength to sit upright in the bouncy chair...where he remained for nearly FIVE MINUTES. 

Setting Records...

Everyone knows that Beau can really put away some food.  But each day he surprises us.  Here is what he threw down on Thursday for dinner: 

TEN fish sticks

TWELVE cherry tomatoes

One cup of grapes

Two cranberry orange mini muffins



No Paw Paw...Not Nice

Poor Paw Paw...he doesn't have to do anything to be told, "NO!"  Heck, he doesn't even have to be present...

Say what?!

"All signs of colic have passed.  Happy baby.  Happy mommy."

Dr. Richard finishing up her dictation at Charlie's four month well check. 

Mommy's Challenge 52:4 Dirty

 When I started preparing for this week's post that old quote kept ringing in my ears, "A little boy is a noise with dirt on it."  How very accurate.  I've now accepted the fact that for the foreseeable future my bathtub will have a slight dirt ring around it. 

While I'm not too keen on all the dirtiness, I love how much fun he has while getting dirty.  Good thing I'm not much of a neat freak!

Say what?!

"You know, I think we could definitely have another kid." 

Billy, proving my theory that there is such a thing as "daddy amnesia." 

Not to leave anyone out

I've been giving monthly updates of Charlie, but not so much Beau.  So I figured I'd give Beau his own post.  Beau has been so funny and so entertaining lately that I could write a novel on him.  But who would want to read that but me?  So, here's the short version. 

*  He is starting to form sentences as opposed to one and two word commands.  Some of his recent sentences...

"Check on Charlie."

"Mommy, I'm happy." 

"Don't wanna go home." 

The last one kind of stung, until I realized - that's a FOUR WORD sentence.  Go Beau! 

Who knows?

*  He is learning to count to ten.  The funny thing is, he only does it when prompted.  And then, he only counts every other number! 

Mommy, "One."

Beau, "Two."

Mommy, "Three."

Beau, "Four."

And on and on until seven.  Not sure why, but he stops at seven. 

*  He now walks around the house singing this song...

*  Paw Paw bought him a new Drew Brees jersey.  And now...it's all.he.wants.to.wear.  It makes get ready in the morning really miserable interesting. 

Good form. 

*  Beau likes to clean.  Give him a rag, he'll wipe up any mess.  Give him an empty basket he'll load and unload the washer and dryer.  Billy's starting to get jealous because I told him he was too young to push the mower just yet. 

Towel?  Check.  Apple?  Check.  Ok, ready for the bathtub. 

*  While most kids fall asleep clinging tight to their blanket or lovie, Beau snuggles up with his orange water bottle. 

*  I'm afraid he might have his daddy's feet.  He's in a size seven shoe. 

What?  You eat your apples with clothes on?

*  He loves being naked. 

*  He will do anything for stickers. 

*  He still *loves* Charlie.  

 

By the Numbers - The Grocery Edition

I've said it before and I'll say it again.  In contemplating Beau, and now Charlie, growing up, I am not afraid of the usual things - struggling in school, getting in with a bad crowd, being otherwise miserable.   Nope, not me.  What's my worse fear - not being able to afford the grocery bill when the boys are in college.

You think I'm kidding, but allow me to elaborate.  Beau is an eater.  Always has been and I figure he always will be.  Apparently Charlie is now too.  His teacher informed me that he gulps down his bottle in thirty seconds flat.  Sheesh.  I figure on average he takes in about thirty-six ounces of milk a day.  The amount recommended by his pediatrician?  Twenty-eight to thirty-two ounces.  So much for that. 

Then the other day I was in the grocery store strolling through the produce when I realized my cart was almost full.  Ladies and gentlemen, I started in the produce section.  I had been in the store for less than fifteen minutes.  I blushed at the sight of all this food but finished shopping anyway. 

When I got home I took inventory.  I looked at my groceries and thought, I have to take a picture of this.  No one will believe me.  

 Yea, that's just the produce part of our groceries. 

 Then I looked at the bill. 

Whoa, nelly! 

An aside - I read once in a health magazine that a rule of thumb to keep your family healthy is to do most of your shopping in the outer aisles (ie, produce, butcher, bakery, dairy) and keep the middle aisle purchases (ie, packaged products) to a minimum.  If this is true, I deserve an award.  Here is how we stack up. 

The miscellaneous section consisted of some real staples - coffee, peanut butter, pasta.  All in all, not too bad.  So, even if I go into debt feeding this crew at least I know I'm doing somethingf right!

Mommy's Project 52:3 Challenging

 "I know God will not give me anything I can't handle.  I just wish that He didn't trust me so much." 

-Mother Teresa

When we found out we were expecting our little Jellybean (aka Charlie) we were thrilled.  Then we did the math...eighteen months.  Our boys would only be eighteen months apart.  Not quite Irish twins, but we would have two babies under two years old.  But, we knew we could handle it.  Beau has been such a joy.  And while he has never been a napper...never...not since birth...he has been a relatively easy baby. 

Then came Charlie.  He was is perfect.  When the doctor held him over the curtain, it was deja vu.  He looked just like Beau.  I thought, "Perfect."  And, in those first two weeks he was.  In fact, he was an easier baby than Beau.  Hallelujah!  God likes us. 

And then something changed.  Our sweet, sleepy baby became cranky and gassy and often inconsolable.  People would make comments...often using the "c" word - Colic.  I can't begin to tell you how frustrated I got when people said, "colic."  Looking back, it's silly.  But colic is so, well, non-descript.  It's so vague.  So ambiguous.  And when things are vague and ambiguous, that means there's no easy answer. 

This is where I get really honest, during those weeks of colic, I thought I might lose my mind.  Forget post partum depression - that's when you're sad and weepy and can't articulate why.  This was going to be full blown psychosis!  And I knew exactly why.  He cried and cried and cried.  There seemed to be no soothing him.  What had happened to my happy baby? 

I understand now that as far as conditions go, colic is not particularly serious.  But, when it is 3:00 a.m. and you are in the throes of inconsolable, sobbing, heaving crying and for the past month you have been averaging four non-consecutive hours of sleep at night, well, nothing seems more serious. 

Sure, Billy was wonderful during this time.  He helped with Charlie and more than anything, he let me vent and vented alike.  But, it was a little different...he just doesn't get that "Mommy guilt."  Who can blame him...afterall he's not a mommy. 

I talked about the situation a little with my mom and my mommy friends.  But I don't think I ever really let on just how bad I felt.  Why not?  Surely someone else had felt this way before.  Someone out there had turned off the monitor, even if just to get silence for a few minutes.  Someone out there had bit down on their child's rubber pacifer in lieu of screaming.  Someone had looked up adoption agencies.  Ok, I'm kidding on that last one. 

The other day I read an article on just this topic.  It felt good to read the article and know that some mommies were in the same boat as me, and some were much worse off.  (Well, I didn't feel better that some ladies out there were worse off; but it kind of put things in perspective for me.)  And then I started reading the comments.  Some were just atrocious.  One comment had a mother admitting to being frustrated with her children.  The next would criticize her and tell her to "man up" so to speak.  I made a vow then and there to do two things.  First, I will always be brutally honest with my mommy friends.  And second, I will never judge.  (I actually had previously made these promises to myself, but they seem far more important now.)  The article nailed it.  Being a mother is incredibly challenging.  What's worse, it can be very lonely. 

On a sidenote - In the comments one mom spoke of her momtourage.  OMG.  I'm not 100% sure what that is - but I know I want one.  If you like to be a founding member of my momtourage, let me know.  I'm taking applications now.  ;) 

As for Charlie, just when I thought I couldn't take it anymore, something changed.  It was like a lightbulb went off.  The gas, well, it passed.  (Pun intended.)  I decided not to buy stock in Mylicon.  A few days later, we noticed he was impossibly happy and giggly!  And then a few days later, another breakthrough...he slept through the night. 

I recognize that we'll have our good days and our bad days, but it is so nice to know that this stage is behind us.  Again, considering that I have such healthy children, it seems so trivial to be upset about colic.  But, I can now admit, it was the most challenging part of parenting so far. 

Now on to potty training...

Future BFFs

Drew and Beau

*And don't worry Core, Barrett, Kaitlyn, Linley, etc...Beau can have more than one BFF. 

Four Months!

Mr. Charlie turned four months on Sunday.  So what is our little guy doing now that he's 1/3 of the way to his first birthday (and yes, I have already started planning the big day, if only in my head). 

* Charlie has really become the happiest baby.  I know I've said this in earlier posts, but it bears repeating.  He smiles, coos, giggles and gafaws (if that's how you spell that).

*  He enjoys sitting up unassisted.  And even if he can only do so for a few seconds at a time he loves it.  Seriously, the kid pulls himself up to erect from a reclinig position.  At this rate he will have a six pack by the aforesaid first birthday party.  Maybe we should do a beach theme so he can show off his washboard abs. ;)

*  Speaking of muscles, it appears that Charlie has freakish strength like big brother, Beau.  The other day Billy screamed for me to come quick to see what Charlie was doing.  When I came in he was in his exersaucer and had both hands on one of the attached toys.  He was shaking the toy and trying his darnedest to rip it off the platform.  Guess what?  He managed to loosen the toy to where it was literally hanging from a thread!  I intervened before he ripped it off completely.  (On a side note, Beau did this to another toy on the exesaucer...but not until he was about six months old.) 

*  And while we're on the topic of the exersaucer, I thought it would be interesting to note that Charlie started in that contraption on the middle setting.  In other words, he was too tall/long to start out at the first level.  I can't wait until our four month appointment to see how much he has grown.

*  While he is devilishly handsome, he's still pretty bald.  I'm not particularly concerned because Beau was in the same boat at this age and look at that moptop now!  However, I am dying to know what color his hair will be.  Somedays it's brown.  Other days it looks blonde.  And still others it looks red!  I guess only time will tell.  One thing is for certain...he's got some gorgeous baby blues...for now. 

Have I mentioned how much he loves the fan?

Mommy's Project 52:2 Silly

When you have a nearly two year old energetic boy in your house, what isn't silly?  Beau's little personality has really taken form and it turns out that he is a big old ham.  (I wonder where he gets that...certainly not me.) 

I knew that one of the joys of being a parent was witnessing daily the completely uninhibited behavior of a joyful child.  What I didn't know was that it would give me an excuse to display my silly side as well.  I love to sing out loud and dance like a fool.  And guess what?  Beau seems to like my performances.  (And when he doesn't he is sure to tell me.) 

So what has been super silly lately? 

*  Beau does this spinning on his belly thingy in the bathtub and in his mobile art studio (which, by the way, has seen better days). 

*  He loves to dance, even when there is no music. 

*  He still thinks it is hilarious to offer you a piece of his toast/apple/tomato and then pull it away right as you are about to bite down on it. 

*  He also finds it funny to smear his food on his face...just when you think he's wiping his mouth clean. 

*  He *loves* the fan.  LOVES it.

*  He likes to sneak up on me while I'm in the shower and jump in. 

*He's rediscovered all his old toys and is not about to give them up to Charlie...at least not completely. 

* Whether in the tub or outside, few things are funnier than emptying water out of a cup.  Emptying water out of the cup and on to mommy or Charlie is one of those few things. 

* Tickling Charlie is a new past time and if he can illicit a giggle from his little brother, well then it has truly been a success. 

Music to My Ears

Beau has always been a talker...even if only Billy and I can understand what he is saying!  And, like most kids his first word was, "dada."  Dada was quickly followed by Paw Paw.  Then Maw Maw.  And in no particular order, Nan, Bone, Dee Dee, Izzy, Rob, Marc, and Charlie.  Hmmmm...notice anyone missing from this list?  Yea, mommy.  Gee, thanks, Beau. 

Sure, there were occasions when he would say, Maaaaa maaaaa, in a sad pitiful voice. But usually this was saved for times when he was really really tired or sick.  While it made me feel good to know he trusted me in these vunerable times, it sure would be nice if he called out my name when it was playtime. 

But recently he has had a change of heart.  Ahhhhh...it appears that he has a new favorite word.  A word that he screams out when he comes home from school...a word he calls out as soon as he wakes up...a name that he whispers while he sits in my lap watching Toy Story.  Beau's new favorite word???

Stroke of genius

Recently Beau has become a little preschool Picaso...a toddler Thiebaud...a daycare Dali.  In other words, he's obssesed with art.  And his medium of choice?  Why crayons, of course.  I was pretty laid back with his coloring, giving him a blank pad of paper and a couple of coloring books.  And then he thought the window sill and sunroom wall could use a splash of color...purple to be exact. 

Well I couldn't see myself repeatedly cleaning up a crayola mess and when I made Beau help clean up...he actually enjoyed it.  Only Beau would find a way to make his punishment enjoyable.  Sheesh. 

Then I had an idea.  The amazon box that I had forgotten to throw away!  I dumped Beau's crayons and papers in the box.  Then - PLOP - in went Beau.  I instructed him to color on the papers and the box itself.  Guess what?  It worked!  He LOVES this new invention.  He loves that he can color in the box.  He loves that he can color on the box.  He loves that I can pull it into any room of the house and he color in my good company.  We've affectionately dubbed it - Beau's Mobile Art Studio. 

You know, every once in a while I get this stuff right. 

**Bonus points for anyone who recognized the pun in the title...(I know Rebecca did.)*