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Thursday, May 30, 2013

Houston Michael, 21 months of baby love!



It's been quite a while since I updated on this little man of mine. My last "monthly" wrap-up about him was his 15 month milestone. Bad mommy...

So much has changed in that little bit of time that it's hard to remember him any other way than he is now. Where did my baby boy go?! He's SO big!


Big guy even helps mommy at her "desk job" when I'm home ;)




WARNING: This is my attempt at a "baby book" for my child and has a little more info included than you would most likely EVER be interested in. You were warned...

 Eats:


Our fantastic eater has slowly become a much more finicky eater, a.k.a. toddler.
Some days he eats like there's no tomorrow, some days he can run on fumes, and what he gobbles down today he will react to like it's sewage the next day.

There are a few foods that have a 90% success rate with him when he has refused all else:
  • bananas
  • yogurt {we buy the Greek, high protein yogurt}
  • cereal bars {nutrigrain}
  • cereal... in general
  • CANDY! ;) Though there's not much of that being offered around here...
  • scrambled eggs
  • pancakes
  • bacon!
  • pasta
  • chips and dip of any kind
It's a guessing game with him. I try to usually feed him what we're eating, but if that doesn't work, I resort to the main staples of his "diet". I still buy the baby food in the pouches to get him to eat fruits and veggies. Those are a hit or miss too but he usually likes them and I'm happy to get something nutritious in him.

I'm telling myself that he will return to liking fruits and veggies again with time, that just toddler-hood and textures are in the way at the moment... fingers crossed!

He use to LOVE avocados... now so much now:







Cognitive Development:

Verabally, Houston has been taking his cues from his momma's early childhood... his speech is developing sloooooooowly. I didn't truly say many words at all until the age of 2(!) and it seems Houston is following in those footsteps. We contemplated speech therapy in the beginning, but just the enrollment in daycare seems to be encouraging his speech skills lately.

He doesn't say words often, but the ones he has said include:
  • dada
  • momma
  • truck
  • glasses
...and that's about it folks! He is constantly "asking" what things are by pointing and saying an inflective "Dat?" We can ask him almost anything in the "Where's the ______?" game and he can point to it or take you to it. He knows EVERYTHING we're talking about. He knows what everything is on illustrated book pages, puzzle pieces of transportation/animals, etc.

He's also doing the animal sounds for elephant, lion, dog, cat, cow, jumping "like a bunny" and making a fishy face for a fish----> too cute!

He's doing fantastic with knowing lots of body parts and the colors red, blue, yellow, green and purple too. He has been impressing his parents non-stop!





Daycare:

With the start of mommy's new job that gave me mostly day shifts and more hours, we decided to enroll Houston in daycare as well. It was a rocky start finding a place we trusted AND had openings and the tearful drop off {for BOTH mommy AND Houston} lasted for a couple weeks, but we are now in the swing and he does SO well when he's there.





He loves his friends, his teacher and the amount that we can tell he's learning from daycare alone is invaluable. I thought I would be "tolerating" the daycare route instead of his loving babysitters, but now I'm pretty darn thrilled with it. Hopefully, he is too ;)


An added bonus - our daycare has cameras and can log into on the internet and stalk him all day long!!!

SCORE!





Health:

My extremely healthy boy took a little U-turn within the past couple months though. Within about a 6 weeks time frame, we went from never having an antibiotic at the age of 19 months to going trough 4 antibiotics for never ending double ear infections. The fluid in his middle ear would never disappear and the infection would always return with a vengeance. We finally decided to have tubes place on May 9th as well as having his very swollen adenoid removed and so far, so good!


Playing with daddy on an earrrrrly morning before surgery. I was so afraid of this morning without being able to give him food or drink, but he didn't seem to mind much.




That precious face! His momma was a bundle of nerves that day.



Post surgery: He was in and out of being able to actually look at us and focus after anesthesia, crying, calming down, crying again and then finally able to sit and watch cartoons on my phone while his i.v. finished. The nurses said that most children take a pretty good nap once they get home, but our guy played like a champ for a couple hours, ate like a horse, and finally tuckered out while momma and daddy were desperate for a nap as well.

He never showed any pain or any difference the rest of that day and beyond. He recovered like nothing ever happened within just a couple hours of surgery. Praise GOD!




Loves:

Our baby loves: trucks/vehicles of any kind from tiny to child size that he can ride. He will "vroom vroom" with toy cars all.day.long. as well as ride his vehicles around the house. He also loves steering wheels anywhere he can get his hands on one. He's a big fan of throwing... EVERYTHING. Something we're definitely working on squashing! He loves our dog even if the feeling isn't always mutual and he will feed him anything he has. {He will also jump to "kiss" the dog anytime while his dad and I have to beg, borrow, and steal to get a kiss from him!} He throws major fits to go outside and would stay outside until he was burnt to a crisp if we let him.

As for tantrums, we saw them quite frequently during the time period of constant ear infections. {Slamming his face into the floor is his favorite during a fit - I cringe.} I thought it was just our official entrance into the terrible two's and never associated it until after his surgery when the tantrums resolved. Hallelujah!


Watching Chuck the Truck on t.v. while he holds onto Chuck the Truck during morning snack. He's in heaven...




I can't even start to tell you how much this little guy's dad and I love him to the moon and back. I have never smiled as much as I have in the time he's been alive. His personality is so happy, so sweet, so FUNNY, I could LIVE on his hugs and kisses. My life truly has a clearer purpose with him in it and I am better for his existence.

We love you, Houston Michael!

XOXO,

Momma

Wednesday, May 29, 2013

...conversations with co-workers(!)


Let me preface this conversation by saying our precious co-worker, whom everyone loves, fully admits to being a little dingy and confused at least half of the time. Our pharmacy is still new, still building business and at the moment, we have lulls throughout the day without a lot to do in those times.

We resort to talking. Naturally :)

Some of our conversations would blow your mind. Either by the deep thoughts expressed and contemplated in new realms of consciousness orrrrrr more likely, by the immaturity of the topics and the giggles of supposed health care professionals. Just.Blow.Your.Mind.

I attempted to recreate one of those conversations here. One that left us bumfuzzled, stunned, and then laughing hysterically. I hope you can enjoy it even 1/10th of the amount I did, since the majority of it is one of those 'ya just had to be there...

Disclaimer: I had express permission by "Always confused coworker" to share our wacky exchange!




 Scene:



It's morning. We're sitting in silence in the pharmacy, five of us, each busy with our own personal business on the computers, {i.e. Facebook, Pinterest, Tumblr, email, etc.}. "Always confused coworker" interrupts the silence with a thought that pops into her head as usual. I suspect she hates the silence while I say, silence is golden ;)


Always confused coworker: A lady near where I live told me I'm close to the Arbortrarium and that I would love it and should go walking there sometime. What's the Arbortrarium?

One of the rest of us: You mean the Arboretum?

Always confused coworker: Yeah, the arborrr... wait, how did you say that again?

One of the rest of us: Arrr-bor-reee-tum.

Always confused coworker: I don't even know what that means. What is it? She said she walks there. You just go and walk?

One of the rest of us: You know how arbor means tree? Like "Arbor Day"?

Always confused coworker: No...

One of the rest of us: Well, it does. So this is a place with a lot of trees - and this one just so happens to have a walking track too... and flowers and a kids play area and a lot of other great stuff. You should go, you'd like it.

Always confused coworker: Are there going to be tree huggers there?

One of the rest of us: Well.... ummm... maybe.

Always confused coworker: Like tree worshippers????

One of the rest of us: Nononono... tree huggers usually just means someone who's environmentally conscience. A nature lover...

Always confused coworker: ...because John Denver was a tree worshiper...

One of the rest of us: No, he wasn't.

Always confused coworker:  Yeah, I'm pretty sure he was...

***STUNNED SILENCE***



P.S. I ♥ my job! and I love our Arboretum. If you're in the Lexington area, you should visit. It's free, you can walk for miles and see pretty trees and stuff. Just don't bother the tree worshippers in the middle of their rituals...





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Monday, May 27, 2013

Houston's First {of many} Reds' Game

Saturday, we had a phenomenal time taking Houston to his first {of many to come!} Cincinnati Reds' game with Nick's parents.
 
Little man had a great time!
 







 
 
 
I think I pretty much want to frame each and every one of these pictures from that day!



 
 
Funny :)










 
 
This boy makes every day special and he is {mostly} a very easy and FUNNY side-kick to have around. He is a JOY.
 
Again, mostly ;)
 
 
We kept him up late watching Monsters’ Inc. last night for fun and as a side benefit, we were hoping for a late wake-up call this morning for our 3 day weekend.
 
No such luck. A babbling toddler at 7am got our house moving and has made for a very productive Memorial Day by 10 am already!
 
 
*Remembering our loved ones who have gone ahead of us today, as well as remembering how thankful I am for our armed forces and those that have given ALL for our freedom.*
 
 
XOXO,
Stephanie

Friday, May 24, 2013

my life story, written and illustrated by iPhone

I've come to realize that one day, if all of my pictures and videos taken by my cell phone, all 33bluemillion, are preserved, my grandchildren could flip through them and basically see my life story. My life's evolution, my whole family growing, changing, every vacation, every funny moment captured, dinners, ceremonies, all of it, the whole shebang... because I basically never put my phone away.

...and I never pick up my Canon any more for that reason as well.

Who needs it? My pictures are good enough for me and my non-professional photographer status.



Like these precious moments with Houston - to me, frame worthy.

My heart could burst just looking at these two and the love they have for each other!♥





His sick day, my selfish moment just soaking it up.





Mom and Dad's night out trying our newest restaurant in town, Coba Cocina.

Very cool decor, architecture and two-story jellyfish tank seen behind us here.
Oh yeah, the food was good too ;)

{Really, seriously, DELICIOUS.}






Almost as dramatic as the death by chocolate this fur baby pulled a few years ago, we had a repeat performace.

This time though, I was home alone with hubs out of town, the baby asleep for the night and the discovery that our pup pulled a box of raisins out of the diaper bag and demolished them while hiding under the bed.

Just in case y'all didn't know, raisins {and grapes} are HIGHLY toxic to dogs. Read: kidney failure.

A quick desperate phone call to my always quick to help fabulous friend, Ginny to wach the baby while I run to the "Animal ER", 24 hours later and another BIG vet bill, our first child is as good as new... minus a shaved, bandaged paw from his puppy i.v.




My new job has proved interesting for phone pictures as well.

A helicopter landing just over my head while enjoying lunch on our terrace? Norm.



A couple extra drugs borrowed from our sista pharmacy while on a Starbucks run? Norm.





Relaxing momma time complete with  bathtub basketball hoop and a floaty book? Norm.





I hope someone is with the gandchildren looking through my cell phone pics one day that can explain some things away if I'm not around. Without narration on some of these and a whole lot of others, they might start to think their grandma was pretty darn cooky.

...and they would be right.


Happy Memorial Day weekend!

XOXO,

Stephanie

Thursday, May 23, 2013

Derby Baby


Living in Kentucky, I have yet to ever attend the Derby. No desire to really... but if you live in Lexington, Keeneland is most definitely the second best place to be on Derby Day for a laid back, fun atmosphere.

We might have been the only parents in our group of friends that came that day - with child in tow - and while we were unsure how he would do in a big group, live bands playing, staying in our own little confined area for long periods of time - the boy did AWESOME and probably had more fun than any of the rest of us!  







He quickly makes friends with E.V.E.R.Y.O.N.E. 













We couldn't even take a silly "Awwww, look, we all have the same toenail polish on..." pic without this little dude stealing the show:





Checking out the horsies :)



I LOVE this crazy boy!





You can't wear glasses around this kid without having them stolen.

Kid hazard.

Also known as, mommy sticks to cheapo sunglasses...


 


After HOURS of running around, dancing, climbing in and out of every momentarily abandoned lawn chair, throwing mulch, and tossing our plastic basketball to anyone who would catch, he finally tuckered out... my rare chance to get more than a minute of Houston snuggles!





THAT face!




XOXO,

Stephanie





Tuesday, May 21, 2013

Tampons, firearms and a Beyonce dance party

Playing catch-up today… this may be my favorite post title of all times!

 

December 2012

Tip from one momma to another: if your child is being quiet, the house isn’t being completely destroyed, and you can get a 10 minute break to get ready for work without interruption – WHO CARES if he’s emptying out your special container of “lady products” like it’s a buried treasure?!

Don’t look a gift horse in the mouth…

 

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Cincinnati Children’s Museum

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Houston wouldn’t dare sit with Santa this year, I was at least glad he mustered a grin after I begrudgingly joined in on the photo op.

{Santa’s glare this past year made me a little worried I might be showing up on a naughty list come Christmas – what was up with this dude?!}

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The Festival of Lights at Cincinnati Zoo

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Christmas gift exchange with our friends Kennedy and Wyatt

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January’s 2013

 

New Year’s at Ginny’s with Brittney, our spouses, and little ones in tow.

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A touching moment before Wyatt and Kennedy walked away and Houston single handedly brought down Ginny’s Christmas tree…

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Impromptu shooting day with lots of friends.

Would you believe I was born and raised in Kentucky and this was my first time EVER shooting a gun?!

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{No we weren’t actually shooting the assault rifles… just doing some ridiculous “Charlie’s Angels” poses with them…}

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Just an FYI, there was no camera man behind this next shot {no pun intended ;)}. We were EXTREMEMLY mindful of gun safety that day and of course we sat the camera on a timer to take it.

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Fun in the snow this year – much more so than he was able to last year!

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For Nick’s birthday, I swallowed my UK fan pride and bought him tickets to the UofL/Syracuse game. We had a blast actually and met up with friends afterward to tear up the streets of Louisville :)

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February 2012

 

Classic “Hurricane Houston”:

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My little rock star.

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So sweet!

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Never a dull day in our house…

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I adore the *precious* look of pure terror on the slide. Just so you know, he really enjoyed it after that  first leap of faith going down…

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The infamous Beyonce dance party during this year’s Superbowl half-time: Our baby boy was up LATE with us and though he has yet to enter that stage of stripping his clothes off and wanting to run around jay-bird naked all of the time, for some reason when Beyonce hit the stage, he took his shirt off and started dancing.

It.Was.A.Riot!

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I’m up to February! Not too much more catch-up to go :)

 

{I know the anticipation is killing you…}

 

XOXO,

Stephanie