Squeaker's Surprise

Okay, so yah, the video was rotated. Since I was using my camera, I didn't think anything of it. It took me a while to figure out how to rotate it so you don't get a crick in your neck. It is a little blurry and misshapen, but at least you don't have to lay on your side. Oh, and a special thanks to our midget cameraman! He did awesome!!!

Craving

I am craving stuff:

Going to a movie
Visiting an amusement park
Camping at the beach
Sewing
Scrapbooking
Sleep

What is wrong with me? It is not like I am deprived of fun things to do... I mean, we go to the park several times a week, we swim, we go for walks, we go on trips, we have friends... So, what is the deal?

Sushi, anyone?

How to burn energy on the road

A tip we learned when traveling with a rambunctious 2 year old. Make the most of what you've got! So, in order to manage a long car ride, we must burn energy. So, before hopping in the car for a 3 hour drive, here is what you do:



Well, it isn't our bed, right?

Then, on the drive, make all pee stops at fast food joints with a play area. FYI, Burger King has bigger, better, and cleaner play areas than McDonalds. All you have to do is buy a caffeinated soda for the drive to not feel guilty. :)

Birthday talks

LM: I want a big huge race car for my birthday.
Friend: Oh. I had my birthday. (Her birthday was in July) I had three birthdays.
LM: Oh, that's cool.
Friend: For my birthday, I got a big castle puzzle.
LM: Oh, COOL!
Friend: I will have my birthday again tomorrow. (tomorrow = July, in this case)
LM: that's cool, I am going to have my birthday, too.

-- Um... yah... Cool! :)

So, we have been talking a lot about birthdays. It is approaching "birthday season" with all the kids in playgroup and their new siblings. We have had 4 kids have their birthdays already (not all from playgroup) and have about 12 more coming up. So, with all this talk about birthdays, and gift-buying, Little Man is in a craze. He has found several things that he wants... and knows exactly who is going to purchase each of these gifts for him. I will give you a hint -- starts with a "g" and ends with "mommy". So, in the event that she decides not to shell out $300 bucks or whatever the grand total might be, I thought I would at least keep a record of his 'wants' online. This is truly a wish list. I sincerely hope that he forgets all these things by the end of October.

A water gun
A dark purple computer
A big huge race car
A remote control car
A motorcycle and motorcycle helmet
World Peace

okay, okay, I just added the last one in so he didn't sound like a completely spoiled and selfish child! :)

Kissable Faces

I may be a bit biased, but aren't these just the cutest faces you have ever seen???

It Figures

So, Friday and Saturday nights were not so good as far as sleep goes. I had decided that Sunday night would be the night we start doing whatever it was that we decided to do -- probably just let Squeaker cry (breaks my heart). He musta known something was up -- wouldn't you know it, he slept until 7:20am without waking up to eat once! I am just so very glad that he did that all on his own. I know he can do it, there just always seems to be a reason... sick, tummy ache, needs to poop, overtired, gassy, didn't eat all day (to distracted), etc. He was in good spirits Sunday, ate well (enough), took good naps, pooped, etc... so that left no reason for him to be awake last night. And, WHA LA, he wasn't. Yea, Squeaker! (Now, if it isn't asking too much, keep it going?!)

All better, almost

Squeaker is feeling better -- during the day. At night, however, he turns into this horrible, irrational, screaming, crazy baby... a couple times a night. Since he is not eating much during the day, like he forgot how to eat solids while being sick, I have been giving him the benefit of the doubt and letting him nurse at night. He may think this is great, but I, on the other hand, do not! After this weekend (we are off to visit Grandma and Grandpa), something is going to change. Do you hear that, Squeaker? Change! If it involves a screamfest for 3 nights straight so that the Little Man gets so little sleep he turns into a monster, I. Don't. CARE! Mommy is tired, tired leads to cranky, and cranky leads yelling and yelling is no fun! At 10 mos old, you should sleep through the night regularly... not just when you feel like it.... got it!?

You can read more next week on how mommy got suckered in and failed miserably at her attempt to get rest.

And yet another

Add "Bath" to the list of signs that Squeaker amazes us with. He is also working on "sleep" but his hand gets stuck at his mouth. He finally figured it out (once) and started slapping his head... close enough for mommy! :) I really need to get the video rolling.

Also, we aren't eating. Perhaps concentrating all energy on figuring out signs, but it is not good... especially for diaper changes. Changing a very squirmy 10 (yes, 10 mos in a mere 4 days) month old when the output is that of a newborn is NOT not NOT fun! Did I mention it was not fun? I might keep him in a dirty diaper until daddy comes home. I might, I really might.

Friends

I know this picture is about a month old, but it is so cute I had to post it!

Cuties and Sign Language

First, a picture of the Little Man and Squeaker just before bed in their cute matching style jammies.


So, the Squeaker is quite taken with the whole baby sign language thing. He loves to guess how to move his hands when he wants something. Some of the signs he knows and does frequently are:


eat
more
cracker
milk
and even combines more and milk
all done
water


This picture is of Squeaker signing "water" (or eat, we aren't sure. they are sometimes the same- sometimes water includes a finger in his mouth like a straw.)

Why?

But, why? Why, Mommy? Why? Why? Why?

So, we are fully immersed in the "why" stage. Holy cow, it just hit us like a mac truck. One day, the Little Man decided it would be fun to stick a 'why' after everything I say. Ga-mommy suggested a clever retort... but now we get that repeated back to us - not only when we don't answer him (he answers for us), but when we use the word 'why' as well. For example:

Me: Why did you throw that piece of bread?
LM: Because why is a crooked letter.

or

LM: why, why, why, why mommy, why?
Me: (silence - ignoring)
LM: Cuz why is a crooked letter?
Me: I suppose so.

Speaking of "supposing so", at dinner today, I asked the Little Man if he was so hungry because he ate his dinner so quickly. His response... "I suppose so, Mommy."

Sick Squeaker

Not sure I have much to say, other than, sick again. Seems to be that a low grade, intermittent fever combined with a snotty nose and poor appetite is a sure sign of a summer virus. Just wish it would go away - such an unhappy little guy. Crying a lot, wants to be held, not sleeping well, and just plain cranky. Oh well, it is the weekend, yaahoo. This means that at the very least I won't have to hold 22 solid lbs all day.. i might get a break every once in a while. I hope.

The Little Man has been wonderful the past couple days (after some really awful awful days - usually around not playing nicely with his friends) so that is a blessing! Hoping for more of those blessings coming up.

No walking yet

So, I am not holding my breath for the walking. The lack of interest is amazing. :) If I had to venture a guess, it is too much work. Why focus my energy on walking, when I have to crawl so fast to keep up with my brother already. So, since the Squeaker has decided to wait on the walking (which is fine except that he really enjoys being upright and will not sit when you set him down on the floor... he wants to stand) he has modified his crawl to be a pseudo-walk-crawl thing. It gives him more maneuverability and some amount of verticalness. It is a sort of bear crawl, walk, regular crawl, tripod type thing. Very amusing to watch. And, once I figure out how to get video onto my new computer (which is probably not difficult but takes time - of which i am limited), I will post the crawl and the Squeaker saying his version of 'cracker'.

Clever

After putting together some small boxes from our IKEA trip yesterday, these pieces of cardboard were left over:


The Little Man was playing with them. At one point, he abandoned these fun new toys in a hurry. He came back a few minutes later, toys in tow. Here is the reason he had to take off so quickly:


Such a clever boy! When we play soccer, there are usually no goals, it is just kicking the ball around and chasing after it with Mommy and Daddy shouting, "Use your feet, No Hands!" Anyway, he must have picked up on the goal posts from our infrequent visits to see Uncle Sean play, or at the park, or on TV.

Vertical Challenges

This is not a reference to any one's (and I am not naming names) height... it is reference to Squeakers new obsession. Climbing. Now, I am all for physical activity and stuff, but come on, stop it already. I think, if he put his mind to it, he could transfer this obsession to a more horizontal pastime - you know, walking. He is so driven, it is almost funny. I put him down in the hallway, and since the bathroom door was closed (his most favorite place of all) he bee-lined for big brother's room. He went straight toward his bed and ascended it with little difficulty. I carried him out into the hall about 10 times, and each time he bee-lined straight back to the bed for another go. Geez, give it a rest. So, now all rooms are closed up on a regular basis - the Little Man will follow up if I miss one - and that leaves no bed for climbing. Alas, since he is my child, and brilliant, he finds many other vertical surfaces to investigate:

modular storage shelf
computer armorie
buffet cabinet
window ledge
toy basket
side of a dining room chair
wall (pulling on a cord to help him up -- guess we should remove that)
kitchen cabinets

He will literally lift up his leg to search for ledge to put his cute little toes on, lift up with his amazingly strong arms, and pull until he has managed both feet off the floor. Usually, there is no where else to go but for that one step, but I am sure when his legs get longer, we are in TROUBLE. I understand we have his Uncle Will to blame for this one. :)

On a side note, we are pretty sure that Squeaker also said his first word yesterday, I will let you guess what it was - but I don't think you will get it, unless I have already told you and then that is just cheating!

Not much going on

Sorry for the lack of posting, not much has been going on. Well, I should say, nothing exciting is going on. Squeaker is so close to walking, but has not figured out that he needs to move his feet to move forward. He tries to walk by leaning forward, and then proceeds to fall down, face first. Silly boy, move those feet! :) (Not that I am in a hurry, but frustration is becoming the norm for squeaker). So, speaking of frustration, Squeaker has quite a temper. I had no idea that 9 mo old babies could throw temper tantrums... guess we missed that one with the Little Man, who was and is quite mellow.

So, update on our week:
- got a Mac and have been trying to move our important files over all week
- finished books 6 (re-read) and 7 of Harry Potter
- Squeaker needs more iron in his diet, so the doctor told us to give him vitamins... apparently they upset his stomach after much trial and error with dosage and time of day, we are now going to go without the vitamins and hope he is okay when he goes back to the doctor to check his blood next month
- vitamin intolerance and a virus have made sleeping a bit difficult. One full night's sleep in the past week - not good
- people have been coming to look at the house, but still aren't conviced they want to pay 50,000 more for ours when the 30 other homes in our neighborhood are the same, but foreclosing.
- wish we were in Santa Barbara at the beach with the family. :(
- The Little Man got into a preschool and will be going 2 mornings a week - he is SOOOOO ready! And, he tells me that he will cry a little bit at school when I leave him there with the other kids.