Cleaning the Kitchen

Here is Boy Friday, sweeper. It's quite difficult to do any sweeping in the kitchen while he's around because he wants to "help" with whatever it is that I'm using. Unless it's a scrub brush on the dishes. That just makes him scream and throw tantrums at my feet.

We're still having issues with sleep here, too (must be going around, as I hear BF's cousins are also dealing with this!). Hoping, hoping, hoping that at least the teething is ending soon. I think the last canine is still working it's way through - he even tried biting the wall a couple of days ago. No, I don't have video of that. It was weird. He then proceeded to bite the garbage can lid. Ew.



Friday is enjoying putting hats on - especially mommy and daddy's! Also - as seen here - we are having serious pacifier-attachment.



Isn't this a cute shot? Taken by daddy at dinner tonight. I think BF was eating a piece of eggroll. He always wants to try whatever we're having (not always good - he doesn't like spicy food. He also insists that he wants uncooked foods like oatmeal and garlic). Once when we were having salad, Friday didn't want the arugula, but he kept asking for it just to try and put it in my mouth. Mmmmm... yummy.

We have a few more videos that I'm going to try and post soon (but it takes time to convert them to an uploadable format).

Terrible Twos?

Yikes, but little mr. Willful has arrived. The tantrums have increased in the last two days - screaming when I can't guess what he wants to eat (last night he wanted oatmeal right out of the container - yuck). Screaming if I'm not in his room when he wakes up (at 3am, no less). Screaming if I leave the room for a second. Now, I suppose it COULD be teething. You might be able to see his new canines coming in above. He was laughing at the camera (maybe at that funny red-eye light?). One of his happier moments today! I'm not sure that all four canines have arrived yet - but at least his right two are definitely in (both upper and lower).

He's now saying "hi" and "bye-bye" (maybe it's baby - not sure). He's also got a word for "flower" - but I have no clue what it is. In fact, it may be his first or second word - but it sounds nothing like flower. Sounds a little like his words for cheese or shoes. Both Thomas (the train) and Tyger are "tee." But, he hasn't quite gotten the hang of that sound yet. So, how many new words this week? Ten?

Merry Christmas!

Here is Boy Friday on Christmas morning with his first gift (he opened it while I wasn't looking, and it's one of only two gifts he opened on his own!). I was trying to get him to say "donkey" (bawh-key), which he only started saying after I brought out the Christmas nativity (the fisher price Little People set). He also says "Jesus" now, too. Sounds a lot like "cheese." He also just started saying "daddy!" I know, late bloomer this one. We're chopped liver apparently - Chester, cheese, shoes, and cars are all more important that saying mommy or daddy.

So this week he started saying - donkey, daddy (dee), anya (aaah-eee), Jesus, and I think he's working on a word for train (choo). Not too interested in saying mommy or mama (although I've heard it a few times). Loves to say "mee" which means "meow" or cat. Every time he sees a cat he says "mee!" Oh, and he'll snort if you ask him what the pig says.



I think it's so funny that he enjoys putting hats on! This crazy-colored one that I knit a couple years ago looks so cute on him. And definitely cuter on him than on me.



Friday seems to be enjoying all of his gifts... except the couple that MOVE on their own (Let's Go Thomas, and Lightning McQueen shake-n-go car). Those make him cry. He has two little wooden trains (Percy and Victor from the Thomas wooden set) that he really likes, and he loves hearing his Tonka trucks talk. Ok, he's not aware that he's received clothes - I think I opened all of those for him. I'm not sure what he thinks of his new stuffed toys, but I have to say the striped lion is so fun and colorful (and even machine washable)! Both he and the gingerbread man have been hugged and sat upon.

It actually rained all of Christmas day - all of the snow was melted by late afternoon! Not that we'd had much yet anyway. Today, however, it snowed all day and we now have a few inches of light, powdery snow.

Attempting some holiday fun.

This trip to the Botanic Garden did not quite go as planned... we did not get in to see "Winter Wonderland," as apparently you need tickets in advance to go see the free event (but are charged by ticket*****r). Well, we were certainly not the only ones there without tickets! At least our kid is too young to have any idea that he might be missing out.

Is it really almost Christmas?

Sorry about the lack of posts and photos in the last couple of months. Things have been hectic and in constant flux. Chester was back in the veterinary hospital last week due to a hypoglycemic episode that just wouldn't go away. Although it is unclear what happened, or why he was diabetic for the last four months, something has changed and he's been off his insulin for almost two weeks now. I'll need to check his glucose levels at home so that I'll know when he comes out of remission, but his behavior is seemingly getting back to "normal." Unfortunately, some of the bad habits we'd hoped were gone are not... alas.

Photos. Um, yeah. The house is a serious mess and it's always so dark that the photos haven't been turning out at all without a flash. So I've gotten a bit lazy. I do have a few more videos, but none of them are quite as fun as the Friday Dance Session below!

Friday is now 32.5 inches tall (75th percentile), and 23.8 lbs (25th percentile). He got a shot today, but seemingly did not even notice! His very favorite word to say is "car." And, yes, it really does sound like the word "car." Every single time we go outside - "car! car! Cccar!" We have moved on to the "careening" stage of learning to walk - running about the house with reckless abandon.

We are hardly prepared for Christmas - what? decorate? where? And pulling out ornaments would include a Closet Expedition - treacherous. Of course, I think my winter socks are in there somewhere, too.

I'll check out the three or four photos I've taken in the last month and determine if they are worthy of upload. Or there's a short video clip of Friday yelling "stop, thief" as I read him "Peter Rabbit" (no, it doesn't sound like stop or thief, but it's pretty amusing all the same).

Dancing Boy

Now that he's been walking for a couple of weeks, Friday's on to more difficult moves - dancing! Well, and he's still up to his old tricks of moving and stacking cans of food. Still having trouble getting video of words - but he says Chester, cheese ("shuh"), ball (all things that start with "b" are "Buh"), and shoes ('shus'). He tried to say grapes and banana today, but wouldn't repeat them. The other day he wanted a soda can - I try to keep these out of his reach since he will likely THROW them. Not a good idea. I handed him the can just to see what he might do. He picked at the tab, then pretended to drink out of the correct location! So funny! Obviously he had seen me do it and wanted to try, too. No, he didn't want to drink it - just to imitate.

All four molars are at least partially erupted - so now we're up to 12 teeth.

What's Been Going On?

I know, I know - it's been a whole month since I last posted! Jenn has a new baby and she's posted more than I have. So what have we been up to? Emily came the day after my last post. We had lots of fun traipsing around Chicago - shopping in Wicker Park, visiting the Lincoln Park Zoo, and enjoying the flora at the Chicago Botanic Garden. The day she left, I came down with a minor cold. And now the little guy seems to have come down with a cold himself. In the last two weeks he's gotten two new teeth (molars), fallen and cut his lip twice, fallen hard on the back of his head at least three times, stopped breastfeeding (his idea), discovered that he can climb up steps (but not down), and started walking! Oh, and also stopped allowing me to put him to bed without a struggle. I've given up for now - and of course, he's having trouble sleeping while congested. Hopefully that won't last long. We're all getting tired quickly.

Will post photos soon, but here's a video from yesterday: