Nueve (Nine)

Hi, I'm 9 months old.

Friday Oliver turned nine months old.  I carried him for nine months and with all the anticipation that comes with carrying a baby it seemed to drag on and on.  This last nine months has gone by in a flash. From the first smiles, to rolling, to crawling, to pulling up to standing and everything in between, what a roller coaster it has been.  I've said it before and I'll say it again this kid amazes the crap out of me.  Once again here is Oliver in a nutshell. Some things remain the same, other things are new. Regardless these are the things that I hope I can burn into some back portion of my brain, never to be forgotten.

-He has a little dimple in his nose that only shows up when he's smiling really big.
-Loves to pull Kleenexes from the box and then tear said Kleenexes into tiny bits. I'm certain when he can talk he'll blame it on the dog.
-Likes to throw balls, and anything that resembles a ball, like last nights peas.
-Has figured out how to feed the dog. (See above pea throwing)
-Favorite foods are pears, bananas, sweet potatoes and black beans. I season the beans with my southwest seasoning and the kid can throw back some black beans, he obviously has his mom's more spicy palate and not his dad's wimpy  mild palate.
-Loves teasing the dog with a sock. I'm fairly certain they can communicate with each other because they had a pretty rowdy game going the other day and Lola, who is notorious for taking it to the next level when playing stayed miraculously cautious.
-Loves digging in purses, diaper bags and anything else that could possess worldly treasures like pens and shiny objects.
-Dances like nobody's business, especially to the Spanish version of the ABC's and 123's on his Leap Frog table.
-Is so proud to stand unassisted for a few seconds at a time.
-Rather enjoys being the loudest thing in the room. This involves competing with the dog barking, the vacuum cleaner and the hair dryer among other things.

Happy Birthday baby! We love you!

We had a little reign of terror this evening.  I fear this is a sign of things to come. It started with a five minute nap in the car on the way home from the hardware store. Here is the progression, the pictures pretty much speak for themselves.

Needless to say I embraced bedtime this evening.  So now that our little monkey is resting safely in his bed it's time for this momma to deflate.  Good night all!

Rocking It

Some days you rock at being a mom. Other days you find a used diaper at the bottom of the diaper bag that has been there for a week.

Yesterday I found that diaper. Dishes were piled up the sink, dinner was burning on the stove, Oliver was clung to my leg whining to be held because he had decided earlier in the day that he did not need his afternoon nap and the dog was constantly under foot, in other words the wheels were falling off.  These are the days that you just pray to God that they'll be over soon and that you don't drink a bottle of wine to recover at the end of the day.  Half a bottle, okay. Full bottle, not okay.

An almost full night of sleep helped to refresh me and this morning at 8 I gave myself a little pep talk and got out of bed and went to the gym.  Today I was blessed with one of those rockstar days.  I had a great workout and then we had a great playdate.

I am so thankful for this group of moms and kids that I have gotten to know over the last several months.  They bring sanity to a crazy week and a chance for me to sit back and watch Oliver socialize and it gives me a chance to socialize as well. We are an eclectic mix of moms and babies.  Moms from Iowa, moms from Louisiana, moms from California and moms from Indiana.  Regardless of our hometowns and backgrounds we all now call Bloomington home and are raising our babies here.  Our group keeps getting larger and new babies keep joining and today I sat back and listened to the dull roar of several conversations going on around me.  I thought back to the first playdate I went to. I was so nervous.  Would everyone like me? Would I like anyone? Would I meet any friends or would they all be dorks? Would they judge me on how I take care of my baby? Since I set foot in that first house I have felt welcome and there rarely has been a dull moment or moment where there is nothing to talk about. This group of women is amazing and regardless of our choices in childrearing we never judge and can have the fantastic feeling of never being judged.  Some of us still nurse, some of us formula feed.  Some of us feed all organic and some don't.  Some of us use cloth diapers and some of us use disposable.  Some of us work outside of the home and some of us are stay at home mommas. Some of us are content having one baby and some of us want more.  Some of us gave birth naturally and some of us said "bring on the epidural".  Regardless of our choices, we are all moms and I have to say, we are ALL rocking it! It really does take a village to raise a child and I am so, so thankful for my village.  I have a great support system.  I have a fantastic husband, amazing siblings, awesome parents and awesome in-laws, a wonderful extended family and a great group of friends near and far that complete my village. These are the people that help me move past the occasional forgotten diaper and help me to have more rockstar mom days.

Right now...

Now that the holidays have come and gone and I'm slowly deflating back into normal life I'm feeling less than crafty.  I also need to be in a swimsuit in T minus 10 weeks so the inspirational recipes and crafts on Pinterest are having to go on a temporary hiatus. So this week I'm taking a prompt from one of my favorite bloggers, Kelle Hampton, and I'm sharing some of what I love.  What I love right this minute, what I love this week and what I love in general.

Discovering shadows.

Each day I am just filled with the wonder and the amazement that is this little guy. 

Tea. 

I've been enjoying a hot cup of tea in the mornings lately instead of my normal cup of coffee.  It started with a sore throat that called for tea with a bit of honey and has temporarily shelved its cousin Joe. With each cup I feel like I'm channeling the spirit of my mom, she was a tea drinker through and through. Lipton Black with just a bit of sugar. Lately the days of remembering my mom and feeling happy to have been blessed to be on this earth with her for 29 and half years are outweighing the sad days when I feel so let down that I don't get to spend another 40 years with her.

Snuggles after afternoon naps that sometimes turn into longer afternoon naps in the warmth of momma's lap.

An impromptu text from a friend triggered by the gorgeous weather that says "playing outside at 4:15ish, meet us there if your kiddos need to burn off some steam".

Finding new tickle spots that make my baby giggle. (Right under the chin and above the collar bone.)

What are you loving lately?

Too Big for our Britches

In case you haven't been made aware, 2012 is the year of the wriggling baby. Somewhere between Santa dropping some presents down the chimney and 2011 fading into 2012, Oliver has become this whirling, twirling mass of life bouncing from one dangerous thing to the next. My days now are spent mostly following behind him cleaning up messes, pausing to fill his belly with bananas or sweet potatoes or squash, and then back to trying my best to prevent him from climbing the DVD cabinet or pulling lamps down on top of himself.

Today was no exception, as a matter of fact it could have been one of the more challenging days of parenthood thus far. It should be noted that these are the things that we are now too cool for:

1. Diaper changes. What once was an enjoyable time to chatter to my baby has morphed into a session of baby wrangling that involves one arm trying to pin him down while trying to maneuver his tooshie into a diaper with the other arm.

2. Sitting in the bathtub.  Once again a session of baby wrangling.  While he goes from sitting to standing to laying I'm trying to wash avocado out from behind his ears as quickly as possible.  I do have to laugh though as he sprouts up, peeks over the side of the tub at me and squeals with delight.  At the end of bath time I sit sprawled out on the bathroom floor, shirt sleeves soaked to the elbow, harried and wild eyed trying to catch my breath but loving the feeling of his little body wrapped in his hooded towel.

3. Sleeping at 4 am.  I've read that there is a sleep regression phase that happens somewhere between 8 months and 9 months and good Lord have we hit regression.  Apparently 2012 has switched some circadian rhythm in this child's body and at 4 am on the dot he is wide awake and ready to party.  He'll cry to jolt me from my peaceful slumber and once I'm there he's all "hey mom, how's it going, wanna hang out?" Not cool buddy, not cool.  He'll finally nod off again at about 5 or 5:30 and then we're ready to tackle the day at 7. We can't go on like this much longer. Mom is cranky, dad is cranky and let's just say patience is running thin through this place.  As a note to the only other adult in the house, the next time you put an empty cereal box back on the shelf you better sleep with one eye open, the good news is you'll most likely won't be sleeping because the baby is awake. 

As I rocked Oliver to sleep tonight I let the soft ticking of the clock and the gentle sounds of rain from the sound machine bring me back to center.  I wouldn't change this day for anything. It wasn't long ago I was wondering if I would ever get the chance to be a mom and I'm thankful each day that my prayers were answered.  It may have been a challenging day but I can only hope that tomorrow will be better.  I'll pray for more patience and make myself go to bed earlier because I know that at 4 am I have a date with one handsome little man.