Playtime Ideas??

Does anyone have any advice/tips for getting a baby to play independently? Carter used to be better at this but recently he ALWAYS wants me to be right by his side when he is playing. He can be totally engrossed with a toy when I'm there and as soon as I turn my back to do something else, he immediately wants me to hold him. Very endearing yes, but it makes it hard to get anything done around the house. That and the fact that he only takes one nap a day. Anyway, I'm all ears for anything that worked for you.

Great Race

We competed in the Great Race again today...my 10th time running in it. And for having had a C-Section less than a year ago, I was really pleased to have finished in 53:47 for 6.2 miles. It felt good to run it again this year (I had to walk last year due to being 7.5 months pregnant.)

Not sure if we'll do any more races this year...once it gets cold it's not much fun to run in races.

Let them eat GARLIC!!

So I never have professed to be the mother of the year...far from it! Yes, it's slightly embarrassing from time to time some of the things Carter gets into, but I promise you it happens to every mom in some way or another (just not all may be willing to publicly admit it!) Anyway, this is too funny not to share...Carter was crawling around on the kitchen floor yesterday morning while I cleaned up breakfast. I saw him put something in his mouth which I immediately tried to dig out. (Not an easy task) I couldn't see anything and he was flipping out so I figured he had swallowed whatever it was already. A little later I was carrying him around the house and I kept smelling this really strong garlic smell. Finally I took a whiff of his breath and whoooeeee, it was SOOO garlicky. He must have eaten a pretty good size chunk of garlic. (I'd cut a bunch up the night before to make homemade tomato sauce and a piece must have fallen on the floor). Well, all day yesterday, he had garlic breath. Ok, maybe not the funniest story ever but it made me laugh every time I held him. :)

Sunny Smile

How could you not love this kid??

Dirt Deficit

I have very lofty goals these days....eat three square meals a day, manage to change out of my PJ's before noon, get outside of my house at some point, (even if just to get the mail), and rid my house of more dirt/mess than has accumulated that day. I'm sorry to say there are many days that these goals are not achieved, particularly the dirt deficit. Being able to get rid of more dirt and mess in the house than accumulates in one day really doesn't seem like that big of a deal, RIGHT? NOT QUITE!!

As I've mentioned in previous posts, the amount of animal hair that can build up in one day is absolutely sickening, hence I have to vacuum and swiffer nearly every day. But just because I vacuumed the floor and wiped off the linoleum in the morning, doesn't mean I'm scott-free for the rest of the day. (See exhibit A below - the culprits)

After each meal Carter eats, a lovely mish-mash of food manages to be stuck all over the floor under his seat. The dog, who I was told would LOVE TO EAT his scraps, seems completely uninterested in anything he drops to the floor. Hence I now need to clean the floor 3 to 5 times a day. Worthless mutt.

Carter's "toys" also seem to overtake every room of the house these days....as well as two baby gates I now need to maneuver around to get up and down the steps, his carseat, his carrier/backpack, his exersaucer, his jumper, and the boppy.

He revels in chaos, if I pick something up, he pulls it back down, if I stack some books he's finished reading, he then decides he wants them spread out all over the floor again.

I really do promise my house is not a disgusting mess, but I sometimes feel that all I do all day long is clean and pick up stuff...over and over again. Maybe I am somewhat OCD when it comes to cleaning, but I feel like I can never get ahead of the dirt. Just to be able to sit down at the end of the day and feel that my house is really CLEAN would be so nice. (Maybe in about 50 years from now)

A sneak peek...

at Carter's Halloween Costume....can you guess what he'll be?


Also, the toybox Derrick made him is almost finished...see Carter testing it out!

Annual Performance Review

So about this time of year, I'm used to writing my own performance review. Since my new "boss" isn't quite capable of writing a review for me yet, I figured I'd continue the trend and write one for the past year. My new "job" is certainly different than any of the previous ones I've held, so the review will be a little different than the typical business review. Without further ado:

CREATIVITY:
Able to adapt to quickly-changing situations and find new activities to occupy even the shortest attention span. Not afraid to act like a fool, dancing and singing whenever necessary to induce laughter and smiles.

TEAMWORK:
Works well with other parental unit in successfully managing the baby.

CLEANLINESS:
Needs improvement in this category as child is in constant state of disarray whenever food is present.

BATH TIME:
The purpose of bath time is to keep child IN the tub. Due to the fact that child now spends most baths in a standing position, the maximum cleanliness is not always achieved.

PATIENCE:
No matter how many times a book is read, parent must never tire of it. Parent must learn to deal with the screaming every time a diaper is changed or face is wiped. The baby is always right.

ADAPTABILITY:
Making plans to get up early and get lots of things accomplished around the house is great, but no plans should ever be definite. Parent must be able to deal with the fact that the child woke up very early this morning, thereby thwarting all efforts to get things done, then refused to take a nap for almost 6 hours, and is now waking up after being asleep for only 30 minutes....AHHHHHHH

Read this book

I read this book on vacation for our neighborhood book club. I recommend that every woman and especially mother read this book...really makes you stop and think how good we have it in this country. Very few books have actually made me cry but this one did.

The sacrifices we make...

I used to think I was a fairly thoughtful, selfless person...not incredibly self-centered or self-focused....and then I became a parent. And THEN I understood what it TRULY meant to be self-less and other-focused. ALWAYS putting the best interest of your child before your own. Feeding him when he's hungry, even if I'm completely ravenous, rocking him to sleep when he's tired, even if I'm so weary I can hardly keep my eyes open, bathing him every night, even when I don't even get a chance to shower sometimes for a couple of days. Tiptoeing around the house while he's napping, even though there are about a million things I'm trying to get done in the hour or two he sleeps. But I'm not complaining...yes it's hard a lot of days and yes there are times I want to just ignore his demands and do something for me...but I do feel I'm a better person for being made to basically serve someone else, 24/7.

Rough weekend

Kiddo is getting a new tooth, and we are all suffering because of it. Last night he woke up at 12 AM and was up until 3:30 AM. Oh what fun that was. He hasn't really been napping much at all and is very crabby...and so am I. My tolerance for him being up half the night is definitely diminshed at this stage in the game. I can see the tooth coming through at least so hopefully the worst is over.

Last night we ran a few errands and stopped at a hamburger joint for a quick bite to eat. Cater was sitting on Derrick's lap and all of a sudden Derrick looks at me and says, OH NO!! Carter peed all over him! So.... not... cool. I didn't however feel 100% sorry for Derrick, since Carter did the same thing to me the day before and Derrick laughed at me....not so funny after all huh?? :)

Making Trouble

Why is it that kids always seem to be on a mission to make trouble? I mean really, with a closet full of colorful, learning-oriented toys, a bookshelf full of books and three pets as distractions, you'd think SOMETHING would appeal to Carter, but no, he'd still rather chew on my disgusting flipflop, pull on power cords, bang on pots and pans, or try to eat dog or cat food. Lovely! (No I do not intentionally let him eat my shoes, I promise!!!) What is a parent to do...when a kid has a whole 2 minute attention span and they don't like any of their toys and only want to get into things they shouldn't be getting into..it can make for a long day sometimes. And he's not even walking yet!!! The other night Derrick was complaining at the number of dishes in the sink to wash, a spatula, two sets of measuring spoons, a pot, a measuring cup, a wire whisk and a mixing bowl...Carter had been playing with all of those during the afternoon.

His newest pasttime is climbing up on top of my coffee table. He loves the idea of lifting himself off the floor I guess...who knows...but he's already taken one tumble and I am sure it will happen again as long as he keeps trying these daredevil stunts. :)

10 Months Old!

10 months old already...where has the time gone?? Some new talents this week are, clapping when I say "clap", climbing up two steps, and climbing up on top of the coffee table.


He also does this cute little nose scrunch ALL the time now which always makes me smile. He's a real character.

Where did summer go??

We made it back from NC safe and sound on Saturday. It's good to be home, but sad to say goodbye to summer. Carter had a blast at the beach...loved the sand, the birds, the water. It was a real joy to see him having so much fun last week.

We were joined by a few college friends for a couple days at the beach. So fun to catch up with Laura and Brian!!
We found this pint-sized turtle walking down to the beach...
All in all, it was a wonderful week away and we have so many great memories from the trip. Carter is crawling everywhere, pulling up on all the furniture, climbed up two steps yesterday, chatting away, eating all kinds of new food by himself...growing up too fast!!!