what's that in the grass

I'm a little sad because J and peanut are out of town for the next five days. I'm trying to stay upbeat about it, but it is hard to do. At least they will have fun with grandma and grandpa and p's cousin.

here are some recent cute pictures of my peanut. Oh how I miss you little guy!

with my wonderful partner.

swinging with his unfriend e. They fight all the time.

yep. chewing on a truck.

off topic

I don't know if I have a topic, but this is off if I do.

Feeling Better, but WAY behind

Thanks all for your comments! It's nice to feel like I'm being read these days. Blogging is something I've aspired to do for a while, and I guess the whole mommy thing made it even more important to me. But I find it less motivating to blog if no one reads but me...i mean, I know what's going on. You'd hardly believe it if I told you I got my MFA in poetry writing. I have a whole unpublished book of poetry that no one but a select few have read.

So, I am feeling good. AND the pink eye is gone. I'm way behind at work though (not evident by the fact that I'm doing this from my work desk during business hours...bad worker, bad). Today is college commencement. So I have a lot to do. I'm taking Peanut out tonight to celebrate the graduation of one of my students. That should be fun.

I'll try to post more in the coming week. As things settle down. Thanks again everyone who reads and comments. It makes my day when you do.

Peanut proving that yes, he does need a little chair, as this one has a hole in it.


Peanut throwing the ball to Winnie.

Spring Illnesses

So usually I consider myself to be pretty healthy. We are a healthy family overall. Peanut has had some coughs and colds, and some ear infections, but nothing big since a heart scare early on which ended up being pretty normal and not scary. Anyway, the point is, and maybe as I write this I realize the very fact that I'm in denial here, the point is, healthy...that's us. Well, as the post title hints, not so much just recently. I've been down with sinusitis and my very own (and very first) ear infection. I've actually missed two full days of work. And I don't do that. Plus I had to cancel my dog training class. It was terrible stuff. I think I'm on the upswing though. I've not coughed but a few times in the last hour.

So that's me, and though sick, I still made time to do this with peanut:

I'm trying to get in shape for summer and shed some of these extra lbs. So I walk with him on my back. Carrying an extra 23 lbs on your back is a workout. I just put him in the er;go and um, go! (note: if your little one is big like ours, get an er.go. They make baby carrying much easier) And it's been so nice being home with him so much. J and I noticed today that he's really getting so smart and aware of things. It's awesome.

Speaking of Peanut....Peanut had...wait for it....

Pink eye. I know! try putting eyedrop medicine in a squirming and noncompliant 14 month old. It's crazy fun. Another thing to be greatful for my partner for. Another reason to be glad I'm not alone.

We are watching with amazement the leaps P is taking in his development. He knows things now. He knows what he wants and knows a lot of the time how to ask for it. Language is still creative. He has some really clear words, like tickle, tea, hi, and ball (though he drops the ll sound). But then he also says dog, tree, teeth, head, banana, balloon, and tries to say other things. He's still signing, though he uses the same sign we taught him for potty for outside. That's my fault...oops.

In addidtion, if he hears the word "head" or "toes" he tries to break into the Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes song...pointing at each part...but he waits for us to join in keeping his little hand pointing to his head until we do. Sound cute? It is. Other songs he sings are Irish Lullabye and Itsy, Bitsy Spider.

Ok, and when I say he knows things, I was getting him dressed and we needed socks and shoes. So I said, what else do we need, and so he walked to the sock drawer *(which is on the other side of the room) and pointed at it. He knew what came next!

My smart boy.

Easter Pictures at Last

I don't have much to say right now. We had a great weekend because the weather finally warmed up. We went for a long walk together and enjoyed playing at the park on on our walk home from visiting a local baby store and a local toy store. We are shopping for a Tea set for peanut. He likes to pretend things and he loves his mama's tea. We didn't end up getting one, as they were all a little spendy for us right now, but we did get the polar opposite of a tea set (in that you throw it and spike it and we'd prefer he not do that with a tea set), which is a toy football in Chi.ca.go Be.ars colors. We had fun tossing it from stroller to street all the way home.


Easter Craft, we made lots of cute things, including a couple of felt "chocolate bunnies:"

Spring is coming..or maybe it's here

Well, J is out and about with the Peanut today taking in all the warm weather. My office is dark, but I imagine them hopping from park to park, and from backyard to park. It sounds like so much fun. Peanut has been pure joy lately. He's definitely hitting toddlerdome. He can: open any drawer, open the fridge, turn on the tub water, climb everything that he can reach, bite through everything, remove his own diaper (thank goodness for onesies), run really fast, seem like he's not going to run and then run, melt my heart with a smile, tell what things are and what they do, express his opinions.

He's working on his sign still. He knows: more, eat, banana, nurse, bath, sleep, phone, potty, dog...probably more than that. And he says dog, mamma, mommy (sometimes), tea, and tries to say lots of other things.

Yesterday, he insisted on walking the dog, so he held the leash that we tied securely to his stroller. He looked so proud.

Peeing on purpose

peanut reading oranges are not the only fruit

So peanut (no pun intended) is peeing on purpose when he has his diaper off. He sometimes doesn't, but he usually does, and sometimes it's clear that it's come as a surprise to him. But the boy likes to pee. When he has his diaper on, he does the sign for potty too, but it's not always clear that he's referring to his own potty, the act of going or having gone, or just trying to converse about the potty. I think he gets that his moms think the potty is cool.

Every day when I get home from work I take the dog outside to..."go Potty." So within moments of walking in the door, Peanut starts walking to the back of the house shaking his hand in the air way above his head, and then he points to the dog. Potty, Winnie. Potty, Dog. So of course he's brilliant...i mean, he is right? These are sentences in sign...so smart!

But back to the peeing on purpose he does...he totally does. Not in a potty, since we don't have one yet, but he does it on the rug in his bedroom. Or on his changing pad. Always standing up. We need to groom his techniques but the spirit is there for sure.

I'm proud.