leapin' leopard

with mama

suckers!!

bay? bay? (band? Band?)

our little leopard on the way to the parade

pumpkin carving on the night of halloween

Halloween was sick house here, but the previous week there was a neighborhood parade and trick or treating in the stores in our hood. Peanut had a blast. There was a marching band. He LOVES marching bands. Sadly, we got the tail end of the band and he wanted to follow them where they were going. He stood watching them saying, "bay? Bay? C'mon? Bye!!"

Sucktober part 1

If you read my blog, you know that J sprained her wrist in October. That put her out of commission for baby care for almost a week. Her wrist is better, still a little sore sometimes, but better. My blog post title, Sucktober is about how October 2009 sucked. I like to modify words to express how I feel about something. I would like now to include a numbered list describing why I renamed October Sucktober this year.

1. Sept. 29th to October 6th J out with sprained wrist
2. October 8th, J out with Migraine
3. October 12th-14th, J out with Vertigo
4. October many other times, I play catch up at work for missing so many days
5. October 23rd, J feeling better goes to the Museum of Science and Industry and a strap on the Stroller breaks, rendering the stroller un-usable.
6. October 29th, J accidentally leaves ergo baby carrier in a cart at a local thrift store. It is lost.
7. October 30th, early AM, peanut woke us up because his fever was so high we could feel it.
8. October 30th, late afternoon, peanut goes from being happy active baby to listless and frowny. Develops cough. overnight, fever spikes through medicine to 101.9. Worried moms take him to walk in hours at 8 AM on October 31st.
9. Dr. diagnoses Peanut with croup.
10. October 30 - present Peanut recovering, but still sick. won't eat, hates medicine, nurses like a baby every few hours. Cries when he coughs. Breaks our hearts.

I'm not trying to garner pity or say darn my life is real hard aint it. Just that October was a mix between Sick and Suck.

There are good things too.
Peanut is using more and more 2 word sentences. He says "Yes, I do." or "No, I don't" instead of just yes or no. He also says i do, or me do, if he wants to do something that we are trying to do to him (like, administer medicine, or put his shoes on.) Today he sang to a song we were listening to. "if you got 1" by justin roberts. So cute. Sang and danced. I'm in love.

He also got his first real taste of tv and movies. We watched Mary Poppins with him for something to do through his fever. Then we bought him Ice age and Annie. He still prefers MP, and now I have all those songs buzzing through my head again. I like it... i mean who doesn't want

Ain't it a glorious day?
Right as a mornin' in May
I feel like I could fly
'Ave you ever seen 
The grass so green?
Or a bluer sky?

going through their head 24/7?

I'll leave you with that, hoping that I didn't ruin your day
with Jolly Holiday.
If I did I found a remedy for Jolly Holiday is
All Along the Watchtower. 

poor sick boy and me, night 2 of the croup.

trying for 30

Now, it's no secret that I don't post as often as some people do. Part of that stems from the fact that i am busy, part of it comes from being lazy, and then I also think no one reads anyway, but that's not the point, I guess. So even though it's november 3rd and I am going to need to play catch up, I am doing the NaBloPoMo challenge. It will give me a chance to articulate all the crazy stuff that's been happening of late.

And hopefully make me a better blogger.

I am going to take this moment to say that while I mostly write about peanut, I'm going to try to write about other things too, like crafting and maybe even politics, Or to bore the life out of you, my life story.

I'm also trying to lose weight, could write about that as well.

Thursday think think

fall is here, and with it, a hat

dressed up for the er. and sleeping away.

I am almost too tired to post, but I will. J has been a bit down for the count. Last week she sprained her wrist, resulting in her needing me for Peanut care. (and also a late night trip to the er cuz that thing looked like it was broken or out of whack) She couldn't use her wrist all week and is still not at full strength. I'm lucky that my job recognizes my other motherness and that it's not a big thing like it might be some places. But I am behind as a result, further behind than before. Plus the cost of the er visit. All the stay at home momness of last week got me thinking about how I would like to be home more. (I have 3 jobs, one full and 2 part time) And also, how it would be nice to have more childcare backups. Now, we are not in any position to move, but if we were, we'd for sure start looking, because Chicago kicks us in the buns financially. I said a week or so ago that things were looking up and they are. Jen has a job, and that helps. We are almost caught up on our major bills. I dunno...just pondering.

eating with a spoon.

On the Peanut side of things, he's started putting words together to make sentences, and that's been awesome. He's also saying a lot more, including his name, which is a bit hard to say. He says the dogs name, and has gotten that I am mommy and J is mama. He points at her, mama, then me, mommy, then at himself and says his name. How cool is that. He's constantly a chatter, with all his words. and if he's not talking about something he sees or knows, its, "bado bado lil lil." real cute babble. Then there is: "Nnnnnnno! uh uh.. no way." He also says thank you. and pees...I guess more importantly, he's always TRYING to say new things.

The molars are just about here. They keep causing misery and then not getting here. It's been months I think. Months of on and off pain and mood swings.

In sum, baby awesome. Finances, sucky. life, hectic (but great). I want to leave you with the best blog posting I've read in some time. I hope they don't mind me featuring them on my barely read blog. It's a letter to their son right before the arrival of a baby brother, and it's beautiful. http://webertierney.blogspot.com/2009/09/winding-down-clock.html

sleeping peanut

Monday Moody Mahem

hat!!

I am moody. He is moody. The sky turned cloudy and sunny all at once, and that too is moody. How many meltdowns this morning, let's see....
y'know...i'm too moody to list them. Let's just say, a bunch. And one was because I wouldn't let him pick up the dog poop. That one actually had tears involved. And him trying to run back into the house. yeah, that kind of day.

picking flowers in the yard, deep in thought.

sleeps with a fist.

remember

A week ago, J and I celebrated our 10 year anniversary. We had a rare dinner out to celebrate. We brought the peanut because it feels right to, but also because babysitters are kind of hard to come by. and expensive. and well, again we miss peanut.

J started a paying baby-sitting gig which is awesome. It's just the miracle we needed to get the bills paid and not feel like we are drowning in bills. I feel so relaxed about it now. Chicago is expensive, but it's where we are now, and I like it here, but I also do think that it would be easier to do this if we lived somewhere cheaper. I have 3 jobs here though, and one of them, 2 of them actually, is pretty hard to come by. I am a service dog trainer. and that's not an easy job to get. I also hold a job in a university, and most unis have a firing freeze right now due to the economic crisis. a few months ago, or maybe even a year ago now (where does the time go?) we were considering moving to MN. Then the crisis broke and there was no hope for a job. I'm glad we didn't move. J and p have all kinds of friends and i have my dream job working with service dogs.

In baby news, little 18 month old had a rough night last night. J is trying to nurse him less at night, but sometimes he gets up and wants to nurse right away. Since he sleeps with us, and is very insistent, there is no sleeping when he wants to nurse and the answer is no. So last night, so J could sleep, I packed him up and we slept on the couch with some water. He resists transitional objects, so i brought his small red furry monster, but he wanted nothing to do with him. "No" he said. But he cried every time I tried to take away the sippy. So I ditched it after he fell asleep. For those of you reading and worrying about P's safety on a couch, please don't. He was safe, and had plenty of room, and we have done this before. He slept from 2 till 643. That's how long I slept too. Initially, he had slept from 9:30 till 1:30. Sleep is hard again. That's what I get for thinking it was easier.

I have an extra dog this weekend. A service dog I'm re-training. P loves dogs and couldn't be happier. Winnie, our dog, is also pretty happy.



Well, for a busy mom, I've certainly said more than I thought I would today.

One last thing, I clearly remember what 9/11 2001 was like, and I wish I could hug everyone who is saddened by the disaster. I guess I will just have to remember them and hope that helps a little somehow. I hope peanut never has to experience a day like that.
yesterday at the park, his friend showed up in the exact outfit pretty much. P is trying on his friends helmet.

Have a great weekend y'all and if you're reading, shout me out a hi, even if you usually lurk. I'm wondering who reads and I have no way of knowing unless you comment.

18

months, that is!

A year and a half (and a day) ago our little Peanut was born. It’s hard to believe because he’s such a big boy now. He’s as busy as his moms these days and keeps keeping them busy, too. He can run, climb any and every thing, jump, and throw just about everything he wants to. He also likes to help walk Winnie. He can take off his own diaper. He can use a spoon or a fork when he feels like it. And he can drink from a cup, if we feel like it.

He knows lots of words and says probably 40. His favorites are: Ball, dog, berry, bath, shoes, pants, yummy yummy, water, and doll. He uses Yummy Yummy when he sees something he wants to eat. Like a peach, which is another word he says. Every night before bed we talk about his day. I’ll ask, what did you do today? And he’ll say, “ball”…”George”….”Winnie”….”ball”. I know…very interesting collection, but ever since Georgie stayed with us, he mentions her in his nighttime recap every night. Yes, every night. It’s very cute. And I’ll say, Georgie is at her home, with cha cha (which is my mom). And he’ll say, “cha cha…house” He’s quite sleepy at these points in the day. And it’s pretty cute.

His favorite food right now is blueberries, or any berries, really. He likes berries so much, we can’t discuss them if we aren’t going to give him any because a tantrum will ensue, and those are ugly. One can only eat so many berries though. And so they are like Voldemort in our house.

One other super cute thing he’s doing is being very opinionated about his clothes. Twice this week he has insisted upon wearing his swim trunks. And yesterday, he would wear no other pants than his orange stripey ones from Halloween. LAST Halloween. They are too short but fit his waist. They are captured in the picture below. The first is how they fit about 13 months ago when we went to a pumpkin patch and apple orchard. The second is yesterday.

Peanut last october...about 7 or 8 months old.

Peanut 18 months old. Same pants. Note to self: put away pants.

In other news, the experience of having 3 jobs and being a mom has been really hard lately, especially when we struggle financially regardless of the 3 jobs. I have one full time job that gives us benefits. And I have 2 part time jobs...both working with dogs. I like all my jobs, but i miss my family and I miss having time to sew and knit. Yes...I miss being crafty. Oh well. That's life, right?

Since J. got laid off, it's been hard for her, and easy for me, to find work.

Well I could go on all day about him, but I should get back to work.