Think Spring

Last night was such a nice evening with my boys at the park. It was mild, the sun was setting beautifully and it was quiet, save for the resident bullfrogs and some Landon gibberish. 

This marks Anders' inaugural crawl outside which didn't last terribly long given the rough surfaces and gratuitous amounts of mulch ("Mmm, let me chew on this giant gross splinter death trap.") but he loved it. Otherwise he just watched brother running around and made some mental notes for future reference.

"Yay! I'm out of the stroller! Watch out, world!"

"Where's Landon?"

"This carpet is pretty rough, but I don't mind... did I mention I'm out of the stroller?!?!"

A Friday Morning

Plopping down the stairs with some undies on.

I finally got a chance to hang a Christmas present from my brother. Love them!

Enjoying the in-house entertainment (aka Landon), as always.

Landon insisted the dinosaur was thirsty and then abandoned him there soon thereafter.

Thank You, Pinterest

If I may be blunt, I've seen a lot of dumb shit on Pinterest. I definitely relate to the memes with the "Ain't nobody got time for that!" lady. I think a lot of bloggers write mediocre posts and ideas and "pin" them to create the traffic for their sites. Which I applaud in terms of business-savvy, but I think it has a lot of people doing weird crap like using coconut milk mixed with tears of angels as a laundry detergent.

That said, thank you, Pinterest, for giving me some solid ideas I've been working with the last several months.

- Using left over cardboard tubes as wrapping paper cuffs

- Threading my necklaces through straws for travel; no tangles!

- Making me rethink throwing away cereal boxes. I've turned them into drawer organizers and even a makeshift spice rack for the cabinet.  

- Using Vicks Vapo Rub on the bottom of Landon's feet when he has a nighttime cough. Slather it on the soles, put a pair of socks on and call it a quiet night.

- Inspiring me to cook my own black beans and freeze them. Apparently we go through a lot of black beans, so this is working out great. Using the slow cooker, of course!

- Making pancakes in a mini muffin pan and flash freezing them so you can pull them out and zap them on the go. Landon is confused what a pancake is supposed to look like, but it saves time and energy, so we're stickin' with it.

- Reading "you'll make it through" posts such as this one over at finding joy blog. I love when people write truthfully about parenting. It makes up for the other million pins of moms making Mickey Mouse pancakes every morning and arranging fruit in the shape and color sequence of rainbows; things like that make me feel inadequate. 

- Making my own little oatmeal "packets" for Landon. I use a handful of mini tupperware cups to put half a cup of oats, some pumpkin spice and little brown sugar so it's all set to go. Yank from the pantry in the morning, pour in some hot water and breakfast is ready!

- Inspiring me to try new foods for the kiddies, such as a variety of veggie muffins, quinoa bites, protein cookies, etc. Note: this is different than the aforementioned pins regarding Mickey Mouse pancakes and fruit arrangements. I'm talking about recipes for sneaking food into a picky pint sized belly. Like these black bean cookies in which I of course use my home-cooked beans from bullet point five. You see how I've tied this list all together now? You like how I do that? Baller, right?

The rest of my 400+ pins are sitting at http://pinterest.com/klm290/pins/

Anders 8 Months

The little big A man turned 8 months this past week and he's officially on the move, scoot-scoot-scooting his way across a room with a combination method of scrunching and extending like an inchworm while throwing in a few rolls. Perhaps the description gives the impression it is not very fluid or graceful - and this would be true. It's awkward to watch but exciting nonetheless. Plus this baby can pivot on a dime, yo!

Now that he can maneuver a bit more, he's definitely making it known that he prefers to be where the action is. It had been so simple to leave him nearby in the living room while I picked up a couple things in the kitchen or tended to Landon, but now he protests with a loud babble and leans forward in the "go" position, rocks a bit and then hurls himself forward to inch his way to the destination.

He's also eating finger food snacks pretty darn well. He seemed skeptical last month and then one day he was raking them in to his mouth like a puff factory. [Side note: I forgot how much puffs are like catnip for babies.]

Without further ado, here are some photos:

Official 8 month photo!

Stretching out, but still has some good cuddle wuddle chunkiness going on. Look at those wrists!

Hair is growing in a little more each week, but still super soft. Probably going to be a light blond for now.

"Who, me?"

The aerial photos were short lived once he spotted toys within reach. Commence inchworm and roll technique.

Could it have been one of the best photos ever taken of Anders? We'll never know. Thanks, Landon.

"Can you believe that guy? What if that was one of the best photos ever taken of me? Sheesh."

 

Sweetie McSweeterston.

Landon on the prowl nearby.

Parallel play with a little breathing space.

I love how Anders is just doing his own thing in this photo, immune to Landon's shenanigans.

 

Likes:
- Bert and Ernie little people figurines
- Splashing with brother in the tubby 
- Laughing with Daddy
- Chewing on his little crib bunny's ears to go to sleep
- He seems to like everything he's tasted so far

Dislikes:
- Being bonked by brother's head
- Being dressed in too many layers ("It's 40 degrees, Ma, we're not in Antarctica. Sheesh.")
- Adopting every cold germ that brother brings home from school. Another month, another round of antibiotics :(

Limits Tested - Successful Passing Grade

So I wrote that dramatic entry a few posts ago about the challenges we were having with Landon. They have greatly settled for the most part after working through a few thousand iterations and combinations of factors. A big part of it is having someone stay upstairs when he lays down to sleep. Not in his room or anything; he just wants to know if someone is upstairs with him. It's not a big sacrifice right now; there's always laundry to fold or baby thighs to kiss and these things can happen on the second floor. I can drink tea and eat gratuitous amounts of Oreos (three cheers for dairy free creme!) upstairs or downstairs - don't matter to me. 

He has been having a rough patch at school throughout all this and I can tell his teacher is exhausted with his behavior at this point. I was hoping that rectifying his sleep issues would help, but it's only a minor improvement. I think I will start investigating some new school options since I'm not sure if it's the right fit anymore. Which leads me to my revelation of the year... 

I've spent some time reflecting on the challenges from the last couple months and I'm finally settling into some peace. I don't have the child that likes to sit down at circle time at the library and sing Baa Baa Black Sheep. I don't have the child who wants to sit and color for 20 minutes or wear a smock and finger paint. What I do have is an awesome, energetic little man who loves to explore, jump in puddles, climb like he's conquering the Appalachians and stop to do some puzzles as a breather. He likes to introduce his train cars to his dinosaurs every morning. He likes big splashes in the tubbie and running around like a naked mad man as his nightcap before bedtime. Landon is quite plainly, an awesome little boy. Nothing is wrong with him. He could use some parental polishing here and there to ensure he is a productive and kind member of society moving forward, but nothing is wrong with him.

Train in yo' face!

There are headaches and lessons learned in finding the right groove of discipline and compassion for each individual child. When Landon's toeing the line of rules, he needs a firm directive. But when he is being a huge bear, sometimes a hug is what he needs the most. 

He sleeps.

Landon: mommy loves you, little dude. Now for the billionth time, get off the counter, wipe that booger into a tissue and wash your hands. I see some awesome puddles outside so let's get to jumping.

Sweetie Pie

Your daily does of cuteness. PS: You're welcome.

Cougar-fied

Erik is now a part of the VAQ-139 Growler squadron, also known as The Cougars. I'm not sure how the rest of his hazing went since he continues to snore in a cesspool of smells in the guest room, but when he left the O' Club, he was drenched in champagne and flour. He smelled like a delicious croissant dough. He does not smell like that now, the morning after. It smells like stale whiskey and farts coming from down the hall.

Congrats, babe! Your few years as a retread student have come to a close. You worked hard and got what you wanted. As always, you rock.

Has his new patch and is being whisked away.

Flour bomb!

Time for drinky poos!

Lookin' like a boss and smellin' like a bakery.

Cougars!

Butt Taps

It happened: I spanked Landon yesterday. Momma's hand + toddler butt + a swat. I'll wait here for a moment while you silently judge me. [Enter: elevator Muzak, possibly of "The Hustle" variety.]

The transgression was in the form of hitting baby brother on head with toys after no nos, time outs, laughing at mom while in time out, rinse, repeat. I assure you that there are few things in life more frustrating than when your child is laughing about his discipline. Did it work? Well it got through to him. But the look on his face was heartbreaking and I immediately regretted it. I regretted that it worked (he didn't bonk his brother on the head anymore that night, at least), and I regretted that I didn't have a parenting or coping skill in my bucket of tricks at that point.*

So I'm sure plenty of parents have spanked a child a hundred times before this point and there are parents that wouldn't consider spanking their child in a hundred years. Where I fall on the bell curve of spanking, who knows. I'd like to think I'm a outlier on the left side.

So will I spank again? I hope not. The guilt was very hard to handle all night, regardless that Landon hugged me and said he loved me as he went to bed. I kept checking his bum for a red spot later. My induction to spanking made me realize that I quite plainly just didn't know how to spank. I was spanked growing up but apparently being a spankee does not translate into being a spanker.

So that whole "keeping it cool" resolution I had for the year isn't going that great. The fast food reduction isn't going well, either. Blerghy blergh blergh. My new personal remediation is to tether the goals together. If I raise my voice unnecessarily in relation to a situation (or spank at all, regardless of infraction), I have to make one less trip to a drive thru. Once you start removing my cheeseburger fix or Starbucks hot chocolate and berry cake, I really have to think things through.**

*I later come across this article among many others in my guilt-induced research: Alternatives to Spanking
**I'm being serious. 

Water Party

Our Friday night started with some google searches along the lines of "accidentally drilled hole through water pipe." Ten minutes preceding that was a combination of seeing water spray out of a pinhole in our wall, shooting across our living room at a bajillion gallons per minute* and Erik shouting "Kate, shut off the water!"** The only thing that could make the chaos worse is two screaming babies, which were happy to add to the madness.

Unerring accuracy.

I laughed. Erik didn't. Too soon.

Dear stud finder, that location was not a stud. At least I have a stud of my own who was able to roll up his sleeves and repair copper piping and drywall. This was his message on the way home from Home Depot:

Needless to say, our goal to wall mount a new big screen last weekend was delayed while we waited for the room and carpet to dry out. But it's up and running now!

*Or something like that
**I didn't know where the water shut off was, so he basically could have been shouting this command at Anders and received the same result.

Anders 7 Months

Gosh, I love this little guy, even though he tries to eat ev.ery.thing.

"Mmm, your camera tastes so camera-y, Mom."

Such is the life of a baby, I suppose. He is definitely our little swiper of the household; if you leave him unattended you will start to hear little rummaging sounds as he works his way into a nearby drawer or nook. How he does it, who knows. He's good at it, though. I know all the first time parents are excited for the day their baby starts to crawl or walk, but I fear the day Anders becomes mobile. Take your time, buddy. Take your time.

For seven months old, Anders is bopping along nicely and continues to be such a sweet guy. Landon played peek-a-boo with him the other night at the dinner table for the first time ever and Anders thought it was the bee's knees and giggled for five minutes straight. I really needed something like that to lift my spirits, so thanks, boys! Other than that, Landon just kind of walks around Anders if he's in the way. Can't quite figure out the sentiments there, but I know they love each other on some elemental level already.

This month, A is trying to babble a little bit and he's trying out a sippy cup, although (as one could surmise) he just chews on it for now. We tried out some finger food like puffs but so far no bueno!

Our sweetie pie!

Loves to take off socks and chew on them.

Something keeps distracting Anders, stage right.

The "distraction" in motion on his trampoline.

Aww, what a sweet moment as they share the sticker... or is it... wait a minute...

"Haha, nerd!" Big brother wins again.

Likes
- Chewing on sippy cup
- Razzies on his tummy and thighs
- Pooping

Dislikes
- Banana puffs
- Being pushed over by brother (Landon's fave line these days: "Uh oh, baby faw down!")
- Not pooping