activities of an (almost) fifteen month old

Seriously? When did this child become a CHILD?? Diaper notwithstanding, he is SOOOO not a baby anymore. Sadness!

I have missed out on so much posting, I don't even know where to start. I started this blog as a record of his activities, so let me get up to date on those. As of today, (14 1/2 months) the goose is doing the following:

-walking, climbing, running (the other week I found him on top of the dining room table, having climbed up via the dining room chair, waving a margarita glass around. I'm not lying. Now all our dining room chairs are on top of the table, it's a great look for the room).

-dancing and clapping to music- any time he hears music, but especially music that he recognizes, he claps his hands, shakes his head from side to side, and stomps his feet like he's in a hoe down. He does this all with enough enthusiasm that he normally loses his balance and ends up on the floor.

-eating almost everything except (of course!) MILK! so we are still marginally breastfeeding over here, gah! But hopefully that comes to an end soon, I am definitely ready to stop and with this pregnancy, my milk supply has plummeted. We are stymied on the milk thing, I even make yogurt smoothies and milk shakes and it's still a hit or miss proposition.

-is sleeping like a log at night (please no jinx!!) from 8 pm to 6:30-7. Naps are touchier, as he is

trying to transition to one nap but is so active that he often needs two. I try to play each day by ear but it sucks not having a definite schedule. Makes it hard to plan activities.

-is a total jabbermouth. He is still mostly babbling, but makes all sorts of sounds and noises, like hes' having a real conversation, just not one with another English speaker. He screams "DaDAAAA" all the time, can say juice (more like deuce), and I think he's said Stella a couple of times, but it's so mangled that it's hard to say for sure. One of his favorite words is "bish?", which he says when he wants me to open a bottle or get him something and we have no idea what it might mean.

-can UNDERSTAND things, it's soooo nice. I'll say "Where's your juice?" and he'll look around and go get it. He also understands "no", and he hates it. He scrunches up his face and shakes his head and stamps his feet when I say it. He is going to be one stubborn toddler.

-likes pointing, waving, giving hugs.

- LOOOVES pushing his purple stroller around the neighborhood. He won't stay in his stroller, instead he gets out and wants to push it. So Chris got him his own baby stroller (no blue available to JC's dismay) and we put his curious George doll in there and he literally pushes that thing for 5 blocks around the neighborhood. It's hysterical. Of course, everyone thinks he's a girl, which I'm like, whatever, I keep walking, but JC will stop and explain for ten minutes. "He's actually a BOY, he just really likes to PUSH things, this is the easiest thing to get around, he doesn't actually like DOLLS, he doesn't even own any, it's just for PUSHING and it didn't come in blue. But he also plays with CARS and BALLS and TRAINS, that's all he plays with really, CARS. and BALLS. LOTS OF CARS. LOVES CARS. CARS." By this point I have circled back around and physically drag JC away from the poor passerby who just made a simple comment. Our poor neighbors.

-speaking of JC, this kid is definitely a daddy's boy. He looooooves him some JC. At night, when JC comes home from work, it's a toss up who's more excited, Graydon or Stella. Both are squealing and jumping around and racing for the door. It's a circus.

That's about all I can think of right now, I'm sure I am forgetting a ton. One more thing I want to get down. Today we had an interesting situation. Gray had a massive poop this morning, one that went up his back and out the diaper and got on his clothes. Nastiness. So I whipped off his diaper and outfit and carried him to get washed off in the sink. Well, while I was cleaning him off Miss Stella grabbed his dirty, poopy diaper and started EATING it. Oh. My. God. So I put him down and snatch the diaper from Stella but it's so gross and smells so bad and I'm so pregnant and I just turned to the trashcan and vomited everywhere. Then I'm still recovering and I hear a noise behind me and STELLA is throwing up. Ohhhhhhhh grossity gross gross. So I wait til she's done, grab some paper towels and start cleaning up that disaster. I'm halfway done when I look up to see what Graydon's up to, realize he is buck naked, and he's smiling at me, and he has just peed all over the refrigerator and kitchen floor. It was truly a shitstorm. I am still disgusted by it all ten hours later. Ah, motherhood.

Luckily for him he's adorable.

well, hello there

Is anyone still around??? I can't believe it's been almost a month since I last posted... it's been the same old song and dance around here. Headache, puke, headache, puke, headache, headache, puke, puke. After taking care of the goose, and making his meals (while simultaneously vomiting in the kitchen sink, I guess I AM a multi-tasker, after all), by the time nighttime rolls around I literally fall into bed. So haven't had the energy to blog much. But I do have some cute pics from this Monday that I wanted to share (and my dad has been badgering me about this site), so here we are.

Monday we were fortunate enough to be given tickets to the White House Easter Egg Roll. (Thanks again, Sean!) It was a very exciting experience, although I think more for me than JC or Gray. JC has already been to the White House, and Graydon was more interested in picking trash off the ground and eating it than actually participating. Plus, the lines were ginormous, and since Graydon has declared total war on the stroller (he absolutely refuses to sit in it, impossible toddler), JC had to haul his 23 lbs around in the Baby Bjorn and was not super happy about it.
But beyond that, we really appreciated the opportunity to go. Besides, we lucked out to be in the one group that the Obamas came out and talked to the crowd and mingled and THAT was very, very cool.

Here are some of the best shots:

That's Fergie with the Obamas, Dad. She's a pop singer. You have probably heard her songs in your step aerobics classes.

They are a very handsome family, it was so cool to see them live.

Meltdown man in full effect.

Gray's favorite activity.

The only kid who participated LESS than Graydon.

Obama's forehead, we were 5 feet away but he left before we could get a good shot.

Biden is walking behind the lady with the brown bag- hard to spot.

Knocked OUT in the cab. And no, you don't need a carseat in taxis. Pretty sketchy but the metro was pretty far away and the baby was crashing.

That's it for now, will try to be more regular about posting but no promises. I made some inroads today in finding someone to come help me once or twice a week with Gray when I'm so sick, so hopefully I'll be more rested and able to blog more. Fingers crossed, at least!

pregnancy is for the birds

Sorry, party people, once again I have been violently, desperately ill. I'm not sure if this pregnancy is worse than the last one, but it's definitely kicking my ass just as hard. So here finally is the ultrasound picture, as promised:


It's a little hazy but you can clearly see the rockette-like kick action happening here. Too fun. This kid is going to beat me up from the inside out, no doubt.

In sunnier news, Graydon continues to be a throroughly pleasant little companion. He is generally a very genial little guy, although he did start shaking his head "no" very dramatically the other day. He doesn't say the word no, yet, so I've just been pretending the head shake is a new dance move. Except when it's accompanied by this face:

That one's harder to ignore.

Speaking of dance moves, we went over to my friend Katie's house the other day for a playdate and were greeted by her son Sam (age 2.5) at the door. Upon entering, Sam immediately removed all his clothes (including underwear), turned on the stereo, and said to me "Do you want to see my dance moves? Far be it from me to turn down some naked dance moves. It gave me an inkling into what we have to look forward to in the coming years.

Ok, going to bed. Still have some videos to post, will try to get to those soon.

version 2.0

So, today we had our NT ultrasound and wow, it was something else. I didn't choose to have this test performed with Gray but since I will be 35 when El Segundo is born (and apparently 35 is now considered "Advanced Maternal Age"- wah!) my doctor "strongly suggested" that I get the scan done. So we did, and it was pretty awesome. There's a baby in there, people! I don't know, but for some reason this pregnancy hadn't really clicked with me yet. Yes, I know, I dry heave all the time and am totally nauseous and exhausted but for some reason I am constantly forgetting I am pregnant. It's only after I reach for the tray of sushi that I remember "Oh yeah, can't have that- CRAP". Maybe it has something to do with the thirteen month old maniac killing off all of my brain cells. Who knows. But today, seeing that little peanut up on the screen, it finally TOTALLY hit me- I am pregnant! Pregnant! With a second baby! Two babies! Two babies... Two diapers....Two babies....ohmyLordwhathaveIdone TWO BABIES!!!! Now I am totally freaking. I can barely handle one baby. And in six short months I am going to have two! Today I officially entered pure panic mode.

But anyway, enough about my impending catastrophe. This ultrasound was so nuts because the baby, well, really LOOKED like a baby. It's still so early, I didn't expect everything to be so formed already. Tiny hands, tiny feet, eyes, nose, mouth, ears- wow. JC was supposed to scan a picture for me but he was apparently too busy at happy hour getting his car bomb on to get it done. Tomorrow I will post the first ever photo of El Segundo so you can marvel at his perfection, too.

*Oh- and I am calling him a "he" because I think it's a boy. We didn't see any semblance of genitalia (that I could recognize at any rate) and so we are still in the dark. My intuition says boy. Of course, I was convinced that Graydon was a girl, and look how that worked out for me.

**Also- the scan today took an hour because the baby would Not. Stop. Moving. The entire time he was doing karate chops, high kicks, and back flips. The entire time. The ultrasound tech and the doctor kept giggling- they couldn't believe how much he was moving. They were astonished. JC and I knew better, though- we've got one exactly like him at home. And now- heaven help us- we're going to have two.

I'd better start stockpiling the wine now.

random updates

Here is a random assortment of recent pictures from the past two months or so... Graydon is getting to be pretty hilarious these days. He has this crazy fake laugh that he does seriously ALL the time. He just walks around the house guffawing (heh heh heh HAAAAAW) and then clapping. It's a little odd, but it entertains him (and us) so we roll with it. He is also proving to be totally insane with regard to his preferred activities. The things he loves to do are so random. For instance, he loooooves to take my car keys, walk around the house, find little screws (like under his high chair, or under the dining room table) and try to jam the keys into the little holes. Every day is a hunt to figure out in what miniature hiding spot Graydon has left my keys. He also has a tiny rake (from a tiny toy gardening kit) and likes to comb his, my, and Stella's hair with it every morning. Additionally, he has started launching himself off of totally inappropriate things- the couch, the top of the stairs, the jungle gym at the park. You seriously have to watch him non-stop- he is like this maniacal little kamikaze. So life over in our house is never dull. I cannot cannot cannot WAIT until spring has sprung so that we can get outside to the park every day. This kid has energy that can only be burned in the great outdoors. On the flip side, he has suddenly started to give out hugs- I got my first one Saturday morning after working the night shift- and it was soooooo sweet. Totally made all the gray hairs he's caused this past month worth it.

As far as pregnancy watch 2009, I am still puking, still getting migraines, and still completely exhausted all the time. Fun, fun stuff. I'm just about done with the first trimester so I am PRAYING this all fades soon. We go for our NT ultrasound scan on Tuesday so JC and I will get to see El Segundo up close and personal. But we do NOT want to find out the gender, so hopefully we won't have our surprise ruined. I am pretty good at making out what's on the screen, so I am just going to not pay close attention when they scan down to the genitalia. JC wouldn't know if it were puppies up there on the screen, so I am not worried about him finding out. I am hoping for a brother for the Goose, but as long as there's a healthy bean in there I'll be thrilled.

el segundo

Here's the goose enjoying his first snow day. We didn't have any snow boots, but the Target bags actually worked pretty well. We were only out for around ten minutes because of the high winds, but Gray seemed to enjoy himself. Although, not as much as Stella. For a dog who is so totally terrified of water, she sure does love the snow. I have some video of both Graydon and Stella playing in the snow, but it's like ten minutes long so I have to figure out how to edit it down before I post it.

In other news, JC (and his mom, and my dad, and my brother) have all started to spill the beans, so I'm not sure if there's anyone who reads this who doesn't already know, but I am preggo with baby Byrne version 2.0. Scheduled to make an appearance late September, 2009. That's of course why this blog has not been regularly updated; I've been too busy puking in the kitchen sink and going to bed at sunset to have time enough to blog. Sorry friends! Last pregnancy I was sick until week 20- hopefully relief comes a little earlier this time around. I'll try to start blogging more frequently- but no promises. Morning sickness is no joke, yo.

Sorry to have taken such a long break. This kid is wearing me out and I am regularly hitting the sack at 8pm (!!). No time for blogs :)

We have been trying in vain to take more video of Gray. Unfortunately, the moment he catches wind that we're trying to film him, he makes a beeline for the camcorder, thus ruining whatever photo opp we were trying to capture. We have been desperately trying to catch him dancing on video. This kid is an avid dancer, albeit with some rather strange moves. He dances like he's at a hoedown, stomping one foot on the ground, waving his arms and whirling around. It's pretty spastic, and totally hilarious. The other night we finally got some brief footage of Graydon's hidden talent, and were able to record a few seconds before he spotted the camera.