Tag You're It!

Just a little game of tag...

I'm gonna get you mom...

here I  come

getting closer

Reverse into bathroom for minor 'dangling curling iron cord' detour

back on track and ever so close...

ATTACK!!

P.S. What a stud with his gelled hair! It's so long now that it finally lays down with a bit of effort!

The ants go marching...

Well spring is in the air, a song is in my heart, a fever in my son, and a whole army of ants in my shower! What more could I ask for?! Oh wait, did I forget to mention that DAVID JUST GOT HIS FIRST 'REAL' JOB WITH HIS DEGREE!!!! Oh yeah we are feeling pretty blessed! Not sure where we're moving yet, but we know that we aren't going to starve and that's good! I'm just so proud of him because he has worked so hard this last little while- so come end of the summer he'll have his Masters Degree and a JOB! I just thought I would interject that little note before I whined about my ant infestation and Ethan running a fever the whole time the weather has finally decided to be beautiful!
So now on to the ants- these aren't your typical 'I want your food' ants, you know the kind that invade your kitchen and garbage cans scrounging around for dropped, leftover, tablescrap food, - I mean they'd find plety of that around with my now crawling baby. no no these are a whole new kind of heebie jeebie- these are creepy peeper ants- yeah- you heard right- they are only in my shower! What kind of ant likes to hang out in a shower- well apparently this whole hill has decided to try something new, and guess what I DON'T LIKE IT. We have tried caulking every part of the shower we can think of- and somehow they still keep coming. Well I guess it's their loss, I mean if they would like to join two very out of shape mid 20-year-olds in the shower- FINE- but don't expect that there won't be a mass ant genocide when I come in!
Now about the fever- who knows why- maybe he just likes to be cranky and hot- but Easter day and ever since he has been toasty! Fever+crankiness=extreme clinginess=exhausted mama! But you do a lot for love! I still can't help snapping pictures and obsessing over my roly poly little chunk. Which by the way is slowly tapering off in the growth charts- just had him weighed and he is now just shy of the 50th percentile. That's just crazy to me since he stayed in the 70th pretty much since he was born! Anyway enough jibber jabber from me, here's what we've been up to the last week...

Big boy carseat- so far a big hit!

A walk in the park

Give me the goose!

Yes we just downsized to a little umbrella stroller- ah the joy of hauling 3.5 pounds of stroller instead of like 15!

Also found this at the park- look closely...

                                                  
Visited the cousins on Easter sunday

And now- my biggest laughs over the last week, I was starting to think Ethan wouldn't figure out how to crawl forward because all week he was crawling backward! This is what happens when you can only crawl backward...

                                            

Wait can we see that again... ok here you go

Ah the joys of being a baby- I hope it isn't cruel to laugh at him when this happens! It's just that it's funny to see him get backed up to a corner!

And finally, Ethan finally decided that grass is maybe ok...

Yes indeed spring IS in the air and we are excited to get out into it- we're thinking the zoo is next on the list...

No Moms Allowed Club...and some other stuff

Any other moms out there ever felt like there is some secret conspiracy of sorts going on around you, or that there's a party in your house you weren't ever invited to, or maybe even that everyone else is just having more fun without you...oh yeah I'm there. It seems like any time I leave the boys alone I come back and find things like this...

I mean what are they even looking at

I guess that I'm just a little jealous, because from the second David walks in the door it becomes the story of, well mom you're good for feeding me, changing my diaper, and an occasional biting, but Dad is way more fun for everything else...

Even when he can't have his father he still wants to be as close to him as possible...

And I still love them, even though I can't be a part of the exclusive club - just look how cute they are, my two favorite boys!

On another note we were able to go to the swings since it finally got into the sixties

feeling like a cool little dude

as always can't just enjoy one thing at a time- I mean there are leaves on the ground!

And since I am still a paranoid mother I leave the baby monitor on all night, well the other night we woke up to the sound of someone in our baby's room- completely horrifying for parents, so we both go running into his room to find this...

Thank you for the heart attack son

In his defense, he was tired too, the room was dark, and what else is he supposed to do with a glowing green light?
This boy is just curious, I have no idea how long he was awake before he discovered this was within his reach, but I have moved it since because this happened two nights in a row, aw the joys of parenthood!

He is testing his limits in so many ways, fingers toward the outlets, sucking on electrical cords, waking up every night, spitting his food on my face, and among other things my favorite, biting... I hope that is no sign of things to come in the teen years, I am already aware that I am the mother of 'that' child in nursery, you know the ones that they have to come out and bring your child to you because he's biting the other children, I'm already prepared for that. But even after all these things I can never be upset for long because of his face...that face that absolutely melts my heart...

So go ahead you little puppy, chew your books up...

And your mothers new ottoman...

Just remember, that I will have the last laugh...I am Mom, hear me roar- (ok and somehow it is still just irresistibly cute to catch your son with a guilty look on his face and a mouth and faceful of black leather chunks)...truly never a dull moment

And the last item for this extremely long blog- happy 26th birthday to my one true love! I love you more than is possible to express... Sadly it took me two days to find the time to get his cake made...but here it is in all it's glory, the Bronty cake

(He had a toy brontosaurus as a child)

Not too bad for a non-artist like myself right?
For his birthday we were able to enjoy a night out at the movies thanks to my almost sister-in-law Elise- you are amazing! We had a great time and got to come home to a happy baby, what more can you ask for!?

The big 8

Well here we are at 8 months...don't have any stats, that's next month- but here are a few things he's up to...

-loves to walk when you hold his hands...
-still not crawling on hands and knees, but not for lack of trying- I think he should have skid marks on his nose for all the failed efforts, but someday soon it'll happen
-getting much better at army crawling- when he really wants something
-rolls like a pro- I mean it, i don't think I can roll as good as he does-except I know how to get around obstacles- I love it when he runs into something and tries repeatedly to roll through it...hahaha
-he can go from sitting, to hands and knees, to tummy and back to sitting
-knows how to open his dresser drawers...

-his favorite pose is the 'twist and smile' which he does whenever he sees the camera...demonstrated as follows...

from tummy

from back

-He loves to explore things using his two pointer fingers...that's it- just the two fingers... see for yourself

even if he was closer he would still only touch it with the two fingers

-He has good days...

-And bad days...

And 'I don't even know what' days...

I mean, is he meditating?...you tell me

He helps out around the house...

HA who are we kidding...

 

Overall he is a complete crack-up with a whole lot of personality...I just never know what to expect and he keeps on throwing out the surprises!

WHO IS this little BOY!

Soooo....I don't know if I am going to go through this every couple of months or what, but I was just looking at pictures of my baby, and somehow, he doesn't look AT ALL like the baby I toted home from the hospital- the tiny little thing with the huge hands and feet that seemed disproportionate to his little frame. The little tyke with the dark un-scared hair and extra skin everywhere. Somehow in the last MINUTE (I swear) he has become a little boy...with four teeth- (a couple more on the way) a fuzzy head of light brown hair, big expressive eyes, several chins, rolls GALORE, dimples everywhere (elbows, knees, cheek, chin, and yes even bottom- LOVE IT) and he has grown into those big hands and feet. When we took him for a walk the other day- sitting up like a big boy in his stroller I was just amazed at how much has changed. As he sat there smiling, laughing, being in complete awe of the world around him, I, as the proud Mama that I am couldn't help but stare in awe at the amazing creature that I helped create (in all fairness I did most of the work and David was the one who helped) anyway, I have now been looking at old pictures of my baby and realizing more and more all the time that every moment passes so quickly- my baby is growing up too quickly and before we know it my barrage of kisses will be his waking nightmare...but until then, hold on little man-cub cuz this Mama's got a lotta love to give and since your Daddy is gone most of the time- you are getting the brunt of it!

When did this tiny little thing, grow into...

This not-so-tiny boy!

And when did this little body finally grow into these big hands?!!

 I mean seriously did I just miss this somewhere along the way?!!! However it happened, I guess it just happened- I can't believe it but it's been a crazy adventure so far and I can only imagine that his mobility will only add to it!!!...And he's getting sooooo....close