Thanks!

Thanks for all of the car seat recommendations. I wish I would have posted about that before I was going to buy one so I could have taken your advice. I bought a Safety First 3 in 1 convertible seat. Boo really likes it, for now at least. He gets all excited when he gets in it. I found that same seat on albeebaby.com for way less. But I did want to buy in store anyways since buying something online and potentially having to return seems like a pain. But for my second seat, I will definitely order online.

Car Seats

We are ready to buy the next size car seat. Boo still technically fits in the infant carrier. It's made for 32 lbs and 32 inches, and he is neither. But it seems like he is almost too long. He's probably 30", and his head is almost to the top of the car seat, which is a no-no. So we are going to try and pick out a convertible car seat that should last for a long time. It's just so hard to pick one out! So many to choose from. I've found some I like, but of course they are available online only, and I like to be able to feel the material and see in the store before I buy something like that. So we are going to go shopping and see what they have in store at Target and BRU. Nathan wants to get el cheapo, but this is somethings important, our kids safety! And if we get a nice one, it might actually last a few years. Another issue we disagree on is buying two car seats. I can't see taking it in and out twice a day to give the car seat to Paulina. It is too many chances to install it incorrectly, plus it will be a pain. So I will buy one hopefully today and another one in a couple of weeks. And no, I will not buy a cheaper one for her car. It's still my kid riding in the car, and I want something nice. Also, Boo will continue to face the rear for as long as possible. It's 5 times safer according to tests. It's not that much harder to make a kid face the rear, in the correct car seat of course. So I encourage those with small children, keep facing the rear!

Just checking in

I haven't been blogging much lately, which probably just means I've been a little busy. I've been more focused at work this week and getting a lot of work done, which is a nice feeling. I went through a little period of feeling overwhelmed with some of the tasks assigned to me, but I got through the hard part and am almost finished with some tricky stuff.

At home, Boo is walking more and more, choosing to walk across the room just to get something, instead of walking just for fun. And he is still babbling a lot. He's calmed down a little bit from all the screaming and biting, so hopefully it was because of the two big nasty teeth that came in. He has a lot of sweetness and love to share, with a little screaming on the side.

He is growing up!

Everything seems to be changing so quickly. Boo can understand a lot more language, vocalize a lot more, and express his, umm, strong personality. It also means a lot of screaming, biting, and slapping when he doesn't get his way. We are starting to try and teach some discipline and what behavior is not acceptable. It's so hard to have to spank him. I hate even admitting it. But I can't let my child bite me all the time and scream in my face. It's the saddest thing in the world when he cries because I smacked his bottom. I don't think he has made the connection between slapping and not acceptable behavior, but hopefully he will soon. I am really wanting to do more time out and less spanking, but we are not old enough for time out yet. I do think we found a reason for all of the crankiness lately, two new teeth! They are coming in further back in his mouth, so they went unnoticed. I do not want to punish my child for being in pain, so crying does not get punished, even loud crying, but screaming when he doesn't get his way really needs to stop. Poor Boo, he can't help it he wants to get his way!

Babbling Baby

Boo has been doing a ton of babbling lately. It's so funny and cute. No new real words, but lots of made up ones, like, "likkity likkity tikki." If I say "likkity likkity," he says, "likkity likkity" super fast. So fun. And he is doing a lot of walking practice. He still has to really concentrate and use his arms for balance, but he's slowly getting better at walking. It's funny how it's taking so long. I guess I always thought kids just got up and walked one day.

Mya and Omar have a yucky stomach virus, so Boo has been on the move this week. Yesterday he stayed with Paw Paw Wayne... EEEKK!! He survived though. Today he is with Aunt Peppy (Nathan's aunt Stephanie) and I know they will have lots of fun together. I'm so blessed to have family that can babysit last minute. It really reminds me also how wonderful Paulina is to keep Boo every day. He gets so much love from her and Mya. It really makes it easier to go to work every day, knowing he is in good hands. He is always happy to see them. It just seems like this is how things were meant to be for him. I may have had my wishes and desires to be with him 24/7, but God had a different plan!

Fat lip

No, don't worry, Boo doesn't have a fat lip. I do. It's not much of a fat lip, but it does hurt. He was really wild and crazy last night and did not want to go to sleep. He has never given us so much problem at night. He slapped, kicked, head butted, head throwing, biting, biting, biting, hair pulling. He would fall asleep, then get up and get mad, fall asleep, get mad. Finally after 1.5 hours and getting my lip busted, I gave him to Nathan, and within 10 minutes, Boo was sleeping. I learned an important lesson. Take turns with a mad baby. Maybe 30 minute turns, to see if he will be calm for the other parent. I try to be super mom, but I need to get help before I get hurt.

A good day

We had a nice day today. The weather warmed up finally and we got to take Boo to the park and for a walk around the neighborhood. He is doing so many new things lately. The other day, I mentioned how he was signing "more" but doing it wrong. Later that day, he started signing it perfectly. So funny! And he is majorly gibber gabbering, like we should know what he is saying. He's doing it right now...


Some not so good news today, first of all, Nathan's nephew broke his leg at the skating rink. It sounds pretty bad, but he is home resting and will see the bone dr tomorrow. He is 10 years old. We hope he won't have to have surgery, but we'll see what the dr says. I think I will get to babysit the 6 year old so he won't have to sit at the drs office all day. We will try to do something fun together.

Nathan's Uncle Sonny died this morning. He has been very sick for many years since having a stroke. So we will be going to the services for that. A baby at a funeral? Eeek... I will try to just go with the flow. The most important thing is for Nathan to be with his family.

Happy Valentine's Day

I hope everyone has a nice day with their sweetie! Today is our 6th anniversary. We are hanging out together and spending time with our famiy. Nathan got me a cute cover for my Miche bag! It is silver and very cute.

I love cookies

 

 

Dearest Mommy,

I really love cookies. Please give them to me every day.

Love,
Chesley

Signs of signing

Boo has been sort of using some sign language. He does "more", which is putting pinched fingers of each hand together. Hard to explain. He does more of a clapping-looking version, but not making sound clapping. It took me a while to figure out that he was actually signing more. I would say "more", he would do his sign. Also, he does "eat", which is putting pinched fingers to your mouth, like you are eating a tiny piece of bread. His version is an open hand to the mouth, like shoving food in the mouth, that's how he eats, so it makes sense. I try to teach him "milk" which is one hand "milking" an udder. But he does the sign for eat when I ask him if he wants a drink (to nurse). He also does "light" which is upside down hand opening and closing. He really likes lights and gets excited when he sees them. So it's nice for him to express that. So we are a little off, but it's very exciting that he is starting to sign and has a manner to communicate besides only screaming and pointing at things.

Boo is officially walking!! He can walk across the room, still wobbly, and he might have to stop a few times and regroup, but he is walking.

13 months

In honor of Boo's 13 month birthday this week, I'll share some info.

Boo loves animal crackers. If he sees a bag of them, he will make sure and get them somehow. He also loves chocolate cookies and will get the bag himself and chow down. It's just funny to see your child loving a cookie and having it all over his face.

Boo is still learning how to walk and practicing a lot.

Boo has 7 teeth.

Boo gets excited to see me even if it's only been 10 minutes since he last saw me. A true momma's boy.

I'm excited to have a 4 day weekend! Monday is President's Day and is a paid holiday. So we will have a fun day together. Boo did not want to get up and get ready this morning. He really just wanted me to hold him. It felt awful to put him down on the floor to cry while I did my hair and makeup (for 2 mins) and got dressed. He usually does better, but not today.

Temper Temper

My child has a major temper these days. Last night he was too tired to play, but he didn't want to go to sleep. How did I know he was too tired to play? He wanted to climb all over everything, and when I wouldn't let him and tried to distract him, he threw his head on the floor 10 times. So we held him while he cried and thrashed around. Then this morning was going well till he went into the garage to leave, and Boo saw his bike. He wanted to ride it. I tried putting him in the carseat. He screamed and wiggled. He is strong! So them we took a break from fighting and I let him ride his bike for a minute thinking that would help. Wrong. He was just as mad when I took him off. But I eventually won the fight and made it to work. I wish it was all fun and laughs, but I guess it's just not. Sorry son life is hard sometimes.

Too much sun can make pictures hard to take. The camera can handle it on a low ISO and the correct aperture and shutter speed, but when sun gets into a person's eyes, they squint. Or a person's face will be half in the sun, half in the shade. You can have a hard time getting the right exposure for your pic. So when in the sun, you should try to have the subject either all in the sun or all in the shade. All in the shade usually works better in my humble opinion. But I've gotten some good sunny pics too. Also, you can get light specs in your pictures too. A lens hood and a UV filter helps with that. Make sure you get the right size for those for your lens.

Reading Books

 

 

 

 

I think this last picture might be one of my new favorites. I bought Boo this book that actually has materials with texture in it. Smooth plastic, pink tutu, cotton, teddy bear. He really likes feeling the fabrics and hearing me read the book. I took many many pics to get the one really good shot. It's hard to really catch his eyes. And sometimes the focus is not just right. But this is perfect.

A Sunny Day at the Park

 

 

 

 

I really love these pictures and these memories. I found these pics today. They're from a couple of weeks ago when we went to the big park. Boo had a lot of fun. I love how the blue skies really come out with using the polarizer filter. And I amped up the colors just a little bit to make the yellow burn into your retinas. I think it's fun. All the photgraphy rules say that too much sun is bad, but when you have a kid and you want to go to the park... You better figure out how to get good pics in the sun. Those memories are too precious not to be cherished forever.

Practice Practice Practice!

Practice makes... well... He still needs more practice, walking that is. Boo has become much more interested in walking this weekend, practicing more and more. He will get up, take 3 steps, fall, get back up, repeat, until his legs are so tired he can't get up anymore. He really is trying now. So it won't be long till he is really a walker. And yesterday he decided to be a daddy's boy for a while. He just wanted his daddy to hold him. Nathan tried to give him to me, but No! He wanted daddy. It was a good feeling, not like he was giving me up, but he was opening his heart up more to daddy. So today we will stay home, play, nap, eat, then go to the Super Bowl party at Nicole's. I am so NOT a football fan. But it's nice to see family and eat of course.

Birthday Dinner Party

We had a lovely birthday dinner party for Paulina last night. I did all of the cooking throughout the day. Then we met at Mom's and had a really nice time. So I hope everyone else had as good of a time as I did. It did tire me out, but it was worth it.

I'm ok mom

Mom has been super worried about me with my ear infection. I promise mom. I'm going to be ok. I know you are worried. It does hurt. But the dr gave me some antibiotics and some ear drops. I will be ok. No, I didn't stay home from work. I think I'll be able to make it through the day.

I guess I'll always be her baby.

Change of plans

My brother's wife found out last week that she is NOT having a baby girl in June, she is having a boy! She was upset at the change of plans. I was excited. She was frustrated. I was laughing! I just think it's funny when things change and you get a little surprise. She had an ultrasound to check out the baby, and HE looks great! I'm excited for Chesley to have a baby boy cousin that will be very close in age. I know it will be scary when Morgan is tiny and Chesley is big and mean and rough. But when Morgan gets big enough to move around a little bit and Chesley is old enough to learn to be gently, they will be best of friends. It will be fun to see that relationship grow. And of course, I am excited to have another nephew.