Quite the comedian

Watching my son learn, grow and develop has to be one of the best parts of motherhood. He has developed quite the little personality lately. It really cracks me up to see him acting like a grown up. He doesn't always do "baby" things anymore. His latest thing is trying to make us laugh. He knows what is funny to us now and what will make me giggle. If I am quiet for even a few minutes, I can count on David now to break the silence. He can't stand a quiet room! People need to be laughing. A few examples:

~ I was watching his little friend, Eva, one night at dinner time. They were having Mac-n-Cheese and hot dogs. David decided dinner was too quiet and too boring so he broke out the comedy act. He started sticking his hot dog pieces and his macaroni noodles to his forehead (who knew hot dog stuck to skin?) to make Eva laugh. She wasn't all that amused, but his antics were really cracking him up. He looked to each and every person in the room and giggled and touched the bits of hot dog to make sure we saw what he was doing. Very funny. Very hard not to laugh and encourage him.

~ We were driving home from Grand Rapids this past weekend. We had just come from my niece's 1st birthday party. The party was at 2pm (David's nap time) so he was forced to skip the nap to have fun. He didn't mind...until he got in the car and started to unwind. That was no good! Again he broke out the comedy act to spice things up a bit. The car was dead quiet for a good 15 miles. We were afraid to jinx things by looking, but we were pretty sure he had fallen asleep. Just then I hear my name. "Mom, Mom, Mom, Mom." Rats. He's not asleep. I didn't look back right away instead I answered him and asked what he needed. He broke out into hysterical laughter and replied with "Mom, Mom, Dog, Mom". At this point, I was really wondering what was happening back there so I bravely turned around, expecting to see his finger in his nose or something disgusting along those lines. Nope. He had gotten his stuffed animal, "Dog", to balance on top of his head. The car seat is much taller than he is so he was able to rest Dog against the back of the car seat while on top of his head. I made the mistake of laughing the first time I saw it so for the next 20 miles all I heard was "Mom, Mom, Mom. Dog." until I turned around and laughed. It was only funny for the first 4 or 5 miles.

I leave you now with a little glimpse of the comedy act of David and Dog. They are good together.

Hello Freedom! Nice to meet you!

Yahoooo! We are a 2 car family again! We bought a van in Feb '08 only to total it in July '08. No one was hurt in the accident. The only loss was the van (Thank you, Jesus!). We have been using just one car since then. It's a very small two door car. This presented many problems, the biggest one being that we could only fit 1 carseat in the backseat because it was so small. This was worrying us just a bit since we have baby #2 on the way. We have been keeping our eyes open for a great deal on another van (and so have our friends - thank you, you-know-who!) and we found this one last week. It has had only one owner and has been very well taken care of. It was a deal that we simply couldn't pass up.

Here's the story: We were having a hard time finding a good car in our price range when we decided to up our budget a bit and start looking at dealerships. The amount we came up with was more than we wanted to pay, but was a reasonable amount that we could pay without going too far into debt. That very day, a friend called saying there was a great looking van just down the road from their house. It was half the price that we had just agreed to spend. Thank you, Lord! You are so faithful to bless your children! Everything was finalized on the sale today and we were able to bring it home. We ran around this afternoon getting insurance, registration and a license plate - you know, all that "stuff". I got David's carseat installed and the plate put on right before dinner. Now I'm ready to roll!


Watch out world! I'm free! There's nothing like being able to go places. :)

A healthy breakfast

Before becoming a mother to a little boy, I naively thought that little people meant little meals. How much can a 1 year old eat anyway, right? Turns out they can put away quite a bit. I think David eats just as much as me now. And I'm eating for 2! This is a little example of what he will eat for breakfast. Mind you this is only 1 meal of the day. He'll do 2 more like this and probably 1-2 much smaller snacks.


















This is: 5 mini (2") pancakes, 1 scrambled egg and about half a peach. He washed it all down with about 6oz of milk. He ate every bite. Wow. For a little person - a baby - this seems like a lot to me, but he really likes his food. Is this normal?? It seems that all his little friends eat less than this. Maybe not. But is seems like it.

I think I feel a growth spurt coming on! You can't put away food like this and not gain a little.

Hitting updates

I think the hitting phase is over for now. I'm sure we'll return to it somewhere along the way as he grows older and once again wants to challenge me, but for now it has past. I really believe that this time it was brought on by not feeling well due to teething. He cut 4 molars in 4 weeks and was miserable. The hitting phase lasted for about 2 weeks in the middle of that and then when the teeth appeared, it disappeared instantly. We haven't had troubles since. There are still a few toys he doesn't get to play with though. We don't want to provide temptations. :)

I think the quick onslaught of teeth is also to blame for the delay in walking. I have heard (and our pediatrician confirmed) that when babies are this young they can only focus on 1 or 2 new tasks or developments at once. He took his first steps and attempts at walking 2 months ago and then when he started cutting teeth all attempts quit. He wouldn't even try if we made him. We thought it sort of strange at the time, but we are now understanding it a bit more. In the meantime it was very frustrating to hear that he "is such a late bloomer" and "is really slow at learning this walking thing". Every child learns differently and at a different pace. I have never compared him to other children developmentally and wish other people wouldn't either. He is not stupid. He is not slow. In fact, he is right on track with the average first steps and walking age of 12 - 18 months. I am not worried about him and neither is his doctor.

In the last 5 days since his last molar made it's grand entrance, we've seen our little punkin doodle become a different boy. He doesn't become fussy for no reason, he doesn't hit and he smiles and laughs more than we've seen in weeks. He's even made huge progress in the walking department. This morning he took 3 unprompted steps away from the coffee table to get his library book. I have never seen a bigger or more proud smile on his face.

To anyone who has had contact with the fussy and difficult David in the last month (especially those who had the misfortune of babysitting), I am sorry! :) But things are looking up and the happy and giggly David is back. To everyone who offered hitting advice, thank you. We did survive. Your support meant just as much as your advice.

Hey, Mom! What's this?

David discovered the pots and pans cupboard this morning. I was in the kitchen making muffins and coffee for breakfast before church. He followed me in there and started exploring. He didn't care so much for the pots, but the pans were cracking him up. I wish I had gotten a video to capture his laugh! It was so funny! He had a great time. :)

Thought of the day:

When my mood swings, duck!


Last time I was pregnant I could not have been more even-keeled and laid back if I tried. I was the definition of cool, calm and collected. I am, by nature, an emotional person. I cry. I laugh. I get angry. Sometimes I do them all in one day, but being pregnant last time really evened me out. David jokes that it was the best 9 months of his life. Ha ha. Very funny.

I was hoping for a repeat of that this time around...but nope! My poor husband just looks at me now and says (very cautiously): "I don't really know what to do with you right now." And to be completely honest, I don't really have any advice for him. I don't know what I'd do with me either! If I had to deal with me right now, I'd go crazy. I feel for him. He's really in a tough spot. One minute I'm laughing at the dinner table and the next I'm crying in my mashed potatoes. When he tries to comfort me, I lash out in anger that I didn't know I had. Where in the world is this all coming from and when will it be over???

If you think of him in the upcoming weeks, pray for my poor husband. He really needs it!

hitting troubles.....advice??

How do you get a 13 month old to quit hitting?

Here's the problem: He hits with toys like little plastic hammers and those things. He also hits with his hands. His target is never the same. It could be Mom, Dad, Grandpa or his little defenseless best friend. We don't allow him to do it so we are always correcting him. This seems to only spur it on. He likes the attention he gets so it tends to only make the problem worse. He gets so into it that it will actually hurt - and that's on me! I can't imagine what his poor little friends are feeling. :(

Here's what we've tried: He never gets away with it. Everytime we see him do it, we try to stop it. Like I already said, it doesn't help. We have held his little hands until he calms down, we've talked to him, I've given him time outs (which I don't agree with, but I was desperate and he was hurting me) I've even tried lightly smacking his hands. Nothing seems to work. He laughs at us. He really thinks it's hilarious to see us get frustrated. Nothing seems to phase him. Everything is funny. I don't know where to go from here.

What do I do?!?!? Any advice is appreciated!