Omigosh it's June 3rd!!! How is that possible? Time just seems to be racing by. Wasn't it just the middle of winter? I'm not sure if it's because I'm getting older or it it's because I now have a peanut to care for that takes up so much of my time. Or maybe it's just that I'm paying more attention to the months going by because I. cannot. have. a one year old. It's just not possible. And yet in a few short weeks (6 to be exact), I will. Pretty nuts.
Last June on this date, we bought our first house. The stress leading up to it was pretty crazy as there was one more thing that could have gone wrong. I used to be a real estate paralegal and I worked on my own closing. And let me tell you that not all closings go smoothly, but one rarely goes as horribly wrong as my own. I remember breathing a huge sigh of relief as we signed those closing papers and were handed our keys. We knew we had a long road in store for us as far as renovations go, but we were so so excited! One year ago today!
(on the day we bought the house)
(ugly green carpet soon to be replaced)
(our first meal in the new kitchen. haha!)
(mid-renovation. new sheetrock)
(mid-renovation. don't worry, we got rid of that green. ick.)
Oh jeeze. I'm so late again this month! It's hard to believe my little peanut is ten months already, but I can so clearly remember this time last year, thinking I had so much time to prepare, not knowing he'd be almost a month early! But onto what he's up to recently;
-He now stands on his own for seconds at a time. I thought for sure he would've taken his first steps by this update, but he seems almost cautious about this new endeavor, which is extremely funny to me because he's never been one to be cautious - ever! I'm sure he'll be walking soon enough and I should be glad he's staying put for the moment.
- Wait did I just say 'staying put'? I'm not sure why because even though the kid's not walking, he can cross a room in 2.5 seconds. He can cruise along furniture, walls, your legs, anything he can get his hands on. And he crawls at lightening speed now, it's hilarious. The other new thing he's doing is quite ridiculous. He'll pull up to a table or something low that he can get a good grip on and then... wait for it... lift his feet off thee ground and swing for a moment or two before putting his feet back down and moving on. It causes me to have a mini heart attack every time and racing over to him to make sure he lands on two keep, but he always seems to have it under control. I've just.... never seen anything like it before. He's such a silly one!
- He's been sleeping much much better. The weather is nicer and we're usually outside a good part of the day and that seems to tire him out. He had a period of bad sleep this month, but he seems to be over it by now.
He loves:
*any kind of fruit
*being outside
*all animals, especially the cat
*"reading" to himself from the his board books
He hates:
*getting his diaper changed & getting dressed
*getting his face washed after a messy meal
*being strapped into the car seat
Here's to ten months! What a fun age :)
And throughout his life:
Oh and one more thing. I got so many good photos this month, that I could barely pick a favorite (suuuch a different story than last time). This is all due to my new camera (a Nikon D5000!!), but more on that later. Here are a few more from the shoot, but I just really didn't feel like they fit the series.
Well it's about time. Joshua actually turned 9 months on April 11th, and we're just getting around to this now. It's been a rough couple of weeks though, with Josh getting sick and then even sicker. Poor baby. But we're on the right track now.
Joshua now weighs a whopping 18 pounds 2 ounces. I was a little dismayed at the doctor's office when I found out this information as I had expected him to be around 20 pounds. He's only in the 20th percentile as far as weight, but the doctor isn't concerned. He's been gaining weight steadily since the drop he had at about six months, so I'm trying to accept it and not worry about it. He's just a little peanut, that's all.
As far as everything else is concerned, he's doing great. He is clapping and cruising (walking along furniture), which the doctor told me are one year skills. He's learning how to eat more and more finger foods. Today he even ate pieces of whole wheat toast smeared with hummus. Yum! Still no teeth, but I'm not holding my breath anymore. They will come when they want to. He still wants to crawl around 24/7, but has started liking his walker more now that he knows how to move forward in it. He's starting to babble more now too and that's just so much fun! He loves pushing his cart (or whatever you want to call it) around, playing with his toy piano and Frosty the Snowman doll (that talks and sings), and swinging in the baby swings at the park.
All in all, as I say every month, I can't believe he's already nine months old. It'll just be around the corner that he's ten months (even more so since I did this late this month). Double digits?!? And don't even get me started on the fact that he's almost a year. That's just craziness.
Now for the picture. It's getting quite comical to take these each month. This kid doesn't sit still for more than a second and all he wanted was to be off that chair! At least he's smiling :)
A few months ago, I decided to start collecting records. I don’t know where I came up with that idea, but suddenly I was seriously craving some vinyl. There’s something special about a record, something that CDs and MP3s don’t have. I can’t put my finger on what exactly, it’s just something inexplicable. When I told the hubby of my new plan, he was right on board. We are huge classic rock fans, and we instantly had a list of albums we had to have. Slowly our collection has been growing – a few finds here, a couple there. This weekend, after a road trip upstate, we hit the jackpot. Here’s what we came home with:
Boston (Self-titled)
This album has practically every Boston song you could ask for – 'More Than a Feeling', 'Rock and Roll Band', and my personal favorite – 'Hitchin’ a Ride'. I just love Boston. And guess what? Josh likes them too. He was even trying to sing along to the crazy vocals on More Than a Feeling. I’m not really sure who held that last note longer, Josh or Tom Schulz (the lead singer)
The Cars (Self-titled)
I love love love this album! I was soo excited to find it. I mean with songs like ‘Just What I Needed’, ‘Good Times Roll’, ‘My Best Friend's Girl’, and ‘You're All I've Got Tonight’, it just makes me giddy looking at it. I mean the cute brunette with the yummy cherry nail polish and a clear steering wheel? It’s just about as awesome as the songs on this album. Oh and did you know that The Cars have a new album set for release in May 2011? Really??
Steely Dan (Can’t Buy a Thrill)
Steely Dan’s debut album (debut albums seem to be the theme of the day). If The Cars’ album cover art makes me giddy, this just makes me confused. It’s just odd. As for Steely Dan itself, I never really liked them until the hubby introduced them to me. This album has all the hits that I now love – ‘Do It Again’, ‘Dirty Work’, and ‘Reelin’ in the Years’. It’s just a great find.
Simon and Garfunkel (Sounds of Silence)
This one’s for me as the hubby’s not really into the S&G as I am. I grew up listening to them and they always put me in a calm state of mind. I was really looking for Simon and Garfunkel’s Greatest Hits, but was pleased when I found this treasure. For an album released in 1965, it is in such good condition. I’m obsessed with the songs ‘Leaves that are Green’ and ‘Blessed’, which I had never heard before.
Rush (Exit… Stage Left)
Ok, I’ll admit it. I am a HUGE (capitalized and italicized, so you know I mean business) Rush fan. We’ve been unintentionally collecting live Rush albums. We haven’t stumbled upon our favorite Rush album (Moving Pictures) yet, so these are great in the meantime. Rush is pretty amazing live, so of course this album lived up to everything I hoped it would be. It has everything you could ask for from early years Rush – ‘The Spirit of Radio’, ‘Red Barchetta’, ‘Closer to the Heart’, ‘The Trees’, ‘Freewill’, ‘Tom Sawyer’ and the lesser known (but totally great) ‘La Villa Strangiato’. Swoon.
Rush (Grace Under Pressure)
Oh 80s Rush, how I love thee. With songs like ‘Distant Early Warning’ and ‘Red Sector A’, it’s just flat out awesome. Take a look at this cheesy 80s video:
I get about a hundred parenting emails a day from a bunch of different sites. Honestly, I really love (and probably spend way too much time) reading them. Today, an email from What to Expect piqued my interest as it was about discipline. The peanut is at a stage where he's still too young to be disciplined per se, but he does need certain limits enforced, so I clicked through. The article is really great and you should read it if you get the chance, but the part that stuck with me is this: "Kids may subconsciously perceive permissive parents as apathetic (and thus uncaring)." This was actually something I'd never heard before. Not setting limits actually tells your kid that you don't care about him or her. And in a way, this makes a lot of sense. Kids need limits. They need to know not to touch the stove or the electrical outlets for their own safety. They need know good manners and social skills in order to excel in school and in their future. By enforcing these limits, you're actually showing your kid you care about them, their safety and their future.
So now, I'll think about this little tidbit the next time I tell Josh not to pull the cat's tail or redirect his attention away from the entertainment center. Despite making cry at the moment, I'm actually showing him I love him and I care. And that makes it a million times much better.
Ugh, Joshua officially has a stomach bug. I feel so bad for the little peanut. Since I'm out of commission with a sick baby who's literally up every two hours, I figured I'd do that ABC thing I've seen absolutely everywhere on the blogosphere lately. Here goes:
A. Age: 26
B. Bed size: Full. It's teeny tiny, but I don't mind it.
C. Chore you hate: Laundry. I hate loading the washer, transferring to the dryer, folding it, and putting it away. Did I miss a step? If so, I hate that too.
D. Dogs: Aspen and Bella, my Shiba Inus, aka the loves of my life. I mean wait, my husband and baby... we'll just forget that slip-up ;)
E. Essential start to your day: Coffee!
F. Favorite color: Green.
G. Gold or silver: Sliver.
H. Height: 5’5”
I. Instruments you play: I can kind-of-sort-of play the piano, but not well.
J. Job title: Stay at home mama.
K. Kids: Joshua! My nine month old peanut.
L. Live: The Jersey Shore. M. Mom’s name: Marjorie.
N. Nicknames: Becky, Re-Run (that's a loooong story)
O. Overnight hospital stays: Three nights when I had the babe.
P. Pet peeve: When people don't use their turn signals while driving.
Q. Quote from a movie: "I love lamp." R. Right or left handed: Right.
S. Siblings: None.
T. Time you wake up: Whenever the peanut wakes up - between 7 and 7:30.
U. Underwear: Yes?
V. Vegetables you dislike: Raw baby carrots. I used to eat them all the time, but then I got pregnant, and couldn't eat them at all. They still make me gag. W. What makes you run late: The hubby! Or myself, constantly running back in the house for things I've forgotten.
X. X-Rays you’ve had: I broke my arm in second grade, so I'm guessing I had one then.
Y. Yummy food you make: Pumpkin Cheesecake. YUM! Z. Zoo – favorite animal: Seals!
