What a mess...

So this morning my son got up earlier than usual, by about a 1/2 hour or so. I didn't mind because that would give me time to get ready for work and then sit and relax with him and maybe give him his breakfast which is usually his daddy's job. I have probably written this before but our morning routine consists of me changing him and giving him a bottle. He is not a big eater in the morning but I just give him a couple of ounces to hold him over until he gets his oatmeal. Then I gather up a bunch of toys and bring them into the bathroom with me. He gets to play with toys on the floor while I shower. I can keep an eye on him and I play peek-a-boo from behind the shower curtain. Usually everything is fine and I am able to spend time with him while I get ready for work.

Today started out no different. I got into the shower and his new trick is to get between the shower curtain and the shower liner and walk back and forth over and over again. He did that for a while and then started banging one of his toys on the floor. Then he was quiet all of a sudden. I peeked out and he was sitting quietly with no pants on playing with a toy. His pants somehow came off of him so he was just in his onesie. I done within less than a minute of checking on him. I toweled off and got out of the shower.

The scene before me almost made my heart stop. He was sitting in what appeared to be a pool of blood. I think my heart did stop. Then I realized what it really was. Bright Red Nail Polish! That's right. Nail polish! I have no idea where he got it from. In fact, I can't remember the last time I used nail polish. Certainly not since before I was pregnant. But there it was, all over him and all over the floor. I was stunned for a minute and didn't know where to start. I picked him up and put him in the empty tub. Then I sopped up the mess on the floor with some nail polish remover that I found in a cupboard. It came up but you can still see the slight pinkish tint.

The problem was that my husband couldn't get in the door to help until I was able to get the mess on the floor cleaned up first. He was then able to get in and we got the water going in the bath tub. My son had nail polish all over his legs and on one hand. We got it off of his hand but couldn't get it off of his legs and feet. I didn't want to use the remover on his skin but nothing else seemed to be working. I called the doctor and she told me to use baby oil and soak him in a tub to get it loosened and gently scrub it off. I had to leave that for my husband because I had to get to work. Hopefully it worked. I guess this is my introduction to things like crayon on the walls, etc. That extra 1/2 hour that I thought I would have to spend time with him, I did spend time with him. But I wasn't expecting it to be on clean-up duty. Oh well. I am just glad it wasn't worse.

B-Day Party...

I haven't posted in a while because I have been so busy at work, getting ready for vacation this week. So, we had baby's first birthday party this past weekend. He won't actually be one until the 30th but scheduling called for it to be earlier.

We went to a pumpkin farm that has hayrides, amusement park rides, a petting zoo, a haunted house, etc. I was looking for a place that would be good for a bunch of kids because we have lots of little ones ranging from 1 year to 8 years old. Unfortunately it was like a hurricane on Saturday. The grounds were muddy and slippery. The party was indoors though so that was good. Another stroke of luck was that there was a radio station sponsoring a trick-or-treat event right in the same building. So the kids came dressed up and everyone had a great time.

I got my son a birthday cake just for him. We all sang happy birthday and let him dig in. He didn't go for it right away so I gave him a little taste of the frosting. Then it was over. He was covered in cake. He LOVED it. Then I got some on my husband and he got some on me. It was almost an all out cake war. When he was done we got him cleaned up and opened presents. He didn't care one bit about the presents and just wanted to get out of his seat and walk around. He was fascinated by everyone in costume. All in all, it was a great first birthday party. I think everyone was too tired to worry about the rain and the outdoor activities anyway.

I just really cannot believe it has been one year. It is amazing how his little personality has changed so much in that year, from a little bundle that couldn't do much but give me gasy smiles to a little man who has a mind of his own. He is so independent yet he is so sweet and cuddly. I can't wait until he understands more of the world around him because I love to see the excitement and wonder in his eyes.

Lions and tigers and bears, oh my...

I had been dying to take my little one to the zoo. I have been putting it off because I wanted to be sure that he would have the capacity to look at the animals and be excited. This past weekend was so beautiful that my mother and I decided to take him. My husband was not too happy about not being able to be there for his first zoo experience but the day was too nice to pass up.

I got up early and had to do my grocery shopping. My husband wasn't home so I had to take my son with me. When he was small, I was able to put his car seat basket in the front of the cart and he would fall asleep. Now he sits in the cart and keeps me company as I shop. Unfortunately he hadn't napped prior to the trip and couldn't nap during. I was hoping he would go down while I put the groceries away at home and got ready for the outing. He didn't. He was wide awake and playing all over the place. I got him dressed and packed him into the car. By the time I got to my mother's house, I was sure that he had fallen asleep. But when I went to get him out of the car, there he was, eyes open wide.

My mother had some errands to run so I told her we would go along for the ride and hopefully he would fall asleep for at least an hour. He didn't. He didn't fall asleep until we were literally pulling into the parking lot of the zoo.

I tried my best to get him out of his carseat and into his stroller without waking him. I was almost successful but not quite. He opened his eyes as I was strapping him in to the stroller. I laid the seat all the way back and thought he might go right back to sleep but with all of the people and all of the kids around, he was too nosy to drift off. What if he missed something important? He had to take it all in.

When we walked through the gates, the first exhibit was the elephant habitat. The elephants were out and they were eating and standing on display in all of their glory. My son loves his little elephant toy at home so I was eager to see how he reacted. He just sat there. I pointed them out to him and sounded as excited as I could. But he was still in the fog of interrupted sleep. We went on to the next exhibit, and the next, and the next. He showed no interest. He didn't smile, laugh, cry. Nothing.

After we had circled the entire zoo, we wanted to end up at the brand new rainforest exhibit. It had just opened and we were looking forward to it. I peeked into the stroller and his little eyes were rolling back in his head. After that full day he was finally falling asleep. We decided that we would see the rainforest another day and got him back to the car. He was so exhausted that his eyes stayed glued shut while I strapped him into the seat. He slept all the way home.

I was disappointed that he didn't have a good time. Maybe he just didn't like the animals and maybe it was just that his mean mommy didn't let him nap. In any case, I am going to try the zoo again but the next time I will be sure he is well rested.

Weekend outing...

So we had our "birthday" party this weekend with my cousins and their kids. We went to a pumpkin farm located about 1/2 hour from my house. I was shocked when we pulled up because it looked like an amusement park. I was expecting a field with a bunch of pumkins and some hay. I knew there were hayrides so I thought there would be a truck with hay in the back. Nothing fancy. But when we got there, there was a ferris wheel, a merry-go-round, and other rides. There were food stations, like at a county fair. There was a big warehouse that had a gift shop, a bakery, a haunted house. There was also a petting zoo with little goats and pony rides for the kids.

My little one LOVED the goats. He wanted to pet them but none would come near us. I guess they don't bother with you unless you have food. He was content watching them though. He also liked to just walk around and look at everything. I always tell him that he is being nosy because he is always staring at other people, fascinated by what they are doing. We watched the rides and the people.

When the rest of my family got there, we ate the carnival food. I got a hamburger and my husband got a chicken sandwich. There was a bad mayo incident so my husband didn't eat his sandwich. I started to give the baby some hamburger and he wouldn't stop eating. He practically ate the whole thing. When we were done eating, we decided to take the babies on some rides. We took them on the merry-go-round. I wouldn't have agreed to it if I knew there were no seatbelts. But the mom's stood and held the babies on the horses. It was small and didn't go fast but I wasn't expecting the horses to go up and down while the ride went in a circle. I think he had fun though. Then I took him on a little choo choo train. He absolutely loved that one. He could look at everything as it went by and everytime we got to my husband and parents, he waved. I can't believe he went on his first rides.

Then we got pictures with all of the babies on a huge haystack. The other 2 little babies aren't really mobile. My son is in the middle of them age-wise. One is a couple weeks older and the other is a couple of weeks younger. They sat nice and still while my little monkey was all over the place. We got the best pictures we could in that situation.

Then we went to the pumpkin patch which was just a huge area full of pumpkins for sale. We got another picture of all of the kids sitting on or among the pumpkins. Those came out great.

Overall, we had a great time. It was perfect for kids (there were two other kids ages 4 and 7). It was a beautiful day out, sunny and only needed sweaters and hats. We are having his actual party there in a couple of weeks and I can't wait to go back.

Rough night...

I think I may have ruined my long nights of sleep training in one night. My son would not go to bed last night. I know he was exhausted. He started rubbing his eyes at around 7pm. But he wouldn't settle down either. I tried to get him to calm down but he was perfectly content to run around all over the place. He finally let me hold him still and rock him a bit. I put him to bed at around 9:30pm. It was around 1am when he started crying. Usually he just cries out in his sleep or whines a little and falls back asleep quickly. But this crying was different. I had only heard a cry like this once before a few months ago. It was like he was pleading for someone to come to him. It was so sad and heartbreaking.

So I went to him. I rubbed his back but he was inconsolable. I didn't want to pick him up because I was afraid that would set me back after all the work we put into getting him to sleep through the night again. But he was not comforted by it. So I picked him up against my better judgement. I picked him up because my heart told me it was necessary. He was distressed and he needed his mommy. I picked him up and he stopped crying. He had big, fat tears rolling down his face and he was having trouble catching his breath. I held him and cradled him. I put my cheek against his cheek and he drifted back to sleep, safe in my arms. I held him for a while to be sure he was asleep before attempting to get him back in his crib. The second I put him down, the sobbing started again.

I went and got my husband. Sometimes he has better luck getting him to sleep and to stay sleeping. He wouldn't go down for him either. He asked if I wanted him to bring him into bed with us. We did this once before as well but it was a nightmare. No one got any sleep. But he was a little older now so I thought we would give it a try.

That was a mistake. He was so excited by the change in his surroundings that he just wanted to stand up and walk all over the bed. It was like he was wide awake and it was time to get up and play. My husband took him back to his room to get him sleepy by sitting with him in our rocker and then brought him back. He settled right down but he is a tosser and a turner. At one point he slammed his rock-hard head into my nose. It hurt but I was ok. Not 2 minutes later he did the same thing to my mouth. I instantly tasted blood. He busted my lip wide open. I was more concerned about him though because it must have hurt him. He started crying a "I'm hurt" cry.

I should have just put him back in his crib and rubbed his back until he stopped crying. That didn't seem to be working but I should have stuck to my rules. Instead we had picked him up, taken him to sleep with us. Ultimately I took him to the couch and we slept, cuddling. I am dreading tonight because I am sure I undid all of our work. We will see.

Walking machine...

My son has been "walking" for a few weeks. At first he would go a couple of steps and fall. Then he would crawl to his destination. As the days went by, he started to add more steps before falling. When he was able to get halfway across the room before falling on his little bottom, my husband and I were so excited.

The change was so gradual and very quick at the same time. Yesterday when I got home from work, my husband informed me that our son was no longer crawling. I found that was a slight exaggeration but it was almost true. Where before he was indifferent to whether he crawled or walked, he was now almost exclusively walking. And this all happened in a day.

He is more confident with his steps. He still falls a lot but he can get further and further before he does. He also gets up from the middle of the floor. Before he would need something to pull up on to get into a standing position and to get steady enough to begin his trek. I was truly amazed that this had happened so quickly, literally overnight.

He still looks like a wobbly and almost drunk but I just figure it is his signature walk for now. He has even shown signs of wanting to run. He will come stumbling toward me at a great rate of speed and it is a wonder that he can even stay up.

A friend of mine had her baby 3 months before me. I asked her what her son is doing these days. He took his first steps the day after his 1st birthday and it took a few weeks for him to get the hang of it. Apparently he is now running and never wants to sit down. I feel like we are not that far behind that stage.

In any case, it is very exciting. To see this little tiny person walking around is so funny and miraculous at the same time. I just don't get how they instinctively know how to do it without anyone teaching them. Just one day they are immobile, then they start rolling, then on all fours, then rocking back and forth until they move, then crawling, then standing up and cruising, then walking and running. What is next? I am sure he will be roller blading next month.

Planning a b-day party...

Who knew that planning a birthday party for a one-year old could be stressful. It isn't like I am planning a wedding. I am an only child and my father's side of the family lives all the way across the country. So my mother's family lives close-by and we have always held holidays and birthdays as a family with my aunts, uncles and cousins. Now that we are having babies, we celebrate the kids birthdays as well. Here is the dilemma. My cousins and I all had babies around the same time. One baby was born in mid-September, one was born at the end of October and the third was born mid-November. On top of that, there were already two other kids in the family - one born at the end of October and one at the beginning of November. I want a party for my son and they wanted parties for their babies and older children. We would be having 5 birthday parties within a couple weeks of each other. But my party was also to include my side of the family, my husband's side and our friends. So how would we handle all of this birthday madness?

What we decided was to have a "party" for the 5 kids on my side together. It would be just for us. We will go somewhere fun and we can visit and eat, exchange gifts and sing Happy Birthday. Then each of us would have another party for the rest of the people we wanted involved. So we will get together this weekend to celebrate as a family. Then on my son's real birthday, we will have another party with my husband's family and our friends.

For his real party we will be going to a pumpkin farm. They have food and goodie bags for the kids. There will be hayrides, a corn maze, a petting zoo, trick or treating, face painting. It should be fun. I am going to dress him up as Donald Duck. I can't wait!