Growing Up and Birthdays

I realized something very disturbing this week. My Small Human has been looking a whole lot less small. He is starting to look and act like a big boy, and in a little over three months he will be two. I've been having a lot of fun planning his birthday party though! A theme has been chosen: vintage hot air balloons and airplanes. I have ordered sample chocolate favours to taste, and decided on a colour scheme of blue and grey with pops of red. There is a baby menu planned out and everything. It should be a good time!

Lately I have been feeling really on the ball, even though the week had a bit of a rough start. Let's just say that so far, October has been much kinder to me than September was. May it continue to be so, for me and for all of you! Have a great Octobery weekend and happy birthday to my momie, and happy Canadian Thanksgiving! xoxo

Happy October 12th birthday Lola! This one's for you! 

No Christmas Presents

We have decided that this year, we won't be doing Christmas presents. I love to give presents, but it's getting a bit ridiculous with the sheer number of people in our circle of friends and family. We love you all, but there's no way we can keep it up, sadly.

Small Human will still get the full Christmas experience though, and if you are a doting family member, obviously you can give him whatever you would like, but please know that we would be so happy just to receive fun Christmas cards from everyone!

All of our losses this year have made me realize that it isn't things that will make me happy (maybe temporarily), but it is the health and sincere happiness of all our friends and family and pets. Instead, maybe we can give gifts to the ones who really need it, like the homeless and the hungry.

Red Riding Hood

The Morning Rush

Time management is not my forte. My schedule currently revolves around Small Human, which happens to work out fine for everyone anyway. Some mornings are more hectic than others because of various classes and playdates that we have every week, but we try our best and things mostly go smoothly.

It's tough, because obviously the little man can't get himself ready yet, so we have to deal with him first, and then ourselves, and to top it all off, we are all late risers. I'm great at planning out Small Human's snacks and outfits, not so great at my own.

Monday morning I left the house with no coffee, no food, and no water in my system. I didn't have to worry about my hair at least, cause I had just gotten it done the day before, so I brushed my teeth, threw on a hoodie, jeans and my Chucks, curled my lashes and ran out the door. This would have been fine ten years ago, but 35 year old Lilibeth needs sustenance now that she has a toddler to run after.

I'm not really sure how I made it through the morning, but I did. I nipped every impending tantrum in the bud, chased a bunch of toddlers, cleaned up after a bunch of toddlers (there was sand everywhere), and was beyond ready to leave after two hours, despite having a good time.

By the time we got home I was about to pass out, but thankfully Brendan and I have also been on the ball with the grocery shopping, so eating in a jiffy was easy enough. Anyway, our morning dances without morning outings usually look something like this:

8:45am: Small Human wakes up either chatting with his animals or crying. Dada gets him.

9am: The baby is changed and has had a cup of milk, keeping Dada company while he starts the coffee, feeds Tidbit and waters the plants.

9:30: Momie gets woken up because she is a lazy and tired lady. We eat breakfast together, Momie and SH still in pajamas.

When there's a morning activity it's more like this:

8:30am: Alarm goes off and I ignore it.

8:40am: I rip myself out of bed and get the baby, change him, give him milk and an outfit change.

8:55am: I try to get ready while someone tries to put the contents of my bathroom cupboards into the bathtub; he gets kicked out.

9:05am: I have 5 minutes to throw clothes on before someone starts screaming.

9:10am: Small Human will inevitably have a huge poop before I walk out the door.

9:15am: Leave the house running. Oops, no time for food or drink. Shoot, I'm screwed, how am I even running?!

I really need to learn how to wake up early. *whomp whomp*

He really likes to try to help me vacuum

He tries really hard, my sweet guy!

The Great Pumpkin Adventure

Alright it wasn't actually that great, but there were pumpkins, and life with our Small Human is always an adventure. This past weekend the Wilsons took the requisite fall family trip out to a pumpkin patch. The boys had a great time, which is all that matters to me. I am a city girl, and sometimes I get uncomfortable around too much nature. Laugh all you want, but I totally have a grass phobia. I'm not talking well maintained park and lawn grass, I mean crazy, long farm grass. Omg heebie jeebies.

Anyway, we took a hayride with a bajillion toddlers, and our guy was the only one who didn't want to be contained. I'm really glad Brendan was holding him, because if it was just me, I would've dropped him from all the squirming. The best part of the entire experience was seeing my husband with our son. My heart was exploding with happiness the whole time.

Afterwards we ate at a big chain restaurant for family dinner, and for those of you who don't know, I have made it my life's mission to try every American family restaurant chain. It was great, even though I only ate about 20% of my food because the portions were so humongous. I had a parenting win when Small Human willingly ate some ZUCCHINI. That was the vegetable that made him vomit all over his stroller two weeks ago, so this was an extremely brave move on my part. I think he enjoyed it because it was salty and breaded so the green part was hidden. Ah, toddlers.

Have a wonderful Monday and a great week ahead.

Momie's silly, signature picture head tilt doesn't impress Small Human

On the hayride

heart explosions

My Karma

I am pretty certain I got what was coming to me today. Apparently, when I was little, I was an obnoxious screamer and tantrum thrower. I do remember being that way, and I still remember the look my mother got in her eye when I was misbehaving in public. It was a murderous rage look that meant I had crossed the line.

Small Human received this look from me a few times in the span of thirty minutes. He had woken up really, extra early this morning after having gone to bed really, extra late last night, so exhaustion is to blame, but still. We had music class and all he did was whine, scream, cry, pull everything out of my purse, smacked his head on the floor on purpose, stole instruments from the smaller babies, and clung to me and slapped me.

We actually left class twice, but the first time he wanted to go back in so we did, and the second time I just needed to get him out of there. We couldn't even finish a short, forty-five minute class. When we got home I told him I didn't like him acting like that and I think he understood my displeasure because he would just cover his little face and cry. The whining never stopped even after we got home, and he was so tired he fell asleep on the dining room floor. When I picked him up to put him in his crib he woke up crying, wanting to be held and I completely lost it and yelled at him to go to sleep. I mean I really yelled, like a crazy, angry moose mommy.

I walked out of his room and there was total silence. He must have been so shocked and tired that he went right to sleep. Now it is not even noon here and I feel like it's 7pm already. I don't know how I'm going to have the patience to deal with today. I love him so much, but he drove me so crazy that it's hard to just let it go. The morning is over. It's almost the weekend. I can't wait for his Dada to come home. (Please come home soon, babe.)

Have a wonderful weekend!

Your very frazzled neighbourhood Lilibeth xoxo

Kaka

Wow, a major breakthrough just happened about 15 45 minutes ago. Small Human said "kaka", held his little butt, and gestured to his diaper caddy. FYI, never in your life will you care so much about what comes out of a person's rear end more than when you become a parent. I can pretty much guarantee that you will worry about it from the moment that creature pops out until I don't know when, puberty maybe?

This means we are potty training ready! It terrifies me to have to potty train a little man who communicates with me through grunts, pointing, babbling, and random English words interjected throughout. It took me about 30 minutes to write this last sentence because someone kept running to the fridge, pointing, grunting and yelling "milk please!", but then getting distracted by the chip in the paint that he created on the cupboard next to the fridge, obsessively pointing and saying, "Uh oh! Uh oh!". I try to get him back on track, "Do you want milk, little man?". Shakes his head, "Lights!" he says, and runs away to dance. This happened 5 times in a row, I am about to lose it.

Omg he's crazy, can this actually happen?! I think this is the sign that I have been waiting for. All of today's potty related occurrences have come about independently from each other, but never all at once. Ack, it's time.

Oh My Little Boy

My Small Human,

One day you will wonder why I took ten million pictures of you before the age of two, and that is because I never want to forget. I enjoy our time together each day because someday you won't be all mine as you are now, before your own plans and friends and your life take over. I take pictures because I know that time and age will slowly chip away at my memories, and they won't be as vivid and intense as I want them to be.

I don't ever want to forget your tiny, striped pajama-clad body, clinging to me as you fall asleep for your afternoon nap, drool covering my left shoulder; or the sweet, honey shea scent of your hair that I can still smell on me after I put you down in your crib.

I don't want to forget how small you once were, even when you are a tall man, with stubble, looking down at your Momie who once seemed so big. Right now you are my littlest boy, growing bigger every day, so you'll have to excuse me for wanting to capture that forever in pictures.

I don't want to forget how fat your cheeks are, or how big and smushy your diapered bottom is. One day, all the toys you love to play with now will be "for babies" and my heart will break a little. I am so proud of the person that you are turning into, sweet tempered (except for the tantrums!), always curious, independent and very persistent.

I love everything about you, the good, the bad, and the smelly, and I have the pictures to prove it.

Love always, Momie