Terrible 2's!!!

Last weekend we went out to eat on Sunday. We had a lazy morning and Lil M ate a big breakfast, which is typical for him. Then we went to Cheddar's around noon because I really wanted a Monte Cristo and google said Cheddar's was the closest restaurant with one on their menu. If you have never had one it is a ham and cheese sandwich dipped in a funnel cake batter and fried. Then served with a raspberry dip and sometimes powdered sugar. They are a-maz-ing! Highly worth the multiple days worth of calories in one meal. Anyways, Lil M got a pasta and proceeded to grab both hands full and cram as much in his mouth as possible. He has always been an aggressive eater, but this was over the top. We tried to slow him down and scold him, but basically gave up and just tried to contain the mess.

 Later in the day he was all about testing his boundaries. I'm pretty sure his thought process was similar to this: Can I pull Moby's paw, yes, how long can I pull it, how hard can I pull it, why is he growling at me, oh that makes it more fun! and the day proceeded from there. His big stuff is annoying the dogs, climbing on things he knows he shouldn't instead of things he can, like the couch, and throwing EVERYTHING! He isn't really listening when I say no, he just smiles, maintaining eye contact while continuing the activity. He still responds to distraction, but I don't know how much longer that will last. We have always planned on using time outs and have started those this week. I'm not gonna lie, I'm kinda lost on how to start time outs with a toddler. They immediately became a game of get away. I have read some online tricks for his age, like keeping the time short, ignoring him, etc. But when I put him in the designated time out spot, he just looks at me and laughs, then proceeds to try to get away. He has no idea he is in trouble. I think that is the most frustrating part at this point. He hasn't made the connection that he did something wrong. I don't know if we are starting these to early or if persistence is the key. I think only time will tell, or we will find the true limit of Moby's patience. :)

Since he has recently picked up on puzzles and how they work I bought some stickers for him to play with. He loves Cars so naturally we got Cars stickers. He loved them, but was constantly trying to take them off the paper to move around. At first it was only to put back on the paper, but then he became interested in other places. Luckily there aren't a lot of sticker friendly surfaces in our living room, but he found one good place, his belly! Later, after he went to bed, I found one stuck on my leg too, apparently I wasn't paying very close attention.

We also had our first scrapped up knee this weekend. We were walking the dogs and Lil M got excited and tried to run on the sidewalk. He fell and slid a little bit. He cried and I was surprised to see he actually drew blood, but he was running around after a minute like nothing happened. I even had to wrestle him down to get this picture. Such a boy!

Friday Night

This post I wrote 2 weeks ago, but I had trouble with the video so I am just now getting it posted. Hopefully I have all the kinks worked out and can share more videos now!

Thursdays are "Boy's Day" because Mario has the day off so Lil M stays home from school with him. But Friday nights are all about mom. I am usually to tired from the whole week to do anything productive so Lil M and I sit on the floor and play till bedtime. Tonight we did puzzles. We have had these puzzles for a while, but tonight is the first time I have seen him actually putting pieces together. We have puzzles that are pictures of cars, planes etc that have a board with a matching picture underneath. He usually just puts the pieces on top of the board and I match them up, but tonight he took his time, really looked at the pieces, and then matched them! I was so excited and tried to make a big deal out of it with 'Yay' and clapping and high fives. He was super excited at first, then he just wanted to pick the board up so he could dump the pieces again. I tried to get some pictures, but puzzle pictures are apparently action shots, so he's blurry, but you can tell the pieces match up!

I also try to read to him a lot and he loves books. I will read him one or two, then give him the option to 'read' to me. Tonight he brought me a book and proceeded to read to me. I had the flip close so I actually got it on video! I'm super excited to share this since these moments are so hard to capture on film. Enjoy and have a great weekend!

A Month of Firsts

I haven't posted in a few weeks and so much has happened that I will try to keep it short. I'll only share the firsts that have happened lately. I'll save the rest for another post.
The first is the funniest, in my opinion. If you don't like poop you'll want to skip to the second item. We have been lucky because Mario has never been a big random pee-er or pooper. He only peed once when we were changing his diaper and only a few poops. He has peed a few times when we left him out of the diaper for a while with a rash etc. Well, when he was bathing this week he got that look. The holding-breath-face-turning-red-while-he-stares-into-space look. I knew what was coming but I was too late. He then got as still as a statue and stared at me while trying to decide if he should cry or play with it. He poked it a few times then decided it was not cool to have poop in his bath and proceeded to stay as still as a statue until it could be removed. Unfortunately it spread everywhere so I had to drain the tub. I didn't want to refill the whole tub so I moved him to the back end and washed him with water from the faucet in his cup. You would have thought I was washing him with tar. He was so mad at me! He hated every minute and got some good practice at his 'death' stare. It was cute and shows how sometimes he hates getting dirty.
The second is cute now, but could get annoying real quick. He has started tap dancing. He will stand there and repeatedly stamp his feet as fast as he can. He does it now for fun and we mimic him and dance to keep it fun. At first I had to watch him close because I couldn't tell if he was having fun or throwing a fit. Hopefully this won't become part of his fits. Now he just stops what he's doing, bends forward placing his face as close to the floor as possible, and has the red-face delayed cry. Other mothers know what I'm talking about. It is also super cute, for now. :)
We recently bought our training potty. I have been wanting to get it for awhile, but never pulled the trigger. We aren't potty training, but I want to have it around so he is familiar with it. We put him on it in the morning and at night. He will sit there for a few minutes, but he hasn't gone in it yet. I try to give him something to distract him so he will sit there a little longer, ie a book, toy, etc. He has put his toys and his cup in it multiple times, so I don't think he is ready yet. We'll keep trying! :)
I mentioned to Mario that we needed to make sure we are working with Lil M on words. The next day they were home together I came home from work and he could say "shoe", "car", and "outside". Ok, maybe outside is a stretch, but he points outside and I can hear it. :) Within the last few days he has added "Hi" and "Bye" both with a wave. When I pick him up from school he turns and waves to his teacher right away. It is making me feel better that he wants to come home.
Along the "Bye" story line, Mario "stole" a thing 1 and thing 2 (Dr Suese sp?)  bag from Target. I gave it to him to play with while we shopped. I was going to put it up, but since it is red and his whole outfit was red, I forgot about it until I picked him up to put him in his car seat. Anyways, it was worth the potential felony because he loves it! He carries it everywhere, over a bent arm just like a little old lady! He will pick up his bag, wave to me, say "bye" and walk into the hall. He will repeat this until something else steals his attention.
Well this is all of the "Firsts" I can think of for now. I'm sure there are tons I'm missing, but I'll catch up soon. Maybe in another month! :)

 Playing at the splash pad

 I love this picture because it shows all his teeth!

He's actually using a fork for a few bites at each meal!

End of summer

Last week we got tickets to the local baseball game. We got to sit right behind home plate and had a blast. We get the tickets for free because one of the doctors I work with is the team doc. The stadium is amazing. They have a pool in the outfield, and playground, a grass hill in left field to sit on, tons of great seats (shaded), and a lot of AC areas. Apparently they consistently win awards for having the best stadium. Lil M loved the music played when everyone goes up to bat. He would dance and get confused when it stopped. He also thought everyone was clapping for him. He would look around, like he was thanking his fans, then laugh and clap too. By far the most interesting thing was watching him discover foam fingers. There were some kids behind us with them and he couldn't stop staring. I think he though they were their real hands and it amazed him. Little M and I have had a great week this week. Mario is smack in the middle of back to school season which, believe it or not is bigger than Black Friday and Christmas. He has been at the store nonstop and he started a new class in his MBA program. With him being so busy Little M and I have had some great mommy and me time. Last Sunday we found a park on the running trail that has a splash pad. I got a good run in and Mario got to play at the end. It worked out really well. Previously he had not really liked splash pads. They are the cement areas with multiple water spouts, sometimes trees and buckets that fill up and fall over, etc. He wasn't a big fan of getting wet, but this last time I couldn't keep him out of it. He kept going right up to the water sprays and letting it hit him in the face. He would wait till I pulled him away. Then he would laugh and giggle with snot running down his face because so much water went up his nose. Yes I am the mother a little boy. He is also not shy. He kept walking up to other little ones and talking away. They usually just stood there and stared at him, but he didn't seem to mind. Except for one little girl who kept running back to her mom. He didn't let that stop him though, he tried to talk to her 3 times with the same result. On the topic of girls, I think he might have a little girlfriend at school. A few weeks ago I noticed he had a big red spot on the back his hand. It was red and swollen, but there was a distinct ring around it. I was worried it was a spider bite and we would wind up in the ER. When I picked him up at school they were outside playing so I called the school to see if they knew anything about it. Low and behold there was a note in his cubby saying he got bit by a girl. The teacher was in the office writing it when I picked him up. I have also noticed that one girl gets excited when I drop him off. She is always like, "Mario" or "Hi Mario" and pointing at him. I think it is cute, but I'm so not ready for girlfriends. Hopefully I can convince him that cuties exist for another decade or so. Lil M has also been talking more. Not great pronunciation, but I can understand him. He says "daw" for dog every time we come home and they are barking at the door. Today I asked him to say "please" for his cup. I had to repeat it a couple of times, but he finally said, "eeese" so I counted it. I have been pinning alot of holiday decorations this year. The last 2 years we haven't done much decorating for anything. The first year we were moving and the second we were still trying to keep Lil M healthy. I am so excited to decorate and have a ton of things planned. I will try to share links and pictures as I get things finished. This has been kind of a random post so I hope you stayed with me through it all!

 Staring at foam fingers

 "Dad, bite my finger"

Clapping mommy's hands

Mario's Progress

I realized I haven't posted much about little man's progress lately. He is doing so well I don't even think about posting. I feel like we finally are feeling like a normal family with a healthy baby boy. He is eating regular food. I have tried keeping him away from hard things: like taco shells and chips. But we store the potato chips at the bottom of the pantry and one day while I was cooking he got into them and was chowing down! I initially panicked, but he was ok with it, so I let him go. He had no problems. He is also drinking regular liquids. Yes, no more thickened liquids. He is drinking water, milk, juice, everything. I love it. I love not having to mix everything he might drink for the day, pack it to stay cold, and carry it everywhere when we go out. I love just loading a cup and going! On that same note, we are trying to get him to use sippy cups. Before the OT wanted us to use a straw cup for his muscle control in his mouth and throat. Now he is doing so well, we are trying to get back on track to using a real cup. We started with sippy cups and he is not adjusting well. He just holds it against his chest and sucks out the air. Then he cries and holds it to you to tip up for him. This has been going on a week and I just now got him to hold it while I hold up his arms. He has even started having us hold other cups, disposable, etc. while he drinks from the straw. We will keep working on it, but this is definitely the hardest transition he has had so far. I have given him real cups with a little water in them and, when he gets it to his lips, he does better with them.

We have been swimming more with him lately and he loves the water. I found some arm floaties to use in the deep end, but he still puts his face underwater on his own. Then chokes and coughs. He just hasn't quite figured it out yet. He loves being pushed through the water on his tummy, in a superman pose. He is also getting used to bobbing under water. When we get more settled I want to put him in a more formal swimming class, but for now I am following advice I found online about teaching babies to swim.

He is also loving school. Every day I stop at the window sneak a peak at what he's doing. Lately he will look up at me and give me the biggest toothiest grin ever. It makes me want to go get him so I can see that grin all day long, but I know it is a sign that he is happy and feels comfortable there.

 Cuddling with a very patient Malaki

 Wanted to nap with his new cars backpack.

Climbing on the ottoman

July 2012

I can't believe there is only a week left in July! This month has flown by faster than others. We had Drew and Michelle Jordan and their kiddos come visit, we all got sick, both cars broke down, Mario went to Houston for a few days for work, and of course the regular work, school, etc. It has been busy!
I'll start with Drew and Michelle's visit. They drove down Saturday and we went to check out Central Market. I've been told by multiple people to go, that its a must do. But when you look into it, its a grocery store. So I had my doubts. It was pretty cool though. It is a grocery store, like whole foods, with a panera-like cafe that opens onto an outdoor stage and patio. They have live music and it backs up to a park with a playscape and open area. We enjoyed the music and the kids loved the playscape. Aaron became the king of the playground with all these kids following him around. Little Mario tried to keep up, but he's just not ready for 3-5 year olds! He was almost waking at the time, so he just walked around and around the play equipment.
On Saturday we went to Barton Springs, Zilker park, and a Nature Park. The Nature park had all kinds of animals that were rescued or taken from people who got them as pets without realizing that wild animals don't make good pets. They also had a dino dig area where the kids could dig out dino bones from sand. Apparently when developing downtown Austin they found a couple of mammoths and prehistoric animals. The had a whole display with pictures on what they found and when. It was really neat. We hit up Chuy's, a really good mexican restaurant. Then we ventured to Barton Springs. This is a natural spring, creek that they turned into a swimming pool. The bottom is all natural, with moss and stones, etc. The water is 68 degrees year round. Of course the kids loved it, even Lil M. Mario and I, not being big swimmers, etc were ready after getting in. :) The kids were swimming and shaking with blue lips, but not ready to go. Everyone was pretty wiped after that so we headed back to our place for naps etc. Then we went to a local taco place. It was very good and unique.
We had a great time and look forward to them coming to visit again!

 Watching the kids dance at Central Market

 Mario and Aaron looking at turtles

 Walking through the Nature Center

 The Jordan's

 The Pereira's

 At Chuy's

 Digging for dino bones

Swimming at Barton Creek

July 4th

So this is a little late, but better late than never. We had a pretty low key fourth this year. Mario had to work and little Man was not in the best mood so we didn't venture out until after 7pm. We drove over to Round Rock to watch their city fireworks. The line to get into the park was over a mile long, so we decided to drive by the park instead and if it was packed we would just go home. When we made it to the park entrance there was 2 lanes to turn into the park, but the huge line was only funneling into one of them, so we buzzed into the second line and went right in. We had our pick of spots and only had to wait 45 minutes for the show. Little Mario loved the fireworks! He watched them quietly, lost interest every once in a while. But when you pointed them out, he watched again. It was a fun time and nice to get outside. Little Mario and I explored a little. He found a rock and was content to just sit on it and talk. He would stand up and walk around it, but always kept a hand on it and would sit right back down on it. He wasn't quite walking in open space a lot then, but he ventured out on his own by crawling on his hands and feet. I think it was a successful Fourth of July.

 Hanging out before the show

 Chilling with Dad

 "Crawling"

 Walking

"Dad, the fireworks are over there."

First Week in school

So we have finished our first week in school full time. I don't know why, but going full time was a harder transition than starting part time. I think it is because I knew he would be home the next day with one of us. But now, he is going all week. I really like the school he is in and they have good records for having kids prepared for kindergarden. I have learned that I am a mom that needs coddled. I need you come talk to me when I pick him  up, I need to hear how he did and what he did, not just a check mark on a form, and I don't feel that I get that here. I think it is because part of me still sees him as my sick little boy, but here none knows the sick baby. He has been healthy and has minimal limitations, so they don't see him the same way. He will probably be thirty, married with kids and I will still see him as needing special care. Look out future daughter in law! :) But aside from my needs, they meet his very well. Though things are different in Texas. They can have up to 16 kids to 2 adults. So he doesn't get the one on one he was getting in Kansas. We also moved up an age group here, so before he would have been in a 5 to 1 ratio. I feel that is a big difference, but they try to keep it closer to 10 to 2. He is sleeping though the whole nap time on a mat (!) and eating lunch like crazy, often multiple helpings.

Last week was kinda crazy. I started work and everyone got sick. Just yucky GI stuff, but first lil M, then Mario and then me. Of course my first week I couldn't stay home and wasn't really sick enough to worry about getting others sick, but I still felt bad and couldn't eat much. Luckily Lil M was ok enough by Monday to make it through school. I am hoping this week we can get into more of a routine, but with July 4 on Wednesday I don't think that is going to happen.

I will post more pictures after the 4th! Have a safe and happy holiday!

Studying with Dad

Lounging on the couch, Love that BELLY!

Mario's eating progress

Hello All! So we finished our last first doctors appointment and have transferred all of Lil M's care to Austin. We have seen the Pediatrician, ENT, Cardiologist, and had a therapy evaluation. So far all is good. Everyone feels he is doing great considering his past. My favorite quote so far has been, "Mario how did you end up in my office." Said in wonderment by his new Cardiologist. Of course I love his new Cardiologist now. If we went back to KC today I am sure most of his doctors wouldn't believe this is the same little boy they just saw a month ago. He has changed and is doing so much more since we left, it is crazy. As of the end of April he was still using a bottle and only eating a little bit of pureed foods. Now he is on the "whatever we eat" diet,  eating almost all age appropriate foods, and using a straw big boy cup (no more bottles!). He still needs thicken liquids and a higher calorie content from his formula, but I'm hoping we can wean off of both soon. He has a test ordered called a swallow study to determine how thin of a liquid he can handle. They will feed him liquids at different consistencies and take X-rays while he swallows to determine where the liquid is going, i.e. is he swallowing it all the way down or is he silently aspirating (choking) or having reflux. I am hoping this goes well. We have tried some non-thicked liquids one sip at a time and he does well, but when I've tried to decrease the thickener for a whole cup, he gets congested. We are having fun experimenting with real food. He comes running whenever he sees us eating anything. He loves avocados! Sometimes I wonder if it is because of the taste or because they are squishy and fun to feed himself.

This is after one of his first chocolate cookies.

He's already trying to steal food off mama's plate.

He is eating his milk through a big cup, i.e. McDonalds, just like Grandpa does.

1 year pictures

Hello! I was just downloading the pics from the last few months off my camera so I wanted to share a few. Tomorrow we see the occupational therapist so there will be more news to share.

These are all from his 1 year pictures:

Their eyes are always closed with the best smiles!

Getting settled in Austin

Hello from Austin! We are finally getting settled. I'd say about 90% unpacked, but I think when you move your never 100% unpacked so I'm ok with this. We have pictures left to hang and little things laying about that will find homes eventually. Mario is really liking his new store. He took over for a manager that got promoted and didn't have to change much with the staff, just get everyone to do things his way. They are running really good numbers and you can see a difference since Mario started there. I got a job as a medical assistant in an Orthopedic office. I start next Monday, the 25. I'm a little nervous going back to work full time and in a medical offfice. It has been a year and a half since I worked full time and as an MA. I'll have to dust off the ol' casting skills. It should come back pretty quick and the doctor I'll be working with is supposedly laid back, so it should be fun. Mario will be going to school during the days. We found a great location right down the street that will give us a four day rate since he will be home with Mario on Thursdays. They have a very good academic program that is linked with the school system so everyone is ready for kindergarden, most are reading when they start. I think he will do well there. The biggest thing I'm worried about is nap time. They only have nap matts on the floor. I think this will be quite an adjustment for him. I suppose its just part of growing up, but still. How will he fall asleep when he can just roll over and go. I can't even get him to lay still to change his diaper! 

I am surprised how nice people are here in Austin. We have been to the park and the playplace and met other families. We exchanged numbers and have even got together afterwards. It has been nice, since we know almost no one here, and a nice change. I can't think of a time I met someone in KC and felt comfortable enough to give out my phone number.

Now for the cute story of the day:
While I was putting up a shelf Mario got into the DVDs stacked by the TV. He pushed them all over the floor and was very proud of himself for finding Shrek. I disciplined him and was busy putting everything up when he went to his ride/push truck, lifted the seat, and brought me a DVD without a case. Apparently I wasn't paying close enough attention to see him hide it there, so he was helping me pick them up. We find all sorts of stuff in that truck: keys, batteries, remotes, etc. I love this kid so much!