Sunday, July 22, 2012

Firsts & Milestones

Well, first off, I'd like to point out how proud I am of myself that I am even remembering to post things as THEY happen (kind of ...).  Where are you at this very moment?  In your crib. You're supposed to be napping. Buuuuuuttttttt, instead you are throwing sh!t out of your crib because you're mad.  You've made your point - I will go rescue you just as soon as I finish typing this.  =p  It's pretty hysterical - you're like, "Hmm, I will show them.  I'll throw all my sh!t outta my crib.  That'll get the point across."  I love your determination & tenacity.  It will get you far in life, my sweet IttyBitty!

Other things that need to be documented:  1.) You can stand by yourself.  Lots of the time once you realize that you are doing it, you immediately sit down.  Today, however, you were getting a bit more confident!  It's very exciting, though I must admit that I'm not ready for my BABY to walk!  Take your time, BittyBoo, take your sweet time.

2.) You can say Hi!  Yesterday you even uttered what could be your first sentence: "Hi Daddy!" You say Kitty, too.  It sounds like "ii-ee".  Very cute.   Not surprisingly, you just love our animals!

3.) You rode the horse at National Coney Island today with your sister for the very first time.  You LOVED it! The smile on your face & the look of glee as you bopped up & down .... hanging on to your sister's hair (!!) was both precious & priceless.

Ohhhhhhhhhh, Bitty, you are a TON. of. fun. If only we could bottle you up & keep you like this forever!!  Sigh.  But now we need to go & "rescue" you from your evil nap & the prospect of a nap. =)

All my love for always,
Mommy

Wednesday, July 4, 2012

IttyBittyBabyTait has his first Bitty Birthday!

Even though it was already 10 days ago, I still struggle to believe that you are already a whole YEAR old. Albeit cliche, I have to ask: Where did the time go?!  This has been the BEST (& most exhausting!) year of my life without a doubt.  To be blessed with TWO amazing, sweet, smart, healthy, gorgeous gifts from God?  What's not to love.  I often ask God how He found me worthy of such a wonderful life ... But only after I thank Him for my beautiful baby blessings.  =)

You are ONE year old!  ONE already!  Sigh.  We celebrated on your birthday with Grandma Deuby, Grandpa Deuby, Great Grandpa Heffernan, Quinn, Daddy, & Mommy at our house.  Mommy & Daddy were in Canada the night before for Melissa's - Daddy's cousin - wedding.  Grandma & Grandpa Deuby stayed overnight with you guys.  We did dinner, presents, & then cake.  oh boy, did you LOOOOOOOVE the cake.  We had a farm theme with farm napkins, a barnyard-themed cake, & farm animal cupcakes for you & Quinn.  Grandma Deuby got the napkins & I came up with the cake ideas: http://pinterest.com/pin/61502351131768711/.  You cried when the cupcake was all gone!! Looks like we have yet another sweet tooth in this house.  Yikes!!  I had to just dunk you in the bathtub afterwards because you had chocolate/frosting in your hair, on the soles of your shoes (Thanks to Dexter  for cleaning that up!), behind your ears, etc. It was quite the mess & you soaked up every second.

Party #2 was also at our house, the Thursday after your bday with the Patterson clan.  All but Amy & a sick Mya came to celebrate the Bitty.  Grammy got dinner & a cake from Holiday Market ... mmmmmm!  You got right into the cake this time, as well: smashing it in your fists & between your fingers & ensuring that as much cake as possible made it into that little belly of yours!  You & Quinn had a ball with Colin & Mackenzie.

Where do I even begin to describe this amazing little firecracker we call BabyTait?  We get LOTs of comments regarding how happy, giggly, & goofy you are!  You laugh, laugh, laugh!  You bop along to music- bouncing up & down while shaking your head side to side or up & down.  You set land-speed records with your army crawling.  You've recently stepped it up to almost exclusively crawling on hands & knees.  You even progressed so far as to climb stairs on hands & knees (while at the Annual Canada Party at your Grammy & Grandpa Pattersons last Friday).  We need to work on rerouting to your rear-facing when you reverse it, however. You scare Momma to death with your attempts to go head first!!  You are also an expert cruiser.  You love to play toys with your sister, even if she's not too keen on sharing with you.  You're determined to get in there & play Little People, too.  I admire your tenacity.  You are into everything -much more so than Quinn ever was.  You make a beeline for the nightlight in your bedroom, the CO detector in Mommy & Daddy's room, remote controls, & general items not suited especially for tots like yourself.  You are our little explorer. I love your curiosity.  You love to go for walks, particularly in the wagon.  I'm not entirely sure what you love so much about the wagon experience over the double jogging stroller, but whatever it is, you squeal with delight throughout the walk!

You are most definitely still a mommy's boy.  You are still getting up at night.  Sometimes just once, other times two or three times.  I am still getting very little sleep.  If I were to pile up all the sleep books I have read, they'd be much taller than you are.  Since then, I have metaphorically thrown out all the books.  After our 1YO/3YO visit to the pediatrician, where Dr. Peltz conclusion was that you 1.) are very stubborn (NONE of the many, many methods recommended in the sleep books took for you), 2.) need the closeness of Mommy at night to help you sleep.  I felt SO much better after that conversation with her.  It affirmed the conclusions I had already reached.  AND, it made Daddy ease up on Mommy & the co-sleeping arrangement.

Hmm, what else to get down "on paper" about you ...  You've got LOTS of nicknames: Bubba, Mister Major Production (Daddy's convinced that you're going to be a smashing success on Broadway or the Silver Screen - LOL), The Sizzler, IttyBitty, BittyBoo, BittyItty, BabyGuy, BabyDude, BubbaCheese. Mommy's fave will always be IttyBitty or BittyBoo.  Daddy loves BubbaCheese & The Sizzler.

I love when you crawl up to me & reach up to be picked up.  You JUST love to cuddle with Momma.  And, Momma looooooooooves every single second of my little lover boy, my sweet angel boy.  You are very interested in our animals, too.  Daddy gets major giggles when he plays the "elevator game" with you, lifting you up to the "first floor, second floor, third floor, BASEMENT!", just like his grandpa Smitty did to him as baby.  What a sweet tradition to continue. You're infatuated with other kids, too, especially your cousins [insert mackenzie & tait pix].


Other recent firsts include: cow's milk on 6/25 & strawberries & peanut butter shortly thereafter, with the go-ahead from your 1YO well-baby appointment.

We frequently comment how interesting it is that we have two kids with such different personalities.  We can't get enough of this adventure with you & Quinn!  We love every second of every day with you & your sister, BabyTait!!

All my love for always,
Mommy


1YO Well-child Visit to the Pediatrician

Stats as of 6/25/2012:

Wednesday, May 23, 2012

Three Days of Mommy

I've been meaning to commit our weekend-o-Mommy to "paper" for a few weeks now.  But, as usual, life got the best of me & I am just getting to it now.  Ah, the travails of the SAWM.

Mommy's 35th birthday was May 11th.  I make it a point to NEVER work on my bday.  This year was no exception.  I took the day off & took you guys to the zoo.  In a brilliant Mommy move, I got us Olga's Curb-side To Go (lunch) so we could eat a delicious & special lunch at the zoo & not take up a lot of time.  We were all settled at a picnic table with our wraps & sweet potato fries spread out. There were two  geese lurking a little too close for comfort.  One wandered right up next to Baby Tait ... And BIT his chubby little hand!!!  Baby Tait was just fine.  He didn't even cry ... until Mommy jumped up, started flailing around, clapping my hands, & doing my very best to run the goose of the picnic grove.  The rest of our visit to the zoo was a bit less eventful, fortunately.

We spent Saturday & most of Sunday in GRap at Grandma & Grandpa Deubys.  Mommy ran a 10K race with Auntie Whitney Saturday morning.  The rest of the day was spent just hanging out with you both, Daddy, & Grandma & Grandpa Deuby.  It's just so nice to chill out & enjoy you guys.  Sunday was Mother's Day.  What a glorious day!!  Any day that celebrates the little people I love most is a beautiful thing!!  We went to church, had brunch at Grandma & Grandpa's, visited for a bit, played outside, & then we had to head back to the D.  The rest of the day was just nice & chill with pizza for dinner & playing outside together.

The point I want to make is just how much I love celebrating you two & what a beautiful thing motherhood is!  I thank God for you both each & every day ... & for making me your Mommy.

Sunday, May 20, 2012

Just a bit about BittyBoo

Just wanted to get a few things down on "paper" about what you are doing these days at nearly (gulp!) 11MO.  In no particular order:

  • you are just about crawling on hands & knees, though you are fastest still doing your army crawl, just as your sis did
  • when I hold you, you like to grip the back of my shirt by my shoulder & wrap your little fingers of the other hand around my the hand of the arm I am holding you with - so sweet!
  • you slept. all. night. long. last night at Grammy & Grandpa Patterson's while Mommy & Daddy were at a wedding.  I now have a glimmer of hope that you will do OK overnight with w/o Mommy next weekend at Grandma & Grandpa's when Mommy, Daddy, & Dexter do our annual trip to Traverse City.  (But i am STILL apprehensive & sad about leaving you overnight for the first time!  SIGH.
  • you are pulling up in your crib.  a milestone!  Butttttttt, it appears that you don't know how to get down.  Hmmmm ....  You do not like to take naps on weekends when Mommy (& Daddy) are home.  in fact, we just back up out of the crib.  ok, ok, we give, you win!!!  signing off to take a family trip to Lowe's.

I love you with all my heart, my little stinker!
Mommy

Sunday, April 29, 2012

Recalling the Rhythm & Routine of Maternity Leave

This one goes out to both my babes, the BabyLady & the IttyBitty ...

I was nursing you to sleep tonight, as I always do BabyTait, & thinking back to our glory days: maternity leave.   It was the cuddling & closeness that brought that time to mind.  My leave with you was quite different than my leave with your sister, just because I had both of you to keep up with!  It's really hard being a SAWM.  I never truly feel like I am giving either of you enough of me, no matter what I do.  I constantly crave more time, more affection, more attention to you.  I often actually physically crave you guys - that is how much I love & how much I miss you when I am at work.

Oh how I miss our days of maternity leave ...

Quinn, you & I would wake up, get some coffee (for me, that is =p ), & head downstairs for the news & a marathon nursing session.  One (always you) or both (sometimes me, too) of us would drift back to sleep curled up & cuddled into the couch.  Rarely did we have any kind of agenda.  Mostly, sweet little YOU were my agenda.  And I was quite happy to spend my days just like that for nearly three months, until the cold reality of work set in.  (Mommy cried for three days prior to my return to work.  Leaving you to go back to work seemed like such an insurmountable feat.  I could scarcely wrap my head around how I would get myself together & out the door on time, let alone LEAVE my precious tiny BabyLady!  Augh, just recalling that time makes my heart ache.  And now, you are 2 1/2 years old.  Beautiful, vivacious, gregarious, precocious, perceptive, & downright hilarious.  You make me smile a million times every day.  Back to my leave for a moment, what I always want to hold onto is the closeness, the cuddling, & how I had the privilege of just pouring all of myself into you.  Just you.  Already it is difficult to recall how your little face looked at that time of our lives, though I stared at  you constantly & vigilantly.  Maybe it is MommyBrain, maybe it is just the passage of time, but it scares me & makes me really sad that it is already this difficult for me to recall.  (INSERT PIX OF ME HOLDING & CUDDLING A VERY YOUNG Q)

BabyTait, it was you who brought these memories rushing back to me tonight as we sat together in the rocker in your nursery, your warm little body pressed against me, your little hand opening & closing into a half-fist stroking my stomach & side so sweetly & lovingly.  I never want to forget your face as it is today (& was as a smaller baby) either.  (Thank goodness we take a lot of photos ... Now if I could only find the time to edit them ... ).  On my leave with you, I didn't really have the "luxury" of getting to sit around & cuddle all day.  I had a toddler to mother, too!!!  We had more of an agenda this time around.  Every morning, we'd get up, nurse you, get Quinn her "oat-me-meal" & fruit & milk.  After that we'd just hang out & play & cuddle & read for a bit until I got us all dressed for the day.  Mommy would try to get you guys (& Dexter) out for walks & to the park & sometimes to meet friends out.  Our quiet time was when Quinn was down for her afternoon nap.  It was then that you & I would sneak away into Mommy's room & curl up together to nurse & snooze on my bed (for at least half of Q's nap ... until my never-ending to do list tapped me on the shoulder).  That was sort of our time, just like Q's time with just me was when you napped.  I try really hard to have one on one time with each of you, but it's not easy.  Whatever child I am NOT with, I feel guilty about leaving - even if I am leaving you with your Daddy!!  Most of all, I want to always remember & cherish our Maternity Leave as a time of love, adjustment to being a family of 4, & endless cuddles & kisses & all of the things that you & Quinn do that Mommy's heart just soar. [INSERT SOME MAT LEAVE SHOTS OF US ALL - LIKE IN JAMMIES TOGETHER & SITTING ON COUCH, MY FAVE PLACE TO NURSE)

You two make me grin ear to ear with love, with pride, & with wonder that God somehow deemed Mommy worthy of not one, but TWO, beautiful, healthy, & amazing babies.  I still have not wrapped my head around that. You two are the biggest & best blessing I could ever imagine.

All my love to both of you for always,
Mommy

Sunday, April 22, 2012

Hugs me
Goofy, giggly, ticklish
Mama, dada
Fast army crawler - accidental flip overs
Shrieks
Yogurt
Puffs
K beans
Very curious - dog food
Mamas boy - sleep, but don't want to go into too much detail to remember exhaustion & toll taking on me
Likes to t. I feed self