My Own Blog Tag

This may not be an original idea, but I thought I'd initiate one of those blog tag thingies. So, you are tagged if you read my blog and have your own and would like to participate. Hmm, I shall call it, "This time last year." So, here are the rules... find the post from this time last year as close to today's date and give a brief summary of it. (You can link to it also.) Then, if you feel prompted to marvel at what all has happened in a year, you can offer that commentary as well. If you've been blogging for several years, feel free to go back a few years to today's date in 2007, 2006... and let us know what you were doing then! OK, so here's mine:

On January 29, 2008, I posted about a very special gift from John. I had two blogs at the time, one also about my pregnancy, and I even posted about this on that blog, too. It was a custom-made necklace with Ian's name and a beautiful blue stone. I wore it the day Ian was born and up until the day that Ian discovered jewelry and started grabbing at it. These days, he is much better about just looking at my necklaces, but I am hesitant to bring this one out just yet. But I can't wait until I can show it to him and tell him the story of how I came to own such a treasured piece of jewelry... which doesn't even begin to compare to the precious jewel of a son we have! (OK, I know that's cheesy, but oh well.)

Well, I did go back and check my posts from 2007 and 2006. They're not too particularly interesting, but I am amazed that I have been blogging for three years now!

OK, now it's YOUR turn! What were you up to this time last year?

At Grandma's Request

Another walking video... key points: Ian being able to squat down to pick up a Cheerio and get back up. He also walks around with one hand raised in the air... as if he were still holding our fingers to walk. It's pretty funny actually.

Separation Anxiety

You may think this post is about Ian experiencing separation anxiety which is typical at his age. Well, he was a little fussy when we dropped him off at Sunday School. And he was clingy when I dropped him off for childcare on Monday morning, too. Yesterday, he was happy as a lark when I took him to church. He loves his Mother's Day Out teachers (and they love him, too). I lingered however, just to watch him play, walk around, and point at the Cherrios. So, it seems I was the one experiencing the separation anxiety. I'm seriously having issues... it's weird to see Ian upright and walking around. Even my BabyCenter email has started calling him a "toddler."

No, but really, this post is supposed to be about something entirely different. I am having separation anxiety from my dotmac account. There's something about the first email address a woman gets with her married name. I've had my dotmac email address since I got married, and last week, it was cancelled. We've got a much better solution now for our emails, but still, my new email address doesn't have my last name in it, and it's just kinda weird. Plus, when you've had an email address for years, it's hard to let go.

Which reminds me... did I ever blog about my recent computer woes and experiences at the Apple Store two weekends in a row? Oh, and if you want another good tale, hop on over to John's blog for the saga of our storage space issues. So, anyway, here's MY story:

I had noticed some slowness in my computer's function. I was going to be in Fort Worth on a given weekend anyway, so I went ahead and made an appointment at the Apple Store "Genius Bar." I also had a issue with the power adaptor. The first one I had started to pull away from the base and expose its wires. The second one had some of its pins sink down so that it wouldn't connect right with the computer. I don't know any of the technical terms on this, but I just needed to hash it out with the "genius."

The experience was most delightful! Apple Stores are amazing... so fun to watch the buzz and marvel at the cool products with their clean, classy presentation. The tech ran Disk Warrior on my computer and said I had some software errors that needed cleaning up. (We have since purchased Disk Warrior for regular maintenance.) He also replaced one of my bad power adaptors and said to come back another time, and I could get the second one replaced as well. (Something about the warranty being expired meant that he couldn't replace them both at once.) So, that was a positive experience, and I was all happy go lucky, yay for Macs, until...

Do you remember when this happened about 18 months ago? Well, you won't believe it, but it happened again! My computer would just randomly switch off while it appeared to still have battery power, and then my mouse trackpad quit working... because the battery was starting to swell under it. Apple's phone service was not as helpful as before. The guy tried to convince me that it was a rare problem... don't think so, mister. It happened to me twice, to my sister-in-law, and hey, have you googled it? Because I have found loads of stuff on the problem.

Anyway, so back to the Apple Store we go! This time, we head south to Austin to a new ritzy shopping area on the Northwest side of town. The store was twice as big as the one in Fort Worth and well, twice as busy it seemed. We took my busted power adaptor, the swollen battery, and pleaded our case to the "genius"... who replaced both for free with no questions asked! Hooray! He wore a t-shirt that said, "Not all heros wear capes." Well, I'd certainly call him a hero! Anyway, so that's my story. This is probably long and boring. You'd probably rather see pictures of the baby, eh? Well, I've got lots of walking footage that I want to compile into a fun video... so maybe I can post that soon.

To walk or not to walk

On the verge of toddlerhood

When Ian was around 6 weeks old, and we were in this non-stop crying phase that the doctor speculated was colic (turns out, it wasn't, and fortunately, it only lasted a couple of weeks) I remember thinking, I can't wait until he's three months old... when this supposed "colic" would be over. At age three months, I remember thinking man, some of those six-months clothes sure are cute... can't wait until we grow into those. At age four months, when we still weren't sleeping through the night, I thought, man, won't it be nice when he finally does... can't wait till then. When he started sitting, can't wait till crawling, Then crawling, can't wait till walking...

And then...

I looked at my eleven-month-old today and discovered that he doesn't look like a baby anymore. He looks like a little boy. And suddenly I was a little sad. Did I waste his first year hoping for the next best thing? And while I'm certainly glad he's making walking progress, (yesterday, he took several steps on his own that he initiated) it's strange to see him toddling around. Like I almost have a toddler on my hands. I am amazed... and admittedly, a little scared.

Everyone says that it goes by so fast... to cherish when they're little, yada, yada. But it's like reading about someone else's pregnancy. You never really know until it happens to you.

I'm sure every mom has this realization. It's nothing new or special... but it's huge. And it hits you hard. I used to flippantly say things like, I can't imagine Ian starting Kindergarten or driving! We're about to set up his college fund, and suddenly eighteen years seems like such a short time.

I don't have regrets from this first year... it was happy, it was hard. I just spent a weekend scrapbooking about Ian, and I am so excited to have captured these very special memories. Because I will never live them again. Sigh... my baby is growing up!

Cool

John showed this to me today, and I thought it was pretty cool... being the graphics-wordy-blogging person that I am and all.

Go to this link, select "create," and give it your blog address. Then keep clicking "randomize" to see the cool effects. Two of mine are below. I guess they picked up on "Caleb" from my most recent post. It reminds me of cool scrapbook paper. Speaking of scrapbooking... I went to a scrapbooking retreat this past weekend, and it was awesome! More on that later...

Monkey Business

Lydia was on camera duty because she's the photographer. I was on baby duty... which meant trying to control Ian because Caleb just sat there quiet and content. So, here is today's photo shoot with the boys in their matching monkey pajamas.

This is probably the best one of the two of them together, looking at the camera and all.

What I love about this one is that Ian is looking at me, and Caleb is looking at Lydia. These boys have eyes for their mamas, huh?















Here is a great shot of Caleb. I told Lydia he was a good photographer's son, just sitting there looking pretty.















Or is this the photographer's son? What a ham!















A handsome ham at that!






















Another handsome man!















A kiss for Caleb?

Or a headlock? Caleb says, wait till I'm older!






















A hug for Caleb? He's not sure about it...















Well, maybe it's OK.















Ian says, you alright there, cuz? These photo shoots are hard work!

Music to my eyes?

If the phrase is "music to my ears," what would be comparable? Artwork to my eyes? Well, either way, I LOVE seeing this message in the church calendar program. I know I've blogged about it before, but it really does make an impression on me because I don't see it very often.

Big Day, Big Boy

Well, our little man is growing up. We reached some more milestones today. Our 21-pounder got his "big boy" carseat today. We settled on the Graco Nautilus 3-in-1 where it fits kiddoes from 20 to 100 lbs. as a carseat and then a booster. So, hopefully this will be the last carseat we have to buy. We couldn't fit the box in our car, so we had to install the seat at the store. So far, he seems to like it.

In other news, Ian can wear size 12 months clothes in tops and one-pieces. Still smaller in the pant size, though, our kid with a long torso, skinny waist, and short legs. However, he's gained a whole pound since Christmas! We also moved up to size four diapers today! It's an experiment, actually. I have a package of fours and a big box of threes. If the fours fit OK, I'll probably take the threes back and exchange them.

And the signs are there for tooth number four. Drool, snot, crankiness, and this conversation, "I think I see a white patch in his gums." "No, I don't see it... well, maybe." "Yup, there it is... well, maybe not."

I can totally relate!

I still get weekly emails from Baby Center about Ian's development. They always have a funny cartoon at the end. They are usually just mildly amusing to me, but this one really hit home!


Don't forget to check out walking videos below!

First Steps

Here are two videos of Ian practicing his walking tonight. The video editing is pretty rough. Since we were going back and forth, I cut out some of the ones where he fell or started crawling the other direction. Once he gets this walking thing down, I plan to do a video montage of the stages. So fun to watch our little man grow up!



Our friends, Davey and Jordan, came over for dinner and joined in some of the excitement. Here is proof that Davey is just a big kid... and that he'll be a great dad when his turn comes in June!

Cousins!

Today went really well... watching Ian and Caleb, that is. It really helped me out the Ian was an angel today. He took good long naps, only requiring a few minutes to put him down for them. He played really well by himself while I needed to tend to Caleb. Ian wanted to play with Caleb... which usually meant pulling his hair, so the two didn't interact too much. I also thought it was funny that I got out the playmat, bouncer, and swing for Caleb, but Ian seemed to enjoy playing with them more! Of course, he wasn't playing with them the right way... climbing on the bouncer (don't worry, Caleb wasn't in it at the time) picking up and shaking the playmat (again, Caleb was safe).

So, my favorite part of the day was toward the end when Caleb is chillin' in the swing, and Ian comes to investigate. Here's the series of pictures I took with some captions of what I can only imagine the boys were thinking! (Captions refer to the photo below them. I never know how to do that. Should you read the caption before you see the photo? Or do you expect the captions to be below like they normally are with photos?)

Ian pushes Caleb in the swing.

Not too high, now!

Ian says, "Mom, are you sure this kid is OK? He sure does sleep a lot."

Caleb says, "I was just fake sleeping. Gotta keep my eye on you!"

After checking each other out, they decide that being cousins is cool!

And we wonder why Caleb is balding on top.

Ian says, "Did anyone see me just pull his hair? Hope not." Caleb says, "It's alright, cuz. I won't tell."

Aw, holding hands!

Fleeting Thoughts

Yesterday, Ian was cranky and clingy. I have no clue what was wrong with him, just one of those days, I guess. It made me a little relieved that Mothers' Day Out was starting again today so that I would have a chance to get some work done, and if the kid is cranky, then at least he's not fussing at me about it. Well, of course, Ian got a glowing report from his teachers as he always does. And then I had this fleeting thought... gosh, it would be nice to have this every day– productivity PLUS a child that behaves well for someone else. Like for a split second, the working mom scenario seemed appealing.

But then I took Ian home and promptly put him to bed for his afternoon nap. He was still asleep when I left him with John to go run an errand, work out, get a haircut, and pick up dinner. I was SO excited to see him when I got home (and he seemed pretty happy to see me, too) because let's face it, I hadn't seen the kid all day! But I only got an hour with him before it was his bedtime... it was such a sweet time. So, I realized that I don't want to be the mom that works all day with her kid in day care to only have an hour of playtime in the evening with him. I know some people have to do it that way, but I feel blessed to have this work-from-home setup with the Mother's Day Out option. This seems like a good balance to me.

There will be no working tomorrow, though... I mean, I'll be working, but not on work stuff. My nephew Caleb comes tomorrow to spend the day with us! I'm not sure how things will go with a ten-month-old and a six-week-old in tow, so we'll see! I'm pretty excited, actually, to get to hang out with the little dude. The times that I've seen Caleb, lots of other family members were around, so I didn't really get to see or hold him much. I just hope Ian only had a case of the Mondays yesterday and that he won't be cranky again tomorrow.

The second fleeting thought was that maybe it was time to start thinking about having another baby? Nah... not yet. Tomorrow's adventures may cure the baby bug quick, in fact!

Ian's Words

Again, just documenting a few things here...

It seems that Ian's official first word that he says consistently and clearly knows is "dog." He has a stuffed dog he loves, and if you ask him where it is, he'll go find it, hold it up, and say, "Dah!" We're working on the g sound at the end, and sometimes he gets it. He knows pictures of dogs, dogs he sees on TV, and dogs he sees in real life. It's pretty cool to see his little brain making the connection. He seems to LOVE dogs, but no, we're not getting one.

Mama and Dada were other words he said early, but it's iffy as to whether or not he really attributed them to us. He still says them occasionally and usually in context, so I'm pretty sure he knows them now, but "dog" is still a favorite. He went through a "bah" for ball phase, but I haven't heard that one in a while. There's this one word, "Bwap" that he says a LOT when he's playing, cruising around, or walking. I really wish I knew what that one meant.

On occasion, he'll say "cat" when he sees one or at the picture in his book. I've heard him say "nana," too, both in reference to my mother and as a possible precursor to the word "no."

Right now, I really wish he would tell me what's wrong because he has been a cranky baby today.

Sharing Life

So, Ian quite possibly took his first steps tonight at Life Group. They were very few and quite wobbly, but he was standing and walking a little on his own. That's what's cool about sharing life with other young couples... you get to share these kinds of milestones, too. It was good to see friends again after the holiday break. Everything starts back up this week, which seems a little crazy, but I am ready for some structure again, how about you?

Happy New Year, by the way... and I always thought starting New Year's resolutions in the middle of the week, on a holiday no less, was difficult. So here's to the new start... starting TOMORROW!

For documentation purposes

Because I'm really bad about recording this anywhere else... next weekend's project is to organize all my scrapbooking stuff and get ready to start on Ian's scrapbooks. (Yes, plural... I have three that match, one for the birth, one for "milestones" and one for his first year.)

The other day (I think it was on New Year's Eve) we first noticed the emergence of Ian's upper left front tooth. That makes for three teeth in this order: bottom left, then bottom right (at age 6 months) and now upper left at age 10 months. No pictures of his toothy grin, yet. The tooth is just a tiny white sliver right now, (but it's through the gum, you can feel it) and Ian is quite protective of it. He tucks his lip under if you try to touch or look at it... it's kinda funny.

For further "documentation" purposes, we are in a really great pattern right now. Ian has settled into a pretty good eating and sleeping schedule. He takes a bottle and then rice cereal with fruit in the morning. After his morning nap, he takes another bottle. Then, at lunch he has a fruit and a vegetable. Then after his afternoon nap, another bottle. Then, at dinner, another fruit and veggie. Then before bed he takes an oatmeal bottle to help him through the night. He sleeps from about 8 p.m. until 7-8 a.m. It's awesome!

We haven't done much in the way of meats, yet. Those pureed baby food meats are gross! As I plan to cook more in the new year, I'll be giving Ian dices of what we eat so as to start making the transition to table food. He's still a little iffy on his sippy cup skills... we settled on the Nubby brand which is really similar to a bottle, actually. His diet right now consists of: pears, blueberries, peaches, apricots, sweet potatoes, squash, and carrots. He doesn't like the green veggies or bananas. Applesauce and the Gerber puffs make his tummy hurt, so we figured out. The snack of choice these days is Cherrios... which is much cheaper!