what the.... mom???

CJ got a chance to see Santa while we were at the Seattle airport recently. At our gate, Southwest had a Santa, some photographers from the Microsoft Live Essentials team and absolutely no line.

white beard, how can you smile at a time like this?

I’m not sure he was as excited about the experience as I was…

half smile half cry, maybe she'll come get me

He fussed in hopes Scott or I might rescue him. He gave these looks of desperation and his little nose got red.

next person in line, please?

But he toughened up and tolerated the old guy with the bushy beard for a few more shots.

she's gonna leave me here forever, i think

Maybe he was really upset because his shoes were in my bag instead of on his feet. You know, toddlers have to take off their shoes when they go through security as well.

I’ll admit. I was disappointed we didn’t get the classic screaming toddler with Santa picture. Those are so great 20+ years down the road. There’s always hope for next year. Thanks Southwest & Microsoft for our awesome Santa pics for 2011!

Merry Christmas!

Well, I couldn’t decide my first off, so … well …

1) Apologies in advance. Every single picture in this post came from my cell phone. You’ll understand later.
2) I’ve been gone a long time. In fact, this might be the longest I’ve been gone from my blog since starting it in 2007. I’ve missed it, but been “stuck.” I hope to be back and posting funny. Because I have a lot of funny going on around here these days. I hope you haven’t given up on me and will keep reading!

As it turns out, I have a billy goat on my hands. It started out with just a little bit of climbing. One day I walked into his room and found him sitting in the glider rocking it so hard he was crashing it into the wall reading a book. I was so shocked, I didn’t take a picture. But he also loves to climb his chair.

appropriate, harmless climbing

Then it was the ottoman (including a jump to the chair belonging to said ottoman).

pushing the limits a bit, but a kid's gotta learn

Then it was the music table.

i make better music this way, mommy

And sometimes the coffee table. Only once it was the kitchen table…through his pile of chili over a baked potato. And tonight he took it to a whole new level. I’m of the camp that if after a few firm “no’s” that if your child does not steer clear of the dangerous activity, you do your best to scare the pants off them about said dangerous activity (this should play out real well in about 15 years, right?). He simply cannot be scared by the stovetop. He thinks it’s great. My attempt at scaring him into staying off the stovetop today resulted in a few tears. Then some straight up laughing and a return trip to the stove.

(note: the next four pictures were taken within a 70 minute span)

yep. you scared the pants off me mama. but it didn't work.

Once dinner was over, he returned to the scene of the many crimes committed (so.much.food.on.the.floor) and climbed all over his high chair.

i like being tall!

And then, when we are ready for bed and reading books in his room, he became obsessed with the frog humidifier. So he pulled out his parking garage to get a little lift up there.

i need to see why you let the frog smoke in my room

And of course, we need to look behind the glider to see what’s back there. I mean, why look behind it while on the floor. Let’s stand on the chair, let it recline all the way and rock it so we can REALLY see what’s going on back there.

what kind of crazy loud machine lives behind my rocker?

So you can see why I’ve not been blogging as of late. I’ve been chasing this maniac around my house non stop for a couple of months. Also the reason for only cell phone pics. If I move to find a camera, he just might die. Kidding. Kind of. This kid is full of amazing amounts of energy and is just so darn curious. It’s amazing. And exhausting. And we’re just getting started.

In other news, he’s really been walking at home. In public, he doesn’t really care for it. He’ll stand there for a long time before dropping to his knees and crawling. Maybe it’s the chunky shoes? Soft shoes are just not warm enough for these cold fall days.

i'll outlast you in this cold, mom. i will.

He loves accessories. Mommy’s sunglasses. Mommy’s hat. Mommy’s earrings. Mommy’s nose. Yeah. All of it.

he wears his sunglasses at night. but it's really day. but dark. crazy seattle.

His sleep has improved. We still have some inconsistent nights and naps are still a total crapshoot, but I took this below picture at 7:32 one morning and the flash didn’t even wake him! Can I get a wha wha?!

who said: the sweetest child is a sleeping child?

He’s obsessed with his daddy. If he thinks dad is downstairs getting ready for work he sits there peeking under the door forever. If he knows he is in the office he throws his whole body against the door while yelling at the top of his lungs until daddy comes out. There is no deterring him from this.

dada. dada. dada. dada. dada.

HE’S NOT AFRAID OF THE BATH ANYMORE!!!! In fact, he insists on a bath every night these days. Tonight, (between high chair climbing and frog obsessing) we were doing NBT (naked bootie time) and he crawled to the bathroom and banged on the door hollering at me until I let him in and started the bath.

splash splash splash!

His favorite phrase is: leeko leeko leeko! No clue what it means, but boy does he love to say it. His favorite song is e-i-e-i-o.

He points at everything.

He could live on black beans and black beans alone if I would let him.

He prefers his food with a little kick. No habaneros yet, but he likes a lot of flavor (mama ate some seriously spicy food while pregnant).

He cracks himself up on a regular basis.

He loves to entertain himself in the mirror. He lifts up his shirt immediately to show off his belly button. Then he sticks his tongue out. Then he tries to close his eyes to see if his buddy is still looking at him. It’s pure awesome. I’ve yet to succeed getting it on film though. The camera comes out and the true action stops.

The merry-go-round is his favorite. He will sit on it while the big kids spin it, and lean inward (like physics says you should) when the spinning gets fast. He giggles non-stop and is not even remotely scared.

He loves to feed me. And wipe my nose. And offer me water from a sippy.

He’s sweet. SO sweet. He volunteers kisses now. Sometimes you might have to say “give mama a kiss” and he’ll run over and give you a good one. That little open mouth crackerful slobbery kiss totally makes my day.

So…that’s what we’ve been up to! Hope you all are having a wonderful Christmas season and ready for some good stories and fun with your family.

mommy is not a cake decorator by trade (obviously)

There was mac and cheese (favorite food), cake, and lemonade. A perfect celebration for the sweetest little Lpod.

pinwheels, mac and cheese and a cute munchkin peeking over the table

Carter’s buddy Keane loves climbing into highchairs. It’s almost always the first place he goes when he gets here.

having some lunch before play time

Madeline was telling Carter about what she did on her first birthday. She’s much older (4 months) and wiser than this little one year old.

m: when i turned one, i let everyone ride my toys. c: move over girl, i need to get on the turtle.

Poppop was there to spoil him and let him grab things from the table. When did he get tall enough to grab on to the table?

popop? i neeeeed that orange bowl. right now.

We played some music on our djembe (drum on the left) and with our egg shakers and rhythm sticks.

shake it baby, shake it!

Then of course, there was cake smashing time!

why is there an enormous, flaming plate of food coming at me?

these blocks look like fun. i'm gonna knock them over.

ew. these blocks are sticky.

but i can eat them!

and they're so sweet!

mmmmmmmmmm...sugar!

my head is spinning from this deliciousness!

i need a huge hunk of this stuff asap

mom might figure out that i'm eating it and take it away like the bark chips at the park

who? me? no. i am not eating something sweet.

ah, who cares. i'm! so! excited!

cheese!

ta da! i smashed that cake really well.

so proud of my accomplishments on my first birthday

mommy and daddy are so funny

the lpod survived year one!!!

After we smashed cake and were sufficiently on a sugar rush, we wrestled on the floor with Jack.

tackling jackosaurus

And of course we opened some presents from Grammy & Gramps.

this box is the best birthday present ever!

And then we got really tired and blah as we crashed from our sugar rush.

a sugar crash is oh-so-sweet

Being a mom is fun. It’s like you get to celebrate two birthdays each year, because celebrating for your munchkin is so special. Happy birthday booger!

i don't smile on command anymore

We’ve had a fun month getting ready for his big birthday and taking in the end of summer. Which has come to an abrupt end. Abruptly (heh).

you have to work really hard to get one

He’s always very busy making people laugh. He loves to fake a laugh to get your attention and make you laugh. Then comes his real giggles.

that is so not funny, mom. not gonna get a smile.

He’s been picking up the phone on one of his toys and holding it to his ear. Scott and I can’t figure out how he knows how to do this. He’s never seen a real phone handset. But he does it, so we play telephone often.

i think i'm done here.

He also loves to push little cars around and go “zhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh zhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh zhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh”. Not sure where he learned that either? Amazing when little kids learn stuff they haven’t really been exposed to.

oh, look outside! let's go play. no more pictures.

He’s obsessed with closing doors. I think he got this because I’m always asking him to help me close doors around the house. Usually to unsafe places. If he feels like he’s helping he’s less likely to throw himself on the floor in a fit about me closing the door. When I’m getting his bath ready, he’ll hold on to the bathtub (if he lets go, he might have to get a diaper change and those are never a happy time for CJ) while reaching as far as he can to close the bathroom door. I guess he likes his privacy. He also goes into his room to play and will shut the door. Already locking mama out.

did you really put me back in this chair? i said no smiles.

Yes, that’s right. You saw me mention a tantrum above. I thought those were reserved for bratty two year olds? Apparently my kid is advanced in the tantrum department. Woweeeeee. Don’t close a drawer, door, or cabinet he is interested in exploring if you don’t want to hear about it. He’ll sit down on the floor and rest his face on the ground while screaming like some mean person kicked a bunch of puppies. D.R.A.M.A.

alright, i'll come get the camera from you.

Thankfully, he can be distracted easily out of a tantrum on most days. Because he needs to explore everything. He’s into everything. And he never stops moving. Sometimes, he’ll just spin around in circles on the floor while grunting. It’s so bizarre. What they say about boys is so true. They’re busy. And destructive. Nothing is allowed to be in it’s place in our house. Drawers are unloaded at least 3 times a day. All papers and books are wiped off every surface (he’s our junk mail manager). Toys are dumped upside down and emptied before moving on to the next one. He’s a hurricane!

no? fine. i'll just turn around.

He’s definitely getting more words. Buh Bye is his current favorite. If anyone opens our door or garage he starts waving and saying buh bye. He sometimes says “uhplan” instead of “bah” for airplane. He still repeats a lot of words really well, but tends to stop repeating them after too many times.

and climb on my cool chair.

He’s not the most vigorous eater in the bunch. He’d much rather be playing and running around. Thankfully, he had some good reserves of chub to keep him sustained (hehe). He still loves broccoli and spinach. His favorite food is mac and cheese or any kind of pasta. He’ll tolerate some meat. My fail safe is goat’s milk cheddar cheese. Even when he gets tired of it, he’ll still have a few bites. Lately, he’s become obsessed with plain greek yogurt mixed with a little bit of cinnamon.

one more picture. but you still can't make me laugh.

Twelve Month Stats
height: 30 3/4″ (90%)
weight: 22lbs, 11.5oz (50%)
head: 48.5″ (95%)
we got a charlie brown on our hands, folks!
10 teeth (yikes, two molars have come in!)
speed crawler and cruiser
standing well on his own, but not really interested in taking those first steps

This year has been the most insane year of my life. I have a feeling, I’ll say that every year from here on out. Who knew this little man would change my world so much? He makes me cry sometimes, but he makes me smile more often. Most of all, he makes me so very proud. It’s so fun to watch him grow and change and interact with other people. He’s so trusting and innocent and curious and kind. I pray he continues to be curious, sweet, and of course, always dancing.

month by month - carter joe's first year

Thank you for the best year, little guy. I love you, mama.

I’ve tried getting in with him, introducing new toys (he got some awesome ones for his birthday), and singing his favorite songs from music class (always works to calm him down when he’s mad). There is no reasoning or calming him down about it. He seems to freak out even when we wash his hands before a meal…so I’m thinking he’s afraid of water for some reason?

What do I do? Have you run into this problem? Any advice on how to ease his fears about the bathtub?

Help!

Love,
a dolphin from birth

the driver struggles with the scene in front of him

 *image provided by lpod mobile devices

From the looks of it, there will be a great deal of cleanup planned and all regularly scheduled train routes will be diverted to bus or other means. If you have a reservation on the alphabet train this week, please contact your travel agent for alternatives.

Lpod news will remain on the scene and provide updates during scheduled, often avoided nap times.

I got to have a little moment of parental pride this week. I signed CJ up for music class at our neighborhood community center. We attended our first class on Thursday, a little hesitant of what it would mean, who would be there, and how he would take to organized singing and dancing.

Per usual (thanks for the early gene, mom), we were 10 minutes early…the first ones there. Carter had free reign of the giant rug in the middle of a 100+ year old classroom with a view of Greenlake and the Cascade mountains (mommy noticed the beautiful floors and view while C was  busy spinning in circles on the floor).

Once all of the students and their adult arrived, we sat in a circle in the big rug. Most people had been coming to music class for months or years, so they knew all the songs we were singing. I played along and faked it so C would feel comfortable. At the beginning, we slap our knees and sing a welcome song to each of the children. Most of the children sat on their mommy’s lap. Carter? Dead center of the circle dancing and laughing. The kind where his head is moving so violently, you think he might tip over at any minute. When he got tired of dancing, he’d crawl to the edges of the circle and nuzzle up to one of the other moms and kids. After he tried sticking his fingers in their mouths (sorry, other parents) he would put his back up against their leg and lean back as if relaxing on a beach after a long journey.

Some people were uncomfortable. Others found it precious. Me? I was practically in tears. I was so profoundly proud of my boy. He just got out there in a room with 20 or so people he’d never seen and rocked it. He had the time of his life (minus a couple of overwhelmed moments in the middle of class). I figure there is an extremely short time in life where you just don’t care what people think. You show them your rawest emotions when you feel them. If that’s joy from music to the point of falling over? Awesome. Fear or stress because the egg shakers are too loud? It’s okay. Comfort from a warm, soft (albeit stranger) mommy that makes you relax and rest your head? Even better.

If there’s one thing this kid has from me, it’s emotion (eh, some would call it drama). He shows it when he feels it. It makes me proud. Even when I’m frustratingly trying to contain and corral it to productive action.

CJ? Keep up your antics. Especially in music class. You rock my world, kid.

This is a very short example of his heaven with them. Sadly, he always tempers his reaction to things when my phone comes out to film/capture the moment. You can still get the gist of it. Also, sorry for the terrible quality. I need to just start super gluing the FlipHD to my hand.

Thanks Aunties Rie & Roo for coming to visit. It was so special, we hope you’ll come back again!!

mom, why do i have to sit still in this chair?

He also loves spinning things. It’s kind of hard to go to the park these days because all he wants to do is chase strollers (for their awesome wheels). He attacks them. It’s funny, but annoying to the owners of said strollers.

i prefer to be on the move

He has had his eyes on the fan for eleven months. If I accidentally have it off during a nap, he won’t sleep well. It needs to be spinning.

making sure the fan is still running properly

Throwing his head back in general is funny. Especially when he has a mouth full of food. Mommy thinks it is hilarious when he chokes on his dinner because he needs to be throwing his head back.

and throwing my head back until i fall over

He now has his word for airplane. It’s “ba.” He’ll hear an airplane, stop whatever he is doing, and point while buzzing with his mouth and saying “ba! ba!” It’s kind of amazing that he does this even when we are inside the house.

you have me for a few more seconds. i need to go move furniture in the living room

We read a book called “Little Hands Love” every night before bed. It’s one he’s always liked and is short enough to keep his attention in that rough period right before going down to bed. I’ve noticed over the last couple of weeks that he tries to position his hands like the little chubby baby hands in the book. He’ll survey their hands, touch the page and then look at his hands as he tries to put them in that position. So cool to see his little brain chugging.

and empty all of your kitchen drawers, lick everything and then move on to the office

He’s generally a really funny guy. He makes a lot of smirky-like faces at you. Usually when you’re making a total buffoon of yourself in public to make him laugh or smile. He just smirks like “ha. look at what i can make my mom do. i’m not even one yet!”

ok. one more month of this sitting still for a few seconds, ok? ok.

Eleven Months
30ish inches
24.5 pounds
8 teeth
words: mama, dada, ba (airplane), yeyow (yellow), popop, ball, haha (what’s a monkey say? ooh ooh ah ah ah = haha).
frustrated crawler wishing he was walking
pushing his cart while walking
standing on his own, but not realizing it yet
his sleep is better. but not piper-style yet (who am I kidding? he will never be a piper-style sleeper)
favorite foods: macaroni + goat cheese sauce, purple cauliflower (green and orange are tolerated), broccoli,  blueberries, plain greek yogurt with vanilla & cinnamon, strawberries, sun nut butter on toast, smoothies with yogurt+spinach+wheatgerm+blueberries+strawberries+cantaloupe.

i got this mimi, you go lay on the couch

I was super pleased. I’ve been wondering when this kid was going to put in his fair share around the house. I mean, isn’t that why people have kids anyway (why hasn’t sarcasm font been invented yet)? His favorite activity is unloading the dishwasher. I guess he and Mimi had A LOT of fun with it. When I open the door to our dishwasher, the sound of those four little paws frantically rushing to the kitchen start. I have about 11 seconds to get whatever I need in or out of the dishwasher before the door has been pulled down and my 24 pound baby gets in. If he gets there just as I’m closing it back up a little fit starts (I didn’t know fits started at 10 months, what the???).

don't worry mama, the dishwasher door always creaked. don't show dad this, k?

He also enjoys the fruits of summer gardening (those are not our zucchini, a friend let us raid her garden. She had an … uh, abundance?).

mom. what in the world are these?

But every good gardener has to pull the weeds too.

bark and dirt taste good. why does mama keep saying good job?

Even though we live in the wet northwest, we still have to water our plants. We have dry spells! Like 4 days of no rain at a time!

it's like we're at the splash pad!

Once you are done pulling weeds and playing in the dirt, you need to wash and dry your clothes.

spin spin spin spin spin

But don’t worry, he gets some intense relaxation time with his new BFF, Stewie.

ahhhh, i've worked hard this week. this soft chair is warm. and funny.

And at all the local wading pools. He’s not so sure about this one. In fact, he turned tail and hauled out of there. Water on face = less than fun.

not relaxing, mom. not at all.

He prefers the deeper waters of the GL wading pool where he can splash and crawl without something spraying him.

My busy little bee is quite helpful in our daily chores. The house is sparkling like the top of the Chrysler building when Scott comes home to the aroma of a dinner cooked from scratch out of our organic vegetable garden and our child is quietly picking up all of his toys before he puts himself to bed and sleeps for 12 hours without a peep. *snort* What? I’m awake. Oh, sorry, I did drift off into dreamland.