wonderful new things

When I read this list of new and wonderful things you'll get to do as a parent on Cup of Jo last week I was cracking up at #15: "cut up a grape." The act of cutting up a grape isn't funny in itself, but the fact that I cut up about 30 grapes a day into 4 pieces wasn't something I thought I'd be doing as a mom before I had Kyle. I love these kinds of lists, so I thought I'd add a few of my own wonderful things to Jason Good's original list (below mine):

Wonderful Things You'll Get to Do (a la Krista)

1. Wash an average of 56 dishes a day.
2. Wipe someone else's booger on your pants (that you just pulled out with your pinky nail).
3. Use a breast pump in a public restroom.
4. Cry over a haircut that's not yours.
5. Become elated when someone else swallows a small piece of vegetable/smoothie/medicine.
6. Have inside jokes about Mickey Mouse Clubhouse with your husband.
7. Spend an entire night trying to sleep with your arm lifted above your head squeezed through narrow crib slats (am I the only one who's done this?!).
8. Spend a good amount of time examining and discussing someone else's private parts.
9. Take a shower in a tub that just moments ago was full of poop.
10. Give yourself a stiff neck trying to reach a pacifier on the other side of the car while merging onto the 405.
11. Fold the same load of laundry 5 10 times.
12. Have a favorite tone/volume setting for white noise.
13. Fall asleep sitting up. Every night.
14. Schedule time to run the dishwasher.
15. Think someone else's cellulite is adorable.
16. Learn to take a doorknob off and open a locked door in under a minute.
17. Encourage excitement about the trash man/street sweeper.
18. Spend an entire night putting too-small clothes in storage bins and holding back tears.
19. Have a TV in your house that for the last 6 months has only played the same Baby Einstein DVD.
20. Wash someone else's bedding an average of 20 times more a month than your own.
21. Open a granola bar with your hands inside the cupboard and then cram the whole thing in your mouth before you're spotted.

Here's the original list that had me laughing:

Oh, but the New and Wonderful New Things You’ll Get to Do
By Jason Good, father of two

There are, indeed, countless things you will no longer be able to do after having children, like grooming, learning, stretching and snorkeling. But don’t fret. Here are just a few of the amazing new things you’ll get to do instead.

1. Butter a piece of toast while peeing
2. Brush someone’s teeth against his will
3. Blow on food while it’s in someone else’s mouth
4. Help someone else blow on food while it’s in someone else’s mouth
5. Eat food that has fallen out of someone else’s mouth
6. Eat food you found on the floor
7. Eat food you found on the mantle
8. Eat candy you found in a shoe
9. Put someone in a Bob the Builder costume while fighting off diarrhea
10. Visit a psychiatrist
11. Wipe somebody’s nose with your bare hand
12. Eat baby food
13. Blame a fart on a child
14. Get someone dressed while you’re in the shower
15. Cut up a grape
16. Almost agree to cut up a raisin
17. Pretend to enjoy the flavor of a prune
18. Ask someone why their hair smells like yogurt
19. Ask someone why their hair smells like your antiperspirant
20. Put someone else’s toenail clippings in your pocket
21. Let someone watch you pee as they stare blankly while eating a Popsicle

Pretend City

Kyle and I had a free day yesterday - no plans, no pressing errands, no deadlines for me - so after nap time we packed it up and drove to Irvine to check out Pretend City. I wish we lived closer to this place because it is FUN for Kyle. He loves being independent and exploring and had a blast running around and touching everything in sight. He especially loved the sand and farm areas, and had fun in the "grocery store" sharing his eggs with a little girl he befriended (and then he held her hand... hmmm). I highly recommend it for kiddos who are walking! I'm sure it's germ central, but sometimes you gotta bite the bullet, right?

15 months

My big boy! Here's some tidbits about our life together at 15 mos:

• At your 15 mo. check up you weighed just a little over 25 lbs, which puts you a little above average in weight (and height).
• You are so tall now that you want to open/close doors with the doorknob, and oh ya - YOU LOCKED YOURSELF IN MY CLOSET! We were putting clothes away in mom &  dad's room. You ventured into our closet like you've done 100 times before, but this time you closed the door, reached up and twisted the lock. Of course I freaked out, ran to the kitchen for the screwdriver and frantically took the doorknob off. I had to FaceTime daddy to figure out how to open it after that. Luckily the light was on inside and you were happy as can be sitting in there waiting for me to figure it out :)
• You LOVE to go in the closet in your room and play "wheeeere's Kyle?" You also like to play a similar game with a towel on your head.
• You want to be outside all. the. time. You'll beg to go out front, go for a walk, go out back, go to the park. You have a baby pool and splash table out front, which you love. You are never happy to come home and get back in the house.
• You love your iPod! We "gave" you our old iPod touch, and you love to carry it around and listen to kids Pandora. You're dancing has really improved, and you like to move around and snap your fingers. You also like to carry your "boom box" around and listen to tunes.
• You can almost jump! You try really hard, but your little feet don't leave the ground just yet.
• You are trying so hard to form words. So far you've actually said "mom" and "dad" in various forms, and you've kinda/sorta said "down," "up," "Penny," "paci," "bath"... you move your mouth like you're talking all of the time but still trying to figure out the sounds.
• You kick serious ass at animal sounds. I know I've mentioned this before, but you're on a whole different level now. You've added the sounds/movements of the snake and crab to your repertoire, and you've started to make the animal sounds when you see one in a book or come on the TV. Proud mom. 
• We started swim class and you're not the biggest fan. You don't want to kick your feet or lay on your back/tummy yet, but mom is loving the fact that we get to swim together and get some sun.
• You're still in gym class too and are the most awesome one on the slide.
• You're pretty into sidewalk chalk. We'll go out back in the morning and you'll color away on the cement and gate.
• You're totally into Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. It's our morning ritual to cut up a banana and watch an episode while mom and dad have some coffee. Sometimes you get so into the episode that you'll laugh, point and dance. Mom & dad usually end up watching you as you watch TV :) 
• You are napping really well lately, giving us a full 2+ hours (usually 12-2). You have also been sleeping well... only getting up at night a few times a month. Sometimes you just can't sleep without us in the room so we'll lay by your crib for a few hours, but those nights have been pretty rare. You usually sleep 8:30-6:30 ish. Bed time is 8, but mom & dad have so much fun with you at night we usually don't get the ball rolling until 8:15 and asleep at 8:30-8:45.
• You have been loving spinach/fruit/yogurt smoothies, tortillas (with cheese and chicken if mom's lucky), bananas, apples, carrots, cuties, peas, greek yogurt and ritz crackers. Still not the biggest meat fan because you don't like the way it feels when you swallow it.

corsage

When you work in a restaurant, chances are you have to work on Mother's Day - one of the busiest days of the year. Definitely not my first choice for the way I'd like to spend my special day, but I've accepted it because this is the road I've chosen so that I'm able to stay at home with Kyle the majority of the time. Last year I happened to be on maternity leave on Mother's Day, but two years ago I remember seeing the mommies wear their corsages at work (a gift from our manager) and wishing so badly that I would be able to wear one some day. I was in the thick of trying to get pregnant and wanting to be a mommy more than anything in the world. Little did I know, I would get pregnant with Kyle just one month later!

The corsage was such a small token for us moms who were working all day and who would much rather be at home with our babies, but it made me happy because it represents something so special. We're all moms... including ME! As my co-worker pinned the corsage to my uniform, I couldn't help but tear up because it made me think of how badly I wanted to wear this flower two years before. It made me think of Kyle at home with his dad, and how much I love being his mom. It made my hectic day just a little bit sweeter, because I knew my boys were spending time together and waiting for MOM (ME!!!) to get home from work. It was a reminder of why I'm there and it meant so much.

my fellow mommies at work

go Beach!

When Kyle was 4 months old we took him to his 1st Angel game and we had a blast, but I'm not sure we'll be visiting the Big A this season. Gone are the days that he'll sit on our lap for extended periods of time or fall asleep in the baby carrier. He's ready to run around and say hi to everyone he sees, so I think we'll wait another year or 2 to brave another professional baseball game.

Instead, we spent a Saturday at Blair Field to watch Long Beach State play the Cal State Fullerton Titans, and we had just as much fun! The bleachers were awesome for Mr. Independent, who was able to hang out "on his own" and run around a little. After a few innings, we moved the party to the outfield grassy area and bought a baseball for him to throw around. He loved cheering with the crowd, saying hi to the players through the gate and running up and down the ramp.

We drove the the field thinking we'd stay a couple of innings and hit the road, but we ended up staying for 7 innings and definitely want to go again! Go Beach! (and go Titans) :)