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) :)

 

14 months

Kyle is 14 months old today! I sometimes still can't believe this sweet boy is all mine (ok, half mine). The past couple of months I've been navigating the new world of "toddler mom" - which is MUCH different than "baby mom," by the way. When Kyle was born I knew the day would come that it would no longer be just about sleeping, eating and diaper changing... but I'm not sure I was fully prepared. Yes, it's still very much about those 3 things, but they now seem to be such a small part of my day. I'm now focused on teaching Kyle about the world and how to be a "good boy," while navigating the trenches of picky eating.

It's pretty crazy how much life changes month to month. Here are some highlights of what our life is like at 14 months:

• Kyle likes to go on the front lawn and blow bubbles. My independent boy is semi-interested when I do it, but he really likes to hold the wand and "blow" them himself.
• We just finished his 1st gym class through parks & rec. He absolutely loved it and we'll be continuing the next session. When we first started he could barely crawl up the "cheese wedge," but by the last class he was walking up and down! He loves being able to do the free play and explore.
• He's learning that he needs to stay by me and hold my hand outside (a big improvement from 12 & 13 months).
• He's also learned that there's things he's not allowed to touch, like the baby monitor cord and mommy's laptop. He's usually pretty good about the laptop, although he will still come over to me when I'm working and touch the keyboard delicately with his pointer finger. I think this is one of the cutest things ever so I can't get mad at that!
• He likes to throw trash in the trash can (yes - exciting times over here).
• He is getting better at cleaning up after himself... he understands where "things go" and will put things in their correct place. It's definitely not his favorite thing to do, though.
• He loves "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" and "Brown Bear, Brown Bear" and any other book where you can lift the flap.
• He has gotten time-out a few times for things like throwing blocks at me, throwing his sippy cup off his high chair or pulling on the glass table. He understands for the most part that these are not nice things to do and will point his finger and shake his head "no" at the table when he walks by :)
• Speaking of throwing, the girls at gym class all think Kyle is going to be a baseball player. He can throw a ball across the room, and actually has pretty good aim!
• He recently started to get excited when I put on Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. He loves the theme song and the Hot Dog dance! 
• He loves to brush his teeth. I tell him that mommy and daddy get a turn, then he's allowed to do it himself if he sits down. He's really good at sitting and brushing... for a lot longer than I'd like, haha.
• He's great at getting down steps by himself! At grandma's house, he knows he needs to sit down and scoot down the step.
• He looooves stickers and tolerates coloring.
• He sometimes moves his mouth like he wants to form words, but no words come out. He looks like a ventriloquist dummy :)
• His favorite foods are apple bites (slightly cooked), avocado, cut up cuties, peanut butter on toast, strawberries, cut up grapes, pureed carrots, yogurt, sweet potato. He's pretty good about eating his veggie purees (since he doesn't like to eat veggies as finger foods), but needs some coaxing sometimes. He does not like the texture of meat (with the exception of tuna), so I've had to be a little creative to get some protein in him. I'll scramble eggs and put them in his oatmeal, or put little bits of chicken in his veggies and he won't usually notice. I wasn't prepared for how stressful feeding a toddler can be! Luckily he likes milk so I don't have to worry about that part.

green machine

I'm obsessed with going on bike rides with Kyle. And I don't throw that word around lightly. I mean, how cute does he look in his helmet, chillin in the green machine? The 2 of us go on a ride almost every day, but fam rides are my fave. He loves it!