Jeep love

I took this photo over the weekend, and I wanted to share it because every time I look at it my heart smiles. Kyle loves Brian so much, and he was just so excited to be in his Jeep and to be hanging out in the garage with his dad. I can see the twinkle in his eye, and I love that he isn't wearing his fake smile, but a real one because he is just so happy. At least I like to think he is :)

I truly can't wait to watch their relationship grow over the years. Kyle is lucky to have such a loving dad.

18 months

I asked my friend Morgan (@momoliti) if she would take some pictures of Kyle at 18 months and she captured him perfectly. I love these photos so much because I can see his personality in all of them, and I know they'll help me remember what he is like at this sweet age. He fell asleep on the way home from our little photo shoot, so during the quiet drive I was replaying the morning and thinking about how much fun I have with him and all of the little things I love about being his mama:

1. His cheesy smile for the camera and the way he says "chssssssss" in his high-pitched voice.
2. The way he shuffles his feet and walks silly when he knows he's doing something he probably shouldn't be doing.
3. How he thinks that if he curls up in a ball between the couch and the ottoman he somehow becomes invisible.
4. How much he loves ice, playing in the sink (still!), the hose, digging up sand/dirt, clicking his high chair straps, running up and down hills, being tickled and chased, hiding in his closet, running around with a towel on his head, playing with Penny, elephant pictures and sounds, gym class and wagon rides.
5. His continued obsession with Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and the way he says "Daisy" in his sweet baby voice.
6. His love for tortillas and chips, and how I can bribe him to eat pretty much anything if he gets a tortilla chaser.
7. How he opens his mouth, sticks out his tongue and says "aaaah" if he wants a bite of whatever I'm eating.
8. His stubborn streak and how he sometimes won't do a puzzle or animal sound because he knows I really, really want him to do it.
9. How much he hates sitting still at story time.
10. How sweet he is to babies and little kids, holding their little hands and giving hugs and kisses.
11. His amazing 2-3 hour afternoon naps that I do not take for granted.
12. How he's starting to "count" by pointing to things and saying "two two two."
13. How much he loves opening the refrigerator and staring at its contents.
14. How much he loves gym class and coach Lisa.
15. How he points to his cheeks when we sing "then you're face will surely show it!"
16. How he laughs at daddy's Donald Duck impression.
17. The way he curls up in a little ball on my chest when I'm in my work uniform and he knows I'm leaving for a while. 
18. How he gives daddy a sweet kiss goodnight every night.
19. His southern drawl when he says "hiiii" and "byyyyye."
20. How he asks me to rub his feet or hold his hands at night.
21. How he thinks he's such a big boy when we let him eat a snack or meal in the big chairs at the table.
22. How much he LOVES animals and making all the sounds.
23. His red curls and huge man hands. 
24. How I had to buy him the shoes in these photos because after we tried them on at Target he cried real tears when I put them back on the shelf.
25. The way he asks nicely for things: "asky plsssss."
26. Infinity more memories that I hope will never leave me.

Thank you Morgan for these sweet pictures that I will treasure forever!

suckers

Kyle has entered into the "run around the house screaming all day and chase me, mom!" phase, and it's just as hilarious and tiring as you could imagine. He would be happy wrestling, jumping on the couch, running around and and being tickled all day. He doesn't like to be still for very long, but sometimes when he sits by me or Brian on the couch to watch a show, he'll intertwine his fingers with ours, and we become puddles of mush.

Pinterest adventures {homemade playdough}

We tried homemade playdough this morning (my pinspiration here) and it was pretty cool! I wanted to try it out because Kyle really likes play dough, but he also really likes to run behind the curtain and cram it in his mouth. We're working on that, but in the meantime I wanted to make some that I wouldn't feel too concerned about when it inevitable gets on his tongue (or between his teeth).

This morning I realized I had all of the ingredients in the cupboard for this version, so I gave it a shot. It took about 3 minutes to make, was super simple, and the consistency was pretty similar to real play dough. My hands got food coloring all over them from kneading it together, but by the time I was done and gave it to Kyle to play with it was absorbed enough that his hands remained clean.

I only made blue today, mostly because I only had enough rice cereal to make one batch, but this is definitely a Pinterest success and I'll be picking up more to make additional colors.

Even thought it's technically safe to eat, I didn't want Kyle getting in the habit of eating play dough so I kept it out of his mouth. He was content rolling it around on the ground, squeezing it as hard as he could and breaking pieces off to put on different paper plates. Fun and messy morning!

Ingredients:
1 c. rice cereal
1 c. cornstarch
1/2 c. unsweetened apple sauce
2 tblsp. vegetable oil
food coloring (if desired)
mix well/knead together

***UPDATE - This playdough did not hold up well the next day. Maybe I should have let it sit out of the fridge for a bit, but when I took it out on day 2 it was just hard and yucky so in the trash it went! I'll do this again on a rainy day, but not on the regular because it's messy/kind of a lot of work as a one-time deal.

Pinterest side note:
I definitely don't consider myself a "crafty" person and I hardly spend any time on Pinterest (my sad boards are here), but some times I go crazy and start pinning some crafts/learning activities for Kyle and I to try, which I like to share on this blog.

I would say that I've really only had 1 major Pinterest success in my life, and it's actually all thanks to Brian since he built our childproof fireplace/bookshelf for the living room by hand (pinspiration here). It turned out pretty cool, except I've been saying I'm going to paint the alphabet on it for about 6 months now. One day.

My favorite Pinterest FAIL was when I tried to make a handmade crib rail protector about 8 months ago after Kyle started gnawing on his crib like a woodchuck (pinspiration here - top photo):

This still makes me laugh thinking about how I got inside the crib and worked so fast trying to make it look cute while Kyle tried to get in there with me and kept pulling on the fabric :)

I Wish I'd Known...

I came across this article that talked about 4 things a mom wished she'd known about parenting toddlers the first time around. Her advice to her younger self was the following:

1. It really is this hard. You're not doing anything wrong.
2. Accept your kids' personalities now.
3. Eventually, parenting works.
4. I know, I know, I KNOW how hard it is to believe this, but this season will end.

While I understand I still need to experience these realizations on my own, it's nice to read these types of posts at night as a reminder to put things in perspective. 

I had a frustrating afternoon with Kyle after he ran away from us in the park three times during our family picnic dinner. Which probably doesn't seem so out of the ordinary for a 17 month old, except for the fact that we've been working on this and the last time we went for a walk he knew he needed to stay by me, to get mom if he wanted to go somewhere, and to stop walking when I told him to "wait." I was so proud of my boy, and then the next day he just forgot all the rules and ran away from us as fast as his little legs would carry him. I knew he heard me say "wait," and that he knew what it meant, but he didn't care.

The reminders I needed tonight are: 

• #1 - he is only 1 and sometimes my expectations for him are pretty high. 
• #2 - eventually, parenting works. I need to be consistent, but understand that some days Kyle will just want to play "Come and get me, mom! Let's see how fast you can run!" I saw the mischievous smile on his face as I chased after him, which stayed there even after I finished scolding him and carried him back to our blanket. He thought he was pretty hilarious and was so proud of how fast he could run.
• #3 - that this season will end, and I know I'll desperately miss seeing those chubby baby thighs, wobbly run and gapped tooth baby grin when they're gone.

It's so hard to remind yourself of these things when you're in the moment, when you want nothing more than for your baby to listen to you and to sit down and eat his dinner. But I'm glad I'm able to take a step back, remind myself of these simple things and start over in the morning. We'll keep working together and hopefully one day (if I'm lucky), my parenting will work.