Good weekend!

We were so busy this weekend! Friday we took Eliseo to Playtime Party Center.  More or less like a Chuck E Cheese. They had a toddler play area. We thought we would stay for maybe half an hour, but he wound up absolutely loving it.  Each obstacle was so much fun for him, he wanted to go again and again and again. So we stayed about an hour but he would have stayed longer if we didn't go so late! The expression on his face says it all. We will definitely be headed back there soon.

Saturday we went to a friend's house for an annual "Rib Off" and Glenn took home the prize! He was pretty surprised since he doesn't consider himself a rib master quite yet. But the spicy chipotle infused bbq sauce was enough to intrigue every one I guess. E was being clingy to me again, he slept on the way there and whrn he woke up he only wanted Mommy. Which is nice, but a little frustrating and heartbreaking sometimes. Towards the end of the night, Daddy had given him enough sugar for him to have a good time going up and down a step...the hilarity! Anything that makes him laugh that much is ok in my book. He slept hard on the way home.

On Sunday, I wanted to go for a run and we had talked about bringing E to the park, so we killed 2 birds with one stone. G took him on the swing and slides while I took a 2.5 mile run around the park. I'm not sure how effective it was though, cuz we went to Chill to get frozen yogurt immediately after....oh well. At least I stuck to mostly fruit toppings. G shared him with Eliseo, yeah....we'll be headed back there too.

So today, it was rainy and stormy pretty much all afternoon. I got a good nap in with Eliseo in the morning and then it was stormy when we woke up. So we just enjoyed some time with Daddy before he had to go to work and then he took another long nap in the late afternoon.  He was exhausted, so it was a nice quiet day at home.

I was thinking today that I'm going to be getting him some fun outdoor toys for this summer. We have a little swingset for him but I think I'm going to get him a water table. We will also be going to mom's pool a lot this summer. I thought we would spend more time there last year, but pools and newborn babies don't go very well together.

That's all I got...lots of pics.. .enjoy!

Mommy Fail

I don't know guys, I kinda had a doubtful day today. Just one of those days. Eliseo was very needy and clingy, I think because he's been home from daycare all week and he's getting used to being with me all the time. Today's routine was all off, starting with another post-nurse nap this morning. We slept until a little after 8am and that just set everything back for the day. I didn't get hime down for a nap until 12, and even then he only slept for 30 minutes. I think that was my biggest mistake when I went to the gym for Step aerobica class after work. No second nap. Tired baby. I dropped him off at the childcare and he had a meltdown. I thought for sure as soon as I was out of sight he'd be fine. But, after about 20 minutes they had to come get me because he  wouldn't calm down. I left the class and we went home, and I've been feeling like I failed as a mommy today ever since. He fell asleep on the ride home, of course. And later we played a little on the floor, gave him a bath and put him to bed at the normal hour. Tomorrow I will stick to our normal routine. Today I felt back to not knowing what the heck I'm doing sometimes. If I had it to do over again, I would pay more attention to how my sister took care of her kids when they were babies. I'm just kid illiterate every now and then. I hope I'm doing the right things for Eliseo. I certainly love him enough everyday. Just an off day.

Drinking from a cup

It won't be a long post, but figured I'd give you a quick update about some drinking....Eliseo! Not me and my wine. I've been encouraging him to drink water for a cup for a while, and he's been doing it but not without my help. Finally today he drank water from a cup all by himself! We went out for a run and it was really humid, I guess all I had to do was dehydrate him...haha no, I promise I was giving him water while we were iut in the sun.  Sometimes I do think I move a little too slow with him, that he should have been drinking from a cup a while ago, but I'm just not in a hurry for him to grow up. He's doing just fine! He's still alive so I must be doing something right.

Nighty night reader peeps!

No Snappy Title

**Big sigh**

Well, the little boogar is sleeping.  I put him down on the early side today...put him down as in 'bed", not put him down as like you would do to an impaired horse.  Now that we have that clear.  I have a secret....between you and me (no I'm not pregnant).  I don't like putting my baby to sleep.  I would rather him stay up all night so I can play with him.  We have the best times at night playing on the floor before he goes to sleep.  I devote all of my attention to him; no cleaning (I know it's rough), no Facebook, no TV, just me laying on the floor next to him while he shows me all his toys and crawls over me time and time again.  I cherish these times.  So, I hate it when they have to end.  But I have to be the responsible parent...BOOOOO.  Do I have to?  Can't I just be my baby's best friend?  He was ready for bed today though.  I left him with Glenn this afternoon while I went to a meeting.  Eliseo was so tired, Glenn had worked last night and was working tonight so it was his prime sleeping time.  I kept Eliseo up all morning instead of putting him down for his usual nap, but it didn't work this time.  Sometimes it doesn't I guess.  But, he took a nice, long one for me when I got back from my meeting, LOL.  Oh, my little man.  I just love him so much.  Yeah, I really don't have anywhere to go with this...

I realized last night that E hasn't been waking up and standing in the middle of the night.  It happens when his teeth are coming in, so he must be getting a bit of a break.  It never fails that when he does wake up, it's right when I'm going to bed.  But, I know he's not going to stay up all night, so it's just a matter of time until he lays down and goes back to sleep.  Oh, did I mention that he gets up and stands?  I wonder if he does it after I've fallen asleep but I don't get up.  I'm a pretty heavy sleeper.  At least I know he is safe in his crib. 

OK, I guess I'll end your misery at my pointlessness.   Maybe he'll do something exciting that I can update you all with.  Until then....Mommy's getting another glass of wine.  Cheers!

Mother's Day and Laundry Week

Mother's Day #2!  Although #1 was only by about 11 days...and I was still in the new mommy haze.  This one I was fully alert and enjoyed every bit of it!  I won't tell you all the deets, but I do have a funny story for you. 

In the afternoon I met Donna and her daughters to go running at Creve Coeur Lake.  It was a gorgeous day and there were a lot of people out walking, running, biking.  I had E in the jogging stroller and he was wearing a new pair of shoes.  As I was running, one of his shoes fell off and I didn't notice.  Enter shirtless, muscley snake tattoo guy:  MA'AM, MA'AM, YOU LOST A SHOE!! .  Me:  Oh thanks!  I couldn't turn around with the big jogging stroller right away with all the traffic coming in the other direction.  Shirtless, snake tattoo guy:  I'LL GET IT!!!!.  He drops his bike.  Like, drops it so hard the wheels are still spinning...I looked like an expensive bike too!  Runs back to get the shoe and delivers it to me.  Thanks shirtless snake tattoo guy....my hero.  I've never experienced such a muscley guy who cared so much about a shoe...LOL.  It made me laugh.

I got some great gifts, Eliseo made me a cool key chain at day care and he helped Daddy pick out a pendant that matches the earrings he gave me for Christmas.  They are Eliseo's birthstone, very thoughtful Daddy!  We just stayed in for dinner a Glenn barbequed some chicken drumsticks for me, which made me think of being a kid again. 

Also, it was annual laundry week at the Lyons' house...where I finally do all the laundry in the house to the bottom of every hamper.  You know...finding all of the matches to lonely socks (well most, anyway) and coming across the shirt that you bought and wore once....oh yeah, I remember this shirt?  No?  Not you?  Only me?  Hmm...well, I really dont enjoy laundry so I was very proud to get it all done.

Ok, well...picture time!

E's 1 year pics

Another day to be so proud of my little man!  We got 1 year pictures taken yesterday.  He was such a good boy...so happy and I love pretty much every picture in the slideshow!   We have a little model baby.  Baby....or big boy?  After the photo shoot we shopped around a little bit, Eliseo is so easy, just gotta bring some food and he's happy!

Speaking of food, Glenn and I had salmon and rice for dinner last night.  We put E in the high chair in between us and I gave him pieces of my rice and salmon.  He ate every last bit.  So he apparently really likes salmon now too!  I wonder if he'll ever get picky, but for now I'm just feeding him everything that we eat.  I tried moving him into chunkier purees but he still chokes and gags.  So for now, I'm feeding him purees with a little texture first and then feeding him pieces afterwards.  He only has 3 teeth so he's not really chewing but he likes to feed himself and as long as the pieces are little or squishy then he can handle them.  Although, sometimes he gets mad when he picks up pieces and they get smashed in his palm.  Or they get stuck on his hand and he can't figure out where they went...ok it's actually pretty funny. 

Alright...enough about food.  Let's see some pictures!!!

1 Yr Checkup

Today was the good ole 1 year checkup at the pediatrician.  My little man is making some progress!  He is still on the low end of the chart for height, still not quite on the chart for weight, but the doctor was very happy with his progress since our 9 month visit.  Here is how it shook out:

Height: 28 1/4"
Weight:  16lbs 15oz
Head Circumference:  17"

I don't have percentiles this time, but they looked like pretty much the same with a slight improvement in weight.  Which isn't surprising, since I've been giving him more and more food lately.  He still wants to nurse every 3 hours, but he also eats solid foods about every 3 hours as well.  In a typical day, here is how the eating schedule goes:

7am:  nurse
9am:  breakfast (cereal with fruit)
11am:  nurse
1pm:  lunch (usually a fruit or veggie)
2pm:  nurse
4pm:  snack (yogurt or fruit)
5pm:  nurse
6-7pm:  dinner (trying to do a protein with grain and veggie)
9pm:  bedtime nurse

So as you can see, he pretty much constantly eats throughout the day.  Not surprising to see him jump up nearly 2 pounds in 3 months, especially when he's supposed to be leveling out more now. 

Anyhow, I'm proud to say that I'm still nursing, and I don't have intentions to stop anytime soon.  I have a good rotating supply of frozen milk and I am still pumping to replenish twice a day.  But I know that this keeps him healthy and it's so good for him, so I'm not stopping yet.  6 more months?  We'll see.  I'm working on getting him to drink water from a sippy cup, but he hasn't figured out yet that it's anything but a toy.  I need to start giving him more chunky food because he still is eating mostly purees.  I gave him some mushy carrot chunks last week and I give him small pieces of bread, but I think I'm going to start giving him bigger pieces of rice.  He should be able to handle this by now. 

He also got 4 shots, which is never fun but he took them like a champ and was done crying in about 30 seconds after I picked him up. No fever so far.  Fingers crossed.

My favorite newest development is E's use of the word "uh oh".  He goes around the house all day saying:  uh oh...uh oh...uh oh....creating situations in which it's fitting.  I.e., throwing/dropping a toy.  It's so darling to listen to his little voice with the correct intonation.  I was hoping Mama was going to be his first word, but "uh oh" has won the title.  I don't know what this says about him, but I don't care because it's so stinking cute.

Alrighty, I've waited too long to start writing again so I'm sleep typing....time to wrap up and go night night. 

The Little Man's First Birthday

I still can't believe that I'm posting about Eliseo being 1 year old.  This has been the most wonderful, absolute best year of my entire life.  I never knew I could love anyone as much as I love him.  It's like I've known his soul forever....

Well enough of the sappy, let's talk about the little man's birthday!  So while his party was crazy, over the top, excitement; his actual birthday was quiet, low key and intimate.  I took the day off of work so I could spend the whole special day with him and it was Glenn's day off too.  We decided that we wanted to spend the day outdoors, so what better place than the zoo!  It was a beautiful warm and sunny day.  Last time we took him to the zoo, it was pretty pitiful (well we went for zoo lights too, but that didn't count as a trip to the zoo).  We got there late in the afternoon, no animals were out, we followed a path that was under construction and we didn't get to see anything.  This time, we got to see quite a bit...although, I didn't want to cover too much ground, we were only there for about 3 hours so we just saw the highlights.  He was most interested in the orangutans, penguins and lions.  Side note:  penguins crack me up.  We got an extreme closeup of the orangutan, and pretty much we described every animal as a big "Snickers".  But Snickers makes him laugh, and these animals put a smile on his face.  We were in good company, both of E's grandma's came along.  I did my job as a good mommy and made sure E had on plenty of sunscreen and we brought his hat so we had no shock to the sun exposure.  Plus, it made him look super cute.

After the zoo, we had a quiet dinner at the house, and I made Eliseo another birthday cake.  We ordered the one for the party, but I felt like it was important for him to have a cake for his real birthday, made with love.  He didn't really dive into this one either, no messy cake pictures.  And what would a birthday be without presents!  He got to open his presents from Grandma Lyons, another from Grammy and from Mommy and Daddy.  We didn't go crazy with the gifts, he got so much at his party and he has so many hand me down toys.  We decided to get him a Leap Frog Scout reader and some flashcards:  something educational.  OK and maybe a little toy...and a diaper cover to wear in the pool!  We plan on spending lots of time in the pool this summer in preparation for Jamaica!  We were all so tuckered out from the weekend and the day in the sun, so it was a pretty early night at the Lyons house, but I sure hope Eliseo knew it was a special day for him. 

And now for more pictures!  Which is really what you were all waiting for...