Friends

Charlie is lucky enough to spend his days with two sweet girls that I nanny for throughout the week.  Over the past few months they've become really good friends and it warms my heart.  Today we had an impromptu photo shoot in my bedroom while eating apples and performing a ballet.  We're great multi-taskers!

I plan on using Emma as the comic relief for all future Charlie photo shoots.  He thinks she is hilarious!

 Charlie loves hugging Quinn...This is as close as she allowed:-)

Had to share this outtake!

 Lucky for Charlie, Emma loves giving hugs!

Tumbling

Charlie started a tumbling class last week.  The instructors definitely have little knowledge of the developmental stages of a 1 year old.  Last week the kids sat for 20 minutes while the teacher asked each one what their favorite Christmas present was...that was time well spent!  This week the question was, "What is your favorite ball?" Or "What is your favorite sport?"  The kids thought long and hard.  Down the line we went, parents giving the usual answers, "she loves all the balls" or "soccer is her favorite".  I was prepared to deliver a similar answer when Charlie got up and walked away.  He continued walking across the gym until he reached a rack of basketballs (adult size).  He grabbed one, carried it back across the gym, and delivered it to the teacher.  Question answered.  The teacher's assistant (I call him Mr. Incredible because they definitely modeled the Pixar character's stature after this guy) proceeded to take the ball from Charlie, pick up the entire rack of balls, and carry it out of the gym.  I couldn't help but laugh.  You ask an 18 month old what his favorite ball is and he brings you THE BALL!  Genius.

Monday

I knew as soon as my alarm went off that I wasn't ever going to wake up today.  No matter how many cups of coffee I had (and I had 4) I could never shake that lethargic feeling.  I even napped today while Charlie and the girls slept, and I never do that!  I blame the weather.  It has been brutally cold here.  The high was 17 degrees today.  Since Charlie refuses to wear a hat or gloves, days like these are mostly spent indoors.  He's also coming down with a cold, so we skipped our music class today (you're welcome fellow music goers!) and hung out at the house all day.  These are my least favorite kinds of days! One can only read, "Little Blue Truck" so many times before it accidentally finds a home tucked safely away from wandering toddler eyes.  I swear I dream in "Little Blue Truck" phrasing.  I need a hobby.

Tonight I came across this video and found it moving enough to share: 2012 Sportkid of the Year

Asserting Independence

I have a highly sensitive 18 month old.  As long as we've been going to music class, gym class, and regular play dates, I've noticed Charlie's temperament in group settings.  He is cautious and very observant.  In music he rarely participates in the singing, clapping, or dancing. At times you wonder if he's even enjoying himself at all.  Then at home I'll notice him dancing, singing, and repeating movements introduced by Ms. Tonya during class weeks before.  During play dates and birthday parties he usually doesn't feel comfortable playing or leaving my lap until we're reading to pack up and head home.  I did some research months ago and discovered that the highly sensitive child is a temperament.  In fact around 12% of the population would be categorized as being highly sensitive.   There's a great book by Elaine Aron that does a good job of explaining this temperament and also how to nourish children with what they need to be successful later in life.  As a non highly sensitive person, this can, at times, be especially difficult for me.  Reading the book has definitely helped give me tools to set Charlie up for success.  Not only that, but pretty much every man in my life is highly sensitive so I have lots of people to go to for advice!  It's been a great learning experience in how to relate to people who are different from me.  The learning continues!

It's interesting how my understanding or lack of understanding goes in waves.  This past week has been rough.  I have an 18 month old who I know is highly sensitive and I try to come at every situation with the knowledge of what that means in the back of my head.  However sometimes I struggle with how to react to certain behaviors.  Recently he seems to be asserting his independence and knowledge that he can say no, throw a tantrum, or refuse something.  How far to push?  When to force?  When to give in?  Sigh.  The joys of motherhood!  Our biggest battle happens at nap time.  You'd think there were sharks in his crib waiting to gobble him up with how frantically he tries to wrap himself around my leg and dig his fingernails into my back to keep from being swallowed up whole.  Once I'm able to pry him off my body he screams bloody murder and refuses to lay down.  This from the kid who has loved napping in his own crib since he was 5 months old!  Yesterday he screamed for TWO HOURS.  He refused to lay down, fell asleep standing up only to be startled awake and scream again.  I finally had to rock him to sleep.  Took 30 minutes of rocking for him to take a 40 minute nap.  By 4:00 I was ready for a glass of wine.  

He is very communicative, but I wish he could formulate the words to express what is going through his head.  I don't know if he's struggling with separation anxiety (which he has had since he was about 8 months old), if he had a bad dream and is now afraid, or if he just knows it's something he can fight me on now.  As the parent of a highly sensitive kid I am constantly reminded that my reaction to a situation can make or break the way the rest of the conflict unfolds.  One misstep and I have a full fledge tantrum on my hands.  Today I tried bribery.  It worked with his diaper changes.  I gave him a sticker if he would let me change him without crying.  Success!  Nap time bribery, unsuccessful.  

As I write this, Charlie did finally lay down.  I feel like I won the lottery.  LIVING THE DREAM!  Now if only he could explain to me why he chose to give in...

As crazy and overwhelming as his recent tantrums have been, he is also the sweetest, kindest, most loving kid on the planet.  This is him playing peek-a-boo in the bathtub last night.  Love those baby blues!

Today we went to Little Monkey Bizness.  A few weeks ago he was too timid to go down this slide by himself.  Not today!  I was so proud of him.

This is his new favorite book.  If you have a toddler or young kids it's a great one!  It's called, "Press Here" and it's an interactive story.  The books asks you to do different things like clapping (Charlie in the pic), pressing dots, shaking the book, or blowing on it and you turn the page to see the result.  Pretty cool!

Happy New Year!

I am not usually one for New Year's resolutions...I always find myself making them with the best intentions only to break them by the time spring rolls around.  However, I am determined to do a better job of blogging about life.  I originally used this blog as a personal diary/therapist.  I poured my heart out about infertility, IVF, and other ramblings and the blogging world listened silently (just the way I like it:-)  However, I have come to realize that as soon as things in life got "better" i.e. we had a beautiful baby boy, moved back to Denver, and went about living life as parents, I tossed my therapy sessions to the curb.  I WAS CURED!  Much like we find ourselves praying the most when we "need" something, I found myself blogging the most when I knew I needed it.  But in the last six months, I found myself needing something I could not label. I felt uneasy, unsure, and at time lacking confidence.  Did I need a job? Check.  I'm now nannying for two sweet girls and have a little photography business on the side.  This did alleviate that guilty feeling we stay-at-home mothers feel about buying a Starbucks only to feel undeserving of it.  I hate that feeling!  But I needed something else.  Exercise?  Definitely.  I'm still working on that one, but I have been getting up early to get in a quick 30 minute work out before starting my day.  And I do feel better when I do that.  The more and more I have thought about this, it has become clear that I miss blogging.  It's good for me.  Life becomes funny when I talk about it/write about it, even if it wasn't funny when it happened.  I start to take myself too seriously when I don't blog.  So...

Dear Diary,
I resolve to blog routinely about the mundane events in my daily life.  I resolve to find the humor in the every day and to learn from it.  So here it goes!

I'll start with this quick tid bit.  Charlie had his first bout of stomach flu this past weekend.  It started at 11:00pm.  Rick and I were watching a movie (5 Year Engagement which I highly recommend!)  Suddenly we heard him cry.  It wasn't that whimper of a child who wakes up and cries himself softly back to sleep.  This was the ear piercing cry of pain.  We checked the monitor to find Charlie sitting in his crib playing with his pacifier.  At least that's what we thought...  I ran upstairs to find he was in fact puking all over himself with his hands reaching into his mouth to remove the puke.  I was instantly terrified.  Molly and I have discussed our fear of this moment at length.  We have a few friends who's children have had their first stomach bugs and we knew it was bound to happen, but we were both freaked out by the proposition.  What do you do?  How do you get through it?  Will we puke when we see them puke?  Can they puke in a toilet?  Well, all of these questions were answered that night.  No, they cannot puke in a toilet.  No, you will not puke when they do, although for days afterward my mouth watered reliving the whole thing.  I think the worst part is that a 17 month old does not understand what is happening.  One second you're sleeping and the next there is something in your mouth that has every intention of coming out.  Charlie could not figure out how to get through it without using his hands as shovels. And this is how I ended up with my son's puke in my mouth.  I'll let you take a moment to let that register.  Yep.  It happened.  If I have one piece of advice for the mother of a puking child it would be, breathe through your nose and keep your mouth shut.  I think this was the third or four time Charlie puked that night.  By then Rick and I had devised some sort of semblance of a plan.  We set up shop on our bed (covered in towels).  When Charlie puked we would lean him over a towel so we could puke into it, then we'd change the towel and wait for the next bout.  Unfortunately, this time Charlie used his shovel hands successfully only to flail his arm over his head, his hand landing precisely in my mouth, as if spoon feeding me a delicious meal.  I'm still in shock over it.  And yet, the power of motherhood allowed me to not only survive it, but to continue holding my sick son throughout the night, covered in puke with little but a paper towel to wipe my face.  I'm happy we have that first stomach bug incident past us.  Charlie was a trooper.  12 hours later he was nearly good as new.  I can't say the same for his parents!

Happy New Year!