Tuesday, October 31, 2006

Best Halloween Ever

Julian looked so cute. And ohmygawd was he awesome.

His nap was messed up today because we wanted to stop and have lunch with Nana since I had Julian in his costume since he woke up. I wanted her to see her hard work in action. So I had to wake him up after he fell asleep in the car for 10 minutes. His Nana gave him his treats in the form of board books which he LOVED. Especially because the one had a big, black cat and the other came with crayons.

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We then repeated the sleep scenario on the way home. Normally he'll transfer to the bed but not today so we had a very delirious boy for the afternoon until he surrendered to a very late nap - which then led to a very cranky boy when he woke up. And he cried through most of dinner which I blame on his totally purple, almost bloody looking gum where his bottom molar is poking through. He kept grabbing at his mouth and I felt so terrible for him. It wasn’t looking good for our night ahead. But many bites of Pepper Steak later he was better and we headed out.

We kind of pushed him along to the first house.

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He left there with a bewildered look on his face thinking "what just happened?" But he kept on going and carried his glowing candy receptacle the entire way. We didn't plan on going far but he was having fun and so we kept on chugging.

He was seriously the hit of the neighborhood. He had people ooohing and aahhing over him all night, the attention was overwhelming. Little kids were saying how cute he was. Well how cute SHE was but we're used to that. He wasn't really grasping the concept that you needed to actually get within inches of the person handing out the candy or that you should proceed to the next house instead of turning around to go back to the house you just came from. BUT by the end of the night he was getting the hang of it. His candy basket was getting too heavy for him so he handed it to me but when we got to the next house he politely asked for it back and went up to the door. He knew he needed to bring his pumpkin to get the candy. Man this kid just kills me.

Julian kept pointing out the moon and stars over and over. He walked the whole way home, we didn’t' have to carry him at all and then he had just as much fun handing out the candy as he did collecting it. Then the big, bad Mama had to take it all away.

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Cute costume but sure is reflective.

Mr. Roboto

Happy Halloween!

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Our playgroup met up at the apple orchard yesterday hoping we could get a picture of all the kids in their costumes. Half wouldn't wear theirs and the other half had theirs off by the end. Except for Julian of all kids, he left his on the entire time, didn' t mess with it or anything. Although I took the head piece off since it was just under 70 degrees yesterday. Which meant the bees were out in full force and I had to sacrafice a cider donut because of it so you know how serious it was.

So here it is, his handmade original robot costume. Everyone said how cute he was and cute indeedy.

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I hope you all have a safe and enjoyable Halloween and your teeth don't rot out of your head. More trick-or-treating photos to come tomorrow!

She's a Star!

If you happen to be cruising your mall, swing by your Limited Too and see if you see this picture:

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Here, this one.
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That's my niece, ain't she a beauty? She's also somewhere in their catalog that came out a couple days ago which I still have to go pick up.

Thursday, October 26, 2006

Foto Friday: Head Shot

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Foto Friday: Ride 'Em Cowboy

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"Hiiii deee-eeee"

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Hmmm, he feels nice and springy.

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Julian! Do NOT jump on the dog!

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OK, I'll gouge his eye out!

Thursday, October 19, 2006

What does a train say? How the heck should I know?

We've skipped a couple playgroups the past few weeks. Well one absence was due to Vegas, and then I needed a week to recover, and another week to recover from my recovery week. Plus when they are outdoors at our big, old beloved city park, the time spent with the group usually consists of Julian way on the outskirts away from everyone and me yelling "Hi!" as I run by the other moms to catch up with him. I figure if we're gonna be hanging out alone, we might as well pass on the drive through rush hour and stay local.

But since we've been a bit isolated the last couple weeks I wanted to make sure we were going to Monday's playgroup. Much to my delight, we were all going to meet at the B & O Railroad museum which happens to be their free day.

We were the first to arrive, surprisingly. Then one of the dads from the group followed shortly behind us. His little boy who is a couple months older than Julian was in tow. He had on his conductor overalls, carrying an all about trains board book and could answer "what does a train say?" with an excited "choo choo!" Wow. Then there is us. Oh yeah well "Julian, what does a train say?" Instead of a similar response I received a look as if to say "Mom, you aren't fooling anyone. You know darn well you've never told me what a train says. In fact, I don't even know what a train is, how should I know what it says?" We were clearly unprepared for this trip. My preparation consisted of me printing out directions to the museum at the last minute.

Regardless of the fact Julian had no interest in the trains, even the ones you could go inside, it was a fun day. He only wanted to run on the stroller/wheelchair access ramps. I thought the one leading up to the train would catch his interest but he'd get halfway up only to run back down. And up. And down. And up. Never making it to the top where I thought I could push him inside where he'd be wowed by all the old metal and knobs and things he could touch.

He did however show a large amount of interest in a rock outside.
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"What the heck is this thing behind me?"
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And the Foto Friday I forgot to put up: Bones Brigade
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Friday, October 06, 2006

Foto Friday: Hay, hay, hay!

We've been Jekyll and Hyde around here lately as I found the possible explanation for the demon that appeared in Vegas; he's getting TWO molars - judging by the top right poking out and the bulging purple gum on the top left. These will be teeth 9 and 10. So these are from our lovely day at the Apple Orchard last Saturday. We enjoyed ourselves immensely, especially the apple cider, cider slush, cider donuts as well as our cider overdose. Sadly we didn't actually get to pick our own apples because by the time we were done eating and playing, it was closing. Besides, I really don't know what I'd do with the 8lb minimum but watch them rot.

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He's no dummy, no rat caught in this maze. It wasn't quite so easy in the bigger kid maze we advanced to.

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Monday, October 02, 2006

Long Time No Speak

Has it really been almost a month since the last update? Man, the kid turns one and he's suddenly not important. There must be a lot to catch up on then, huh?
Basically not much has changed on the home front. Our house is still on the market, we still receive a good amount of traffic and positive feedback which is apparently more than a lot of other sellers are getting in our neck of the woods. But we just reduced the price for the first time. Fortunately the homes we are interested in buying also just reduced their prices so it'll even out. Until then, we're still at my parents. Lucky them! I'm sure it's been a big adjustment for them having to manuever around toys and odd objects all over the floor like pumpkins and kitchen gadgets that we can't keep away from Julian.

A few weeks ago we had endless days of dreary weather, we spent most of it indoors or doing errands. During one of our trips we stopped at the little mall here. While we were there I decided to stop in to Stride Rite to have Julian's feet measured. I'm still in month mentality so I wanted to know what an 18-24 size shoe translates to in regular sizes. The kind lady measured his feet which he didn't like very much and we found he wears a 6. That is what I was guessing but now that it's confirmed, well I just don't know what I'll do with this pertinent piece of information.

I then felt obligated to have Julian try a pair of shoes on after I loudly proclaimed "you don't have any black shoes??" I picked out a pair of brown shoes and she put them on him. He immediately grabbed on to my hands and stood there like he didn't know what to do. I got him to take a few steps, while still holding on to my hands as if these were the first steps he ever took and he proceeded to walk. But this was not the normal Julian walk. No. Every step he took he lifted his legs up so high and wide, as if a huge log had fallen in front of him and he needed to step over. He did this around the entire store - because I wouldn't let him stop because it was so funny to see.

I know this was his first time in something that wasn't a super soft soled shoe and thought that he may not like it much, but I had no idea it would cause him to walk like that. Oh man, it was funny enough that I almost was willing to shell out the $50 for the shoes if it would mean he would keep doing it.

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I basically had to force him on to this thing. I was desperate to kill time.


Julian had his 12 month well-baby appointment a month ago, just 2 months late. He weighs 24 lbs 4 oz and grew approximately 0 inches based on their highly accurate method of measuring. So he's still about 31 1/2 inches when his head is crooked and his legs are kicking. Julian did not enjoy being touched at all. He pushed away the stethoscope and he screamed bloody murder when the doc looked in his ears. He appears healthy and developing just fine, thank you. Not that we had doubts. I was a little concerned about his recent case of chronic halitosis until I realized it was these vegetable crackers I've been feeding him. I've switched brands and harmony is restored. Thank God because it was no fun curling up next to a garlic bulb at night.

Based on the vaccine schedule he should have received the chicken pox vaccine (no thanks!), Hep A (we'll pass!) and MMR (uh, I need more time to research this, we'll call you!). We left shot free that day and good thing because if he got that upset when the doctor unsnapped his diaper I can only imagine what would of happened if needles pierced his flesh. I did want to research the vaccines more because I was slacking on it and I've since acquired some great info on the subject to assist us. I just haven't had a chance to look through it yet.

Julian's signing abilities are really taking off. He picks them up almost instantly. As soon as you put him in the car he signs for music. We put on his favorite CD and you know how there is a pause between songs, immediately when the first song ends he starts signing music again. He hasn't caught on that there is usually a second in between and he doesn't have to keep asking for it. It's terribly cute though, I love catching it in my rearview mirror. I laugh when he points out the window and signs tree over and over.

We'll we've been nursing now a little over 14 months. I'm actually not nursing nearly as much these days. I've heard that around 14 months they really slow down and if you, or the baby, don't wean at this point they pick back up and you can count on nursing until their 3. So I'm kind of taking advantage of this lull and while I'm not pushing towards weaning, I'm definitely not encouraging nursing. I try and offer other things first and I'm trying not to nurse him to sleep and use other methods to get him back to sleep. Generally it doesn't work. It's hard not to nurse him during the night because before he would just writhe and whine but in the glow of the moonlight I can see him signing for milk and he says his little "Mer? Mer?" How can I say no?

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Julian's "what do the piggies say?" face

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Oh this face - he does all day long. And it's so ugly. He dropped his cup one day and my mom did a surprised look and said "uh oh!" and this is his immitation of her.

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OK this one is hard to see but one of his new tricks is making a fish face.

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Laugh now...

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cry later...

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and even later



Good guys where white in the form of matching thermals.

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The most newsworthy event is our recent trip to Vegas. We just got back last Thursday and let's say that Julian was working overtime ensuring his place in the world as an only child. And we will not be traveling with him again in the next 3 years. Or 17. We met my entire family out there which was nice but because of the little boy that took over Julian's sweet body, it was hard to have fun and there definitely wasn't any relaxing going on. I'll spare you the details but in his defense he came down with a cold and was basically restrained the entire time in a stroller which he hates. He needs to be free and since he prefers to run the opposite way from where he should be and won't allow us to hold his hand or stand nearby on his own, the stroller was his home.

"Hi, meet our son who is confined to a stroller and won't look at the camera for spite. He hates us."
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The conservatory at the Bellagio.

Ahhhhh, peace.
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Uh oh, the beast has awoken.
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Just kidding, we did have some good times. See? Happy.
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Well at least me and the M&M are happy. And Julian's not crying so that's something.

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Like father, like son, live very bad Elivs impersonator.

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And the reason we went to Vegas
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(By the way, if you ever go into Flickr to look at our photos, I have them now set to private. You need to have a Flickr account in order to view them. I want to keep photos of Julian a little more on lockdown to keep the crazies away. They will still be viewable here but there are always many more in Flickr. So get on over there and create an account!)