Thursday...AKA My Sunday

I go back to work tomorrow (yuck). Yesterday's early nap resulted in a not-so-happy baby and an even unhappier Mama. I won't write too much because I have lots of photos of the happier moments and I prefer to focus on that. I know every mom has days where things are completely out of sync. I know that I can't be perfect all the time, but I would be lying if I didn't say it breaks my heart when we have a rough day. I really felt overwhelmed and exhausted and so lonely...which is horrible because I love being a mom and I love my lil boy...but I'm allowed to have those kind of days, right? And now that I'm looking back on it, I just wish I could have handled things better, been more creative and not yelled, "no" for what seemed like every five minutes. But that day is done and today was a much better day for both of us. There's been snuggling, meal sharing, outdoor play, art time and nap time (at its regular time). I'm approaching my day with renewed energy and patience and Norrin and I have been ebbing and flowing just like we do 99 percent of the time. Now, on to the pictures :).


Norrin in Mommy's hat...this is the hat that Todd bought for me back when we first started dating and I love it and its held up quite well for over ten years now.

A future knitter?

Trying to work the needles...

awww, let's just stab them into the ball of yarn.

Wrestling with Bob

Trying to put Bob's sweater back on.

Paint belongs on the paper, not on your face...

High five...yuck.

Giving Scout lovies...hmmm...I don't think he likes it.

Pillowcase Pajama Pants

Say that five times fast :). In my constant need to stay crafty, I made Norrin some pajama pants last night. I used the directions from Soulemama's book, The Creative Family and used a super soft pillowcase for the fabric. It literally took me 15 minutes to make and Norrin got to wear them immediately. I waited until this morning to take some pictures. Now I don't know if its the cloudy day or the super comfy pants, but my lil boy is asleep at 10:30 am...not sure how this super early nap time is going to pan out. Maybe I should rethink such sleep-inducing outfits :). To add to his injury list, Norrin managed to scratch up just about every inch of his legs in some way. Half our yard is concrete and the combination of active child, concrete and shorts is just not working out. I guess I should welcome the cooler weather...a few days in pants should give his legs time to heal.

Love his lil bed head.

View from the front...

and view from the back.

Warm Weather

Our family has been taking total advantage of these past few warm days. I believe the weather is going to change tomorrow or Thursday, so we really have been living it up. Yesterday I set up a baby swimming pool in the morning. I also planted some flowers in our very broken chiminea (sp?)...makes for a very interesting plant pot. Norrin and I enjoyed a juice pop in the heat and sun...so refreshing. Then, we went in for lunch and a nap. After his nap, the baby pool had been thoroughly warmed by the sun...we spent at least an hour in there splashing about...yes, I climbed in with him :). When Da got home, we opened a bottle of wine, I made guacamole and we grilled some burgers (veggie for me). Norrin insisted on having his own wineglass, so I put some fruit juice in it and he was so proud to be sipping from the same kind of glass his parents were...with a little help, of course. We stayed outside pointing to the stars and moon, snuggling on our patio furniture and just enjoying the evening air. This morning Norrin was ready to go outside again. We splashed around in his water table, blew away the dandelions and had some peaches. It has been such a great start to our day. After we came in and had some lunch, I put him in the shower with me. I've been layering on the sunscreen so much that we were both in need of a scrub down. I tried something new on my hair- baking soda followed by an apple cider vinegar rinse. I hate using grown up hair products in the same tub as my child...in fact, I'm not too fond of any sort of unnatural cleaning product...and all the "natural" hair products have left some weird waxy buildup. As I was reading a few of the blogs I like to read, I found that one of the lovely ladies was scrubbing her hair with a little baking soda, rinsing it with the vinegar (1 tablespoon in 1 cup of water) and using some more watered down vinegar as a detangler. So, I gave it a try...yes, I smell very, very faintly of vinegar, but I have to say my hair feels very, very soft. And for the first time, brushing it out was not a disaster. It detangles better than anything I have ever used. So, we'll have to see if this is my new routine. They say the vinegar smell fades as your hair dries, which better be the case...I don't think I can stomach smelling like vinegar all day :). I think tonight's meal will have to be served outside again. It was a truly wonderful way to spend our evening.


Norrin's dandelion

Eating some peaches

Getting Lazy

Our weekend:
One of Norrin's many injuries


Ooooo...sidewalk chalk!

Looking cute in his new hat.

Drawing with Da.

As the days get warmer, I'm getting lazier about updating this blog. I'd much rather spend almost every second of my free time outside...even on hot days like today (86 degrees!). Of course, I've realized that I've also gotten very lazy about updating Norrin's baby book and that this has become sort of a baby book, so I better give it a little attention now and then :). Norrin has become quite the daredevil and with that, there has been many injuries. While Grandmom and Grandpop Milligan were watching him this weekend (Todd and I went to a wedding), Norrin planted his face into their stairs. He now has a lovely scrape right between the eyes. The next day he scraped his knees running down the sidewalk at top speed despite many warnings from his mama about not letting his body get ahead of his feet (suddenly not so sure I care for shorts...even on super hot days). And last night, he planted his face on our stairs and ended up putting a tooth through his lower lip. The funny thing is he climbs on the most unstable surfaces, tightrope walks the back of the couch, tosses his whole body from the bed over the back of a desk chair and rarely gets hurt. When we ask him to walk up the stairs to get ready for bed- instant injury. Its amazing. Anyway, I've included a few pictures from our weekend. As Norrin gets bigger...and faster...I'm finding it pretty difficult to get a good picture. He has some moments where he's willing to ham it up a bit, but the rest of the time I'm just hoping he'll hold still long enough for just one shot of something adorable that he's doing. Silly Mama.

Earth Day

So, yesterday was Earth Day and Todd had off from work, which is just perfect in my mind. We went to a lil landscaping store for some shrubs and Lowes for some planting supplies. Norrin took a nice long nap and Todd and I watched The Day The Earth Stood Still (the new one with Jennifer Connelly), which turned out to be a perfect Earth Day movie. When the lil guy woke up, we set to work in our yard. Todd planted the shrubs along our back fence...we're slowly building up a little bit of privacy in our yard...and I started digging up the fenced in section that looks like it would be a perfect garden location...with a little bit of work. Norrin played in his water table, "helped" Da water the shrubs, "helped" me dig up the thick carpet of grass that grew in our little garden section and ran and climbed all over everything. We took a break...big glasses of water for me and Da, mac n cheese and fruit punch for Norrin...then it was back to work. I planted eggplant, peppers, spinach, strawberries and tomatoes. For the record, I have no idea what I'm doing. All of these things could die, I don't know if I should be planting one next to another, I don't know if they need any special attention...I just don't know, but I'm willing to fly by the seat of my pants and see what happens. If anything, its fun to dig in the dirt...whether you're 31 years old or 18 months old :). If it works, great...we'll have some stuff to eat...if not, well...I tried. Shortly after I planted the last plant, it started to rain. We spent the rest of our evening inside. Norrin has taken to climbing on the back of the couch and jumping...no, diving...off. I told him to stop, but he was having too much fun to pay attention to his Mommy...and then he got hurt. He smacked his head into Da and that was the end of the game. The first cruel lesson in Mama Knows Best. He cried for a little bit and Da comforted him and I declared it time for bed...because he can't get hurt if he's sleeping...plus I was tired after all our hard work :). He tried to continue his wild streak in bed, but Da read to him and its hard to pay attention to a good story if you're jumping on the bed. After a couple of stories and some "good night's", we were all asleep. It was a good Earth Day.

Where Is The Time Going?

MY BABY...



IS 18 MONTHS TODAY.

Our Little Artist

Since Todd and I were artists in our past lives and both feel a great need to be creative, we have just about every kind of paint, crayon, marker, colored pencil, etc. in our house. As a result, every day has been spent creating something with Norrin. And as a result of that, well...let's just say Norrin is now bathed every day. I've unburied an old table and left it in our dining room (there's plenty of room for both tables). The old table is black and can take a beating...or in this case, hides every medium that doesn't make it exactly on the paper. I've also strung up a wire and have been clipping Norrin's artwork on it. He loves seeing it displayed and it certainly "dresses up" our extremely white wall. Anyway, below are pictures of our little artist.





Dressed in marker...washable marker.






No, that's not blood...

Norrin's first time using paints.

Note the intense concentration.

I think he likes it.

His great masterpiece.

Easter

I had to work on Easter Sunday, so I only have a few pictures courtesy of Da. Before I left for work, I hid a dozen Easter eggs with one or two M&M's in them. I also set out a small basket with a chocolate bunny, a t-shirt for Todd and a book for Norrin. Todd said Norrin loved his egg hunt. Once Todd showed him how to find the eggs, he had no problem doing it on his own. He also loved his book, which is a pop up book called Easter Bugs...Norrin lifts the flap of different eggs and finds different pop up bugs. He hasn't destroyed it yet...give him time. I picked out his Easter outfit with instructions for Da to get him in it right before leaving for Grandmom Milligan's house. Todd said he slept for a good three hours at Grandmom's, had a great dinner, was spoiled by his family in general and was an all around happy lil man. I wish I could have been there.


Sleepy man.

Awww...such an angel.

Norrin and Uncle Jim

Mr. Cutey Cute

The Great Outdoors

Last Thursday was so beautiful that Norrin and I just had to get outside. So, I decided to take him to the zoo. We got stuck in traffic, but sang the whole way there (Norrin is really good at making the sounds of the animals on Old MacDonald's farm). There were so many parents with strollers that I took the bare minimum and strapped Norrin onto my back in his mei tai carrier. We had another long wait in the ticket line, but once we were in the zoo, I let Norrin free. He loved the animals so much. He didn't want to leave the reptile house, he kept waiting for polar bears to swim by, he growled at the black bear, quacked at the ducks, looked at the flamingos from every angle...it was a blast. However, the one thing he did the longest and seemed to enjoy the most was dig in the dirt. We drew pictures in the dirt with sticks, built little twig forests and used our hands as bulldozers. At one point, we both just leaned back and looked up at the sky through the tree branches and we had a nice little quiet moment there...then it was back to playing in the dirt. I let him dictate where we went and how long we stayed in each location. By two o'clock, he was exhausted. I nursed him in a quiet corner of the zoo then put him in his carrier so he could lean against my chest and fall asleep...and that's just what he did.


Dirt drawings by Norrin Radd.

A twig forest in progress.

You really gotta dig in there!

Hmmm...this is an interesting result.

Don't know if I really care for this.

Some More Great Pictures

Here's some pics from last weekend's windy walk...all taken by Todd since this mama was working (le sigh). I have a hard time picking and choosing through Todd's pictures. He's really great with a camera and he gets the most beautiful angles. Of course, its very difficult not to get a cute shot of our lil guy :). I'm working this weekend also so hopefully if they have anymore fun adventures, Todd will take lots of photos...or at least have lots of good stories :). Last weekend Norrin tried to blow on the yellow flowers. Mommy showed him how dandelions blow away and now he thinks that's supposed to work with all flowers. He's also working on sentences...although I seem to be the only one who understands our "conversation". And as a final trick, he has been answering the phone. He walks right up to the ringing phone in its holder, plucks it out, puts it to his ear and starts chatting. Apparently, he didn't get the memo that Mommy screens all the calls :).

Not Sleeping

I woke up this morning at 4 am. My head was filled with happy thoughts and the pending work weekend and knitting projects and pretty much anything I could think of to think about :). This is not unusual for me...I'm a horrible sleeper...always have been. When I was little, I used to pretend I was afraid of the dark. My mom would leave the sewing room light on (which was directly across from my room) and I would lean over the edge of my bed and read in the thin line of light. Sometimes she would be working in her sewing room and I didn't dare risk being caught reading, so I would just listen to the sewing machine...its a soothing sound to me and I'd fall asleep, looking forward to seeing what she had created. I'm no expert with a sewing machine, but I'm getting quite good at wielding my knitting needles. Will Norrin feel the same sense of calm when he hears my bamboo needles clicking :)? The past eleven days have been so wonderful. It genuinely upsets me to have to return to work...to ruin the ebb and flow of our days. And now that the weather is getting nicer, it makes it harder to leave my little boy. I love our walks, his wonder at the world around him, his need to scoop up dirt on one side of the fence and shove it back into the yard where he thinks it belongs. He's getting so verbal and is working on sentences. His favorite game is "Where's the..." Last night it was "Where's the ball?". He'd ask me three or four times and I'd tell him I didn't know and ask him if he knew where it was and he'd point and say "there it is". His speech is barely recognizable, but as the person who spends all day with him, I'm catching on...and he is just so proud when we have a conversation that we both seem to understand :). He also loves to share food with us. It doesn't matter if its spicy, has a weird texture, whatever...he's gonna have what we're having. Sometimes I make him his own little platter, but he's most content sitting on my lap and eating off my plate. I have no problem with this...its just one more moment of snuggling, a moment of sharing, a moment of connection. As you can see, I'm going to miss my little family this weekend. Todd and I compliment each other so well as parents. We take turns playing with Norrin, we take turns changing diapers and feeding him and soothing him when he gets an ouchie :). When we're together we switch off seamlessly and share the joys (and occasional pains) of parenthood. There's also the stolen moments...quick, Norrin's in the living room, give me a smooch. There's been numerous times that Norrin has "caught" us kissing...he laughs, pulls us apart and grabs hold of me, claiming me as his own. Just three days...seems like nothing, but feels like an eternity.

Lots of Pictures

Not a lot of words today...yesterday Da (as Norrin calls him) took off from work. After breakfast, we all climbed into our big family bed and spent the late morning-early afternoon reading, knitting and napping...it was bliss. Then, we went to the Please Touch Museum for some crazy, chaotic family fun. It was a great day with my boys :).


Chunky baby feet...I love them!

Playing with the ducks.

Splish Splash!

Kissing an elephant.

Riding the elephant...with a little help from Mommy.

Rocking out on the xylophone.

A moment of rest...

Before he bounces on some storybooks with a golden egg in hand...hmmm, never thought I'd ever say something like :).

The chaos at the train table...Norrin eyeballing everyone waiting to get his hands on just one train car.

Da was wrangled into building some tracks.

Norrin likes to help.

Hanging out in a log.

Helping a caterpillar move around the leaf.

Up the slide.

And down.

This morning...wardrobe compliments of Grandmom Rose.

Coloring is fun!

What a pretty picture!