Wednesday, March 27, 2013

Conversations with Oliver

Random outburst from Oli, "mommy a girl."
Me: what, honey?
Oli: mommy a girl
Me: oh and what's Oli?
Oli: Oli a boy
Me: and daddy?
Oli: daddy a boy too
Me: and Smokey?
Oli: Smokey a puppy



After soccer, we took him to Dunkin Donuts for a treat. We get him a couple of munchkins. 
Jeff: say thank you to the man, honey
Oli: umbel mumble
Jeff: honey, speak up
Oli: THANK YOU MAN!!!

Tuesday, March 19, 2013

We were those parents

Last night at a restaurant, we were those parents that carried a screaming, kicking, hysterical toddler out half an hour after we got there

We were those parents who handed over an iPhone 5 minutes after we were seated so we could hope to keep some peace till the food showed up

We were those parents who, in that whispering yell (oh you parents know what I mean), threatened our toddler with taking away toys, taking away the phone, whatever we could think of, in hopes of getting through 15 minutes of quiet dinner

We were those parents who alternated shoving food into our mouth, trying to keep the toddler from painting the table with noodles, and frantically waving at the waitress for our check and some boxes

We were those parents whose kid then immediately melted into a hysterically sobbing octopus who had more than the 2 arms and legs he was born with

We were those parents who rushed out of the restaurant looking directly at the path of escape, trying not to drop the food or the squirmy toddler

We were those parents your glances skittered over nervously, because you didn't want to meet our eyes either but you didn't want to miss it either, like a train wreck

We were those parents
Our child was that child

And I apologize to anybody in the past whose screaming child I dared look down on and judged ther parenting.

I wanted to put this out there in case you thought our household was filled with rainbow farting unicorns all the time.

Monday, March 18, 2013

5Ks by a procrastinator

go the following way. Takes 2 years and 22 months the first time. Gets so excited by the fact that she finished 1 that she immediately signs up for one a few months down the road. March, shouldn't be so freezing, should be able to keep the training up along the way.

Holidays come and go. Sister's wedding comes and goes. She ran one day on acation and felt like she was ok.

Come back to work, whole new year. Project takes off running, nay galloping. Meetings literally from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Justify January passing by without a single run by thinking that it took 8 weeks to train before, she can do it in February and 3 weeks of March.

February comes and goes, gets a few walks on the treadmill in.

Suddenly, looks at the calendar, and it's *GASP* March 11; less than 2 weeks to the 5K and she has no idea if she can even walk the distance. So, she pulls her Vibrams on and heads to the gym. She runs, refuses to look at the display on the treadmill, just keeps on running. Breathes in, breathes out. Ugh, got to walk now, looks down, 1/2 mile. Walk another 1/2 mile and that's all she can handle.

Oh heck, it's March 18th now. The weekend was good. St. Patrick's Day party, dinner out family. Good Irish beer. No running. Ok, head to the gym and this time, plan to run at least a mile. She plans to drop off the treadmill as the mile finishes but she's going to run that mile, come hell or high water!

I am proud to say this procrastinator was able to complete 3.1 miles on the treadmill, after starting with a mile run and then alternating 1/4 miles of running and walking. I just have to do this everyday this week, so I don't embarrass myself Saturday.

proud that I finished the 3.1 miles

Monday, March 04, 2013

Holy cow, February is gone

Did time really move slower before we had a child? Or do we just notice it more now? Or maybe we just acknowledge it more. You know one thing I notice is ever since Oliver became mobile and talkative, it seems like the milestones hit quicker and quicker. It was easier to record when he rolled over, crawled, took his first step ... or went from grunting to clearly saying da-da when he wanted Jeff ... because it was months between those things. But, from walking to running to now galloping everywhere, and from the first word to the first sentence to the first phrase and now incessant questions every single moment ... feels like it takes mere days or hours between milestones. I cannot remember when he went from signing for more milk to asking for more milk to now stating "I want more milk NOW!" He is moving and growing and learning at the speed of a mile a minute. And even though we are awed and impressed, we'd like to ask him to slow down just a bit. And it's not because of my poor knees.

It hit me today that I was using this blog to keep track of him growing and our family changing, and now it's been a month since I have written anything. My brain doesn't retain information like it used to so unless I write it down, it's gone. One thing I absolutely want to remember and embarrass him with later in his life is the fact that he asked both Jeff and me to kiss his butt this weekend. He has gotten used to us kissing his boo-boos and asking if it's better that he said, during a diaper change, "my butt hurts, kiss it."

the attitude!
He is starting to grow a personality that has an attitude, not always a good one, but we can see him becoming his own person. He still loves the color purple. If I didn't tell him mommy hasn't washed his purple shirts, he'd wear them everyday. Pretty soon, he'll think his mother's the laziest woman on earth who takes weeks to wash a couple shirts or he'll realize I am fibbing. Overall, he's such a mix of Jeff and me. He's laid back like Jeff, but also has his cleanliness gene. The tiniest bit of something on his hands or feet and he comes to me to get it taken care of. He's also pretty social, which, I guess would be my fault ;-) He can be shy around people if he meets them for the first time, but most of the time, if I tell him to say hi/bye/blow a kiss/give a hug, he'll do it. And, if he's seen you a few times, he's pretty cool with going home with you.

So, please, won't somebody take a cute toddler home for a couple nights? Pretty please?

On a serious note, though I love that he's outgoing like me, I sometimes fear that he'll be too trusting with everybody. And might trust the wrong person someday. I guess it's on us as his parents to teach him that even though it's good to be friendly and nice to everyone around you, you have to be wary too. Ugh, this parenting thing comes with way too many grey hairs and mental anguish, doesn't it? And, I doubt it ever goes away. Now, I know why I should call my parents if I am going away someplace to let them know I got there ok. Or if I am going to be later than usual. Or just to say hi every other day. I am sorry, mom and dad, for not calling as often as I should and for making you worry all those years. I am also amazed you didn't throw the phrase "wait till you have a child," at me every other minute of my life. Having a child makes you appreciate what your parents did for you and cringe at the thought of what you put them through like nothing else.

His buddy Carl

Still loves his purple