Parenthood

is hard
is tough
is heartbreaking
is frustrating

If we don't give in to his wants right away, he throws a tantrum, bangs his head on the floor, hurts himself. If we give in, we'll spoil him.

If he doesn't want the food I put in front of him, do I let him go without eating? Or do I give him something else, teaching him it's ok to be picky? (To be honest, this is rare)

If we put medicine on his gums, he screams like being tortured. If we don't, he cries through the night in pain.

Parenting is all about making a choice. Of whether to raise a spoiled brat or an adult who'll spend a lot of time on a therapist's couch.

Parenting is also

so heartwarming
so satisfying
so loving

When he runs to us at daycare, babbling happily that we are there.

When he walks out of his room, rubbing his eyes in the morning, and just lights up at the sight of us or even the dog.

When he holds his arms up for me to pick him and dance with him if there's music playing.

When he brings a book over  climbs into our laps and wants us to read to him.

When he giggles at us for no reason, or blows raspberries in our faces and laughs.

I said to Jeff last night "I love this little one so much, how did we ever live without him." And, that's absolutely true. Oli bug, we love you so very much and cannot remember that life without you. Ok, I lie, sometimes when you refuse to sleep for weeks, we try to remember the long nights of sleep we had. But, beyond that, it feels like you've always been with us.

What a wonderful weekend

Loves dancing with mommy

My little bubs surprised us this weekend. He said mama, learned to kiss, growled when asked what the doggy says and asked to dance with me :) Can you tell I am a happy mama after the weekend?

Let's start with the dancing. sometimes, when I am working in the kitchen, I'll turn the music on and let him dance around/empty my cupboards. Saturday, he kept asking me to pick him up and when I would, he would hold his hand out till I grabbed it and danced with him. He was so cute.

right after he gave daddy a kiss

He has also learned how to smack his lips like a kiss. He doesn't always get that to be a kiss, it has to be against somebody's cheek/lips etc. But, he did blow one kiss and then giggled after that. We tried to get photos of him kissing daddy, but after the first one, he was pretty over it.

cute flip flops form Old Navy

How can he be comfy?

We had a relaxing weekend. Both Oli and I had terrible allergy symptoms - swollen eyes, runny noses, sneezing, so we couldn't enjoy the sunny day outside. Instead, we took Oli to Arundel Mills on Sunday, got him some flip flops to celebrate the sunny weather. We tried to get him to ride the really small Merry Go Round and as you can see, he wasn't a fan. But, he was still pretty tired out by the end of the weekend. so much so, he fell asleep on the pillows.

 

and, he said mama while looking for me, or looking at me, so I know he knows what it means. FINALLY! About time, kiddo ;-) I LOVE YOU!

16 months? what!

This little one turned 16 months old yesterday. I can't believe it. I can see myself saying this a gazillion times more, where does the time go?

My beautiful, handsome, fearless little boy. My strong willed, tantrum throwing, wants daddy only right now little boy. My exploring, running everywhere, torturing the dog little boy. Can you slow down just a little for mommy?

He picks out his own clothes almost every day now. I pull drawers open and he pulls out a shirt and pants. Looking at that photo on the left up top, I'd say he has great fashion sense.

He has started sitting through a whole book. Last night, we sat through 3 whole books and he was reaching for a fourth when I had to say, no, it's sleepy time. I LOVE it. I'd rather have a little boy who cries because we can't read another book before bed than having one who won't read anything.

He has started to test boundaries. We were at the mall and he kept giving me his sneaky look, and running out of the play area. So, we left. I strapped him back into the stroller and we walked the mall. We went back to the play area and he played nicely for an hour without trying to escape. He also gives us the same look right before upending his sippy and spilling milk or water. Screams like he's being tortured when we take the sippy away.

He's still fearless. I got this video of him at the mall, after he ran out of the play area yet again:

Happy 16 months, bug! You can be a pain in the butt quite often lately, but we love you and wouldn't change a thing about you. I just wish there was a way to preserve every moment and not forget every single thing you do. We love you - mommy and daddy and somedays Smokey too.

My next project

I need a project. A couple months ago, I thought it would be a new house. But, we didn't find anything we fell in love with, so we shelved that till next year. So, our current condo is my next project. Before Oli was born, we put a crib in the study, moved bookshelves out of there to the guest room and it worked. Now, he's out of the crib, which is taking up important room in the study.

We need to get rid of the crib and that ottoman, move the bookshelf back in, remove the decals and maybe the shelves, and repaint that wall.


Then, the guestroom is a whole another story. With his toys getting bigger, there was less room in there with the huge bed we had. Because of his toys, I moved the dresser into the closet, which makes it so cluttered. With the book shelf in here, there's barely any room to walk.

So, yesterday, I began the first step of my new project. Got rid of the huge bed. I freecycled it to a nice old couple, who came, dismantled it, and took it away. Far, far away from my guest bedroom.

You can see the before and after. The room already looks so much bigger. Oli slept pretty well on the mattress on the ground last night. I am thinking of getting a platform bed, where I don't need a box spring. Adding some metal decals on the back to look like a headboard, and putting a bookshelf on the wall above it.

But, once that book shelf is out of there, I can move the dresser back out, move his toy chest back into the closet, and reduce some clutter in the room.

It's all just churning in my head right now. I have a deadline of mid-April for this project, since we have grandparents visiting at the end of April and I'd like the guest bedroom to be in good shape for them. If it's not, they'll have the master and we'll take this room. But, I think it'll be done by then.

So, this is my next big project, it feels good to have something tangible to do and change, for the better, in the house. And, to have a plan towards it. We just have to see how it pans out. If anybody has ideas for the guest bedroom, share :) I don't want anything bulky, I want it light, black metal or maple wood colors.