11-Months!

One month and you're officially a toddler!  Where has the time gone?  I've got to be honest with you though, I'm really anticipating your toddler years.  Although you are so cute, cuddly, and little right now, you actually HATE to be coddled and insist that I ALWAYS hold your hand so that you can walk around with support.  This month, you have grown from walking around with two-hand support, to only one-hand support, and then by just grabbing one-finger.  These are litterally your "baby-steps"

One of my favorite things you do is when I'm laying on the floor and you come crawling on me and hug me, and by "hug" I kind of really mean that you throw your body and face onto me (and sometimes even give a little bite).   Yeah - I'm not a fan of the biting part.  You also enjoy rolling on our bed although it still stresses me out because you don't realize what falling off the bed feels like just yet. 

Also, this month has really solidified your greatly-anticipated ability to sleep through the night!  Thank you, Lord!

OTHER TATER TIDBITS

• Yesterday you stood on your own and didn't even notice for about 30 seconds.  When you were 10 seconds in, there were already beads of sweat on my brow.  By the time you reached 30 seconds, I'd nearly passed out!
• Are you pointing AT things?  Or pointing FOR things?  You've picked up finger pointing somewhere along the way.  You mix a finger point with a Tater-grunt, and you've started communicating the things you want.  And boy... you want EVERYTHING!
• Favorite Pastimes:
• Swinging an open door back and forth.
• Reaching into the:  toy box, flower box, bathtub, and toilet (No Tater!  Ewww)
• The backyard is the place to be, even now that it's getting chilly.
• You've come to associate my finger with your ability to walk.  You deliberately look for my finger, grab it with assertiveness, and then your whole body language changes.  It's as if you say, "Good, got the finger.  So let's go now!"
• Bets are still coming in on when you will walk unassisted.  I'm not too confident that you'll be as good a walker as your brother was by his first birthday.  We have one month to go, and you're still a little floppy like a fish at times.
• You still love to eat, so your birthday theme will be Cookie Monster. (Oh and your tastebuds have matured to the point that you now REFUSE bland food!  Who?  Tater?  No way.  Yep - it's true, your palate only wants the good stuff now.) 
• You and your brother have a love-hate relationship.  When he starts to get a little aggressive, you hold your ground and don't take his crap.

MAMA'S TIDBITS

• I'm trying my best to be patient about your need for me to ALWAYS hold your hand while walking.  To stay sane, I've started to think of it as if you're in Rehab, trying to learn to walk again and I'm your physical therapist.  The more therapy time, the quicker you'll walk.  Yeah - it's a stretch but hey, it's got me up and walking with you!  I'm a great therapist.
•  I STILL haven't got my act together when it comes to exercise.  I smell a new year's resolution looming near!
• In my quest to balance work and home life, I'm on a new kick to get organized.  So far, so good!  It's really helping me spend quality time with the kids.  A separate post to come.

-Shirley

Biting the Hand that Feeds You

[Diego feeding Qori delicious food]

When I first found out about my pregnancy way back two years ago I went through a few psychological stages:

1. Denial - after seeing so many negative tests, this test couldn't possibly be right.
   
2. Fear - My life is going to change! How am I going to handle this?
   
3. Acceptance - OMG I'm totally preggers!


4. Fear again - What if my aggressive-to-other-dogs-dog is not just aggressive to other dogs?

Throughout the entire pregnancy while I was a flurry of emotion and hormones, the topic of my dog came up time and time again by family members and my husband. I felt like the odd woman out, always defending my sweet dog, yet not trusting a single bone in his mouth body. He had so much to prove, and I had so much to protect now.

After the baby was born, my dog went through a few psychological stages:

1. Denial - what baby? I don't see that a baby even exists


2. Fear - doesn't that wheeled walker have brakes?


3. Acceptance - OMG, that's totally a miniature human


4. Fear - OMG, the miniature human is TOUCHING ME! I gotta blow this Popsicle stand!

This month, Diego has displayed the fine art of sharing his belongings whatever is in his hand at the time. It all started when he wanted to feed me Kix cereal. He cracked up each time that he put a piece of cereal in my mouth and I followed with an over-dramatic "CRUNCH!" Now he feeds me other delicious items such as:

• the remote control
  
• his shoes


• mail
  
• my cellphone

To my dog's heart's content, he rolled this practice over to the dog and began feeding him crackers. Now I believe that the dog has reached the final stage of acceptance, and of course it happened with food. I've noticed lately that Qori doesn't scurry off when Diego wobbles on, crawls over, or even smacks on him anymore. I guess it's true that dogs don't bite the hand that feeds them.

At least for now...

[Diego feeding Qori delicious paper]