Shad and the Carseat

He actually does own other pajamas, we apparently really like these ones!

A Quick video

Don't really think I need to say any more . . .

"C" is also for confession . . .

Okay, so the one time ever that it has or will happen I figure it should get some acknowledgment, Dan was right. Yes, you read that correctly, I admit my husband was right. About what you ask? Here is the story; When I first bought our crib Dan was not with me. It was a great once in a lifetime deal and he was working, so i picked it myself. Which, by the way, it is beautiful as you can see. So, I picked it myself and when I got it from my sister's I proudly put it all together so Dan could see it. His immediate reaction was, "That is way too low, he will be climbing out of it at like nine months!" At which point, I busted up laughing and told him babies usually can't even walk at nine months, I am sure they can't climb out of cribs. I felt fairly confident I knew what I was talking about, especially since my nephews and niece never have climbed out of their crib. (my niece is almost two and my sister hasn't even had to lower the crib). Unfortunately, I was wrong, oh so very wrong. I put Shad to bed last night and not too long later heard him giggling quite happily. I checked on the monitor to see what he was doing and saw he was climbing around in his crib, so I figured I better go check on him. What do I walk in to see? Shad standing in his crib with his arms all the way over the side, his head above the rail, leaning on his armpits and kind of hopping in place laughing and having a great time. His music player had the lights on, so he was playing with his shadow and thought it was great. Needless to say, I pulled him out of bed immediately and then proceeded to take the crib apart. Why had I not lowered it already you ask? Oh, I had. I had to actually take the mattress support out of the crib and put the mattress on the floor. Shad thought it was awesome having mom come in and play with him for nearly an hour and a half when he was suppose to be in bed and acted like it was the best night ever just crawling around and climbing up and down on things. He did seem pretty ready for bed close to the end though, fortunately I got the crib back together and finally got him back to bed. I think he might now be stuck for a few more months at least. Thankfully, just recently I had seen the mattress on the floor idea online, I didn't really anticipate needing to use it quite yet. Little bit creepy how Dan picked the exact age Shad would decide to start trying to escape, but I can admit he got it right.

"C" is for climbing

Dan always said he would prefer our children do extreme sports than traditional team sports, and it is looking more and more like that might be the case. Rock climbing might interest Shad, as of this point climbing ANYTHING interests Shad. The list includes but is not limited to: the stools, the kitchen chairs, the bookshelves, the window, the couches, computer desk, the closet doors, the fridge, the bathroom cupboards, his crib (fortunately he is too short to get further than his knees with his arms above him for most of these things) his toys (the ball popper is one of his favorites to knock over and climb on), me, and of course poor Solo. Shad is at the point of obsession. Today he woke up during his nap and started to climb around and then fell asleep and fell over again. This picture of him at the bookshelf was followed by a less flattering one of his eyes closed, not from the flash but because he was so tired he couldn't keep them open. Don't worry though, he was still climbing. Apparently, he inherited his dad's will to never give up. Maybe he will be like his cousin, Zayden, and climbing flag poles by the age of eight. It wouldn't be the only thing they have in common. I am ready to admit my son has some red in his hair. Now if I could just figure out how to keep "C" from being for concussion since I obviously can't completely prevent the climbing we could all relax a little.

If Dogs Could Talk . . .

Generally when pondering this question, I think it would be a great thing if dogs could talk. After all I am a vet tech and it would make our job much easier if the patient could just say, "it's my right thirteenth rib that hurts," or, "I ate three packages of floss last night," or, "I'm not really sick but if I act like I am and refuse to eat then they offer me steak," etc. I also think it would be nice at those times when I am feeling down and my dear sweet dog comes up to snuggle to know what he would say if he could express what his eyes show. (Although it might sound something like, "honestly lady, you think you have it bad, I get ignored all day and find going out to the bathroom super exciting because it means I am not being climbed all over by that wierd little person you brought home or being kicked out of bed. . . .") Or, it might be what his eyes express which would be nice. The reason this all came up though, was because the other night I was horrified to realize just how much the dog really understands. Dan and I were having a casual conversation when a certain three letter word starting with "S" and ending with "x" came up. To our shock Solo jumped off the bed and excitedly headed down the hallway. This may not seem significant to many people, however if you have a dog that is allowed on your bed you probably understand that in order to have privacy sometimes they need to be banished from the room. Now, Dan happens to be a major sucker for those puppy-dog-eyes, which means every time Solo gets locked out he gets some treats or a bone to chew. So, why was the dog so excited at that three letter word? He actually recognized it as his personal treat time. Now, I at first thought there is no way on earth it was intentional, so we tested it a few more times. Each time it was said Solo once again got excited and then finally perturbed that nothing was happening. Sadly, for him no one got lucky that night, and I was grateful that the dog can't talk to tell you all the other things he may or may not understand. Mostly, it was just a little spooky and reminded me not to underestimate how smart he is. After all, he is smart enough to realize that if you come when called that just means your play time ends short, and if the door is open make a break for it, because you may not get time to play later.

Juvenile Diabetes

Almost two years ago my nephew Ashton was diagnosed with type 1 Diabetes. While it is treatable there is still no cure and Ashton checks his blood sugar levels between 8-10 times daily and gets about 5-6 injections daily as well. They have learned to make it just another part of life, but it is certainly something that you have to care for each and every day. In recent weeks other members of our family have been diagnosed as well and just point out how far reaching this disease truly is. Each year my sister's family has done a walk for a cure to help get Ashton involved in a good cause and raise money for research to find a cure. One amazing thing they have learned is that in Ashton's lifetime researchers expect to find a cure for this disease! In hopes to make that as soon as possible I am including this link so if there is anyone who happens to come across this page and wants to donate they can go to his donation page(all money raised goes directly to research to find a cure):http://walk.jdrf.org/walker.cfm?id=87593866

Full update on Shad--and I mean FULL (i.e. extremely long)

Thought everyone might want a little more information on how Shad is doing. He is now just over eight months old and about seventeen pounds. He is wearing six to nine month clothes for the most part although his up to six months onesies still fit best. (I am just guessing, but I don't think he will be a line-backer). As previously mentioned he is on the move now and managed to flop all the way from the bedroom across the master bath and into our closet where he tried to climb onto my road-bike. Wait, road bike in the closet? Yes, it was suppose to be more convenient for the winter so I could ride the trainer inside rather than get it from our detached garage every time I wanted to use it, however I broke my bike Tuesday among other things so . . . i digress. Shad was trying to climb on my bike-perhaps he is aware he has a road-bikers physique as opposed to the line-backer as well, we can only hope. Dan is convinced Shad is going to be the next great American cyclist-watch out Lance! Anyway, Shad is flopping, and proving to be pretty fast, and now I have to pay much closer attention. He also discovered Solo's water dish the other day and thought it was quite interesting until he was all wet on tile on a cold day. On the bright side, maybe he will avoid the water dish now.

He is also on solid food now, although I realize this is much more difficult to do than I had previously imagined. I figured, put food on spoon, put spoon in mouth, baby eats. Any mother knows that is a hilariously naive perspective. So...we are in that trying a gazillion things that he refuses to eat only to then prepare something he will eat and then also give him his cereal and nurse him phase. What a joy. There is a small list of things Shad will eat now, including: applesauce, bananas, some peas, chicken, rice on occasion, cheerios (he is quite into feeding these to himself) some home-made chicken soup our neighbor brought to us, and the only two things he has liked the first time he tried them; refried beans and Mexican rice. Apparently someone has some Spanish blood in them or he has good taste after all. I happen to love refried beans and Mexican rice. Things Shad refuses to eat include broccoli, green beans, mashed potatoes, spinach, zucchini, corn, and peas the first fifty times we tried them. One day it was so bad that after I had tried feeding him three different green things he finally refused to even eat his applesauce from a green spoon. Unfortunately, he still also wants to eat the dish rag every time I wash his face. He is also able to use a sippy cup now, although he prefers to play with it.

Shad continues to wake up very happy which is so great, since his mother is the opposite. At least when I get up with him at a ridiculously late hour in the morning he is very pleasant. He is also becoming very vocal especially when he is happy. He makes the most noise after eating and in the bath. Most of the things he says sound like "die, die, die," "gggrr" "yeh, yeh, yeh," or heavy breathing. All of them come out sounding like he is about to do something terrible to you which makes it all the funnier.

His favorite things to do are flop around -especially on the changing table, have you blow on his face so his hair blows back-he thinks this is just hilarious and makes a very funny face, pull Solo's hair and ears, suck on the washcloth in the bath-especially after wiping it on the side of the actual bathtub instead of the toddler bath he is sitting in-go figure, be tickled, sing songs, and read books-preferably touch and feel books or ones with animals since his mom does all of the noises and then Solo joins in and makes noises for all of them too. How fitting that we dressed up as the circus for Dan's parents Halloween party. Shad was a leopard, I was the ring-master and unfortunately Dan came straight from work and his wife didn't tell him what her plan was so he got stuck being himself as the side-show. It really wasn't a stretch, except the part where I was supposedly running the show.

As you can see we are doing well. Shad continues to be spoiled like crazy at his aunt Myndi's house every Monday and him and Dan still have their Manly Monday afternoons where they get to hang out which I think is a great thing. Unfortunately, Shad has decided he likes to go to bed earlier and is usually in bed before I get home on Monday or Dan gets home Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday. Last night was a pretty typical example, and so when Dan got home he went in, got Shad out of bed and cuddled him in the rocking chair for a little bit just to spend some time with him. Shad of course never knew the difference as he slept through all of it but some day we will have to tell him that even though his daddy missed seeing him before bedtime he still made sure he at least got to hold him. It of course, melts my heart when he does that.

I also like to spy on Dan through the video monitor when he goes in to check on Shad or fix his blanket before we go to sleep. He is quite meticulous about Shad's blanket being just so and likes to give him a kiss or little back rub too. I know it is hard for Dan to be gone so much and he does such an awesome job of trying to spend quality time with us whenever he has the chance. I can't imagine there is any more anybody could possibly want to know following this post so I will rap it up, if anyone has even made it this far.