A Crazy Few Days For Mom

Check out my Babies Gone Wild photo entry in week 2, gallery 1! Those poor saps don't stand a chance...based on some of the entries, there's a good chance I will make it to the finals, if not win the dang thing! (That's horrible to say).

To call the past five days stressful would be a complete understatement for Mom. I’ve been in rare form the past week thanks to a reoccurring ear infection and my SECOND molar coming in. Yep, the first one popped through last week, and I’ve got another one coming in now. Dad went on a little va-cay with his Dad, my Papa, to Colorado, which was originally encouraged by Mom. But after having me for 5 hellish days and with me being unbelievably crabby, she’s sort of regretting it!

For starters, we had Baby Recognition Sunday at our church. Mom RSVP’d for the service and lunch following and it started out okay. We got to the church on time, I was dressed in my Sunday best, looking sharp as ususal, and Mom even managed to look a little put together as well. We made the group photo without much stress or headache, but by the time the service rolled around a half hour later, I was ready for my nap and was fussy as could be. We walked down the isle with all the other parents and their babies and stood in front of the congregation. Every baby sat quietly in their parent’s arms while the minister was speaking, but NOOO, not me. This was another opportunity to put on a show! I was wiggling and squealing and babbling and yelling, ‘Blah ba ba ba ma ma ma,’ for all to hear…louder than the minister on the microphone! Parents were looking at Mom with sympathetic smiles. After that, the families made their way to the back of the church, but not me. Mom marched me right over to the nursery and dropped me off. I was fine with it…I’d rather play with babies anyway. Lunch afterward was a nightmare and we won’t get into that…

Mom even made the mistake of taking me to lunch with her when she met up with a good friend who was in town a few days later. Well, between launching animal crackers across the room (one came within an inch of this guys head!) and hitting a metal tortilla bowl and have it loudly crash to the floor, Mom was physically and emotionally spent! (You think you are, Mom…try having an ear infection, teeth coming in, and a diaper rash all at the same time.) Grammie saved the day multiple times by picking me up and taking me home, giving Mom much needed relief. I even had my first sleep over with Grammie on Sunday night and it was great!

So, you single Mamas out there, you have my Mom’s sympathy. For single Mamas with feisty little redheads, you should get a friggin mother-of-the year award!!!

[[Sidenote: Mom's very proud to announce that she's finally lost 8 L-B's since April First...boo-ya! Now a dozen more to go, and we may be ready for an old lady swimsuit with a ruffled skirt this summer...awesome.]]

Babies Gone Wild Competition

Mom is officially nutso. She just entered me into the Alabama Baby Magazine's 'Babies Gone Wild' photo competition. Obviously, I'm going to win because I'm the cutest red headed baby ever, but I just never thought she would pull the trigger. She's officially become that mom...

...so I guess we're starting small and we're gonna work our way up...Get ready to see a supa-star in the making!

Words and Actions

I'll start with the good news first. I'm starting to say a lot of new words. This morning, I waved to Bella (otherwise known as 'Belba') and said, 'Hi!' My new words are really quiet, but Mom distinctly heard it. She thinks she's heard me say it before, but wasn't 100% sure until this morning. There are a bunch of new little words that I'm starting to say, but it's hard for my parents to keep track of them all! The good thing is, I'm learning to mimic my parents with words and actions, so I'm right on track with my verbal and physical development, according to my teachers.

So the bad news (according to Mom): I'm learning to mimic my parent’s words and actions! Mom fusses at Dad because he gets me all hyped up, loud and squeally-like, but what can I say…we have fun together. I particularly like to copy his funny (or obnoxious as Mom calls it) noises because it makes Dad laugh hysterically and then I laugh! Two peas-in-a-pod, my Dad and me…

So my parents have determined that I’m a morning person…no shot of espresso for a pick-me-up needed here. I favor my Dad in this respect and spring out of bed with a smile on my face ready for a new day. (Not to be confused with nap time…I don’t wake up very happy after a nap, but yell loud as a siren for my parents to get me the heck out of my crib). But in the mornings, I have a new fun-filled day of eating, drinking, napping, pooping, and playing to look forward to…

Earth Day

Today, the beautiful spring weather couldn't have been more perfect to celebrate Earth Day. Mom thought we could plant a seedling of a tree in our yard, but decided that since I can't walk and would most likely not have any appreciation or understanding of planting a seedling, she opted to take me to the zoo instead so we could spend time outdoors in the sunshine and appreciate so many of the Earth's amazing creatures. We're members of the zoo and we've been a few times before, but I never cease to be fascinated by the interesting animal’s movements, noises, and the multitude of strange smells! Our first stop was to see the kangaroo's...Mom told me that kangaroo's go "Hop, Hop, Hop." She kept repeating the noises and I thought it was so funny, I copied her and said 'Hop!' I also learned that kangaroos are marsupials and that they carry their babies in their stomach pouches. Cool! I wish Mom had a stomach pouch...that would be fun to ride in! (She has a paunch, not a pouch, so it's not the same thing). Our next stop was the swamp area, where I got to see some scary alligators. Mom says they go "Chomp, Chomp, chomp," and did the arm motions to imitate a chomping alligator mouth and I thought that was hilarious! You can see me squealing with excitement in the photo. They didn't do anything particularly interesting and they were for the most part motionless, but they did blink their eyes a few times and that was really scary. We saw various interesting creatures, such as water fowl, monkeys, a gorilla, camels, and most importantly, rhinos from the 'rhino encounter' special exhibit. Those rhinos were exceptionally stinky and Mom made the snide remark that it resembled the smell of my poopy diapers x10. Har Har, mom...Very funny. After the rhino's, I was getting pretty crabby because I missed my after-lunch nap, so we skipped the African Sahara animals and made our way home. All-in-all, it was a great Earth day. Next year, we'll plant that seedling and I will be almost 2 and old enough to participate! Thank you God for the amazingly beautiful world you've created!

A Plaid Explosion

Is that a professional golfer about to play in the PGA tour? No. An extra for the remake of The Newsies? Nope. An adorable baby redhead forced to wear a ridiculous get-up by his mother like he's a silly little puppet? Absolutely. Let the record state...I did not pick out this outfit. Nor did I condone the purchase of it. As usual, Mom's to blame and of course she waits until Dad's at work to put me in it, because the woman knows Dad wouldn't allow it. Mom's been waiting to pull this little number out for a while and now that Easter's past and you can officially wear white, surprise...here it is. The pants alone might be somewhat acceptable...in fact, I had numerous ladies comment today on how cute I was with my 'golfer' pants and how much they love plaid pants on little boys. Fortunately, Mom didn't make me wear the hat in public besides when she took the pictures. Otherwise, their reactions/comments may have been a little different. So if Mom decides to make me wear the pants again, I'm cool with it. If the ladies like it, I like it. But throw in a coordinating hat and it just becomes too much. But of course, I'll smile for the cameras and pretend I like it...I would hate to take a bad picture...

My First Easter

Easter was crazy fun and I got tons of loot from the Easter bunny...he brought me lots of stuffed animals, eggs filled with animal crackers, and best of all, this weird plastic grass that's fun to play with and chew on that was in one of my baskets...that's right, I got multiple baskets...the bunny treated me well this year. No plastic eggs filled with money, unfortunately, but Mom says I might get some next year when I can participate in the egg hunt.

Mom, Dad, and I went to church in the morning...and I'm sure it would have been nice, but we wouldn't know. I went to the nursery and Mom and Dad sat in the lobby for the service because they got there late and the place was packed! But they left with a good message, so that's all that really matters. Afterwards, we spent half an hour driving around town trying to find a place open for my parents to get caffeine. Dad got his Mountain Dew and then Mom made him stop at Starbucks to get her coffee. FINALLY, we made our way to the botanical gardens to get photos of me with my basket of Easter goodies and my bubbles...I got a bottle of bubbles from my teachers, so Dad tried those out and I really enjoyed them. God blessed us with sunshine and beautiful warm weather and we enjoyed our hour in the gardens. Even Dad didn't mind Mom taking a million photos because the gardens were so nice!

We made our way to my grandparents house, where I got to see my Grammie, Papa, Gaga, Papa, Aunt Anne, Uncle Zack, and my Aunt Lara. We had a wonderful lunch, I took a much needed nap, and then I played the rest of the afternoon. As usual, I was the center of attention. Everyone took me outside to put me in the swing, and boy did I enjoy that! (As you can see in the pictures!) All-in-all, it was a great Easter...it would have made it complete if we could have seen my Mom's family, but we got to see all of them the weekend before Easter for a nice family dinner, fortunately. I look forward to next Easter when I can run around looking for easter eggs! See below for my Easter Slideshow...

By the way...HUGE NEWS!!!! I took my first two steps today! I wasn't holding on to any furniture or anybody's hands. All day today, I was walking along the edge of the couch, holding on with one hand...I guess I got enough practice, because I just walked without even thinking about it! Man, I hardly even tried standing on my own, although I have hovered in the air without support several times. I also learned to crawl up stairs on Easter as my Mom was taking pictures of me sitting on the steps at our house. I've said a few new words too: Bottle (sounds like bobble), Bella (sounds like Belba), Lara, boo (my Aunt Lara taught me this!), Boots (my stuffed Monkey from 'Dora the Explorer'), and a few others Mom can't think of at the moment... Mom and Dad are always amazed at every little thing I say and do and I always get squeals of delight from both of them with each new development.

Make a Smilebox slideshow

P.S. The endless photos of my backside is due to the fact that I'm wearing my custom seersucker pants with my initials monogrammed on them, made by Grammie, and Mom wanted to capture cute photos for Grammie's business marketing! Well, that and I have a really cute bum...

Hippity Hop, Easter's On It's Way...

No, I'm not pasty, Dad...I'm pigmentally challenged...You and Mom are ones to talk, whities...

Countdown to operation Easter Eggs: 2 Days! Two days, that is, until I get baskets socked full of goodies from my buddy, the Easter Bunny, to rot out my 8 teeth and my mind…Sweet! Now I know this guy isn’t quite as impressive as Santa…his gifts will be contained in a small straw basket and I probably won’t be cleaning up in the gift department like I did at Christmas, but I can’t help but look forward to getting some new stuffed animals to shred with my teeth and if I’m lucky, my Mom will let me eat a few sweets that the bunny man might bring. Yesterday, much to Mom’s horror, they gave me a whole cupcake at school…YUM! That was my first real sugar treat and now I’m hooked. Am I going to eat that plate of green beans, Mom? Will I eat that spoonful of sweet potato, you ask? I have one question for you: Is there frosting on it? No, there isn’t? Well, you have your answer then…FORGET IT! I like cupcakes and frosting and that’s it. But it serves Mom right…she forgot to bring hard-boiled eggs to school for my art project this week and (she thinks) she might have missed my class Easter party. (That's when they gave me the cupcake...to keep me preoccupied so I wouldn't notice that my mom wasn't there!) Slacker! Mom’s been studying for her ARE’s, so she’s a little stressed and forgetful these days, but there’s no excuse…

I’m also really hoping the bunny will bring me a few of those plastic eggs filled with money. Yep, the bunny sometimes brings money! Mom said the bunny used to bring my Mom and her sisters, my Aunt Alison and Aunt Lisa, cash-filled eggs when they were little…some had a dollar…some had a quarter…some had five dollars or more! Now THAT'S what I'm talking about…I will crawl around looking for plastic eggs if I can get my hands on a little cash-money. I could buy myself an H3 Hummer or something, like my Uncle Brent. Cool!

So my hopes are high for Sunday…I’ll keep you posted on the goods that I get.

Me and the Bunny

The quality of the picture (with the horrible flash) isn't that great...it kind of looks like the Easter bunny is taking a mug shot, so Mom added an Easter-y border to brighten it up. The black and white was taken to hide the fact that I had orange cording on my khaki's, which looked bad with my sweater, but now Mom's wishing she got the color! Oh well...I still look adorably chubby...and the bunny's pretty cute too...

The Easter Bunny

While Mom and I have been home the past two days, we've had a great time shopping for Easter Goodies for me! We went to a few places searching for my Easter Basket yesterday and we finally settled on one. It's a white basket with blue and white eyelet lining and very appropriate for 'Baby's First Easter'. However, Mom bought another one to customize and spray paint orange for next year, since orange has kind of become my color, thanks to the hair. Then Mom bought some cutsie Easter decorations, since she didn't have any, and even made use of some of the stuffed animals in my room, as you can see in the photo. This is a pretty big deal for Mom, breaking away from her comfort zone and buying 'cutsie' stuff for the house. Basically, if it's not black, she typically won't buy it, so decorating with pastel yellows, blues, greens, and pinks is a big step for her (this is the lady who put tons of black in a baby nursery...) So anyways, baskets with bunnies and chickies, lambs and ducks...and for some random reason, a fuzzy pig...How is that Easter appropriate? I guess because it's pink... are all dispersed throughout the living room, which is a nice and homey addition.

Today, we went to the mall to pick out a shirt for me to wear for Easter...I'm having custom seersucker pants made just for the occasion (Thanks Grammie!) so Mom wanted to find something to coordinate with it. While we were there, we realized that Mr. Bunny-man himself was there and kids were lining up to sit on his lap for a photo opp. Mom, of course, had to get a picture. So we waited in line, saw tons of kids crying and petrified by what must have been this big white over-stuffed rodent with enormously large ears. Great...am I having flashbacks to Christmas, or what??? But we waited our turn and while other responsible Moms had their children immaculately dressed in their Easter best, I'm in a grubby t-shirt and khaki's looking like a total loser. It finally dawned on Mom that my outfit was completely inappropriate for Easter keepsake photos, so what did she do? Stripped me down in public and changed me into one of my new 'back-up' Easter sweater vests and undershirt that she just bought. That was a liberating experience...to be in the buff with people watching. You should try it sometime. My khaki's happened to be casual cargo pants unfortunately, but would be somewhat tolerable ...otherwise, Mom would have walked over to the departments store and bought me a pair just so I would look cute. My socks were another story, so she took them off and I'm barefoot in the picture...she thought chubby baby feet would be far cuter than nasty old ill-fitting socks! So once I was all snazzed up ready to go, we walked up to the backdrop to find the Easter Bunny...who turned out to be the fuzziest, friendliest, ginormously adorable looking bunny I've ever seen. There was no freakiness factor, like the Big Cheese in red velvet at Christmas (sorry Santa...no disrespect). This bunny had a pink button nose, fuzzy white cheeks, cute chipmunk teeth, and floppy white ears. No intimidation there! Mom plopped me down and I hammed it up for the camera...the only baby, mind you, that didn't cry. Even the ladies taking the photos were laughing and all the Moms and Dads standing around were all, 'Awwww.' Mom will post the pictures tomorrow when she has access to a scanner...I'm not gonna lie, they're cute as heck...

Don't Bite Your Mama

Yesterday, we had inclement weather warnings all day and so Mom was forced to leave work early and pick me up from school...so we got to spend another part of the day together, which was a treat for both of us! (Athough bad for work!) Mom got a call from the school and they didn't have to ask her twice to pick me up...she was there in the blink of an eye to get me. When she arrived, I was contently sitting in my high chair snacking on graham crackers...while all the other babies were playing and happily standing in their beds looking around. Mrs. Ruthia knows what I like and how to keep me happy...FOOD!

So once we were home, my mom was changing my diaper and we were laughing and having a great time on the changing table...then, I don't know what came over me. She propped me up, so she could slip my pants over my behind, when I bent down and bit her on the arm...and broke skin. She screamed. I laughed. I had to...it was kind of funny. But then I got scolded...which is just mom saying 'No' firmly, so no big whoop. I bit my Dad the other day too. I guess you could say it's a hobby of mine. My Mom was a biter when she was a baby, according to her Grandma, so the apple doesn't fall to far from the tree apparently.

My parents have attempted to be firm with me lately when I act up. Silly parents... Mom's a softy, but I guess she's realizing I'm stubborn like an ox and you have to be consistent. When she feeds me and I'm no longer interested in eating and I spray food out of my mouth by blowing raspberries, she's started putting her hand over my mouth and saying "No!" Then I laugh. Have a little sense of humor, lady. And the floor's nasty and needs mopping anyway...

Making the Adjustment

This morning before Mom went to work, she came up to my nursery to find me completely saturated…After a full bottle of formula that my Dad fed me last night, I really had to go! (FYI, Dad can participate in feedings more frequently now…A relief for Mom!) For some reason, when I was nursing, I never really had that problem. Maybe because nursing required more of an effort than drinking from a bottle, so I didn’t attempt to drink as much…especially when I’m sleepy right before bed. But when the milks-a-flowing from the bottle, I’ll take what I can! Dad told Mom I drank a lot last night, but she didn’t realize how much until she found my wet sheets! So Mom cleaned me up and guilty fed me another bottle of formula for breakfast…except that I took it just fine without any objections and I could contently gaze up at her while I guzzled my bottle down, so that made her feel better. So I suppose giving up nursing won’t disrupt my life too much…and both Mom and I can cope easier knowing that we still get our snuggle time, just like before, but while I drink from a bottle instead. And the cool thing is, I can chomp on the rubber nipple to my hearts content without getting disciplined!

On another note, A VERY HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my Grammie!!!!

Is This Some Kind of Sick Joke???

I'm really confused...Is this some kind of sick April Fool's joke??? I’m not very happy with my mom today because she did something very upsetting…Mom has officially denied me the boob! And boy do I love my milk. What's with that??? What are you playing at, Mom? After ten blissful months, she’s decided to put an end to a beautiful thing. She said that after 9 months of pregnancy with me and 10 months of nursing, she wants her body back! Selfish woman. I guess my occassional misbehavior during nursing time finally did me in...I suppose I wasn't exactly cooperative at times. So, 'comfort boob' no longer…a sad day indeed.

Recently, I've developed something new to do when my parents give me food...I clap enthusiastically…especially if it’s something I really like! It’s pretty adorable, if I don’t mind saying so myself. (I never do). Today, Mom was feeding me cottage cheese and mandarin oranges, a delightful and nutritious snack, and every time Mom gave me a spoonful, I smiled with my mouthful of food and clapped my hands. That way, I can give them a clear indication if I like my meal or not…scream and bat at the spoon if I don’t, clap my hands and smile if I do!

Another thing I’ve learned to do is pinch, and I pinch my parents every opportunity I get. I pinch at my Dad’s neck and also at the back of my Mom’s arms where it’s flabby, her neck, and a few other places I won’t disclose. They don’t seem too crazy about it for some reason, but I think it’s fun and I like the feeling of squishing their skin between my fingers...

So my Mom got a large package delivered by FedEx and she emptied the box out and it has become a new source of entertainment for me…I spent most of the afternoon yesterday trying to crawl in it and move it around. I loved it so much, Mom decided to keep it in the living room again today so I could play with it. It might become a permanent fixture to the room, since it keeps me preoccupied for so long.

Mom and I went to the Botanical Gardens again today and the weather was beautiful… after all this nasty rain, it’s nice to get outdoors! Oh yeah...it was really cool because my friend the goose went ballistic this time and made loud squaking noises and flew to the other side of the lake when we were watching him...I was really intrigued! He must have been mad that Mom wouldn't let him snack on me. But anyway, I sure enjoy our time in the gardens so much and would do it every day if I could!