Love Lately {November 8, 2013}

Well hello there. My name is Katie or better known as MIA. As in I've been MIA from this little ol' blog for much longer than I would care to admit lately. While I miss it, I have been very busy single parenting and planning the biggest 2 year old bash imaginable (ok, the biggest two year old bash I've ever thrown, how about that?)

Let's get on with it, shall we?

{one}
My 'almost' two year old!  As Cruz's 2nd birthday is almost officially upon us (next week to be exact), I can't help but get a little sappy looking back on his pics from the past two years and how much he has changed and captured our hearts. Check out this adorable little dude!

You can also find his monthly updates here.

{two}
The bash. Tomorrow we have approximately three thousand people (or at least it feels like it) coming to our house to celebrate Cruz man. I've been working on decor all week, we get our new sectional delivered today and will put the finishing touches on everything tonight. I love this part of being a mama.

{three}
My man. I'm picking up Nick from the airport today and we are going to surprise Cruz at daycare this afternoon.  I don't think Cruz or I could be more excited to see him! This is week two of him being gone for training for his new job and it's easy to say we are missing him something fierce. But we made sure to stick in his mind with fun little pics and videos like this all week:

{four}
Sweets and treats. I fully intend on gorging myself on cupcakes (thanks to auntie Morgan), Nothing Bundt Cake and candy all weekend long and I'm not even sorry about it. I mean, I've basically been doing this since Halloween last week, so why stop now?

{five}
The freakin' weekend. My weekend officially starts on Friday like the rest of you all for once and I'm loving it! I get to skirt out of work a tad bit early too. Can't beat that!


Hope you all have as much fun as I know I will this weekend!

23 Months!

What's New with Cruz:

{Sleeping} 

Still sleeping like a rock star - goes to bed by 8:30pm and sleeps until anywhere from 7am-8am. Naps once a day usually going down at noon and sleeping for 1-2 hours. This past month I have noticed that he isn't as into rocking before bedtime, instead we read a book and after we're done he will often tell me "mama, I go bed" - I love that he is becoming more independent, but part of me misses our conversations and time while rocking him to sleep.

{Eating}

This kiddo has definitely developed an attitude about eating these days. He used to be such a great eater and would essentially eat whatever we gave him. Now at dinner, he will push his food around hit plate, onto the floor and just flat out refuse to eat what we prepare. He is definitely more interested in what is going on around him and you can tell he just doesn't want to miss a thing. Maybe it's time I start feeding him in a dark, boring room. =) I mean with my fantastic cooking ability he should be gobbling up everything I'm putting in front of him, right??  He has been loving fruit as usual, not loving veggies and eating steak, hamburger and chicken like a boss. Oh, and he loves his mama's egg salad and eggs in general.

Eating the gouda Mac & Cheese with papa
(I still crave this stuff)

{Little Helper}

While he has become independent in some ways, I also love how willing he is to help. Little man wants to be involved in everything we are doing - whether it be making dinner, folding clothes, cleaning the house, making the bed - he loves to help. And I love getting him involved in these kinds of things. I mean who doesn't love a little help when you are folding your third load of laundry of the day?? In regards to the egg salad that he just loves eating, he is the best at that. He will crack the eggs, squeeze in the mustard and help me stir it up.

Helping us pick out pumpkins

{Talking}

My absolute favorite of the month has been his new-found use for "who-ray!" (hooray). For example, after squeezing his nose for boogs the other night (which he hates), he shouted, "mama, we did it! who-ray!" It's about the cutest thing I've ever heard.

He is talking like crazy. Like I cannot even recall all of the words and phrases this kiddo knows. And I don't know where he learns them all! More on this topic to come.

After this he said, "mama, I dump it all out."

{Playtime}

He loves - playing in the sand, running around the house, coloring, watching Mickey Mouse, playing trains or tractors, putting together blocks, going for walks/runs (of course he does, he gets to sit in the stroller while mama does all the work), sidewalk chalk, reading books and pretending to cook with bowls and utensils on the kitchen floor. 

His 2nd fun run! Omaha Henry Doorly Zoo

We have been working on getting him to play the game Memory. This was/is my absolute favorite game and I cannot wait to beat him play with him soon. Right now he just wants to turn over all the cards and it frustrates the heck outta me since I like them just so. =) We are also working on his flash cards, days of the week, counting to 20, spelling/writing his name and recognizing numbers. Right now he recognizes the number 1, 3 and 8. For some reason this kid is infatuated with the number 8.

{Tantrums}

Now these...these can go. Mama doesn't appreciate the tantrums. Case in point below. This is my sweet little boy throwing a tantrum in Marshall's the other day when I was trying to get him to pose for a quick pic so I could show his daddy a jacket I wanted an opinion on. He wanted none.of.it. And speaking of shopping, my favorite shopping buddy has started becoming a toddler tornado when we are out and about...unless I bribe him with something to eat, my iPhone (which he happened to throw onto the concrete floor during a fit at Hy-Vee the other day - fortunately it didn't break) or something else to keep him busy. Yes, I do bribe my child, however, I don't really care as long as it means I can get the grocery shopping done. 

Such a drama king

{Development}

Little man is weighing in at 28.8lbs these days. He is wearing mainly 18-24 month or 2T clothing and size 6/7 shoes. He writes mainly with his right hand, but has been known to randomly color or draw with his left. He has started trying to undress himself and likes to pull his socks off and put them back on, along with his shoes. He runs more than ever and loves to dance. Unfortunately, both of these come with lots of meetings with his head to the floor. Let's just say he has his mama's grace.

                           

I cannot believe that this time next month, our little will be TWO! How in the heck did the time fly by so quickly? I'm pretty sad that I no longer have my baby, but now a toddler! I'm looking forward to this next stage in his life, but will miss my little baby boy.

22 Months!

Happy 22 months, little man!

As each month continues to fly by, I can hardly believe he is almost two. How I want to savor every minute with him, but I just love seeing all of the new things he does each day.

What's new with Cruz:

Development - up to 27lbs, has 4 new teeth (16 total), wearing size 18-24 / 2T clothes and size 6 shoes, diapers are size 4, and his hair has gotten even blonder. Loving his thick, wavy blonde hair - definitely got that from his daddy. He had his sixth haircut this month - his hair grows like a weed.

Sleep - started going to bed earlier this month to work better with daycare schedule - in bed between 8-8:30pm with the goal of waking by 7:30am. While I'm bummed that I get even less time with him after work, it's good not having to wake him up every morning before daycare, so I get some time with him in the mornings.  He's still on one nap a day - noon - 2pm approximately. I'm also glad to hear that he has accommodated so well to napping at daycare - although he was asking for a "blankie" to bring, which it sounds like he was asking his teachers because they other kiddos use them.

Daycare - officially comfortable - doesn't cry when I leave (may say "noooo") but easy to tell him daddy or I will be there to pick him up. As I was picking him up the other night and he was the last one there, his afternoon teacher told me he is by far the smartest kid in the class, knows colors, numbers, ABCs - all of the teachers that go in his room rave that he already knows them by name. (Totally not bragging about it, but I do love hearing people talk about how much he knows. Makes this mama proud.)

Although, we did have a couple issues in daycare with a little biter. Cruz was bitten three times by the same little girl - when I asked him who did it (because daycare can't - understandable), he told me "mama I told Vivy no bite. Bite naughty!" While I was a protective mama initially, I get that these things happen. Let's just hope it stops - I can't imagine how Vivy's mama feels getting talked to about her little one biting all the kiddos.

First day of his new daycare...just not too sure

Loves to sing - ABCs (all the way through!) - although LMNOP sounds like one letter - and Take Me Out To The Ballgame is a new one (my favorite part - he says "root root root for the Cubbies" but it sounds like tubbies). He also came home from daycare singing "head, shoulders, knees and toes" while pointing to every body part but those he's singing about. He still requests "Sunshine" and "Rock Bye" at bedtime.

Play time - loves going "weeeee" down big slides at the park and on the swing. The no fear thing is kicking into high gear and he want to climb up the slide and the fake rock climbing wall which is just too scary for me. His train table has been the toy of the millennium - he goes to bed asking to play trains and wakes up the same way. We are sooo appreciative of the Lynch's for giving it to our little guy.  He also still loves his tractors, coloring, airplanes, painting and playing in his big boy kitchen. And the iPhone, he is a huge fan. Our fave app - My Furry Friend. Check it out, you won't be sorry.

He looks like one of the big boys on his iPhone

TV - yes this is a topic - he still loves him some Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, but these days when Mickey asks a question and waits for kiddos at home to answer - Cruz answers back! And he's generally correct. It just blows my mind. Plus when they call trusty old Toodles in for a Mouseketool, Cruz usually knows which one they should use and shouts it out. It's too sweet. He's also incorporated a little Chuggington into his TV time and loves watching the trains with dada.

Doesn't everyone lay around watching TV like this?

Eating - he loves to eat next to mama or dada in regular chairs at restaurants these days, although his high chair is still the best place to keep him - and your food - contained! While I was traveling he and daddy feasted on filet - Cruz is down to eat 4 oz himself! - and grilled chicken breast. Dipped in applesauce, of course. He's also a big fan of peanut butter & jelly, egg salad, peas, green beans and mixing everything on his plate in his glass of milk and then digging it out and eating it. He loves snacks - grapes, bananas, dried fruit, fruit snacks and if he had his way, cookies every.single.day. He also loves helping me cook...or let's be honest, throw together sandwiches, because there isn't a lot of cooking that goes on in our kitchen.

His regular perch when we are in the kitchen

Favorites - TV, books, toys, activities, snacks, hiding from dada & surprising him, cookies, pulling all of the dishes out of the cupboards & playing with them (still, he's done this for the past six months and still loves it!), reading books to us (he knows every word in the 100 words book), watching Mickey Mouse. He also loved soaking up some last of the season swim time with us over Labor Day weekend.

Not so favorites - getting his diaper changed, pulling him away from his trains to go nigh nigh, taking pics (definitely needs to get over this...).

Potty training - is tough! We had such great momentum, but lately he's not loving it. Daycare has been helping by taking him to the toilet every hour and he's doing well, but at home he wants to fight it and not go. I just need to be more stern and need help from his daddy.

Talking - speaking in full sentences these days and while I would like to pretend we know exactly what he is saying, I find myself having to ask him a couple times or guess and then he furrows his brow and I can sense his frustration with his mama, like "come on lady, why can't you figure out what I'm trying to say?" He is talking soooo well these days. I love that he can communicate with us and tell us what he wants/needs. And his voice? It's just the cutest, sweetest sound in the world.


Here's to another great month with the best little guy around!!

My boys

21 Months Old!

What's new with Cruz...

Talking - he continues to impress with his mad talking skills. He really just picks up on every little word we say and some that I'm not even sure where he learned them. 

• Mine - definitely can do without this one
• Peanut butter - the kiddo tasted it for the first time this month and is.a.fan. More on that later.
• Eat it - as he's shoving parts of his meal to his daddy or I when he doesn't want anymore
• Popcorn - and he loves it
• Sunshine - he says "mama shun-sine" when he wants to sing "You Are My Sunshine" while we rock
• Hip-up - hiccup. I'm not sure I've heard him have hiccups since he was a baby, but recently gets them quite often and it's super cute. "Mama hip-up!"
• Phrases
• I need it - in relation to his sippy, toy, snack, etc
• Here you go!
• I got it 
• I want it - when someone else has something he wants
• I don't want it - when he doesn't want to do something or is mid-fit
• Come on! - whenever he wants you to do something with him or follow him
• I found it - when he finds a toy he's been searching for
• I did it! - proud of himself

Singing - this boy loves to sing. It started with a couple lullabies we regularly sing while we are rocking to bed - "Rock A Bye Baby" (he asks for "Rock Bye")  and "You Are My Sunshine" (and "Shun-sine").  Daddy has taught him "Take Me Out To The Ballgame" and we recently got him to sing the "ABCs" all the way through. It is all about the cutest thing I've ever heard. (Just as I'm typing this, we are watching the CMA Music Fest and as he is listening to Kasey Musgraves, he is singing back to her "Hey - ah - aay."

Tickling the ivories with his cousins

Eating - picky, picky and more picky this month. It always seems like he eats better for everyone else but us. We've had lots of tantrums over dinner - tossing food off his tray, mashing it on his tray and pushing it off the edges. Some days he will eat something...and the next it's the worst thing ever. BUT we did introduce peanut butter and you wouldn't believe how much he loves it!

Maybe if I made ice cream for him every night.....

Games - He's always been good at correlating the noise to the animal when we ask him "what does a pig say?" "Oink!" Lately, we play a game where I ask him "does a puppy say 'moo'?" and he says, "no mama, cow!" We go through every single animal he knows like this....and he's like "no mama (you silly adult, a puppy doesn't say that!)"

Counting the creamers at breakfast
(can you tell he's saying "twooo" here?)

Potty training - little man has officially begun going in the big boy potty and I love it. Back in May he started telling us "poo poo" and "pee pee" when he had to go...and generally he did just that. Nanny J and I had talked for a long while about it and I just wasn't ready. Finally...finally! I talked to Nick and we decided to give it a shot. And so we are in the midst of potty training little man and he is doing so well! I have to admit there has been many times he's been running around the house nakey lately after going on the big boy potty with his arms stretched in the air, yelling, "I pooo pooooo!" I don't care who you are, that's just cute! :)

Child care - all in one month we have had our last day with nanny J and started a new daycare (more to come on that) - and on both of those days I cried my eyes out. 

Toys - this kiddo was spoiled with a new man kitchen this month and he loves it so much. And while I'm not impressed that it currently resides in our living room and covers up the entire fireplace, I have to say that I love how happy it makes him. And playing with it brings me back to my younger days as well.

This month has been another great one. I absolutely love every minute of our little guy. He is seriously (no, seriously) so smart and lovable and awesome. 

Happy 21 months, little Mango! 

20 Months Old!

Twenty months old! Happy day, little man!

What's new with Cruz...

Eating - overall he eats really well, but still seems to be getting more picky than usual. We've figured out how to make him eat certain foods, like chicken, other meats, some veggies...dip, dip and more dip. Whether it's grilled chicken dipped in applesauce or hard boiled egg dipped in yogurt. If he can dip it, he's usually bound to eat it. I've also tried reintroducing him to berries, specifically blueberries and strawberries. If you remember a few months back he was having an allergic reaction to both. When he ate them the outside of his mouth would break out in little red bumps for about a day. This month, he's had both and seems to be doing ok with them.

Sleeping - still good on this front, as long as he has his normal routine (here). One nap during the afternoon for about two hours and a 9pm bedtime keeps him sleeping in until 8am, which is perfectly timed to when nanny J arrives for the day.

Toys - he is all about swimming and water, so his new pool has been a big hit. He also has a floatie he uses in the big pool that he loves as much as us - he gets to splash and float around and we have our hands free for an adult beverage or two. He got his first baseball mitt and ball and set of golf clubs. I'm not saying we have the next Tiger Woods on our hands here, but the boy can connect a plastic golf club to a plastic golf ball better than most adults I know. If only he would learn that it's a "golf club" not a "bat" like he runs around calling it.

This kiddo has a better tan than I do. Not.Fair.

Words - the best of the month was when he spent an entire day fake burping for J and then would say, "I burp, 'cuse me." He may or may not have learned that from me the prior day when I burped while we were driving in the car and we both laughed so hard about it. Man, I'm a classy one. He's also added more colors to his language - white, pink (pint because he's not quite good with the k's yet), purple, black and brown. As well as started calling us mommy and daddy instead of mama and dada. Nick wasn't a fan of daddy, but I thought his little "mommys" were too cute. And of course he is copying everything we say, so he's picked up "be right back", "see you soon" and "here we go" to name a few.

Travel - let's not get excited here, it's not like he was jet setting across the US. Instead he had a couple trips up to good old northeast Nebraska to spend some time with my parents on the farm and with grandma Carol and D in West Point for the 4th of July. Mom & dad helped us out one weekend and Cruz is ecstatic anytime he can get to the farm to see the tractors and cows...and, of course, nana and papa. He also got to spend tons of time with his cousin, Laney. I absolutely love that these two are just under a year apart. They love playing together and saw each other not once, but twice this past month.

Speaking of cousins, his baby cousin Cole was born this past month and he is just the sweetest, little nugget ever. We just cannot wait to watch them grow up together.

The only place in America where little people can run free on a golf course

Cruz's first 5k - West Point Fun Run on the 4th

Potty chair - yes, we have officially broken out the potty seat this month and are slowly working on potty training. He tells us sometimes when he is going "pee pee/poo poo" so we decided that when he says this we are going to strip him down and stick him on the chair to see what he does.

He is going to hate me for posting this pic when he's older.

Parenting fail - He may or may not have also had his first drink of vodka this past month. Okay. He did. But it wasn't on purpose. He's just too quick for us. And no, this isn't the vodka drink. I'm not THAT bad of a mama to make him pose with the drink for a picture. This is him loving his Gatorade. He rode around the golf course like this most of the day.

 Until next month!

19 Months Old!

Happy 19 months, little superhero!

What's new with Cruz...

Words - this kiddo is talking up a storm! I can hardly remember all of the new words he is saying all the time...but I'm going to try. My absolute fave has been during our mornings together - tah-kee (or coffee for us laymen) - as soon as we pull up to the Keurig he is shouting it out! "Mama tah-kee?! Cruz meelt?"

A few others:  choco meelt (milk), Mai (Maya our puggle), boo boo, bat, heet (hit), choo choo, baby (to every kid passing by), side (slide), oh man, ou-sigh (spending a tons of time outdoors these days), poo poo/pee pee (generally in the correct context), swing, airplane, helicopter, ice cream, book. Seriously, he just picks up words we say and seems to easily learn how to use them correctly. He has also started catching onto Nick and I using our real names and tends to sneak them in when he wants our attention extra bad.

Sentences - or at least more advanced words/phrases. Nanny J has taught him "Ready! Set! Go!" and he also has his own take on it with "Here. We. Gooooo!" Then, the other day we were looking for his crayons and he digs them out of the toy box and says, "found it, mama!" I had never heard him say 'found it' before but then he was using it correctly. Dang smart, my boy. We will also get a "yet's go buh-bye, mama" or

No - now this is a word that can leave his vocabulary...immediately. Not sure where he learned it I guess I know where he picked it up, but I'm not happy about it. I miss the days when everything was 'yeah.' Not only the "no" but he also has gained a bit of a strong personality, err attitude, to go along with it. That can also leave.

Colors - not only does he love coloring, but he loves talking about colors. Some days he's on, others he's not. Lately he will always start with everything being "lellow" and then "boo."  After he thinks about it he can figure out if it's red or green.

Counting - I'm not exactly sure how much counting a 19 month old should know, but I think ten is a bit of a stretch. Seriously, the day I came home to hear that he had learned to count was one of my proudest as a mother. He needs some help, but when he shouted "tiin" I just melted. Smarty pants.

Food - overall he is still a rock star eater, but I notice he's getting more of an opinion about what he will put in his mouth. Fruit continues to be a fave, as well as cheese (uh, duh), yogurt, eggs, peas, cheeseburgers. He just gets picky when he doesn't have something to dip everything in...

Not really an eating pic BUT it involves food.
(He just loves pulling food off the shelves, lining it up on the floor...
and then leaving it there for me to pick up.)

Toys - I have to say that the barn and by far the tractors that he inherited (thank you!) from the Lynch's are his most fave toys ever to date. They go everywhere with him - J even has to take them to the park and if we even think about playing outside they are coming with us.He also loves baseballs, bats, and anything he can push and pull.

I'm sure I'm missing something, but this little dude is so amazingly fantastic. I can't wait to see what another month has in store for us.

 Hugs n' kisses, monkey!

18 Months Old!

Happy 18 months, little man! 

Does this mean I can stop counting in months and start saying he's a year and a half? When does it officially stop exactly? I mean I can't be saying he's 60 months old when he's like five, right? Right??

For the time being, the chalkboard is retired. I know, I know everyone is overwhelmingly upset. You all loved that it took me hours to get that thing just right each month. Not only was it a pain to clean from the prior month, but then figuring out what I wanted it to look like and actually drawing on the board itself was painful. As we all know, I lack any form of artistic talent - what you saw was what you got. Then couple it with the fact that I would forget to keep it out of reach of little man...where he would swipe either his hand or a color through it and I would be back to square one. Done. It's gone. That period in our lives is over.

Onto the man of the hour.

What's New With Cruz

Words:  he is just spewing new words every single day. I can't even believe how he soaks up everything we say or do and then spouts it out right when you least expect it. Some of my favorites of this past month - Mee-Mee (Mickey, as in mouse), Dah (Donald), Plew (Pluto), Goof (you guessed it, Goofy) and Pete-Pete. Evidently the chicks in the clubhouse don't matter or at least they don't to Cruz. He also loves saying "outsigh" (outside) just about every five seconds. Now that the weather is nice we can hardly contain him indoors. A couple other favorites are the overuse of "poo-poo" and "pee pee," but being that he uses them in context and is literally doing one of those two things when he says it, I suppose I can't be mad at that. He's finally learned "down" after saying "up" for both actions the past couple of months, "beep-beep" at cars now that he knows how to use the key fob and "(insert name here) sit!" while feverishly patting the space next to him. It doesn't matter where he is - on the couch, on our bed, in the bathtub - he always wants us to sit next to him. It's really is so darn cute.

Spending time with his new friends "outsigh"

He's also getting so much better with names. Mama, dada, papa, TiTi (Tessa), Jah Jah (nanny J) and Rah Rah (her fiance) are the norms, but this month he has added in quite a few more - Nanu (or Nano or my fave Nana), Bee Bee (Brittany), Lay-Ee (Laney), D (Dom or Duane), Sis (Sicily) and Day Day (Dayvaney).

Sleeping: has continued to be great. Goes to bed between 8pm and 9pm (closer to 9pm for some reason most nights) and sleeps right through until 8am when J gets to the house. Napping is still one a day for about 2 hours. I will say that I have come to luhhh-ove bedtime. We had a great little process down that ends with me getting to rock him for a couple minutes - it is some of my fave time with him.

TV: this is getting to be a problem. The kid just has to watch Mee-Mee. When he sees dada's truck (Nick's is the only one with a DVD player), or our TV in our room we hear "mee-mee" being chanted incessantly. And let's be honest, most times we give in and let him watch it.

Baseball: this kid loves baseball - he likes watching it (I swear he and his dad are the only ones who actually like watching baseball on TV), playing it, talking about it. He loves everything about it. Nick has started to take him to Ultimate Baseball Academy on Saturday mornings during Dominic's practice so he gets used to the field and practices a bit himself. We've also gotten him a tee at home that he loves to hit off of. And can the boy hit a ball! It's truly impressive. Nick taught him to "tap the plate" and put the bat on his shoulder. And Cruz does it every single time. It's the cutest thing. He also got to go to his first pro baseball game when we were in KC - and absolutely loved it.

Baseball practice at Ultimate Baseball Academy

First professional baseball game

Giving mama some love on vacation

Perfecting his baseball swing

Diapers: he's also started this really not so cool thing where he will pull his diaper out from underneath him when we are changing him. There have been too many little things rolling out of this dipe when he does this that I hardly find it funny anymore. I don't care to pick up #2 when it rolls on my floor.

Eating: he still eats well so we can't complain there. He has gotten a bit pickier with is foods, has to dip everything in ketchup, he eats far too many fruit snacks and has gotten thisclose to sticking a pea up his nose that we couldn't retrieve.

Eating some Red Mango

Favorite Activities: this month Cruz continues to love to color. Colors, coloring books, chalk outside and inside. He will literally color anything (no really, don't you remember this post?)  And games, he loves coming up with games. Like the "hidden hand game" that we created and play literally every night. It starts like this - he's laying on his changing table while I'm putting his PJs on...and you know how tight they make toddler PJs so there isn't any loose clothing, well his hands get stuck in the sleeve and we sit and look for his hands for at least 5-10 minutes. It never seems to get old with this kiddo!

Coloring mad man

Hidden hands game

Happy 18 months, you sweet little monster!

"Cheese, mama!"