Little Man Update

Little dude's learning and development are on overdrive lately and I find it hard to keep up on all of the new things he is doing, learning and saying.

Juice is a new word for us lately (yep, we've introduced juice, I know bad mom alert) and it's just about the most adorable thing ever to watch his full, little lips pucker out as he says "jeeew-ce" (extra emphasis on the "eeew").

I'm not sure where he learned it, but he now does the "I don't know."  When I ask him where Maya is - hands out to the side as if to say "I don't know" while looking around for the dog. Where are your shoes? - hands out. It's so cute.

It's also been like Dance Party USA up in here. If there is music on, Cruz will bounce up and down and shimmy his hips to the music. He loves to dance.

And, he has started giving Eskimo kisses. The other night I showed him what they were and he never looked back. He was walking all over the living room giving Eskimo kisses to me, the hubs and even trying to land one on the pup - she wasn't having it though. This is a welcome gesture since he has recently stopped giving us kisses when asked. Instead, he leans his forehead down expecting us to kiss him there instead of the lips. It's enough to make this mama sad...so the enthusiasm for Eskimo kisses has been welcomed. 

Here are a couple of other things I'm loving:

Major photo overload from J, the nanny

The best thing while I'm working is to get a pic or video of little man while he's hanging with J. It brightens my day and makes me feel like if I can't be there with him, at least I can see him enjoying himself. 

 

Daily notes from the nanny

She also leaves a detailed note of their adventures, which is awesome. I love reading up on what they did all day long and what they worked on. She is really great (have I said that before?)

Helping mommy with laundry

Lately he has been quite the little helper - we do laundry, dishes, fold & hang his clothes and clean up together. He loves to help, though, most often the task takes double the time to complete, and I may complain outwardly to the hubs, but internally I love it. 

Eating mama's cooking We struggle to get him to eat much meat unless it comes in the form of lunch meat or a turkey dog, so imagine my surprise when he loved him some shredded chicken. I had intended it to be for our dinner that night - chicken taco salads - but after he tried it and then dramatically banged his hands together for "more" and rubbed his chest rapidly for "please" - it quickly become part of his meal that night too. 

Speaking of crock pot chicken - my SIL gave me this recipe for a quick and easy way to whip some of the yummiest chicken up for tacos, etc. Thaw out chicken breasts, toss them along with a small jar of salsa and a packet of taco seasoning into the crock pot on low for 6-7 hours (stirring periodically). The house will smell super yum and you will be wife of the year for making one of your hubby's favorite meals (well, at least I am - thankfully for me my husband's expectations of my cooking skills are very low).

Sneak in the good stuff

I'm not sure if others have problems with this, but little man does not LOVE all parts of the meals we prepare for him, so we find ourselves having to be a bit creative. For one thing, if you start him off with veggies he doesn't love (basically anything but peas) to ensure he eats them before the better part of the meal comes, you cannot let him see the yummy stuff. If he catches a glimpse of any fruit or pasta, you're screwed. He will not eat any of the veggies and will continue to beg for "more, please."  The other night, though, I outsmarted him and just stuck the veggies in the good stuff. He loves him some shells & cheese, so I threw in some steamed broc and voila! - he ate it. Score: mom 1, Cruz 0.

I feel like I'm kind of getting the hang of this mommy role. Some days are better than others, of course.