Friday, February 14, 2014

Love - True Undconditional Love

James loves me for no other reason than I am his and have been since the moment I knew I was pregnant.

Even before then.

Today I am watching him snuggle in our huge bed, smile back when he smiles at me, and run to snuggle when he points at the pillow next to him.

No parent should ever have to outlive their child.

My heart is breaking for a family in CA who had to say goodbye to their 6 year old daughter.  I only became familiar with their story in the last month or so through another friend.

People I don't know and I can't stop grieving for them.

Thursday, February 13, 2014

Food Fight - And Not The Fun Kind

Getting James to eat something new is our latest battle.

Well, unless it's chocolate.

We have been concerned because his diet stays about the same.  So we added Pedia Sure shakes, which he inhales to the point where we have had to limit how many he gets to have or else the result is constipation.

Now, one of his favorite things to eat are animal crackers.  We, being the logical people we are, figured that if he would eat food in fun shapes that we should try something new and fun.

Enter the dinosaur shaped chicken nuggets.

And cue up 3 nights of crying and fighting from a child who acted as if we were torturing him slowly.

He swallowed a total of 3 tiny pieces in 3 nights before we gave up.  There was no way around it, no way to get him to eat them, and we were all miserable.

A couple of days after the last attempt I baked some chocolate chip cookies.

James once again refused to eat them.  He just didn't want anything new and he didn't recognize them.

Until I was sitting on the couch Monday night, munching away, and he noticed the chocolate. And leaned in and took a bite of the half eaten one in my hand.

Wait.  I should clarify.

First, he touched it with his hand.  Then he leaned in and let the edge of the cookie touch his lips.  He smiled at me, leaned in again, and this time opened his mouth and sorta licked it while letting his teeth touch the surface.

Then he consumed that one and two more.

The husband and I agreed thatv we are going to make a batch of nuggets and sit on the couch eating them, while ignoring him.

It will either work or we will have to find another way.  I mean, there are only so many grilled cheese sandwiches that one toddler can eat, right?

Wednesday, February 12, 2014

Monday, February 10, 2014

The One Where He Does It His Way

James is pretty good at figuring things out.

Whether it is on his own or by watching us, he only has to see you so something once or twice to get the hang of things.

Course, most times he will do things he is own way.

Case in point:

We bought a new stroller last week.  The old one goes with the infant car seat that his new cousin is using, so we handed that off to my SIL and invested in something newer.

The new stroller doesn't have a tray in front for cups and snacks.  Not that we always take those things with us.  It is more often needed for his LeapPad and my iPhone.

My solution to the snack issue was to get a couple of those toddler snack cups.

For those not familiar with them, these plastic cups come with a rubber lid that fits very snuggly on top.  The lid itself is soft, and cut into 4 or 5 pieces that allow your child to put their fingers and hand into the cup to snag things, take them out to eat, and never spill anything if the cup is dropped.

So, we took the opportunity to test one out after breakfast when he asked for some animal crackers.

That kid turned the cup upside.  He shook it.  He spun it.  I was able to get him to put his finger in and snag a cookie to pull out.

Then he sat it on the table in front of him, used his right hand to BEND THE PLASTIC WEDGES UP, then grabbed a cookie and ate it with his left hand.

30 seconds later he found the seam of the lid and pried it off.  It was thrown to the floor, he opened his pop-up book, and continued to snack with his new bowl with handles.

Cause that is all it is now.

Tuesday, February 4, 2014

Hello, February

Work has been killing me.  Add to that the loss of a work laptop, having to relocate to our bedroom to work on my husband's computer during the day, and I have no itch to really do anything related to a computer at the end of the day.

Which is why I am taking a minute to say we are all alive.  The cold weather didn't get to us, the rain hasn't flooded us again, and things are pretty much the same.

I swear more updates soon, but work has a Tuesday deadline.  And I am really needing to get caught up ASAP.