Mister Personality and Miscellany

I noticed that I tend to blog about the less appealing aspects of motherhood. The sleepless nights. Hefting a nearly 28 lb toddler around. The temper tantrums. The nap strikes. And I guess I write about that because I need a place to vent about this. But, overall, my son is an absolutely amazing little boy who has a fantastic, sunny personality. Dude and I called him Sunshine when he was an infant because his sunny smile lit up rooms. His nature is cheerful, overall. Even when he's cranky, he can be FUN!

This picture, I think, captures Little Man's personality.



He has such a joyous energy about him. Recently a post on The Bump discussed describing your little one in one word. I chose "Charmer." I think it suits him. The response he gets from people is amazing. Even from just photos online. I have many people I consider to be friends, of sorts, from meeting them on various message boards. I've reconnected on Facebook with some—along with friends from college and high school (or even elementary school). I find it nice, actually. Even though I thought I would NOT want to be in touch with anyone, considering how much I hated school overall (due to the bullying). Yet I'm glad to be in touch with everyone that I am and I actually wish I could spend time with my friends in person. But that's for another blog altogether, I think.

Right now, Little Man is actually napping. He went out with us on errands—buying a new sofa for our "family" room (small TV room next to our kitchen) and getting a birthday present for our oldest niece, Miss M. And, as an aside, it's not easy buying for a six-going-on-sixteen-year-old. So we ended up getting her a gift card per my sister-in-law's suggestion. I hope Miss M isn't insulted by the lack of actual present.

Again, Little Man is napping. He slept from around 8:15 pm to 6 am (he almost always wakes by 6:30). Then he napped early (9:15 to 10:30). I took him for a long ride around the block in his Little Tikes car. He was SO happy because he adores being outdoors. Then after lunch, we bought the sofa (because the dogs keep peeing on the current one) and did our Toys R Us run. Then Costco to get food for dinner. And basically the minute his head hit the crib (no pillow yet), he was fast asleep—that was at 3:40 pm. It's almost 4:30 as I type and hopefully he'll manage an hour and will be cheerful for the rest of the day. It seems that Little Man gets crankier when he hasn't napped well. Though I also think it's due to his inability to run around as much as he'd like.

Tomorrow we'll see Dude's side of the family. All seven cousins will be together. I'm curious to see how Little Man does, since he doesn't really interact with other children. And I'm actually taking him to The Little Gym for a free introductory class tomorrow. If he likes it, I'll sign him up for the rest of the session. I hope he does.

Until next time...
SweetNJMom signing off

Two Weeks Late... but 18 Month Stats!

Once again, I failed miserably at updating this blog. I don't know how other mom bloggers do it--especially if they also work. I spend most of my time with Little Man and trying to make our house a home (it is... it's just completely disorganized). So I have completely forgotten about blogging and mostly spend time on Facebook. Though I occasionally Tweet on Twitter. But I digress. Stats.

Height: 34 inches
Weight: 27 lb 9 oz
75th percentile for both.

So Little Man is doing well. He's talking more and more--though I don't always understand him. Our pediatrician is pretty laid back and answered all my questions. I'll keep an eye on his speech and if Little Man is NOT speaking in sentences by 21 months, I'll call for an appointment. Otherwise he doesn't go back until he's two. That's surreal. After the last 18 months of going either monthly or every 3 months, we have a 6 month gap. Then, I think, a YEAR'S gap between visits. My baby is such a BOY now.

See?



The photo was taken on January 31st after a snowstorm. Recent enough, I think. Little Man hasn't really changed over the last month. And I ended up taking most of my recent pics on my iPhone. (LOVE it by the way.) I need to get back to documenting things with the little Cannon ELPH I have.

Other stats to share...

Diaper Size: 5!!!!! I can't believe how big he is!
Shoe Size: 6 wide (and he needs more shoes, all the donated ones from family are regular width)
Clothing Size: 24 Month (though he has a short torso and many pants are too long)
Tooth Count: 15 with #16 budding and nearly out (the last pesky canine)
Hair Color: Dark Blond
Eye Color: Hazel (Green if he wears green)

And he can count to two. LOL. Uhn. Do!

I guess that's it for today. Until later...

Challenge Fail

Been too busy to blog and I've failed my personal challenge. C'est la vie.

In other news, Little Man now has 14 teeth and will turn 18 months old on Monday. I'll blog after his well visit with updated stats on Tuesday. And my new personal challenge will be to blog at least once per week.

We'll see how I do.

Oh, and I joined Twitter. Why, I'm not sure. Same user name. @sweetnjmom (I think you use the @ but I'm a Twitter newbie and now need to read up on this).

The Torture that is Teething

A lot of my mom friends (see mom blogs link on the right side) will confirm what I'm about to write: TEETHING BITES!

Of course there must be some babies/toddlers who aren't bothered by a new tooth about to sprout. And I'm happy for their parents and caregivers. Because they are lucky. My son, however, IS bothered by new teeth and right now he is cutting FIVE at once!

Yes, you read that correctly. Five. All four canines (3 are almost out) and his last First Year molar (the bottom left). He has 11 teeth fully out--soon to be 16 and then, hopefully, a break in this madness until his Second Year molars show up. I really hope they wait until he turns 2, six months from now, because it would be nice.

Little Man is, overall, a happy fellow. He almost always has a smile on his face and a hello (or Hola!) to everyone. He waves and chatters. He likes to "share" his toys with you. But he's stubborn and if he doesn't get what he wants, he can throw a MAJOR tantrum. He throws his body on the floor and cries and kicks and squirms his little body like a worm and can occasionally (on purpose!) bang his head on the floor or a wall. I hate that part. Headbanging should only be done at a metal concert.

So the last few weeks have been interesting. We moved on January 19th. He adjusted pretty well, but the drooly, chompy, bitey phase has been rough. He even bites his clothing to alleviate the pain. But when you try to give him Ibuprofen or Acetaminophen ... well, you need two people to force that down his throat. Little Man is STRONG! And he has a rash on his cheeks from the drool and the cold. I try to put Boudreaux's Baby Kisses on it as frequently as possible, but with 3 dogs (mine and my brother's two) you get a lot of dog hair and it's not fun to have fur stuck to one's gooped-up face.

Hopefully these teeth will poke out soon. I see the tips of two of the canines (upper) and that last molar is being stubborn, but it's slowly emerging. The light is at the end of the tunnel--for now.

Blog Fail!

Remember my goal?

I didn't.

No post yesterday. No post on Tuesday. Here it is, February 3rd, and I'm only now typing away on my MacBook. Yep, I failed on my own challenge. Now the question is: Do I start fresh from today?

We'll see... I can't think of much to say today. I'm tired. Little Man is cutting his last molar and his canines. And I'm waiting for the cable company to arrive with my replacement DVR since the old one SUCKED and wasn't recording my shows. They have 50 minutes to show up within their "window" of 8 - 11 am. I'm not holding my breath. And they'll probably show up JUST as Little Man falls asleep.

Last day of January resolution!

Tomorrow is February 1st. It's the shortest month of the year, so perhaps I can use that to my blogging advantage. I'm going to TRY to blog every day in February. My blogs may only contain a photo or even a brief thought, but I hope to get back on the blogwagon again. Little Man will turn 18 months on Valentine's Day, so it's a milestone month. We'll see how I do.

Wha Dat?

No?   Yes, snow.

NO!!!



And mama is showing off her Photoshop fun, too.