Lil' Swimmer

Eli had his first swim class. Here are some pictures and random musings:

-Eli got this as a gift from my sister for Christmas. Friends and family everywhere take note: events and classes are AWESOME presents and parents appreciate them. Eli did too, but at first he was unimpressed.

Splashing was by FAR his favorite thing. He pretty much ignored everything we were supposed to be doing, and splashed instead.

-I wore the same swimsuit (and swimsuit cover) that I wore in labor (except with a more mom-appropriate, aka non bikini, top) I felt like I had a secret the whole time.

-Swim shirts were invented by the devil, 

especially after they get wet

especially when your child has a giant head.

Also, I am super jealous of all the cute baby girl swimsuits. 

- Eli was super chatty in the pool (and even talked over the teacher)

-He was OBSESSED with the instructor. All she had to do was come by and he would giggle. It looks like we have a teacher's pet on our hands. 

-We ran into his aunt Emily in the lobby- and her niece hung out with us in the pool- Eli loved her…perhaps we have a future babysitter on our hands.

-When we were practicing back floats, Eli got SUPER relaxed. Rico said it looked like he was going to fall asleep. (Where was THAT when we gave him his "relaxing" family bath when he was a day old?!

-They don't sell swim diapers at Walmart in the dead of winter (or we are stupid and couldn't find them after 10 minutes of looking)

- We got to use the FAMILY locker room. 

Now, this may seem silly to you, but we grew up going to this rec center. 

WE would hang out in the lobby after school everyday

We had 6th grade dances on the back patio

and NOW we were ADULTS using the very ADULT family locker room

Weeeeeeeird.

This last one just made me laugh- splashing aftermath. 

If You're Happy and You Know It

Eli has a new trick...

His grandma was singing "if you're happy and you know it" to him during the Super Bowl, and he just started clapping. 

I have to admit- this one is more exciting to me than crawling. Crawling was a long drawn out process, and trying to descide if 2 shimmies constituted a crawl, or if he needed to cover a certain distance before it was official- well, it kind of made it anti-climactic. 

THIS though, this was OUT OF NOWHERE. 

Just BOOM, how about I clap on command. 

My favorite part about the whole thing is also that, in reality, it couldn't have been "boom"- someone (more likely some oneS) were working behind the scenes to teach him this. 

It gets better, when I started thinking about "who it could be...who has he had 1-on1 time with recently?" THIS was my list

Well, it could have been Rico's parents all the times they watched him while Rico and his brother played racquetball. 

It could have been my parents, she babysat twice this week and he has been over there a lot. 

It could have been Rico during their many early morning play times or after work "mom's cooking dinner so we'll go play in the playroom" sessions

It could have been watching his cousin Grace do it, or maybe Josh and Em (his aunt and uncle) were showing him tonight. 

It could have been Lizzie (his other cousin) when they played at Nana's

It could have been his great grandparents while they watched him while I worked out.  

It could have been his OTHER great grandparents when they were playing at church, or at their house  for Sunday brunch. 

Well, for that matter it could have been any number or his third cousins or great aunts and uncles that were also over for Sunday brunch. 

I finally stopped to realize just how amazing my list of culprits was. I am so very happy that he gets to see so many relatives- and those were just in the last week!  

That moment of thankfulness was almost better than watching how proud he gets that he can clap...almost. 

Daddy's Home!

In an effort not to forget the little things that we do everyday- THIS is what 5:25 looks like in our house

At 5:20 we go stand on the bench under the front window and wait for daddy to come home. 

I sing "He'll be coming round the corner when he comes" (other verses include "he'll be driving a black jeep, oh he's gunna get the mail, he's gunna make funny faces, we're all gunna get kisses… you get the idea)

Then, this happens: 

Every. Day.

Eli watches until Rico gets out of the car and then you can literally SEE the moment he realizes it is Rico-

he smiles his double-dimple smile

he lets out a little squeal

and he bounces around a bit

After getting the mail, Rico comes up to the window and they proceed to blow fish faces-

 BOTH of them (yes, my glass is ALL sorts of smudgy, and I don't care)

and high five…

Until daddy gets cold and comes in for those kisses we sang about earlier. 

I thought that it was something I did for me (I literally count the minutes until he comes home on some of my rough days), but the one day that Eli took a late nap and wasn't at the window for Rico, I realized that it is for him too. 

He was so sad, and then admitted, "It's the best part of the whole day"

"The WHOLE day? Really? That seems like a bold statement."

"No, really, the WHOLE day"

I think we are all in agreement there.

Bad Day Solutions

When you have a rough day (not horrible, just everything being harder than it needs to be)…

you skip your workout

put on some sweatpants

drink a glass of wine

watch some Big Bang Theory

and eat a Carmel brownie sundae with cappuccino chocolate chunk ice-cream 

When you have a rough day AND you're breastfeeding…

you still do all those things, 

BUT 

you mix your wine with 1/2 grape juice

When you have a rough day AND you're breastfeeding AND you've recently discovered that your child is extremely sensitive to caffeine and chocolate and it may very well be the reason he's been waking up 12-14 times a night...

you do all those things

BUT 

you mix your wine with 1/2 grape juice

AND you swap your naughty snack from ice cream to a naughty snack of a GIANT bowl of cereal

Ladies and gentlemen…my Thursday night

(and we can go ahead and tell my sister to shove it - I KNOW I am not supposed to serve red wine chilled- and especially with ice cubes and mixed with grape juice)

Baby Food Secret

Yes, I eat baby food.

You might be thinking- "But your BABY doesn't even eat baby food"

You'd be right, with the exception of prunes.

Whole prunes (without crazy preservatives) are stupidly expensive. 

and messy.

and a choking issue.

Even before Eli came around, I ate baby food. 

The fruit flavors are SO yummy.

You eat applesauce right? 

Well, it's the SAME THING, only with different fruits.

It's an amazing dessert.

Yes, dessert, those suckers are loaded with sugar (one of the reasons I love them so much and also one of the reasons Eli doesn't eat them)

I've recently discovered another AWESOME reason to love purees.

During these cold winter days, I like hot oatmeal. 

I refuse to buy the pre-packaged stuff because it is jam packed full of sugar AND it is expensive.

So, I dump some oats in a bowl, mix in some cinnamon, and sprinkle in some frozen fruit.

The problem is that it is still too bland (remember, I am a sugar addict)

I used to add honey.

Then I had a child.

Who eats what I eat.

…and literally the ONLY food that every single website or book or pediatrician will tell you he can't have is:

Honey

So

Now, 

I have THIS:

All you smart cookies have put it together already. 

That's some prune oatmeal. 

AND IT IS FREAKING DELICIOUS

I give some to Eli, and I get the rest. 

I also eat it with his baby spoon, it helps me to not gulp it down.

Maybe some day I will mix it up. We bought more prunes at the grocery store last night and I saw some super tasty looking combinations. 

Pomegranite/Apple/ Blueberry oatmeal? 

Now that sounds fantastic!

So, here I am, singing the praises of pureed baby food. 

For me

as a sugar substitute,

and mixed in with a food that actually has a texture

….but singing its praises none the less.

High Five

Tonight, I high fived my husband for catching handfulls of breastmilk vomit without spilling any on the rug or ottoman. 

Yep.

Cabin Fever

Break is over, Rico is back at work. 

I am back at home with Eli, but the twist? 

It is FREEEEEZING outside.

Like, "don't let any of his skin show" freezing.

So I've been in this house since Tuesday night. 

As in, HAVEN'T BEEN OUTSIDE OF MY HOUSE IN 3 DAYS.

Not even to the mailbox.

That's a lot of "hanging around" (sorry, it's a cute pic and it didn't fit anywhere else)

It's getting hard to be motivated to look nice. 

Not even kidding, this is me right now.

Except change "plaid flannel pj pants" to "my husband's over sized K-State sweatpants and a spaghetti strapped shirt with a giant hole."

I know, classy.

I've also toyed around with quite a few mom-on-the-go (who isn't going anywhere) hair-do's, including, but not limited to:

the "wet hair sloppy bun"

the "dried hair but didn't straighten or style it in any way"

the "use the alligator clip from your curlers and just put up the hair that falls in your face" 

the "clippie french twist that isn't supposed to actually be seen by anyone but I left it in all day"

and I am currently typing in the tried and true  classic pony tail

As whiny as I am about it, just imagine being a baby couped up in the same place.

We've had to get creative:

 I boiled some pasta. 

 It's white pasta that I used for bringing soup over the holidays, so I knew we weren't going to eat it (we're a whole wheat pasta kind of family), 

 So I figured we could do some sensory play with it.

 Eli embraced the idea easily

Note the giant wipeable tablecloth- purely practical, I wasn't trying to be cute.

 I mean he REALLY got into it

 Like, Really.

 In his hair, stuck to his butt…you name it

He even ate some…maybe 1 or two actually made it in his mouth, so I'm not too worried

  (I am going to roll my eyes SO hard at that when we have our second kid and they are chowing down on goodness knows what and I could care less)

 Then I put olive oil in the past so he could experience a new texture…that was too messy to document- but it DOES explain why he was naked for the next sensory bin

 AND why he needed a bath. 

Check out that rocking hair style…I couldn't have done it on purpose if I had tried. 

Nor would I- YIKES