Water Baby

We went swimming the other day with my friend Tracy and her daughter Lily. Paul loved the water and was a little indignant when it was time to get out. He doesn't have fear of the water yet and kept wanting me to let go of him so he could swim in the deep part alone and he inhailed the water on several occasions when his face went under the water. It didn't seem to slow him down much though. The pool is arranged like a beach so Paul and Lily would run into the water until their legs didn't come above the water and would either fall into the water or turn around and do it again. They had a good time.

Summertime Here We Come!

Well, I am happy to say our camera has been found! Not that I announced it was missing, but it was and there have been a few recent events that I would have loved to document with photos. Paul has another head wound. A friend of his threw a heavy object in his direction which struck his forehead. It bled a lot! I know that head wounds by nature bleed a lot so I tried to stay calm, but my phone was out of order at the time. And I didn't want to be alone in case I did need a phone so I ran to a friend's house. Everything turned out fine. In fact, the cut is tiny compared to how much it bled. Paul didn't seem to be bothered by it and played as normal, which reopened it a few times. I tried a steri strip, but Paul just picked it off. I have come to find out in the last couple weeks that Paul doesn't like anything stuck to him: bandaids, stickers, rice crispy treats, etc.

We went down to the boy scout camp on Saturday to help the new director (we are not going back this summer:) get oriented. It was nice to be down there before all the campers arrived. Paul enjoyed his time in the dirt and rocks, and I am sure he wouldn't mind being there all summer again, but am I glad to have an open summer. We purchased summer passes to the wark park, we're taking a trip to Disney World, going camping a few times, and even taking a couple trips to Boise for some weddings. I am very excited for this summer.

I will be pregnant through all of it, but I am hoping the sickness wears off soon so I can enjoy it more easily. Yes, I am still not feeling well. I have to be careful what I do and eat in the evenings or I am miserable. I am hoping it will all go anyway in two weeks time when we leave for Disney. As far as I am concerned the sickness should have been gone weeks ago so I am a little bitter. Oh well, such is life, and I am still looking forward to the warm weather.

Finally an Update!

I am sure that is what everyone is thinking...finally an update. So we are all moved into our new apartment. Paul has adjusted fine. As long as there are jelly beans to eat, a slide to play on, and some toilet paper to shred he's right at home. Here are several pictures with captions to sum up our last month:
Paul's favorite part about Easter was the candy and more candy. The egg hunt was very slow going. He insisted on eating all the candy in the egg before finding a new one. I didn't want him to eat all his Easter candy in one sitting so I ended up collecting the remainder of the eggs after a while.
I was busy packing when I noticed it was quiet...I usually buy liquid detergent that has a lid that seals. This will probably be the last time I buy this kind.
When we moved into our new place Paul was not so pleased that his slide didn't work.
What a great helper! This is generally what happened during packing and unpacking. Paul would take everything out of the box for us and then take off with the box.
The first thing Paul had to do in our new place was check out how comfortable the sink was. He climbed up from the toilet to do himself up with grandma's brush. Paul, you're lookin' good. Luckily for me I caught him before he started putting on makeup.
Paul has learned to say, "cheese." And it is apparent from this picture that Paul needs a haircut.
Check out my new trick! I think we are now set to start the day to day hum drum.
Here is Paul and Lucie (a little girl I watch during the day) fighting over the car. Yep, things are back to normal.

Yeah for the Big 2-0!

Paul is finally 20 pounds! I am excited that the carseat he's been riding in for 9 months is finally 'safe.' Paul's growth curve has always been below the chart. Most kids I think hover at 19 pounds and finally hit 20 pounds close to or right after their first birthday. Paul just hovered at 18 for a year. It has taken him 9 months to get those 2 other pounds. People will ask things like. "So, is he getting really big? Don't they grow so fast?" To me it seems like he's been the same size for a year. I am getting tired of some of his clothes that I wish he'd hurry and grow out of. He is finally starting to get too tall for some of his 12 month pants. I am afraid he will always be short though because of the genes, and his little feet still fit into size 3 shoes. It makes it a little hard to shop for clothes a season ahead, but I think most moms run into similar dilemas. All kids grow at their own pace, and not all brands are created equal.
We sure do love our little stinker bug. Congratulations Paul! We're proud of you!

So Much For Non-Quiet Moments

So I was talking on the phone with my mom while packing some boxes (we're moving to another apartment complex in a couple weeks). My mom asked what Paul was up to at that moment. I replied, "I can hear him talking to himself, so I'm not worried." When it is quiet I usually worry. Then a fews moments later this little face came walking around the corner. It's eye liner that I left on the counter. He climbed up onto the toilet and put on some eye shadow and eye liner. I guess it could be worse; it's not permanent marker.

Quiet Moments Have a Price

Amidst my fatigue, nausea, and constant hunger Paul keeps me on my toes. The other night Pat and I had a laugh as we were getting into bed. Paul enjoys shredding toilet paper, and if he has a roll of toilet paper he'll make little shreds and stick them into the center roll. It's as if we have a pet mouse. During the day a quiet moment usually means Paul is into something. However, I haven't been feeling well so I just sit and enjoy the peace and know that I will unfortunately have to clean a mess up in the other room later. He often gets into my make-up drawer or empties the cupboard under the sink. That is the price of a few quiet moments, and that right now seems to be worth it. So as we were climbing into bed Pat turned on our box fan that we sleep to and a puff of shredded toilet paper came blowing out of the fan. We looked at each other and just laughed. My first thought was, where did he get the toilet paper from? My second thought was, that must have been what he was doing earlier when he was quiet.

"No Mom, I want Dad to give me a bath."

I walked into the bathroom the other day to find Paul's bath water as deep as a swimming pool. Pat's reply was he likes it that deep. Dad's always seem to be more carefree.

Mmm...Sprinkles

I got this idea from my friend Stacey. I put sprinkles in Paul's oatmeal to see if he would eat the oatmeal. Sure enough, down it went. I have found that he will at least take a couple of bites of whatever I put in front of him if it has sprinkles. For lunch today he picked the sprinkles off his nachos and left the nachos, but I guess he's at least eating some.

Baby #2 is on its way!

Yeah! We are expecting another baby! We are very excited. I am not really good at keeping fun secrets. I was going to try to keep my mouth shut for a few months, but I am starting to get a little nauseated so I've decided to announce our good news. I am due October 20th, so I am only 6 weeks along, but these past few weeks that I've known have gone by so slowly. I'm hoping the speed will pick up after the worry of keeping it a secret is past. However, I must say that now that I know what I am in for after the baby arrives, being my second time around, I am not as anxious for it to come as I was with Paul. I am hoping though the first trimester will be overshadowed by the upcoming Spring and the warmer weather. Yeah for being fat and uncomfortable! Just kidding, kind of.

Our Solution

So we have a temporary fix for the bloody noses. We just put cushions down on the floor in front of the couch. That way he climbs onto the couch himself and he has a softer face plant. We can't get him to stop jumping off things, so this seems like an okay solution for now. I am sure if I was strict enough I could get him to stop, but I just get tired of telling Paul "no, stop, don't." I feel like I tell him not to do things constantly because he is always into things; he's just a busy bee. So this is my lazy way of side stepping confrontation.

Railroad Museum

We went to the Railroad Museum this past weekend, and it was a lot of fun. Patrick and Paul were like kids in a candy shop. They both enjoy trains. There were very few museum-like exibits. It was mostly outdoors where you could go inside the train cars and observe them up close. One of Paul's favorite parts was walking on the tracks. We have now officially started our Thomas The Train collection.

Creativity

His creative juices always seem to flow just before bed when he has no clothes on. A new and very useful function of the Q-tip. He was sticking the Q-tips into the bath rug and then stomping them down over and over again. Paul never ceases to amuse me.

New Wheat Grinder

My mom got me a wheat grinder for my birthday, so I decided to try it out. Paul got into the wheat before I could even get the grinder out of the box. There was wheat everywhere once he was done. I am going to find wheat kernels around the house for months. Once the wheat was milled Paul insisted that he eat it. I usually let him eat some batter when I bake, so he was making his can-I-lick-the-spatula noise. Yum, flour. He kept eating it so I guess he liked it. Thanks mom!

Dare Devil?

Paul has been getting more and more brave lately. His latest is jumping off the couch. This is coming from a little kid that still isn't tall enough to climb up on to the couch without assistance. Everytime he has jumped off he has hurt himself so I am confused why he keeps doing it. Tonight he was up on the couch and he jumped off and landed on his face and got a pretty bad bloody nose. I discovered it is difficult to keep a kleenex against a kid's nose. Their natural reaction is to turn their head. I am sorry I am not sure if this picture is too gruesome, but it just seems to add to Paul's character. I can't decide whether it constitutes that he doesn't easily learn from his mistakes or whether he's just a dare devil?

I Love Daddy

Paul and Pat have such a good time together. I love watching them play and laugh. I am home with Paul during the day, but he asks for daddy all day. They have a bond that I can't seem to replicate.