It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

Helping decorate the tree

I love Christmas and this Christmas is no exception.  It is official that I am more excited for Christmas than B is, but that's only because he really doesn't understand what's going on, not yet anyway.  Every day, a few times a day, I get his attention and talk about baby Jesus and Santa, but I condense it down to about 3 very simple sentences.  I'm hoping that maybe some of it will start to sink in.  I will never forget B's face when I first explained Jesus and then Santa, we were grocery shopping at Meijer and he was getting cranky, so I distracted him with a few of these sentences...the look on his face was a cross between "hmmm, tell me more mom" and "mom, you are crazy".  I think it was the part about a man named Santa leaving him presents/toys under our tree at home...  He adores anything baby, so he seemed excited about this baby Jesus guy...

B loves our tree, he was 100% confused the day we went to get it, and when we brought it into the house.  His face lit up and the smile stayed plastered on his face for a full 2 minutes when I turned on the lights on the tree for the first time.  We thought that if B helped with the ornaments, had ownership, then he'd be more likely to not destroy the tree and/or ornaments all the way through Christmas.  It started off quite well, I opened the first container of ornaments and B immediately spotted my Donald Duck ornament from when I was younger and yelled, "Donald!", so that was the first ornament to go on...then he found Big Bird and was loving the whole concept.  He really could care less about his special ornament series that we started for him last year, but then he spotted the colored glass ornaments that my great Aunt Alice crocheted around and exclaimed, "ball!", he picked up the ornament and threw it to the ground.  Thank goodness it didn't break, but B had a forced break for awhile after that.  He's been pretty good around the tree, but he has his moments, like last night, when he took his Nerf baseball bat and started poking/hitting the tree.  He does love to point at the ornaments and tell us what they are:  "baaaa" (sheep), "Donald", "bike", "baby", "house".  Did I mention that I can't wait until Christmas!?

Hmm...which one next?

Carefully placing Donald...

B's 2010 ornament

Here's a good spot!

The final product

We haven't visited Santa, but I do believe that we'll be seeing him on Monday down at Macy's after eating at the Walnut Room with my in-laws.  (Which, I've never been, I'm quite excited!)  I can't wait to get some pictures of him with Santa, I know there are going to be some tears!

Like this awesome picture I captured while trying to take Christmas card pictures...

I'm done with pictures mom...

Even though he's upset, it still makes me chuckle every time I see it...this is a much better one...

My angel

Manners, Numbers, and Parking Lot Tantrums

"Don't lick Mommy and Daddy's floss!"   Just one of the many sentences I thought would never leave my mouth.

Moving on...
Teaching manners to Brendan is high up on the list of things I need to show him.  So far he has "pees" down very well, in fact he uses it when not prompted.  Now to teach him that just because he says please doesn't mean he'll get what he's asking for...hmmmm.

B is a boy after my own mathematician heart!  He loves counting and numbers (I mean, who doesn't!?)!  He counts items when we go to the grocery store or if we're playing outside and even while we're driving and passing cars.  It's exciting!  Granted, he doesn't quite understand that the numbers represent amounts yet, but that'll come with time.  However, he recognizes specific numbers.  We have a really cute retro Fisher Price clock toy and as I was sitting at the computer, B sat on the floor next to my chair and pointed at the number 3 on the clock and said "three", pointed to the 4 and said "four", he did 5 and 6 too!  However, 7 was "six".  8 was "eight", 9 was "nine"...and so were 10, 11, and 12.  It was amazing to see him do this, mainly because I have no idea what is "average" for this age.  He could be "behind" or he could be "ahead" and I couldn't care less!  It just makes me so happy to see him learning, it's truly awesome to watch him grow.  Now if we can only get him to see that not everything is "blue".

And moving on to more trying issues...
We went to the grocery store for 6 items, just a quick trip to the store after his nap today.  The ride there was nice, we talked about all of the cars and trucks we saw (and the fruit snacks helped too), the store wasn't too bad, he's been better and he's been worse.  The parking lot was not good.  Not good at all.  Now I do know that this is completely normal toddler behavior and it's just a phase, but it really, really sucks!  I had one grocery bag in one hand and I was carrying Brendan in my other arm, when he decided to squirm so hard that if I didn't let him down he was going to drop like a cement brick, so I let him down.  He loves walking and holding my hand while in parking lots, so no big deal, but apparently this was not pleasing him at the moment.  He promptly threw himself to the ground...in a puddle...and screamed.  I stood there and waited, not saying a thing, and not enjoying the looks I was getting.  I waited for him to get up and then took his hand again, he gave a stellar repeat performance.  So I picked him up like sack of potatoes and fought to get him in his car seat.  I was sweating by the time it was all over.  He then wanted the rest of the fruit snacks and asked for "more" when I got into the front seat.  I turned around and just gave him this look and said super calmly, boys who are bad don't get fruit snacks.  My look must've meant business because he was quiet the whole way home.  When we pulled into the garage, I turned to look at him and he blew me a kiss and I swear he said sorry.  God love him.

What the Ladybug Heard

I have read What the Ladybug Heard by Julia Donaldson every day, 2-3 times a day for the past 2 weeks.  B is absolutely enthralled by this book.  I saw it displayed at the library and quickly flipped through it so I could see if it was something he'd sit through.  I saw that it had animals and animal noises and was sold.  I was a little hesitant because I saw that it had longer text on some of the pages, but I've been trying to get B into books that have a stronger storyline/plot.  I LOVE this book.  It's clever and has the requisite animals and animal noises that B absolutely loves. 

When we're not reading, B is loving his trucks and cars.  Definitely a boy.  Watching him physically and listening to him gets more and more fun each day.  His vocabulary is expanding (Why was I worried?!  Silly me.) every day and it cracks us up every day.  I want to be an honest mom (other than Santa, etc. of course) and want him to know about our bodies as he starts to question.  I was still wearing my pajama top this morning at breakfast and I leaned over and B looked right down my shirt, and asked, "this?" and pointed down my shirt.  Do I tell him the name or not?  Does it matter at 20 months old?  I decided to be this "honest" mom I want to be and told him that they were breasts.  I don't want to use cutesy nicknames for both male and female anatomy.  He thought about it for a second and then said "bests".  Hmmm...kind of cute, but scary all at the same time.  Watching him explore and discover everything in this world is amazing.  Being able to watch him wonder, explore, learn, and have fun makes up for his nasty tantrums...well, it at least helps me to forget them for a short awhile.  Oh, the tantrums.  THE TANTRUMS.  The frustration he feels when we don't understand what he's trying to tell us or the frustration he feels when I say no to another episode of Word World always ends in him hitting me or trying to bite me.  After he hits/bites, he walks away and then turns right back around and gently pats me and promptly kisses me.  As if to say, I was really frustrated, but I really didn't mean it mom. 

At 20 months B absolutely loves puzzles.  I recently acquired the Melissa and Doug animal sound puzzle.  Oh my, does he love it!  Best Pampers reward ever!  He does all sorts of puzzles and I can't wait till he can do the more advanced jigsaw puzzles!

B is getting a little less shy at playdates.  It still takes him awhile to warm up, but I'll take a little progress over none!

I'm not liking this whole getting colder thing and it being dark at 4:00...it's just wrong!  Knowing that we won't be going outside as much or for as long is really disappointing.  We'll still play outside, but when it's 40 degrees outside, it really loses its appeal!  Now that B loves being outside, this winter is going to be hard.  At least 5 times a day, B grabs my shoes and his shoes and puts them by the garage door and asks for "side".  He also doesn't quite get the whole "we can't go outside, it's raining" thing.  Talk about tantrums when we say no to outside!

B's eating is still driving me nuts, especially the milk issue.  I want him to get that Vitamin D that's so important!  I hate giving gummy vitamins, he should just eat the good food, geez!  If it were only that simple. 

What a rambling mess of information.  I want to track and record all the awesome (and not so awesome) things that B says and does, so I can look back and compare when a sibling arrives or look back 16 years from now when he's getting ready to head off to college.  I know that I can't capture everything in print (my lack of logging in and blogging is proof of that) and I can only pray that my memory holds more than I think it will.  I don't want to forget a single thing about this amazing little guy.

Repeat

Our schedule is mostly on repeat.  Brendan thrives on his schedule and becomes very upset when we start books and he hasn't brushed his teeth yet, he sits there pretending to brush his teeth, as if saying "hello mom, you have to brush my teeth, duh!".  Our days are very similar, the differences involve which store or park we visit each day.  I get so excited when there is a play date on the calendar; I love play dates, especially ones that involve going to someone's house.  Brendan is incredibly shy and clingy at 19 months.  If we go somewhere or to someone's house he will spend about 45 minutes to 1 hour clinging to me and just wanting to sit in my lap.  Seeing the other kids playing doesn't draw him in, he just wants to sit and observe.  It's driving me nuts!  So I've been taking him to as many play dates as possible to get him used to it and hopefully he'll become less shy and clingy.  Out of all the kids we play with  at any given time (a group of about 18), no other child is like that!  I shouldn't compare, but it worries me that he's not trying to be mr. independent like the other kids, some of which are his age exactly or a few months younger.  Even when the play date is at our house, he won't leave my side...ugh.

B is trying to talk more and more and it's even more frustrating than before, I so want to be able to understand him and I'm sure he'd love for me to understand him too!  He has acquired more words and that is very exciting...boy oh boy, is he ever a little parrot!   "Peas" (please) is my new favorite.

B eats non-stop...seriously...he's constantly saying "more".  When he is full he does tell us, so I'm not worried about turning off his natural "stop eating" switch, but where does this kid put it!?  And he stays so skinny (at his 18 month check-up his weight was in the 5th percentile, while his height was in the 85th percentile)!  Once upon a time I had that kind of metabolism, then freshman year of college happened.  His absolute favorite is "za" (pizza), he will eat 3 pieces of a thick DiGiorno frozen pizza...that's how much I usually eat...yikes!  And he thoroughly enjoys his string cheese (heaven forbid I cut up pieces of a brick of mozzarella cheese, no, that won't do) and yogurt.  He'll go absolutely gaga over cupcakes and cookies, good golly.  The way he gets excited for a cupcake is the way I get excited when my coffee is done brewing, (and well, it's how I get excited for a cupcake too).  It's a good thing he'll eat the cheese and yogurt every day and doesn't get tired of it because he's back to not liking milk.  About one week ago I stopped giving him his 6 oz. bottle of milk when he first woke up, before breakfast.  I showed him that the bottles were gone and that he had a special Mickey milk straw cup (he was super excited about the Mickey aspect of it), I poured milk right into it with him there.  I handed him the cup, he took a couple of pulls of it, then made a face, shoved the cup back in my face, and said "sha".  I'm thinking that "sha" is his swear word.  So he watched his morning Mickey without any milk and was okay, he had no tantrums or anything...which is great.  I expected a major meltdown with no bottle.  He must be punishing us though, because now at his meals (when I used to give him milk) he won't drink the milk at all.  He might take one sip thinking it's his water and then throw it over the side and say "sha".  He would rather be incredibly thirsty than drink milk during his meals or any other time for that matter.  UGH.  I even tried chocolate milk one morning with his breakfast...the response?  "SHA!"  Yeah.  I don't get it.  The doctor had said that it was fine, just make sure he's getting his calcium elsewhere.  Fine.  But I really like the idea of him drinking milk!  All the other kids drink milk and enjoy it and ask for it!  He asks for his "dree" (drink, which equals water).  I keep offering the milk every few meals, so he understands it's not going away.  I sure hope he likes milk in the future.  I wish he could talk and tell me what's going on.

And B cannot get enough Mickey, planes in the sky, or balls, oh and trucks...loves trucks.  Yup, he's a little boy :)

Belly button, belly button you're oh so fine

So, most kids attach to a blanket or a stuffed animal when they're young and use it as their comfort object....not Brendan.  He's never had anything like that...until now and it's his belly button.  Instead of reaching for a soft blanket or a cuddly animal, he reaches for his belly button (his thumb is just a given).  So when he's tired or scared or anxious, he lifts up his shirt and plays with his belly button.  I don't know what to make of it.  I guess I don't ever have to worry about him losing it or having to throw it in the wash, so I have that going for me.  It's just. so. odd.   I felt I needed to make note of this, so I can look back and remember, so then I can tell his first girlfriend when she comes over, lol.

So he has his belly button comfort object, which is fine, as long as he's not 15 and lifting up his shirt to play with it.  However, a problem has arisen...B likes to reach into his diapers (now this is really something to tell future girlfriends) and play with himself...very normal, not worried, not bothered.  The problem is that he is left facing up and we've had several leakage accidents.  (He sits there with his hands down his pants and looks like a miniature Al Bundy.)  So I've been having to put B in undershirt onesies underneath his outfits and put him into one-piece pajamas too.  This makes him very frustrated because he can't get to his belly button.  Oh dear.  And I thought I had it good with him using his belly button as a comfort object.  He'll just have to deal with the onesies because I'm not cutting a little hole out for his belly button.  Hahahaha, that image just made me laugh.

It's baaaaack...

Teething is back, and with a vengeance...B's "last" teeth are coming in, the bottom two canines...yikes!  I say "last" because it should be the last for awhile, until his 2-year molars start coming in, but luckily the canines are supposed to be the worst.  If B's behavior hasn't been stellar as it is lately, let's just throw this into the mix, ugh!  I will say, that even though B has been pretty awful lately, he is still really good around other kids.  Aren't we lucky that he takes it out on us?!  B will say hi to other kids (with and without prompting) and does share his toys.  In fact, around other kids he can tend to be a bit shy; it usually takes him quite awhile to warm up to the new place and people while we are on play dates, even when they take place at our house!

We've gone to a few apple orchards in the area to check out what they have to offer.  Both orchards were a lot of fun.  B absolutely loves donuts.  He freaks out at the sight of them or just the mention of them.  The orchard we went to yesterday as the BEST donuts ever.  They are given to you warm; nice and crunchy on the outside, soft, warm, and chewy on the inside...covered in cinnamon/sugar.  They are heavenly.  We plan on going back one more time before they close for the season....they're that good, plus the free activities there are awesome too!  We did try the pony ride because B showed interest and wanted to get on.  So we paid the $4 and we went around twice before he started freaking out and wriggling out of the "seatbelt", it was awful.  This is where the cranky teething came in.  He was miserable, gnawing on his fingers.

To sum up, we won't be going for a pony ride until next summer, after he's turned 2.  After that fiasco, we decided it was time to enjoy some warm donuts!

B also enjoyed seeing all of the different animals there.....

Where to begin...

Wow, it's been a month since I've posted.  This is due to the fact that I'm way too tired at the end of the day and just didn't have the energy to talk about my little maniac.  Recalling it all would just make me that more tired.  I wanted to blog our trip to the cottage and several other things, but oh well, I'll try to be more diligent in the future.  During the day I plan what I will write so that it's easier and faster when I sit down to do it in the evening, but I just never sit down to do it.  Brendan is more than energy sapping, he is a force to be reckoned with...I can only hope and pray that it can't get much worse.  I'm sure he's right on par with many other toddlers, but today I jokingly described him as the "devil in disguise".  Maybe I wasn't joking, who knows.  Brendan spends a lot of time in the time-out chair (thank goodness it has buckles) at 18-months-old.  He loves to hit, and it's not just the "I'm so frustrated that we can't communicate, so I'm going to hit you" hitting, it's to hurt us.  Seriously.  He knows exactly what he's doing.  He's seen that it actually hurts us, I've literally cried from the pain and said ouch.  He sees this and just laughs, and he continues to do it.  He slaps HARD for a little guy.  It's so frustrating.  As the doctor said, don't react (oh my goodness, that has to be THE hardest thing in the world to do), tell him simply no hitting (or pulling down the vertical blinds), and put him in time-out.  Don't over-explain and don't hug him or explain anything when the time-out is over, just unbuckle him.  Well, I'm not reacting and I'm consistently putting him in time-out.  It's a battle that I WILL WIN.  Hitting like that is unacceptable.  What's even more frustrating is that he is laughing hysterically as we put him in time-out. 

Tonight while bringing him from the bathtub into his room to get diapered and pajamas on, he grabbed the chunk of skin underneath my eye and held onto it with a death grip.  He was pulling the skin and gripping so hard, I couldn't see, literally.  I wanted to react.  I wanted to scream.  I wanted to spank him.  I wanted to just leave him right there and leave.  But I didn't.  I didn't react.  I told him to please let go and I tried to distract him with a song.  I didn't cry even though the pain was awful, I just wanted to burst into tears, but I didn't.  As I sit here typing, it still hurts, and it's making me sad and frustrated all over again.  He's just so intense.  He is so strong willed.  It can be confusing because at times he's the sweetest boy in the world, giving me big, sloppy kisses on the lips and blowing me kisses just because.  But it seems like the sweet boy appears less and less and his evil twin is appearing more and more. 

I'm telling myself that it's just a boy toddler phase that he's going through right now and that it will pass.  I also pray to God for extra strength, extra patience, and extra understanding.  And I remind myself that he is a gift and I'm blessed to have him, because I know so many people who are trying so hard to have a baby and keep miscarrying, and I think about my friends who lost their 9-month-old son.  So even though B is awful 80% of the time, I am thankful to have him in my life, because I really couldn't imagine my life without him.

I will say that watching him grow is amazing.  The new words that come out of his mouth crack me up and excite me, "mihee" (Mickey, as in Mickey Mouse), "shoe", "keys", "chee" (cheese), "dow" (down), "oo" (poop), "wow", "whoa", "ow", and a bunch of others that I can't recall at the moment.  Oh! "choo choo" is very cute, and so is "boat".  It's fun to watch him explore and discover things.  And the things he mimics are too cute.  He's a little person, a little me!  The vacuuming, the wiping of his mouth with a napkin, the every day things.  I was driving and I've become very tame in how I talk in the car, the worst I now say is "geez" (even though I'm sure it comes out very angry), my little parrot in the backseat repeats after me, "geez!". 

He went down at his normal time (7:00) and is still awake right now at 8:15, banging his feet against the crib slats, making it sound like he has an elephant in bed with him.  He must be over tired...hardly any napping and a lot of food and running around at a forest preserve all day must've done it to him, at least he's not screaming and crying.  (I'm dreading moving him to a toddler bed.)

That was a long post, but a very cathartic one, hopefully it gets me back on track with blogging.