Monday, March 28, 2011

Oh Savanna

I've been putting off posting because I feel like I need to have a memorial post to our old girl, Savanna. She passed away last Sunday, the first day of spring. We found her laying in her favorite spot in the sunshine, going peacefully in her sleep. We couldn't have asked for a better way for her to go, neither Matt nor I wanted it to get to the point of having to put her down. We are pretty sure that the cancer had spread to her insides and that it was took her. She spent her last few days playing on the beach and in the sunshine. Escher still asks for her. "and Vaa?" I tell him she isn't with us anymore. He said "At work?" once, and now he just shrugs his little shoulders and says "i duno" We continue to miss her terribly, but we all know that she is in a better place, free of pain. We love you Savanna. RIP December 26 2000-March 20 2011

Friday, March 18, 2011

Cow car

We are in the car on shore drive and someone flies by on my right side going pretty fast.

Me: "holy cow!"
Escher: "MOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!"

Love it :)

Thursday, March 17, 2011

Pictures

Taken and uploaded with my phone. Crazy.






Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Dimples

Escher has the cutest elbow dimples. Ever.

whew

wake up, corral an excited dude for a detested morning diaper change, listen to screams of "ilkkkk illlk" pour a sippy of milk, snuggle on the couch for a few blessed minutes, pour a bowl of cheerios, watch as bowl of cheerios are spread all over living room "uh oh", pick up 56 cheerios, "feet on the floor escher", "escher would you like strawberry or peach yogurt", "eeech!", "mow eech!", " awwwlll? awwwwl?? AWWLLLL!!!" (means all done), proceed to clean peach yogurt from hair, floor, high chair, tray, and truman's back. "uh ooooh" try to get escher dressed...15 minutes go by... still trying to get escher dressed... "feet o n the floor please escher" "escher I said feet on the floor", physically put escher's feet on the floor. step on little people giraffe why does that hurt so much? "uh ooooh" clean up little people animals and zip up plastic case. throw in a load of laudry, "wawa? wawa? Mama WAWA UP!" show Escher the water in the washer, assure him there is already soap in there "see the bubbles?" "Buba? buba? 'po buba?" "sorry dude but the hippo bubble maker is an outside toy", "WAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH".
distract with coloring. show escher how to take off marker caps. immediately regret that decision as there is now 7 marker caps on the floor. escher's face is rainbow colored. "uh ooooh" wipe off marker from face. "chee? chee?peees? chee?" try to explain to a toddler that we are in fact out of his beloved cheese. Distract with popsicle. clean up popsicle mess. "uh ooooooh". step on another little people animal. clean up animals again, this time keeping the case up high. "da? dada?", "escher Dad is at work, he'll be home after your nap" (which by the way why isn't it naptime yet?) "escher want to walk to the beach?" "mmm huh!" shoes, coat, hat. "beeeach? beeeach?" stop and say hi to neighbor dog. "gentle escher. GENTLE ESCHER!" "uh ooooooh" stop to throw 3 stones from a neighbors driveway into the grated sewer. remind myself to buy them a bag of gravel to replace the ones that are now in the sewer. carry a 28lb toddler up the ramp to the beach. carry a 28lb toddler down the ramp to the house. 2 more stones go in the sewer. "uh ooooh" we notice a tree. and get very excited when we spot a squirrel. assure escher that we will have lunch when we get back. make lunch. give more lunch. and a little bit more. clean up lunch. make milk sippy. NAPTIME...

..............quiet......................................

"dah? dada? uh ooooooooh dada?" up from nap. getting dressed only takes 3 minutes because i outsmarted the toddler by keeping him in the crib ("the best offense is actually a great defense"). "feeesh? feeesh?" turn on fish projector due to popular demand. play cars with escher. receive blow to the head from a 67 mustang. "uh oooooh" put escher in crib for one minute since he hurt me. he giggles. "uh oooooh" time out has no effect. snack time. apple fries and goldfish. almost have to distract him from the fact we have no cheese again. thankfully "DADADADADADA" walks in the door. saved by the dad. whew. finally 2 minutes to pee in peace. ahhhhh..... back in the grind. listen to work stories, inquire about new projects. learn something new that happened in the news today. "escher hands off the swiffer" learn about something that happened in the news today that I wish I didn't learn. "escher hands off the swiffer! want to color?" distract with colors. few minutes with matt. pick up markers and ask escher to help me put them in the bag. he runs off to the coveted swiffer. escher goes in crib for touching the swiffer AGAIN. has some effect this time! "uh ooooooh" comes out of room. forgets about the swiffer. find shoes, coat and hat for outside play. and "baaahll???? baaahlll?" and "chk?" (chalk) at his insistence. play outside and keep toddler from obvious dangers; cars, trucks, sewer, basketball, pooop, dominion power equipment. play "bahhhl". watch escher create chalk artwork. then eat the chalk. "uh oooooh" at this point i have stopped responding to every "uh oooooh". drag a filthy toddler into the house. attempt to wipe face and hands. i'm pushed away. coax with jellybean. dirt is somewhat gone! start to cook dinner. "uuuup? uuup?" pick escher up and show him what we are having for dinner. put escher down..... pick escher back up and show him that yes we are having the same thing for dinner that we were 5 minutes ago and don't worry it will be ready for you soon. dinner on the plate. "hot? hot?" "not hot, just blow on it" pick up pieces of dinner off the floor. realize its more efficient to let the dogs in. allow the toddler to throw the rest of the food on his plate to the dogs (less to have to throw away). clean up kitchen. run bath. get soaked. manage to somehow clean a wiggling soapy body. manage to somehow mop up the bathwater that is now all over the bathroom floor. clean diaper and jammies on the dude. finally! read books. breathe in the scent of my freshly washed baby and try to cherish this moment for forever. say good night, shut the door. pour a glass of wine and collapse on the couch.

aaaaaaannnnndd this is why i want to go to bed at 9. loving the toddler life :-D

Monday, March 14, 2011

New words

bath
fork
ooon (sun)
cheee o (cheerio)
your welcome (this came completely out of the blue this morning)
fiin feeesh (dolphin)
siiiide (outside)
twuuueee (truman)
vaaa-hn (savanna)

Hey!
Hi!

Saturday, March 12, 2011

New Pictures

https://picasaweb.google.com/trishamundell/springisintheair

We are loving this weather! I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend

Thursday, March 10, 2011

growing and changing

Not only is Escher growing and changing day by day, I feel as though I am too. Becoming a parent is life changing event. You come home from the hospital with this tiny little baby that you are completely responsible for. In the midst of diapers and bottles you slowly become wrapped up in the day to day things and your mentality becomes "making it through the day." Then, slowly, you get better and better at making it through the day. Some days, in fact, you might even feel pretty darn good about how you handle parental responsibilities. You feel confident and happy, and you feel so proud to watch your child develop and grow. There is no other feeling in the world than when you see your child accomplish something new. Having Escher in my life has no doubt given me the most joyful moments in my life!

But... Then comes a bump in the road. Or a pothole. Or hell, even a huge mountain. How do you handle it? Escher has officially hit the terrible twos. According to knowledgeable doctors, the terrible twos can hit as early as 18 months. We made it to 20. I wake up every day not knowing the challenges that my high energy man will bring me. I go to bed every night wondering if I made the right decisions in raising him. I know that I am stressing out about it more than I should, but the phrase "start as you mean to go on" is just echoing in my head!

I am learning to pick my battles with a somewhat tempestuous toddler. One minute he is running through the house throwing his toys in every direction and demanding "more!!!" of whatever it is that he has at the moment. The next minute he is kissing my leg and saying "UP!" and giving me big kisses on my face. Not only is this a little frustrating, but it is also emotionally draining! I go from having to be stern "Escher, hands off the swiffer vac!" too "oh, Escher, thank you for that hug it made me feel better!" The constant back and forth between emotions leaves me confused, breathless and anxious. What is coming next!

So not only is Escher learning the ropes of emotional regulation, I suppose I am too. Every day I pray for just a little more patience than yesterday. I know that in the grand scheme of things, a lot of what I deal with right now will be forgotten as soon as the next phase is in gear. But I have to wonder... am I setting myself up for a positive future as a mother? Will I raise a child who is polite and obedient and sweet? Will my child be the one in class that can't sit still? How can I go from feeling so confident about being a mother to feeling like I have no clue how to handle my own son? Is this normal? Every day I search for answers and I try my best. I just hope that it is enough!

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

new stuff

escher has started saying “hmmm” while putting his finger to his lips, like he is thinking really hard.

he has also learned the word “yuck”

Monday, March 7, 2011

Whoa! Uh oh!

So it finally happened. Escher woke up early this morning at 545am. After doing my usual (stumbling out of bed, giving him a new pacifier, turning on his fishy-ceiling thing, and dumping a basket of books into his bed) i woke up again at 715 to hear the basket of books crash out of the crib. He's crying. I'm thinking "good Lord what is going on". A scent in the hallway betrayed my fate... I just didn't know how bad it was. Upon opening the door I find my little dude. Naked. Jammies on the floor. Poop filled diaper dangling between his legs. Its everywhere. Floppy. Blanket. Rex. They have all been a part of the poopie masacre. Slats of the crib, the sheets. Escher's belly.

and he's giggling. saying "whoa! uh oh!"

What can you do? I plopped my contacts in my eyes (because we want to be able to see all the poop) and got to work. Thankfully everything was cleaned up in time for breakfast, and his room was aired out before nap.

As I was telling a neighbor the story, she says "Oh I love stories like these!" Its so easy to get caught up in the yuckiness of the daily things that living with a toddler entails. Like poop. However, I'm sure I will cherish this story for ever. I will also cherish telling his prom date. :)

Wednesday, March 2, 2011

sweet words

Me: "I love you!"
Escher: "eh wub ooo"

: ) : ) : ) : )

Tuesday, March 1, 2011