Busted

My mom card should be revoked. If my one real job is to protect this little man of mine, yesterday I failed.

We headed to the park to play away the afternoon, and as I chased Stan about and encouraged Charlie to climb up to the slide, bam! Feet slipped right out from under him and face planted firmly into the playscape. Scooping him up I said a quick prayer for no blood, but I obviously didn't get it in in time. His cry raged and blood gushed. F. I called our regular doctor and they directed me to Dell Children's. Double f.

 

We arrived at Dell and were pulled through the waiting rooms pretty quickly. They assured us they'd stitch him up and get him home ASAP. With a derivative of PCP pumping through his veins, the doctors put four stitches in his tiny lip, and we stood at the end of his bed helpless. Five hours later - wading through dinnertime and bedtime in a hospital bed...no bueno - we were homebound.

All night and all day today, I've replayed the moment. Replayed the series of events that led to us ending up at the playground that afternoon. Why was I in such a rush to get to there? Why did I encourage him to climb the stairs again? If he'd only drank a little more water, chased Stan, decided to swing, etc. etc. etc. Mom fail in a big way.

We learned a lot yesterday - Chuck's wildly tough, John and I fall into interesting roles in stressful situations, and friendship is sandwiches waiting on your doorstep when you get home too late from the hospital and popsicles, flowers, balloons, and Chuck's best girlfriend waiting to play when he got up from his nap. Lots of love surrounding this busted lip. Lots of love. Lots of regret. Today was a better day. Hoping tomorrow is too.

 

You and Me

Four years ago we made this thing official. And while I spent most of the morning like this...

worried about it raining and moving the ceremony indoors.

John spent his morning like this...

going for a run with friends and relaxing.

This picture of John may be my very favorite. I pictured John so nervous on our big day, but what a total cucumber. The contrast of the two pics pins us exactly. Just when I get too lost in everything I can't control, John pulls me back to reality - it's just us, and we're always going to be okay. It's not always easy. It's certainly not always pretty, but it's always worth it. Happy anniversary, boss man.

"Come into the world, Alone. And you go out of the world, Alone. But in between, It's you and me."

Trampled By Turtles

 

Photo Credit - Gary Donihoo (F8 Studios)

All Things (Wo)Manly

John's been out and about this last week learning the ropes of his new job and partying with his mom, so Charlie and I have been enjoying lots of time together. And he's been an angel. No joke. We've had loads of fun, but the manliness of our days has been in serious short supply. An Easter bunny heart necklace? Absolutely. (He blushed like a school girl when complimented on it at the park and lost his mind when I took it off for nap.) Mini-Barbie van and heart-shaped logo cup at the park? Like a magnet.

The polka-dotted pram at Pottery Barn Kids, why not? Baby doll? Naturally. 

I think John had visions of football-filled weekends and mornings fighting their way through the rugged trails. Maybe. But for now it's sugar and spice and everything nice. 

16 Months!

You're starting to get to the age where it's feeling a bit silly to gauge your age in months. When I say it, I see people calculating in their heads and masking their eye rolls, but the thing is 16 months is soooooo different than one year. Maybe I'll just start claiming a year and a half? Oh mom problems. 

This month has been a bit of a doozie. New teeth brought weird sleep, and a crazy fever brought long days and extra long nights. Glad both of those are behind us. You're asserting yourself in totally new ways lately too (read tantrums) and have gotten just a tad bit clingy in the last week or so. Ma-MA! The good thing about your new-found clingy-ness is you're doling out hugs and kisses at awesomely random moments. I love so much when we're walking around and you just lean right over and kiss my cheek or my shoulder. So sweet to think your little brain just thought, "hey! I should kiss my mom right now." 

Your words are still amazing me. You're like a little parrot. You've learned to say Oli in the last couple of weeks - she's your very favorite girl - and at the park this week as we called "Eddddd-dy!" to come back, you joined right in. You still love biiiiiiiiiig trucks, trains, buses, and boats, but we've added cranes to your infatuation lately. You love collecting berries in the backyard - every night after dinner we head out to play and you walk the fence calling "Berrrrrr-we!" until you find one. When I ask where anything is now you walk around calling for it until it comes into eyesight. This works really well for Stanley, but I'm not sure your water cup is responding to you. Who's to say, though?

The pools and splash pads are closing around town so we're going to have to find a new, cool daily activity. We've been in the water everyday because ooof it's still miserably hot. Music class is starting back up though and so is storytime at the library, so I'm sure we'll have no problem filling our days, but I'll miss swimming with you. You're getting so good. 

This month we spent time in Dallas, playing with all my sweet family, and you've had almost weekly sleepovers with GaGa and PaPa. Gosh it must be rough to be loved so much. Oh and you got your first haircut! You were starting to look a bit Einstein-ish, so your dad and I took you to Floyd's Barbershop and chopped your crazy locks. Your grandma's weren't totally crazy about the idea, but oh my lord are you cute! The actual trim wasn't the best part of your day, but the lollipop afterwards made everything more than okay. Shoot you're adorable. 

And while you were a total rascal last weekend, we've had a fantastic week. Back in our routine and loving it. You're just the coolest kid, little friend. Your dad and I are out of town a lot this coming month, and as excited as I am to see old friends and meet new babies, my heart's already missing you. You make all my days so very much fun.

Adventures in Parenthood

Oh Charlie,

Most days I love you more than chocolate chip cookies. Most days I appreciate the little everyday challenges you present. Most days I want you with me all day because everything's WAY more fun with your adventuresome spirit and fresh look at the world. Most days you're sweet.

Today wasn't most days. Today wasn't most days. Today wasn't most days.

Today you were the screaming kid in Home Depot, the screaming kid in the restaurant, the screaming kid in the front yard, backyard and everywhere in between. Today you climbed on absolutely everything and anything you weren't suppose to looking at your dad and me defiantly as you went. Today you hated diaper changes, putting on (and taking off) your clothes, baths, getting in the car, and most of the food I dared put close to your face. Today you were a total butt.

So tonight I grabbed my wallet and keys and headed to Marble Slab. Tonight I happily spent $14 on ice cream - your dad needed some too, okay?! Tonight someone somewhere knew I needed some good music vibes because The Cure, Pearl Jam, Pavarotti, Xavier Rudd and Dr. Dre (will you ever appreciate that I know every word of Forgot About Dre???) came through my shuffled iTunes. Tonight I rolled my windows down, turned my radio up and sang obnoxiously loud to my ridiculously random stream of music.

Parenthood kicked our asses today. It's not the first time. I'm certain it won't be the last. Two pints of ice cream later...we're ready for tomorrow.

Charlito

Oh tiny friend. Your dad's working late tonight and has to go out of town next week, so the two of us are truly spending our all-day-every-days together. And as much as I've been dreading these weeks (I really like to see your dad), you've made day one quite the adventure. You're spunkier than ever, and while your new favorite thing is to say "no!" in your little foreigner accent to everything (it's not my favorite thing), you still crack up oh-so easily. And these giggles are my favorite. They make the days fly by. Sneezing gets you absolutely every time, so lets just say I fake sneeze a lot. Love your spunk, love your giggles, and really love your mud mohawk. You're crazy. I wouldn't have it any other way. 

15 Months!

Tu-tle. Who ever knew it'd become my very favorite word? You've added it to your growing list in the last week, and I look for turtles everywhere we go just to hear you say it. You have the softest, sweetest little voice when it comes out, and the 't's are always hyper-stressed. You also love to say "ow." lately. A plant could brush your leg, and "ow. ow. ow. ow." until one of us says "oh gosh, are you okay?" You always are, but I guess you just like us to check in on you. You've added a lot of words this month, and while I'm still mostly the only one that understands your distinctions - poop, balloon, oops, plane...all the same word, you're getting clearer and really working to communicate.

This month has been hot, hot, hot (I'm trying to keep some perspective since we've had rain and cooler temps for the majority of the summer), but oof. We've been in the pool literally every single day, and you love the water. Whether we're in your baby pool in the backyard, at the splash pads or the city pools, the water is a constant. You don't seem to mind when you go underwater, which happens pretty frequently because you insist on walking or running through the water on your own. As soon as you fall you either pop right back up or we grab you, and you're off again. You're so brave and confident. Your confidence and adventuresome spirit should probably make me nervous, but I love to watch you growing, learning, and taking the world in. You've got a wanderer's soul, tiny friend.

Truly, it's my ultimate goal every day to wear your butt out. You have an unbelievable amount of physical energy. You will sit while we read and while you eat, but other than that, you're up and on the move. I'm tempted to put one of the monitors on you just to see how many steps you actually take in a day. Marathons, sweet boy, you're running marathons. In addition to the water, you love the park, pushing your lawnmower around the driveway, getting off and on the train at GaGa & PaPa's house, trucks, motorcycles, face-timing with Pops & GiGi, airplanes, buses, bulldozers, motoring around the deck on your scooter Poppy & Marge got you, turtles, dogs, and books. Your favorite book lately is about 10 little ladybugs, but all the truck books are cycled through quite frequently. We read books mostly right before you go to bed and right when you wake up, but I love when you walk in your room and grab a book at an odd moment in the day and shove it towards me, "more!"

Sleep is still good. You're down to one great afternoon nap and are going down a little later at night but waking up later too, so that's great. You go down around 7:30 now and sleep for a solid 12 hours. This past week's been a doozie because you're cutting teeth, but the last three nights have been back to good, thankfully. You're also really interested in poop this month. Your poop, Stanley's poop, and pretty much anyone who might venture in the way of the bathroom. You always yell out "poop!" as soon as someone heads that way. You've started wanting to sit on the toilet a few times a day, mostly at home, but sometimes when we're out too, and probably at least once a day, you're totally going to the bathroom in the toilet. And today was a total score when, at your cousin Vivi's party, you shouted poop, ran to the bathroom with your dad and went. Way to go, dude! You love to wave goodbye to your movements as we flush them and talk all about it. Potty training is certainly not on our agenda yet, but I figure we'll just roll with it for now while you're interested.

Quick truth bomb, sweet boy. You yell now. And it legitimately hurts my ears which I don't hesitate to tell you and to which you always reply "hut" while grabbing your own ears. You came back from vacation with this yell, and I'm so ready for it to be gone. We've tempered it in the last month, but it and your new whine are my least favorite thing. I told you this week that instead of whining you could just say "Mama", and I'll help you with whatever you need, so now you stand by me while I'm putting on makeup or making you something to eat or getting dressed saying, "Maaaaaaaaama, maaaaaama, maaaaaaaaama." I'm mildly regretting my instructions. How about we just use all those words you know? You're too smart to yell and whine, Chuck. Lets just stop. Deal? Deal.

Words, water, sweet friends and more energy than anyone could possibly know what to do with has colored our month, and just when it doesn't seem possible for my heart to swell any larger, I wake up loving you even more the next day. You're cooler than the other side of the pillow, Chuckster.

Defiance

Skeptical of the clown

Cruising chicks

The five seconds you actually sat at storytime