Mommy brain ?!@#$%^&*

As I stepped out of my car to walk into work today, I noticed my feet were so comfy...

 

This is not the first time this happened. In February, on our anniversary, I got all dressed up to go eat at a fancy restaurant, only to look down after our meal and noticed I was wearing these same house slippers "OMG, how trashy?" I thought!

Just this past Sunday, I continued to blow on my slice of orange while deep in thought about rainbows or something... it was not a very hot piece of orange.

Last Friday I put the hot coffee pot in the refrigerator and did not notice until I went to put the coconut milk on the burner... whoops!

Yesterday, when addressing some envelopes for a couple birthday cards I was mailing to family, I stamped them with my company logos instead of my personal addressing and didn't notice until I went to slip them in the PO box - this one not so bad, right?

I have severe mommy brain at least 2 days out of the week, in full view of fellow co-workers and the public (as do I'm sure most of us do).

Please help me feel more normal, and tell me your best mommy brain stories below!

The Dad Post, Part I

My wife found her talent, and many others have found her talent as well, including me. Not only is she blessed with the gift of gab, but she can somehow put her wonderful personality on paper too. I didn’t think it was possible. I figured there’s no way you can understand my wife unless you met her in person. I was wrong. I must admit that I have become a fan of the Baby Bleauxs blog that she began. Much like yourself, I’ve found myself wondering when the heck is the next blog post coming. I blame myself. She was waiting on me to write a Dad post.

She began Baby Bleauxs as a way to vent her joys, feelings, frustrations of being a new mother without spilling it all out on me. She has a cache of notebooks, pads, and journals trapped away in trunks, closets, and her nightstand where she has spewed emotion in ink so that she didn’t have to keep it all trapped inside. As my best friend, she usually shares some of her inner most thoughts and life questions with me, but even I am unfit to be a muse for some of this stuff as sometimes I’m the cause of the vented frustration. She gracefully bashes me on paper so she can be sweet to me in person. I don’t mind. No use to keep hammering away at this hard head because there’s not much that penetrates unless its sports related.

When she asked my opinion about her starting a blog about motherhood, I was a little unsure. I guess I didn’t know enough about parenthood to realize there were pleanty of people out there that share the same situations as what we have been through. Now everyone else knows how much of a gem I’ve found. Some might find us unconventional or unusual with the way we are raising our little nugget, but it works for us. Trust me, I had to be talked into the whole cloth diaper thing. I believe she had to talk herself into that one too. She’s always thinking about her nugget and this family first and how to make it better. So I listen when she brings up a new idea or a new product to try. Haha, she’s gonna laugh when she reads the part about me listening, but I do, sometimes. I definitely encourage her creativity and will try anything with her in the name of Nugget. She does so much research before she comes to me, sometimes I can’t find a reason to say no. Deep down I think she’s a born again hippie, but I guess the incense has rubbed off on me too.

As we agreed in the beginning, we are going to go through parenting 50/50. When I promised her that I would write a Dad post, I’m going to stay true to my word. Next time you hear from me, I’ll tell you the Tale of Nugget from Dad’s point of view. The whole first year, from first days to first teeth. All you moms just go easy on me though, and don’t get all sappy either. I’m not as good of a dad as my wife lets on. I’m still in training.

The Eeb

Happy Birthday... Top 12 for 12 Months

Wow. I haven't written in a long time, so there is so much to talk about... especially if you haven't been keeping up with us on Facebook! So I've decided to cut it to our top 12 from the past month to get you updated on Tuff's first 12 months, starting with...





#12 ALLERGIES: Tubes in, adenoids out! After months of one ear infection after the other and tons of antibiotics, we had enough. Not sure why it took so long for us to ask the Pediatrician about these procedures, but so glad we did. We were doing 3 breathing treatments a day, plus Zyrtec... plus saline nasil wash... plus the aspirator. About two weeks after his surgery, we had a little emergency room scare where he had to be transported to the ER in an ambulance (not that you can tell he wasn't getting enough oxygen from his picture). He is better now, however, due to a crazy pollen season, we are still doing an inhaled steroid via nebulizer every night and the Zyrtec. But we have had to use the aspirator and saline wash less often. Next month, he will be getting tested for inside allergies. Until then, we do what we gotta do.

#11 MOBILITY: There is no stopping this kid when he wants to go somewhere. Sitting and playing is just a pitstop on the way to somewhere exciting, like under the table or on Murfy's bed. He is full speed walking (or running) everywhere. When you hold his little hands, he drags you along with him (head first) where ever it is he wants to go. It's like his body is not moving fast enough for his big ole noggin! Often he falls because his top half is "a-head" of his bottom half. We've had a couple bruised eyes from him wopping his head on a rocking chair or piece of furniture, and just this weekend he got his first busted lip from running through my legs head first. His knees and beautiful face are also scraped from colliding with the concrete when he's traveling at high speed down the driveway or on the playground at school. He doesn't just move across the floor, he's climbing too. He loves climbing on his little rocking chair, or on the step stool for the kitchen. Once he's standing on that stool, you can see his mind racing with ways to get back down. Not fear, of course, but shear curiosity. And he will climb up and get back down 10 times before moving on the the next obstacle.

 #10 COMMUNICATION: He is so much like his Momma, he loves to talk. He'll stand at the speaker by the entertainment center and "preach" to who'll ever listen. He's got his own little language and he's definitely a hand talker, waving his hands in the air as he explores the world of his voice and being able to finally hear clearly. He still signs for a couple things, but he's going through a phase right now where he is verbalizing everything in whatever form suits his mood. I think we kind of laid off the signing for a couple weeks, and it was terrible timing. That, combined with picking up habits from daycare, only proved that keeping up with signing for at least the important things (eat, milk, drink, hurt, etc.) are extremely important for us, not only as parents, but for him.

#9 EMOTIONS: I know every parent says this, but I have the happiest and most entertaining kid. He will do something big (like bonk himself on the head with a spoon) and he immediately looks at us and fake laughs, or puts his hands in the air and screams "TADA"...  He's starting to experiment with negative feelings too, like jealousy. If I'm holding him and Brock kisses me, Keegan pushes his daddy's face away from mine. It's playful 99% of the time. He'll seperate us and then lay over me so Brock can't get to me. We laugh about it and keep it light, trying not to make a big deal about it. He is starting to experience a little aggravation. If he gets a chair stuck on the corner of the table, he will cry and fuss for about 20 seconds and then move on about his business. If he is over-tired and done with the day, he cannot be satisfied. He wants to be held, but he wants to be put down... He wants to be touching me, but he doesn't want me touching him. He wants to lean on me and I can't move or walk off or he starts wailing in disbelief. It's not all the time, or everyday even. But we have noticed his range of emotions are widening, and I find it quite facinating. I try to explain my feelings when I make a face, i reflect the feelings in the books using gestures, and I let him work out most things by himself. He thinks all Mommy's faces are funny and exciting, so we'll see how that goes.

#8 FAVORITE TOYS: Toys are great and all, but they are not as good as carrying around a sock for a couple HOURS waiving it in the air, in the dogs face and dropping it and picking it back up and putting it in a box and taking it out of the box. And then there is moving furniture. He LOVES rearranging the chairs at the dinner table. He knows to pull them out, and then push them around. Outside is probably his favorite place to be. Leaves and rocks are apparently facinating. He's so excited when he picks up one that he holds it up like a trophy and smiles really big. He's fallen over many times from cocking his head back so far in victory. When he's done showing it to the sky, he immediately puts it in his mouth. He just chews on the leaves like they are tobacco (especially mint leaves from the garden). To my knowledge, he doesn't really swallow them. He just chews, and chews and chews until I remove it with my Captain Hook finger. He loves this rubber bracelet that I always wear, and will dedicate an hour of the afternoon carrying it around and showing it to all the furniture. Another of his favorites is anything with buttons or switches or velcro, this is including my iPhone. I really try not to use my phone in front of him because he gets so upset when I put it away. He knows to push the "home" button to make it light up, and he will hold it down so Suri talks to him. He also knows to swipe his finger across the screen to look at pictures, and loves being able to see the other person on the phone if we Face-Time. In fact, he looks so confused if no one is on the screen but I have them on speaker. He laughs and cackles when he hears them talking. 


#7 BOOK WORM: He loves books. I can be folding and putting up clothes in his room, and he will pull every book down from the shelf and flip through them, mumbling and going on like he's reading them, for like 30-45 minutes. Pointing at his favorite pictures and showing me different things. If I sit on the floor in his room, he will drag a book over, sit in my lap and put his hands crossed in his lap, ready for me to begin. It's so cute, my heart just melts every time he does it. He loves the books that have flaps with secret things underneath. He knows where they are now, so he'll turn the page and start fiddling with the flap until he can lift it, giggling with excitement. We still read a book (or two) every night before I put him in bed. Even if he's plum worn out, a short book puts him at ease and only then is he ready for bed.

#6 SOCIAL BUG: He loves people! Lately, it's taken him a couple minutes to warm up to male figures, but when a lady walks in they are best friends. He makes sweet eyes and hugs and snuggles on every woman.  Not just humans, animals too. Him and Murfy are best friends and he loves to "get kisses" from her. She's outside for now, until we get these allergies under control, but he steals moments with her every chance he gets. He will run over to her and sticks his face in her face (his communication for "hello") and Murfy will give him a couple licks. He'll turn to me and giggle and off he goes again.

#5 LEARNING CURVE: I know it's just because he is my son, but he amazes me every single day. Monkey see, monkey do! If I show him something, I may have to repeat it once or twice before he picks it up and tries on his own. He knows how to turn on/off light switches, flip the pages of a book, open/close doors and stuff like that for months. But he's starting to reference sounds and requests with actions. If I start beeping (imagine a dump truck backing up) he will walk over to his bike, sit on it and go backwards. Then he will start making engine sounds and going forward. Put a golf club in his hand, and he starts swinging at the balls on the ground (and your shins if your not careful). If something is on the floor that is mine, he picks it up and hands it to me, then smiles and shrugs his shoulders like " I know, I'm the sweetest boy in the world". I know these are trivial, but he's just learning and picking up things so fast now. Bittersweet is a great word for how I feel - proud that he is becoming so independent and sad that everyday he needs me a little less.

#4 CLOTH DIAPERING: We are still going strong, cloth diapering about 99% of the time. When we use disposables, we still use the Honest brand. Sometimes we get home after a long day and I know it's about 30 minutes before I put him in the bathtub, so I'll put a sposie on him so I don't have to waste a perfectly clean clothie. Sometimes if we go out of town I will use them as well, especially if we are going to get home late on Sunday, because I don't feel like washing a bunch of diapers after a long drive. My grandmother and mother also use sposies  during the day time when they keep him. Nighttime is 100% cloth, no matter whose house he stays at! It is really funny how his wardrobe changes when he goes with them. The cloth diapers are a little bulkier, so the same clothes over a disposable are kind of big and sometimes end around his feet - LOL! Daycare is still great with the cloth diapers, and I'm so glad for them being so open minded.

#3 SLEEPING SCHEDULE: He has been the easiest to sleep coach **knocking on every piece of wood I can find**. Yes, there are nights when he is particularly restless, but it's very rarely an issue. Right after his surgery, I had to rock in the chair in his room for about an hour before he would lay down and go to sleep. I'm thinking because he rested alot that day, and probably wasn't feeling good. He cried a good bit, but I put my hand on his crib and he just lay his head on it and stroked it with his fingers, exhausted and still woozy from the anesthesia. 99.9% of the time, he will just talk to his giraffe or sing while rubbing his Taggie blanket. He's usually asleep by 8:00pm at the latest and wakes up about 7:00am. His daycare did switch him to only 1 nap during the day, which shows sometimes in the afternoon when he gets home... in which I let him take a 20-30 minute nap to hold him over. On weekends he usually takes 2 naps to make up for the sleep, so I usually just follow his lead on Saturdays and Sundays.

#2 TEETH: He is a late bloomer, his first tooth not breaking through until a week before his birthday. However, he's now got a collection of 5 on the top and only 1 on the bottom. Strangest tooth eruption ever, but that's the way he is. I blame the majority of his tempermental attitude on these poor pearly whites on the basis that there is no other pain like mouth pain. And with all these teeth breaking through the skin at one time, I expect him to be somewhat uncomfortable and am proud of him for being in such a smiley mood as much as he is.

#1 DIET: Of course, I saved the best for last. Keegan is a total foodie. He loves food, every kind of food, and when he is hungry you better not get in his way! He has been introduced to everything, even the food that the pediatrician recomended to wait on (peanut and almond butter). His favorites are pineapple, blueberries, broccoli, carrots, prunes and raisins, chicken, pork, tilapia, sweet potato, scrambled eggs and yogurt. But he eats whatever we put in front of him. He also has learned how to feed Murfy. After he stuffs his faces enough, he will give a bite to the dog. He even teases her by holding the food out, and then snatching it back quickly and putting it back in his own mouth and laughing. I tried telling him "no, this is Keegan's food" and he shut down and threw a huge fit. Next time I just went with it, and it actually goes a lot smoother if he shares his food. He offers it a couple times to the dog, but he also offers it to us, and gets a kick out of nibbling on his fingers and squeeling "YUM-YUM-YUM". Finger foods have been so much fun, and I get so excited that we can go to a restaraunt and order him some veggies and sweet potato fries and give him bits of our food. 

So much is changing so fast, so I will try to blog more often. Just in the course of writing this, he has grown and is showing me new things every day. Seriously, I have been using the Facebook page as my daily blog. So go check it out to see regular updates, food tips, what inspires me in motherhood and other fun articles from my favorite mommy bloggers.