Dear Blogspot, you've been great these past 6 years. But I'm moving.
Friends: you can find this post at its new home here: http://www.foell.org/jessi/2012/04/mbi-and-me/
Sorry for the redirecting. Update your bookmarks...if you still do that.
Wednesday, April 25, 2012
Tuesday, March 13, 2012
Jules in Bullet Points
I've been terrible about documenting what Jules is up to since the end of his monthly posts. So here's a post dedicated just to him and what he's up to.
-When he's supposed to be sleeping, he's usually singing the ABC song, Peanut Butter Jelly Time, and has a conversation with Lamby. If you ask him to sing, he won't. So I enjoy his nighttime routine of singing in bed (or when he's playing or in the tub).
-He follows statements up with questions. For example: "Lamby has eye. Can you talk to Lamby?" or "I have trains. Do you like trains?" Or he'll follow up a statement with "Buuuuuut..." It's great to see how clever he is at constructing sentences.
-He's obsessed by loud things. He goes off on long winded tangents about smoke alarms, tornado sirens, train horns, and train whistles. It's cute until you hear what he's actually saying, then it's sad how much they terrify him. We're working on getting him comfortable and that loud noises have a purpose. Library books help.
-When you talk to him on the phone and ask him how he's doing, he always says he's good. Always. Then he might go into something about how he couldn't do something because he was sad. He knows how to have a pity party.
-He likes Mac 'n Cheese cold.
-His favorite toy is a pink stroller we got him for Christmas. He loads it up with cars or whatever he's hauling and runs from room to room.
-His standard greeting: "Hello mommy, hello! How are you doing?" whenever I come home or talk to him on the phone.
Quick list of funny sayings:
-Drum Quarters = Drum Corps
-Grocery Carpet = Grocery Cart
-Would that be perfect?
-Can I see pictures on your ipod phone?
-We're best friends!
I should really do a monthly post on him. He's always doing or saying something new. While sassy and a challenge at times, he's really a good boy.
-When he's supposed to be sleeping, he's usually singing the ABC song, Peanut Butter Jelly Time, and has a conversation with Lamby. If you ask him to sing, he won't. So I enjoy his nighttime routine of singing in bed (or when he's playing or in the tub).
-He follows statements up with questions. For example: "Lamby has eye. Can you talk to Lamby?" or "I have trains. Do you like trains?" Or he'll follow up a statement with "Buuuuuut..." It's great to see how clever he is at constructing sentences.
-He's obsessed by loud things. He goes off on long winded tangents about smoke alarms, tornado sirens, train horns, and train whistles. It's cute until you hear what he's actually saying, then it's sad how much they terrify him. We're working on getting him comfortable and that loud noises have a purpose. Library books help.
-When you talk to him on the phone and ask him how he's doing, he always says he's good. Always. Then he might go into something about how he couldn't do something because he was sad. He knows how to have a pity party.
-He likes Mac 'n Cheese cold.
-His favorite toy is a pink stroller we got him for Christmas. He loads it up with cars or whatever he's hauling and runs from room to room.
-His standard greeting: "Hello mommy, hello! How are you doing?" whenever I come home or talk to him on the phone.
Quick list of funny sayings:
-Drum Quarters = Drum Corps
-Grocery Carpet = Grocery Cart
-Would that be perfect?
-Can I see pictures on your ipod phone?
-We're best friends!
I should really do a monthly post on him. He's always doing or saying something new. While sassy and a challenge at times, he's really a good boy.
Friday, February 10, 2012
It's Groundhog Day...again
I love that movie. Everyday feels like Groundhog Day here. Just the same thing over and over again. But lets talk about some of the new things happening around the house - bullet point style:
- After 3 years of Justin participating in the Overnight Website Challenge, I finally decided to join him. I applied for a team and was accepted! I'm no developer, but I can add content like no ones business. So that's what I'll be doing in March.
- Justin and I are attempting to relive our days of Drum Corps. We're auditioning for Minnesota Brass - an all ages drum corps. This time he'll be my seat partner!
- Jules continues to be our loving, sweet, son who bosses us around by saying, "You come to my room to play trains wif me." His new question is, "Is that you mommy?"
- Scully is still around and terrified of Jules who loves to chase her. But he also asks her to be his "best friend" - he's tender like that.
- We've had the strangest winter in Minnesota. I don't think we had any snow in January and if we did, it melted because we've been in the 40's. Except today. It's 5 degrees out right now. Yes, it's as cold as it sounds. I'm hoping it just means we'll have a longer spring and a hot summer. If not, I don't think Justin will want to continue to live here.
- Justin's into bikes, beer, and baby's. Let's just say he's attempting to make one of each.
- We knew Jules would be like us in many ways, but we didn't take into consideration some of the things we didn't want to pass to him. Talking in his sleep, bad skin, hard breathing when he's watching t.v. or concentrating on something, and biting his nails. These annoying little habits are sure to get worse.
- And speaking of Jules, he's terrified of loud noises. I've read about many who have dealt with kids and sensitivity to things like sounds or new situations or foods - and I should take comfort that these sensitivities will lessen and even pass with age. But man this is tough. He remembers instances of loud noises, where he was when they happened and he obsesses over it.
We were heading out to Utah over Thanksgiving break and we stopped at my office to do some last minute work. It was first thing in the morning so hardly anyone was there. My boss and I were chatting, Jules was sitting at the table and Justin was in the hall on the phone. Suddenly, the building fire alarm went off. There was no mention of a drill so this was the real thing. When the alarm goes off all the doors automatically shut and when that happened, along with the startling noise, Jules FLIPPED the F out. I had to grab him and bolt out of the building and reassure him it wouldn't happen again (of course, how the hell am I supposed to know that?). He talked about that for days.
I had lunch with him and Justin this week and we went to my building after lunch and he immediately panicked and started babbling about the alarm and doors closing and he how hated my work. I felt terrible for him when he started crying. It'll be a long time before I can bring him back.
He's constantly asking "What's that noise?" when he hears something he's never heard. Sometimes it's just a question other times you can tell he's worried. All we can do is reassure him. I hope this passes.
- And speaking of obsessing: I'm all over Adele right now. Isn't that voice amazing? If I was in London like someone I know, I'd totally go to every show she was doing. Seriously, amazing.
Hilarious
- After 3 years of Justin participating in the Overnight Website Challenge, I finally decided to join him. I applied for a team and was accepted! I'm no developer, but I can add content like no ones business. So that's what I'll be doing in March.
- Justin and I are attempting to relive our days of Drum Corps. We're auditioning for Minnesota Brass - an all ages drum corps. This time he'll be my seat partner!
- Jules continues to be our loving, sweet, son who bosses us around by saying, "You come to my room to play trains wif me." His new question is, "Is that you mommy?"
- Scully is still around and terrified of Jules who loves to chase her. But he also asks her to be his "best friend" - he's tender like that.
- We've had the strangest winter in Minnesota. I don't think we had any snow in January and if we did, it melted because we've been in the 40's. Except today. It's 5 degrees out right now. Yes, it's as cold as it sounds. I'm hoping it just means we'll have a longer spring and a hot summer. If not, I don't think Justin will want to continue to live here.
- Justin's into bikes, beer, and baby's. Let's just say he's attempting to make one of each.
- We knew Jules would be like us in many ways, but we didn't take into consideration some of the things we didn't want to pass to him. Talking in his sleep, bad skin, hard breathing when he's watching t.v. or concentrating on something, and biting his nails. These annoying little habits are sure to get worse.
- And speaking of Jules, he's terrified of loud noises. I've read about many who have dealt with kids and sensitivity to things like sounds or new situations or foods - and I should take comfort that these sensitivities will lessen and even pass with age. But man this is tough. He remembers instances of loud noises, where he was when they happened and he obsesses over it.
We were heading out to Utah over Thanksgiving break and we stopped at my office to do some last minute work. It was first thing in the morning so hardly anyone was there. My boss and I were chatting, Jules was sitting at the table and Justin was in the hall on the phone. Suddenly, the building fire alarm went off. There was no mention of a drill so this was the real thing. When the alarm goes off all the doors automatically shut and when that happened, along with the startling noise, Jules FLIPPED the F out. I had to grab him and bolt out of the building and reassure him it wouldn't happen again (of course, how the hell am I supposed to know that?). He talked about that for days.
I had lunch with him and Justin this week and we went to my building after lunch and he immediately panicked and started babbling about the alarm and doors closing and he how hated my work. I felt terrible for him when he started crying. It'll be a long time before I can bring him back.
He's constantly asking "What's that noise?" when he hears something he's never heard. Sometimes it's just a question other times you can tell he's worried. All we can do is reassure him. I hope this passes.
- And speaking of obsessing: I'm all over Adele right now. Isn't that voice amazing? If I was in London like someone I know, I'd totally go to every show she was doing. Seriously, amazing.
Hilarious
Sunday, January 22, 2012
Upgrade
He's a tiny little bossy pants who now has a "big boy" bed. We purchased this bed well before Christmas and never had time to set his room up. It also meant we needed to move his chair somewhere else. And at the time, the somewhere else was where the Christmas tree lived.
Before:
After:
Before:
After:
He likes it. He especially likes to push the bed away from the wall and hangout (and sometimes sleep) on the floor between the wall and bed.
And just for fun, here's Jules who refuses to look at the camera but still smiles (from Christmas Eve).
Before:
After:
Before:
After:
He likes it. He especially likes to push the bed away from the wall and hangout (and sometimes sleep) on the floor between the wall and bed.
And just for fun, here's Jules who refuses to look at the camera but still smiles (from Christmas Eve).
Wednesday, December 14, 2011
Why Hello There!
I'm going to pretend November didn't happen. And according to my blog, it looks like nothing happened.
Moving on...
Christmas last year was fun with an 18 month-old. But I'd like to take that back. Christmas with a 2 and 1/2 year-old is fun. Sure, he's sassy and sometimes naughty, but he's really into the magic that is Christmas. I set him up with his own decorated tree in his room and Justin put a little train set around the base. He loves it! And he loves to show it to people who come over. It's so much fun to see him so excited.
He happily obliges with our traditions of cutting down a Christmas tree in the freezing cold, standing outside in the freezing cold for a 10 minute parade, and soon, he'll participate in Christmas Eve fondue. I can picture it now - all bread and cheese for dinner and peppermint ice cream for dessert. It's Christmas, why fight it?
He's not really sure about the purpose of Santa - and we're fine with that. That's a conversation Justin and I need to have because our nieces and nephews were told from the beginning there is no Santa. (Not sure what to think of that...)
I'm not doing a whole lot of handmade items this year, just a few things for various people. So far it hasn't been stressful. But ask me next week when I get back from a conference and realize my last weekend to get stuff done is gone. Hello Amazon!
Work was very generous with holiday time off. They gave us 5 days between Christmas and New Years. So that means I only had to take two days off to get 12 days. It's much needed for a lot of employees; we've been busy. My co-worker resigned and moved back to his home state which left me doing the work of two people. Needless to say, some items have been put on the back burner until they hire a replacement. I'm patiently waiting for that replacement to show up in January. It'll be a New Year's miracle!
Moving on...
Christmas last year was fun with an 18 month-old. But I'd like to take that back. Christmas with a 2 and 1/2 year-old is fun. Sure, he's sassy and sometimes naughty, but he's really into the magic that is Christmas. I set him up with his own decorated tree in his room and Justin put a little train set around the base. He loves it! And he loves to show it to people who come over. It's so much fun to see him so excited.
He happily obliges with our traditions of cutting down a Christmas tree in the freezing cold, standing outside in the freezing cold for a 10 minute parade, and soon, he'll participate in Christmas Eve fondue. I can picture it now - all bread and cheese for dinner and peppermint ice cream for dessert. It's Christmas, why fight it?
He's not really sure about the purpose of Santa - and we're fine with that. That's a conversation Justin and I need to have because our nieces and nephews were told from the beginning there is no Santa. (Not sure what to think of that...)
I'm not doing a whole lot of handmade items this year, just a few things for various people. So far it hasn't been stressful. But ask me next week when I get back from a conference and realize my last weekend to get stuff done is gone. Hello Amazon!
Work was very generous with holiday time off. They gave us 5 days between Christmas and New Years. So that means I only had to take two days off to get 12 days. It's much needed for a lot of employees; we've been busy. My co-worker resigned and moved back to his home state which left me doing the work of two people. Needless to say, some items have been put on the back burner until they hire a replacement. I'm patiently waiting for that replacement to show up in January. It'll be a New Year's miracle!
Thursday, October 20, 2011
The Fan
When we moved into our house we immediately noticed the bathroom fan was unusually loud. Like airplane engine loud. The second you turned on the light, the fan came on and you couldn't hear anything even with the door open. The plan was to replace the fan before the baby came.
2 1/2 years later and that fan still lives. And honestly, I don't want to get rid of it. Sure it's loud and I hate yelling "I can't hear you!" when Justin asks me a question from the hall. And it's also annoying when I'm taking a bath with my iphone and want to watch something. (What, doesn't everyone do that in the tub?)
But you know what it IS good for? Locking yourself away and pretending the child you just put to bed is actually sleeping and not in his room screaming "READ STOWY MOM-MOM-MOMMMMMMY!" or "MORE WAAAAAAATER!" or just plain screaming because he's over tired and doesn't want to go to bed. Nope, can't hear it.
After hanging out in the bathroom for a few minutes, I'll turn the light/fan off to see if he's still howling. Sometimes he is and sometimes he isn't.
It's the little things that keep you sane.
Now if I could just get the creaking hardwood floors to not wake him up when I'm sneaking in his room.
2 1/2 years later and that fan still lives. And honestly, I don't want to get rid of it. Sure it's loud and I hate yelling "I can't hear you!" when Justin asks me a question from the hall. And it's also annoying when I'm taking a bath with my iphone and want to watch something. (What, doesn't everyone do that in the tub?)
But you know what it IS good for? Locking yourself away and pretending the child you just put to bed is actually sleeping and not in his room screaming "READ STOWY MOM-MOM-MOMMMMMMY!" or "MORE WAAAAAAATER!" or just plain screaming because he's over tired and doesn't want to go to bed. Nope, can't hear it.
After hanging out in the bathroom for a few minutes, I'll turn the light/fan off to see if he's still howling. Sometimes he is and sometimes he isn't.
It's the little things that keep you sane.
Now if I could just get the creaking hardwood floors to not wake him up when I'm sneaking in his room.
Monday, October 10, 2011
Two Year Molars
Jules was always a content baby unless he really needed something. He had this high-pitched "EEEEE" right before he would start to cry. So if we caught him at that stage, we were golden. As a toddler, pretty much the same way. Except the "EEEE" is now "Help ple-EEEEEEEse mommy!"
He's a good eater. He has manners. He's funny. He's a little self-destructive when we say "No" or tell him not to do something. And even when he's sick, he's manageable. Just cuddle, a little meds and he's good.
But damn these 2-year molars! Never was he like this in all of his teething episodes. At first I thought he was sick. A slight fever and a hacking cough, I blamed it on the kids at the gym. But then I saw little teeth poking through and it all clicked: the moodiness, fever, not wanting to eat, screaming when it was time to brush teeth. Turns out, giant, stabbing knives were poking through his little gums. I'd be moody too.
Mommy: Jules, do you want Mini Wheats or Cheerios?
Jules: Cheerios.
Mommy: (getting the Cheerios box)
Jules: NO CHERRIOS, MINI WHEATS!!
Mommy: You want Mini Wheats?
Jules: NO! CHEERIOS!
Mommy: (WTF? Getting the Cheerios Box)
Jules: In little bowl. (he means a ramekin)
Mommy: You can't eat Cheerios in a ramekin.
Jules: IN LITTLE BOOOOOOWL!
Mommy: Fine, here.
Jules: Pour milk.
Mommy: (starting to pour milk)
Jules: NO MILK!
One day, I think he ate yogurt and raisins. That's it. For a kid who normally eats a big bowl of cereal, toast, yogurt and milk, this new diet of nothing is a little worrisome. But I know it's temporary and he'll be fine.
Last night after a particularly difficult diaper change, he actually said "hurt in mouth." Oh, it was so sad! And I felt really bad for him. So Justin and I cuddled him and tried to help him feel better with medicine and distraction, diaper-less.
So 2-year molars, hurry up and get here. We miss our sweet Jules.
He's a good eater. He has manners. He's funny. He's a little self-destructive when we say "No" or tell him not to do something. And even when he's sick, he's manageable. Just cuddle, a little meds and he's good.
But damn these 2-year molars! Never was he like this in all of his teething episodes. At first I thought he was sick. A slight fever and a hacking cough, I blamed it on the kids at the gym. But then I saw little teeth poking through and it all clicked: the moodiness, fever, not wanting to eat, screaming when it was time to brush teeth. Turns out, giant, stabbing knives were poking through his little gums. I'd be moody too.
Mommy: Jules, do you want Mini Wheats or Cheerios?
Jules: Cheerios.
Mommy: (getting the Cheerios box)
Jules: NO CHERRIOS, MINI WHEATS!!
Mommy: You want Mini Wheats?
Jules: NO! CHEERIOS!
Mommy: (WTF? Getting the Cheerios Box)
Jules: In little bowl. (he means a ramekin)
Mommy: You can't eat Cheerios in a ramekin.
Jules: IN LITTLE BOOOOOOWL!
Mommy: Fine, here.
Jules: Pour milk.
Mommy: (starting to pour milk)
Jules: NO MILK!
One day, I think he ate yogurt and raisins. That's it. For a kid who normally eats a big bowl of cereal, toast, yogurt and milk, this new diet of nothing is a little worrisome. But I know it's temporary and he'll be fine.
Last night after a particularly difficult diaper change, he actually said "hurt in mouth." Oh, it was so sad! And I felt really bad for him. So Justin and I cuddled him and tried to help him feel better with medicine and distraction, diaper-less.
So 2-year molars, hurry up and get here. We miss our sweet Jules.
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