Gametes In Love

03.10.2010

03.19.2010

03.25.2010

03.26.2010

G is a growing boy. Yes, this shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone, but apparently I’m living in denial (or forgetfulness) when it comes to his feet. G outgrew his size 4 shoes and came home from daycare barefoot a few weeks ago. And guess what? We had nothing else to fit him that he would wear.

The key to this is ‘that he would wear’. You see, G hates, HATES hard soled shoes. Putting a hard sole on him might as well be putting shoes on a cat — he behaves about the same way. He stops whatever it was he was doing (before the shoes came on), squats, whines, and pulls at the shoes. Actually, a pretty great mechanism to get him to stay in one spot… provided you don’t mind the constant and pitiful “Whaaaaaaaaa!”s

So hard soles were out. Unfortunately, there aren’t all that many makers that make soft soled shoes in size 5, that also had material worthy of the adventures of a 19+ month-old. In addition, I’m not thrilled with the idea of having a 15 year old son who goes to school in ballet or Bunny slippers, because he doesn’t like the weight/inflexibility of tennis shoes.

Luckily for us Robeez’ 1st Step shoes are just perfect. It’s a hard-er sole, but with lots of flexibility. Now the trick was to get G to wear them. The first try didn’t go too well. However, we won on our second. What worked? Showing him the airplanes on his new shoes. Then he wanted to wear the “flies” on his feet. His second pair had soccer balls on the straps, so he was pretty excited about the balls on his feet too. Shoe trickery? Yes, but it’s a good path towards big boy shoes.

A collection of random pics over the past 2 weeks

My angel sleeping. He’s got alll this room and he still prefers to hug the corner. [This photo was taken when G’s room was quite dark with a 50mm f/1.2L lens I was testing out. Yes, this is me nerding out for a minute 🙂 ]

Effects of the Elmo pacifier

Bubbles!

Neko naps

Daddy powered vehicles

Remember the swing G got from his Auntie K for his birthday? Well, it’s still a big hit at our house. The rainy weather though produced one pitiful toddler who would point to his swing through the living room glass doors. So S had the bright idea to bring the swing inside. The man is brilliant from time to time. He got some heavy-duty rope and tied it through the stair-way. Now G can swing to his heart’s content whenever he feels like it. It’s been awesome! It’s also been a big hit at play-dates, and I might I add has inspired a few other friends to look at indoor swing solutions.

When G was home sick with the ickiness that was Hand, Foot & Mouth, having his swing was so nice. It gave him a little bit of happiness to what was otherwise a sorrowful week.

My contribution to the staircase swing? The attachment of a rope, so I can pull G while sitting on the couch. Sure, it’s lazy parenting, but it’s also a convenient way to keep a kid happy while you need to finish other chores, like fold laundry and the like.

G’s a big fan of balls. He’s got a mean arm when it comes to throwing, but he’s now into kicking the sphere around too. I seriously feel like I should be looking at toddler soccer camp programs this summer.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bik7oyLt3RU]

All that soccer makes a boy hungry

02.12.2010

02.19.2010

03.02.2010

03.17.2010

03.17.2010

Our boy is fearless. Once he gets comfortable in his environment, he is all over the place. But he gets this honestly, as neither S nor I are known for conservative choices on physical safety. G is climbing and jumping from one couch to another. He’s a madman on the playground too. While I smile on this inside, I also know all the things I used to do as a child that would make my parents’ hair stand on end (hell, it makes MINE stand on end now), so I’m not thrilled to think of all the trouble he’ll be getting into.

This past month we’ve seen a big push for self independence, and definitely a lot more talking. We now have 3 phrases, one of them containing 3 words. He sure is growing up!

Weight: 22lb 6oz

Height: 30.5″

Number of teeth: 13

Words: 15+ this month, with at least 5 in the last week
* boh (bottle)
* babee (baby)
* car
* puh (puff)
* moon
* fiss (fish)
* dohdie (doggie)
* burdie (birdie)
* do (door)
* geen (green)
* cuh-kie (cookie)
* eyes
* apple
* baketball (basketball)
* pon (spoon)
* run
* jump
* wee
* yum

Phrases & Sentences: 3
* Geen ball (green ball)
* I got ball
* I run

Favorite food: G seems to be really excited about big-people food. He’s a big fan of Indian Butter Chicken, Cashew Chicken, Oatmeal, Stawberries… The big deal is that he wants to feed himself with a spoon. He’s not nuts about self-feeding, but certainly prefers having his own spoon and being allowed to use it.

Favorite activity: Running away from you, laughing, and saying “No” while holding onto something he shouldn’t have…. all while you chase after him in attempt to pry it out of his little fingers

New accomplishment: Learning how to jump

My hopes for next month: We had no progress on getting rid of the morning bottle, although to be honest, haven’t really tried. Maybe I’ll tackle this task this month.

Potty trained?: What is this thing you call potty?

Naughtiest moment of the month: Smacking dad in the head

Sweetest moment of the month: Holding my hand when we go out. He’s not into hand-holding, so this is huge

Temper tantrum meter: mild

Two weeks ago, G’s Auntie P, and Mr. L (that’s Auntie P’s beau) came up for a visit. On her last day, we all piled up in the car and headed north for the CA Academy of Sciences. We had a good time, even though we missed out on the rain-forest exhibit. Oh well, I guess a reason for them to go back with us again.

I wasn’t planning on taking my fancy photography gear with us that day, mostly because I wanted to enjoy the exhibits with the family, but since both P and L planned to take theirs, I lent P the fancy camera. Unfortunate side-effect? Now she wants one ;p

Best part for me, though? For a change I get to be in photos! HA!

Here we go

Big kitty!

Rattle-snakes. Me, showing G what kind of pet we’re NEVER having.

Birdies

Peeking down at the acquarium

Rain-forest exhibit

Fiss

Lots of fiss

Oh, he was not a fan of the star-fish. Water was kind of chilly, in his defense

We were invited over for dinner by this guy. We declined

Our personal paparazi. Please visit often!

S bought G a little step-stool. It’s a blessing and a curse… trust me. G is now able to climb up on the couch with ease… as well as my computer chair… and the TV stand… and well you get the idea 🙂

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=82s1L2Bkrxs]

This post is rated PG-13. Parental supervision is advised.

Last night we all watched the Camping Show episode of Sesame Street. In this episode (for those of you who haven’t seen it), Elmo and Chris go camping. As they sit down for dinner, they’re interrupted by a beaver. Elmo invites the beaver over for dinner. Chris protests a bit, but after awhile consents and goes foraging for food with Mr. Beaver. Then they all return to the camp site and Chris talks about what he did. It’s at this point that S blurts out “Don’t worry Buddy, you’ll be doing things for Beaver for the rest of your life.”

Yeah, you can close your jaw now too. I’ll give you a minute.