Patting myself on the back

You know, I'm not really cut out for this work-at-home freelance stuff. My work habits stink. I'm easily distracted. (For example, I was in the middle of typing up a document when I decided to take a break and write this post.) I procrastinate. I invariably work late into the night the day before a deadline.

But!

Right at this moment, I'm feeling really good about work. I just tallied up my hours for the month, and I worked 80 hours, which was my goal! Andrew went to daycare 10 days, so that works out about right. I can never manage to work eight hours during a daycare day, mind you. Many of those hours were late at night and during weekends, but that's not important.

I made my goal! Our budget will be nice next month. We might actually contribute to savings! Woo-freaking-hoo!

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Bedtime

Every night, I set up Andrew's crib like this. Hanging over the rail at the top of the picture is the Big Bad Baby Blanket I knit for him while I was pregnant. Sitting in the corner beneath it is a cute bear my uncle gave him when he was born. Across the bottom is a soft, cuddly blanket from my stepsister, and the bear sitting on it was given to me by my mom when we found out I was having a boy. Of course Gloworm is good for comfort, and then there's Monkey ("Mama"), Andrew's best buddy.

Looks nice and cozy, right? I think so. But the first thing he does when I lay him in there after rocking him and singing to him is toss everything out of the crib.

Everything but Monkey.

I guess he prefers his crib decluttered. He hates blankets, except to play with. I wish he would sleep with one on, but no way. Absolutely not. I can't even put one on him in the car, much to my dismay. Doesn't he know that we live in a cold climate and that blankets are his friend?

My sleepy boy, cuddling with Monkey and a car:


Oh, and before I got him in his crib he grabbed a shoe and cuddled that, too. Weirdo.

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20 months

Hm, the last month has been pretty uneventful. We're tired of being stuck indoors so much and already looking forward to spring. Andrew was sick a lot. Had another ear infection. Hasn't been sleeping terribly well (with the exception of a few stellar nights).

Andrew at 20 months: He is a walking, talking sponge, learning new words and "tricks" every day. His hair is always sticking up. He's finally starting to fit into size 18 months pants.

Teeth: Looks like I haven't mentioned teeth since he was 16 months old, when he had 10. He has his bottom molars too, now, for a total of 12 teeth. I'm thinking he got them around 18 months. Right now we're struggling with brushing them. I've been pretty slack till now, just letting him chew on the brush every night, but my fear of rotting teeth has finally driven me to hold him down and do a quick and dirty go-over while he screams and thrashes and flails. "It would be so quick and easy if you would just let me do it," I tell him. I'm not happy about it, but I don't know what else to do.

New Tricks: One night a couple of weeks ago, he was playing with his abacus and counting. DH and I exchanged impressed glances when he got to four and were downright gobsmacked when he kept going till ten! Where did that come from? He's getting better and better at identifying shapes but as far as I can tell still has no understanding of colours.



Miscellaneous: I'm thrilled that I can now give him crayons and he will actually attempt to colour with them instead of just eating them. It took him about five minutes to graduate from colouring on paper to scribbling on the wall — yikes! He also loves stickers. There are tiny stickers (Cars stickers, of course) all over the house. He rips them and then brings them to me all devastated, saying, "Oh no, broken." He's also very polite, saying "thank you" and "sorry" and, less often, "please." If he falls he comes to me with a scrunched-up face saying "hurt." I kiss his boo-boo and he carries on with his business.

Just look at those eyes. And those lashes are to die for!

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Update

Hmm, should I count mind-reading (or blog-reading, lol) among my son's many talents?

While his Daddy love continues at home, last week he started showing me a little love during daycare drop-off/pick-up. One day he even gave me a kiss goodbye! (Andrew kisses are very rare.) And I think all three days he said "Bye-bye" or "Bye, Munny." And he showed some signs of recognition — happiness, even — when I came to pick him up.

It's the little things that matter most.

Of course within moments of my arrival he's asking for Daddy, and he says "Daddy?" about a dozen times as we get his boots and coat on and get him loaded in the car. "Yes, baby, we're going home to see Daddy."

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My feelings are hurt

Andrew is currently going through a big Daddy phase. He asks for Daddy all day, and when Daddy is home, he wants nothing to do with me. He gets mad if I come into his room while he's playing with Daddy, to the extent of having a full-blown tantrum. He physically pushes me away. Sometimes, if he's feeling lazy or too busy playing, he'll just throw me a dirty look and say "push." Meaning "go away." The other night he didn't even want me at bedtime! That's always Mommy time! I was crushed. (I suppose it's good, though, that Daddy does the bedtime routine once in a while.)

But then sometimes I feel like it's not just about preferring Daddy: he doesn't like me! He used to cry when I left him at daycare. Now he ignores me when I kiss him goodbye. I know this, too, is a good thing; obviously he likes daycare. I certainly don't want him to cry, but a hug or even a "bye Munny" would be really nice. Even worse, he doesn't react when I come to pick him up. When I got there on Wednesday, I rushed over to him and asked for a hug. He barely glanced at me and walked away. One of the other kids came over and hugged me instead, lol.

I know, I know, this is normal toddler stuff. But man, it sucks. He is my whole world, and he breaks my heart every single day. I have a feeling he always will.

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New year, new potty?

Andrew got a gift card for Christmas, and I had a $10 coupon that expired at the end of January, so we made a trip to Toys.R.Us and decided to get... a potty. This potty.

I chose this one based on its excellent review rating, but I'm already second-guessing myself. Shouldn't I have gotten one that can function as a step stool later? Or one that has a seat that fits on a real toilet? Or a smaller/lower one? (Andrew can't get on it yet.) But I'm going to give it a chance. We're not actually going to potty train yet anyway. I'm going to keep it in the bathroom so that he can get familiar with it and maybe figure out what it's for. He's starting to talk about poop — even came and told me when he had some diarrhea last week — so he's at least somewhat aware. But I'm not going to put him on it, unless he asks, for at least another couple of months.

Still, I can't believe there's a potty in my bathroom. Another sure sign that my baby is growing up. Sigh.

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19-ish months

I suppose I should be posting a review of 2010, or maybe some resolutions/goals/wishes for 2011, but I'm feeling pretty ho-hum about that whole deal, so I'm just going to get back on track with a monthly update post.

Andrew at 19 months (and 11 days): Well, if you looked closely at my boy today, you'd find a bruise on his forehead from when he fell off the change table last week, a scrape on his forehead of unknown origins, bruises on both his thighs from the times he got his knees stuck in the crib slats (trying to climb out??), red rashes/blotches on his skin that I think are eczema... Basically, he's a mess. But despite all that, he's still adorable. Not that I'm biased.

Food: The terrible eating continues. Thankfully, no matter how poor his eating, he's always eager for his milk. He's slipping in the percentile charts, though, and his doctor is concerned enough to refer us to a pediatrician for some testing to make sure there's no underlying cause. She says she's just being cautious and doesn't expect there to be anything wrong. If it is determined to be a nutritional problem, we will then be referred to a nutritionist. Ugh. I feel really crappy about this, like I haven't been trying hard enough to get him to eat better.

Sleep: Slightly improved over last month, but he's still not sleeping through the night with any consistency. When am I going to get my good little sleeper back?

Loves: Above all else, he still loves cars and trucks, and he got many new ones for Christmas that will no doubt keep him occupied for hours on end. He also loves TV and YouTube videos and the movie Cars. I am dismayed by his obsession with the computer and TV screens, but we give in to his entertainment demands far too often. We must work on that. He loves his bedtime bottle (which I know I need to eliminate soon), and he loves pizza and "candy" (those Gerber juicy treats things). I am so embarrassed that he even knows those words, but alas he does.

Vocabulary: I'm glad I counted his words when I did, because I certainly couldn't count them all now. His newest words include "cowboy," "dinosaur," and "race car" — what a boy. He's putting words together now, coming up with things like "wash hands" and "brush hair." He surprises me every day. OH! He now calls me "Munny." So funny!

New Tricks: Let's see. He can identify all 10 shapes in his shapes book as we go through the pages. I think he's just memorized the book, though, because he doesn't seem to know them outside of that context. Still, memorizing a 10-page book is pretty neat, I think. He also pipes up with a few of the lines from his newest favourite, The Paper Bag Princess: he knows when the dragon says "Go away!" and when Elizabeth says "Wait, wait!" and when the dragon says "Oh, yes." He will also try to sing along to the Wheels on the Bus ("all ... TOWNNNN") and loves Old Macdonald's "ee i ee i oooh." Oh, you know how I mentioned below that he was giving me real slobbery kisses? That only lasted a day. What's up with that?

Miscellaneous: My kiddo now says "good" when he eats something he likes. He's earnest about it, too. If it's really good, he leans toward you and makes eye contact before issuing his happy verdict. He's also said it, however, after putting the grocery cart chain (the one that connects the carts before you put the quarter in) in his mouth, so I guess I shouldn't mistake it as a compliment on my cooking.

If he's asking for something and you're not giving it to him fast enough, he stops whining and tries a different tack. He gets in your face, makes eye contact, and says, "Oh, hi!" in his cute little voice. Like maybe we just weren't hearing him. Whining/crying promptly resumes if the answer is still no.

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