Letter to Cub 2...

Wow! Another year! Another year has flown by and I'm in awe how fast that went! I still remember the day you were born like it was yesterday! You have learned so much in this past year and are talking up a storm! You are still giving us hugs and kisses but you're telling us "no" more often. Sometimes it's a game and sometimes it's a genuine protest for not wanting to brush your teeth, take a bath, or have your diaper changed.

You give both me and your Pappa grief over EVERYTHING (terrible two's perhaps?) but you still manage to get in some snuggle time and hugs and kisses to both of us every day.

You've flown to Omaha this year to meet your long distance pal, C. 

We've had changes this year. Teresa & T3 had been a major part of your life until they moved in May. It was heartbreaking for me, as T3 was your "brother" and you absolutely LOVED Teresa.

You went to your first LIVE show - Sesame Street Live! You seemed to have enjoyed it although you didn't openly clap or get excited.

You had an AWESOME summer of swimming. You purposely put your face under the water, holding your breath and pick your head up on your own. You've jumped in unassisted into the pool for me or Pappa to catch you. You were thrilled to do it and not scared at all.

You've been to Six Flags Discovery Kingdom more times this year than I have ever been in my life so far thanks to the season passes we bought. 

You had your first sleepover/overnight away from Mamma & Pappa. I missed you so much the whole time you were away.

You went to your first concert - Rascal Flatts with Sara Evans at Sleep Train Amphitheatre. You had a GREAT time and even wound up with an inflatable guitar to go home with. Not a tear/complaint about the loud music or the late night. When you fell asleep in my arms at 9:30 p.m., I could've just melted. ♥

Your personality is really showing and you're just a silly Cub! You love things that make noise, have wheels, and you love to "color". You make tiny circles on the paper with a pen or pencil. Every day, you're growing more into a little boy and wanting to do more "big boy" things. Some days I just want to hold/squeeze you tight because I know these times only last a short while.

Every day I love you more and more and am so proud of the little boy you're becoming. I hope you know that I will always love you. ♥

Missing!

Yep, that's right. We've been MIA. Or at least I have been in updating and posting on Cubby's blog here for you folks.

I'm working on getting some pics together to show what we've been up to - but for now, a little summary:

Talking: Cubby is talking up a STORM! He is a little parrot so Mamma Bear now has to watch her potty mouth. He knows many words (too many to list) but the ones he does regularly is "hep!" (help), "tank you" (thank you), "elcom" (you're welcome), "pease" (please), "no", "dada", "mama", "mom", "goke" (milk), "cul" (popsicle), "ont" (want), "go". He can put words together for short sentences like "Mom, ont goke", "hep pease", "Dada go?"

Swimming: I think enrolling him into swim at 8/9 months has paid off. This summer we took swim lessons up the kazoo. Too many for Mamma & Pappa Bear, but by the end of it all - Cubby was putting his face in the water on his own and holding his breath under the water! He was also jumping into the water with assistance and just loved hand-walking on his belly in the shallow side of the water (pics to come later). Then, while swimming at a friend's house and watching their four year old jump into the pool, Cubby thought he'd give it a try! UNASSISTED! He did a GREAT job but Mamma Bear's heart was pounding a kajillion miles a minute. Oh boy. Now we HAVE to keep a real close eye on him near water.

Family: We visit grandma once a week for dinner and he just LOVES her! It's so nice that he sees and recognizes her and the rest of my family as well. He is definitely the spoiled munchkin of the family (for now) and he's enjoying every minute of it!

I can't wait to show you all the things he's been doing! 

Independence Day!

This year it was a very small celebration. Pappa Bear, Cubby, Uncle D, his girlfriend S, Grandma and of course myself. Grandma made homemade french fries, burgers, dogs, ribs and a salad. Let's just say we were overstuffed.

My brother, mother and I are very much closet pyromaniacs (I use that term very loosely). We love to light up things and watch 'em burn! ♪ Burn, baby burn... disco inferno... ♫ Wait, where was I... ? Oh yes, back to the Fourth of July... Between my mother and I we spent about $200 on fireworks. This year, I really wanted Cubby to try his first sparkler. Now, I don't recommend this at all to other parents but because I know how overly cautious Cubby is AND the fact I was going to be right there, I didn't worry too much.

At first, he held onto the sparkler and as I was holding his wrist waving it around for him, he decided he wanted no part of it... and I was disappointed. How can MY Cubby NOT want to light up something? Oh well. The show MUST GO ON!!!

Before we start lighting off fireworks, we organize our goods. We start off with smaller things like Ground Blooms, Piccolo Pete's, interspersed with smaller fountains and then work our way up to Mad Dogs, American Spirit and what not. This year's finale was The Molten Pot. I was impressed! New this year and a $20 show piece, I think it was worth every penny. Again, here I am distracted - this isn't what this post is about!

During our spectacular show, Grandma continued to try and give Cubby a sparkler. FINALLY, he caught on! Yay! Only a Mamma Bear can be so proud! Here's a clip:



Can't wait for next year, when we show him how to properly light a firework himself... he he he...

Wordless Wednesday: Like Father, Like Son Part II

I couldn't resist...

Proof!

Yep! Here's proof we have a bear cub on our hands! He was so hungry, he refused to let me help open the bag to get to the biscuit... so the end result....

 

He said... WHAT???

The other day I was so exhausted and seriously needed a rest. Cubby may have gone down, but he had a bit of energy and Pappa Bear was headed out the door. So I asked him to put the gate in the hallway & close most of the doors so if Cubby wanted to get up, he could only be in my room or walk over to his room.

I closed my eyes to try and nap but woke up every few minutes hearing Cubby getting into things, making sure he was ok and back to closing my eyes. All of a sudden I feel a push against the mattress and I hear Cubby... "mooo mooo" in this kind of sing songy tone (which is what it sounded like to me) and holding out his arms to me. Keep in mind, I'm half asleep and I think he wants to be picked up to come into the bed with me.

Then he says it again, this time shoving his hands in my face and I shoot straight up out of my grogginess as I realize he said "Pooo Pooo" because I also smell it. On his hands. Ewww! He then proceeds to put his hand in the side of his diaper and I grab him and haul ass to his changing table.

This time I ask "Did you go poo poo?" He nods yes. Smiles. Lays right down to let me change him. *sigh*

Thinking it's time to maybe start potty training?

Wordless Wednesday: Little Boy!

Where did my baby go?

Cub's First Keyboard

I'm a techie geek. So it's no surprise at 19 months (although it would've been earlier if Pappa Bear would've let me) that Cubby has his very own keyboard! I found it online at MamaBargains, one of those deal-a-day sites. Now why would I spend money on a keyboard specifically designed for kids when we have a kajillion keyboards already?

Well, for one thing - it's specifically designed for kids. Cubby has been allowed on the computer here and there on a site called Kneebouncers. Our super wonderful, awesome nanny/childcare provider found and shared this site with me.

All that is required to use this site? The ability to push a key. Any key. Here is where the problem lies. On a regular "adult" keyboard, they have these keys that are helpful 'tools' like the ESC, Alt, Windows keys - when pressed have a specific function. None of which I want my toddler to be able to access or use or "accidently" use a combination of these keys and who knows what will happen!

So I was THRILLED when I found this keyboard by MyPC. As you can see from the pic, the buttons are HUGE and they are missing the 'tool' keys, so now I don't have to worry about Cubby on my keyboard!!!

Oh yeah - please excuse the mess that is my desk. This is why I'm looking for a "mama's helper"...

Where'd the Time Go?

Boy, time sure has flown - I didn't even realize it's been TWO whole months since a Cubby update/sighting! Rest assured, he's thriving and doing well, but he's keeping Mamma too busy to keep everyone updated... so look for an update soon!

Wordless Wednesday : Mini-Hugh

THUNK!

Boy, it was a rough night. Cubby started around the 2 a.m.-ish hour with the crying. Pappa got up, changed his diaper, gave him some food (he didn't eat much yesterday) and put him back down... not even 15 minutes later, up again... crying. Mamma's turn! I went in to his room, settled in the rocking chair and gave him some Mamma's Milk... then, put him down. Not even 20 minutes later, up again... crying. Ay yai yai! What's up with this kid? By this time it's close to 4 a.m. so Pappa volunteers to get up with him and gives him some Sesame Street time! I have to be at work by 6:30 a.m., so I attempt to go back to sleep for a little while... next thing I know, it's about 5:45 a.m.-ish and Cubby is standing next to the bed trying to get my attention. I hear Pappa snoring out in the living room on the couch.

So, I pull him into bed, play with him a bit, give him some more Mamma's Milk and then get up with him (so I can get ready for work) and head out to wake up Pappa from the couch. I wake up Pappa, then fix Cubby's tent that he is always "squishing" and tell him "Cubby - you're gonna ruin this thing!" The next thing I know, Cubby takes a run for the tent (nothing new) and then I hear "THUNK!" Then some crying... Oh jeez! Here it is 6 a.m. and we're already starting the day this way. I grab him, he buries his face in my chest just BAWLING and I'm just patting him, rocking in the chair and tell Pappa - get me an Owie Bag from the freezer!

Then I pull him away from me to look - HOLY CRAP!!! I tell Pappa - "Hurry! It looks AWFUL!". I finally turn on a light to show Pappa and he FREAKS out! Yep. My kid has a golf ball size knot coming out of his head! What a way to start a Monday morning! Pappa wanted to take him to the doctor's but I made him call first - as I knew it would be at least $50 and HOURS of waiting in the ER, not to mention Cubby wasn't dressed or calm yet either.

After giving him more Mamma's Milk to get him calm, I was able to wedge the Owie Bag between his face and my chest in order to be able to "ice" it down. After more than 20 minutes, the advice nurse came on and in the end - we can't let him sleep more than 2 hours at a time for the next 24 hours. Yikes! What a looong night it's going to be tonight.

Good news - Cubby IS acting like himself and the knot has gone down a bit - and it's gonna be a helluva bruise for a while... Whew! Welcome to Parenthood!!!

Cubby in good spirits having some breakfast. Nice lump, huh?

Cubby sleeping with his Owie Bag 

Wordless Wednesday (Mostly): Like Father, Like Son?

After a disastrous first haircut (which I just realized I never posted), we thought we'd try again - AFTER he got the chance to see how fun it was for Daddy to get his haircut. My mom cuts everyone's hair in the family (yes, she does this for a living) and I ASSUMED she was just going to "trim it" like she did last time but.... well, see for yourself:

Bye Mamma!

This morning, as I was getting ready to leave for work, Pappa Bear was changing Cubby's diaper on the changing table. So I go in to say goodbye, kiss the Cub (which he was not having), kiss Pappa Bear (THEN, the Cub wanted to kiss Mamma) and say goodbye. As I was walking away waving and saying "Bye bye!", Cubby turned to his side, waved and said "Bye Mamma!"

Oh boy, he's definitely growing up.

The Beginning: Cloth Diapers

A lot of you already know I cloth diaper and LOVE it! So much so, I'm what you could call "addicted" although I'm trying desperately to hop on the wagon to recovery. What most of you don't know is why. If you know me at all, this doesn't seem like something I would go for, as I'm always about the latest "great" thing to make life easier & uncomplicated. Let's face it: Cloth diapering certainly doesn't make life easier. It just adds to the piles and piles of laundry already waiting to be washed & folded. Not to mention, having to deal with cleaning off poop? GUUUHHHHROSSSSSSSS!!!!!! Right?

One thing I never could anticipate is how I would feel/see things when I was pregnant. I spent HOURS on Babycenter and other baby-related websites, looking/researching and making sure what I was purchasing was not only top-rated but top ranked in safety, cost-effective and the BEST for my baby. In all of this researching, I came across discussions for cloth diapers. I started looking into it more vs. disposables and the more I looked at it, the more I thought it made sense but all the choices though were so overwhelming and I just couldn't FATHOM washing DIRTY DIAPERS?! GUUUUHHHHHROOOSSSSSS!!!!

So I found a local diapering service - Tidee Didee which delivers and picks up the dirties and brings me new ones! How cool was THAT?! After a small talk with Pappa Bear, he agreed to try it out. We only had a four week commitment, and we could at least give it that long to try, yes? At the service's recommendation, we started off on an 80 diaper (prefolds) a week rotation. Holy COW! That was a LOT of diapers!! After our first week, Pappa Bear though that it really was no different than changing disposable ('sposie) diapers and I agreed! It just took one extra step, a little coordination and know how and voila! Easy as pie! Of course they were HUGE on our little guy - just check it out for yourself:

 See how big his bottom half is? He looks like a pear!

 

Once Cubby started solids (around 5ish months or so) and his diaper started to have more solids in it, I thought I'd give washing/caring for our own cloth diapers a try. The main reason? Not only to cut costs, but man - they were so darn CUUUUUUTE! Turns out, it was all easy peasy as pie. Well, almost. We've had some stink issues, a suedecloth reaction, an eczema flare-up and oh the dreaded MUSH poop that required the installation and use of a diaper sprayer but for the most part - it's been a breeze! Besides, you can't capture this kind of adorable-cuteness in 'sposies, right?!!

 

Say CHEESE!!!

I have to tell you - I'm amazed. Every day I'm amazed at how far Cub has grown and all that he's learned and picked up. Today, I allowed him time on the computer. This is something I've been doing on and off for about a week. Since I spend so much time on it, he's always stealing my mouse and messing with my computer. So, why not? There's this cool website for little kiddies called Kneebouncers. All it requires (besides parent supervision) is the ability to hit a key on the keyboard. It's PERFECT for Cub and other kids his age.

So, as I am watching him on the computer thinking "What a BIG BOY!" I grab the camera to take a picture and I say "Say Cheese!" not really expecting him to say it but..... he said "Cheeese!" and I snapped this photo:

"CHEEEESE!"