john's mom works

as all parents do, we have a set of invented games that we play with john. some are ones that our parents played with us as kids - "up in the sky" means propping him up on our feet while we're lying on our backs so he's soaring in the air; "wake up and play" means pretending to go to sleep and then getting up and being silly while saying (surprise) "wake up and play!"  some are our own (or john's) inventions: we still play "funny hat" with anything under the sun; "kleenex head" was a favorite when he was younger, and he invented that with his grammie. but here is my secret confession: there is one game that we play frequently that has me desperately worried. not for john, but for fear that he'll talk about this game in public and be misunderstood. this game, you see, is called "drop the baby." more recently, as john has become a big boy, he calls it simply "drop john." you underst...

portrait of a dinner i am constantly amazed by how much food my little son can put into his body. i really think he eats nearly as much as me. can you SEE how much food is on that plate in that picture? a cheeseburger, lots of peas, and some goldfish for good measure. and that was AFTER the applesauce snack about 45 minutes before. and that cup is full of milk that he will drink down with his meal too. my theory: he burns 86 bajillion calories with his non-stop lifestyle, so he needs to consume 86 bajillion plus whatever he needs to exist and grow. (yes, that's a scientific formula.)

i so hope that that video works for you ... john's been singing a lot lately, so yesterday i asked him to sing for me, and this is what ensued. quickly becoming our favorite game: i tell john to sing me a song about something. he sings it for me. for example, i might say, "john, sing me a song about breakfast!" and john would respond, "doo doo doo doo doo breakfast!" it never gets old!

it's hard to snap a good pic at a stop light - but can you see that grin? i think i mentioned this, but just last week we finally turned john's carseat to be forward-facing*. and it's done two things for our car rides: first and most obvious, they're WAY more interactive! john can see me, so he talks to me the whole time. we discuss the upcoming day at school, what we did the day before, and what we see around us. (favorite topics are trees, cars, trucks, and if we're so lucky, tractors. the occasional airplane, helicopter, or motorcycle make it in there as well.) he was already very talky in the car, but now that he can directly interact with us he's even gigglier and more fun than he was before. second, he's made me SO much more cognizant. i try to be a very aware and cautious driver - obvious things like no texting while driving, and less obvious efforts to constantly be aware of what the vehicles around me are doing. but with john watching me...

girls v. boys: hope daintily munches a cookie while john gobbles a cupcake. john's birthday festivities have been unofficial but neverending this year! on saturday, we adventured to the audubon zoo with john's friend hope and her family. we started with a picnic in the parking lot thanks to hope's mom, and wrapped up lunch with cupcakes i'd held aside from john's birthday batch last week. it was the hottest day in the history of mankind (ok, maybe a tiny exaggeration!) but the kiddos had a grand time. some of the highlights included: acting like monkeys at the orangutan/gorilla exhibit not seeing elephants at first, then seeing elephants on the way out watching the white tiger "night night" seeing two rhinos, and then "other one rhino!" ("rhinos mommy's fave.") playing on the playground a double two-year-old freakout on the carousel splashing around on monkey hill's waterfalls (naked but for diapers, of course) wa...

demon dog ... ok not really. just a bad pic. just thought i'd offer a little update on mr. buddy. he's been on xanax for a week now, and it seems to have no negative effects. it doesn't sedate him, just makes him a little calmer. we're all for a calmer, less neurotic version of our dog. and we're still shopping for the right supercrate. for now, we've been wedging his old plastic crate in between two walls with towels and cardboard for padding so that even if he pops the door open, he can't go anywhere. and that worked great ... until yesterday morning. as john and i were trying to leave the house, i could hear buddy continually "messing" with the door. i couldn't quite figure out what he was doing - i can't exactly see him when he's wedged in there like that - but i could tell he was fussing with it. after several abortive efforts to leave the house (since he tore the alarm panel off, the only way to set the alarm is in our ...

john checking out his crab - a.k.a. elmo - pool he got from auntie for his birthday one of the biggest blessings about living in baton rouge is our proximity to family. for my husband and i, that means an invaluable support network that helps IMMENSELY in our efforts to raise john well. for john, that means ... lots of spoiling! (i mean that in the best of ways. this kiddo is so loved, and that's another blessing for our whole family.) last night, my husband and i had an event to attend right after work, so one of john's doting aunties picked him up from school. she hadn't seem him for his birthday yet, so she took him to target to shop for a birthday present. he picked out an inflatable crab pool ... whose bobbly eyes on top made john declare it an elmo pool. so auntie set it up in the yard for john to play, and he splashed and splashed and splashed: there's a video of this one, and he's yelling, "i splashing! i jumping!" and when his litt...

prayer hands recently, we've been praying with john before he goes to bed. nothing too elaborate - mommy or daddy or sometimes both will lead a prayer that he repeats with us. he folds his hands like a big boy when he prays - it's very very sweet. even this morning as we got in the car, john looked at me and said, "prayer!" i think he mostly wanted to just make prayer hands, but we said a quick prayer to start the day nonetheless. but the best was last night. as john and i sat in his rocking chair, snuggling before bed, he looked up at me and said, "prayer, mommy?"  so we folded our hands and bowed our heads together. i began, "dear god." "dear god," said john. "thank you," i said. "thank you," john repeated. "for a wonderful day." "for a wonderful day," came the echo. "and thank you," i continued, but i didn't get it out of my mouth, because john...

so i wrote all about john's birthday, and how much fun he had and how he was spoiled rotten by his loved ones. but i didn't write about how amazing it is to look back over the past two years. it's hard to believe that that tiny little peanut on my body in that picture above is the same little man that is running around my house these days. he still sleeps like that, too, with his face in the bed.  my monkey had his two-year checkup yesterday. not surprisingly, the doc says he looks perfect. (i could have told her that!) he's 23 lbs 5 oz, and 33.5 inches tall. that's over four times his birth weight, and fourteen inches longer than his birth length. but more amazing, and more breathtaking, is his personality and his mind. and his sense of humor. how humbled am i - are we, as i know my husband shares this - to have this little human in our home. how blessed are we to undertake to raise him to be a good man. how overwhelmed, in both wonderful and diffi...

these were supposed to be frogs. but someone pointed out that they could be oscar the grouch. as long as they're cute, the interpretation is really in the eye of the beholder. on sunday night, i had one of my most mom-esque moments i've ever experienced. at midnight, i was dying icing green to make cupcakes for john to take to school the next day. and not just ANY ol' cupcakes, but cute character cupcakes. yes, for a two-year-old. yes, i realize that he didn't even notice the eyes. but i have such awesome memories of the amazing cakes my mom used to make for us. they were from a box, but always sculpted and shaped and iced in cool ways. i just want my kiddo to have those same memories! so by 1am it was time for mama to hit the hay ... it was, after all, a big day tomorrow ... *   *   * ... so we overslept. and had a CRAZY hectic morning getting out of the house. and did we eat breakfast? i don't remember. thank god the daycare feeds john first thing in...

so what if daddy's shirt is a little big? first things first: happy birthday, john charis heid! our little bug is two today, and i can hardly believe it. in fact, as i am typing this, two years ago right now  i was channeling african birthing woman to push this child into the world. what an amazing ride it has been so far, and i am sure will always be! johns mom loves him so. after a late night with some wonderful friends friday night, saturday was one of the busiest days our family has had in a long long time. saturday morning john woke up and the first thing he said to me was, "lsu shirt?" i asked him if he wanted to wear his lsu shirt and he said, "no! daddy lsu shirt." so we put daddy's lsu shirt on despite it's oversized nature and john happily watched some elmo while mommy got ready for work. i had to run into the mall for a little while for an event, so i decided john could tag along with me and daddy could get some much-needed rest. joh...

lately, i've been telling john he's a little imp. in fact, he will occasionally tell me, "john imp! john mommy's imp!" and yesterday morning while i was getting dressed, he demonstrated just what an imp he is. i couldn't find him anywhere in the house ... and all was silent. no sign of him anywhere. i knew the doors were locked and he didn't get out, and i didn't hear any thuds or screams, so i knew he was fine. i just couldn't find him . finally, i went back to the laundry room, where i heard a giggle. i looked to my left ... and saw a little face peering out of the laundry hamper. "there you are, john!" i said. "got in here momymy!" was the reply. "how'd you get in there, john?" "john climb," he said. the little imp, at his finest.

sleepy face smiling. it's funny how the older john gets, and the more time spent with him is "quality time," the more my other priorities seem to shift. i guess that's probably a universal thing all mamas (all parents) go through, but it really hit home for me today. this morning i got up at 5 - the required time to get to the gym in time to get to work on time. i almost didn't get out of bed. i was so tired, and my husband was sleeping so snug next to me. i lay there and i thought about how i could just adjust my alarm and go back to sleep, and hit the gym after work. and then i remembered last night. last night was a good night, don't get me wrong - but by the time my husband and i had both fit in our exercise (i ran with john and buddy, husband went to the gym), it was pretty much time to put john to bed. and there we were at 8pm cooking dinner, and realizing we didn't have a key ingredient, and oh the ground beef was still frozen, so chinese...

john wouldn't leave the house today without giving buddy a hug. then he had to go back for a kiss. we've been struggling with the destructive habits of a member of our family lately - and it's not the two-year-old. i can't remember how much of buddy's story i've told on here, so i'm going to start from scratch. buddy is a roughly four-year-old lab mutt. we think he might have some newfoundland in him, and there are days when he looks a little pitbull-ish, but all we know for sure is he is 75% or more lab. he weighs about 90 lbs and is the sweetest fellow you'll ever meet. but. BUT. big ol' but. he has obviously been mistreated in his life. we have no idea what his back story is - he was found wandering down a highway with cars going in both directions around him. he is from a part of the country where dog fighting is very common, and the rescue agency we got him from surmised that he may have been in training to be a bait dog. but, i...

john did initially ask me to turn the "rain off." but once he got used to it, we couldn't keep him out of the slip-n-slide. my husband and i have found a really awesome sunday school class at our church that is basically ... us. couples roughly our age with kids running around and hectic lives. apart from the obvious similarities, though, we've been really amazed to find tons in common with this great group. it's very cool to be surrounded by like-minded folk. and saturday, surrounded we were. we gathered at one couple's home (thanks, y'all!) and had a barbecue, complete with splash pools and a slip-n-slide for the kiddos. i didn't count kids, but let's just say there were a lot of them. amazingly, they really all shared very well, and took turns, and looked out for the little guys. so us parents got to kick back a little bit and enjoy each others' company while the wee ones ran themselves into some mighty fine naps (at least john did...

the dress yesterday, i finally found the dress i've been looking for for formal night on the cruise. i've hunted and hunted and finally found a post-prom sale that yielded the pretty blue ombre gown in the pic above. (of course my picture can't do it justice, and it actually looks even better on me than on the hanger - when does THAT happen?!?) so when i got home last night, i decided to try it on to show my husband. john ran into the bedroom with me while i was changing, and as soon as i pulled the dress on - before i had even zipped it - john looked at me with wide eyes and a huge smile. "mommy!" he said. "show daddy mommy dress. show daddy!" i have never in my life felt more beautiful. he had sparkles in his eyes and he just wanted me to show his daddy. what an honor it is to be the most beautiful woman in my little bug's eyes.

long child listening. normally in the mornings, john only wants to "sit on the couch. watch elmo." sometimes that's exactly what we do. sometimes we don't have time. sometimes i tell him no and encourage other more active play first thing in the morning. this morning, john wanted to go to the living room, but he made it very clear that he did NOT want to sit on the couch and watch elmo. i couldn't quite figure out what it was he wanted, until he pulled out the dining room chair and pulled himself up onto it. he pointed at the table and said, "watch predibles."  see, last night we were testing out a portable dvd player one of my husband's coworkers was kind enough to lend us to see if we could use it for some upcoming travel. the dvd we used to test it out was the incredibles, which john translates to "the predibles." he'd sat in that chair before bed last night watching a little bit of the movie. being the opportunistic...

the cutest fish in the tub. and yes, those are my feet. last fall, we took john to some swim lessons at the ymca. he did pretty well - he liked the water ok, liked to splash, and his only major complaint seemed to be that he didn't like not feeling the bottom. (to be fair, that's me interpreting his actions, since you'll note he wasn't really communicating so much back then!) since then, john has gotten more and more comfortable with water, at least in the bathtub and in kiddie pools. he has increasingly put his face in the water, blown bubbles, laid on his belly and/or his back to get his hair wet. and just recently, he LOVES the idea of "mommy bath." which is just what it sounds like - a bath with mommy. so tonight when i told him it was bath time, he ran excitedly into his bathtub, then turned to me and said in his most commanding voice: "mommy shirt OFF!" now from recent experience, i have learned one thing: trying to fit my slight...

here it is - a brief and totally not comprehensive list of things no one told me about being a mother. 1. the bedroom will become a parking garage. evidence here: i'm only the surprised the mower isn't parked in the third bay. 2. it doesn't matter what side of the bed you wake up on - it matters what side of the crib your child wakes up on. 3. no matter what the question is, the answer is no. (no, i'm not strict. the child's the one saying no.) 3a. even if the answer is yes, the answer will be no when you give your child whatever he said yes to. 4. the greatest moment of your day will come when your child asks you to sing a lullabye. 5. get used to sippy cups as a fashion accessory. you'll be bringing one into the office every day so it doesn't go bad in your car during the day, and so your child can have a drink on the drive home. 6. when you ask your child to count, it's best to specifiy, "start with 1!" 7. wh...

this pic is actually from when we woke up before the rest of the house at my friend's house in maryland last week. sweet baby  boy checking out the big back yard. i made mention that yesterday morning was not such a good morning for john and i. i thought maybe i'd elaborate just a bit. yesterday = demon. today = angel. waking up demon child : screaming, crying, yelling, throwing stuffed animals out of the bed, with no solace from mama when she walks in the room. angel child: playing sweetly in his crib, giggling and jumping in bed when mama walks into the room diaper change demon child:  wriggling, jumping, screaming "no!", kicking the diapers off the counter and insisting "no diaper!!!" angel child:   giggling, wiggling, and laughing as he says, "diaper on! diaper on! good job mommy!" mommy getting ready demon child: clinging to mommy's ankle, yelling "up! up! outside! outside please!" and crying hysterica...

left: nothing like a good, solid, freak-the-heck-out first thing in the morning middle: a close-up of the puffy sad face right: daddy makes it all alright with a little bit of banana/peanut butter shake it was another monday this morning for sure. up at 5am to get ready for the gym, packing a bag and almost ready. then john woke up at 545am and FREAKED THE HELL OUT. for an hour. awesome. needless to say we did NOT make it to the gym. we barely made it to work and school. thank god daddy came home from the gym and whipped up a a banana/peanut butter/protein shake, which john promptly dubbed "milk" and ate half of. but it cheered him up, so i am endlessly indebted to the daddy. (again.) *    *    * but that's not why i am here today. today, i am here to tell one last story from our trip home from maryland. (yes, a week ago. but this one's a doozy and i had to let it marinate for a little while.) oh sure, i could tell stories about how john ...

somehow i took zero pictures on monday. not even of john playing with livvy. so here's john eating "cake" for breakfast on tuesday. more on that later! monday morning john woke up at the slightly more normal hour of 7:30am. the rest of the house wasn't too far behind, so we were soon watching as grandpa made delicious pancakes on his fancy electric griddle. (by fancy, i mean $20 at walmart. but it really was pretty awesome.) my child ate two smallish pancakes, two pieces of bacon, and still had room for grapes. i don't know where he puts it. then, because we clearly hadn't eaten enough for the weekend, we packed up our bags to go meet grammie for a quick lunch before she went to work and we headed out of town. in a bit of happy circumstance, one of my best friends, whose birthday it was that day, happened to be shopping near where we were meeting for lunch, so we invited to join her for a little birthday celebration. when we got to the restaurant, my...