john's mom works

john told me he was making dinner for me. hope i like goldfish! well, our guests made it safely in late last night - so nice to see mom-in-law and L! they're troopers - it's a 650 mile trip that they drove straight through. this morning, john was hanging out with nana while i got ready for work, and he decided he wanted to "make stuff." a few bowls, pots, and stirring devices later, he said, "mommy, i making you dinner!" so i guess i'm in for a goldfish flavored treat ... nana, L, daddy, and john came to meet me for lunch today, and i tell you what - that was a bolt of sunshine in a long friday. the day's almost over, and i'm happy to see the weekend come. happy weekend, all! enjoy!

these are all blurry because the kid WOULD NOT STAND STILL. for as hectic and crazy as tuesday night was, we made up for it last night. we didn't want to cook - had too many dishes to do already! - and we were tired, so we decided a family sushi outing was in order. we ordered a bunch of rolls and some edamame and figured john would eat the soy beans and maybe some rice or shrimp off of a roll or something, and if he was still hungry we'd have mac and cheese when we got home. but when the sushi platter arrived, john quickly reached in and grabbed a piece of the roll closest to him - which happened to contain raw salmon, raw tuna, and be topped with wasabi-tinged roe. and he didn't bite it - he shoved the whole piece in his mouth. i thought surely the whole thing would be quickly spat back out, but i was wrong - he proceeded to chew, chubby-cheeked, at this new-found delight. and several minutes later when he'd managed to chew and swallow, he went for a...

you really can't see the full effect of the salsa in this pic. imagine this cute face ... with salsa ALL OVER IT. last night, my husband was stuck at a meeting late - he's an engineer whose company does municipal work, so when a project of theirs is up for discussion, he has to attend town meetings and the like. so john and i were on our own.  like a true champ, john came shopping with me when i picked him up from school - i had to find a new purse. he behaved himself so well while we shopped, and i decided to treat him to dinner out because he was so awesome. as we drove toward walmart, which would be our last stop of the night, i planned on stopping at subway for cheap/easy dinner. but john pointed at a mexican restaurant and said, "mommy, eat dinner THERE?" and mexican sounded good, so off we went. and you know what? it was spectacular. he sat in the booth next to me and enthusiastically ate his weight in chips and salsa and bean dip, and then still ...

besties. we had a whirlwind weekend. i was under the weather, but we still managed to fit a lot of excitement in. in short: we put all of our cars in a row: and then we played baby godzilla: one of the most exciting parts was that my husband's brother and his wife and their sweetheart daughter came to stay with us. they live in charlotte so we don't see them too often, but brooke is only four months older than john, so they were perfect playmates: or maybe bandmates? and definitely ducky bathmates: and all that play made john a very very sleepy boy: unfortunately, the visit with the family was short. fortunately, they'll be back next weekend! but the fun wasn't over. first, we colored. then we dumped out all the colors because, dang, that tupperware would make a fine hat: then we tried on daddy's belt and shoes: then we decided a backwards baseball cap is a whole heck of a lot like a football helme...

this morning, as we waited for the daycare to open, i said to john, "i don't know why i'm so tired, boo. i got nothing." and i looked back at him and saw: and he said, "here, mommy," as he handed me a cheerio. "now mommy have cereal!"

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.)

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...

for the last 20 minutes of our drive, john kept saying, "mommy, wash!" i thought he had fig newton on his hands. in fact, he had fig newton on his everything. yesterday was probably the monday-est monday i've ever experienced. it started out pretty normal and pretty ok. got john to school on time, and he happily sat down to eat his breakfast with his friends. (all his friends said, "hi, john john! hi, john's mommy!" when i got there, so that was actually pretty sweet.) when i got back out to the car, though, it wouldn't start. wouldn't turn over at all. (why yes, you DO remember correctly - just two weeks ago my car wouldn't run either!) i didn't think it was the battery, but just in case, one of the other daycare mommies was kind enough to offer to jump my car, and then one of the daycare daddies showed up and the mommy and i were happy to cede the process to him. (i will happily admit that i am a stereotypical girl who doesn'...

john thinks you have to be six inches  from the camera when you say "cheese" this morning, john woke up in fine form. he was cuddly, silly, and giggly, and wanted to talk talk talk talk talk (which he does most of the time these days).  i brought him to my bed to snuggle for a little bit, and he told me all about how birds say "tweet tweet" and kitties say "meow" and firetrucks say "weeoo weeoo" but he likes police cars too and they say "weeoo weeoo" also. it was a fascinating conversation. he also told me that "george" (curious george) is a monkey and that "kayla" is an elephant (that's george's friend in the curious george movie we have). he informed me that he was going to school and listed his friends that he would play with. he told me "john get yummy milk" as he sipped from his sippy cup, then "mommy a funny hat" when he put the sippy cup on my head. all in all he just...

if only he was as good at putting them back as at getting them out ... a profound thought from this morning's breakfast: while my "cupcakes" (pear bran muffins) were in the microwave for 45 seconds, i managed to feed, water, and pet the dog - and i had 18 seconds to spare. how many other things could i accomplish if i just broke them down into 27 second tasks? something to think on ... after all, how do you eat an elephant? one bite at a time ... ps. my may 2 exercise wasn't super great - just a mile walked at the mall. but i did it in four-inch heels, so that has to count for something, right?

what to do with messy, sticky-uppy hair? add product and spike it more, of course! somewhere around eight years ago, my husband and i went to zion national monument in utah for a weekend camping trip. when we lived in arizona, it was a snap to bop over to lots of places like zion - a half day's drive and we'd be in places that many people see only once in a lifetime on that family trip out west. we went in october, so it was beautiful cool weather. we camped in the campground rather than staying in a cabin or the lodge. and surprisingly, the campground was pretty full. it was a strange little campground - flat, square, treeless campsites right next to each other, with odd ditches dug around all four sides of the site. but what the actual campsite lacked in character, it more than made up for with the view. it's nestled right into zion, and that has to be one of the single most beautiful places i've ever been. at the campsite right next to us was a cute li...

yesterday as i packed up my breakfast and lunch to take with me (it's easier to eat on the road some mornings), i grabbed two little bran muffins that we make for portable breakfasts and put them in a tupperware. around the corner comes john, screaming: "my cupcake!" i didn't even KNOW he could say cupcake! i didn't even KNOW he knew what a cupcake was!  i suppose it makes sense - he's around other kids all day, and he's watching sesame street and dora and thomas and who knows what else. but it still boggles my mind when he comes up with something like that. and i must confess that there is a drop of bittersweetness to it - what other things did i miss, besides john learning to say cupcake?! i sometimes wish i could be with him all the time, so i could witness every little step, every little growth, every little development. but there is a bonus to being a working mom who's NOT there every second: the little sweet surprises, like a torpedo-sp...

john is actually making the monkey noise for me while we eat a banana. cliche? maybe. but freaking adorable. the greatest thing is happening: john is learning his animal noises. they may require a tiny bit of translating but they're adorable. here is the translation key: - doggies say"fuff! fuff!" (ruff, ruff) - cows say "mooooooooo" (that one's pretty straightforward) - ducks say "rack rack!" (quack, quack) - monkeys say "ah ah ah ah ah" (just say it out loud - he's spot on) - but my personal favorite: tigers say "wahhhr" (roar) with a vicious little face this morning john did not want to get up (i don't blame him) and the only thing that made it ok was his stuffed tiger going "wahhhr" and jumping around the room. followed by fits of giggles. and then another banana.

note to self: next time i need a mohawk, try rubbing banana in my hair. the staying power and height are remarkable. this morning, john, his daddy, and i were eating breakfast together. john had nearly finished his banana when i got up to rinse out a glass at the sink. and in the split second that i wasn't actively watching, john decided to give himself a skin and hair treatment using smashed banana. awesomeness, no? so if you encounter my son today and he's oddly sticky and smells slightly sweet ... or if his crusty mohawk just WON'T flatten out ... rest assured he's advertising his very own line of product: banana naturel (by john heid)

pic of the day: day 9 for those of you who say my baby is always happy. he's not, i assure you. mostly, but not always. this morning, there was a lot of almost in our life. john slept almost through the night ... but he woke up at 3:55 a.m. (he did go back to sleep) i woke up almost on time ... at 5:15 a.m. instead of 5:00 a.m. daddy almost left for work on time ... only 5 minutes late. i got almost no baby food on me while john ate breakfast ... just one little splash. john almost crawled ... he got up on all fours and rocked back and forth. i got to work almost on time ... only 5 minutes late. my leftover lasagna almost didn't spill all over the inside of my bag ... ok so it did spill and there's no almost in this one but i was keeping up the pattern. but you know what? it's almost friday. and i'm looking forward to cousins' dinner and a lowkey weekend. all is well. no almost in that one, either.

 pic of the day: day 7 mmmmmmmmmm peas forget baby einstein. paging baby newton: john discovered gravity today. while i ate breakfast and warmed his peas up for him to eat*, i gave john a paper towel roll to play with. he discovered that if he threw it from his high chair onto the ground, it rolled quite nicely. i picked it up. he threw it again, watching fascinated as it fell to the ground and rolled away. and yes, he grinned every time mommy had to pick it up. i knew this game was coming soon! it's still cute right now. ask me tomorrow and i'll probably be cursing it. i would like to blame the discovery of gravity for my inability to get out of the house on time, but the truth is that i am just constitutionally unable to be punctual this week. (this month? this year? this lifetime?) the nice thing about daycare is it doesn't matter much when he gets there. unfortunately, it DOES matter when i get to work! (thank you work for being flexible and understanding.) ...

nine months ago this very minute, i was googling online contraction timers. i found one that let me just press "s" every time one started, then every time it stopped. it counted for me, told me how far apart, etc. nine months ago this very minute, they were between four and seven minutes apart. by 10:45 they'd be getting closer together, and i'd be throwing last-minute items in a bag. by 11:45 the doctor and my doula agreed on the phone that i should head to the hospital. at 12:45 i walked into the assessment center. at 1:45 i finally convinced them i really was going to have this baby. at 2:45 i got to the birthing suite. and at 3:45, this little kitchen bandit joined our family (though he admittedly looked somewhat different back then): pic of the day: pic 3 kitchen bandit says "om nom nom" to some tasty peaches. (thanks nana for the awesome kitchen bandit bib you made!) poor nana is still not feeling well, though she said she was a little bit better th...

when i was a baby, apparently my favorite baby foods included carrots, pumpkin, and squash. i ate so much of those veggies that my skin actually started to take on an orange-ish tinge. (never fear: apparently that's pretty normal and not really anything to worry about. tic. tic. nothing at all to worry about.) there is a sweet baby named griffin at john's school who is no longer eating baby food (he made a year recently) and so griffin's mom donated a bunch of unused food to the school. john being the only baby-food eater right now, he was the grateful recipient. (if by some chance you're reading this, griffin's mom, thank you very much!) included in the batch were some new tastes he could try ... like squash. so it was with great excitement that i pulled out the little spoon last night and gave john his first bite. which he LOVED. couldn't get enough. he ate half of the container, which doesn't sound like a lot until you realize the most he's ever w...