Celebratory Week!!!

Tate napping on a MAT in his new classroom!!
Aunt Tiffany made the gorgeous quilt he's laying on!!

Well what a week this has been! Tate moved up to the next class at his daycare.  His teacher, Ms. Kristal, says he's doing great.  We had a few tears the first day as I left, but he's doing better everyday.  Whenever he sees his favorite teacher from his infant class though he just beams...we miss Ms. Debbie!  He naps like a champ for Ms. Kristal, but they only take one nap...ugh.  I really believe he still needs 2 naps, so I won't be transitioning him at home for another 2-3 months.  As I'm sure many of you are aware, Tate's sleep habits or lack thereof have consumed me for 13 months and 3 days.  :)

Tate turned 13 months on Monday, the 23rd.  I cannot believe it!!  Aunt Lindsey came over to celebrate with us.  She and I enjoyed some yummy M&M cookies while Tate shoved his fingers into the icing we put on top for him to eat since he can't have eggs.  He's already enjoying his gift, 'The Alphabet' book from Mommy. 

Then to continue the week of celebrations, I turned 43 yesterday, the 25th!!  43!!!!  Tate, Ross and Victoria sent me a lovely bouquet of flowers.  Dottie, one of our office managers, pulled out all the stops with some extremely festive balloons and some super yummy cupcakes from the famous, Sprinkles Cupcakes!!  I was then floored to find a bouquet of gorgeous pink roses waiting on my doorstep when I got home from Christian!!! Lindsey provided me with dinner from Pei Wei!!  Even better, she cleaned up the mess Tate made at dinner time!!  That was the best gift EV-AH!!!!

Tomorrow is my Mommy's birthday!!  Yay!!  What a fantastic week!!  We'll be celebrating on Saturday with lunch with the fam!!

So with so much excitement I think I should get to bed early tonight!!  Of course that's after I finish unloading the dishwasher, reload it with the dishes from last night, this morning and tonight, fold 2 loads of laundry, empty Vinnie's litter box, order my book club book so I at least have the book in hand when we meet next month, wash my face,  iron Tate's clothes for his 1 year old photo session tomorrow and clean up the floor!

Gah!  I'm exhausted just from reading that over!!  But I shall persevere!!!

More Milk Please!!

I'm soooo excited!!  Tate did his first signs today and really meant them.  I have tried to use sign language for him since he was about 5 months old, but it's always hit or miss with me.  I forget to do them alot, but have tried to better recently.  I concentrate on Mommy (of course!), more, milk, water and thank you.  Well, and of course we did hi and bye, but I didn't count those!  He does wave hi and bye (better at bye bye), and the little genius has always done the wave 'forward!'  So, today he was screaming and crying at me whilst pushing me towards the kitchen.  Once there he angrily did the signs for more and milk together!!!!!!!  I almost fell over!!  Yay!!!  Of course, he was a little put out I didn't put the milk in a bottle, but he grudgingly took his straw cup!  So yes, I am beyond excited!!

The past few days he has also been super cute about wanting me to read to him all the time.  He'll bring me a book and then turn around and sit in my lap.  I love it.  He sits there and will usually let me read the whole book and tonight as I finished reading him one of his favorite books at bedtime....'Central Park Serenade' (a lovely book from his wonderful friend Annabelle), he did the sign for more and turned it back to the beginning!!  So sweet.

We also play peek-a-boo in the house.  Yes, this requires (a) some ingenuity on my part as there are no places to hide myself really (b) us to run in the house!  Tate came up to me in the kitchen and started pushing my legs.  I thought he wanted me to pick him up;  this of course annoyed him greatly as he wanted back down.  Again he pushed me, and then I realized he wanted me to go 'hide.'  So off I went to hide my not so slim self behind the dining room table, in the bathroom, near the stairs (please don't not see me and take a header down the stairs!) and back in the kitchen.  He LOVES this and just laughs like no tomorrow.

Ok, so I just needed to rave about my little guy's achievements.  There are times when this choice mom deal is tricky.  I love having him all to myself, but there are times when you just want someone to share in the little cute moments right when they are happening!  Today was pure Tate cuteness!

Tate's 1st Trip to the Beach!

Well after Aunt Lindsey ran 18 1/2 miles this morning we were off to Galveston!!  Woohoo!  (We are super proud of her as well...we're going to go watch her run the Chicago Marathon in October).

So in 98 degree weather and a heat index of hell we began our trek south.  Aunt Lindsey wonders continuously why anyone would live somewhere where you only have one way out when the weather gets dicey (thank your lucky stars you were not with us during Hurricane Ike...me, Lindsey, my parents and her friend Cody in my parents' non walk in closet because according to Lindsey, who woke Cody and I as we were sleeping through the hurricane, 'oh this is bad!  can't you feel the house shaking?').

We started our adventure at the Aquarium at Moody Gardens.  40 bucks later we were wondering when this was going to become amazing!  We saw lots of sharks and some super cute penguins, but 20 bucks each?  Yeah, not impressed in the least.  Tate of course thought it was the bomb as his litmus test is 'are there plastic bags in the trash cans I can try to get in my mouth?'  Certainly we knew Tate wasn't going to be amused by the fish, but we were hoping to be impressed, but hey he loved running around and the seals and penguins were awesome.

We then walked over to Palm Beach on the Moody Gardens property.  12 bucks each, but who's keeping track? :)  This Tate LOVED!!  He wouldn't walk on the sand (really nice white sand by the way), and strangely enough he also will not walk on grass bare foot.  He becomes paralyzed...he must not like the feel of different terrains on his feet...yes yes yes of course I have a high maintenance child!!  In any event, he thought the water was the best thing ever!!  He loves pools and this was no different.  He kept putting his whole face in the water!!  We didn't take any pics while in the water;  we just enjoyed our time with him.  We then decided sustenance was needed...this was a task.  My favorite Galveston restaurant had a line out the door ... The Mosquito Cafe.  Tate was quickly coming to his endpoint, so that was a no go.  We then ventured to a friend's coffeehouse...The Mod Coffeehouse, for a sandwich.  However, upon arriving there, we were told today's lunch special was tamale pie.  Now you don't think I'm eating tamale pie do you?  I quickly fed Tate his Sprout baby food there because he was hot, tired and starving.    Will he ever eat real people food?  Aunt Lindsey was looking peak-ed from her 18 mile run and running low on energy!  Finally we found something yumm-i-ly edible at the Lunchbox Cafe.  The cute waiter/host dude was bummed we weren't staying to eat (yes Lindsey flirted!!), but I assured him he did not want any part of the Tate show soon to come if we tried to stay!  Off in the car we went with our sandwiches and Tate was out in 5 minutes!!

   Now, if I were running the Aquarium..

Poor baby was exhausted tonight which means he was overtired and hard to get down for the night.  But he's asleep now, and I'm going to go join him!!

My Handsome Little Boy!

Oh my!!  Can you believe this is my teeny baby?  He looks so very grown up!!  (and many many thanks to Aunt Kristin and Uncle Ryan for the very cool clothes)

We had a great day today!  After he woke up at 5 (eek!) and I put his happy little bum in his crib while I went back to sleep, we got up at 615.  Aunt Lindsey came over to hang out a bit then we were off to get a second opinion on our egg issue.  Alas, I was told no egg in food yet again.   I suppose third time is the charm. :(

We're off to Galveston tomorrow with Aunt Lindsey for Tate's first visit to the beach!!  Yay!

Social Butterfly

Well for the first time this title doesn't apply to me!!  Now we all know how much I LOVE to talk and socialize and how I love my friends.  (stop nodding vehemently in agreement!!) Well apparently, the apple doesn't fall far from the tree (yes it's a cliche...deal with it!).  Tate's little social calendar was quite full this past weekend.  He had two parties on Saturday!!  And how lucky was I that they fell around his nap schedule!!  We were off to Samuel's 1st birthday at 11am.  It was just lovely;  his parents have the most wonderful friends.  I'm hoping we can really spend some time with all of them.  We met Samuel and his parents, Connie and Johnathon, at our Music Together class at The Motherhood Center (an awesome place)!!!  Once Tate warmed up and realized I wasn't leaving him there he was all over the house without me!!  At 330 we were off to Gymboree for Preston's 1st birthday party!!  We also met him and his parents, Shenequa and Derek at Music Together, and Tate and Preston went to daycare together for a couple of months.  Tate LOVED Gymboree.  He was all over that place.  We're going to have to sign up for classes this fall.  Plus we had our weekly Saturday morning visit from Aunt Lindsey after her training run (she's doing the Chicago marathon in October!).  He was a tired little boy Saturday evening. 

Yesterday, Grandmommy and Granddaddy came over, and we played outside in his water table.  Our fabulous next door neighbors Ryan and Kristin as well as John our great neighbor across the street came over to enjoy the festivities!!  While Granddaddy did his favorite thing inside (watching 'Law and Order), the awesome Ryan and John with some help from Baby Tate set up my hose machine thingie (refer to the Not so Handy Manny post)!  Yay!!

Friday, we saw the allergist, and sadly Tate does have an egg allergy, so until further notice we are avoiding all things egg.  That means no cake, pizza, spaghetti, bread, nothing made with eggs.  Most kids grow out of the allergy by school age, so please cross your fingers that he does outgrow it.  For the time being we have to carry his epi pen with us always as a second reaction could be life threatening.  So when you invite us over for meals and parties we will come with our little lunch/dinner bag packed for Tate!!!

Peek-a-Boo

Tate has  figured out peek-a-boo!  Yes, this is the excitement my life is now full of :)  But it was so super cute.  Aunt Lindsey came over after work and started doing peek-a-boo with him during his dinner (which by the way seems to taste so much better once it's been on the floor according to Tate).  Tate put his hand over his eye, and sadly his mom and aunt with 5 degrees between them don't realize he's trying to play peek-a-boo back.  He did it again, and it finally dawned on me he wasn't trying to remove his eye from his face!  All this was happening as he was having a full conversation in his mind with Lindsey utilizing his new language...he beebles and babbles more than Lindsey and I combined and goodness knows that's alot!!

We are off to the allergist tomorrow, so please say a prayer for little Tate that all goes well.  Well meaning that he'll be able to have eggs in food sometime soon.  But for now we're continuing with no food made with eggs.  Harder than one would think...go look in your pantry...you're hard pressed to find many edible items without eggs!!  But we're making it work :)

Handy Manny I certainly am not

So, my dad loaned me his drill.  You would think that since I play with one everyday all day this would be an item I could easily figure out.  Yeah not in my world.  My list of things to childproof grows everyday, and I'm at a loss.  I spend every meal preparation chasing Tate out of the cabinets because I can't figure out to get those stupid latches on.  I now have 'holes' I started with the previously mentioned drill that I can't get screws into.  One gate is up thanks to our Uncle Bryan and Uncle Mike (ok Uncle Bryan...Uncle Mike held the instructions), but I have purchased 2 more which hold up the walls quite nicely whilst in their boxes.  My A/C vents are disgusting, yet I have not grown the necessary 5 inches to change the one in the stairwell, and it's a challenge to lug a 8 foot ladder up three flights of stairs when you have a toddler wanting to 'help' and a cat who is freaked out by large items.  Oh and did I mention that about 4 years ago I installed a dimmer switch and a fan adjuster (what is it really called?) in my room by myself.  Now there is a short somewhere and I have to turn off the power to the room and figure out how to fix it.  REALLY?  My room is a hothouse, so Tate and I roast every night until about midnight as it's about 88-90 degrees in there when we get home at night.

So, if you're still reading this and know how to work a hammer please come save us.  Cause I'm thinking it would just be easier to buy a new house.

Let Go My Egg-Oh No!!

Well this morning I made Tate scrambled eggs.  I have a 3 day weekend, so this was a perfect way to do the 3 day new food test.  He gobbled them up all by himself which is a huge deal since he doesn't care to feed himself usually.  About 10 minutes into breakfast I noticed his chin and right cheek were looking splotchy...I chalked it up to his eczema.  He proceeded to look redder and redder.  His ears were bright red and he was scratching at them something fierce.  His eyes began to even look red as I took him out of the highchair as I was pretty sure he was allergic to the eggs.  Into his little tummy went some benadryl.  As that was going down I noticed the little bumps beginning on his neck and chest.  Poor baby.  Put a call in to the doc. 15 minutes later he threw up which was of course from the eggs hitting his little belly and it saying 'get the hell out of here.'  Between the no more breakfast in his tummy and the benadryl he was exhausted, so I gave him a bottle, nursed him and attempted to put him down for a nap.  No go....lots of vomit.  Then, exhaustion.  Nap city!  The nurse said we had to come in since he vomited and she was less than thrilled that he vomited twice.  Saw the doc on call for my doc and she said poor little Tate had a pretty severe reaction and that vomiting after an allergic reaction can be indicative of breathing problems to follow, hence the need to be seen.  He sounded great to her though!  Since Tate has never eaten toast, pancakes, pasta, cookies not even his birthday cupcake we now cannot even have food with eggs cooked in it until we see an allergist and have testing done.  I've offered them, and Tate has always spit those things out immediately.  And you know what...that's God's work there.  He kept my baby safe.

One Year Stats and More

Well Tate had his one year check up yesterday!!  I still can't believe he's one!  I remember our first visit at 5 days old...so hard to believe he's now 376 days old. 


One Year Old Stats


Height 30 3/4 inches
Weight 20 pounds 7 ounces
Head Circumference  19 inches (what does this REALLY mean?)

According to the doc, he's long and lean!  He's not a good eater and is more than happy to be fed as opposed to wanting to do it himself.  Must be mommy's homemade purees that he just loves :)

He has just a few words...the all important mama, hi, car and cat on occasion.  He finally stopped the incessant dada noise!  Somehow we're supposed to be at 10-15 words by 18 months.  He has started babbling like crazy since his ear tubes were placed last month, and as his hearing was diminished prior to that I'm not surprised.  We're working on 'Aunt Lindsey,' as per her request.

I'm enjoying my new job.  In fact I should probably go see if they need me right now!!  Lots of teeth to drill and fill!!

Sleep Like a Baby?!?

Tate is finally taking his second nap today...it was a fight!  One of the myriad of things noone really talks about while you're considering pregnancy and/or are pregnant...how many kids hate sleeping!!  Gah!  My child is the champion of wakefulness.  I thought it was so cute and sweet when people continuously commented on how alert he was at 4 and 5 days old and on and on.  We did those newborn photos that everyone does.  You know...the ones where the newbies are sacked out and hanging from tree limbs all cute and all.  Yeah, Tate was wide awake.  Full belly, driven around in the car to bring on drowsiness...nothing worked.  Wide awake for the entire shoot.  Never a tear, never a fuss.   He didn't even fall asleep on the drive home.  We were invited to take a baby sign language class that should start at 6 months of age when he was 4 months old  because he was so alert.  Another clue.  Did not bode well for me and sleep!!!


So, I have not slept in 1 year 1 week and 2 days more than 4 hours straight until last night!!  Yippee!!  6 straight hours!  And to be clear he doesn't wake to eat, he wakes to look around and make sure I'm there, which in turn requires me to wake up and say YES I'M HERE!!  Where else am I going to be at 3:17 in the morning?


He has slept 12 hours straight about 9 times; however I've awoken horrified and scared to death he's not breathing from SIDS or his head is stuck between the crib slats, so again 4 hours of sleep.


But last night he did awesome.  And I feel great today!  Please remind me of these nights and days when he's 15 and doesn't want to rouse at 10am after going to bed at 9pm!