No Rest for the Weary

Each night I go to bed knowing that I have to get my rest for the following day, because this is what I do all day long...chase down the little billy goat that will not give up on the stairs. When we make eye contact, he laughs and takes off up the stairs so I can chase him. The plus to all this stair time is that he has figured out how to come down the stairs as well (feet first on his stomach). We still have to watch him carefully, though, because he also likes to come down face first every once in a while. I know you may be thinking 'why not just get a baby gate,' but it's a super wide staircase to find a gate for, and he loves the stairs!

I also spend a good portion of the day cleaning up this mess. Jack loves going into the cabinets, so we put child locks on most of them. We left this one open so that he had something to hunt in. Once he loses interest and crawls away, I clean it up. However, I don't think he wants it put away since he comes right back to mess it up again for fun.

My dad was in town last weekend for a business trip and stayed over for two nights. He and Jack had some fun at the mall's coy pond.

While at the mall we were looking at fall clothing for Jack. I couldn't help myself looking at all the cute kids' Halloween costumes :)

Jack and I were at the grocery store earlier this week, and they were handing out balloons for the kids. Thank goodness for this balloon, because it kept him occupied for our whole grocery trip. Usually I'm trying to keep him from trying to climb out of the cart or grabbing produce.

On occasion we are looking for new fun things to add to the nursery. I found these cute subliminal message pictures online, and then made a trip to Ikea with Jack where I found the perfect frames. This was a fun little DIY project that's hanging over his crib now. I was hoping Jack would get the hint about what we expect from him...jk :)

We had our first rainy, chilly day here in California in a while, and I was sooo excited. It made it feel like it's actually fall instead of forever summer. Jack and I got into our snuggly/comfy clothes, and Jack looked so cute all bundled up.

Today we took a family trip to the beach, and it was the perfect day. Low 70s and sunny with a nice breeze off the ocean...it doesn't get much better. Jack enjoyed some time at the park right on the beach. He is a true lover of sand!

Jack and I braved the chaos of the older kids playing and crawled through one of the tubes on the playground, and we went down the slide.

Developmentally, Jack will walk with us holding just one of this hands now on a consistent basis. The other day my hand slipped out of his, and his momentum carried him forward for 2 steps on his own before he sat down and cried. So he's still a little apprehensive about the independent walking. His favorite finger food is the HappyBellies cheddar/carrot puffs that look like mini Cheetos and taste a little bit like the blander version of Cheetos. He loves to empty any drawer he can get to, especially the lower drawers in the bathrooms. And if you give him the opportunity, he darts for the toilet paper roll and tries to pull all of the toilet paper off and tear it into pieces. Oh, and he likes to play tug-of-war with Izzy's rope, but Izzy still does not want to play with him as much as he wants to play with her.

Fun Parenting Survey

I found this parenting survey while I was looking at babycenter.com this evening, and I thought I would share it. It's a fun way to reflect on life as a parent!

1. How long have you been a Mom? It will be 11 months in 6 more days!

2. How many children called you (or will call you) Mommy? 1

3. How old were you when you became a Mom? 26

4. How long were you in labor? 23 hours before a c-section

5. What's your favorite thing about being a mom? There are a ton of things to like, but I would say the special bond I have with Jack and he has with me that you can't understand until you experience it.

6. What's your least favorite thing about being a mom? Not being able to sleep in every once in a while and eating breakfast and lunch while standing up following Jack around.

7. Do you want more kids? Yes.

8. Do you plan on having more soon? Not really sure when.

9. Does daddy change diapers? Yes! Being the one who stays at home, my numbers are much higher, but he does change them when he's home. He changed far more than I did the first 2 weeks Jack was born.

10. How many times have you been peed on? I don't think I've ever been hit, and he's only peed once in front of me on the changing table. I think Jonathan got peed on once a long time ago. I did get pooped on once when I got in the bath tub with him...easy clean-up though!!

11. Barfed on? I've been spit up on a bunch, but I think I've only had him barf on me once.

12. Is your child named after anyone? His middle name is the same as Jonathan's middle name, and it's Jonathan's dad's name (Steven).

13. How did you come up with his name? We just spent several months throwing out a bunch of names, and Jackson was the one that stuck.

14. When your child gets in trouble, who is the bad guy? He doesn't really get in true trouble yet, but I'm thinking I'll probably be the bad guy.

15. And who is the good guy? It will probably be Jonathan, because he is more of a free spirit :)

16. What is the longest you have been away from your child? A couple hours.

17. Bedtime routine? Yes. We usually start turning all the loud distractions off and turn down the lights, diaper, pjs, book, bottle, and bed.

18. Are your toes painted? No...not a priority for me when I have free time :). I'll work on it, though.

19. Last movie you saw in the theatre? Iron Man 2 when I was in my 3rd trimester. I fell asleep sitting straight up with my mouth open for an hour during the loudest parts of the movie.

20. Last time you had a date? A month and a half ago when my parents were in town. We ran out to Target together for like 30 minutes 2 weeks ago when my dad was in town and Jack was sleeping for the night.

21. One thing you will not give up just because you're a mom? It's hard to think of something. I guess working out, but I just find things to do where I can bring Jack along like Stroller Strides classes.

22. One thing you did give up now that you're a mom? Working, which has its pros and cons.

23. Best mom perk? People are so nice to you, and they always smile at you when you're with your baby.

24. When he's napping, you are? Usually cleaning and/or showering.

25. If I could do it over, I'd do this differently. I wouldn't have let myself get so overwhelmed with the small stuff when Jack was first born, and I would have tried to enjoy things more. Difficult stages pass so quickly, and I try really hard just to be in the moment and enjoy it now.

26. What is the craziest thing you have said/done/taught since becoming a mom? Probably just making weird sounds and faces in public to keep him entertained.

27. What did you think would be different about being a parent? I thought that once your child started sleeping through the night, they would always sleep through the night. It has surprised me that things like teething, wanting to spend time with you, or other developmental things interrupt sleep as much as they do. Just when you think you'll be getting a full night's sleep all the time, babies throw a curve ball.