Growing

Punky continues his journey to big boydom.

Tonight, I packed away the bottles. They've been replaced with sippy cups and straw cups. I hope to replace the sippys with straw cups altogether, but he's still working on mastering the straw.

I was way more emotional about putting the bottles away than I thought I would be. It's so just final. His baby days are quickly leading way to toddler days and soon they'll be gone altogether. I should have had newborn pictures taken. I should have had more hospital pictures taken. Lesson learned for next time I suppose.

I officially stopped pumping at work. That I'm not sad about at all. My body had adjusted to the pump so I was barely getting an ounce at each pumping session. He takes 5 ounce bottles. Yeah. That wasn't working for me. I've just started weaning to organic cow's milk for his mid afternoon feeding. I'm still going to nurse whenever I'm with him, and during the week I'll nurse him mornings, my lunch break and before bed. Around 3:30 he'll get a snack and whole milk instead of a bottle. I'm not sure how long I'm going to continue to nurse. I know at least until he's a year. Maybe a month or two after that. But don't tell my husband.

Punky continues to grow in front of my eyes. He has now added Luna (our dog) to his growing list of words. I think he's trying to say book, but I'm not 100% on that. He can tell me where his hair is, and we're currently working on finding our nose. I (finally) got him to clap his hands today. He would put his hands in the air whenever we said yay so now we're working on clapping as well. He's very in to his books right now. He has three that he loves and I think I read each of them twice last night before he went to bed (he let me off easy tonight by only demanding two of them). He has so many books they're literally spilling out of every part of my house. Maybe one night Daddy will get to putting that book case together.

I'm in a very weird place right now, and there are a lot of things I'm trying to sort out in my head before I attempt to actually hold a conversation about them. I'm still trying to sell my car and I'm thisclose to being totally over it. Tax season is upon us again, and with that comes working late, working Saturdays and lots of stress. I'm really hoping I can get away with not having to work late and work Saturdays very often, as I don't get enough time with Punkin as it is. The stress will not be avoided.

And because my hero husband found our digital camera in our mess of a house and saved me from insanity, here are some very adorable pictures of Punkin at the first birthday party he was invited to:

 Riding the ponies

 In the bouncy house

 Bouncing with Daddy

Sleepy boy

Milestones

It's been 12 days since I've updated, and in those 12 days it seems like Punkin is suddenly catching on to so many things.

Our first "OMG HOW CUTE WE MIGHT DIEEEE!" moment was when Punky started singing Winnie the Pooh with us. Austin has always sung him this song as I believe it's his life long ambition to make sure Punk is absolutely obsessed with Winnie the Pooh. So one day during a diaper change Austin sings "Winnie the Pooh, Winnie the Pooh" and Punky looks at him and sings (not just says but actually sings the tune) "da Pooh". Hilarity ensued. As well as multiple videos and trying to get him to do it 2349234098 times a day since then.

The next moment was when I was at my parent's house. He was sitting in the floor playing with a hair brush and I asked "Are you going to brush your hair?". Can you guess what happened next? HE BRUSHED HIS FREAKING HAIR. I'm pretty sure he's the most genius kid that ever geniused. So now I'll tell him to brush his hair and brush Mama's hair and brush Daddy's hair and he eagerly obliges. It's adorable.

He has FINALLY started saying Mama. He's made the "Ma" sound a few times before but now he's actually saying it regularly like he's calling for me. I'm pretty sure my heart explodes a few thousand times a day.

Let's see what else...oh yes, my baby boy has turned into a silly snake. He loves to say "ssssssss". So now our whole family is a family of snakes saying "sssss" to each other every other word just because it's so funny to see/hear him do it. He also repeated Paw Paw (what the grand kids call my Dad) to my Mom after she said it to him the other day.

We're still working on walking. He'll take a few steps before he falls, but if we try more than twice he gets frustrated because crawling is just oh so much easier. Can you blame the kid? He has a push toy that he pushes around our apartment like crazy, but there's not a lot of room so I have to keep turning it around for him. Hopefully once our lease is up we can move into a new (bigger) place.

As for food, I'm trying to give him more and more finger foods that he can feed himself (I love being able to get stuff done while he eats!). He loves raspberries and blueberries, and they're a great healthy snack for him. He also loves toast, and just yesterday I bought some organic raspberry jam to put on it and I'm pretty sure his little heart swelled 10 times that day, a la the Grinch, at what an amazing treat that was.

He's been sick, as just as he's getting better I get sick. I would kill for a nap right now. Instead I'm sitting at work on what is a holiday for everyone else. I'm still trying to sell my car, and I'm hoping I can get rid of it sooner rather than later. It'll be really nice not to have that payment. Unfortunately, I'm not going to be able to take the Lactation Consultant class I wanted. I'm just not going to be able to afford it before it gets here. I'm really bummed about it, but eager to start classes in the fall.

Another month and a half and I'll have a toddler! Yikes!

A slightly blurry iPhone pic of him trying to climb into his toy box

Wordless Wednesday

2011

I can't believe another year has gone by.

2010 was a very important year for me. Yes, because my baby boy was born, but a lot of growth happened last year.

From the moment they put Punky in my arms, I knew things were going to be different. I knew that even though I was 23 and married and a grown up, there was still growing to do. I think both Austin and I have come to realize things about each other that we never gave to much thought too. We've had to really learn to compromise and most importantly, communicate. It's really very hard when two people who essentially have to move as a unit to make things work start to want two different paths in life. This is where compromise and communication come in to play.

I became passionate about something for the first time, and I resolved to follow that passion. I think Austin realized that things are a little more real now. He got serious about school and creating a future for our family that doesn't involve coming home covered in flour and smelling like pizza. I'm so incredibly proud of him for setting his mind to it and doing so well in school.

As 2010 came to an end, so did certain relationships. It's so hard for me to wrap my mind around the situation, and what  I would do if I was put in the position of essentially losing the family unit I have. I can't. But I do know that people change and time marches on. I know that although things come to an end, new beginnings happen everyday. I also know the unwavering and at times almost unbearable love I have for my baby, and I imagine that times two would be enough to keep me going. The love and support a family can provide can be healing. Uplifting. Cathartic. I just hope it's well received.

And, of course, Punkin graced us all with his presence in 2010. It's almost a year later, and he's learning new things every day. He's playing peek-a-boo. He celebrates with us when we say "yay!". He has favorite toys and he loves instruments. He dances. He yells and talks gibberish aside from the occasional " da da" and "baby". He gives lovin'. And yesterday, for the very first time, he took his first steps...and I almost lost my mind. I can't believe how very fleeting and precious this time is. And how in a few years he'll be starting school. All I can do is get in as many kisses and snuggles as I possibly can and hope I make the right choices for him. No pressure or anything.

So, 2011, you have a lot to live up to. Good luck.

Getting into trouble.