secure in his manhood

Wendy is now posting daycare photos to her Facebook account, which is very nice as I get a glimpse into what Paudie's day to day is like. The crew seems to enjoy dress-up time on their indoor days. As you can see here, my very boyish boy (mud, bugs, climbing, trucks, trains) makes a very pretty debutante type girl. He is wearing the ensamble with a lot of confidence. I particularly like the hat.

The sun has finally returned to New England, albeit very briefly, but enough to get the boy outside and running around a soccer field with a ball. This last week has been very hard with him. He is alt out refusing to go to bed. Last Saturday he crawled out over the side of his crib for the first time and I sort of wonder if all of this is connected? He used to just go right down and drift off, now we are enduring hours and hours (okay, hour and hour) of tears and hysterics. Last night he was up till 10:15, and up at 6:30 this AM. I am sure he is in fab form today. We know one of his molars is coming in so perhaps it is just more teething pain but whatever the cause, brutal. So you have this one bawling upstairs, and Banjo, who cries when Paudie does (in the "ouch this hurts my ears way"), howling downstairs. It can be a little maddening depending on the day you have just had. We try go have this happy, light environment and here 50% of us are crying. What gives?

I had planned to start Paudie on peanut butter soon but our doc's office is saying to wait until he is 3. I am really questioning the advice. Did my mom wait till I was 3? I doubt it. He just needs another high-protein, easily traveled food option badly. But if I don't wait, he'll have a reaction and I'll get the I Told You So face from some nurse. And I don't want that. Drat.

We are off to Rochester on Weds - hoping for some warm weather and some swimming, ice cream, burgers and maybe even a carnival or something. Paudie is going to have a blast...

stuck.

Stuck is Paudie's new word. Things get stuck a lot for him - his socks on his feet is the most common. He says it with the most pained look on his face. And he repeats it over and over until things are unstuck. He is also a fan of the word 'why.' But it's more like, wah-hi. Very cute and facilitates good conversation. He is starting to bust out with 'I dunno' and yesterday he said 'rock' for the first time. Oh, and he is also saying Thank You and Bless You (after a sneeze - not randomly) which blows our mind. I think it has to be a daycare thing, which we are thrilled about because there aren't a ton of manners at our house. I am still working on controlling my occasionally obnxious burping. And language of course.

Last weekend we were at Nolan's third annual Lemonade Stand. Year one I was pregnant (and in upstate NY), last year Paudie was a blob, but this year, this year he had a blast. Between the sugar and the goldfish-cracker-like-whales, the sidewalk chalk, other kids, a ride-on toy, a bat, and a wheelbarrow of dirt - it was sick, as Nolan might say. Later that night we hit the Quincy Flag Day parade. We had a hunch a parade might be his thing and right we were. He, and his $8.00 Diego blow-up on a stick, were marching all over the place, occasionally almost into the parade itself. He loved all the noise. What an awesome day he had.

Banjo and Paudie are continuing to bond. It may be my imagination but it does seem that Banjo isn't as nippy and bitey towards Paudie as he had been. Paudie continued to be obsessed with the food and water bowls. Imagine my delight as I turned around recently to see Paudie at the water bowl, on all fours, lapping at the water with his tongue. Thankfully I had just given Banjer clean water moments before.

This weekend we are slated for two first birthday partys - Paudie will be in heaven. He loves other kids, being out and social. Too bad the June dampness and gloom look to be continuing into the weekend. We are also contemplating trying peanut butter with him soon. Now I am sure my mother did not agonize over when to try it with me, but it seems to be the thing to do these days. I am so hopeful he will dig it as we really need another food option for him, though I must say his eating has improved along with his activity level.

before, during and after

hair-sterics

Sat morn we took Paudie to Snip-its, a hair salon for kids. We did this because: 1. the boy's hair was getting a little skraggly (is that a word?); 2. a previous attempt to cut his hair two months ago at our house was not successful; 3. they sent me a coupon. He was quite intrigued with the place at first - lots of toys, and noise, and other kids. Actually there were two other boys there younger than him getting their first hair cuts as well. Everyone was happy as Larry.

As soon as John tried to lower Paudie into the chair... hysterics. I mean, crazy hysterics, the kind Pau usually reserves for the pediatrician. I thought the woman would be all, buh-bye, but she hung in, and cut his hair as he was clung to John for dear life. It felt sort of sad seeing his hair go (though I told her to take it easy - I didn't want a buzz cut for him) and watching him transform into like a 10 year old boy. As soon as she was finishing, the storm passed and he lightened up. I think the lollipop I shuved in his mouth had soothed him. Yay for sugar! I will post the before and after photos soon.

So it took a few days to adjust to Paudie's new look. But I'm there. It just makes him seem so... mature now. Like last night after dinner (OMG, he ate like his whole dinner - fish and veggies, what we were having - for the first time ever!), as I cleaned up and John was out with the dog, he just sat at the table, content, playing with a truck, making truck-like noises. Ugh! Where is our baby?

We also took Paudie on the T last weekend - he is obsessed with trains and trucks and diggers. Calls them all choo-choos and points like a madman as we drive. He was shellshocked when we got on the train. It was delightful. What a low-cost way to entertain a small boy. We took him into the Garden and did the swan boats, which he sat quite still for thanks to the goldfish crackers in my bag. They resolve ants in pants. After we got pizza and sat on the Common. All in all, a great day.

Can you feel the love?

Paudie is still adjusting to Banjo. The love-hate is still ongoing. Banjo is still pooping in only 3 places - our house, our car, or a one-square foot area of flower bed in our backyard. Clearly, much work to be done. The biting and chewing and nipping are showing no signs of alleviating, but I am getting decent exercise from the amount of times I have to get up from a seated position to retrieve something from Banjo's mouth that really shouldn't be there. This week I actually wa successful in forcing him to spit his own poop out (this was outdoors at least).

Paudie is a trooper. I think he and Banjo will be great friends. Someday.

Hard to believe our boy is going to be 21 months old next week. His language is coming fast now - even Wendy comments on how he is doing a great job stringing words together. Of course I have no examples of this at the moment. He still refuses to say yes or nod his head, and he still prefers to keep the presence of poop in his diaper to himself - though the smell continues to betray him. He continues to be fascinated by water - turning on taps, playing in the dog's water - last week he darted into the ocean down at Wollaston Beach - gave us a scare. And John very wet pants and shoes.

On Sunday we went to New Balance and Pau was on fire - screeching, running around the store, saying hi to people. One elderly man commented on him being very social. By the end of our trip, he noted that we seemed to have our hands full. What does thay say about us, or rather me since John was shopping and I was in charge of wrangling? I mean, he is only one kid. You think I can't handle that? heee. I totally can't! To pass the time I tried the most awesome pair of Elmo NB sneakers on Pau and angsted over if they were worth $30 or not. It's crazy - you have a kid and it's all about their fashion and looks and meanwhile you're wearing aging flip flops and scrapped up clothes. I passed on the sneakers - we had just bought two pairs the day before and John was mortified I was seriously considering a third.

Here's hoping the New England weather turns soon - this week has been cold and wet and depressing and not conducive to burning off toddler energy. Very conducive to conserving my energy though so there is the tradeoff.

... and Banjo was his name-o

Wow, almost a month since my last post. Where does the time go?

Really the last few weeks have been consumed by the newest addition to our family, a 5-month old beagle/springer spaniel (or a springle - yeah I made that up) pup named Banjo. We had been casually talking about getting a dog for Paudie since he is so crazy for them and we liked the looks of springer spaniels. Saw Banjo on Petfinder - he was in Alabama but being adopted to the New England area via a group in Maine. I filled out the app more or less on a whim... then BAM, Banjo is ours. Actually, his name had been Connor - when we asked Pau what he wanted to name is doggie, he said something very close to Banjo - which is a fitting southern boy name.

So Pau and Banjo have an interesting, love hate relationship. Banjo is a very bitey, chewey dog. He especially loves to nibble on Paudie and boy, can those teeth hurt sometimes. So there have been tears between the nipping and the occasional knockdown. I feel as if we are going through the baby proofing process all over again as newspapers, cups, clothes, shoes... all these things we were finally able to sort of leave out at will all are being placed out of reach again. In fact, our house is starting to look like a couple of minimalists live there.

Banjo's presence is having some interesting effects on Pau though - in a good way - so no, it's not all tears. For the first few days, Pau definitely had issues with his alpha status in our house. He was shocked to see his parents tripping over themselves to pay attention to someone else - even if it was all screeching not to pee or poop under the radiator. So in the beginning there was some cute sort of acting out - look at me mom! In the past week, that has translated into more verbal communication. It's very cute. He continues to say hi and bye to anyone who will look his way - including neighbors we have never spoken to in our lives, a gas station attendant and a creepy man wearing a wife beater and sweeping the sidewalk in Arlington. His speech is also getting clearer.

Beyond Banjo, not much else going on at our house. That is enough. I really wish I were a heartier person that could take on more than a toddler and a puppy but sorry to say, that ain't me right now. The bar is very low. I sometimes feel like I am elderly. Like I look back on things I did even a few years ago - travel for work as one example, and am all, oh the things I used to do, the places I have been. I hate it. Why can't my constitution pick up a bit? I am hopeful that summer will bring out more energy and that perhaps I'm just in the dumps from the cool spring weather.

Have some nice shots of the boy and the dog, will attempt to post soon. But you know I can't really do more than like one thing a day right now. Maybe I should look into coke.

pass the ketchup

So last week we had a radical discovery at the dinner table: P likes ketchup. No, wait... P loves ketchup. He is a dunking fiend. We realized this during fish sticks, which is semi-plausible, but since have translated it to really any meal. Last night it was just P and I and he was struggling (i.e., chewing/spitting) with his chicken, peas and wild grain rice meal - so over I went and grabbed my red friend. Squeezed on some condiment and he was good to do. Was even saying 'mo kthecjejop' at one point. Which I translated as 'more ketchup.' Is this bad? I know it's high in sodium, but he eats so much better with it. Then I recalled how I used to eat macaronis and ketchup so I guess it's true about the apple and the tree.

We did spend last weekend in upstate NY with my fam. We left late Friday night, got in at about 2:00. Pau slept the whole way. It was all I could do to keep my eyes open. How on earth did I used to stay out till all hours I ask you? The weather was gorgeous - we hit some playgrounds and then Zarpentines for all u can eat pancake breakfast. Good stuff! After a nap... more playground over by my sister's house. It was a great day until about 7 PM when we realized he had a fever... then came the croupy cough. Sigh. It's always something with these kids I tell you.

Sunday we hung around the house, went to Wegmans of course. Pau's fever was in the 103 range in the afternoon so w ehad to up the medicine. Was still not great Monday so we laid low again. We left Tues AM, stopped at Lollypop Farm on the way to check out the dogs and farm animals. Was very nice that day - we had a great time looking at the animals. Will post some photos of that shortly. Pau was a rock star on the return trip, just watching videos and dozing. Has been sleeping well, in his crib, since we have returned. Oh, and his missing top tooth finally appeared! I know it was the culprit behind the tears...

Just talked to John - Paudie and he have been gardening like fiends. John compared him to a dog - apparently he likes to roll on the ground and cover himself with soil. There he is taking a much-earned break: