My little boy is getting to be quite a funny little creature! Not that he wasn't always, but the addition of words is certainly a good one in his case. Where do toddlers learn these things?
One of his favorite words is "Help" (Hawp). Recently, he's started getting his foot fake stuck in things, like the crevice between couch cushions or a toy bucket. Then he'll look over at me and say "Hawp Hawp Hawp" until I go "rescue" him by freeing his foot.
This past weekend, he started playing a game I like to call Stunt Man. He'll flap his hands at his sides and say "Whoa-oh-oh!" like he's losing his balance, then fall on his butt and start cracking up. I have a fun video of this. Sometimes he'll pitch straight forward and face plant onto the carpet instead. Maybe it's time to turn that college fund into a clown college fund, huh?
Another game involves taking all the shoes out of my side of the closet and pushing them behind Brandon's dresser inside his closet. That one took a few minutes to figure out the first time when I couldn't find my running shoes!
We had a recent bubble themed park playdate with my mom's group, and Lucas got a huge kick out of it. His favorite is to chase after the bubbles and try to eat them. He even learned to say "Bubble" that day and now he asks for them all the time when we're in the backyard.
We've started trying to do time outs as he's getting closer to two, but they rarely work in terms of him knowing why it's happening. He gives me this big wide-eyed stare, then starts smiling and tries to hug me. It does work in terms of distracting him from hitting me or throwing toys, though, so I'm calling it a win!
Wednesday, February 26, 2014
Thursday, January 30, 2014
Books for January
One of my New Year's Resolutions was to try to read more. I thought it might be fun to keep track of the books I read on here. I read three books in January and two of them came from the library! Technically I read three and a half books, but you'll have to wait to hear about the fourth one once I finish it in February.
1. Fire by Kristin Cashore: Graceling was my absolute favorite book I read in 2013, and I think I liked this companion just as much, if not more! The world of Katsa and Fire is a very interesting and well put together one, and the characters are fascinating. I found Fire to be slightly too perfect, as her only flaw was arguably a strength (finding it in herself to defeat her father and thus save countless others from his cruelty). The monsters were a fascinating and very creative concept, and I enjoyed both of the male characters that made up the requisite love triangle to be very engaging and three-dimensional. My only real issue with the book was the author's need to shoehorn Leck, the villain from Graceling, into this book as well. I don't think he was needed and it took away from the main story for me. The ghost of Fire's father was plenty villain enough. Looking forward to reading the third installment next month!
2. Son by Lois Lowry: The final piece to The Giver universe series of books. The Giver is my #1 young adult novel of all time, and sadly, the subsequent novels have never come close to measuring up to that one. But I think I liked this one best of the other three (Gathering Blue and The Messenger being the other two). Part of that was because a good portion of the book took place in the original community from The Giver. I liked getting some alternative perspective to The Giver story. I also felt a strong connection to the main character because the plot hinged on her undeniable and enduring love for her son, a subject I am obviously invested in. I was a bit annoyed by the ending, but Lowry ended The Giver on a similarly vague and dissatisfying note so I suppose I shouldn't have been surprised.
3. The Cuckoo's Calling by Robert Galbraith (aka JK Rowling): I'm not usually a fan of mystery or crime novels, but Rowling is a great author (obviously) and this novel kept my attention fairly well. I didn't guess the murderer until right up until the end, and I enjoyed the interaction between the detective and his assistant. I get a bit bored with all the investigation and clue-discovering, but that's all a part of crime novels, so I can't hold it against the story. Crime novels still aren't really my cup of tea, but I'd probably read another Strike novel once one appears.
Sigh, only three books in a month? A decade ago, I would have been very disappointed in myself, but I'll take it. I'm also pleased that two of these came from the library! I've also got the online reservation system figured out now, so I'm hoping to get some really good stuff next month, as opposed to just the closest book I can grab that looks somewhat interesting while I am trying to keep Hurricane Lucas from disrupting the entire library.
1. Fire by Kristin Cashore: Graceling was my absolute favorite book I read in 2013, and I think I liked this companion just as much, if not more! The world of Katsa and Fire is a very interesting and well put together one, and the characters are fascinating. I found Fire to be slightly too perfect, as her only flaw was arguably a strength (finding it in herself to defeat her father and thus save countless others from his cruelty). The monsters were a fascinating and very creative concept, and I enjoyed both of the male characters that made up the requisite love triangle to be very engaging and three-dimensional. My only real issue with the book was the author's need to shoehorn Leck, the villain from Graceling, into this book as well. I don't think he was needed and it took away from the main story for me. The ghost of Fire's father was plenty villain enough. Looking forward to reading the third installment next month!
2. Son by Lois Lowry: The final piece to The Giver universe series of books. The Giver is my #1 young adult novel of all time, and sadly, the subsequent novels have never come close to measuring up to that one. But I think I liked this one best of the other three (Gathering Blue and The Messenger being the other two). Part of that was because a good portion of the book took place in the original community from The Giver. I liked getting some alternative perspective to The Giver story. I also felt a strong connection to the main character because the plot hinged on her undeniable and enduring love for her son, a subject I am obviously invested in. I was a bit annoyed by the ending, but Lowry ended The Giver on a similarly vague and dissatisfying note so I suppose I shouldn't have been surprised.
3. The Cuckoo's Calling by Robert Galbraith (aka JK Rowling): I'm not usually a fan of mystery or crime novels, but Rowling is a great author (obviously) and this novel kept my attention fairly well. I didn't guess the murderer until right up until the end, and I enjoyed the interaction between the detective and his assistant. I get a bit bored with all the investigation and clue-discovering, but that's all a part of crime novels, so I can't hold it against the story. Crime novels still aren't really my cup of tea, but I'd probably read another Strike novel once one appears.
Sigh, only three books in a month? A decade ago, I would have been very disappointed in myself, but I'll take it. I'm also pleased that two of these came from the library! I've also got the online reservation system figured out now, so I'm hoping to get some really good stuff next month, as opposed to just the closest book I can grab that looks somewhat interesting while I am trying to keep Hurricane Lucas from disrupting the entire library.
Updates and Pictures
Oh, hey, a blog! I've been having trouble feeling inspired enough to blog lately. Being home with a toddler has some great aspects to it, but it's tough to come up with material for a blog entry that's more than just a catalog of our daily routine.
Lucas is still picking up new words at a fairly steady pace. I haven't been keeping a complete list but I'd say he's up between 20-30 words now? He figured out that the stove/oven is hot earlier this month so he'll walk up to it, hold up his hand like a stop sign, and say "Hot! Hot! Hot!" over and over. He also used his first phrase by asking me for "More Ice!" We're still working on please and thank you, he occasionally will sign 'please' when prompted but I haven't gotten any successful 'thank you' signs yet. He can't say his name yet but he'll poke at his tummy and smile when you ask him "Whose name is Lucas?" He says "Ohhh" in this deep angry voice -- I think he's trying to say "No," maybe? Usually he just shakes his head. "Yes" is still a "Haha!" plus a grin.
He's also attached to a lovey, his little stuffed Clifford that my mom found him for Christmas. He doesn't want to carry it around all day or anything, but it's so cute to watch him snuggle it up under his chin when he's getting ready to sleep.
We're definitely still struggling with tantrums, although I can tell it's easier when he can communicate what he wants. Mostly we get tantrums when he's being asked to transition in some way. I'm not exactly sure how to deal with it, but I am giving verbal warnings of impending transition since he seems to understand a lot more than he expresses. "Five minutes until we go home, Lucas!" He likes to hit when he's mad, and last week he tried to kick me for the first time.
Size wise, we're just about to bump him up to 3T clothing. He's somewhere in the vicinity of 33-34 pounds, about 35 inches tall right now, and currently wearing 8wide shoes.
I've been having a lot of fun taking him to the zoo, since my mom's group seems to meet exclusively when he's napping these days. He takes one 1-2 hour nap daily around 11:30, which puts us at odds to most other kids his age, but I try to get him to hang out with other toddlers whenever we can. He has a really sweet little heart most of the time when he's interacting with other kids. He loves to share his toys, and will actually clap and smile if another kid comes up and steals toys from him. Lol! My gentle giant. I'm aware he could grow out of this, but it makes my heart happy to see him being so kind.
Brandon and I are doing well. Brandon recently transitioned to a wholly administrative position at work, without any direct reports, which we are hoping will lessen the stress of his workload. I recently made the decision to switch from active to inactive with the California State Bar, which means I can no longer practice law. I'm content with the decision; the pro bono cases I took last year were fine, but it's next to impossible to get any significant amount of work done with Lucas around, and I was unwilling to give up my break during the day while Lucas is napping to do volunteer work. Call me selfish if you will.
Here are a few more photos! Hoping to blog next with a few short reviews of the books I read in January!
Lucas is still picking up new words at a fairly steady pace. I haven't been keeping a complete list but I'd say he's up between 20-30 words now? He figured out that the stove/oven is hot earlier this month so he'll walk up to it, hold up his hand like a stop sign, and say "Hot! Hot! Hot!" over and over. He also used his first phrase by asking me for "More Ice!" We're still working on please and thank you, he occasionally will sign 'please' when prompted but I haven't gotten any successful 'thank you' signs yet. He can't say his name yet but he'll poke at his tummy and smile when you ask him "Whose name is Lucas?" He says "Ohhh" in this deep angry voice -- I think he's trying to say "No," maybe? Usually he just shakes his head. "Yes" is still a "Haha!" plus a grin.
He's also attached to a lovey, his little stuffed Clifford that my mom found him for Christmas. He doesn't want to carry it around all day or anything, but it's so cute to watch him snuggle it up under his chin when he's getting ready to sleep.
We're definitely still struggling with tantrums, although I can tell it's easier when he can communicate what he wants. Mostly we get tantrums when he's being asked to transition in some way. I'm not exactly sure how to deal with it, but I am giving verbal warnings of impending transition since he seems to understand a lot more than he expresses. "Five minutes until we go home, Lucas!" He likes to hit when he's mad, and last week he tried to kick me for the first time.
Size wise, we're just about to bump him up to 3T clothing. He's somewhere in the vicinity of 33-34 pounds, about 35 inches tall right now, and currently wearing 8wide shoes.
I've been having a lot of fun taking him to the zoo, since my mom's group seems to meet exclusively when he's napping these days. He takes one 1-2 hour nap daily around 11:30, which puts us at odds to most other kids his age, but I try to get him to hang out with other toddlers whenever we can. He has a really sweet little heart most of the time when he's interacting with other kids. He loves to share his toys, and will actually clap and smile if another kid comes up and steals toys from him. Lol! My gentle giant. I'm aware he could grow out of this, but it makes my heart happy to see him being so kind.
Brandon and I are doing well. Brandon recently transitioned to a wholly administrative position at work, without any direct reports, which we are hoping will lessen the stress of his workload. I recently made the decision to switch from active to inactive with the California State Bar, which means I can no longer practice law. I'm content with the decision; the pro bono cases I took last year were fine, but it's next to impossible to get any significant amount of work done with Lucas around, and I was unwilling to give up my break during the day while Lucas is napping to do volunteer work. Call me selfish if you will.
Here are a few more photos! Hoping to blog next with a few short reviews of the books I read in January!
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| He's so snuggly after his nap, we love it! |
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| He's really digging dried leaves right now. |
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| Trying out the Car Museum; mostly a bust. Turns out they don't want toddlers crawling inside priceless cars. |
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| Got to watch some cool polar bear antics this week at the zoo. |
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| Being gentle with Carmen the goat. He loved feeding her hay! |
Friday, January 3, 2014
New Year's Resolutions!
These are always fun to make, even if I rarely follow through. I think it's nice to want to be your best self and make a new start, even when that proves hard to do. Here are a few things I'm hoping to improve on this year.
1. Eat cleaner and better: I owe it to myself and my family to plan, purchase, and create healthy and tasty meals. Since I am in charge over about 90% of our food choices (I do all meal planning, grocery shopping, and most of the cooking), it really falls to me to make sure the family makes healthy choices. We aren't as bad as we used to be, but there's a lot of room for improvement. I'm hoping to significantly increase our intake of fresh produce (Lucas does okay here, but I need to work at hiding more vegetables in his meals since he'll rarely eat any if they're served to him straight). This one is also challenging because I'm working within a budget so I can't just go to town on whatever sounds good, particularly with meat. This is my main goal for the coming year!
2. Sign up for and run at least one race, and maybe more. I really miss races as a hobby. While I'd love to train for a half marathon again someday, it's more realistic for me to stick to shorter 5Ks and 10Ks for the time being. I've already picked out my first one, Finish Chelsea's Run 5K on March 1. I'm signing up next week! Brandon and Lucas may tag along on this one too.
3. Read more! Sometimes I go weeks without cracking open a book, which is terrible to me. I need to do better at utilizing the library system so I don't spend too much on new books, though. I'm going to try to keep track of all the books I read this year to see how many I can finish. I used to read well over 100 books a year. I doubt if I read much more than a couple dozen this past year. 100 is probably too ambitious with Hurricane Lucas around, but more is always better when it comes to books!
Three is probably a good start with resolutions. It's good to start small and add more things later if I am successful.
1. Eat cleaner and better: I owe it to myself and my family to plan, purchase, and create healthy and tasty meals. Since I am in charge over about 90% of our food choices (I do all meal planning, grocery shopping, and most of the cooking), it really falls to me to make sure the family makes healthy choices. We aren't as bad as we used to be, but there's a lot of room for improvement. I'm hoping to significantly increase our intake of fresh produce (Lucas does okay here, but I need to work at hiding more vegetables in his meals since he'll rarely eat any if they're served to him straight). This one is also challenging because I'm working within a budget so I can't just go to town on whatever sounds good, particularly with meat. This is my main goal for the coming year!
2. Sign up for and run at least one race, and maybe more. I really miss races as a hobby. While I'd love to train for a half marathon again someday, it's more realistic for me to stick to shorter 5Ks and 10Ks for the time being. I've already picked out my first one, Finish Chelsea's Run 5K on March 1. I'm signing up next week! Brandon and Lucas may tag along on this one too.
3. Read more! Sometimes I go weeks without cracking open a book, which is terrible to me. I need to do better at utilizing the library system so I don't spend too much on new books, though. I'm going to try to keep track of all the books I read this year to see how many I can finish. I used to read well over 100 books a year. I doubt if I read much more than a couple dozen this past year. 100 is probably too ambitious with Hurricane Lucas around, but more is always better when it comes to books!
Three is probably a good start with resolutions. It's good to start small and add more things later if I am successful.
Friday, December 27, 2013
Christmas
Oh hey, I have a blog! I have some catching up to do. I've been having trouble feeling motivated to talk about anything on here, as much of my life seems way too boring to blog about. So here's a little bit about our Christmas!
Lucas was a lot of fun this year at Christmas. He's still too young to know what's going on but he was so sweet and excited while discovering his presents on Christmas morning. It was amazing!
We had amazing weather this week so we took Lucas to the beach a couple times. He loves the beach and the ocean but it's often too big of an undertaking for me to do it on my own on weekdays. We went to Coronado on Christmas Eve and to Ocean Beach the day after Christmas. He had a wonderful time putting his feet in the ocean, chasing his shadow, and digging in the sand.
We all did a lot of excellent eating and drinking this week. For Christmas dinner we had prime rib, mashed potatoes and gravy, roasted Brussels sprouts with onion and bacon, and popovers. So tasty! I got a lot of really nice clothes (my favorite present!) and a massage gift certificate from Brandon (so looking forward to this!). I got Brandon a watch, I think he likes it pretty well. We had a great time with my parents, especially Lucas who loves having extra people to drag around the house and boss around.
Merry Christmas to all! I'll be back later with New Year's resolutions and more recent photos of the Biggest Boy.
Lucas was a lot of fun this year at Christmas. He's still too young to know what's going on but he was so sweet and excited while discovering his presents on Christmas morning. It was amazing!
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| Lucas was a very good boy this year! |
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| Christmas morning selfie! |
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| Whoa. I can cook now. |
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| Future Chef Lucas getting started |
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| Santa also put Lucas's favorite, Clifford, in his stocking. |
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| He also got a few really awesome trucks. |
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| The ocean is amazing! |
Merry Christmas to all! I'll be back later with New Year's resolutions and more recent photos of the Biggest Boy.
Friday, November 8, 2013
Lucas's Vocabulary Update
Lucas has been on the slow side for language development, but he's really started to pick up new words in the last month or so, which is a lot of fun! Here is his current vocabulary.
Mama: He mostly says this when he's whining about something. But he did ask for me a couple times when we were in Kauai.
Dada: He doesn't use this one much, but sometimes! The other night, I was taking him to bed and said, "Night night Dada!" like usual. He piped up, "Bwa Wa Dada!" It was super cute.
Hi: His favorite word. Mostly directed towards trucks and buses.
Uh-Oh: Another favorite. He tries to tell us "uh oh" when he deliberately throws something. Not buying it, dude.
More: "Mo?" The Cutest. I have to stop myself from doing whatever he asks a million times because I love it so much. He also signs this one.
No: He mostly just shakes his head but we get the actual word now too.
Ball: "Ba!"
Banana: "Ba!" I swear, he's using them to mean different things!
Outside: "Ah-eye?"
Car: "Ka!" This is a new one. I swear I heard it yesterday, though, while pointing at my car.
Book: Sometimes he'll say "Buh?" but I'm not sure he knows it yet. He does sign book very deliberately though.
Light: This one is sign only.
Please: Sign only and sporadic.
Want: This is a sign he invented himself. He uses the sign for "milk" but means it as anything he wants you to do, whether that's getting him a drink or playing whatever game he wants.
Sing Itsy Bitsy Spider: Not exactly a sign, but he does twist his wrists around to get you to sing this song. It's too cute to leave out.
Here are a few recent photos!
Mama: He mostly says this when he's whining about something. But he did ask for me a couple times when we were in Kauai.
Dada: He doesn't use this one much, but sometimes! The other night, I was taking him to bed and said, "Night night Dada!" like usual. He piped up, "Bwa Wa Dada!" It was super cute.
Hi: His favorite word. Mostly directed towards trucks and buses.
Uh-Oh: Another favorite. He tries to tell us "uh oh" when he deliberately throws something. Not buying it, dude.
More: "Mo?" The Cutest. I have to stop myself from doing whatever he asks a million times because I love it so much. He also signs this one.
No: He mostly just shakes his head but we get the actual word now too.
Ball: "Ba!"
Banana: "Ba!" I swear, he's using them to mean different things!
Outside: "Ah-eye?"
Car: "Ka!" This is a new one. I swear I heard it yesterday, though, while pointing at my car.
Book: Sometimes he'll say "Buh?" but I'm not sure he knows it yet. He does sign book very deliberately though.
Light: This one is sign only.
Please: Sign only and sporadic.
Want: This is a sign he invented himself. He uses the sign for "milk" but means it as anything he wants you to do, whether that's getting him a drink or playing whatever game he wants.
Sing Itsy Bitsy Spider: Not exactly a sign, but he does twist his wrists around to get you to sing this song. It's too cute to leave out.
Here are a few recent photos!
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| Fun at the pumpkin patch! |
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| Hanging with Grandpa |
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| Ready to watch Clifford, his fave big red dog |
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| Playtime at the Park |
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| Halloween memories! Haha |
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| Smaug just wants to play cars |
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| Smaug and Bilbo |
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| Trick or treating! |
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| Backyard silliness |
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| In his fireplace fort playing trucks |
Wednesday, November 6, 2013
Kauai Trip and Photos!
It's been a little while since I've posted! We had a great time on our recent trip to Kauai. It was hard to leave Lucas (he stayed at home with my mom, two aunts, and two cousins and did great!), but we were really glad to get away and relax for a few days.
I don't have photos of all our delicious meals and afternoon naps, but they were probably my favorite part of the trip! We also had a great time "cave tubing," floating down old sugar plantation irrigation ditches one afternoon. Cold water, but very fun experience!
We also did a luau near our hotel, which was fun and had good food but didn't quite live up to Brandon's expectations! There was a guy who juggled fire knives though, so I think Brandon's expectations may have been a bit unrealistic.
An amazing trip! Happy four year anniversary to us.
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| Just arrived! |
We woke up *really early on our first day and decided to make the long drive up Waimea Canyon on the opposite side of the island. It was beautiful and clear, we took lots of photos. We also had fun touring Kauai Coffee Co. on our way back.
This is my new happy place, Poipu State Beach. We did some amazing snorkeling here and had a delicious lunch overlooking the beach. Our anniversary dinner was at a restaurant nearby, the Beach House, and was phenomenal. I ate so much delicious sushi and seafood on this trip!
I wasn't able to find Brandon as many waterfalls as I'd promised, but we did see these ones off the side of the road that were pretty good! Next time I'll remember to pack the guide book that explains how to find the rest of them.
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| Don't I look very relaxed and happy? |
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| Spouting Horn |
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| Kilauea Lighthouse on our last day. Rainy and muggy but still beautiful! |
We also did a luau near our hotel, which was fun and had good food but didn't quite live up to Brandon's expectations! There was a guy who juggled fire knives though, so I think Brandon's expectations may have been a bit unrealistic.
An amazing trip! Happy four year anniversary to us.
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