McWane Science Center

It is so hot here in Birmingham; my car read 106 Saturday.  Rudy played golf early Sunday and I took William outside for about 10 minutes (maybe).  I could see his little arms sweating and he was so red (even with sunscreen).  I think William is just super sensitive because his color becomes normal once he is inside.  Anyways, he only took about an hour nap and was up before 1 PM.  We headed to McWane Science Center because he needed to be somewhere besides the house.  William did great but I know he will get a lot more out of it in a year or so.  Below is picture overload and I am warning you now. 

Knew exactly what to do.

Did not really get the idea of touching gently.

Pointing to the lady that got onto him for splashing :)

Loved the wall.

Helping out...(sidenote:  I am getting a spray tan before vaca)

Weird guy.

Does not get bending down.

I found this funny and begged Rudy for a pic.

And done.

Bradford Be Gone

Rudy has wanted to cut down the bradford pear in the front yard for a while now.  My parents were against it for many reasons: shades the house (he proved them wrong), it looks nice (he does not care), etc.  He ended up talking them into helping (not that we have to their permission) and we did not have to rent a chainsaw.  We all admit it looks a lot better and now we have to get rid of the stump.  We are hoping to get that done we when get the trees in the backyard cut down (one of which is dead and a hazard).  Here are some pictures of the mess they had to clean up.

The tree fell into the road but did leave room for cars to pass by.  However, this woman in a small SUV sat waiting for a few minutes like they were going to quickly move the gigantic tree.  People are so silly.  Now we are trying to get our grass green from where the tree had shaded it and we have some firewood for winter.  Job well done!

Popsicles

Oh no!  We have a popsicle lover on our hands.  He can kill a popsicle pretty darn quick....

And this is why I do not need dinner.

So cold.

Got this!

Biting a chunk off.

Brain freeze but it tastes so good!!

Vacation Day

I took a vacation day today mainly to get my hair done.  That only lasted until lunch then I met my parents at Jason's Deli.  After that I came home to a hubs that had taken the afternoon off.  We then ran errands before getting the bud and meeting my parents for dinner.  William's daycare offers "parent night" monthly but I can not bring myself to leave him there that long.  I would rather have my parents watch him at the house so he can sleep in his own bed.  Here are some pics of my vacation day or it may be more appropriate to say "catch up day."

Loaded and started dishes.

Lots of laundry.

Put William's toys away.

Changed sheets...

Hubs working...

YUCK...before haircut.

I look exhausted but my hair looks good.

Loves the golf clubs.

No, I really, really love the clubs.

I really do not feel as tired as I look.  :(

Father's Day...On the Road

We loaded up and went to Meme's for Father's Day.  I must admit not one picture was taken and I fussed at ready to bring the camera.  Traveling is stressful and I guess I never thought about it.  William did pretty great on the way up there (2 hrs.) and loved visiting family.  It took him only a few minutes to warm up to Meme and loved the animal crackers she had waiting on him.  William played with Ziploc bags on and off all day.  It is amazing what entertains a toddler.  We also took him on the golf cart.  The first trip William went with Rudy and I.  He set right in the middle and looked so big.  He did not make a sound the entire time and even drove for a minute or two (in Rudy's lap).  William then got to go again with Meme and Grammie.  By this time he was sleepy but my mom said he fought it the whole time.  He would close his eyes then hear something and perk right back up.  Needless to say no napping happened until he hit the carseat on the way home.  We had yummy lunch and lots of desserts.  William enjoyed a cookie while we eat (he had lunch prior to us) and I guess it was all the attention but he did not fuss to get out of the high chair once.  He then showed off his dance moves to the entire family and by then it was time to hit the road.  We headed home around 2 and he slept the first half of the trip; screamed the second half.  I do admit I should have changed his diaper when we stopped in Cullman but honestly I guess I just forgot I had a kid in diapers.  I was exhausted.  I noticed about half an hour before we got home his diaper was soooo full of pee and I think it caused his buckle to be tighter.  Poor thing!  We finally made it home and William was naked before he got out of the car.  We put him in his pool and he immediately PEED, ha!  So we all came inside and relaxed for a few minutes and then I picked up dinner.  My parents basically ate dinner and left because poor Lexus (their boxer) had to stay outside.  William's allergies were acting up with her being in the car with him and at Meme's.  The day ended early for William with a bath and bed before 7.  It was a wonderful day with family and I wish we did it more.  William will one day love the car!

27

I am officially 27 years old and I hope I never choose to work on my birthday again.  I love birthdays; I have reminded my Dad for two weeks that my birthday is June 12.  Remember my Dad was here wayyyy before the Jenner he knows the date I entered this world.  Being at work on my birthday was not fun.  I like to say, "but it's my birthday," and "it is still birthday" in reference to everything. I assume at work this is frowned upon and I never even told anyone its my birthday.  I am truly thankful for my spa gift certificate from Daddy and the new kicks from Mama.  Ru will be treating me to a mani/pedi at some point in the next 6 months.  HA, working full time and loving on the Bud does not leave tons of mani/pedi time.  I am lucky to complete dinner without saying, "Do not eat that off the floor."  I had red velvet cake waiting on me and that made being at work a tiny bit better.  No clue what I will be saying at 28; hopefully I will be saying it from a beach- I will even take my couch. 

Results

I took William to the Early Intervention evaluation on Thursday.  He has developed a lot since his 15 month checkup in May when he was referred.  He passed his hearing test back in May and he does not qualify for EIS.  I am so proud of my baby but at the same time worry about his speech.  We did get some good tips to promote language development.  One of the women testing him noticed his mouth stays open a lot when at his age it should be closed.  Well, the sippy cups he uses are for infants.  Do not hate; he will not drink from others.  Anywho, she suggested a juice box with a straw.  He nailed it like he had been doing forever.  Love that boy. 
She also told me to stop cutting his food into such small pieces.  HAHA!!  I do not want my child to choke; sue me.  William gets a banana every morning (cut into small pieces) but now we just split it into two halves.  He has a tendency to shove but should learn to bite off piece by piece.  This is kind of my fault because he should have already been doing this.  Again, choking baby not my idea of a fun time.  She said all of these changes will strengthen his mouth muscles and promote language development.  Honestly, I did not think he would qualify but I appreciate that we had the opportunity to confirm this.  So, any mother reading this that is concerned about language development: give the kid an entire chicken nugget and put that mouth to work.

16 Months

Pictures in this chair are near impossible.  Love how his chunky legs hang over the socks (promise they were not too tight).

I wish he was alone in this pic.  Best one in a while.  This guy is so BUSY!

• The one big change from last month-WALKING!
• Size 4 Diapers but thinking his Huggies overnights need to be Size 5.  I know he is tiny but I think his height causes them to leak because they are too short.
• 18 Months clothes but I feel 24 Months are in the near future; again super tall baby.
• Shoe sizes annoy me.  Sometimes its a 5, then 5.5 or 4.  What the heck?
• Eats a banana before daycare, breakfast and lunch at daycare, yogurt in the afternoon, and dinner at home.  Budsy does not care much for the eating part of life.  He prefers to snack throughout the day on mums, puffs, fruit loops, or a cookie from Publix.  Oh, and MILK, loves milk!
• Moved from Infant 2 to Toddler 1 at daycare and now sleeps on a cot.
• Starting to use forks and spoons.  We have to get the food on the fork but he will put it in his mouth.  Also starting to eat from a plate or bowl without throwing it.   
• Sleeps anywhere from 6:45-7PM to 5:45-6:15AM and one nap after lunch ranging from 1-2 hrs.  Now that we are down to 1 nap a day I love it.  He is still adjusting but it makes the afternoons a lot easier to be out and about.
• Repeats bye-bye, sometimes "ba" for ball, mama, dada.  He signs milk. 
• Loves books (eating them) and carrying them throughout the house.  Prefers cardboard boxes to toys and outside to inside.
• Eczema on his cheeks is still bad.  I have actually starting using diaper rash cream and it works better than the other stuff. 
• Major challenge-now that William walks he can not stand the stroller which makes the Galleria dangerous.

Oak Mountain State Park

We woke up bright and early this AM.  I woke up with a PLAN; I am so sick of staying around the house all day every weekend.  We run our usual errands but never venture too far due to William's nap schedule.  This morning I woke up thinking, "I do not care, life goes on, we will get through it, blah and blah."  So, we headed to Oak Mountain State Park before 8AM.  William loved the sand after we gave him a stick but was not as into the trail.  Again now that he walks he does not like to be held down (even in his backpack).  After the park we were headed home and he fell asleep (I must have forgotten my above feelings on this).  I was annoyed even though I truly want to be the mom that keeps on keeping on with a sleeping toddler over her shoulder.  I knew the rest of the day would be tough.  I decided we would go to my parents (he is asleep now so we can lunch with them) and ended spending the whole day over there.  It was fun and William even napped for an hour on my Dad's bed with me.  He got a new bike from my Dad and enjoyed Mac and Cheese for dinner at the Macaroni Grill.  I admit he got cranky by dinner and I had to take him out for a pep talk.  Luckily he calmed down after a pound couple of bites of bread.  Overall, he did great and did not fall asleep on the way home (it was bedtime).  Now I am watching Ru put together an extremely difficult new bike and Budsy is sound asleep.

Not ready for the sand yet.

Now I am ready.

Everything goes to the mouth. 

Love this little guy.

Um, I prefer walking, thanks.

The new bike from Papa.