Reading

E loves to read. Occasionally I'll find him reading books on his own. His latest obsessions is trains, and he likes to look at the Thomas the Tank catalogs and make up stories about what is happening in each picture.

Feeling Strange...

The weather says it should rain for a good part of the day today. The house smells like stale ash from the fireplace. The house is dark, and cool. Laundry is all washed and dried and needs to be put away, dishes are drying in the dishwasher, will soon need to be put away. Tomorrow is trash and recycling day, must remember to take it out to the curb. We found a meal moth last night, so today I have to tear apart the kitchen and find the source.

A few things to look forward to, though: just ordered new prescription sunglasses, and got them for about $15 apiece with shipping, should get some supplies I need to make a special order for friend's wedding, have lost a good amount of weight and clothes are fitting a little better (still have about 5 lbs to go to be pre-pregnancy weight). A few other things too. Just feeling a little strange today.

My Valentine

E Update!

Words he says (that we understand!): mama, dada, dog (doggem), baby (baba), yogurt (goga), water (wawa), sock (ock), Dora, bye bye, truck (uck), apple (papuh), duck, banana (bana). He also imitates a few sounds now, mostly animal sounds, including monkey, cow, dog, horse, tiger, lion and duck. He can identify when a truck is driving by from inside the house and makes a guttural rumbling noise and makes a siren noise when you ask what sound a fire truck makes and is now learning what sound a train makes.

Another new thing that he's gotten really good at is finding all the animals of a certain type, no matter their shape or size. So if you ask him where the elephant is, he will point to it in a book, and then find an elephant stuffed animal and a plastic elephant.

He does a million things now, it's amazing how much he's learned without any help from us! Our baby is now a toddler, running, throwing balls, coloring, patting baby dolls on the back, eating his own food with a spoon. It's so fascinating and incredible! He brings so much joy to our lives.

Am I Cursed?

Is it bad karma? Is it that 2010 just isn't our year? Is it just how life is? Can't seem to have a good thing happen for us so far this year. Between illness, car problems, money being stolen from our bank account, injuries and stress from Andy's work and MBA schedule, I feel like we are running a marathon that we can't win.

Currently E is sick with some stomach virus, the dog has an injured leg, my wisdom tooth is coming in and causing the worst headache and as if that weren't enough, we are iced-in. Not even snowed-in. Our street is solid ice. I did at least get out and take some photos and get some sunshine the last couple of days, but this is also really hurting my weight loss effort!

I know these negative entries are a blast to read, but sometimes you just have to get it out there. I'm accepting donations of sugarless, butterless, calorie-free cookies if any of you are in a baking mood :)

Boo.

So, it all started with a rash. E had it on his legs and arms. Then he got a runny nose and a cough, sneezing. So we took him to the doctor and she confirmed that he had a virus that was manifesting in a rash and cold symptoms. Now hubby and I both have sore throats, runny noses, headaches, sneezing, cough. The works. So today I'm taking the path of least resistance and letting E watch Dora and eat cereal and a banana and hoping he is quiet and entertained without much interaction from me. We sat for about half an hour watching videos of sheep on YouTube, and now E officially says "baa" for sheep. It's pretty cute :)

Anyway, this is a big rambling post, possibly due to the cold meds. When I told my friend Mandy that I was a bad mommy today, she says, "That's not being a bad mommy, that's being a smart mommy, you can't always have a bloggable life." So good to have friends to help you keep things in perspective!

Treasuries!

I've been featured in two treasuries! My first ever! Please visit and click all the little pictures :D

Homage to Alfred

and

Cool Vintage

Dinosaur Rawr!

Gramma Whalen bought these fleece dino jammies for E. They are so snuggly and easy - and he loves them!

Things E Does.

Feeds the dogs - we ask him to carry the dog food cup, and after we distribute he takes it back to the closet and closes the door.

Eats edamame, hummus and grapefruit.

Points to his mouth when he wants water (from our teaching him the sign for water).

Sleeps in a big boy bed. He actually loves it now!

Calls for the dogs when he wants to give them food he doesn't want to eat. "Doggem!"