March Update!

My brother, Barrett, and I in San Diego last week...he flew down from San Fran for a quick visit last Sunday.

Remind you of anyone??? Like momma, like son???

On Friday night, I arrived home after being gone a week at my annual San Diego conference. I'm not sure who was more relieved when I walked in the door - Tanner or Rob...both were glad I was home. Tanner actually gave me a warm reception this time instead of the cold shoulder. And He looked different to me after just one week - more "little-boyish", taller and thinner! He had 3 new words - "Hunter" ("unta"), our friend's 5 year old, "Wow!" and "Pee-you" (while waiving a hand in front of his wrinkled-up nose.) Rob did beautifully while I was away. Everything was in perfect order at the house and I could see that daddy and son had grown even closer in my absence. It is wonderful. Very sweet. Saturday morning we woke up to "Dada? Dada? Dada?" from his crib instead of the usual "Mama Mama"...(okay with me, btw!)

Tanner is an absolute riot these days, A laugh a minute. His sense of humor is really developing and he laughs "heartily" at himself and others all day long. He's recently become more patient as well. As our communication increases, the Tantrums decrease, at least for the time being. The 3 of us spent all weekend together focusing on each other and enjoying quality time together. By the way, now that the big conference is done, I'll have much more frequent posts. Back to normal pace of life. Yay!

18 Months and Snowboarding

Smuggler's Notch, VT

Tanner had the most fun putting everyone's goggles on his head...

At the condo...

At "Family Funzone"...

Tanner is 18 mos old...He weighed in at 23 lbs 10 oz and 31 1/2 inches tall at his appt a couple of days ago. That's 50th percentile for height and 25th percentile for weight. "A good place to be" sais Doc Brown. His vocabulary is blossoming. Seems at least 1-2 new words or phrases a day. This morning he was going around saying "boo boo. Oow...boo boo. Oow." over and over. He loves to imitate a monkey and showcased himself tonight in front of company in just his diaper with his "oo oooo oooo" and monkey walk (arms tucked under his armpits jumping up and down). Everyone was hysterical. He says "tickle tickle" to himself all the time and my personal favorite, the newest phrase, "Thank You" ("dank goo"). He actually said it to me yesterday unprompted - after I handed him a pretzel, he said it softly and earnestly. Talk about heart melting. He tells me "up" and "down" regularly and "all done" ("aa dom") when he's finished eating. Speaking of which, his favorite hobby right now is to EAT. This kid has been eating like a HORSE the past couple of weeks. He absolutely LOVES to eat. His tummy must be feeling better than ever because he has a newfound love for food. His favorite phrase is "Eat Eat Eat"...as he runs over and tries to open the fridge. As an example, this morning for breakfast he ate an entire Stoneyfield yogurt (adult size, not kid size), a bowl (packet) of apple cinnamon oatmeal, an entire banana, a handful of blueberries, and a cereal bar. Now is it just me, or does that seem like a bit much??? I'm not going to bore you with the menu, but the rest of the day was more of the same...I'm thrilled about it, don't get me wrong...this from a child who couldn't eat anything but Neocate until almost a year old, no wonder...

Last weekend Rob and I went on a 3-day snowboarding trip with 4 other couples to Smuggler's Notch, VT...We all brought our kids - 9 adults and 4 kids sharing 2 condos. Tanner was FABULOUS on the way up and the way back - over 4 hours each way. Again, major progress from a child who used to scream the entire 20 minute ride to daycare every day. The mountain had so much for the kids - Hunter (5) tried skiing and loved it...Tanner and Henry (4) had a blast with in the "Fun Zone" - which had bounce houses, crawl through tunnels, mazes, and obstacle courses...Tanner was in his GLORY. We put Tanner in the 5-star slopeside daycare center for 3 hours on Saturday so that we could hit the slopes together. He did great - when we left he was digging in the snow table in the middle of the room. They told us he made friends easily and did a good job sharing (hmmm, I somehow doubt that - sharing is a concept far from his grasp yet...) We all got a babysitter on Friday night and went down to the lodge for Karaoke...it was a blast. Not to mention I renewed my passion for snowboarding, after a confidence building lesson on day 1 (last time I was out was pre-pregnancy...so it had been a while). I'm still learning, but making progress...It was a great weekend.

One reason you didn't hear from me all month...

Where we stayed...

Mallory Square

Smathers Beach...

Our favorite hangout...Hogs Breath Saloon...

Key West! Rob and I took a short (4 day) getaway to Key West a couple of weeks ago. Gramma Lockwood kept Tanner so we could go back to one of our favorite places and rekindle our love (kidding!). Seriously Rob and I were there 10 years ago and we vowed to go back. I'll tell you what, it was fabulous! We had the time of our lives and didn't waste a minute. We flew into Fort Myers and took the Key West Ferry (3 1/2 hour ride) to Key West. We stayed out late on Duval Street each night, watched live music, shopped, rented a scooter, went to beaches, took a day-sail on an authentic wooden schooner, and ate out every meal...A far cry from 10 years ago when we were living out of a van, sleeping on side streets, and eating PB&J!

We missed Tanner terrible but he did just fine without us. He was a little peeved acting when we got back but within a day or so he was back to normal...

Lovin Life

Gramma Va bundled me up and we went for a long walk and saw lots of dogs in the neighborhood. I said "A-Dog...wuuuf. A-Dog....wuuf" over and over the entire way home...

What? They look big?

I loooove blueberry applesauce! Eat. Eat. Eat.

Tanner is doing so great lately. He eats almost everything without consequence (save for whole milk), he sleeps great, goes to bed easily, naps well...this week we switched off of Neocate onto rice milk - AND we got rid of the bottle - sippy cups only. He seems a little disappointed about the bottle but he's managing fine. Its so wonderfully..."normal." Rob and I feel like we are finally catching a break. A little smooth sailing...

He is talking up a storm. Every couple of hours he says "eat eat eat...eat eat eat" and goes running over to his high chair and tries to climb his way in. Yesterday at Walmart he said "bubble". Today he told me "good job" after he told me he pooped ("boop.") I always tell him "good job" after he poops but he beat me to it today. He says "dada bye" when Rob leaves for work and his favorite "mama go go go" when he wants me to get up and go somewhere with him.

He'll be 18 months on the 15th...I really can't believe it. Today was such a good day (so refreshing)...Tanner was in such good form - his mood was happy all day - very few crankies...a 2 1/2 hour nap and I even got a couple of short errands (under 15 min each) done...as long as I keep them short he seems to manage ok without a tantrum. I wish every day could be like today. Rob and I were just saying the other day that it seems like things are finally getting easier...Life is good.

Unscathed…(except for Mommy’s Frayed Nerves)

It was just a 5 minute stop at the Grocery to grab some nice Italian bread to go with dinner…I was whisking quickly down the dairy aisle when our little dervish, who had been chattering happily and doing his stand, sit, stand, sit routine in the big part of the cart decided to do a semi-SlowMo Superman dive over the edge of the grocery cart! Somehow, by the grace of an Angel and perhaps my cat-like reflexes (soooo kidding for anyone who really knows me) I was able to lunge around the side of the cart and grab onto his corduroy jacket mid-air…while he was completely inverted - cranium headed for the cement floor. There he was dangling upside down - with mommy having some sort of precarious half-grip on just his clothing…I somehow lowered him safely to the floor and hugged him to me while two older ladies looking on gasped to each other and covered their mouths. I’m sure they were thinking...See what happens when you let your child ride in the big part of the cart?! SEEEE YOUNG LADY??!@#$%!!. I felt like telling them “Its because he screams like a jailed Ban Chi if I put him in the front part of the cart!”
Well Tanner had startled himself so badly that he let out this little whimper like he was about to cry - and then realized that he was just fine and proceeded on with his acrobatics. That’s when mommy strapped him into the front part of the cart, despite his ear-piercing protests…Disaster averted but warning heard…Mothers of strong-willed children take heed – it isn’t worth it! Let ‘em scream…

Sleep Update

Someone asked me recently how Tanner was sleeping these days and I realized maybe I haven't given this topic fair air time recently...maybe I was afraid to jinx it...or maybe its just that when things go well, we have a tendency to forget to talk about it! Tanner has been sleeping great for a little over 2 months now! I find that I'm finally allowing myself to believe that it's going to stay this way and isn't temporary (hopefully?)...He goes to bed between 7:30 and 8:30 and sleeps until 6:30 - 7:00am. Its glorious. He gets up for unknown reasons maybe once or twice a week - but its usually brief and he goes right back to sleep. He's always been great at going to bed. He has his bath, jammies, bottle and binkies (at least 2), books and then we do "night night light"...He usually winds himself down in his crib for anywhere from 10-20 minutes - he doesn't fuss, just putts around rolling this way and that, talking to himself and getting comfortable...
It took 14+ months, but we are finally able to lay our heads down at night feeling like we can COUNT on a good night's sleep. Glory Be.

Should have taken down the mobile sooner...

How was I to know what would happen! About a week or two ago Tanner became unusually fascinated with the mobile above his crib. He wanted me to wind it up every night and he'd bob his head side to side to the music...It became part of our bedtime routine and was quite cute. Well this afternoon he decided to boycot his nap and raise cain in his crib instead. He was talking happily to himself and just hanging out so I came downstairs and had the monitor on. About 15 minutes later he still wasn't asleep and I wondered what was keeping his attention so well that he wasnt fussing. Then I heard it. A great big SNAP! sound. I looked at the monitor and saw that he was sitting happily in his crib playing with a pile of plastic and fabric pieces and parts. I went up and sure enough he had managed to reach up and grab it - pulled so hard that he broke it off at the base. Part of it was still attached to the crib! A nice clean break in the plastic. Good and broke. I found it hilarious. I told him to put it back and the sweet little boy that he is, he tried. Then I told him it was a "hat" and well, see for yourself:

I don't know what happened, mom...

Kind of a strange hat...


I can't get it to go back on, mom...