Sensitivity

Last week was incredibly warm and sticky.  While my mom was here she decided that Kolton needed a little rinsing off one day.  Well he fell in the sink and a little rinsing turned into a full on sink bath!  I've never really used the sink to bathe him (maybe one other time)  IDK, its just something about trying to get clean where the nasty food has been that seems icky.

I've always known that Kolton is a little more sensitive than other little boys, or really babies in general.  Its hard to explain but he's just so incredibly cautious.  Probably why he has yet to let go and walk on his own.  It takes him a while to warm up to something new; even new toys.  But at the same time he isn't afraid of strange faces; he even seems flirtatious!  But sometimes I wonder if he'll always be this sensitive and I worry about what that will mean for him.  Last night we went to the music class at the church.  He has been there plenty of times but two weeks ago I ended up having to leave in the middle of class because he was having a melt down.  We were a little early last night and he started to cry when we simply walked into the room.  Crying like he was scared.  He calmed down outside then spent the first part of the class hiding behind me before finally warming up and participating without being attached to my shoulder.  But when the song leader turned off the lights to wind things down Kolton jutted out his bottom lip and started to cry.

I'd like to keep bringing him there because I think it's good for him to be exposed to people and kids.  But I don't want to terrorize the poor little guy every week.  When I was in kindergarten I ended up being held back because I was scared to death of the principal when he dressed up in full gorilla costume on Halloween.  I remember being told I should have known it was only make believe and not a real gorilla.  I'm afraid Kolton is going to be the same way.  I just hope this doesn't mark him for bullying or low self esteem.  Am I ridiculous for worrying about this already?

Anyway, here are more photos from Grandma Barb's visit.  We miss her already!

Sharing

Yesterday we hosted a play date at our house.  It was the first time Kolton had to deal with sharing HIS toys in his environment.  He did OK but had a few issues here and there.  I also witnessed him experiencing jealousy for the first time.  One of the babies was having a bottle, and you know Kolton loves his bottle.  I wasn't about to give in, especially since I'm trying to break him from the bottle.  But I did give him milk in a sippy cup.  You know what, he drank the whole thing!  I decided to keep going with the sippy this morning and he drank the whole thing again!  So it looks like I stumbled into the motivation to drink from his cup =)

In other Kolton news; the kid is really throwing me for a loop lately!  After barely napping at all on Sunday now he doesn't want to go down for his morning nap at 10:00 at all.  But he acts tired, or at least a little cranky.  I got so used to having a schedule now I don't know what to do.  Thankfully my mom comes into town tonight for a week (whoo hoo!) so maybe by the time she leaves he will be on a new schedule.

March Madness

Happy March Madness!  I think we're basketballed out over here.  Mike doesn't even seem interested in watching anymore!  Thankfully Wisconsin won both of their games so we are pretty happy campers =)

March also signifies the passing of another year living on the East Coast; number six! Then of course St. Patricks Day-I wish there was an Italian holiday. So there is just something about March; maybe its the promise of warm weather...though usually not as warm as we are already having now. 

Today Kolton got into the spirit of March Madness by refusing to nap.  He slept a total of 25 minutes from 7 am to bed time at 7:30 pm.  But, I kid you not, he was in the best mood all day-except for when we tried to force him to nap, then it was all out crazy screaming.  We didn't know what else to do beside just let him stay up, thinking he'd crash eventually.  He never did...crazy!  I'm a little scared!

Hot Air

I hope I'm not the only one who decided to turn on the air conditioning.  This house gets incredibly hot, especially upstairs where Kolton's room is.  Not long ago I opened the window in his room only to have it break.  They are the crank out kind and the little arm broke away from the window itself.  Thankfully I was able to lock it back into place but it was tough and I don't want to try it again.  But that leaves me without the option to leave a window open to cool things down up there.  So on goes the air =)

Little man had an epic meltdown tonight.  We were in the middle of this music class I take him to at a local church.  Looking back, the signs were all there.  I snuck out of the class before the shit really hit the fan.  He wailed all the way home.  I was worried that he didn't get enough to eat or drink; given his aversion to sippy cups and the hot temperature.  When Kolton gets worked up like this I'm always afraid.  By the time I got him out of the car his hair was completely wet with sweat.  I raced for the bottle and filled it nice and full only to have him bat it away.  I rocked him for a while and almost teared up at the look of pure exhaustion on his face.  My baby just simply wanted his bed.  The kid really loves his crib.

My other baby is really loving this weather too!

Sprummer

I believe it hit 80 degrees today!  I guess Richmond decided just to skip over spring and go straight to summer.  It was really fun to get out a few of the new things I bought for Kolton at H&M....love their kids section=)  I've been purchasing 18 month summer stuff but it may be just a little too big for him yet.  He's still such a little peanut.  We had a fun outside playdate to celebrate the gorgeous day!  But OMG, its slightly uncomfortable inside the house.  Is it to early to turn on the air conditioning?  

Babble Fest

 It's sooooo light out still.  Why don't I remember putting Kolton to bed with it still light outside?  Strange.  Last night he babbled for a long time before finally settling down.  I just put him down and I can tell he's not sleeping; just babbling away.  This weekend was a babble fest!  I'd say "Ma, Ma, Ma," and he'd respond "Da, Da, Da".  But we were still having a conversation.  I'm hoping that this latest development means we're close to his first words.  I'm so excited to get to know him better!

I'm really trying to keep a level head about his development.  But, I will admit, I'm a little anxious about it.    He's on the low end of the learning curve.  At almost 14 months he isn't walking, talking, drinking from a sippy cup, or using a spoon/fork.  My pediatrician wants us to start weaning him off of bottles but the kid has zero interest in sippy cups.  I've tried a slew of different kinds but none have done the trick.  For a while I thought I was going to be able to get him to drink out of a straw but now he just wants to pull it out of the cup like a game.  Right now he has 3 bottles a day.  I'm trying to get rid of the night time one because half the time he doesn't drink it anyway so I don't think I'm depriving him of anything really.  But what do I do if he still won't drink from a cup next month?  If anyone has any tricks please share!!!!

On an unrelated baby note I gotta say how excited I am for the spring/summer color trend.  At first I wasn't quite sure how I felt about it because my wardrobe is typically void of a lot of color or print.  However, once I realized I can now throw on any crazy color or even print combination I'm ready to go color crazy =)

Hungry, Hungry, Hippo

Kolton just couldn't wait for his pancakes this morning.  When they came he shoveled them in like a hungry hippo.  The kid loves his iHop!  I've tried to make pancakes a couple of times and they were an epic fail.  He'll tolerate the hotcakes from McDonald's but nothing compares to iHop.  It's funny to me how he's already showing a preference.  Then again, I had to choke down my iHop coffee and rush home to my Nantucket blend.  When it comes to food and beverages all things are not created equal...its even obvious to a 1 year old!

Quiet Time

Although Kolton is not walking yet he definitely has some independence.  I pretty much give him free reign of the first floor to explore.  He does laps with his walker and crawls to investigate things that interest him.  But, when it gets quiet I know to go and see what he's up to!

Today he was playing quietly while I sat near by reading a magazine.  Then he made his way over to me just to rest his head for a min before getting caught up in his toys again.  It was just an incredibly tender moment for me because I felt like it was the first time he expressed true affection as an independent thought and not because I was comforting him or something.

It's funny how the quiet times can make you laugh & cry =)

Rub A Dub Dub

What a great weekend!  Mike was working so I took Kolton up to Baltimore.  My friend Megan's husband was also out of town which made the perfect recipe for a girls weekend =)  That's her son, Harrison, in the tub with little K.

We stayed in and watched movies on Friday night.  Then on Saturday Megan convinced me to join her and Harrison at swim lessons.  Kolton had never been in a pool before so I was a little hesitant.  Um, yeah, as suspected Kolton screamed bloody murder the entire time!  Oy!  I was basically sneaking into this class and was now drawing a lot of attention from the instructors.  While the other babies happily motor boated, splashed, and dunked in the safety of their parents arms I was desperately trying to get Kolton to relax.  The instructor wanted me to stay in the pool as this reaction was some what normal for first timers and the worst thing to do was take them out.  All I wanted to do is hide.  But, I will say that I am really glad we went because now I know what to expect.  I had planned all along to get Kolton enrolled in swim lessons.  There is a session at the Y that begins in May that I hope to get in to.

By the time both boys were done napping-not simultaneously of course-and the girls (the four legged ones) we walked it was time to get ready for mommies night out!  After sushi at Ra we went to a place called Pazo for desert.  Pazo is really swank which I love!  I have been there more than a few times over the years but I'll always remember that first visit with Mike.  It was on our house hunting trip before we even moved to Baltimore, before we were married, BEFORE we had a baby!   Being there again after all this time and all this change brought back a ton of emotion.  But being there with my girls made everything feel just right!

Leap Day

It seems like leap day was a much bigger deal this year than in years past.  McDonald's gave away free coffee, Chick Filet had $.29 milk shakes, and all of the TV shows last night featured leap day birthdays.  I scored free shipping from The Children's Place.  Kolton celebrated by being especially crabby!  Oy, yesterday was a rough one =)

I had a doctor appt for my thyroid.  Thankfully the ultrasound was clear and nothing needs to be biopsied or anything.  I just have to keep up with taking my medication every morning.  Of course Kolton had to come with me and oh man did he SCREAM!  It was so embarrassed....not of him, but of what other people must have thought about my parenting skills.  I kept assuring the doctor that he was not in pain and that we had just eaten a big lunch (as you can see from the photo above).

I'm just baffled by his behavior.  We made a quick stop at Babies R Us for some supplies and, with Kolton screaming again, the cashier mentioned something about babies being crabby yesterday.  Maybe that extra day really threw them off somehow.  I'm hoping today will be much better.  Its going to be sunny and 80 degrees!  Whoo Hoo!