Baby Boy, Bun365, Life

Four And a Half

untitled-7

Four and a half is challenging. Its not the terrible twos…actually the twos weren’t that bad at all. The threes were a bit rough. But this has been the most challenging. Four and a half is defiance. four and a half is letting go off my hand and running off in the middle of the mall. Four and a half is back to back time outs. Four and a half is a constant state of negotiation. I can handle the dawdling over shoes or breakfast, I can handle the whining even. I can’t handle the defiance, that moment when he just says no when I ask him to do something. There are fewer and fewer cuddles, more and more jumping and wrestling.

But four and a half is also sweet. I adore the non stop chatter coming from the back seat when we drive around. I love that he wants to share everything with me and I’m still his favorite person. This conversation sums up all the awesomeness of four and a half

Me: Thanks for helping me with the laundry, you have been a really good helper today

Bun: yeah, I am a good helper Are you glad you borned me?

Me: Yes, I’m glad I borned you

Bun:I’m glad you picked me.

.:Heart Bursts:.

And the five minutes later we are back to the spitting and shouting and yelling.

Four and a half will also pass and maybe I’ll say it wasn’t so bad. But right now…its a challenge

Bun365, Mommyhood, Simple Things, Toddler

Staying In

We’ve been staying in all this week. The weather hasn’t been terrible, but my little man has been down with the sickies. Its not been very pleasant overall, but the upside of staying in is that we get to putter around the house doing things like baking pumpkin chocolate chip muffins and brownies. I’m going to gain 5 lbs well before the holidays this year!

Image

Image

I love Bun’s Oooh Face!

Image

Image

Bun365, Toddler

Puddle Jumps

 

We had a terrific thunderstorm a few days ago and it woke Bun up in the middle of the night. He was scared and couldn’t sleep so we snuggled on the couch in the middle of the night while the storm raged. We sang songs, told each other’s stories. Bun’s story that he likes to tell is simple

“Once upon a time there was a digger. He lived on a job site with his mama. Digger played with the ball. There was a boss man.  I am a boss man. I build things too.”

Thats it, thats the whole story. I think I’ve got it down word for word.

Anyway, after four hours, as the storm subsided we finally fell back asleep. We woke to up more dark skies, but lovely big puddles all over our neighborhood. And so we did what  everyone should, spent our morning splashing and jumping in every puddle.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Very few things make little boys happier than hours of puddle jumping.

Bun365, Mommyhood, Toddler

Almost 2 {22/23 Months}

A few more weeks, and Bun will leave behind even more of babyhood far far behind.

I told J the other day that everyday that the better I am at my job, the more obsolete I become. As Bun grows and gets smarter and funnier and more capable, the more I fade from his life. I wouldn’t have it any other way though,  Its a bittersweet existence- being a mom.

These past few weeks, before he turns the Big 2 have been some of my favorite and most most frustrating times with Bun. He is willful and stubborn and pushes his boundaries all the time but he is also sweet and funny and he still loves me best in the world!

The most amazing thing has been seeing Bun transition from just repeating words, to forming phrases and this week putting together sentences. He wants to have conversations, recall the day’s events and even make toddler jokes! He also loves snuggles and hugs and kisses and will give them voluntarily.

Things I want to remember

I gotcha – I have no idea where he learned this but he says this when he finds one of his cars that have been “hiding”

Too Many- According to Bun , he has too many cars, too many toys and too many “Nacks” (Snacks). There are too many babies at the library and too many fire trucks in his book. Too many in his world is a good thing.

Where is ____? Avi, feet, toys. Anything that he hides and then recovers.

He has also discovered negatives, so he is proud to point out when something isn’t what it is. So he says things like “Not baby tummy, mumma tummy” and of course many other variations on this….”Not red couch, brown couch”…etc etc.

Hol ma hand peez- Hold my Hand please- said in a very stern voice

Boos Boos Watch now peez- Blues Clues watch now please

Momma Nuggles- Snuggles with Momma. He asks for these all the time lately. He was getting up in the middle of the night for a few days in a row while he was teething and I asked him why he kept waking up and he answered “Momma Nuggles”

Mamma Naina-  This is what he calls me now. I don’t know how many moms he thinks he has, that he needs to specify me by name.

He is still obsessed with cars, trucks, bull dozer and any and all kinds of farm machinery and construction vehicles. He lines up all his vehicles very very carefully and then randomly just messes them up.

He also has a strong love for all farm animals and we have many conversations about what the animals that live in the barn at our local musuem might be doing at a given time.

He is still not crazy about slides but he loves running around playing in the park and every once in a while he’ll even go down the slide a few times. His favorite thing in the park our outside is to throw the leaves in the air or collect pinecones and sticks.

I have seen him do some pretend play lately too. He pretends our couch is an ozeen (ocean) and his cars are boats. He pretends his frosted mini wheats are cars. I’m getting so excited for him to create more and more elaborate pretend play scenarios.

Jumping on furniture is another favorite activity and I have a really tough time keeping him from hurting himself as he “bounce” on our couch and bed.

He still hates 90% of all food – His only acceptable food choices are Chocolate Milk ( I mix carnation into his milk as per peds instructions) Wagula Milk (Regular White Milk) Pumpkin Bad (Bread), Idli (Indian rice cakes), Apple sauce and Hot Dogs. He will however eat any kind of fruit and yogurt. So thats what he eats on most days.

He is a really good sleeper and usually doesn’t wake up during the night but nap times have been really hard. I’m lucky if I get a 40 minute nap or one at all most days. Hence the lack of blogging. He is good about quiet time and will play in his crib for an hour or so but it still makes him really cranky in the afternoon and if we aren’t out at a play date it can quickly become meltdown central. Thankfully this week he has napped a little more consistently. I’m really hoping we can get back on track again.

Bun365, Discovering Durham, Toddler

Fire Station + New Park

Yesterday felt like the last warm day of 2011. Today is cold and gloomy and Bun and I were cooped up inside almost all day.

I’m glad we made the most of it yesterday. Since it was Fire Safety Month, we toured our local fire station and then after nap time we explored a brand new park in our area.

Besides, I had to test out my iPhone 4S. It is so much cooler than my old clunky blackberry. I absolutely adore the flipview camera feature.

I was unsure if Bun would have fun, since we were in a group of slightly older kids, but he absolutely loved the fire station or as he calls it – Fire Truck House.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I also downloaded instagram on my iPhone. I am hooked!

mmm

Missing from pictures was the Fire Station’s Ambulance- Or Bun’s new love. He has been talking about the fire station non stop today, especially the Ambulance (Bun word- Adumance)

The Park

I read about Old Chapel Hill Park on this great website for Durham Moms and after nap time drove out to check it out with the Bun.  It had cool modern equipment that I haven’t seen in any other park in our area.

mm

I don’t know if it was the time of day, but we didn’t really see too many kids Bun’s age, they were all older, so we mostly played by ourselves. But we had a great time anyway.

When we drove home, Bun didn’t want to go inside so we headed out to the trail behind our house for some leaf stomping fun.


Because iphone uploads the photo on iPhoto on my mac, I played around in iPhoto for the first time today. I don’t care for it too much- I still prefer Picasa and Photoshop, but it was fun to play around.

Hence the overload of filters and effects.

 

 

Bun365, Mommyhood

The Brave One

The Brave one- This boy child of mine

This boy had blood work done today a few days ago, to test why he won’t put on any weight. He sat in my lap and I snuggled him, while he played with his car. I whispered in his ear that it would hurt, but he had to be brave

I asked the Phlebotomist if he would hurt? If he would cry? She said yes. I hate needles and blood. When she stuck it in his teeny tiny vein in his inner elbow, I couldn’t bear to look. I closed my eyes and waited for him to cry. I was on the verge of tears myself, dealing with the thought of my baby being in pain.  I was failing him, Thats why we were here, getting blood work done on a 22month old

Just like breastfeeding before, I was failing motherhood. I could not do the basics- feed my son

There was no sound. He did not cry. He did not whimper, just looked slightly annoyed, that it was taking so long.

She pulled the needle out and told me it was over. I took a quick peek at the syringe, it was big and dark red.

The phlebotomist said  “He is a tough one”

This Brave boy of mine.

Bun365, Holidays, Mommyhood

Pumpkin Patch {Ganyard Hill Farms}

Its not october if you don’t visit the pumpkin patch! Just for the record, I’ve only felt this way, since I became a mom. We went to our annual pumpkin patch trip on sunday to Ganyard Hill Farms in East Durham. We visited last year and we couldn’t wait to take Bun again this year, especially since we knew, he would enjoy it so much more.

The skies were blue, the weather mild and the air was crisp. A perfect day to spend time with some goats, walk through a corn maze and go on a hayride.

We got to the farm around 11:00AM and the first thing we did was check out the “Goots” Bun was super happy to feed them “Coons” and pet them through the fence.

The Hayride was next and we got a seat right behind the tractor. Toddler Mind = Blown

It was the first time for me at a corn maze and this was a really simple one, designed for kids. But this was my favorite part of the day. We let Bun run ahead in front of us and pick which way to go. I wish I was able to capture his “Dis a way” on video but my Blackberry video did not quite get it.

Isn’t my boy beautiful? I think so! These are my favorite photos of the day.

Since Bun had such a fabulous time on the Hayride, we thought he would enjoy climbing on the tractor. Wrong!

The corn pit was only mildly successful! He really disliked the texture the first few minutes and he was really concerned about the mess. But eventually he relaxed into the corn and even walked around in it.

Bun was getting tired and fussy, so we finished up with some pumpkin photos

Another Pumpkin Patch visitor was nice enough to get a few photos of the three of us!I love how these turned out, especially this one! I posted another one here, if you are interested.

Notes to Self:

– Bun’s shirt is from Children’s Place

-Bun no longer says “pum pums” He actually says Pumpkins. This makes me a little sad, because I died of cute, every time he said pum pum

– Next year, do not pay attention to the weather report and wear short sleeve shirts

Bun365, Football, Holidays, Mommyhood, Week in My Life

Pumpkin Patch- A Week in My Life Sunday

This is the last post for Adventuroo’s Week in My Life Project. I’m going to keep this post short, not because I didn’t get enough pictures like Friday and Saturday, but because I got too many! And yesterday was such a fantastic, busy day where I was out and about and hanging out with friends that I haven’t had time to go through and sort the photos yet.

I want to do a separate post for our Pumpkin Patch visit so I’ll post more pictures under that.

Sunday morning J, Bun and I had a Thomas the Train party in our bed. Bun watched Thomas on my laptop and J and I tried to sneak in some more sleep.

We also had a mini dance party afterwards in our jammies to my new favorite dance song- Pumped Up Kicks by Foster the People. Wish I had my camera for that but it was a fun impromptu moment that I’m going to cherish

The rest of the day can be summed up from my Facebook Status yesterday

Naina DG
Headed to the pumpkin patch on this perfect Fall morning and then football in the afternoon- Go Cowboys!

The pumpkin patch was so much fun and so was football! The Cowboys lost, but it was still a fun afternoon with friends and the toddlers out partied us all!

And Week in My Life is done! I was really apprehensive about doing this challenge, but, I’m so glad that I did.

Sitting and going through photos at the end of the day was a such a meditative moment for me. It helped me focus and take in all the bits and pieces that make up my life. Who knows what my future holds,  Next week can totally suck, but my Now is filled with happy moments – big and small and these are moments that I could never ever have imagined for myself.

Bun365, Family, Food and Drinks, Holidays, Mommyhood, Week in My Life

Dinner With the Family- A Week in My Life Friday&Saturday

So my original plan of doing Friday and Saturday separately for Adventuroo’s Week in My Life project is not going to happen. None of my pictures from Saturday is worth posting,  So I’m just going to jot down what we did on saturday at the bottom of this post. Sunday’s post is going to be skimpy too, but you’ll have to read it to know why.

Friday and Saturday were both busy days for me, it as mostly running errands, dealing with a tantrum-ing toddler and getting craft supplies busy

Friday night my parents invited us for a family dinner to celebrate Bijoya- the last day of Durga Puja. My mum cooked an elaborate dinner and we ate and ate and ate some more after we were already full

My parents have a toddler size camping chair on their deck for Bun and he loves to sit in that and look at my mum’s plants.

Bun and his Dee

 For Dinner, we had Stuffed Puris- fried bread with spices and peas stuffed inside, goat meat curry, Baked Fish in a cilantro and Coconut sauce, chickpeas chilli and rice and dal

My dad found this chocolate wine and decided to open this as a dessert wine and it was interesting. I like wine and I like chocolate, but I don’t think I like them together in a bottle.

But despite the negative review all around, we still finished the bottle. Now wine is ever wasted if my family around

After dinner, Bun read some books with my dad to get the bedtime routine started. And then since it was getting late, we said goodnight to Dee and Babu and headed home.

****

Saturday Highlights

* I bought supplies for Bun’s Halloween costume

*Went to look at houses with my parents

*J, Bun and I took a family trip to the Verizon store at the mall to see if the Iphone 4S was in stock- it wasn’t

*We ate some Chick Fil A at the food court and then wandered around and saw some diggers and bulldozers.

*After Bun went to bed, J and I hung out and got caught up with our DVR and then I went to bed.

Bun365, Mommyhood, Toddler, Week in My Life

Duke Gardens – A Week In My Life Thursday

You thought I gave up didn’t you? But I didn’t I have been recording and taking photos, just not posting. But in my head if I blog about 7 days of my life it fits Adventuroo’s Week in My Life Challenge. Do not tell me otherwise.

Anyway, Thursday afternoon Bun and I went to Duke Gardens. It was one of J and my favorite spots when we lived near campus but for some reason it seems really far to me from SW Durham and we have only taken Bun a handful of times, and that was when he was an itty bitty baby.

This time though, I timed it and it took exactly 14 mins- Not bad at all. And we had such a great time that I think we will be going to Duke Gardens a lot more in the near future

And now photos:

We entered through the Japanese Gardens and spent most of our time in this section. I love how lush and green everything looks in this photo. It was a cloudy day and the green leaves just popped against the grey skies.

We went and visited the Ducks that live in the “Ocean” as Bun called the little canal/pond. We had some bread with us and fed them. Bun was happy to perch on a rock ledge and just look. He is not into throwing bread at ducks, it seems.

We walked around the Japanese section some more and Bun was absolutely mesmerized with the waterfalls and the Koi pond but he was a little scared and insisted on holding my hand the entire time, so I wasn’t able to get any good photos of him and the waterfalls.

As we were walking back to our car, we took a detour through the area where they do weddings and spotted a really cute bridge and a Lily pond and Bun loved running across the bridge.

J was supposed to meet up with us but he ended up having to work late, so we made our way back home for regular dinner and bedtime.

But I plan on visiting it a lot more in these upcoming fall afternoons.