Swinging from Birches: My Child is A Verb

I am letting the old monthly status go by the wayside, it feels a bit too contrived now, there’s so much to say and I’d rather say it creatively, not within the constraints of “weight, food, etc..” Blah.

Taking our monthly photos is getting trickier by they day, Mr. Mobile has stuff to do!

Here goes...

William is a verb.

An action verb, if precision is your thing.

He is a string of words you can see in your mind’s eye with no assistance necessary. He is the following, in no particular order...

crawling

climbing

drumming

smiling

smirking

grabbing

standing *

* Yes, i included standing 3 times for a reason. It's a pretty popular activity and he revels in the fact that he can do it by himself. He's also taken to feeding himself, as in painting his face and body with whatever I put on his highchair tray. Mr. Independent. Definitely our kid! I'm not sure how much food he is actually ingesting, but he's learning a lot in the process, so we'll go with this baby-led approach!

My verb list is abbreviated for your reading pleasure, it could go on for days... and I think Will can too, especially given his obvious disdain for lengthy naps. If I met a Genie in a bottle, this might change, but I fear this won't occur, so awake we will be.

Seriously, this face?!?

So this kid loves to play, which is proof he’s definitely ours. I would consider myself to be quite playful, just ask my former students, 2nd through 6th grades, they will tell you about my ability to play and tell foolish stories, run & dive fully clothed down slip 'n slides, jump off chairs, walk around barefoot, lead a camping excursion in a Caribbean rainforest, you name it. These days at home, cooped up in the winter months, going just a tad stir crazy with cabin fever and lack of adult conversation, I have been thinking a lot about what play looks like for babies and toddlers. My brain has gone haywire planning, planning, planning fun experiences with my little Nugget, also known as Monster Man (this is SO fitting), Bugaboo, the Nut, among a long list of accolades. I have lost sleep thinking about sensory tubs, small world play, puppet
theaters, dramatic play... and, and....

Recently, prior to a routine doctor's appointment, we took an excursion to the dollar store and purchased interesting "kitcheny" things to add to a treasure chest of items to spark little man’s curiousty. You can see some of the contents in the image below. He is in love with a long handled wire whisk and drags it around the house. He also loves jar lids and has figured out how to bang them off each other, the floor, his head... fun times keep a rollin' at our lil' hacienda.

Toys, ala the Dollar Store's kitchen section

When Monster Man isn't found snuggling up to his wire whisk, his favorite activities consist of mama climbing, finger gnawing, lip sucking, crib clambering, baby gate ascension, gorilla wrestling (of the large, stuffed, pretend variety), refusing to be fed ( "I've gotta do it myself!"), sock-removing, toe nibbling, teething... and the like. There is never a dull moment in this little family of ours. Sometimes I think I could be quite happy with a dull moment, but honestly I probably wouldn't know what to do with such a thing. I would be considerably less drooly, but at this point, what's the fun in that anyway?

So I've learned some things over the past 8 months, if you were to ask a penny for my thoughts, you wouldn't need to pay me because it's just nice to have an adult conversation! Here are some things I've come to realize since a little boy came along and changed my world in every possible way, making me happier (and more tired) than I ever could have imagined. This is not an entirely serious list, I have written a mushy-gushy post or two in the past, this is not one of them.

Whoever coined the term "Don't cry over spilled milk" was NOT a nursing mother... spilling milk is totally a legit reason to cry! I may have said this before, but it bears repeating!
I may never see the day of drinking an entire cup of coffee in one sitting again for quite some time and yes, I sometimes mourn the loss.
Regurgitated organic plain yogurt is the nastiest smelling stuff ever, and does not make good conditioner for your hair, at all.
The songs that battery-operated toys are programmed with have the most uncanny ability to creep into your brain, like tiny splinters that are impossible to remove. Occasionally we find ourselves singing them as we cook dinner and realize how far gone we really are!
As long as laundry is washed and dried I'm winning this little game called life... because folding it is the absolute bottom of my priority list... that's what closets & hangers were invented for (although they are pretty neglected as well)
Getting 2 puppies + caring for an infant (all while my husband is out of town all week)= insanity to the ultimate degree. Thank goodness the puppies are relatively well behaved!
Stringy mango pulp is really hard to get out of those darned mesh self feeders!
I cherish the one morning a week that Kev takes Will so I can get an extra hour of sleep, I long for it like Christmas morning
Friday night evenings in with my boys are better than any night out ever & hearing them laugh together is my favorite sound in the world.
Notes written in bathtub crayons make me feel pretty special (especially since showers are a rare & highly prized occurrence!)
Fevers of 103 are terrifying, even if your baby is smiling at you with a look that says "Why so serious mama?"
Baby socks fall into some abyss in the washing machine, never to be seen again.
Leaky middle of the night diapers are a pain in the buns (I would swear, but we're trying hard to eliminate profanity from our vocabularies because this boy is a sponge!)
There is no such thing as loving a baby too much
Changing a crawling baby's diaper should be an Olympic event, I always look up to see the tiniest full moon scooting away across the floor, hands slapping the floor in glee. I laugh every time.
W has an affinity for the most dangerous items in the room, if we placed a heap of broken glass shards or razor wire on the floor, he would beat feet to get his chubby, dimpled little hands on it.
This kid must be mine... he is constantly crashing into stuff, especially with his head, let's hope he finds a bit more grace over time than his mama did!
Intuition is what I go on, since there is no handbook, I am trusting my gut at all times and it's not steering me wrong
Being at home alone all week, day & night, can be surprisingly lonely at times, something I hadn't anticipated
I was born to be a teacher, it took leaving for a while for me to fully understand how much a part of me it is... but for now I get to be a teacher to one very special little boy
It's funny when people who don't have children give you unsolicited advice... and not funny ha-ha, funny I wanna slap you, but I smile and act appreciative because that's what being polite is.
Parenting is hard, amazing, miraculous, exhausting, gross (at times!) and so many adjectives I could fill an entire post with them alone
Trying to keep W happy and content during an entire church service prior to and following his baptism was nearly impossible interesting!
I am blessed!