Boogies and Rain

There's something about a baby being sick that is just so... wrong. Projectile vomiting, eyes swollen shut, and red blotchy skin that has been rubbed raw from wiping that never ending stream of boogies. It just makes me want to cry.

Don't get me wrong- I'm very thankful that we were able to go 14 months without so much as one little hiccup. But month 15 has been pretty brutal on this poor boy.

He threw up every single day for a week at the beginning of February (stomach bug), and then had a bad reaction to his vaccinations last week, which coincidentally led to a terrible head cold with fever.

I was pretty sure he was going to hawk up a small human being in one of those heaving, phlegm filled coughs. But even in the dredges of those worst 12 hours or so, the little trooper still managed to put on his happy face as the slowly constricting pin holes we call nostrils became completely barricaded with snot.  Fresh air always does the trick.

Well, he tried to be happy most of the time...

I've recently turned to this sick and twisted delight in taking pictures of things that "would be perfect for the blog!!", even if it involves someone else's misery.  Sorry, Niall.

But before we forced ourselves to get out there and soak up some breezy skies, we did a lot of this...

Much needed snuggling and Sesame Street :)

And a little rain watching the next day, a personal favorite of mine...

And now, after a long & restful weekend, life is back to good.




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Photoholic

Impulse buys are generally not in my nature. I write a very specific list when I go to the grocery store, I avoid walking by cute shops in the mall (or the mall altogether), and I convince myself it's kind of cool that I'm still sporting some of the same clothes that I wore when I set foot on my college campus almost 10 years ago.

Sure, go me. Still struttin! Not really, considering I always wore sweats and t-shirts.

Which explains why I have no choice but to unleash my inner shopaholic every 3 years or so. But this time it wasn't clothes...

I have a perfectly suitable camera, not more than 2 years old; great brand, great battery life, great everything. The only problem is that Niall is so active, my shots always come out blurry.

So what do I go and do? Maybe an hour of research before hopping onto Amazon to buy myself a top of the line shutter speedy-rific professional style camera.

It came over me like the uncontrollable urge to vomit. Click, click, Thank you for your purchase! Oops.

But I have to admit to all of the professional mommy photographers out there- I didn't go for the real deal. I wanted the big lens and all, but minus the talent it requires to work the thing.

I like to think I'm a photographer, but I just prefer to use the 'auto' feature. So I got the Canon Powershot SX130 IS. It has a much bigger lens and better features than the typical digital camera... and it makes me feel important (a pathetic, but worthy side note).

In my completely inexperienced and unmerited opinion, IT ROCKS.

I've never gotten pix of Niall like these before, and I've only been messing around with it.  Hopefully, I'll find it worth my time to actually sit down and read the manual one day :)

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Wordless Wednesday {♥ KETCHUP ♥}

... by itself-- no need to dip anything but fingers ;)

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Spring Sprang... and then it left

Spring had sprung, even if only for a hot second, so we sprang with it last Friday. 75 degrees, t-shirts without jackets and the lightest pants we could find (since those summer clothes bins are still stacked against the moldy basement walls). We were off to the park.

It's really going to be like a whole new chapter for us when the warm weather officially rolls around. This time last year, Niall was still strapped to my chest like an extra appendage.

last March

Now he's calling the shots on which way we'll go, which toys we'll play with, and how long we'll be staying.

And I can't wait for all of it-- except breaking the news when it's time to go home. That part, not so fun.

The last vivid memory I have from last spring was the first time I put him in the baby swing. He was just about 5 months old and I had to stuff a big beach towel around him to make sure he didn't topple over.

All it took was one push. Let me tell you, he LOVED it. Giddy with laughter.  I actually posted a video of it on the blog.

So how interesting is it that now he HATES the swing? I'm amazed how their little personalities are constantly changing and evolving. He wants to be a big boy now; he wants to watch the older kids play cops & robbers and follow them (from a cautious distance) on the playground equipment.

He even wants to try bouncing on the dreaded duck- the duck that was so scary, he wouldn't touch it a month ago.

Which means a lot of fun things to come.  But it also means that I have to climb on all this stuff to make sure he doesn't fall. This involves crawling through tunnels that my body wasn't meant to fit inside and stepping on other little kids as I try not to lose my grip on Niall's little hand.

And I'm not kidding, I really accidentally stepped on a little girl. At which point, I profusely apologized to the girl and her mom, and realized that it was officially inappropriate for me to crawl through little kids' tunnels.

It took some convincing to get Niall to give the toddler playground a shot, but he did it. Sorry, little big man, wimpy slide it is :)

We'll be on the big kid equipment soon.  In time, eager beaver; in time ;)



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Things you just can't child-proof

Secretly, part of me has always wanted to spin an entire roll of toilet paper until the waves of soft white sheets unfurl into pretty ruffles. Now I have an excuse (and someone else to blame it on)...

The only problem is that I saw it as more of a one time thing. I think Niall sees it as an every day post-snack activity. But yes, note to self, you should know that the toilet paper holder is not child-proofable.

Neither is the kitchen trash can- even with the lid and foot popper.  Unfortunately, the foot popper is not the only way to prop that lid open.  And no, we don't have room for a trash can under our sink.

Or the entertainment center, which makes for really some nice volume contrasts.  Niall is quite the DJ; he likes to go LOUD.

And let's talk about the couch.  The new heart attack waiting to happen.

 

Yes, let's run across the big "L" shaped gap at the intersection of the couch.  Let's stand really close to the edge and teeter back and forth.  And pretend that there are clouds made of marshmallows underneath us.

He's fearless, which is also what I happen to love about him :)


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