Christian James -- 22 Months

Little man, I can't believe you are almost 2 years old!! You are becoming my big boy, and aren't my baby any more (but you will always be my baby! and don't you forget that).

Your favorite things lately include: 

Trains/Choo Choos (Thomas) 

Stuffies (particularly Mater or Teddy) 

"Awn ower" Aka lawn mower

All things music and musical instruments 

Cars and trucks 

And you still love your blankie and binky

You seem to love imitating more and more each day -- you love to do anything that mommy or daddy are doing -- the dishes, sweeping, vacuuming, fixing things, planting flowers, the list goes on and on. 

You are also starting to enjoy snuggling with your stuffies. This teddy bear from your Uncle Justin and Aunt Megan has been a favorite lately, along with your pillow pet, Mater. 

A year ago we couldn't get you to keep sunglasses on, but now you love them! I think you see their benefit :) And that they make you look adorable! You have quite the growing collection of sunglasses too... 

Playing at the park has also become one of your favorite things to do! You can do the slides all by yourself now and have even braved the big boy swings (and prefer them)! We are both looking forward to lots of play time at all of the local parks this summer. 

Also, notice your binky addiction... 

Not only do you love playing at the park, but you love walking there all by yourself...well with mommy chasing you of course. You think you are too big for the stroller. 

"Backer" (Baxter) has become one of your best friends. You love playing with him and will chase him around and wrestle with him giggling like crazy the whole time...until you need a break that is. Then you come running to mommy to save you! 

You are such an active boy and always so busy, but you still remember to give your mama some snuggles from time to time. But mommy and daddy have to be sure not to ask for too many hugs and kisses or you get cranky! 

You've also developed a new love for opening your mouth wide during pictures...and while you are eating. Your friend Nora taught you that fun trick :) 

While you love all of your toy instruments, you love it even more when mommy gets out the real keyboard or guitar for you to play. You have even started giving lessons to your baby. 

Play dates have become a very regular part of our day. You love getting to spend time with your friends! And mommy likes it too :) The other day when we were playing at McDonald's you actually kept calling for your friends Jack and Juddy. And often when we are playing you will ask about Cooper. 

I'm pretty sure you've only seen mommy iron once, but it seems to have stuck with you! You love to "cook" and will often get out the hand mixer and "mix" in the pots and pans, but on this day you took the mixer part off and started "ironing". Daddy was thankful because Mommy gets pretty behind in ironing his shirts! 

Recently you also had a few days of fighting your naps. 

I weighed and measured you at home last week and here are your stats: 

32 pounds 

32.5 inches

You are still wearing some 2t but are also wearing a lot of 3t! 

I think we are going to attempt some real potty training in the next few weeks as you have been asking to sit on the potty a lot...and you often go! You are currently cutting your lower canines and I can still feel your molars poking through in the back too, so depending on how that goes will determine when we try to focus on potty training. 

Your schedule usually looks something like this: 

6:30/7:30am - Wake up, watch a show while mommy makes breakfast

8am - Get dressed, clean up the house, do the dishes and make beds with mommy or just play

9:30am - We are usually heading out the door to our morning activity (play date, library time, park, etc) or we start an activity at home

11/11:30am - lunch 

12pm - Nap (usually about 2.5 hours, but sometimes less, sometimes more)

2:30pm - Snack, learning activity, free play 

4pm - Mommy makes dinner 

5pm - Dinner 

5:30/6pm - Bath, brush teeth, go potty, read stories

7pm - Bed 

You love watching "choo choos" (Thomas or Dinosaur Train) and have recently started loving the movie Planes and will ask for "awpane" or "Cars". 

I've stopped keeping track of your words, as you will repeat anything we ask you. Sometimes you have a hard time getting the right word out when you are asking for something and then you get pretty frustrated, but with a few guesses, we can usually figure out what you want. 

You have started to try out a few phrases lately too: 

-"You make this?" (when I give you a snack or meal)

-"I gonna get you!" and then you chase me, or Baxter or Daddy! 

- "Hungee!!!" (AKA Hungry) This isn't really a phrase but its so cute when you run to the fridge and try to open the door as you are crying "hungee, hungee, hungee" I hear this about 20 times a day from you :) 

When we are driving in the car or even just out anywhere you are constantly telling me what you see -- car! Truck! Train! And you know when we are coming up near the train tracks because you start calling out train before we are even there! 

The other day when Daddy went to church, you asked where he was and I told he was gone and you came with his work badge all confused. When I told you he was at church, not at work, you got his church name tag and still looked confused. You are one smart cookie! 

You repeat the Numbers Blessing with daddy as he says it over us every morning before he goes to work. You also know all of our family values and their actions. (Honor God, Obey, Sacrifice, Love Others, Work Hard and Play Hard too!) 

Little man, you are going to be in school before I know it! Slow down time. I love that I get to be with you to see you grown and learn and change every day! Here's to 2 more months until your 2nd birthday, big boy! 

A Stay at Home Mom's Saving Grace

Play dates. 

Hands down play dates are my saving grace (besides Jesus of course) and I don't think I could live without them. 

The older Christian gets, the more important play dates have seem to become in our days, our weeks.

I haven't worked outside of the home for almost 3 years now and have been home with our little man for almost 2 years. Despite that I would consider myself more of an introvert, that is a lot of time built up without a lot of adult interaction, or social interaction for Christian too.

During the summer, play dates can be something that aren't as crucial to our week, but in the winter, we LIVE for play dates. In the upcoming weeks, we actually have a play date or some sort of activity or event almost every morning Monday - Friday.

5 Reasons I Can't Live Without Play dates

1. Sometimes this is the only way I have adult interaction in a day.
Some play dates are very mommy involved play dates (playing at the park, story times, going to the zoo, various classes, etc) but some play dates are the "moms all sit on the floor and drink coffee and try to talk over the screaming, running, making lots of noise kids". But no matter what kind of play date it is, mama gets her needs for human contact met. And has a reason to get dressed...sometimes. Because yoga pants pretty much work for all occasions...

2. Christian is learning to share and interact with others. 
Since Christian is still an only child, his only real chances to really learn to interact with kids his age and practicing sharing are when we are out with other people...enter play dates :) And play dates at other people's homes seem to be the perfect breeding ground for my little man to be the best at sharing. Watch, tomorrow he will beat another kid over the head for a toy. But seriously. The other day he played so well with his little friend and kept handing him toys and trading back and forth. My jaw kept hitting the floor! Which leads me to my next point...

3. Christian sometimes is better behaved at other people's homes.
For real. I don't know what it is, but at home he pushes the limits like crazy. When we are at other places, he generally obeys right away. Which makes my life 100 times easier and we both have happier days! Maybe its because he is fully engaged and distracted and doesn't have as much opportunity to "explore" things that he shouldn't....However, we do have a good handful  of play dates at our home too, which often leads to Christian struggling to share more than usual, but that's good for him too!

5. They help fill our days, break up the time, and wear Christian out for nap time. 
Most of the time *knock on wood* after a good long and active play date, Christian will come home and nap for 2 1/2 - 3 hours! Which, depending on the play date could mean mama was just good and productive OR mama had to use that time to rest too! But they keep us from getting bored and provides new stimulation for Christian which often leads to good sleep. Win win if you ask me!

So how about you? If you stay home do you prefer to be mostly home, or do you live for play dates? What are your favorite play date activities? 

I'm linking up with Pursuit of Pink and For Lauren and Lauren for this post!

I Couldn't Live Without...

Last week was probably one of my more challenging weeks as a stay at home mom. While I wouldn't really say that I'm an extrovert, I do still thrive on getting out of the house, doing something different, providing something new and engaging for Christian...at LEAST once a week.

Well, last week, despite having plans to get out of the house for 3 out of the 5 weekdays, we ended up being on "house arrest" for 4 out of those 5 days.

Getting out of the house is often just as much for me to have contact with other grown humans and make me feel normal as it is about keeping Christian entertained and out of trouble. Let's be honest, stimulating a toddler and keeping him busy outside of the house is just easier some days than it is at home. Don't get me wrong, I love being a SAHM, but getting out of the house is somewhat a necessity...especially in the winter. We love our lazy days at home, too, but not every day. It often takes a lot more planning and prep on my part if we are home. {Check out my pinterest boards!}

During the summer we get out and do things, but it isn't as much of a necessity. We can just be outside which makes us feel less couped up -- going for a walk, playing at the park, doing chalk, blowing bubbles, playing in the pool and the water table, the list of outside fun goes on and on and hello {fresh air}.

You might be thinking well, hello, go outside now. Well, when its below zero outside in Minnesota and you have a toddler to get dressed, it's going to take you longer to both get dressed than the amount of time you can safely spend outside. Not to mention the tantrum that usually results from both getting dressed {mittens are the death of my toddler I swear} and then coming back inside. Not necessarily worth it...at least we hadn't reached that point yet!

Anyway, the whole reason we couldn't get out of the house, was because our car had something wrong with it. Luckily my hubby can usually be fairly handy when it comes to fixing our cars. However, he does still work a day job after all so it isn't exactly the speediest process.  After plenty of long days and extra time spent in the garage, it was determined that the car had something bigger going on...likely involving tearing apart the engine. So on Friday morning, Christian and I drove Jim to work and dropped our SUV off at the shop. But because we drove him to work, we got to have the car for the day! We had tons of fun after being stuck inside!!

Mommy Christian Breakfast date at Panera.

Watching airplanes. 

Visiting the zoo. 

Conked out from an active and busy morning. 

Afternoon snuggles! 

And now this week, we have a car again and I am realizing just how much I rely on that car, even though I'm not working outside of the home.

I so can't live without my car. 

#firstworldproblems... 

What couldn't you have lived without this week?