The Volkswagen dealership has a kids area. This kept Jude entertained for about 30 minutes. For the next three hours, he preferred to crawl up stairs, run into random offices, tap on glass windows, and hang out inside a minivan.
September 13, 2009
Now that Jude is over a year old, we’ve purchased convertible carseats for him, instead of using the infant car seat. Well, yesterday we bought a new car, so today, I decided I was going to put the new car seat in the new car. It darn near brought me to tears of frustration. This car set business is very overwhelming for me. I wanted to use the latch for installation, but you can’t install on the center seat using the latch. I didn’t want Jude in the outbound seats, and he needs to stay rear-facing until he outgrows the weight limit. Of course, those convertible car seats are giant and my car, in particular, has a very small back seat.
The house next door to us is for sale and of course people are coming to look at the house while I am sitting in the backseat of the car in the driveway (in my pajamas, no less) referring to car seat manuals and all around looking crazy. At least the weather wasn’t 100 degrees while I was attempting to do this. So, it basically took me two hours, taking out both the car seats to compare whcih car each one would work better in, and rolling up a blanket to get correct installation in both cars. I was sweaty and irritated by the end of it. Hopefully I won’t need to adjust or move anything for a while.
September 7, 2009
Today, my little boy is 14 months old. It’s amazing how quickly the time slips by. He’s been laughing and babbling and playing all weekend. We went to visit my parents on Saturday, just for the day, and he had fun exploring different houses.
There have been no major changes, developmentally. Jude continues to show all of us, including Liam, his affection. He’s certainly starting to act sillier and he has a few different types of laughs. He thinks peekaboo is a great game and loves pushing all the buttons on the tv and cable box (Mommy and Daddy aren’t too fond of that game).
Jude is starting to mimic our behaviors a lot more. Today I spun around in the kitchen, and then Jude turned a little circle right after me. He is pointing much more to things; things he wants us to label, things he wants us to get for him. He also does little things that amaze me. For example, he was playing in my “shoe pile” in the closet and he managed to pull out two matching shoes and set them to the side. He’s been practicing his shape puzzle and he can get some shapes, like circle and square, in his shape sorter.
Jude still only says “Dada” and “up, ” but I am hearing “ma” much more than before. Even though his oral expression is still limited, he receptive language is growing so quickly. We can give him commands that he can follow. “Get in your car” and “get in your chair” and “get your ball” are all understood. I try to explain things more, especially when we need to do the things that he doesn’t like, like getting his nose suctioned or taking a nap.
September 4, 2009
Happy Birthday to my friend Sarah! I started doing birthday shout-outs a year ago, and I certainly didn’t want to leave her out. Sarah is such a kind and funny person, who loves animals and is incredibly easy going. Aron better thank his lucky stars that girl is gonna marry him. I better thank my stars that she is still friends with us after she heard Joe sing karaoke in Vegas (I kid…sort of..).
Thanks for inviting us to your birthday dinner. It was definitely an interesting night of conversation and tasty sushi. I hope your birthday was great!
September 3, 2009
Christy in Ms. Rowley's 5th grade class
Nerd-ville! I look at this picture and I just don’t remember seeing that girl in the mirror. Check out my sponge painted t-shirt. My sister made it for me. I’ve got it pulled to the side over my kicky little denim skirt. What’s funny, though, after examining this picture closely, is that my hands look the same. 19 years later…EXACT same hands.
September 2, 2009
Now that it is getting cooler in the evening hours (instead of still scorching hot) Jude, Liam and I are talking walks around the neighborhood. It’s been great to get out and not immediately burst in sweat. Poor Liam, he misses his walks so much, he pulls so hard on the leash for half the walk, until he wears himself out, because he is so excited. It makes it a little tricky to control the stroller and Liam (he’s very strong for a little dog), but it’s improving.
It’s also great to take Jude out since the last time we walked with him regularly, he was a newborn and slept the whole time. Now he laughs and points to things. We go visit Blue the weimaraner. He’s been so cranky lately, since he is getting five new teeth. But he is never cranky on the walk, so it’s nice to enjoy the peace.
August 31, 2009
I don’t know if you know this, but NPR did a story that PBS will no longer continue to fund the show Reading Rainbow, after 26 years of programming. I loved Reading Rainbow as a kid. That’s pretty much all I watched all summer when I was younger until I discovered trashy daytime tv talk shows. I can tell you which episodes of Reading Rainbow were my favorite (in this order):
- the one where LeVar learns dinerese
- the one where LeVar visits the artist that makes art from recycled materials
- Gregory the Terrible Eater
- Arthur’s Eyes
- Miss Nelson is Missing
I even got Jude the book Gregory the Terrible Eater. It makes me sad that they won’t be making any more episodes in the future to share with Jude. I’m telling you, Reading Rainbow was a big part of my life.
When I was at UT, I was in a group that brought different speakers to the campus. We tossed around the idea of paying for LeVar Burton, and my brother told me that if we did, that he wanted me to personally tell LeVar when I met him, how important he was to Daniel. If you know Daniel, which some of you do, that is pretty significant. This man has made an impact on people’s lives; Levar has over a million people on his Twitter for peeps sake (haha, little joke there). So, I sent LeVar a thank you for his contribution to young minds and the love of reading.
August 31, 2009
Jude had two playdates this past weekend. Kinda sad when your one year old has a more active social life than you do…but I digress. On Saturday, we went to visit my friend Missy and her little boy Kellan for some pool time on the patio. Jude was shy at first, but really warmed up when they brought out the balls and the basketball goal. He really took to a baseball glove shaped chair that Kellen had. He even got to meet one of their dogs, Mia the pug.
On Sunday, we headed up to Cedar Park to visit my friend Erica and her little boy Jackson, and newest addition, baby Delaney. Man, I forgot how little Jude once was. She was so light when I was holding her. I would have got to hold her longer, but my kiddo took a header off a child-sized picnic table because — surprise — he was standing on it, despite my requests for him to sit down. But it was so fun to watch him play with Jackson. Jackson showed Jude all his cool toys and Jude wanted to finish lunch fast so he could go back to playing toys again.
It was really fun to visit with both families. I didn’t take any pictures, but needless to say, Jude had a great time and got a nap on the way home both days.
August 31, 2009
That’s right, I made creme brulee. Jealous? I used this recipe, but my crockpot wasn’t big enough to hold all 4 ramekins, plus there was extra custard, so I made 3 in the crockpot and two in the oven (the traditional way).
No wonder creme brulee is such a special treat. You have to cook it, cool it for hours up to overnight, then carmelize the sugar, then cool again. It was stretched over two days for me, but so worth it. I actually curdled the ones I made in the crockpot, because I started watching a movie and forgot. But the ones made in the oven came out perfect.
August 23, 2009
I love cutting my hair off right before school starts.
What I don’t love is that I can’t style my hair like the professionals. I just washed my hair and I look crazy, now. Wish me good luck in the morning so I don’t look like a scarecrow on the first day of school.
PS: This is the professional styling. No pics of the Christy styling…it’s bad!
