It was bound to happen sooner or later… October 19, 2009

Yesterday I dug four kibbles of dog food out of Squidgey’s mouth. You can be sure he did not thank me for it. Especially after I pried loose the one he was trying secret away for later in his fist. Then, later in the day, he commandeered the dog’s bed. Coincidence?

In other news, we’ve gone back to nap/bedtime bliss. Even as his napping has become a little hit or miss in terms of actually taking 2 naps a day, he’s at least quiet about it. You can put him up there and he’ll mostly talk to himself, sometimes for up to an hour before he drifts off. Or not. But at least there is no screaming. No sitting up there forever trying to rock him to sleep. There’s an occasional increase in volume like “hello? Anyone?” but then he stops. If he’s not out after an hour, it’s pretty much not going to happen, so I get him up. No nap means we’re in for a hairy late afternoon and early bedtime, but what are you going to do? Naps or no naps, it’s true what they say about how tired they get once they start walking because he is out like a light at bedtime.

He’s still not using any words in any meaningful way. I’ve taught him to sign “more” and he actually used it last week to tell me that he was hungry and wanted a snack. Of course, he’s not really clear that it means “more of what you are currently offering me,” and instead uses it more in terms of “hey lady, go get me something I WANT to eat.” He’ll use it correctly in context if I’m not shoveling banana chunks at him fast enough, but he’ll also sign it as he’s refusing another bite of vegetables and batting away the spoon, meaning, “move on to the applesauce and cheerios pronto, lady.”

And the look he gives you as he’s doing it and you’re not giving him what he wants is priceless-so indignant. On Friends, Ross and Monica had this childhood substitute for giving each other the bird where they bumped their first together (http://www.tvacres.com/greetings_ross.htm) and that’s the attitude it calls to mind as he insistently mashes his fingers together. Like, “so there! Now fork over the goldfish!”

Wee drunken frat guy October 9, 2009

Within 10 minutes of arriving, simply through their grandparent mind control superpowers, my parents had Squidge walking.  I mean actually locomoting from one location to the next, not simply launching himself off of something for a few step to crash into your arms. Actually walking. Like a person and everything.

Of course, once we turned the vidcam on him, his legs suddenly turned to jello and all leg/body coordination flew out the window. We did manage to capture this, though. The sound makes it.

I fully expect them to have taught him the alphabet by the time I get home.

Milestone October 2, 2009

When I went to make Squidgey’s 15 month appointment today, I actually had to go look up the pediatrician’s phone number.  We’d been in and out of there so much the first 12 months, I had the number memorized.  So yay! it’s been so long since we’ve been that, I’ve now forgotten…but boo! my memory is kind of shot these days…

Bronze October 1, 2009

The 5K was Sunday and both Miguel and I took third in our categories.  Wheee! Of course, you have to take in to account the fact that I think there were only 5 or so runners in the women’s schmirty-something category.  Still, I beat a couple of them while pushing a stroller full of Squidgey.  Most importantly, I ran the whole thing without stopping, which was really my only goal.  I about fell over when they called my name during the medal ceremony.

Miguel, on the other hand, had actual competition. He came in third behind people who run triathlons for fun.  He also improved his time again this year, finishing in just over 21 minutes!  I finished 14 minutes later.  Which actually, when you think about it, I actually worked MUCH harder-he only ran for 21 minutes without stopping, I ran for 35 WHOLE MINUTES.

The run itself was a little rough. I felt like I was off rhythm from the start and was breathing hard well before the mile mark.  I had wanted to set my usual pace and not worry about what everybody else was doing.  But it was very hard not to get caught up in the pack.  I think that really affected how little I had to kick it up when the finish line was in sight.  I was REALLY sucking wind/wheezing by that point. 

So, it was a learning experience for my first 5K.  I did not feel like I was going to barf (for very long) after, and really I was minimally sore the next couple of days.  The route for the Shamrock Shuffle in March is the same, and I will be Squidge free, so hopefully I will improve my time some. 

It’s going to be hard though to keep training through the winter when I can’t run outside. I HATE running on the treadmill. I may have to get a community center pass so I can run on the indoor track there.  Somehow, my fancy schmancy Lifetime Fitness which is the size of 10 football fields does not have a track.

So I achieved half my goal-I ran the 5K.  The get into awesome shape part did not happen. Like, at all.  I only lost about 2 lbs-and that number is not low because I was gaining muscle.  It’s because all I was doing was running a few times a week (the 30 Day Shred dvd has not seen any action in weeks).  Meanwhile, the food log lasted about 3 weeks and then I was eating like I was going to the chair.  Sigh. Guess I need to recommit…again, some more…

Baby Steps September 30, 2009

After weeks of stubborn disinterest, Squidgey is finally starting to take his first steps on his own!  Yesterday, he was standing with one hand on the back door when I went over to pick him up for dinner and he just let go and stumbled towards me several steps, giggling the whole way.  I’m pretty sure he had NO idea what he was doing.

Of course, he refused to repeat the trick on Skype for Salsera, despite me trying to tempt him with various normally forbidden objects (the phone, the remote) held juuuussst out of his reach.  All that produced was some really pissed off stomping and dramatic throwing of himself to the floor. 

Then this morning, he was holding on to our nightstand, and when I went to pick him up to take him downstairs, he turned and lurched into my arms once again.  Where is the camera when you need it?

I’m also pretty sure he used “mama” in a meaningful, non babbling way this morning.  He was in his playroom, making his usual grunting let me out whine at the gate and when I called that mama was coming, he replied by calling back “mama.” As in, “mama come get me.” 

Yay!

Do You Really Want That Butterburger, Fatass? September 17, 2009

So the 5K is (eep!) a week from Saturday.  Tonight I covered the longest distance I’ve ever attempted, without any stopping and even managing a sprint at the last hill. 

As my landmark, I ran to the Culver’s up the road and back. I swear, I didn’t stop for a greasy butterburger or a yummy chocolate peanut butter cup concrete mixer (topped with butterscotch syrup, please!), even though it smelled like heaven as I made the turn.

Anyway, I was curious to know my mileage so I Mapquested directions when I got home.  The search returned 3 huge ads for Jenny Craig and Nutrisystem above the directions.  Like Mapquest was judging my fast food choices.  Mapquest is kind of an asshole.

And for the record? It was 2.8 miles bitches!

One Cheerio at a Time September 11, 2009

Since Squidge has been on solids, he’s been doing exceptionally well.  He eats a pretty good range of things in pretty good amounts and has been chunking up nicely.  I make most of his food so he gets a really even balance of protein, grain,  lots of veggies of all colors and fruit.  I think in the 2 weeks between his one month appointment and when we had him back at the doctor for a mysterious leg-eating insect bite, he had gained a full pound.  (It doesn’t hurt that we put butter on all his meals…)

Unfortunately, as is the way with Squidgey, he’s gone to extremes with the enthusiastic eating, and can no longer be trusted with finger foods.  After I fed him his entrée and veggies, with fruit or soy pudding for desert, I would dump a pile of cheerios, goldfish, etc. on his tray to work on his self-feeding, finish filling him up, and to be honest, keep him busy for a good 15-20 minutes while I worked in the kitchen.  I’d be able to clean up his dinner dishes, empty the dishwasher, unpack his bottles and lunch bag from the sitter, maybe even do some cooking while he happily picked away: one for me, one for furry tail wagging friend, one for me, one for furry tail wagging friend, one for me, one for…what? I’m not doing anything (slowly retracting hand from side of tray and guiding cracker into mouth, as if that was the destination all along).  (Which also, took dog to vet the other day-she has gained 4 pounds since March, which was hey, right around when Squidgey started getting more finger foods. Coincidence?)

Um, point?  So anyway! Now he’s double fisting, alternating a cracker in each hand until his mouth is full and he’s gagging and choking.  I have a heart attack waiting for him to cough it up, trying to scoop some of it out of his mouth as he fights me off and starts crying.  I figured after the first time, he would have figured out stuffing his mouth=bad, but toddlers have shockingly few survival instincts, because he’s done it two more times since with a variety of cracker size/types.  So I finally wised up and now have to dole them out one at a time.  Which means, I either have to sit there in front of him as he slowly chews and swallows, or try to get kitchen work done, while keeping my hands clean and dry enough to dash back to his chair and drop him another piece of food every 30 seconds. Do you have any idea how long it takes a toddler to eat even a small pile of cheerios?   You know what I need? One of those automatic cat-food feeders.  I could mount it to the side of his tray and it would only dispense a single cracker at set intervals.

In other news, he is still not walking or talking.  Trying to get him to hold on to your hands and walk with you is like trying to put a cat in a bathtub. He splays his legs out, pulling them up to his chest, or folds his legs under so that as you lower him, he lands on his knees and can crawl off.  We had him back at PT a few weeks ago for a check up on his torticolis (which looks great!), and while we were there she assessed him for walking.  Absolutely nothing physically preventing him.  He will happily pull up and cruise along from stable object to stable object, but he just does not have the confidence in his balance to wobble around in space.  So we’re working on that. 

On the talking? I don’t know. Clearly he’s in there and understanding most of what we say to him.  Whether or not he’s making the connection that he can communicate back to us in words, I don’t know.  I try to reinforce and repeat words, giving a running commentary on what we’re doing.  When he tosses a book in my lap for reading, before I start, I repeat “Book. Mama read Book?”  Beyond that, I’m not sure what else I could/should be doing.  I should probably look for some books about it-I’m sure there are a ton. 

In my free time, I am still “training” for the 5K which is approaching rapidly.  Turns out that running every single day? Bad idea. I gave myself shin splints or whatever and had to take a week off.  I tried to keep up the cardio with the elliptical and bike, but I’m still not up past the 2 mile mark when actually hitting the pavement to run. 

In addition to getting my distance up, the other very important preparatory step is to put together my running mix. I need a 35 minute or so compilation of upbeat songs that make me want to keep going, with the really motivating ones placed strategically towards the end when I will likely be flagging.  I used a free napster light account to get the music on my phone originally and when I recently went back to load some more playlists, it basically told me to fuck off-I could not even load music I had ripped from my very own cds that were residing on my very own computer. What kind of bullshit was that? 

So it looks like I’ve got to pay for an upgraded membership for a month or something, build all the playlists I want, and pull them on to my phone.  Or go back to the manual and figure out if I can use another application with my phone.  But then I will lose the tracks I purchased from napster-which are some of my most motivating songs.  Speaking of, I need to expand my playlist.  Any suggestions?

Crisis Averted…Well, one of them, anyway August 21, 2009

Miguel clarified when turning in the forms that I can run the 5K with stroller…they just didn’t put anything about it in the running section of the form because they didn’t think anyone would want to (you mean besides the people who did it last year and the year before? Okay then…).

So it’s back on and I still have Squidge to use my cover for sucking.  Because really? I am so not a runner.  I do not have long, lean, gazelle-like legs.  I was not built for speed or distance.  I very realistically expect to be smoked by every tall, tan, fit runner in the bunch (because aren’t they always?).  I don’t even like runners.  I scoff when I see them trotting along in the rain and the cold.  Why am I doing this again?

I’m in a bit of panic about my endurance and the 5 (!) weeks I have remaining to get it up.  I ran what Miguel purported to be a two mile route the other night and crapped out farther from home than I wanted to, maybe I thought 1.7 miles or so into it.  So then I hopped in the car and clocked it on my odometer to know exactly how much of the 2 miles I had done.  Miguel had it clocked WRONG and the whole thing was only 1.7 miles, so the part I completed was only 1.3.  I need to run almost three times that for the 5K. Which I know I don’t have be able to consistently run that amount, but I need to be close enough that I can push myself through the last extra half mile or so.  I’m almost 2 miles short as of right now.

I ran it again this morning, and managed the whole thing, so that’s something.  I don’t know why it was easier today. Maybe because I took a day off yesterday or because it was before it got too hot.  We’ll see.

Seriously? August 18, 2009

I am seriously annoyed right now. Miguel just called as he was filling out the application for his company’s 5K and apparently this year, the run is restricted to 16 and over.  And I was like, well, Squidge won’t actually be participating in the race, I’ll be pushing him in the stroller, so no problem.  But he goes on to read “Strollers and children under 16 are welcome to participate in the walk.”

And I said “what are we supposed to do, then?” And his reply was “you can do the walk.”  Um hell’s no, I am not doing the walk. I am training to do the run. You do the walk, you dicksmack.  So yeah, looks like we’re getting a sitter that morning. 

And at first I was kind of relieved, because it’s easier to run without the stroller.  But then I started thinking about it and that also means, it’s just me, running. Out there with all the real runners. So if I come in dead last (a very real possibility), it won’t be all “well, bless her heart pushing that thing the whole 3.2 miles.” It’ll be all “Well, she sucks. Why did she do the run?”

So now I’m back to pissed off. I mean WTF Miguel’s work? It’s a family fitness thing to encourage healthy habits, not the fucking Boston Marathon.  Who the fuck cares if someone else is jogging with a stroller, or if their 13 year old wants to challenge him/herself and try the run?  What is it hurting? 

So meh. Now I’m all ambivalent and pissed off about the whole thing and of course the forms are due TODAY because that is how Miguel rolls so I can’t even think it over some.

Gah! Gah! Gah! August 17, 2009

Squidgey is starting to cut his molars.  And he is exploring this new phenomenon by GRINDING THEM TOGETHER.  This was my weekend: Squuuueaaaaaaaaaaakkkkkkkkkk, cruuuuuuuuuunnnnnnnnnncccccccccchhhhhhh, kirik kirik, sccccccccrrrrrrrrrrrruuuuuuuuuuuunnnnnnnncccchhhhhhhhhhh, scccrrreeeachhh, snikt, snikt.
Like nails on a chalkboard, people…Thiiiis close to dropping him down a well, just to make it stop.