AJ Every Day: June 23rd

Ah, Thursday...it started off as an ordinary day. Up at the crack of dawn. Spreading non dairy buttery spread on a waffle with my eyes closed wishing I were still sleeping and not making the little dude his breakfast. Attempting to make the house look somewhat presentable before our "speech coach" Miss Kelly arrived.

AJ's sessions was much like all of his previous sessions in that he decided not to talk, ran around like a crazy kid, and took snuggle breaks in Miss Kelly's lap. We scheduled a session for two weeks from now because of the holiday and said our goodbyes.

Then...the little dude got hungry. He brought me his snack bowl, as is his standard, "feed me woman" routine, and I said, "AJ, would you like some more pretzels?" and he nodded his head which is a fairly recent communication development, so I was stoked about that. And then....THEN he put his little fingers together and SIGNED MORE!!!! If Nana Joan hadn't been there to witness it I would have thought my mind was playing tricks on me. After all, I've been doing a handful of basic signs since he was just a few months old and never has he ever even pretended to care or imitate. So there was great celebrating in the Homburg household. Dancing and clapping even.

Of course, we've tried to get him to do it a million times since, and he refuses. My kid...he has a hard head.

Speaking of hard heads, and that picture up there...we have a goose egg. Post nap yesterday the little dude decided to take off running with the remote control. And because Nana Joan has not yet learned that chasing the speed demon is futile, she took off after him. And because AJ has not really mastered STOPPING once he takes off at warp speed, he had an unfortunate run in with his bedroom door. It really is hard to believe, but this is his first honest to goodness knot on the head. He's had a few bruises and a scratch, but he's never fallen with such force as to wind up with a big old ugly bump on the noggin. It was swollen almost right away and it bled a little and I may or may not have had a moment of, "Great now he has a head injury and we don't know what his platelets are!" but the tears were over in a few minutes and now I almost think he feels like the goose egg is a badge of honor. As soon as Karl came home, the little dude ran to the gate and swept away his hair so Daddy could get a good look at his battle scar.

Show off! :)

AJ Every Day: June 21st and 22nd

June 21st: The summer of male bonding continues with week 2 of swimming lessons. Mama didn't attend due to a scheduling conflict but apparently the little dude was a super star. He blew bubbles AND floated on his back. My favorite story from the evening though is that AJ decided to take off in the locker room while his daddy was in the middle of changing, leaving Karl to attempt to dress himself while running after the wayward 2 year old.
June 22nd: I love that the little dude is always so happy to see his daddy after work. Here's what I'm wondering though. How come Karl can leave for work every day without any tears from the peanut gallery but when Mama so much as walks downstairs to show a visitor out it triggers an all out meltdown?? In case you can't tell we've had a major resurgence of the separation anxiety as of late. Part of me is flattered, but the bigger part just hates to see him so upset and in some cases inconsolable. Poor little dude!

AJ Every Day: June 20th

Forget fine dining, when you're two, it's a big deal to eat your snack on the back deck. This weekend I convinced Karl to install an unused baby gate at the top of the deck stairs so I could hang outside with AJ without chasing him around the entire yard. We're still out in the yard quite a bit, but it's nice to have a little bit of time to just hang out without the constant running and chasing since we don't have a fence. The little dude is THRILLED to have this new space and loves to hang out at his picnic table and just randomly walk around. So very cute. Except when it's raining and he doesn't get that we can't just open the slider and chill outside.

P.S.- Tales from the Scale week 13: down .2 for a grand total of 21 pounds even. Not thrilled, but I'll take it. Happy Monday all.

AJ Every Day: June 19th

My two favorite dudes during a two minute "quick lets take a couple of pictures outside while it isn't raining" photo shoot. In case you haven't heard, the little dude has a bit of a sadistic streak and thinks "ouch" is the funniest word in the English language.

And since it's a holiday, the first holiday AJ was around to celebrate, I thought I'd go back and look at our past Father's Days:

2009:
Daddy and a 9 day old AJ sleeping through his first breakfast at Blueberry Hill. That place used to be a big part of our weekends before the little dude. Now, due to his allergies, breakfast is the one meal we pretty much never eat out. The little dude clearly feels bad about this because he sent me out to get his daddy take out breakfast from Blueberry Hill this morning.

2010

Last year, AJ's first birthday party was the day before Father's Day. You know, the party we left abruptly to take the guest of honor to the emergency room? Karl is calm in a crisis. Actually, Karl is calm pretty much all the time, which sometimes enrages me. But honestly, I don't think I could handle all of our hospital (mis)adventures if we weren't in this together. Lord knows I wasn't anything close to calm last summer when we were told there was a chance leukemia was causing AJ's platelets to tank.

I wouldn't get through this motherhood thing alive without him.

AJ Every Day: June 18th

AJ attended his first Appleton Farmers Market when he was just about a week old. Two years later, we're still going. And Mama is still spending too much money on tomatoes and pretty flowers. These days a certain little dude is not as content to sit in his stroller and people watch so we move at a quicker pace so the native doesn't get (too) restless.

Now if only I could figure out why AJ has suddenly developed an irrational fear of elevators! We're talking ear piercing screaming the second the door opens. Said screams continue until we are safely out of the elevator. What makes a kid suddenly develop a fear like that? And is there something I can do about it? I'm fairly certain he's too young for those therapies I see them use on Bravo for people who are afraid to leave their house/step on cracks/eat food from a buffet.

Maybe this summer I'll just have to get up extra early to snag a spot on the ground level of the parking ramp.

AJ Every Day: June 17th

Some days it takes me until bed time to take what is deemed to be the "AJ Every Day" photo. Today, I had the shot in the bag before 9am. The little dude has been recently reunited with his Pottery Barn Kids Anywhere chair (the cover was in the wash) and he has parked it in his favorite spot right next to the big windows in the family room. He watches the birds and the squirrels and Mama seizes the good night and snaps away. Perfect photo for our quiet day at home.

But there is an alternate photo for today. One that I am sure will humiliate a certain little dude in 10 or so years...

Why yes, that is a pair of Daddy's (clean) underwear being proudly worn as a sash by a certain little dude. Never has doing laundry been such a comedic event. He was actually wearing said underwear on his head when I ran to get the camera but I wasn't fast enough.

AJ Every Day: June 16th

A happy Thursday night at Chez Homburg. Daddy is home from an overnight work trip. Nana Joan is still visiting. The weather is nice enough for open windows. And most importantly to the little dude: a new furniture configuration in the living room gives him more room to run and an unobstructed view of the backyard from the windows.

AJ Every Day: June 15th

Ah, this photo. This is the photo that involved a bajillion trips up and down the stairs while on the phone with Karl, trying to locate the batteries so I could use my flash (Note to self: don't wait until after dark to take AJ's daily photo). It's the photo that involved bribing the little dude with a chance to wear Auntie Barb's "pretties" (Note to self: little dude's don't like to take pictures when it is past their bedtime). It's the photo that isn't especially flattering to any one of us. AJ isn't looking, I think my eyes are half closed, and I believe I caught Barb mid sentence.

But I love it. I love that we can have these fun nights when our husbands are out of town that involve foods the men we love hate. I love that AJ was full of hugs and high fives for his Auntie Barb. I love that he babbled his way through dinner (even if I did have to tell him to take his feet off the table a million times).

Oh, and in case you were wondering, we made this for dinner. It was delish!

AJ Every Day: June 14th

My boy, he is a fish. He loves the bath more than most anything else. I think he thinks the pool at the Y is really just one big bath tub where he gets to play with his Daddy. And wouldn't you know it, there were rubber duckies there too! This summer AJ is taking his lessons with Daddy, so Mama sat behind the class and snapped a few pictures. It didn't take long for the little dude to notice I was there and so he spent much of the time turning around to find me and wave.

This was the last picture I took that evening and you can see he is shivering a bit. We got him home and found he was running a little fever (stupid shots) so we gave him some tylenol and a night time diaper and sent him off to bed. He slept straight through until almost 6am. Water tires a little dude out!

Tales from the Scale: Week 12

Down 2lbs for a total of 20.8lbs!!

Very proud of that accomplishment this week as I may or may not have had a slice or two of birthday cake. And those slices were not exactly small.

Next stop 10%

AJ Every Day: June 13th

We took a photo of the little dude at his very first appointment with Dr. Ridlehoover. He was just a few days old and still a little yellow but cleared from needing the bili bed anymore. 24 hours later we saw her again when she sent us to the hospital because AJ was having seizures. We took another at his one year well check, the day he received the vaccination that landed him in the hospital for a transfusion a couple of weeks later. We took the two year picture today, a few minutes after he received his MMR vaccine.

I'm not going to lie. This mama is terrified that there is some sort of picture taking curse and that shot is going to trigger another ITP episode. The good news is I know what to look for this time. The bad news is there isn't a darn thing we can do about it. If it's going to happen, it will happen. And if he does wind up with ITP again (the MMR vax is the number one documented trigger) then we'll wind up in the hospital. It doesn't matter if we catch it early, the only treatment is a transfusion. And the only way to do the transfusion is to spend the night in the hospital.

So we wait. If it's going to be bad, we'll start seeing something in 10-14 days. So let's all say a quick prayer that we're not taking AJ's daily photo on June 24th on the 4th floor of Children's Hospital Fox Valley, kay?

AJ Every Day: June 9-12

The party is over. The little dude is officially two. His mama is officially exhausted. I have many pictures and stories to share from the festivities in the coming days. For now, here's a quick AJ Every Day catch up:
June 9th: The little dude loved having family in town for his birthday weekend. In fact he loved it so much he thought he could skip out on this thing called bedtime. Wednesday and Thursday nights were so bad that on Friday I told everyone they needed to say goodnight and "leave" 15 minutes before we put AJ to bed so he wouldn't feel like he was missing out. So, the grandparents went and hid in the garage, AJ went down like a champ, and then we all resumed party preps while he slept!

June 10th: Wouldn't you know it, on the day we were scheduled to have the carpets cleaned and I needed to keep the little dude out of the house all morning, it rained?!?! We pondered a bit and decided to try out Monkey Joes to kill some time and burn off some toddler energy. I think the big people were more exhausted than the little dude by the time we left, but he certainly had a great time.
June 11th: He is TWO! And boy did we celebrate! An awesome cake (and AJ friendly cupcakes), a ginormous bounce house, and the best friends and family a little dude could ask for. The days leading up to the party were nutty, and that morning I may or may not have sworn off every throwing another party. But that crazy boy? Well he smiled all.day.long. and that makes everything worth it.

June 12th: The bummer about family visits is the sad saying goodbye part at the end. Grandpa Richie left us bright and early this morning to begin the 2 day drive back to Colorado. We try to take this three generation picture every time we're together and I love watching the little dude grow. I also love the way he likes to put his hand on my cheek to pull me in close. He may or may not have his mama wrapped around his little finger.

And now...BED! And 363 more days to plan the big third birthday shindig!

AJ Every Day: June 8th

The first of the out of town visitors has arrived and a certain little dude is loving all the extra attention, like having Grandpa Richie around to teach him how to play his harmonica (that's still a work in progress). He's also testing his boundaries big time since the routine is a little off. I foresee a few time outs in the next few days...

AJ Every Day: June 7th

The little dude, much like his mama, doesn't do heat well. Today's high of 93 sent us to the store for something to help AJ cool down. This beach ball sprinkler thing is hysterical. Or maybe it's the crazy expressions that AJ made the first time he got splashed with that ice cold water that were cracking me up.

The first of many Summer 2011 adventures!

Tales from the Scale: Week 11

UP ONE POUND bringing my total loss back to 18.8lbs.

I'm disappointed, but really have nobody to blame but myself. Yes, I can say that some of it is that lovely monthly water weight fluctuation. But honestly, if I'd made better decisions over the last two weeks (no weigh in last week due to Memorial Day) a little PMS weight gain wouldn't have made an impact on the scale.

I learned this week that I need that weekly weigh in, in front of another person. I need to know all week that my weigh in day is coming. Some people do great using just the online program. For me, I need the meetings and the weigh ins to keep me honest.

So here's to a new week, which will bring more challenges and more chances to make better decisions.

AJ Every Day: June 6th

The idea was to get a picture of him playing in the laundry basket (adorable!), but as he gets older that kid is developing a camera detector. I snapped a couple before he noticed me and made a bee line for the mamarazzi. Forget the laundry basket, this was by far the cutest thing I saw all day!

AJ Every Day: June 5th

The little dude can make anything fun, even a day full of cleaning and laundry. He helped by staying in his jammies all day (why dirty more clothes?) and handing off hangers when needed. He also did his fair share of dumping clean loads on the floor so he could run away with the basket, but I can't fault him for that.

AJ Every Day: June 4th

They are a nightmare to steer. I'm not sure a single one of them has a working seatbelt, and half the time I have to dry out the inside before I can put the little dude in there. But seriously, could he look any happier?
P.S.: Color cast on this image is awful, no? Red cart, orange shirt, harsh sun. It's like the bad photo trifecta. But I'm reminding myself perfect images is not what this little project of mine is about! :)

AJ Every Day: June 3rd

Today was one of those days. We all woke up on the wrong side of the bed (perhaps because not much time was spent IN BED last night) and things were just off. I wasn't sure how I was going to get a picture today with a crabby boy who was intent on destroying the house and my sanity.

The result: this image of AJ trying to yank the camera out of my hands. The house is a disaster. You can see the camera strap in the corner. But he's smiling. And on days like today, that's all that matters!

AJ Every Day: June 2nd

Another week of speech therapy, I mean coaching, for the little dude this morning. Still no words. I would be lying if I said it didn't worry me that he's still not talking. When most people ask about it, I blow it off because I don't want to seem like a neurotic mama. And really, we're doing all we can do for him with Early Intervention, so I don't like to harp on it. But deep down I worry. And I'll probably continue worrying until he starts talking and never shuts up. And then, well then I'm sure I'll have something else to worry about.

Funny story from this morning's session: I asked Miss Kelly if she was okay with me taking some pictures, and she said sure so I snuck away to get my camera. Well, the little dude must have heard me leave the room because he turned around and came running at me full throttle...tripping over his own two feet in the process. After he stood up from his face plant, rubbing his poor little head, I said, "AJ What happened???" and he said, "Ah duh DUH!!!" which totally and completely sounded like he was trying to say, "I fell DOWN!" Kelly heard it too and we both started laughing.

The little dude might not have words, but he definitely gets his point across!

Kicking off the month of AJ

I've been wanting to try some photo projects this summer and I decided my first one would be in honor of the little dude's upcoming 2nd birthday. So, every day in June I'm going to take a photo or two of AJ. I'm shooting for snapshots of our day, nothing posed or edited, but I'm also hoping to move away from the cell phone cam for this project.

So, without further ado...here's two shots from our time today, playing outside while Daddy worked on cleaning out the garage for the big upcoming birthday celebration.

I love that he is such a little boy on a mission, even though it breaks my heart to admit he's no longer a baby.