I think this time has by far been one of my favorites. Tristan is learning so much in such a short amount of time that I can hardly keep up. Some things come as a complete shock for me, others I am very happy he picked up on (not that I am not happy about all the others.) Here are some cool new things Tristan is doing lately:
Words: There are MANY MANY words he says now and I am probably forgetting a lot of them.
Dada
Mama/Mom
Dog
Duck
Apple
Hot
Up
Pup
Cow
Giraffe (or affe really)
Purple
Circle
Truck
Milk
Cracker
Wazzzat (What's That)
On (Balloon)
Ice
Light
Off
Cat
Shapes:
I have working on shapes with him since he loves to play with his shape sorter. The only one he can really say is circle, but boy does he understand it! The other day in Walmart we are just walking around and he is babbling circle. After awhile I look down at him and not only is he saying circle but also tracing one in the air with his finger! He will also draw one if given a pen or crayon. It blew me out of the water. Our next shape is square, hopefully he catches on just as quickly.
Whats That:
Since he was oh I don't know 7 months old or so we would ask him "What's That" and point to things and then tell him what the word is. We mostly did it with ducks which of course came to be one of his very first words. I guess it would only be a matter of time before he started to point to things and ask us "Whats That." It usually comes out more like Wazzat and it took us awhile to understand what he was saying. But now he goes around everywhere asking. The kid is a sponge.
Up:
I was really really getting tired of the whining and crying when he wanted us to pick him up. So one day I decided to say do you want up? He quickly learned the word up. So now when he starts whining or crying that he wants up we ask him "What do you want, use your words" and he will say up. Ok, cool, that really cut down on his crying but then one day as he was climbing up the stairs he said up and pointed. I was like wow, does he understand the concept of up? Flash forward a few nights later after his bath he climbed up the rocking chair in his room and said up. He climbed back down and then climbed back up and said up. It was then I realized he actually understood the concept of up, and that it just wasn't a word to use when he wanted in our arms.
I guess my little baby isn't such a baby anymore. He is a living, breathing, and LEARNING toddler. Learning faster than the speed of light, absorbing everything! I just hope that I don't let him down and that I can nurture his yearning for knowledge in a way that keeps him interested in learning for the rest of his life.
Monday, January 30, 2012
Monday, January 23, 2012
Sometimes I just Need to F*cking B*tch
As a mom of a Spirited Child, many many thoughts and feelings get bottled up. The thoughts and feelings that come when your child is screaming and throwing a fit at Monkey Buziness because you won't let them roam everywhere that is not considered a play area. Or the thoughts and feelings that come up at 10-12-3 at night when your child wont sleep and you just know all the other mommies in your life are in bed sleeping beautifully right now and you just want to throw up on them because your trying to figure out why your child wont lay the f*ck down. However, these things can not be told to anyone because all of sudden people are lashing out at you trying to fix the "problem" (can't change GENETICS folks) or give you "advice" (99% of the time sh*t you have already tried and know does not work with a Spirited child.) And really how well do you actually know my child? Unless you are here day in and day out (NIGHT in and NIGHT out) or you are a really good friend of mine (and I have some really AMAZING mommy friends that I see at least once a week) then you really do not know my child. So in the end I really don't need your comments and I do not need your advice. I really just to f*cking b*tch to someone before I explode. Next time just try to have a little empathy, unless you want a dirty diaper thrown in your face.
This is also a post to my most amazing mommy friends who are FANTASTIC at just letting me F*cking B*tch to them night and day. You truly keep me sane most weeks, so THANK YOU!
This is also a post to my most amazing mommy friends who are FANTASTIC at just letting me F*cking B*tch to them night and day. You truly keep me sane most weeks, so THANK YOU!
Sunday, January 22, 2012
The Cupcake Lesson
So I have been on my no sugar 90 Day Challenge for about three weeks now. Two weeks in I decided to make cupcakes for a get together we were having. I made Bronco cupcakes actually, blue cake with orange frosting. I thought it would be a nice surprise for my husband, and I knew the kids coming over would enjoy some cupcakes. I figured I would be able to resist the cupcakes...boy was I wrong.
I didn't eat any once I baked them. I didn't eat any with our guests when they came over. I craved the damn things for 26 hours before I finally caved and ate one. I think that must be a record of some sort for me. It was DELICIOUS! So delicious I pondered having another one. Then it accrued to me, I really didn't need another one. I didn't crave another one. I did not have to eat another one to be happy. I was content with just the one and only one cupcake that I ate. DO YOU UNDERSTAND WHAT A MIRACLE THIS IS?
This means mind over matter. This means I AM IN CONTROL now, and that I kicked sugars ass. You hear that sugar I WIN! You may have won the battle, but I won the war. You are no longer a part of my life unless I SAY SO! So from this moment on I discovered that it is very easy for me to say no to things with sugar, and that I do not feel like I need it in my life to have a happy and fulfilling life. So ladies and gentlemen this means that I have made a LIFESTYLE change, all thanks to the amazing Body By Vi 90 Day Challenges and shake mix that tastes like cake mix! Gotta love it.
http://brittnie.bodybyvi.com/
I didn't eat any once I baked them. I didn't eat any with our guests when they came over. I craved the damn things for 26 hours before I finally caved and ate one. I think that must be a record of some sort for me. It was DELICIOUS! So delicious I pondered having another one. Then it accrued to me, I really didn't need another one. I didn't crave another one. I did not have to eat another one to be happy. I was content with just the one and only one cupcake that I ate. DO YOU UNDERSTAND WHAT A MIRACLE THIS IS?
This means mind over matter. This means I AM IN CONTROL now, and that I kicked sugars ass. You hear that sugar I WIN! You may have won the battle, but I won the war. You are no longer a part of my life unless I SAY SO! So from this moment on I discovered that it is very easy for me to say no to things with sugar, and that I do not feel like I need it in my life to have a happy and fulfilling life. So ladies and gentlemen this means that I have made a LIFESTYLE change, all thanks to the amazing Body By Vi 90 Day Challenges and shake mix that tastes like cake mix! Gotta love it.
http://brittnie.bodybyvi.com/
Wednesday, January 11, 2012
The Funeral
At some point I think I need some kind of symbolic funeral ceremony. Some kind of closing chapter on something I like to call my phantom child. Before you have children you create this ideal of what having children is going to be like, what each child is going to be like, what you your family is going to be like. Of course, like many of you know that all changes once you actually give birth. What people don't realize is that is really all comes crashing down when you realize you have a spirited child. You experience this type of grief. You find yourself grieving your own ideal of parenthood, your anticipations of raising your child, and this phantom child you created in your head over the years. All of it has to go out the window before you can take on the new challenge that is your REAL life and blood child.
It's like suddenly you realize your little firecracker octagon (notice I did not say square or circle or triangle..no because those are still too simple of shapes and the Lord knows that spirited children are far from SIMPLE) does not fit into this word of squares, circles, and triangles. Take for example my trip to Monkey Buziness this week with a fabulous mommy friend of mine and her daughter (Tristan's girlfriend.) As a parent of a spirited child you can not help but to notice all these toddlers that are quite content to hang out in the crawler section and play with the toys there (where his girlfriend had to stay.) Okay, fine he does not want to hang out with the "babies." So we head out into the big kid play area. He does great for awhile until he sees an open door. He heads straight for the open door and then proceeds to check out everything that is NOT A TOY. He insisted on exploring everything else. I mean we ended up in the empty birthday party room...no toys! I pick him up and take him back into the play zone, but does he want to be in the play zone, no of course not. He heads straight back for the door and throws a fit when I wont let him out, all while all these all toddlers are so happy just going down the same slide 50 million times. So we head back into the baby section so I can visit with my mommy friend, guess who not only throws a fit because he did not want to be in there with all these fabulous toys but he was so determined that he also learned to open the dang door and escape! I thought this area was supposed to be for babies up to 2. It can not even contain my 16 month old!
So of course I go home and feel defeated. And of course I am sitting here thinking why can't my toddler be happy and content like all the other toddlers in a fabulous open space with tons of toys and things to climb. I mean that is what I had imagined with my phantom child. But my phantom child is dead, and what I have is my real live breathing bleeding amazing toddler Tristan who apparently is just always going to be outside the box somehow (figuratively and literally, in case you haven't been to Monkey Business all the play area is is an enclosed box).
Services will be held someday when I can afford the funeral. Until then R.I.P Phantom Child K. You shall be missed.
It's like suddenly you realize your little firecracker octagon (notice I did not say square or circle or triangle..no because those are still too simple of shapes and the Lord knows that spirited children are far from SIMPLE) does not fit into this word of squares, circles, and triangles. Take for example my trip to Monkey Buziness this week with a fabulous mommy friend of mine and her daughter (Tristan's girlfriend.) As a parent of a spirited child you can not help but to notice all these toddlers that are quite content to hang out in the crawler section and play with the toys there (where his girlfriend had to stay.) Okay, fine he does not want to hang out with the "babies." So we head out into the big kid play area. He does great for awhile until he sees an open door. He heads straight for the open door and then proceeds to check out everything that is NOT A TOY. He insisted on exploring everything else. I mean we ended up in the empty birthday party room...no toys! I pick him up and take him back into the play zone, but does he want to be in the play zone, no of course not. He heads straight back for the door and throws a fit when I wont let him out, all while all these all toddlers are so happy just going down the same slide 50 million times. So we head back into the baby section so I can visit with my mommy friend, guess who not only throws a fit because he did not want to be in there with all these fabulous toys but he was so determined that he also learned to open the dang door and escape! I thought this area was supposed to be for babies up to 2. It can not even contain my 16 month old!
So of course I go home and feel defeated. And of course I am sitting here thinking why can't my toddler be happy and content like all the other toddlers in a fabulous open space with tons of toys and things to climb. I mean that is what I had imagined with my phantom child. But my phantom child is dead, and what I have is my real live breathing bleeding amazing toddler Tristan who apparently is just always going to be outside the box somehow (figuratively and literally, in case you haven't been to Monkey Business all the play area is is an enclosed box).
Services will be held someday when I can afford the funeral. Until then R.I.P Phantom Child K. You shall be missed.
Monday, January 9, 2012
No Wonder America Is Overweight
Tomorrow marks the 1st week of my no sugar goal on my Body By Vi 90 Day Challenge and let me tell you how hard it is! Do you realize what all has sugar in it? I mean added sugar, like the white processed stuff. You know Mary Poppins and the "spoonful of sugar" thing. Yea that sugar.
You have to learn to read the labels, and not just the nutrition panel but the ENTIRE label...meaning the ingredients. You can look at the nutrition panel and see 41g of sugar, (think of that in Mary Poppins terms and you have 41 teaspoons of sugar. Can you eat 41 teaspoons of sugar alone? I can't either, so why drink/eat it?) which is a lot of sugar, but you HAVE to read the ingredients too. If there is no added word SUGAR in the ingredients (like in 100% Apple Juice) then what you are eating/drinking is natural sugar just like that found in fruit. I just can not believe all the things that have added sugar in them that really do not need sugar. Things like:
Peanut Butter
Garlic Bread
ANY Bread (including whole wheat ones)
Marinara Sauce
Tortillas
Soup
Oatmeal
PLAIN Cherrios
Ketchup
Ranch (most salad dressings)
Needless to say I was shocked. Do we really need to add sugar to most of these things? I can't imagine hundreds of years ago sugar was readily available for our ancestors to put it into bread, peanut butter, oatmeal, and marinara sauce. So I really do not think that all of that needs sugar now! But sugar is a drug and if they can just hide the smallest amounts in their product it will keep you coming back for more because sugar is a DRUG!
Which leads me to my horrible withdrawal symptoms from "going off sugar." It included horrible headaches, grumpiness, mood swings, temp swings including sweating, and bad cravings. My poor husband, I was a bitch. I am feeling much better now. I feel level, no ups and downs like you get with sugar. My cravings are not near what they used to be. But it sure was hell getting here...won't lie.
However, the most fantastic thing of this whole thing is that I have broken my weight plateau and will (hopefully) never see the 190's again! I was stuck at the 188-191 range and I happy to announce that this morning I was 186! I will post measurements and stats and all that jazz later but I just had to share the excitement!
So if you are even the slightest bit thinking about cutting out sugar I highly recommend it. Yes it is going to be hard (and so is having a baby and women do that daily) but it is so worth it in the end. You will also realize how disgusting it is that sugar is in pretty much everything you eat. And if you need support, well I can be a great cheerleader and so are all the people that have taken the Body Bi Vi Challenge, because without them I would not be 15 pounds less!
http://brittnie.bodybyvi.com/
You have to learn to read the labels, and not just the nutrition panel but the ENTIRE label...meaning the ingredients. You can look at the nutrition panel and see 41g of sugar, (think of that in Mary Poppins terms and you have 41 teaspoons of sugar. Can you eat 41 teaspoons of sugar alone? I can't either, so why drink/eat it?) which is a lot of sugar, but you HAVE to read the ingredients too. If there is no added word SUGAR in the ingredients (like in 100% Apple Juice) then what you are eating/drinking is natural sugar just like that found in fruit. I just can not believe all the things that have added sugar in them that really do not need sugar. Things like:
Peanut Butter
Garlic Bread
ANY Bread (including whole wheat ones)
Marinara Sauce
Tortillas
Soup
Oatmeal
PLAIN Cherrios
Ketchup
Ranch (most salad dressings)
Needless to say I was shocked. Do we really need to add sugar to most of these things? I can't imagine hundreds of years ago sugar was readily available for our ancestors to put it into bread, peanut butter, oatmeal, and marinara sauce. So I really do not think that all of that needs sugar now! But sugar is a drug and if they can just hide the smallest amounts in their product it will keep you coming back for more because sugar is a DRUG!
Which leads me to my horrible withdrawal symptoms from "going off sugar." It included horrible headaches, grumpiness, mood swings, temp swings including sweating, and bad cravings. My poor husband, I was a bitch. I am feeling much better now. I feel level, no ups and downs like you get with sugar. My cravings are not near what they used to be. But it sure was hell getting here...won't lie.
However, the most fantastic thing of this whole thing is that I have broken my weight plateau and will (hopefully) never see the 190's again! I was stuck at the 188-191 range and I happy to announce that this morning I was 186! I will post measurements and stats and all that jazz later but I just had to share the excitement!
So if you are even the slightest bit thinking about cutting out sugar I highly recommend it. Yes it is going to be hard (and so is having a baby and women do that daily) but it is so worth it in the end. You will also realize how disgusting it is that sugar is in pretty much everything you eat. And if you need support, well I can be a great cheerleader and so are all the people that have taken the Body Bi Vi Challenge, because without them I would not be 15 pounds less!
http://brittnie.bodybyvi.com/
Tuesday, January 3, 2012
The End of My Body By Vi 90 Day Challenge
I have reached the end of my Body By Vi 90 Day Challenge. I am sad to say I never did reach the goal I had wanted (30 lbs.) But I did manage to lose 14! That is still a big accomplishment considering my 90 days was in with the holidays and a major trip to Napa Valley (a.k.a top spot for foodies in America.) I am gearing up for my second 90 Day Challenge and am really excited to continue making changes for a healthier lifestyle, and a healthier (and skinnier!) me.
10/03 11/14 01/03
Weight 202 191 188
Bust 46.5 44 44
Waist 40 37 37
Hips 50 47 46
Leg 24.5 23 22.5
Arm 12.5 12 11.5
A total of 14 pounds and 12 inches lost! WOW!
So for my next 90 Day Challenge I plan to cut out all added sugar, all soda, and try to eat smaller portions. I really would like to finish the rest of my previous 30lb goal putting me at 172.
Wish me luck!
http://brittnie.bodybyvi.com/
10/03 11/14 01/03
Weight 202 191 188
Bust 46.5 44 44
Waist 40 37 37
Hips 50 47 46
Leg 24.5 23 22.5
Arm 12.5 12 11.5
A total of 14 pounds and 12 inches lost! WOW!
So for my next 90 Day Challenge I plan to cut out all added sugar, all soda, and try to eat smaller portions. I really would like to finish the rest of my previous 30lb goal putting me at 172.
Wish me luck!
http://brittnie.bodybyvi.com/
Sunday, January 1, 2012
The End of 365
Today is the end of my 365 Picture a Day Challenge in which I took a picture of Tristan everyday for an entire year...it's really kinda sad actually. But I must say it is nice to not have to worry about it so much anymore.
I happy to say that for the most part I succeeded, but there are a handful of times I just plain forgot one day and had to use a picture from the previous day or the next day. I can tell you it is less than 8 times this happened. 8 out of 365 I say is pretty good odds :)
So for the next year I am doing 52 Picture a Week Challenge. Wish me luck!
I happy to say that for the most part I succeeded, but there are a handful of times I just plain forgot one day and had to use a picture from the previous day or the next day. I can tell you it is less than 8 times this happened. 8 out of 365 I say is pretty good odds :)
So for the next year I am doing 52 Picture a Week Challenge. Wish me luck!
Jan 1st
Feb 1st
March 1st
April 1st
May 1st
June 1st
July 1st
August 1st
September 1st
October 1st
November 1st
December 1st
Jan 1st 2012
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)