Yes, it was a looooong weekend

Please, no more long weekends. No, really, I'd rather be at work.

Yes, it was that bad. R had to work on Saturday AND Sunday, so I was roughing it all by myself for most of the weekend (my hat goes off to single mothers). Cman is still sick, which means he is also crabby and cries for everything and God help you if you can't figure out what he wants the instant that he wants it. He refuses to eat any more than 5 or 6 bites of anything (his new word is "done"). I used to think his eating was bad, but now it's worse. I really hope that it's just because he's sick and not because this is a new trend. He turns his face around so that we can't put the food in his mouth. And forget about the "just put it on his tray and he'll feed himself" line because we have...and he won't. He will throw it or completely ignore it. I really lost it yesterday and just broke down and started crying. Thank God R was there to save me and talk me down from my ledge because the frustration of a small, fragile child that won't eat was just way too much to deal with yesterday. He is falling of the charts people. I think he's at 3% in weight or some ridiculous number like that. You can see his ribs and he looks like one of those malnourished children with the large bellies. He's got an appointment with a gastro doctor on Thursday. Perhpas it's something in his gut that's wrong. I don't know (maybe heartburn?). If he were overweight or something, then yes, fine, don't eat. But no, he is very thin, so he can't afford to not eat.

Anyway, I had to get that off my chest because it's driving me crazy. The whole weekend wasn't horrible though, we actually had some fun on Saturday at Tatiana's 6th birthday party. They had a bounce-house, which he didn't go into for fear of getting smooshed by a gaggle of 6 year olds. He did love the playground though and went down the slide 101 times. He played in the sand and even had a not-so-secret admirer doting on him.

His piñata skills are getting better with each party. He no longer freaks out by all the kids on the floor. He just calmly picks up the candy (and also the empty wrappers) that are around him and puts them in the bag that I hold for him. "Yes, yes, Christian...that's how you do it...now remember to get the ones that look like chocolate". I would say I have him well trained, wouldn't you? Unfortunately, he's going to actually want to eat that candy some day, so I'll have to have another child devise another plan for when that happens. Unfortunately he doesn't say much yet, otherwise the "trick or treat" training could begin as well (after all it is only five months away).

After some delicious cake and another slip down the slide, I gathered my his candy bag and we called it a day. As we were walking back to the car, his admirer came to see him off and bid him farewell. How cute is that? Quite a ladies man...I'm gonna have to keep him locked up.

Name that movie

Amanda did this fun little meme over at her place, so I will consider myself tagged and do it here too.

Pick out ten favorite movies, then look them up at IMDb. In the overview at the top of each movie’s page, there are “Plot Keywords,” usually five of them. (Plus more, if you click the link.) Take the first five, and post them. Then the rest of us get to play movie buff and see if we can guess them.

I had trouble thinking of ten because I do not actually have ten FAVORITE (doesn't that word generally mean ONE thing regarded with special favor?) movies, but there are alot of movies that I like, so I just picked the first ones that popped into my head. I must say some of these keywords are pretty hard because I don't think I would be able to figure them out myself if I had to (although some are painfully obvious). I will post the answers next week.


#1
Gadget Car / Beautiful Woman / Judo / Reverse Footage / Breaking The Fourth Wall

#2
Spying / Talking Through Buttocks / Raccoon / Africa / Monkey Actor

#3
New York City / Based On Musical / Broadway Musical / Based On Adaptation / Billionaire

#4
First Love / Chicago Illinois / Editor / Affection / Nerd

#5
Childhood Friend / Whimsical / Teenage Girl / Aging / Time Travel Romance

#6
Volkswagen Beetle / Bully / Vomit Scene / Gay Kiss / Slacker

#7
Guillotine / Spoof / Chastity Belt / Arrow / Bow And Arrow

#8
Bittersweet / Class System / Coming Of Age / Gentle / Family Vacation

#9
Slit Throat / Stabbed In Stomach / 1970s / Gore / Slasher Flick

#10
Premarital Sex / Good Versus Evil / Haunted House / Stalking / Suburbs


I'm supposed to tag 10 people, but like I mentioned in a previous meme, I don't think I know that many people that have blogs that also read this blog (heck, I know that many people don't read this blog). So if you would like to participate in the fun, consider yourself tagged and let me know in the comments section so I can check it out!

Raptor rescue rangers

Ever since Cman made his appearance into this world, my poor doggies have become second class citizens in their own home. They don't have the run of the house, I hardly ever play with them and due to R's strange work schedule, they don't get taken out on walks as often. On Sunday, since R was home, I decided to take the puppies for a little walk by the lake so they could get some exercise and fresh air. Candy had a great time and didn't want to go back home, but I had to take her back so I could take Lucy out. Walking with both of them is a bad idea.

When it was Lucy's turn to go out she was going crazy running everywhere and dragging me at the end of the leash. When we made it to the lake I let Lucy run some laps around me (still on the leash because she is a crazy crazy untrained dog that should not be left to run loose outside) to tire her out. As we were doing this, I noticed a little birdie standing by this huge tree. I walked over so I could get a better look fully expecting it to fly away once it saw my dog. Oddly enough, we kept getting closer and closer and the bird wasn't going anywhere. I was standing three feet from it and was in total awe of how cute it was and how amazing that it hadn't flown away considering the crazy Jack Russell at the end of my leash (Lucy hadn't noticed it yet). That's when I got a good look at it and noticed that it was some type of eagle or hawk because it had one of those scary looking beaks that can rip a finger off. It was definitely a baby though because it was not afraid of me at all! I leaned over and talked to it and told it what a beautiful little baby it was and that it should fly away because a doggy might come by and eat it. Because I was not high (or crazy) the bird didn't talk back, but it did hop away when Lucy noticed it and tried to lunge at it. The birdie raised it's wings and opened it's jaw, but still no flying. I looked around to see if the big momma was anywhere around. I had been pecked by a protective momma bird once before and I didn't intend on having it happen again, by an eagle/hawk no less.

I grabbed Lucy and headed home where I proceeded to tell R about the baby bird that we just HAD to rescue because if it stayed there, a dog was going to eat it. He called the emergency animal clinic and they told us to bring it over. We grabbed a box, grabbed the camera, put Chris in the stroller and went back to the lake. I told R to bring a towel so he could catch the bird, but he didn't listen to me as he imagined the bird to be the size of a budgie I guess. As we walked to the place where I had seen the bird, my mom's neighbor ran into us and asked us if the box was for the hawk and we said "yes...is that what it is?". The birdie had moved from his spot and another lady was standing by it taking pictures. She was glad to see us coming with a box because she too felt that the bird would definitely get injured by a dog if it stayed there. As we approached the bird, R suddenly realized why I told him to bring a towel. The bird was the size of really large pigeon or a small barn owl. After seeing the beak on this baby, R was hesitant to approach him and grab him. He and the lady tried to scoop him into the box, but the bird was hanging on to the ground for dear life. I was keeping an eye out in the sky for the momma bird, I didn't want R to lose a chunk of hair from a sharp talon or two. I also found the nest where he had fallen from and it was very high up, I'm surprised it didn't break anything on the way down. With no angry momma in sight, they managed to get the bird in the box and we left immediately to the vet clinic.

At the clinic, they confirmed that it was a hawk. They told us that they would check it out for injuries and fix it up if necessary. So we were happy to hear this and we headed back home. Chris had just experienced his first animal rescue! In the car ride, Ren asked me if I wanted to name my bird and I said "yes, let's name him Tony". Ren said..."I don't get it"...I said "Tony?...Tony Hawk?". Yes, yes, I've got a million of em folks...I'll be here all week. Thank you.


Ren called the clinic yesterday and they said that Tony [the] Hawk was fine, the only thing wrong with him was that he had mites. They reiterated that it was good that we had brought him in, otherwise, he probably would have gotten injured by another animal. They took him to a wildlife sanctuary where he will now be able to learn how to fly in peace. Yay!

Party animals

This weekend was quite fun. We went to a birthday party and then went to visit Sophie and then on Sunday we did a little rescue of sorts, but I'll have to cut it into several posts as I don't have the stamina to write it all down at once. Nor should anyone have to read that much nonsense in one sitting.

But before I begin my weekend recap, I have to mention that my little man is sick with a fever. He had 102.5 on Monday morning (around 3 am) and it was a bit scary since I had never seen such a high temp on him before. R took him to the pediatrician this morning and she gave him some eye drops (his eyes are watery and a little swollen) and pediacare and stuff for the fever. He's gained a little bit of weight, so hopefully this won't cause him to go back down again.

On Saturday we went to Daniel's 7th birthday party and hotter Otter John was there to teach the kids about animals. We got to see an alligator, a crocodile, two owls, a tortoise, and a big scary cat. I was having a great time checking Otter John out the animals and Cman couldn't care less; he preferred to play with rocks, balls and bubbles. We tried the bounce-house once again, and once again he exhibited great joy at being in there. He liked the slide better, but didn't like it when he went down too quickly. When it was time for the piñata, he got a little more involved this time. I showed him how to pick the candy up from the floor and put it in his little bag. It was cute to watch him pick them up one. by. one.

After the party we went to Sophia's house for a playdate. It consisted mostly of parallel play, but they still had a good time. We put them in the crib together to see what they would do and Chris couldn't make up his mind whether he should hug her or hit her. Here's a cute video of him and Sophie dancing/bouncing in the crib.

Speaking of balls (updated)

The ball pit training lessons have begun! OK, not really, but knowing Cman and his fear of all things new, a little ball pit training won't hurt. If he freaks out with the bounce house, then I can imagine what will happen when he meets his first ball-pit. At first he wouldn't even get in the quasi-ball pit I created, but I have now managed to demystify the whole thing and he actually wants to get in and play with his the balls.

I guess this will be an update post of sorts since I haven't really done one recently. I update y'all on his vocabulary once in a while, but I noticed that I have been forgetting to update you on his sign language all along. Doh! He knows and does the signs for eat (hungry), bath, and cookie. Perhaps if I were a little more consistent with it he'd learn more of them, but I always forget to do them, so there goes that. He also likes to whisper now. My mom has conversations with him in whisper tone which consist of him saying the words that he uses the most, one right after the other, "dada, mama, papa, agua" in a very soft voice. It's so cute. He also finally learned how to use a straw. I say finally because a while ago, I showed great surprise when I saw Izabella drinking from a straw. I was instantly mocked and informed that it's pretty commonplace for 9 month-olds to know how to use a straw (then why do the packages of sippy cups with straws say for ages 2+ huh? huh? huh?). News to me. Anyway, I think it was the taste of the McDonald's St.Patty's milkshake that did the trick. He's a pro with the straw now. He's very good at doing puzzles and has been doing them since I got him an animal one in March, although sometimes he gets pissed off when the piece doesn't go in as quickly as he would like it to and he throws the puzzle and all the pieces in anger (a bit of a temper?). He's eating his solid food like a champ now, but I feed it to him because when I was putting it on the tray for him to feed himself, he would ignore it or throw it on the floor. It takes him an hour to eat a small bowl of food (yes, with me feeding it to him). I think it will get better though because it seems that all four of his bottom molars (or whatever teeth come after the front bottom four) are coming out at the same time. This is making him very drooly and frustrated at times, but hopefully he will eat faster now. Maybe we can cut our feeding time to 45 minutes!? I just hope the let's bite mommy phase doesn't come back.

___________________________________________________
It looks like I blocked comments by mistake when I originally posted this....all fixed now!

Overheard in Walgreens

No Christian, put the ball back...you can play with your balls when we get home.

Welcome to our home...otherwise known as vintage toy land

When I was young, I thought that having a child would make me more responsible and adult-like (as opposed to clown-like). I thought that I would suddenly become a serious and mature adult and I wouldn't be silly or that I wouldn't like to play with kid things or toys or any of that stuff, but oh how wrong I was. Having Christian has caused me to regress (not that I had pro-gressed to begin with or anything) even further into my childhood.

I find myself being just as silly as always because I need to be to entertain Chris, but in addition to that I find myself having a brand new love affair with the world of toys. I remember when I was young my mom would take me to the local Toysrus to pick out my birthday gifts. I precisely remember putting the following in my shopping cart: a cabbage patch kid, a pound puppy, a barbie and a board game or two. Although my budget was only about $50 bucks, I felt like I was on one of those shopping sprees that kids used to win in contests back in the days.

I was always saying BUY ME THIS BUY ME THAT, but fortunately my mom didn't always get me everything I wanted. I had to put the toys I wanted on a list and hope and pray that I would get them for my birthday or for Christmas. Sometimes I would get them, and well, sometimes not. I still have fond memories of my favorite toys that I played with as a child, but I also have fond memories of the toys that I really wanted and never got.

Aha, but I'm getting a second chance now that I have Christian (and eBay). It seems that I am living vicariously through my son when it comes to toys. For instance, he is not even two and he already owns several toys that are a tad beyond his age range. They are put away for when he is older, but they are clearly toys that you would've easily found in a child's closet in 1982. For example, he has a brand new lite brite set just waiting for him to turn 4, a set of Lincoln logs that can't wait till he turns 3, a vintage little people garage that he already plays with and a vintage little people home that he completely ignores. I have as much fun (if not more) playing with the toys than he does.

I find myself buying him all the toys that I loved as a child plus all the ones that I didn't get the opportunity to love. I always wanted one of those stick ponies ("no, those are for boys"). Can you guess who's got a rocking pony? I always wanted Transformers ("no, those are for boys"); guess who's gonna get one when he's old enough (or perhaps before then if I really see one that I like)? I figure now is the only time I can do this because pretty soon he will start asking for his own favorite toys. At this point I will have to buy him the stuff that he likes and I will no longer be able to buy him the toys that I like. Hopefully, they will coincide once in a while and we can have a super soaker xtra power water gun fight or I can bust my ass have fun with him on the slip and slide, or we can make some snow cones on a Snoopy snow cone machine. Hmm...I guess the Barbie Dream home would be pushing it huh?

And then I wonder why his playroom is crowded.

Friday meme

I got tagged by Elizasmom! I think I've done this one before, but since I don't remember (and don't feel like looking it up), I will do it again.

INSTRUCTIONS: Remove the blog in the top spot from the following list and bump everyone up one place. Then add your blog to the bottom slot, like so.

1) Doggy Mama
2) Eve
3) Sarah
4) Elizasmom
5) Claudia's Spaceship

Next select five people to tag: hm...I don't think I even know five people w/blogs (that haven't been tagged that also read this blog on a regular basis).

1) Amanda - HAPPY GRADUATION!
2) Lilli
3) Little Ladybug's Garden
4) Ayleen (you can answer on the Girls blog)
5) My Life

OK, so maybe I do know five people, but that was kind of close there. If they would've asked for six, I'da been in trouble.


What were you doing 10 years ago?
May 11, 1997: I was working at the medical school in the file room.
(sung to I've been working on the railroad)
I've been working in the file room...all the live long day.
I've been working in the file room, getting 20 paper-cuts per day!

I hadn't met my future hubby f2f yet, but was about to do so in a couple of weeks.


What were you doing 1 year ago?
May 11, 2006 I was posting this other meme that no-one responded to Hrmph! Perhaps someone will play along this time (aherm...hint hint cough cough). I was wanting to go see an American Haunting (which I just realized that I never actually saw). I was excited about the new pirates movie that was coming out (as I am now as well). I also wanted to see the DaVinci code, fortunately I finally got to see it...around January this year I think. I was also getting ready to go on my girl's only trip to New York and was quite excited about that. Christian was recuperating from an ear infection and he was teething too.


Five snacks you enjoy:
1) Cheesy chips of any kind
2) Ice cream sandwiches
3) NACHOS
4) cookies and milk
5) sugary cereal with milk


Five songs that you know all the lyrics to:
Wow, this one's kind of hard because i know the lyrics to ALOT of songs, but only when they are playing. I don't think I know the lyrics to any song without hearing the song being played at the same time....well, except for Old Macdonald or something. Here are a couple of favorite songs that I really love to belt out and sing really loudly. I've had enough complaints about my singing though, so I refrain from exposing others to that special kind of torture now and only sing when I'm alone in the car.

1) Volver a nacer by Chayanne (or almost any song by him for that matter)
2) Jealous Fellows by Dimples T.
3) Black by Pearl Jam (or almost any other song by Pearl Jam for that matter)
4) Bust a move by Young MC
5) Con te partiro by Andrea Bocelli (yes I realize it's in Italian...I know the words, I just don't know what they mean).


Five things you would do if you were a millionaire:
Travel
Pay off our debts
Travel
Buy bigger house and one for our parents very close by so they can babysit while we...
Travel some more
Extreme makeover - I would get to meet my three favorite friends: liposuction, tummy tuck and boob job!


Five bad habits:
1) I pick at my nails (I don't bite them super short though) - I too cannot make it out of a nail place without destroying a manicure.
2) Splitting my split ends apart
3) Picking at scabs and any other things that may appear on my skin (peeling sun burn, rash, pimple, etc). I'm really surprised I don't have any pock marks or scars on my face.
4) Letting my burps escape when they want to(R hates this even though I tell him that I can't help it) - the thing is I can't burp on command, so I have to let them out when they want to come out otherwise I will be very uncomfortable...or they'll come out the other end.
5) Lane surfing


Five things you like doing:
1) Scrapbooking - I like it when my friends and I can get together to scrap because then we can see each other's albums and get ideas and constructive feedback from each other.
2) Listening to music - my iPod in the car and Pandora at work. At home I usually don't listen to my music because I'm with Cman and I don't want to traumatize him with some of my selections.
3) Internet - love to poke around and find new things and I love to read blogs...that blog roll on the right is not even a fraction of all the ones I try to read (I should really try to update it).
4) Movies - I love going to the movies, unfortunately I don't get to do that too often now.
5) Eating - This is quite apparent. This is the reason the snack question above was difficult (to narrow down). This is the reason I need my extreme makeover and this is the reason for 3 out of the 5 things in the next question.


Five things you would never wear again:
1) Mini skirt
2) Short shorts
3) Christmas tree costume
4) My hair in a side ponytail
5) A bikini - (or any kind of bathing suit at this point...well, ok, maybe one of these). Because I can't, not because I don't want to, but once I become a millionaire and get my extreme makeover, then we'll see.


Five favorite toys:
1) The Rabb...oh you didn't mean those kinds of toys...um...ok...in that case...
2) iPod
3) Digital camera
4) Video camera
5) Portable DVD player

Ten more

In the past three weeks, the little man has picked up even more wanna-be words:

cheche/checha = leche/lechita = milk
who = jugo = juice (or anything that isn't water or milk)
momo = moco = booger (yes, only I would purposefully teach my son that word)
poo poo = self explanatory
abo = arbol = tree
fa = fresa = strawberry
che = chicken
baw = ball
bubba = bubbles
ta = fruita = fruit

I especially love how he says bubbles. Unfortunately every time we blow bubbles he has a shit fit. The problem is once you open the bubble container, you must be prepared to blow bubbles for the rest of eternity because the moment you decide to stop all hell breaks loose. OK Christian time to put away the bubbles and go inside. WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA! BUUUUUBBBBBBAAAAAAA!
Yeah, so you can imagine we don't do bubbles too often around here.

On a separate and totally unrelated note, I was having chinese for lunch yesterday and decided to crack open a fortune cookie. I picked one out of the bunch and read my fortune:

Sometimes travel to new places leads to great transformation.

Funny. Real funny. When I got home, the travel taunting continued because I got a postcard in the mail from Rome. How nice.

Tea, a drink with jam and bread

OK now I want to go to London.

M, one of the employees in our office just got back from a study abroad program in England. She was telling us all about the wonderful things she saw and the wonderful places she went to. The more she told me, the more the envy spilled from every pore in my body. Why is it that when you want to go somewhere really badly everyone around you just went there and is dying to tell you about it? Or did this happen the other way around? Is my new-found "I want to go to Europe" obsession rearing its ugly head because so many people around me seem to have just gone to Europe, or are in Europe right now, or are planning on going to Europe in the near future? A further question to ask is...have there always been many people around me that are going to or coming from Europe, and am I just noticing them now because I'm thinking about wanting to go myself?

Anyway, I veered a bit off subject there. M told me that she went to a sing-along show in London. How fun is that? And it's not just any sing-along, it was a Sound of Music sing-along. They show the film in a large movie theatre and it has subtitles with the words so that you can follow along with all the songs even if you don't know the words. The people that go to this really get into it too because they show up in elaborate costumes as well. Wow, singing AND costumes...where do I sign up?

I immediately turned to Professor Google to see what I could find out about it and to see if the show was playing in the U.S. Fortunately, the sing along was such a great success in London that they brought it to New York as well. I was just about to go online and book a trip to NY so I could go to this singing phenomenon until I looked at the date on the review and realized that the show had been in NY .....a full 7 years ago. Hmm...last to find out (L2FO) strikes again (do I live in a cave or something? WTF?)

Awww, the sadness. Then I found this. Unfortunately I really can't justify going to Missouri or Indiana just to dress up as a hill and sing in a theatre with a bunch of strangers (NY is more doable). But wait, just when I had given up on the whole prospect, I subsequently found this. A show in Los Angeles! YAY!..... 3 months before I actually go there. Nay.

Oh the IRRRRONY.

Frugal Friday

R and I went to a store that shall remain nameless and saw this lovely vase on a table top. It was filled with water, stones and a single leaf. A lovely accent for our home he thought. I felt it was a little large and there was really no place to put it, so we didn't buy it (or even look at the price) and kept on walking.

A couple of days later, R still wanted that vase, and I acquiesced, so he headed to said store to purchase it. He came back without it. The reason? They wanted $53 dollars (+ tax) for it (for the large one that we saw). It's a nice vase and all, but hello, I don't think so.

So my awesome hubby took matters into his own hands:

- Small glass vase from Walmart on clearance: $2.99

-Bottle of river stones (not on clearance...Grrr): $5.95 (or better yet, rocks from your back yard: free)

-Leaf from your neighbor's front yard: free

-Pretty (not as huge) vase that didn't cost us an arm and a leg: Priceless!

YAY ! TADA!


The dining room chair you see in the corner will be the subject of a future Frugal Friday (say that 10 times fast) installment. I also have a garage sale post to share with you. Stay tuned: Fun times ahead!

Oh and for the Star Wars geeks fans....May the fourth be with you (hee hee, sorry, I couldn't help it).

A laughing matter

I've got a video treat for you guys today!

This weekend R and I got Chris on video doing this hilarious laugh that he likes to do.

Ren and I like to laugh in a big exaggerated way so that Christian will copy us. Sometimes I cover my mouth when I laugh, so now he does it too.

When Chris is in a laughing mood, Ren asks him things and Chris responds to them by laughing (no matter what he asks him). It is too funny and I can barely hold my laugh as I film him.

In this video you can also tell who the favorite parent is (starts with R and rhymes with en) because when I talk to Christian he puts a serious face and practically ignores me.

Joy.

Speaking of travel

All of a sudden... I want to go to Chicago.

It really sucks that the two events I want to go for though are a week apart. Had they been one day after another, perhaps I could've maybe had a ghost of a chance of convincing R to go solo on toddler duty for the weekend.

8 days though (July 29 through Aug 6)?

Not gonna happen.

Boo hoo.