Thursday, December 31, 2009

Dorian the snow shoveler

Dorian is 18 months old now, and he is starting to take his responsibilities very seriously. He is especially helpful around the house. If I get the broom out, he takes it away from me and does the sweeping himself. If I give him a rag, he starts polishing the floors and the cupboards. Whenever we go outside, he grabs a snow shovel...whether there is snow on the driveway or not... He is starting to talk like crazy, although his diction needs some work. Some of my favorite words:
  • oosh (shoes)
  • owm (meow)
  • TAAAH!! (star)
  • datUTCH (don't touch...most often heard right after a meal when i'm carrying him to the sink to wash up)
  • no (snow, or no, or nose)
  • lella (umbrella)
  • bate (break...he's a little bit destructive...)
  • tut (stuck...he's good at squeezing into small places that he can't get out of)
  • aht (hat)
  • ow (he says this one really clearly, as he pinches you or scratches your face)
  • ri-it (glottal stop between syllables)(what does a frog say?)
I could go on. I just realized a word he's been saying over and over to himself (betit) is "presents." He must have loved Christmas. I still haven't figured out what he means by "money," which he says quite a lot. He is such a fun little person, and is getting very creative and learning so fast!

And now he's waking up from his nap, though he has not been sleeping for an hour and a half yet. Think I can convince him his New Year's resolution should be 2-3 hour naps?

Thursday, December 24, 2009

Merry Christmas!

Tuesday, December 22, 2009

Trains and...more dogs

We were watching videos of trains on my computer, and Dorian said "choo choo," so then I looked up some videos of dogs, and sure enough, he liked those too. :)

Saturday, December 19, 2009

Two Favorite Words

For some reason, when Dorian learned (his version of) the sign for "please," he kind of got the "p" sound, but also started associating an extra syllable with it, and it became "dapa." Although I think it probably means something more like "gimme!" but we like to think he's being polite.

This video also demonstrates his mastery of the sign for "more," which probably means something close to "dapa," but is used more specifically in reference to food that he wants.

Saturday, December 12, 2009

No No, Yes Yes

We have this hilarious little board book titled No No, Yes Yes, which shows a baby doing various things he shouldn't, and then things he should. It's very cute, although we worry a bit that it will just give Dorian ideas...

But anyway, it was his favorite book for a little while, and we read it to him again and again until he had it memorized.

And no...that's not the same book...

Friday, December 11, 2009

Stupid Baby Tricks

My friend Yvonne calls these "stupid baby tricks," which I think is so true, and yet I can't resist showing them off.

Tuesday, December 8, 2009

Dorian talks

I'm planning on posting a few videos of Dorian and his favorite words over the next several days. Here, you get a glimpse of his fascination with dogs.

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Halloween

I have never really been good at thinking of Halloween costume ideas. I feel weird about spending good money on something that will be worn once, and I don't really sew. So all things considered, I think our costumes came together pretty nicely this year. I found the poodle skirt that my mom made me in 6th grade (yeah, she sews)... dug out a 3-6 month white onesie for Dorian... and painted the boys' hair black...oh, and Russell shaved but kept the sideburns...

Monday, November 9, 2009

Balancing Act

I am constantly amazed at how comfortable he is getting in his little body. And how frequently he manages to reprogram my keyboard, even with the key lock program running.

Monday, November 2, 2009

Tallulahs Jewelry Web Debut

I don't wear a lot of jewelry. I'm just not that into accessorizing. But when I do want a little extra sparkle, I'm picky. With a few rare exceptions, I really don't wear anything but Tallulahs.

(yeah, that's my beautiful niece on the home page.)

Here I am on my wedding day, wearing a simple silk necklace with white freshwater pearls. And here I am at my graduate piano recital, wearing assorted freshwater pearls, citrine, pink opal, salmon coral, and rose quartz.

I have the rare fortune of being closely related to the brilliant designer of this jewelry (she is my sister-in-law). Because she loves me, she is offering two ways for my friends to get great deals on her handmade artisan pieces. The first is by visiting www.tallulahsjewelry.com before November 20th and using the coupon code "baubles" to get 20% off your entire order. This is a great deal just in time for the holidays, and this jewelry makes a perfect gift for any of the special women in your life.

The second way for you to get a great deal, if you are lucky enough to live in the Wasatch Front area, is to attend the bonus Fall Sample Sale in Bountiful on Saturday November 14th. These intimate sample sales are only being offered in a few locations around the country, and are the only place that you will receive even further discounts (up to 40% off)! Not only that, but you will be able to touch the jewelry, try it on, and take it home that day, without paying shipping! See the invitation below for details.

This jewelry is one-of-a-kind or some-of-a-kind — never mass-produced. Tallulahs uses only real semi-precious gems, stones, pearls, and precious metals in their designs. The quality construction harks back to your grandmothers' jewelry — these items will be around for the next generation. Nothing feels quite like real stones and pearls: the drape, the touch, the color. You must come to the November Sample Sale to see it and believe.

For fun, here is a link to a shout-out to Tallulahs from an Atlanta-area furniture re-conditioner.

Please pass this invitation on to anyone and everyone you think might be interested in either the web sale or the sample sale. Also please bring any guests you wish to the November Sample Sale!

Saturday, October 17, 2009

On the bench by Asuka

So, why does Russell's iPhone capture the colors so much better than my Sony Cyber-Shot?

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

My little drummer boy

So, my nephew JD let us have his drums while he is on his mission. Russell loves having them in the basement, and goes down several times a week to play them. And now that Dorian has discovered them, we go down several times a DAY. On a totally unrelated note, we found and killed 3 of these in our garage within a couple of days, several weeks ago. I have been out there working on my refinishing project, so I hope I have scared off any others who were thinking of moving in. Eeeuwgh.

Friday, October 2, 2009

And...the baby wins

And here you will see how Dorian has completely defeated me. All "babyproofing" is now null and void. I am just out of luck.

But seriously, what do I do now?

Saturday, September 26, 2009

What? You don't use 3 spoons?

This is a morning ritual for us. After Dorian eats his banana ("na-na-na"--it was his first real word), I bring him his oatmeal, and he gets one spoon in each hand while I feed him with a third. Sometimes he ends up with all 3 spoons, at which point I just let him play until he starts throwing oatmeal across the room. Then we're done.

Thursday, September 24, 2009

Dorian and the Shape Sorter

My favorite part is how he pats his tummy when he is so pleased with himself.

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Let's Go Outside!

First you have to put your shoes on. Then it's time to go outside! Hooray! It's awesome out here! But...it's cold! What happened to summer? Why am I wearing shorts? Let's go back inside! Hang on, mama has to take a picture of this rosebush so she can post it on her blog and show everyone that it lived! After she was sure it was dead! It's so boring inside. I'll just hang out in this carseat that's too small for me.

Saturday, September 19, 2009

Cool Baby

Dorian has finally started to leave his sunglasses on long enough for me to get some pictures. He likes to look in the mirror and laugh, but then they come right off again. I don't blame him; it's weird having stuff touch your face. Excuse me, I'm on the phone here. P.S. As I'm looking through pictures from the last few weeks, I'm really noticing how rarely Dorian wears clothes...

Wednesday, September 16, 2009

Haircut

I was just thinking a week or two ago about how simple my life is, and how much I love having a simple life. Then I decided to sand and refinish some furniture...but that still doesn't explain why I haven't blogged in 3 weeks, since I only started that project 5 days ago...

ANyway, so Dorian got his first haircut a few weeks ago. I know, you're thinking, what? that kid doesn't have any hair. But seriously, it was getting long enough in the back that Russell couldn't stand the mullet look for one more second, and he pulled out the clippers in the middle of lunch one Saturday. And then I took a picture of his orange julius mustache in the bath, and I couldn't resist posting it for you to get a look at all those teeth! He has had all of them including his first year molars for a couple of months now. And he bit a little boy at church last week...

Wednesday, August 26, 2009

You think it's fun now...wait 'til you find out what it's really for!

Russell commented to me the other day how all our things seem to end up in Dorian's toy pile. Once he found this baby-sized plastic guitar, he started carrying it everywhere with him. He loves to push the buttons and strum the...strummer button thingy. It doesn't even do anything except make a kind of clicking sound. But I guess it makes him feel like a rock star.

Sunday, August 23, 2009

Thanksgiving Point

We went to the Children's Discovery Garden at Thanksgiving Point for $2 Tuesday, which was super crowded, but tons of fun. We thought we might also go to Farm Country or the dinosaur museum, but we were pooped out after just the gardens. Dorian's favorite part, of course, was the Noah's Ark fountain. The water was freezing cold, but I couldn't get him out of it. I snapped a picture of his wet footprints because I thought they were so darn cute. He also liked exploring the rest of the gardens, and especially wanted to climb on anything he could. And when it was time to go home, he wanted to drive.

Sunday, August 16, 2009

Baby Dreams

Today Russell asked his little brother, who has been married for 7 weeks, if he is married in his dreams yet. It made me think about how dreams evolve to include new people in your life, and how this has especially affected my dreams as a new mother.

The dreams I am talking about are different than regular REM dreams...they are more like hallucinations. Like, my sister Carol often has spider hallucinations in the night. She opens her eyes and sees spiders coming down at her from the ceiling, or across the pillow, or some other terrifying scenario. She has to get up and turn on the light before she can convince herself they aren't real. I have experienced this with spiders as well, although I am usually tired enough that I can turn over and sleep with the spiders in peace.

But now that I am a mom, I have baby hallucinations in the night. In the early weeks of Dorian's life, I occasionally resorted to bringing him into my bed in my sleep deprived state. This is not meant to be a discussion on co-sleeping, because I know it works great for some people, but it is not for me. Because for months after I did this a few times, I woke up EVERY NIGHT with the absolute knowledge that the baby was in bed with me. I would shove Russell away because he was on top of the baby, or I would claw through the bedclothes, trying to find the baby before he suffocated. Often I could even feel him breathing under the covers, but then he wasn't there. After a few minutes of looking, I would remember that I had put the baby in his crib after the last time he ate, and then I could go back to sleep.

The hallucinations were like that for several months. But after Dorian started crawling, they eventually evolved. Rather than being under the covers or under Russell, the baby was falling off the edge of the bed, and I had to catch him. Later, as he became more independent, I would wake up because he was in the room, playing in the garbage can, or about to pull the iron down on top of himself. Once, after he started pulling himself up to a standing position in his crib, I woke up to hear him falling down the stairs. Russell and Dorian woke up that time too; I think there must have been a loud noise outside. The next day, Russell lowered the crib mattress as far as it would go.

Now that Dorian has been walking for a couple of months, the hallucinations usually involve him being out in the living room, which doesn't frighten me as much because it is pretty well baby-proofed, but it does make me think I should get up and watch my child. I have often found myself out of bed, walking into the living room, before I again remember that the kiddo is in his crib, and I should be sleeping too.

Last night I awoke no less than 4 times to the kiddo climbing up on a chair and pulling it over onto himself, or falling down the stairs (we had them blocked for months, but have opened them up because he can handle them pretty well now), or other similar catastrophes. Each time I sat completely upright with a gasp, or even jumped out of bed. So...it doesn't seem to be going away, or getting better. And it still happens almost every night.

Saturday, August 15, 2009

StoresOnline and my little acrobat

So, Russell got a new job. And when I say new, I mean one where he is an employee. As in regular paycheck and benefits. It will be an interesting experience for us! He has really enjoyed many aspects of being self-employed and doing freelance work, but is also really excited about the opportunities this will present, and the room for growth with this company. He is doing web design for StoresOnline. Dorian of course thinks Russell's company lanyard is the coolest new thing in the house.

P.S. Look who's getting hair! On an unrelated note (but the pictures tie it together, right?), I was doing handstands the other day (it's all I've got left from my days as a gymnast), and Dorian thought it was pretty funny, and then wanted to try himself. Since then, he has become quite the little acrobat, doing somersaults, back flips (off dad's chest), and even walking on his hands.

Friday, July 31, 2009

More outside pictures

He does love going outside, even when it's super hot. We should go swimming or something.

Thursday, July 30, 2009

August Cake Giveaway

So I don't usually get into these giveaway things, but this is my friend Jenny and I love her. And her cakes are really fabulous. And her prices are really low right now while she builds up her portfolio....plus this coupon. Help promote Jeneze Cake Designs! Leave a comment on this post and paste the above coupon image on your blog, and your name will be entered into a drawing at the end of next week. The winner of the drawing will receive a free cake!!! Drawing will be held August 8, 09. So help spread the word. If you live outside of Utah and would still like a chance to win a prize I am willing to figure out something for the winner. Please help us and let all of your Utah friends and family know about Jeneze Cake and share the coupons too. Thanks!!

Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Mini golfing

We had free passes. I just wish they would have given us two more golf balls, since Dorian wouldn't let go of these.

Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Photo Shoot

Now that Dorian is a year old, we thought it would be a good idea to get some pictures taken of him. But since we don't have any money, I tried to do my own photo shoot in lieu of paying a professional...problem is, he pretty much either wouldn't look at me or he just wanted to grab the camera.

He is a little explorer. Only turns around to get me if he needs to grab my hand in order to climb up a ledge or down a hill. Our attempted photo shoot kind of ended in tears because I had the camera and he didn't. This is a mild version of his favorite new sad/mad furrowed brow.