you, at 15 months..

My sweet George,

You are officially a toddler and are living up to that title and then some!  So curious about your world, a constant explorer and communicating with us more each day.  It is so much fun watching you play, interact and discover. You are an incredibly happy and sweet boy and we are thankful everyday for you and your easy disposition. At 15 months, you...

• are walking like a champ, starting to run and still climbing everything 
• got you first pair of "real" shoes: New Balance sneakers, size 6 wide
• wear 18 month clothing
• make a "ooo, ooo" sound when you are excited about something or want to get our attention, making an "o" with your mouth, and point to what you want
• are still an excellent eater.  You have at least one apple each day and also love bananas, clementines and blueberries.  Some other favorites now are veal with orzo, lentil soup, turkey chili, shredded taco chicken, pastina with chicken and carrots, blueberry waffles and egg and cheese omelettes 
• when you want milk or, if we ask you "Thelis gala?" (Do you want milk? in Greek), you run to the refrigerator and try to open the door. Same goes for your milo (apple)
• say Mama, Baba, ba-oo (balloon), ba (ball), go and got it.  You understand much more than you can speak and this is very normal for toddlers in bi-lingual homes.
• are very ticklish under your arms and give us fantastic giggles whenever we play Tickle Monster
• still adore Sesame Street.  Your favorite episode of late is one where Elmo gets ahold of Abby's wand and makes everyone sing. Baby Bear and Mr. Hooper sing about porridge and you smile and laugh the whole way through the song, "I'm talking porridge, porridge, porridge, yummy, yummy porridge!" The tune is now stuck on constant loop in Mama and Baba's heads
• know how to kick a ball with your instep.  You dribble your small basketball or soccer ball  through the house daily
• love your books...to their demise! We have had to replace several of your favorites as they were, ahem, over loved and literally fell apart
• have complete crying and yelling meltdowns when we need to change your diaper in public restrooms.  I have no idea why this is happening but hope it is a stage that passes quickly
• give the best hugs and kisses
• weighed in at 25 pounds even at a recent sick visit to the doctor.  I'm looking forward to hearing the rest of your stats at your fifteen month appointment next week
• are still getting used to your feet and wearing shoes on different terrain.  You've taken a few tumbles, resulting in some scrapes and your first boo-boo requiring a band-aid
• love taking walks around town.  You will happily sit in your stroller for long stretches of time around town, people watching and pointing to the trucks as they drive by
• have so much fun at our local parks with lots of structures to climb and room to run.  We were lucky to have some early spring days in the past month for you to explore our parks for the first time since you started walking. 
• can reach doorknobs.  We had to put safety caps on the front and bathroom doors, just in case
• are very interested in figuring out how things work: taking things apart, seeing how pieces fit and pushing buttons
• go nap once a day for 1.5-2 hours, usually about 4 hours after you start the day. Lately, you have started initiating your own naps, going to the refrigerator and signaling that you would like milk.
• bedtime is 7:00 pm.
• when we are home, you cannot stand to have me out of your sight. When out, you will go quite a distance to play, occasionally check to make sure I am still around and, every once in awhile, will came back just to give me a quick hug *melt*
• are a great car traveler. You will either sit quietly in your seat (still rear-facing), playing with a few toys and listening to music or, you will drift off to sleep

Life with you is such an incredible joy.  Every time you meet a new milestone or discover something new, I think, "This is my favorite age/stage." Then, the next one proves to be even more exciting.  We  can't wait to see what's to come...

I love you to the moon and back, and again,
Mama

toys, glorious toys...

Tomorrow, G and I will be taking a short road trip to meet up with my cousin and her girls at the happiest place on Earth.  No, silly, not Disney.  Ikea!

I could spend days hours on end winding and browsing through all of the rooms and aisles.  Sitting on furniture.  Picturing myself and our belongings in simulated living rooms, bedrooms and kitchens.  And, then there is the not so small matter of the Swedish meatballs.

A trip to Ikea with toddler in tow means only going on a weekday to avoid huge crowds, taking plenty of play breaks and, of course, finding something new to bring home from the toy department.  Super inexpensive and super cute goods for the small set.  I can envision a signature bright yellow shopping bag filled with this fabric play food ($4.99-7.99):

 

A few of these puppets ($3.99) - we already have the zebra and he loves it:

And, perhaps, this sand play ice cream cone set ($2.99):

This is going to be a fun trip for Mama George :)

project life 2011: update...

It's been about a month since the much coveted white box arrived on my doorstep.  Opening each piece and going through the contents was fun but, also a bit disconcerting. How would I keep up this year since it was already February and I was already, technically behind? 

Simple.  I decided NOT to be behind - it's all in the definition and perspective. Project Life can be anything you want it or need it to be. This year's album won't start on January 1st.  Instead, it starts on Monday, February 14th.  I have the best records of this year beginning on that date.  Works for me.

What about the first month and a half of the year?  Those photos and stories will be scrapbooked. I have over a dozen page ideas sketched out and journaling jotted down in a notebook, complete with dates, titles and descriptions of the photos to use, ready to go when I make the time to sit and create. 

How I am approaching this year is different as well.  Last year, I attempted to do a photo a day and then label each photo during editing with the day of the week and date.  Exhausting, time consuming and not realistic for being a first time mom.  I have January through May finished in that format and the rest, well, I'll figure it out.  This year I have a plan:

1) Journal everyday: I picked up a 4x6 weekly pocket planner in the clearance section at Target for $1.  It's small, light and travels with me wherever I go - switched from diaper bag to work bag to purse depending on what my day looks like.  I jot a few things about each day in the calendar.  Sometimes it's just the mundane schedule, other times it includes an anecdote. The important thing is that I am writing down little memory cues for myself so that, later, I sit down and expand on the information on the PL journaling cards. Relying on my memory alone is a set-up for failure a la Mommy Brain.  This works better.

2) A Project Life On-the-Go Kit: I travel all over New York City for work and often have down time during lunch breaks or as I am waiting for students to arrive for a training.  Times when I am not at my home office or sitting at my desk, without access to a computer, and where I can take a few minutes to journal.  I had been holding on to a mini metal 'lunchbox' that once housed Maya Road chipboard pieces.  It ended up being the perfect size to hold: 

• pen (I use a Sharpie pen...love them)
• black permanent ink pad (rubber band secures the lid for travel)
• PL date stamp
• box of asst'd jouranling cards (half with the plain grid, half of the patterned variety)
• day of the week stickers
• a few post-it notes for practice stamping or removing excess ink from the stamp

Using this kit and my mini calendar, I can easily catch up on journaling cards wherever I go.

3) Photos: I'm taking photos constantly but, printing them is another matter. Primarily, I use Shutterfly and order my prints on matte paper.  I've been very happy with their quality, turnaround and customer service (they are not giving me any incentive to say so - I just like the company). Although it generally takes about a week to receive prints in the mail with the standard shipping, the quality is far better than any of our local one-hour places.  I print only when I have a coupon code, free print offer and (now that I have over 3,000 points saved) plan to redeem my Pampers Gifts to Grow points for free printing packages. I am now uploading my photos into weekly albums in my Shutterfly account so that I can easily select out just the dates I need for Project Life.

-----> Are you doing PL 2011?  How it is going and what is working for you?

friday faves: the hubs, food and words...

Favorite thing about my Husband: Easy...the way he loves both me and George unconditionally. I am blessed to see his face first and last each day, to be encircled in his embrace and to have him as such a hard-working provider for our family.  It's just that simple and just that complex.  He is a family man and he loves us.  There isn't anything more I could ask for.

Favorite Restaurant: Considering how much I love to eat, this should have been an easy choice.  We don't eat out often and I haven't been to this particular restaurant in a couple of years but, it remains one of my local favorites and, if given the choice, I'd go again and again.  Swaddee House of Thai in Thornwood, NY. 

I fell in love with their red and massaman curries and pad thai when I lived just a few blocks away and continued to go back every chance I got even after I moved away.  It's a tiny little spot for a leisurely meal with charming servers and authentic tastes and ambiance. And, now I'm hungry!

Favorite Children's Book: There are several current favorites in our house that are read to exhaustion.  In fact, we've even had to replace a few copies as they have been eaten worn through. I am thankful that my son seems to have as much of a love of books as I had at his age. He'll sit flipping through pages for long periods of time and asks us to read his favorites several times a day. Always guaranteed to get a giggle from the little man are:

• But Not the Hippopotamos, Sandra Boynton
• Mr. Brown Can Moo, Can You?, Dr. Seuss
• Hand, Hand, Fingers, Thumb, Al Perkins 
• Moo, Baa, La La La, Sandra Boynton
• Curious George at the Park, H. A. Rey

I have far too many of my own childhood favorites to ever list here but, one stand out has always been Anne of Green Gables.  I read the entire series several times over, lost in the life and adventures of Anne Shirley.  Which has me wondering if all those volumes are still in my parents basement somewhere?

just a little break...

I have a bunch of stories and ideas for posts buzzing in my head.  The past few months, I have taken some time on the weekends to get my thoughts into the computer, schedule posting in advance and have it on the ball.  Not this week.  Instead, I enjoyed every moment of the last several days with my favorite guys and the budding spring weather.  Ignoring the computer and just living life. 

One week a month I work five days - three weekdays and a full weekend.  Rather than stressing about trying to cram in blogging, I'm letting it go and taking a very short hiatus until my schedule returns to normal.  If I have some time and decide to put one up, I may go with it but, if not, I'll see you all back here next week.

Until then, here are a few of my favorite photos from this Saturday at the park:

Life is good...

friday faves: blog, sport and memory...

Favorite blog (other than your own): I have a confession.  I have 265 blogs in my Google Reader.  I love to read what's happening in the blogosphere from other moms, cooks, photographers and random others. It's a wee bit of an addiction but, at least it's not life-threatening...ha!  But my favorite if I was forced to choose just one?  The Pioneer Woman.  Ree Drummond is an amazingly talented woman and I have absolutely no idea how she finds the time to do everything she does in life: homeschool her kids, come up with incredible recipes, write books and blog everything - in photo diary format no less! If you haven't read her blog, do yourself a favor and start now...

Favorite sport: Long ago, I was on swim teams and in college I dabbled in playing tennis.  Now?  I stroller walk around town.  As that hardly qulifies as a sport, I'll choose football.  I like to watch football and Steelers games are major events in our home.  We're even grooming the next generation of fans...

Favorite memory:  I have been blessed with so many but, naming one single memory for this challenge wasn't really a challenge at all.  The moment my husband carried our swaddled, newborn son to me to inspect his face, kiss his sweet chubby cheek, is the one that brings me to tears and has me catching my breath everytime it comes to mind. The moment I became a mother:

chasing spring...

It is March and I am officially done with the cold weather (hear that, Mother Nature?). This has felt like the longest winter on record and although, yes we did have an inordinate amount of snow and frigid temps, I think it has more to do with having had to coop up a very active toddler. Now, said toddler has a ridiculous amount lot of toys but, even favorite things have their limits. Every time the temps have ventured into the mid-forties or above and the sun has deigned to shine down on us, I have bundled us both up and taken the little man for a walk.

Last week, we had just enough of a thaw to allow him to set foot on the ground for the very first time. His first time running around outdoors was on the soccer field just a couple of blocks from our house.  In true Greek spirit, he took off running from end to end. He was in his new-walker glory:

This Monday, it was colder than I would have liked but by late afternoon he was going a bit stir-crazy and taking me down with him so, we headed out again.  To his delight, the toddler park was finally free of snow and he was able to swing, climb, explore and run to his heart's content.  It such a shame that he hates being outside, eh ;-)

I predict that this spring is going to be loads of fun!