Angelo- 32 Months

It's been a while since I posted an entry on Angelo's blog.  My 'lil Bubbas is now 32 mos old and it's been an incredible journey from infant to toddler.  I can't even believe he'll be 3 yrs old at the end of July this year! 

Angelo has been in preschool 2 days a week since September.  He's the youngest in his class since his birthday falls in the Summer, but it's been good for him.  He's learned so much there.  We will have him at this school until Pre-K, which makes me very happy.  I've already got him enrolled for the 2011-2012 school year.

Right now we're working on potty tranining.  He understands everything about going on the big boy potty, BUT actually going, LOL.  One time he has an accident ON the potty and freaked out, but that's been it so far.  It is very frustrating.  Actually, this has been the only thing I've found to be super challenging with him.  Unfortunately, he's a big boy for his age so we have to get a bigger seat since his butt is too big for normal trainer pottys.

Bubs is also going through his "terrible 2's" with screaming and hitting us when he doesn't get his way.  Man that sucks, but I was prepped for it.  I just hope that 3 will be better, but remember what Halle was like at 3, I'm guessing that it's just wishful thinking on my part.  He has a time-out chair and knows the drill when he's being bad.

I'm so proud of my son.  He's so smart and his speech is getting clearer every day.  He knows all his primary colors and can count to 13 without help.  We're working on his ABC's.  He associates certain letters with people he knows.  For example:  A is for Angelo,  M is for Mommy, T is for Trenity etc...  He says his name clearly now too.  Angelo LOVES to color with markers and crayons, but refuses to use the "baby crayons" so now we have to make sure he doesn't lose our school supplies, amongst other things.

Angelo's new nickname is "The Destroyer".  This little buddy gets everything sticky or worse.  We can't keep anything nice in this house anymore.  He's figured out how to start and play the Wii and DVR.  If he finds a way to get his hands on our cell phones, he can work those as well.  He knows EXACTLY what he's doing too.  For example, if he wants to play Mommy's Saber Ultimate, he knows which app to click.  He's a climber so us hiding our electronics is out of the questions.  All he needs to do is grab a chair and climb.  It's been crazy!

Most of the time he follows directions, but I know we're phasing out of it soon.  He gets very jealous when the girls are here.  If Halle is sitting on my lap he tries to push her off me.  We've been working with him on sharing Mommy's time and the stuff around the house.  He gets it, but doesn't like it!  He does a great job sharing with the kids at school though. 

Now that we're getting close to Spring, Dave and I will be training him on his Hot Wheels bike.  He rides in the gym at school, but can't seem to get the peddling down like the other boys.  He loves being outside and it's been difficult bringing him in the house when he's playing.  Big fits occur when we're at the park and it's time to go home.

I'm getting ready to schedule his 2 1/2 yr appointment and then I'll find out his current height and weight.  I can tell you he's about 34lbs or so.  He now wearts 4T shirts and 3T pants.  Halle is small, but he's about 3 inches shorter.  I haven't measured her in a while though.  Such a big boy!

I have to say that being a mother to this boy has changed me.  It's not as difficult as I thought, but I have made so many sacrifices since being single.  It's funny how easy it is to completely change your life in order to take care of another full time.  I never believed it, but now I feel like I truly have "the mommy gene", not just with Angelo, but with my stepdaughters as well.  I guess I was made to be a mother, amongst other things, and I actually love it.

19 Months

My 'lil Bubs is 19 mos old now. It's been such a wonderful experience for me to see his growth, physically and emotionally. He's such a big boy now. A true toddler, though his features are still so baby like. The picture is his first haircut certificate. That was a great experience.

It's been so crazy around here since Dave and I are preparing to move into a much bigger home. So much to do, but so little time it seems. Our son is everywhere now and getting into everything. Baby gates piss him off and when someone goes outside, even for a moment, he throws a fit because his new thing is going "buh bye". He's connecting much more with Dave these days. Everything is dada. The garage door opens, it must be dada and he runs to greet him. It's actually starting to annoy me a little and now I know how Dave felt when everything was mama. I'll get over it though.

Angelo is very good with commands and complies without a problem, unless we're trying to take something away from him that he's not supposed to play with. We're in a great routine and sometimes I wonder if he's a little robot, LOL. Any time we go "buh bye", he knows to get his coat, shoes, let me put them on and then he runs to the door. He loves zippers and likes to unzip. I'm teaching him to zip his coat up before we go. When we come home I say, "coat off" and he proceeds to take it off and throw it on the floor. Now I'm teaching him to take it off, but give it to me so I can hang it up. He's been doing that for a couple of days now.

His nap schedule is jacked these days, but that's because he's transitioning to being an afternoon napper. Sometimes he'll go down in the morning, but that's not often anymore. He only takes about 2 hour naps. Angelo has been in a toddler bed for 4 months now and is doing great. Unfortunately though, he recently figured out how to open his bedroom door and lock it. We tried using those door knob protector things, but he found a way to remove it and break it apart. Now we have to put a baby gate outside his door in case he does open it, he can't go anywhere.

Bubbas can walk up and down the stairs on his own using the rails and he loves it. Every time he does it on his own, his face lights up with so much pride and accomplishment. Now we have to purchase a gate that will work with our stairs and rails to prevent him from going up and down without us being around. He's tried that quite a few times and is very sneaky about it. I placed a mirror on the wall in front of the staircase so I can watch him when he doesn't think I'm paying attention. I'm trying to give him a little freedom to explore.

He's talking A LOT more now. His new words in the last week are, "why, when, where, what, do, you, me, we (weeee) and but (also butt). He answers when you call him with "what". When you tell him to come or do something, he says, "why?". I'm teaching him please and thank you. He kind of breathes the word please and his way of saying thank you is "youuuuu!". I've been trying to get him to link his words into short phrases like, "hi dada" when he sees Dave and he's doing it well. I've also been trying to get him to say the girls' names. He's managed to get out Halle's name, but Trenity's is obviously much more difficult.

This child LOVES his food. When it's time to eat I say, "Angelo, are you hungry?" He then runs to the kitchen and tries to open the refrigerator. When the microwave beeps, he thinks it's for him. When he's thirsty, he shoves the sippy cup in my face and says, "do!" Angelo hates his booster seat now. He wants to sit on a regular chair with the family all the time. He's especially annoying when Trenity is trying to do her homework and he climbs on the chair next to her. Dave caught him climbing on the table too and it's been very difficult to control. The new house will be better since our layout has more rooms and privacy for the girls to do their work without interruption.

Bubs has 8 teeth. 4 on top and 4 on bottom. He's getting more though and his fits are getting worse as he's in so much pain. I have to give him children's Tylenol periodically and that seems to work. He loves the stuff too. I believe he thinks it's candy or something, LOL! He's in the most pain when he wakes up from his naps. I can't wait until this phase is over.

I can't believe we're approaching age 2 already! 5 more months to go. I'm putting Angelo in flag football this Fall as they have a P Squad for kids 2-4 years old. You'll never know how excited I am to be able to enroll him in sports. Dave is excited as well. Basketball and soccer won't start for him until he's 3. I'm bummed he has a summer birthday because we can't enroll him in anything at age 3 until the following Fall season.

That's about it for now! Gotta get back to cleaning and packing, UGH.

Cristin

17 Months Old & Crazy!

Christmas Day and Nana & Poppi's house


Christmas Day opening gifts. His face was finally clearing up



Trenity gave Angelo a cold sore and it spread. He had to take antibiotics. I was so bummed since it happened right before Christmas

My baby boy is getting so big. He's 17 mos old and growing so fast. He has 8 teeth now. 4 on top, 4 on the bottom and cutting 2 more. Angelo wants to eat ALL the time! Whenever we have food around, he goes, "Na Na, Na Na!". He associates all food with bananas and that's his way of saying, "Give me some right now, damnit!" He's starting to get picky about his food as well. When given vegetables, he'll take it out of his mouth and throw it on the floor, unless I cleverly disguise them with pasta sauce or something else. I gave him lettuce the other day and the look on his face was priceless.

Bubbas still walks on his toes sometimes. I'm trying to keep him on his flat feet, but he's not ready for that yet. It's odd because he was doing it for a few months and this tippy toe thing is rather new. He's SO active. He attempts to climb up on the couches, ottoman and one of our recliners. Sometimes he makes it, other times he doesn't.

Angelo is obsessed with opening and closing doors, drawers and cabinets. Now he'll open a cabinet just to put his toy inside and later he'll go back for it. He likes to hide our remote controls in the vents too. Somehow he figured out a way to pull the register out of the floor, dump the remote and put it back in, LOL. One day it took us over and hour to figure out where he put our stuff.

I'm trying to get him to dance. He'll throw is arms up and stomp around when he sees people dancing on TV or when I've got music playing and dancing as well. It's really cute to watch. He LOVES his musical toys, especially his Yo Gabba Gabba guitar. When the music stops, he runs back to push the button. Can't have any quiet time with this 'lil booger, LOL!

He's doing well with his words. He's saying Hi, Bye, Bubba, What, Dada, Mama, Boo, Up, tries to say Mine, but it's a hit or miss, More (also hit or miss) and Weeeee! He's been trying to say ending syllables to words. If I say "couch" he can say "ch". If I say "up" he'll either yell the word or make the "p" sound with breath, etc... I caught him trying to say No yesterday. Here we go!

I'm also teaching him the names to his body parts. If I say, "Angelo, show me your teeth", he opens his mouth and pushes on his teeth or he go to my face, open my mouth and point to mine. Too cute! He knows his feet as well. When I say, "Gimme those feet", he raises his legs and kicks his feet. Right now I'm working on having him point to his nose.

His comprehension is incredible, at least I think so. He's really understanding commands quite well. If we say, "Shut the door", he looks for the nearest open door and closes it. Now he can reach the doorknob and can shut the door using it. He has to get up on his toes still, though. He knows where his room is so when I say, "Angelo, go to your room", he runs right to it, waits until we're both inside, then shuts the door. When I say, "Go to bed", he runs to his new toddler bed and gets in. There's much more.

Speaking of the toddler bed, Angelo went and busted his crib a week ago. That's right folks, he was DONE with being caged in, LOL! We can fix it, but at that point, he would throw fits and hit his head on the bars so I was done with that thing too. We put the mattress on the floor for a few days to get Angelo situated and he LOVED the freedom, of course! Dave and I bought him a cherry colored sleigh bed and he was super stoked. He kept climbing in and out of it so it took us a while to get him to sleep the first night. He's been perfect ever since.

Now we're having slight issues with nap time. He will play around in his room for a while, but when he gets tired, he climbs up and sleeps in his bed. Sometimes he'll take 2 naps a day and other times he won't. He's a real cranky Bubs when he doesn't get his rest. Much like his Mama and Dada. Putting him to bed at night has been a real dream though and I'm grateful for that.

Angelo LOVES to be tossed in the air as "Super Bubbas". He also likes to play the Boo game. It's his version of Peek-a-Boo. He'll walk up to you, grab your hands, cover your eyes and yell, Boo! He tries to cover his eyes, but somehow ends up covering his ears instead. His other favorite is the "I'm gonna getcha" game. I yell, "Gonna getcha" then he giggles and runs away.

I know I'm forgetting a ton of stuff, but that's all I have time for today. Every day is a new adventure with my son and still, I can't believe I have one! He's the light and love of my life and I'm so grateful for this little wonder.

Cristin

Bubbas on the Move

Making a mess at 13 mos



14 mos - He won't give up the Wii remote!



First mini hamburger! 14 mos



Dirty Bubs - 14 mos - Halloween fun night at home

The Incredible Hulk! 15 mos - Halloween 2009


Life with Dave, Angelo and the girls keeps me super busy, as I'm sure you can tell since I haven't updated in 3 months. School started for the girls at the end of August and I've had to change my schedule a couple of times due to that, our situation with Dave's ex-wife and Angelo going to daycare. He goes Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday from 1-3:30pm. Just long enough for Dave and I to run errands and for me to take a few appointments. Bubbas is doing really well there. There's a little boy 2 months older he plays with and a couple of 2yr-olds as well. The first month he started pulling that baby manipulation thing when I dropped him off. You know, the crying and holding on to me for dear life. Well, that's gone now and he's adjusted beautifully!

My child eats everything now and I mean EVERYTHING. Anything he can get his little hand on goes straight into his mouth, be it shoes, toys, stuff in my purse and of course, real food. He's been off formula since 11mos and we're finally done with bottles. He's graduated from the beginner to intermediate sippy cup. No handles! I knew he was ready because I had him in the living room playing one day, locked in by the baby gates. I was in the kitchen. I accidentally left a small glass of apple cider on an end table. I heard slurping so I ran over to the living room and there he was...holding the glass with two hands, drinking the cider. As soon as he saw me, he knew he did wrong and threw the glass on the carpet, LOL! Two wrongs don't make a right, buddy.

Bubs still only has his 4 teeth, but is cutting the 2 eye teeth. They'll be in any time now. Unfortunately, the teething has been pretty bad lately so it wakes him up in the middle of the night unless I give him baby Tylenol before bed. I've been up at 3, 4 and 5am a lot and of course, could never go back to sleep. His attitude has been really go throughout this teething process, so I feel we're really lucky.

As for his motor skills..well, he's an animal! He runs around the house chasing his sisters, climbs up the stairs by himself (we're always behind him though) and sometimes walks on the tips of his toes. He tries really hard to climb on the couch by himself, but it's still a little high for him. He's a little hellion when it comes to taking our stuff and running away with it all, LOL. I need to get more videos of him doing that. When we say "No!" he just laughs and runs away like it's a game. Too cute for words...right now. We really need a bigger yard so he can run around to his heart's desire because that's all he wants to do anymore. I took him to the bus stop without the stroller and he was super excited, but I had to hold on to the hood of his coat or else I would've lost him, LOL. He only likes to hold our hands when he's in unfamiliar territory.

His language skills are developing much quicker now. He mumbles like nobody's business and says "Hi, Mama, Dada, Bubba, Up, Oh & More" very clearly. He's trying other words, but it's still slurred. He understands commands well too, but sometimes he just chooses to ignore us. He does well with them when he wants to though. He very clearly knows the people around him and when asked, "where's so and so" he looks for them and goes to the right person. Bubbas points at people's faces in pictures and giggles a lot and it's very cool to watch. He doesn't point at something he wants, however, he just goes and gets it. This kid waits for NO man!

As for clothing..well, let me just tell you that this kid is not only going to make us broke with his eating habits, he's wearing some 18 month, 24 month and 2T sizes! Good Lord, son! He's only 15 mos old, which kills me. He wears the bigger sizes in shirts and jammies. He's in a size 5 shoe now, but will be in a 6 pretty soon.

I'm taking him to the DR. on the 19th so we'll find out his weight, length and get his chicken pox vaccine. At his 12 month appointment he was 31 inches long so I'm guessing he's about 35 now. I could be off on this one again. Weight wise? I have no clue. He only gained one pound from 9 to 12 mos so we'll see.

I have to say that I'm extremely excited to have a toddler vs. a newborn. Life is so much easier even though my particular toddler won't sit still, makes a huge mess and does whatever the hell he wants most of the time, LOL! I HATED carrying that infant seat around with me everywhere. I love the idea of this kid getting out of the car and walking into the store. The cost of formula and bottle liners wasn't as bad as I thought, but now I don't have to worry about that stuff anymore.

We're going to start potty training him at 18 months. He's already grabbing his diaper when he goes and I can tell that he's got more control with his potty muscles. We've also been looking at toddler beds because this kid attempts to climb out of his crib almost every day. I don't think he's ready yet, but I'm going to see how he is around January when he turns 18 mos. I'm just so afraid that one day he'll be successful in escaping and really hurt himself. He can already reach the door knobs and has opened a door so we're going to start taking precautions with that as well.

My brother-in-law told me that they let 2 yr olds in flag football, so we're going to check that out next summer. I can't BELIEVE I'm talking about this ALREADY, but I'm stoked. I can't wait until my 'lil Bubs can play sports. He's getting a tricycle for Christmas so we're hoping by late Spring he'll be able to ride it.

My Angelo Is A Toddler!

Angelo's 1st birthday party. He had a sugar free cupcake!

It’s official…Angelo is 1 and now considered a toddler. I can’t effing believe it! My little guy is just tremendous in every way. Though I’m very happy about my son’s achievements, I can’t help but feel very sad today. My best friend Dawn had a son a year ago today. He passed away a month later. I’m so proud of how she has been able to carry on through her grief.

Earlier in the month I traveled to Michigan to visit everyone and went to Bradly’s grave. I told Dawn how proud I was of her and I couldn’t understand how she has been able to be around Angelo this whole time. We were pregnant together. We planned to raise our kids as the best of friends. I can’t believe it’s been a year already. Bradly, we love you. Happy Birthday, dear angel.

Now on to the Bubs…

Angelo is walking really well, yay! The only time he stumbles is when he tries to run and/or is outside and doesn’t see a step. We’re always right there, hovering just in case. He’s throwing his toy balls everywhere and still making a huge mess in the living room when he’s pulling stuff out of our drawers, LOL. Angelo is not interested in holding our hands, he just wants to walk everywhere…especially outside. He just loves that!

We took him off formula and he’s drinking whole milk now. He’s done with baby food as well. This kid will eat ANYTHING, I swear to God. He has four teeth, but I can tell there are a few more coming in and I think they’ll be in all at the same time. He’s obsessed with pasta. He’ll take it in every form and with every flavor. That’s the Italian in him I suppose.

Unfortunately, we haven’t gotten him away from his bottle completely yet. He only takes the sippy cup in small doses. He throws a fit if his liquids aren’t in his ba ba. It’s awful! I only give him stuff in his bottle twice a day and we’re hoping he’ll be done soon.

Angelo says “Mama” all the time. He used to say “Dada”, but now he could care less, LOL. Dave says I sabotaged him this whole year. Bubbas also says “OH, Hi, Up” and babbles like crazy. He knows who everyone is. When I say, “Angelo, where’s Dada?” he looks at Dave’s chair and if he isn’t there, starts looking around the room. When I say, “Angelo, come see Mama”, he drops everything, holds his arms out and starts running over to me to give me a hug.

He still has some separation anxiety with me, but only me. If I leave him alone with Dave and the girls, he’s fine until he notices I’m there, but behind the baby gate. He’s been throwing fits lately too when he’s tired, wants his bottle or gets something taken away from him. He literally throws himself around the living room and that scares the living shit out of me. I worry that he’ll throw himself onto something sharp and really hurt himself.

The Bubs has a strange nap schedule. Most of the time he takes his nap from 10am-12:30pm and an afternoon nap that lasts about an hour and a half. Lately he’s been having trouble going down for both naps and he’s been skipping one a day. My schedule is changing due to the girls going back to school and I’ve been thinking about taking Angelo to daycare for a couple of hours, 3 times a week. It’s my step-daughter’s friend’s mom and she watches babies in her home, which makes me feel better. I want Angelo to get social with kids his own age and this would be perfect, I’m just waiting to find out if she can fit us in.

We took Angelo to the doctor not too long ago. He’s 23 pounds and 31 inches long. He’s only gained 1 pound and 1 inch since his 9 month appointment. I swear he’s much bigger than that, LOL!

Anyway, he’s doing just fine and we’re so very proud of him. There’s a lot of other little things to add, but I just don’t have enough time.

Almost Time for the Big Birthday!

Angelo at the beach in Hilton Head - May 09 (9/10 mos)


In the pool for the first time in Hilton Head with daddy!


Getting ready to cruise the wardrobe at home - July 09 (11 mos)


Chillin' at the Dublin Fireworks

In three weeks my darling son, Angelo, will be a year old. It’s been an amazing journey so far and I’m stunned we’re approaching the big birthday already. Watching the Bubs learn and grow has been my favorite part of being a mother so far.

I scheduled his 1-year appointment for next week so we’ll see how much he’s changed physically since his last one at 9 months. His regular doctor is taking a 6 month leave of absence so we’ll be seeing someone different this time. I believe next Wednesday Angelo gets his last set of shots for a while. I’m guessing he’ll be around 24lbs and about 30 inches long.

My ’lil guy is really developing well and as it seems, on time. He cruises around, barely holding on and walking quite fast. He’s walked across the room without assistance a few times and we’re working hard to get him consistent. He’s been quite lazy about it though. He’s got tremendous speed with crawling and I think he prefers that right now.

Angelo is getting into EVERYTHING. That started about 2 months ago, but now it’s really bad. He’s been into the “open and close” stage, where all he wants to do is open drawers and cabinets then take everything out. He makes a huge mess, LOL and it drives Dave crazy. Especially since he’s messing with our Wii games and remotes. He also LOVES Daddy’s laptop. When you try to take something away from him and replace it with one of HIS toys, he throws a fit. Damn…and I thought I wouldn’t have to go through that stage since normally he’s a perfect child. I guess he still is, since I’m hearing that this is common at his age.

Bubbas has 3 teeth! Two on the bottom center and now he’s gotten his first front tooth in. I noticed him grinding his teeth so I’m trying to get him to chew on his teething toys instead. I’ll let you know how that goes because right now it’s not doing much good. Due to the teething, he’s still taking 2 naps a day.

He’s eating normal food now. Bubs prefers that to baby food any day of the week and quite frankly, I can’t blame him. His favorite stuff is rice, pasta (with sauce), garlic bread, mashed potatoes, veggies and beef. I mash everything up real good for him and he’s the best eater in the family…for NOW. LOL! I wonder what he’ll be like at this time next year. I’m going to wean him off the bottle soon because I don’t want him on it passed his 1st birthday. He does OKAY with a sippy cup, but we need to be more consistent with him so he’ll forget about his precious bottle.

Angelo talks a bit, but is still babbling for the most part. He can say Mama, Dada, up, oh, hey, hi and me. I was changing the pictures around my home and found some of Angelo when he was first born. I cannot BELIEVE how much he’s changed. He doesn’t even look like the same kid, it’s crazy! He has light brown hair, lighter skin and is starting to take on more of Dave’s features. He has A LOT of hair and it’s pretty long so I’m thinking it may be time for his first hair cut.

I also have to schedule his 1 year pictures, but I’m not sure where I’m going to take him yet. We’re having his birthday party on August 1st, a few days after his actual b-day because the girls will be coming home from vacation with their mother and need a few days to adjust.

As for me…

I’ve lost all my pregnancy weight, yay! I can’t remember when I actually hit the milestone, but I think it was about 2 or 3 months ago. I haven’t been as active as I would like, but I’m getting back into the swing of things. I still have some stuff to work on, my stomach for example, but I’m sure I’ll get there eventually.

My latest project is re-decorating the house. I’m SO sick and tired of the same old crap. I don’t feel like spending a ton of money so instead of buying new furniture, I got a couch cover with new throw pillows. I also moved the recliner that was in my office to the living room. Now all I need is a cover for Dave’s chair. It’s looking God-awful. I plan to paint my home office pretty soon and I’m DYING to paint the rest of the place, however, we plan to buy a new home within the year and I don’t feel like re-painting this town house when we move. So who knows what I’ll ending up doing with that.

Dave and I rearranged the girls’ room and bought them new beds. It’s looking quite organized now and they have more space to romp around. I’m also dying to get new bedding for my room and add new colors. I need to do something with it as it’s quite bland and I don’t want that energy bleeding into my sex life, LOL. Bland is BAD. Right now I’m just on the new energy wave and desperate for simple change. Perhaps it’s the fact that I’ve made major changes to my life in general (getting married, Angelo turning 1, etc…) and I want the design of my home to reflect that.

New Pics of the Bubbas!

"See my teeth Mommy? I've got 2!"


"Shhh...don't tell Mommy"


"I love electronics!"


"Gimme that Wii!"


"I've got a pee pee diaper. Hurry up Mom!"


Angelo and Mommy - May 9th