I Have a Toddler!

Today Ace became a walker! I had seen him take a few steps before and was encouraging him to be aware of it by asking him to move his feet when he's standing. Today he was standing and I said, "step, step, step!" and moved my feet. He giggled and took a few steps. I was thrilled, so he, of course, wanted to do it again.
The sad part is that B is on a business trip. So I ran to get the Flip so I could record the momentous event.
Another thing that happened today was that I squatted down by Ace's feet to tickle his toes while he was in his high chair and when he giggled, I looked up and saw a giant tooth coming through on his left upper gums. Wow, that explains the screaming and generally unpleasant behavior the last week or so. I am so glad that we gave him the infant Motrin those few times that we did. I kind of wish we'd given him more. It is quite the tooth! I am still rooting for his lower left to come in so that he can have an even four, instead of the three that he is sporting.
I took him by the day care center that he is starting on Tuesday and I was again so pleased by it. The teachers are so nice, the setting is relaxed and the children seem very happy. Ace took off from me to play and seemed right at home, so hopefully things will go well. I have to read through the parents' manual and buy whatever it is that Ace needs while he is there. I am also thinking of going to Target to buy some sweatpants and things like that so I won't care if what he wears gets ruined. I just read that Old Navy is having a sale, so maybe that is where I should go.

A Week by Myself

This week it has just been me and Ace. B is on a business trip until Sunday. Monday and Tuesday I spent with my mom on the other side of town. Ace slept like a champ Monday night. He must have loved the Packn'Play. I was glad to see that because he is staying with my mom and sleeping at her place when we go on vacation in a few weeks.
Yesterday and today I was on my own with Ace, but we had very full days, so I didn't really have time to think about anything. Today was much slower than yesterday, but I kept us busy.
We spent some time at the indoor play space at the mall today and I was pretty surprised by how some parents do not intervene when their kids act like jerks toward other kids. I watched a crew of kids, too old to be in the play area really, run around and knock the same toddler boy over twice. When they ran by me and Ace, I gathered my courage and asked them to please slow down because there were babies around. I was so worried that another mother was going to yell at me for saying anything, but it worked out ok. I thanked the children for listening on their next go around.
I also witnessed a very awkward exchange between a little girl and an African American mother: the little girl walked up to the mother and asked if she spoke Spanish. The mother said no. Then the girl said, "You're African, right?" The mother sniffed in that exasperated, I can't believe this shit, way and said, "No, I'm American." The little girl seemed confused and wanted to know what the woman's language was. The mom explained that she spoke English, that her son spoke English, that they were both "just Americans." She was very patient with the little girl and asked her what she was and what language she spoke. The little girl explained that she was Armenian but that she could speak English. I kept looking over at the Armenian girl's mother, and that mother was paying no attention and looking so disinterested in what was going on with her children. I was really shocked by the conversation and that the girl thought the other mom was African, just because she was black. She wasn't a very young girl, either, I think she said she was nine.
Anyway, it is sad when you see that we still have a long way to go when it comes to understanding and awareness between races.

14 Months

Oi! The yelling! The pointing and yelling! The screaming and crying! All of it is killing me. But in between, Ace is still the sweet little guy that I've come to know and love. I know that he is just frustrated because he can't communicate at the level he'd like to. I'd be peeved too. But sometimes, when I'm running on empty and trying everything to make him happy and all I get is some kicking and screaming and crying, it's just too much. I know, I know, this is not about me. I am an adult and he is a child, but seriously, it can be hard.
I think there may be some teething going on in there as well.
In more delightful news, Ace is coming out of his shell a bit on the playground, getting braver and braver around other kids. He is standing on his own, but not walking, but has taken a step here or there when forced by his mom or dad. He is still playful and funny, loves hand play, such as the Itsy Bitsy Spider and No More Monkeys Jumping on the Bed - especially the finger shaking "and the doctor said..." part. He is getting bigger all the time. I just had to clean out his clothes again and a few pairs of pants only got a few wears before being sent to the storage bins.
His eating habits have gotten a bit weird. He does not like meat. Not at all. But he'll eat Boca Burgers and the occasional chicken nugget. As long as it involves dipping in ketchup. He loves dipping. He does not like vegetables anymore. I put broccoli and spinach and tomato sauce in the Cuisinart and he'll eat that on rotini. He does eat fruit, he loves fruit. Bananas in particular, he'll eat two or three a day. He also loves Goldfish crackers, but I am trying to keep that to a minimum (as I indulge myself while I write this).
I found a job teaching first grade and am really excited for it. I only have eight full time students, so that is just crazy. I start in the fall. Ace starts daycare in a week and I have started getting a little anxious about the best way to start him. Do I stay with him for an hour or so, until he gets used to the caretakers? Or do I make sure he's settled and then leave?

Thirteen Months

Ace is thirteen months and I may have found a job. Happily, it doesn't start until September. So, if everything works out, I will have a lovely spring and summer with my little guy.
Since I may have found a job, and since daycare is very competitive around here, I went ahead and took a spot for Ace in a daycare center that is very convenient to B's work. Ace is going to start there in May, going two half days at first and then transitioning to three full days in September. I am looking forward to the two days a week! Just to have some time to myself will be fantastic. I wonder how much I can get done in three and a half hours?
Ace is so much fun these days. He is pointing to everything and telling me all about what he sees, except that I have no idea what his little noises mean. His most frequent word sounds like woof, but it has to mean something else to him because he uses it all the time. I wonder what his first word will be and when it will happen?
He is also not walking yet. He is still cruising. Everyone that sees him says, "Any day now!" but I don't know. He has no interest in doing it on his own.
Ace seems to have developed some anxieties, but nothing too bad. The worst may be his fear of other children. He does not like being approached or cornered by other kids. When it first happened, it seemed as if it might have been an incident of racism, but then I noticed that it happened with all skin colors. Phew!

So Much has Happened...

I am trying to get back into this. Ace is now one and doing so much that is new - crawling, cruising, he can stand without help - but rarely does, he has seven teeth - four on top, three on the bottom. He is weaned. That happened because I got terrible food poisoning on my birthday and I just laid in bed moaning all weekend and didn't nurse at all. When I got up to pump eventually, I just knew that I was done. Ace didn't care at all. I had been cutting down on the number of feedings, so it wasn't completely cold turkey. I just switched morning and night nursings to bottles. Now we have to wean off the bottles, but I'm not worried about that. Ace might fuss, but he will get it.
He has a few words, too. I think he says "woof," I know he says "Ma Ma" but I'm not sure he knows it is me. Just yesterday he started saying "Ba Ba" and making more noises. He points at everything and wants to talk to you about what he is pointing at. He's gotten pretty good at sign language too. We mainly taught him signs for eating, so he signs milk, more and all done.
I have been looking for a job. I was offered one position, the catch being that the school board has to approve my salary in the next budget, so I am waiting to hear. I am applying for a charter school, but I have been warned that it might be too much work with a baby and planning for more babies. We'll see what happens.
All in all, things are good!

Separation Anxiety?

So I have been working on getting Ace to sleep through the night again and it has been going pretty well. Except that he has developed a habit of waking up around 5 am. Usually he will go back to sleep with the replacement of his pacifier. Other times, he will scream and not stop. This morning he screamed for a half an hour before we decided to do something. B opted first for Motrin, but I really did not think the baby was in pain. I went in and patted Ace's head and he would quiet down and go to sleep, but if he lifted his head and I was leaving, screamed started again. B finally went in to the nursery and patted Ace for a long time and then just laid down on the floor by the crib. B said that Ace picked his head up a few times and looked at him, laughed, and went back to laying down. When B got up and left, Ace complained but went back to sleep. Ace made up for his hour of wakefulness by sleeping an hour later this morning. I was up for almost an hour and a half while all of this was going on and today I am very tired. I know you are just supposed to let them cry it out, but we can't. My stomach was in complete knots the whole time Ace was not settling down.
With weaning and my going back to work coming up, we've got to get this down.

Post Holiday

We went to the Mid West for the holidays. We landed on Christmas Eve right after the start of the biggest blizzard to hit that part of the country in sixty year - or so we were told. Ace got the experience snow and really, really cold weather for the first time. Since he is still cruising and not walking, not a lot of time was spent out doors, but he got to dress up in adorable hats and sweaters and I got to take some good pictures.
While we were away he stayed on Los Angeles time, which was wonderful. He had two colds in a row, though, starting right before we left, and I caved and started feeding him when he woke up in the night. I couldn't stand hearing his stuffy little cries. I continued feeding him at every night waking while we were not at home, since I felt kind of bad for him. We've been home three nights now and managed not to feed him last night and just let him cry himself back to sleep. It only took about five minutes. Hopefully tonight will be similar.
Ace's first Christmas was ok. I hated being away from our home, but I guess you have to do things you don't want to do when in laws are involved. Ace got great presents from his Nana and Papa, but I was annoyed that no one held back his older cousins, who insisted on "helping" unwrap his presents and then pretty much grabbed the toys away from helpless Ace and started playing with them. These older cousins have had so much fussing over them through the years, I thought it really unfair that their parents and grandparents didn't tell them to leave Ace's things alone and let Ace have his moment. But maybe that's my own personal baggage coming through. B agreed with me, however, so maybe not.
Ace is getting around really fast these days, by creeping (I think that's what they call the army crawl he uses) and cruising, but I don't think he is that close to walking. Others disagree.
He is babbling just a little, less than I'd like him to. I always thought a baby of mine would be an early talker, but I guess not. He understands a lot, though, which is fun to see.
Next up will be weaning and I am trying to learn as much as I can about that now. He isn't great with a sippy cup, but does well with a straw, so I might just skip the sippy cup - I've read it's not very good for their oral development anyway - and transition to a straw cup and then just a regular cup. I'm going to try and change up one of his nursing sessions and give him the breast milk in a straw cup and see how it goes.
New Year's Resolutions are: weigh less, work on some individual projects and get organized. I should probably add find a job, but that one boggles my mind currently, so I'll think about that later.