A day in the McLife!

I love most of my days. I get into the occasional rut which only seems to happen if I don't work out for a few days in a row or we don't leave the house. And that usually happens when the weather is bad, which also puts me in a 'mood.' But most of my days are spent with my best bud and I wouldn't have it any other way. I am so much enjoying this toddler stage. Lane happily plays with his toys in his room, freely goes up and down the stairs at his will, and occasionally finds me in the kitchen or laundry room to ask for a drink, show me something he's playing with, or stop and give me a leg hug. I love leg hugs.

He also likes to be out. We go to the gym and run errands in the mornings now because his main nap (and only nap) happens usually between 1-4 and that really takes up most of our afternoon. He loves to go to the gym and play with all the toys and all the other kids. It's great for him to be away from me and socializing with other children. The other day when I picked him up he was sitting at one of the tables (kid-sized) with another little girl and they were playing with some fake food and a cash register. He looked so big sitting in that chair. It made me sad, in a way, but also made me smile. And then it made me wanna go out and buy him a little table and chairs. And I always get a leg-hug when I go pick him up...it's the best!

Most of the comments we get from passer-bys are about his smile. "He's so smiley" or "What a happy little boy!"

We fill our days with walks in the warm sunshine,

Or runs,

Making music,

Playing at the park,

Exploring,

Having picnics on our patio,

watching Sesame Street, playing with the football or any ball really, reading and more reading.

And of course, laughing, we do lots of laughing,

We enjoy our mid-morning snacks and late afternoon snacks and our smoothies. We are really into smoothies lately. We make them with ice cream (for the calories, for Lane, not me, but I still drink them!), whole milk, and loads and loads of fruit. He loves his smoothies and so do I!

He's a wonder to me. He talks about things I didn't even realized he knew even existed, and when I don't understand just quite what he's trying to communicate, he makes me understand by repeating the word, taking a break, and then going back to the word. When I do realize, I'm like "DUH" it's so obvious what he is talking about! And he really knows.

When he sees the fish tank at the Dr.'s office he says 'wa-wa' (water) and 'fis' (fish) when just 18 months ago he was making baby sounds in his car seat that he looked to little to be in. He truly is amazing and he's mine all mine! Well, and Matt's too. And I we couldn't be more lucky to call him my our son.

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'Tis the Season

for coats, hats, fleece vests, North Face coats, and of course, my Uggs. Yep, got down to 35 last night and for once Lane didn't wake up in the morning a sweaty mess. He actually needed his little fleece sleeper. So guess what...I broke out the Uggs today. Yep, that's right! Granted it got to 60, it still felt cold yet we didn't really need coats. Anyway our Tuesday started like this...

• wake-up normal time...7 for me, 8 for Lane.
• UPS guy with Lace's invites!
• took our time eating breakfast, sang some Christmas songs and talked about Santa
• got off to the gym a little later than normal and decided to do a class @ 10:15
• before class I thought I had time to run to the Post Office to send off Isla's gift and Lacey's bachelorette invites....and we're off!
• arrive at the Post Office and run inside to a line of about 15 people....Great!
• trying to corral wiggling toddler in my arms, a box, and write a card
• something's gotta give
• put toddler down and hand him your keys (he is obsessed with my keys, Matt's keys, anyones keys really!)
• feel a little nervous as usually cautious toddler starts toddling a little farther than you are comfortable with
• decide it's a small space with doors and he really can't escape
• look around at the now 20 people in line staring at your toddler and.....smiling? (in a line of 20 people at the post office)
• llisten to a lady 6 people back say "Your son is actually making our wait enjoyable!' and several people agree
• smile nervously as 'my son' gets real close to the door and may start to cause a "road block" when people are trying to enter and exit
• breathe a sigh of relief as he quickly comes back toward me looking for a familiar face
• laugh as the postal worker says 'meet our newest member of the postal team, Lane, watch him as he and his beautiful eyes work the room!'
• WOO! that went fast...our turn already and still 12 minutes to spare
• can I make Body Sculpt?
• cruise down 385, get off at Stone Ave, all green lights, enter Cleveland Park, and here we are
• front row spot just waiting for us
• grab Lane, run up the stairs, swipe card, run up more stairs (ya we live in a very hilly area), enter baby room, take off Lane's coat, set him down, sign him in, run to Body Sculpt
• 5 minutes late..no sweat...Note te self: Do not use 8 lb. weights for everything in Body Sculpt ever again...I'm sure you will feel it in the morning
• 11:20 class over, pick up Lane
• carry him to the bathroom to wash his hands (yes, I'm a germ freak)
• almost drop Lane feeling my arms shaking and start to give... Note te self: Do not use 8 lb. weights for everything in Body Sculpt ever again
• and we're home
• naptime, lunchtime, Costco, Eckerd, Chili's (for some chips and salsa for our picnic), Drop-In store (don't ask!)
• home again, UPS man again! Yay, it's like Christmas. This time he brings: Illinois sweatshirts for the game tomorrow (they play @ Clemson) and our Christmas cards...already!?! Smile at UPS man and thank UPS man and tell him I will see him again...soon. ;-)
• Now time to get our picnic ready for Holiday Moonlight Movie

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Lane-Lane and Laney

It's what he's called by the other women in his life that he sees everyday almost everyday (of the work week). So I don't make it to the gym everyday, but most days I try, not only for myself, but for my Lane-Lane. It's his social hour 45 minutes time, depending on how long I am motivated to workout that day. And somedays we go just purely for him and I sit in a big comfy chair in the reading room and read...LOL just kidding, but I've thought about it before!

Anyway, they LOVE him and he LOVES them. And that's a pretty big feat considering what was happening during this time and this one too! When we come in they say "Hey! Lane-Lane" "Hi Laney." It's very cute. I sit him down and off he goes. I don't check on him anymore and I haven't for months. When I go pick him up he is usually as busy as ever playing with something very cool that we don't have at home or playing with one of the babysitters.

He especially loves the eldest one...Ms. Elanore...sweet and kind...she has a special place for Lane-Lane. Somedays when she is working in the "bigger" kids room, she takes Lane over with her just because. And she brings him some "little" kid toys and he plays so nicely. And almost anytime she is working, she takes him from me before I put him down because she "just wants to hold him for a minute" because she knows a minute is all she has before he will want to get down and play.

But sometimes, if my workout is longer, I will walk in and he will be in one of their laps just a laughing and smiling...he especially likes to look at Ms. Elanore's gold teeth...he thinks those are hilarious! But he sure is glad to see me when I walk in. My favorite is when he spots me coming before I get to the door...we lock eyes and he waits until I walk through the door with a huge smile and arms of excitement. It's like there is noone else in the room. His little legs can't get him there fast enough and they are all saying "Slow down Lane." But he just wants to get to his mama! I'm so glad he loves it so much. It's good for both of us. And I am so grateful for those woman who take such great care of him when I am not there!

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Bloggy Buffet take 2

Come on! You don't go to a buffet and only go up one time....you gotta go back for seconds (at least that's what I hear, I'm not a fan of buffets....well food buffets...I love bloggy buffets! :-))

Anyway so I told you yesterday that Lane can do 'so big' and I got in on video this morning. But you first have to read through this long boring post to reap the benefits of a video of Lane!

I failed to mention yesterday that Lane got his very own card at the gym. And had his picture taken for it. I thought it was funny.

He liked the card, as he does our cards, and when I took it away from him in the car, he cried a little. I'm going to venture to say this might have been his first fit. Although it wasn't really bad...I know worse ones are to come. But I gave it back to him and then he stopped. And as I walked around to get in the driver's seat I thought to myself he cannot play with that back there, last time he was playing with one in the car it pinched his fingers...it's not safe for him to play with...fit or not! So I took it away and he cried a little more. But he soon stopped...I'm sure he forgot about it and moved on to something else!

I also failed to tell you about Lane's mad cheek-packing skills. I mentioned about his texture phobia and when he doesn't like something that's in his mouth, he holds it in his mouth for long periods of time. This was unbeknownst to us until Tuesday. Tuesday is tutoring day (oh did I mention I started tutoring) so yeah it's Tuesday's at 5 ( I have 2 girls) and then I *usually* take some time for myself that night. Either a Target run or Barnes and Noble for a coffee and some book purchasing. Or sometimes I just go home and choose to be with the boys! Anywho, Matt told me that this past Tuesday he gave Lane some cut up carrots and he wasn't a fan. Granted he loves pureed carrots, just not carrots in their true form. So Matt went on to give him his bath and realized when bath was about over that there was a carrot Lane had kept in his mouth that whole time and it ended up in the bath water! I thought that was pretty funny.

2 short videos of 'SOOOO BIG!'

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A bloggy buffet...

if you will! A few random thoughts that don't at all go together. But I have been slacking on blogging because we have been BUSY! Lane is getting some more teeth....4, I believe, but he is a teething champ this time around! Yay! Either that or he's waiting until we go home in a week to show his true teething colors. ;-) Which is fine because then I will have help, relief, sanity....whatever you want to call it, it will be good.

He's doing so well at the Baby room at the gym. He LOVES it and rarely knows when I walk in to get him! I think it's partly because he can move about and do what HE wants! And of course, they all love him. His eyes especially....always talking about his eyes....seriously are they that BIG?! I would say the number one comment we get when we are out is about his eyes. His love of the baby room definitely motivates me to go and work out because then he can be social without me. And I of course can be working on my fitness...

Speaking of working out...today a girl got on the elliptical next to me and then a few minutes later got off and onto another one, 6 machines down. I may be paranoid, but I began to think of a reason why she would move. Then I started thinking about the herbs I take (in pill form) they make me smell of maple syrup.....ewwww...and she was also pregnant so maybe the smell was emulating out as I was sweating and she couldn't stand it....ya know, being pregnant and all. Or maybe heightened sense of smell and sensitivity to smells was a pregnancy symptom only I possessed?! Then I got really self-conscious because I thought I smelled! LOL!

But then I thought I may be the only anal one who actually wants to puke at the smell of maple syrup...pregnant or not! It's gross. And as luck would have it, the herbs I take make you smell like it. I eat pancakes with butter, waffles with butter, and french toast with powdered sugar....I HATE MAPLE SYRUP. I especially wasn't fond of "breakfast for lunch" day when I taught because then all the children in my class reeked of maple syrup. I blame this on my mother....she didn't give us syrup as children because she doesn't like it either. So one day Lane will probably blame his hate for maple syrup on me.

Speaking of Lane...So he is quickly approaching 10 months. As of 9 months 3 weeks and 5 days old he waves hi and especially when I bring out the camera (I'm sure you noticed in pictures of him always waving....not prompted by us), he loves his johnny jump-up, but especially gets to jumping when 'Dance Puppet Dance' is played (over and over and over and over), he has a thing with texture...in food that is...he will pick up new foods and play with them in his fingers and if the texture is not to his liking he will not put it in his mouth, he does 'so big' with at least one hand and he actually did it today for the first time. Even though we have been doing it for months, he finally gave me the satisfaction today. Aunt Cece says he can do it all, but only wants to bring out a few things at a time to catch us by surprise. He can sign milk, but only does it when he's eating, which kinda defeats the purpose. But today he skipped his 6 am feeding and slept until almost 9:30 so you bet he was signing milk as I picked him up out of his crib. So I guess he does know what's going on, he just chooses to do it on his terms! That's definitely my baby....

His 9 month appointment went well. He is growing and developing as he should. He's a skinny mini weighing in at 18lbs and he's 30 inches long. Took his shots like a champ and really liked the mirror next to the exam table. That kept him occupied while waiting for Dr. Greene.

He plays really well by himself. I just love watching him play and babble and just wonder what he is thinking and saying. He's a crawling champ and can be in the kitchen one second and behind the chair in the living room in another second. He also pulls up on anything and everything and loves crusing around his crib, but hasn't really attempted that on furniture yet. Of course he continues to love his bath or shower with one of us. He just sits/crawls/stands/plays while in there with one of us. He's a crazy man and has no fear of water being in his face or splashed on him. I attribute that to his Daddy who has made him so comfortable with the water. He's a pretty good sleeper, naps really well, but on days when we are out, he chooses to be awake instead. And most of the time handles a 'no-nap day' pretty well. I really love this age. Around 7 or 8 months is when the fun really started and it gets even better as he gets older.

Oh and lastly...we got his 9 month pics done so be expecting a pose or two when we come home. I didn't order like crazy, but we definitely have pictures to share. This time I picked pictures that really showed his personality. One captured his little 'one eyebrow raise' trick with a silly Lane smile and the other one is just cute! No CD this time, guess I didn't spend enough!

Wow! This will be a post for him to look back on and go 'what in the world was my mother taking on this day!' So anyway...think you're all caught up!

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Updates

The Gym
So taking him to the baby room at the gym, has been going well. Sometimes I come back to a snotty nose baby, which means he probably has been crying...but not when I get there, so that's good. Other times I come back to a very serious, inquisitive baby taking in all his surroundings or a very talkative baby who is laughing and playing in his seat. But you can bet most days I pick him up, he is in the arms of one of the ladies just watching all the kids from a safe distance....gee he's not my kid, is he now!?!?! My parents can attest, I was a cautious child and remain a cautious adult! ;-)
He sits up very well and seems to be able to hold his own, but he's one of the younger ones there that's able to play on the floor, so I think if there are too many older kids at that time, they don't want to put him down. But all in all, it's going well and I am able to fully complete a workout without having to worry too much!


STTN
So I don't want to jinx myself, but he has been doing great at night. All books I read say to establish a bedtime routine, which we have, since 3 weeks of age. I guess it's taken 6 months to see the benefits! He usually goes down between 7:30 and 8 pm and wakes to eat between 5:30 and 6 am. I dreamfeed him at 10:30 and it has been very successful....running to knock on wood...It seems to hold him through the night and when he wakes in the morning, Matt can hear his stomach growling the whole way down the stairs! He's sooooo hungry at that time, that he can barely hold-off through a diaper change. Matt brings him to our bed and I feed him...laying down...he eats for a long time and then we can sleep until 7 or 8. It's great!
If he happens to wake up through any part of the night, I usually don't fully wake up in time to realize he is fussing before he goes back to sleep....so we are seeing some self-soothing techniques....it's about time!

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