JTOK Chatter > 2009

Year: 2009

Will Owen be The Cute Kid for December 2009?

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http://www.thecutekid.com/

Since everyone and their brother keeps telling us how cute Owen is (and of course we think so, too!), I finally decided to enter him into a Cute Kid contest. Below are the two pictures I entered for December—and if he wins that (fingers crossed!) he would be in the running to win Cute Kid 2009! I would have entered a hundred more photos, but it costs $20 a picture to enter. XX(

TheCuteKid™ awards over $5,000 in prizes monthly!

Each month, our panel of industry professionals carefully reviews all contest entrants to select each Category Winner (Baby, Toddler, Pre-School, Big Kid, Pre-Teen & Multiples) with the top scorer from our VoteTracker™ scoring system being awarded that month’s “CuteKid™ of the Month” prize winner. Keep in mind, by entering your child’s photo, it WILL be seen by industry experts and agents who often cast for modeling and acting roles.

We should know something by mid-January. Keep your fingers crossed!!

Christmas in Grayling

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We went up to Grayling for the long holiday weekend. We went over to Kalkaska on Christmas Eve Day to have our Christmas with Marsha and Rob and then Christmas Day we exchanged gifts with Marge, then my dad and Linda came over for lunch and Owen time. Here are some of the best shots:

Grandpa Mike brought over a sled for Owen, in which he THOROUGHLY enjoyed being pulled around the house!

We were able to finally take him sledding outside later in the weekend. Cousins Isabelle and Gabrielle were there to help! Here are some of the best shots:

It was great being able to have the entire family together again (the last time was actually just in July, when we all vacationed together in Kentucky). Here’s the annual group shot and the Christmas shirt photo with a new inductee:

What happened to my good napper?

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Morning naps are usually still pretty easy, but afternoon naps? Ay carumba! XX(

He’s only 10.5 months old, so he really can’t be ready to ditch the nap entirely…but every day he fights it and fights it and fights it and I can tell he’s tired…but he takes forever to go down. Up until recently, 3:30 is the latest I would put him down, so that his hour nap would have him up at 4:30, in time to eat dinner, get a bath, and get ready for bed. But now it’s 4:21 and he’s screeching and kicking away, looking at me over the side of the crib.

Needless to say this is VERY unlike him and it’s driving me nuts. NUTS. Last week I chalked it up to teething and being sick, but he has NO excuse this week. Maybe it’s time for him to nap in his crib instead of the pack and play? All I know is something needs to change.

Bah humbug.

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So I got a free $10 coupon from JCPenney in the mail, and I thought I might as well use it since it’s free money, right?

So a few nights ago I went to try and find a photo album and long story short they didn’t have ANY where they said they would be, and I really didn’t feel like looking around more (with the 400 other people in the store), so I wandered through the kitchen stuff, sure that I could find something there to spend $10 on. Right away I found a covered 9×13 non-stick pan for $20, so it would be $10. AWESOME. I wait in line, get to the checkout, and am told the item is not eligible. Ugh. So I left it there and decided to check out baby clothes. Not that Owen needs anything, but if it was free…why not?

So I wandered around that section, thinking he could use bigger mittens…but I didn’t like any of the picked-over selection. It took some time to pick out what I wanted, but it was all on sale so it was a great deal (with the coupon, especially). After probably 20 minutes, I really didn’t want the stuff that bad to stand in line again (my fault, but still annoying) so I headed toward the exit, only to be stopped by a display of socks, thinking “Hey, I just mentioned the other day I could use [a certain type] of sock” but no, it’s men’s socks. But it’s right by the women’s lingerie section, so there should be socks there, right? Oh no. I wandered the entire women’s section there and NO SOCKS! So who the hell knows where they were, but I wasn’t about to spend any more godforsaken time there—so I left, vowing not to return because the stupid $10 was NOT worth the agony of shopping during the holiday season. (It was also a BIG reminder that I really am not a SHOPPER anymore. Online, yes. In person? No.)

So last night I had to go out to spend a free $10 Kohl’s coupon…so I figured what the hell, I might as well try JCP again. WHAT A MISTAKE. I go in, find something RIGHT AWAY that I could actually use. It was on sale for $9.99. Wait in line. Get annoyed by other shoppers. Go to check out and the coupon won’t work—the register says nothing valid was purchased. My clerk was about as slow as molasses. He looks a the coupon, looks at me, looks at the item in the bag, looks at me, looks at the coupon, looks at the register, looks at the coupon, looks at the register… Good god.

Then he says gee…
I’m…
not…
sure…
why…
it’s…
not…
working…

I said I didn’t know, either.

Then he slowly…
reaches…
into…
his…
pocket…
and…
pulls…
out…
his…
glasses…
case…
then…
opens…
it…
and…
takes…
out…
his…
glasses…
AND OH MY GOD I JUST WANTED TO SCREAM AT HIM TO HURRY THE HELL UP. Although I stayed calm and looked like the nicest customer ever. So after more painful slow waiting for him to react, he finally determined that there were already too many discounts on the item. I knew that wasn’t the case, so I logically guessed that the item was $9.99 and the coupon must state “$10 before taxes” so that was the problem. Then he agreed that was it. 🙄 So I then nicely ask/joke if there isn’t some way he can just charge me $10 for the item (knowing full well that a cashier can generally change the price of an item—been there, done that) and he is, again, clueless. I am sure this guy was just temporary holiday help, because he really was AMAZINGLY CLUELESS. He asks the girl at the next register and of course the answer is no. Sigh.

So he just stands there and looks at me. Just looks. Doesn’t say anything. I’ve been a cashier. At this point, he really should have apologized, and/or asked if I would still like the item…anything but just standing there silent. So then I lost my cool a bit and took the initiative and told him I didn’t want the item, told him I’ve now tried to use this coupon twice WITHOUT SUCCESS and I’ve had it. I shoved the coupon back at him and told him to take it and give it to someone else because I was not trying again OR coming back. He STILL didn’t say anything and looked at me like he hadn’t even heard me—like he was still a few minutes back in the conversation. Ugh.

So then it was off to Kohl’s, where I had a perfectly lovely experience. Except that to get there, I had to deal with idiot drivers who refuse to pull out into traffic (on good roads, with plenty of time) or who refused to turn in front of a police car in a mall parking lot 🙄 who then drove through said parking lot at about .5mph (of course, I was stuck behind him). Luckily, I found some great holiday things at Kohl’s and my coupon was accepted without hesitation—and I even got a smile or three during my AMAZINGLY QUICK checkout—plus a “Have a great holiday” as I was exiting.

Overall, I was reminded why I do 99.9% of my shopping online or before November 1.

First very minor injury!

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Owen was a poor little traumatized boy this afternoon… He was standing at the entertainment center like he does all the time, except the door was open today, so he was playing with that—when he suddenly let out this loud and frantic cry. OMG! I couldn’t see exactly what was going on (he was blocking my view) so I went over and…one of his little fingers was pinched in between the open door and shelf!

:'(

Poor kid…but he was mostly over it within two minutes, but I sucked up the additional cuddle time he gave me while watching Sesame Street and recuperating!

H1N1 Booster

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We were scheduled to get the booster shot on Friday, but with Owen’s recent barfing episodes, decided to take him in early if possible. (Yes, he’s barfed up a few meals since he’s been sick—nothing I could pinpoint to a new food or certain type of food, though.)

The doc said he seemed healthy enough although we was a bit congested (so said to give him Benedryl) but that he might have the remnants of a stomach virus, which would explain the barfing (i.e. he might be having trouble digesting the food) so she recommended a liquid diet for a few days, giving me some soy formula (better for digestion).

I also got him weighed. Are you ready?? 26 pounds! TWENTY SIX! He wasn’t naked, but how much can a pair of jeans and a onesie weigh? So he’s gained 2-3# since his 9-month appointment in November. 88|

This is what I see after a nap.

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So we still have Owen taking his naps in the pack-n-play in the living room, and we still have it covered with blankets so he can’t see out. But now that he can get to his feet, this is what I usually see after he’s done napping… It’s so cute because when he sees me see him, he laughs and giggles.

And once he’s had time to move around a bit and pull off the blankets:

Chicken Fried Rice & SOOOO BIG

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I was eating chicken fried rice for lunch, and I figured I might as well give some pieces to Owen, since it was rice (which I know he likes somewhat—well, at least he’s eaten it before) and soft veggies. And he LOVED it. He ate the rice, zucchini, fried egg, green beans, carrots—and he even ate a few tiny pieces of chicken! 88|

Unfortunately, however, he must have gotten a piece that he either didn’t like or that made him gag…because half his lunch came back up. 🙁

But at least now we know he can/will eat real food! YAY OWEN!

I have also been trying to teach him how to raise his arms when I ask how big he is…so here is today’s attempt:

Sick.

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We have a sick boy. :(:(

I think it’s just a cold because he’s just got a LOT of snot flowing (runny nose and sneezes, knock on wood it doesn’t get worse)…so we’ve got both the Vicks Waterless Vaporizer and his humidifier going at night.

His fourth tooth is also coming in, so maybe that’s part of him being sick (you never know what strange side effects teething will have).

@^#$% WINTER

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So you all know I hate the cold and really don’t like winter.

But I could maybe tolerate winter better if this house was built for it. I don’t know WHAT the >:XX the owners did when they “remodeled” but it apparently didn’t include INSULATING the walls. (That said, it might be something from the original build in the 70s, but I would think the entire house would have to pass some type of inspection at one time or another.)

So, what’s the problem?

Well, if you remember last winter, it was always freezing in the house—especially the living room where we spend 95% of our time. We tested/tried about four different style room heaters and eventually ended up with one that seemed to work pretty well. So this year we got out the heater again and of course now it doesn’t seem to work well at all.

But that’s not the problem. The main problem is with the house.

So, what’s the problem?

I just measured the temperature at floor level on an outside wall (with a digital coking thermometer, so I could actually stick the point in between the paneling boards)…and it was…

Are you ready?

Inside wall temp of 43 degrees.

FORTY THREE >:XX DEGREES.

What the hell? How are we supposed to try and heat a house when the walls/floors are 43 degrees and you can just feel the cold pouring in? (For contrast, the walls that I assume are drywall measure 60 and the sliding glass door even measures 55!)

I appreciate that we have a nice house to live in, but SOOOOO many things are wrong with this house it’s enough to drive you insane.

Dog food & a parenting YUCK night.

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Owen is fast. Which is why the new gate normally stays closed:

But sometimes I leave it open so he can crawl up the step and into the kitchen. So tonight, he actually bypassed the water bowl and headed straight for the island…which is where the dog food is. He was fishing in the bowl, which made Maggie come running because she thought she was getting something good. It was funny because she saw him in her bowl, and suddenly she wanted to eat her food! I actually called Tom to tell him, and while I was talking to him, I saw a piece of food go in Owen’s mouth. Stinker! I wasn’t terribly worried, but I did try to get it out—to no avail. So Owen has officially eaten his first (and certainly not last) piece of dog food! He seemed no worse for the wear and I laughed about it.

Fast forward to dinner, when he becomes Mr. Crankpot. I am sure it has to do with him teething right now…but he’s fine ALL DAY and only turns cranky in the high chair. So he’s either becoming a fussy eater (some nights I’ve had to open three or four different jars of food to find something he’ll eat) or there’s something about eating while teething that’s the problem. Regardless, he’s just been off kilter for a few days—but he always ends up eating his normal amount (it just might take longer…and more patience).

So tonight I tried homemade carrots and that was a no-go for the second time. Then he finished the Zuchinni and Squash Stage 3 jar we started at lunch. Then I tried to give him some itsy bitsy noodles with some butter, and he ate a few small bites but he didn’t like that (although he has been okay with those same noodles mixed IN something). All this was interspersed with puffs, cheerios, freeze-dried corn, and veggie straws—all typical meal snacks. He still needed to eat more, though, so I got out some green veggies.

And he was eating just fine.

And we were almost done.

When he started coughing.

Which turned into almost choking.

I was just starting to get him out of the high chair when he started vomiting. There was nothing I could really do except let it happen. Yuck. The only good thing was that it stopped the choking. But it was all over everything: him, his clothes (jeans, onesie, and socks), the high chair (tray, seat, and foot ledge), me (jeans and shirt—he missed my shoes), the dining room chair cover—and as I learned later while cleaning it up…there was spatter in the entryway to the kitchen, the wall behind where I had been sitting, the floor under the high chair (and the inside underneath of the high chair…and the dog. Yes, the dog. And it was all green.

And speaking of the dog, yes, she cleaned it up. I didn’t want her to, but I was too busy taking care of and cleaning up Owen to worry about her. So I got him in his PJs and he was no worse for the wear. He was sitting, playing, and watching Sesame Street while I went to clean up the dining room. Egads, what a mess.

Definitely a parenting YUCK day.

A big day for the little man!

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Owen’s been a little cranky during meals over the past two days, but I didn’t think much of it. Today, Tom was sitting there with us and said “He’s got a tooth!” I had totally missed it! He’s getting his top right front tooth! :>> So now he’s getting teething tablets and Tylenol and Motrin.

Then, the biggie… HE MADE IT UP THE STEP! Just one day after he managed to stand up on his own!

And then later in the day…

Hoo boy, we have our work cut out for us tomorrow getting the rest of the first floor baby-proofed…and my days at home just became A LOT harder.

And…he’s up!

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This morning I enjoyed watching Owen get to a standing position FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER, ON HIS OWN! (Well, with the help of a bucket of toys for support!) And I got it on film. Tape. Flip. Video. Whatever. :))

Now I just have to edit the video down to 10 minutes (the limit on YouTube) or split it into two videos. I was going to do a “10 Minutes in the Life of Owen” but then he was so cute I just kept going, and ended at 12…which was, as I said, over the limit.

Stay tuned for the video. 🙂

PART 1

PART 2

(The part with the actual standing, if you want to skip ahead!)

Back Pain

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I just got home from the doctor’s office (clinic). I threw my back out Monday and have been taking some of Tom’s leftover meds to survive until I could get to the doctor. I thought I might get a lecture about taking other people’s prescriptions, but when I told the doc he didn’t even bat an eyelash and just said “Yes, those will help.”

He gave me a cortisone shot and prescribed Flexeril and Vicodin. He also took x-rays to rule out anything major like arthritis, scoliosis, or problem discs. He said he didn’t see anything obvious, but was having a radiologist look as well and will get back to me.

On another note, I technically killed three appointments in one by also getting 1) a script for my sleeping issues and 2) a flu shot. So I guess the hour wait and eventual 45-minute appointment wasn’t THAT bad.

Our trip to Target

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My back hurts like hell (like I could tell it might go out on me) but I needed to get diapers so I headed to Target with the boy, figuring how hard could it be. So we are shopping and I picked out a bunch of baby food, sippy cups, etc., then he was getting a little fussy, so I grabbed a pack of yogurt fruit chips (a new snack) off the shelf to give him. And he proceeded to vomit his entire lunch all over him and the cart cover (at least I had that on). I should know better than to give him a new snack like that.

>:XX

I didn’t have the diaper bag (because it was just going to be a quick run) which meant I had no wipes—just his one burp cloth (which wasn’t much help because he barfed on that, too). It stunk so bad it made me about gag. And then I felt like the bad mom because I couldn’t even clean up my kid—and he was covered, literally, from neck to knee in barf.

And I hadn’t even gotten to the diapers yet, so I thought “Do I keep shopping, or just leave the cart? But I need diapers…” so I grabbed the diapers and waited in line. Feeling like a complete schmuck. With a smelly baby. Wishing it wasn’t the holiday season with five people in each line.

Well, he had barfed on a sippy cup package, so I held that and had the girl scan it, telling her WHY. So I pay, rush him out to the car, and…

>:XX

I throw my back out when putting him in the car seat. Well, not technically throw my back out, but you know how you can just feel your back catch and it’s like someone knifed you and you can’t move? Yeah, that. So I was practically in tears just trying to get him in the car seat, while trying to cover the barfed-on coat with another clean burp cloth so the barf wouldn’t get all over the car seat.

So then I go to put the bags in the car and…

>:XX

I didn’t have my bag with all the baby stuff in it. I had the diapers and the barfed-on sippy cup, but that’s it. So I pulled up and parked in the fire zone (something I NEVER DO), locked the car, and ran in to the register to see if my bag was still there. The same young girl was there (because, swear to god, it was only like five minutes later) and she looked at me with NO recognition whatsoever (I had really expected her to be like “Oh, here is your bag!” like usually happens) so I said “I came back to get my bag” and she was all “Huh? What?” and asked when I had been there because she just came on.

>:XX

SERIOUSLY??

You can’t remember me when I just left a few minutes before? (I’ve been a cashier. You don’t forget that quickly. Especially when I had a story about a barfing kid.) So she asks what was in the bag and I told her baby food, sippy cups, etc. and she STILL doesn’t remember. Ugh. She tells me I can take the receipt to customer service and I can probably go get the stuff again.

Of course that is a pain in the ass because I have A BABY IN THE >:XX CAR PARKED IN THE FIRE LANE and I’m trying to rush—and I don’t want to bring him back in because he’s covered head to toe in vomit AND my back is on fire. So I think “I’ll just ask for my money back” so I run out to get the receipt, run back, and see about 10 people in line. At which point I almost lost it.

>:XX

So I call the store from the parking lot and relay the story and the girl says I can come back in today to either get the stuff again or get my money back. At least that went well, but now I either have to go back out once Tom gets home or send him, neither of which sound appealing, but it’s like $50 worth of stuff. Ugh.

So, not a fun “quick trip” to Target—and forget hitting Kroger on the way home like I had planned.

Carousel & Second Haircut

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Since we were up north for Thanksgiving, Grandma Linda and Grandpa Mike said they wanted to take Owen to the carousel at the Grand Traverse Mall. So off we went!

Grandpa took him first, and Owen didn’t think too much of it. But he was cute. We have video from it, but it’s enough to make you nauseous so I won’t post it here… you’ll have to suffice with the pictures I took on Owen’s second ride, with mom and dad (specifically to try and get some good pictures):

Dad and Owen on the carousel

After the carousel, we decided to walk around the mall a little, and one of the first places we passed was Mastercuts…so I decided it was fate (we had been saying for a few weeks he needed another cut) so in we went! He did a pretty good job—again, no crying! And again a little fidgety (he constantly wanted to see what was going on behind him) but overall he was very good! And now look how dapper he is again!

Post second haircut