New

Look who finally learned how to pull himself up on the furniture!  (Not an easy task, since there's not much to hold on to)  He looks so big!

Help. Me.

I need some advice from the awesome moms out there!

Does anyone have a kid who spits out every single bite of food at every single meal, every single day?  I DO! Lucky me.

Stephen's spitting performances have become quite a debacle in our home.  It is one of my main sources of frustration with him.  If I never had to spoon feed him again, it would be too soon!!

He has 2 different types of spits that he likes to show off.  One is pursing his lips together to blow raspberries and spattering the food everywhere.  And I'm talking EVERYwhere.  Blah.  The second spit type is when he just pushes the whole spoonful of food out of his mouth with his tongue.  All down his chin and the front of himself.  If he sees that I'm not annoyed enough by the spitting, then he starts putting his hands in his mouth and smearing the food everywhere.  If he sees that doesn't bother me, he takes his glasses off and puts those in his mouth.  Why?

He is a year old now and the kid is not starving, but only because I fight with him until he finishes his meals.  I feel like I've tried everything and can't figure out how to make him stop.  Maybe I can't make him stop!  If that's the case, I need to know.  And I will just have to suck it up.  I really don't want him to develop bad eating habits and while most days, I (barely) tolerate it, some days I just can't.  I can't stand it!!  Today was one of the days where I got so angry, I had to put him in another room so I could cool off.  That didn't necessarily help either.

*I've tried just saying "No no!" in every tone possible from sweet to sour.  But he hates hearing it so much, it makes matters worse.  He starts crying and spitting more.  Except now, there's snot involved.  Ugh.
*I have tried taking him out of his seat every time he spits and saying "All done!"  But it honestly just delays the inevitable and drags out the process too long.  I end up feeding him many, many, many times just to get through one jar of baby food.  Ugh.
*I have tried distracting him with toys.  He puts them in his mouth and food ends up everywhere anyway.  Ugh.
*I have tried entertaining him with Elmo videos.  This tactic works the best, and he only spits out like once every 3-5 bites.  It still is annoying though.  I turn off the video once he spits and he has to earn it back by taking "big boy bites".  Then he's good for a minute before it starts all over again.  Ugh.
*Praising every single good bite.  Somewhat effective, but highly annoying. Ugh.
*I've even waited until I think he's practically starving, but after 2 excited bites, he is back to his old tricks.  Ugh.

I wish this was something he did just when he was tired or in a bad mood.  But like I said, it's every single day and every single meal.  I have not had a break from it in MONTHS.  And I'm just frazzled.  If he was playing with his food and feeding himself, I have no problem with him making a mess.  But I'm almost convinced he does it just to piss me off!  I read a post on another blog where someone said "He's a year old!  How can you be mad at him?!?"

Well I'm here to tell you, it ain't that hard!

Please don't be shy.  Help. Me.

#FebPhotoADay

You know I love a good photo list!

Day #1: Your View Today {love this thing}

Day #2: Words {let's go somewhere}

 Day #3: Hands {i hid the remote really well, huh?}

Day #5: 10am {putting my face on for brunch with ma girls}

 Day #6: Dinner {matloube - one of my favorite armenian dishes}

 Day #7: Button {s}

Day #8: Sun {at disneyland}

Day #9: Front Door {remembered to do this one very late at night}

Day #10: Self-Portrait {hahaha}

 Day #11: Makes You Happy {stevie's medz-amo, or great uncle, came all the way from san diego to visit}

Day #12: Inside Your Closet {just put all my hangers backwards to keep track of what i'm wearing}

 Day #13: Blue {setting up for stevie's valentine shoot}

Day #14: Heart {weird}

Day #15: Phone {what do you do with your old ones?}

Day #16: Something New {had it for awhile, but its still new!}

Day #17: Time {i need to wear these more}

Day #18: Drink {girls night in - wine, water, wine, wine}

Day #19: Something You Hate To Do {feed him when he's in a mood. ugh.}

Day #20: Handwriting {excerpt from my 7th grade journal.  there's some juicy stuff in there.  haha}

Day #21: A Fave Photo of You {as close to a perfect hair day as it gets.  then the wind messed me up!}

Day #22: Where You Work {editing away}

Day #23: Your Shoes {these went on the cruise with me}

Day #24: Inside Your Bathroom Cabinet {i may or may not have overtaken it completely...}

Day #26: Night {it was a battlefield}

Day #27: Something You Ate {rolos}

Day #28: Money {practically the only form of money i use.  swipe it!}

Day #29:  Something You're Listening Too {not surprising...}

My Funny Valentine

My husband and I don't celebrate Valentine's Day.  We don't need to.  Once you've left the 6th Grade, what's the point of it, really?

Regardless of my feelings toward V-Day (sounds like a disease to me), I had to show off some of my lovin' for this cute bugga boy.  I'll celebrate for this little nugget and try to make it special for him.

Until he graduates the 6th Grade.

So Happy Valentine's Day.  Or, as I like to call it - Tuesday.

Me at Thirty. (Three)

Its kind of hard to believe!  I don't know dudes.  I don't know about 33...

I notice more changes.  Mostly on my face.  My wrinkles have set in deeper.  And new little ones appear every day, it seems.  I have more days where I feel older, and my body aches when I get out of bed in the morning. I feel like I'll never catch up on sleep.  But I guess all that is just part of getting older.  Its just weird that it's actually happening to ME.  Like, I'm not supposed to get old... ?  And I'm not even OLD yet!  It feels that way sometimes though.

I need to have the same attitude as my mom.  She has said once or twice, "I earned each and every one of these wrinkles!"  That's how I should look at it.  The journal that my body has kept is like a badge of honor... A reminder of all things life.

The laugh lines are from the many joys that I've experienced.  I smile with my eyes and boy, does it show.  Tyra Banks calls it smizing, so I guess I'm kind of hip.

The sun spots are from lazy days on the beach.  Some of my best days were spent on the beach or just playing outside.  Happy, happy memories.

The rough spots on my feet are from the countless miles I have walked and all the places my feet have touched.  They have walked cities and countries and have taken me on the greatest adventures.

The chin wrinkles are probably from ugly crying.  Whether from heartbreak or being a dramatic teenager.  The ugly cry happens and my chin quivers and shakes and wrinkles up.

My least favorite right now are the forehead wrinkles.  They are a reminder of tougher times.  Or maybe from watching too many intense TV shows where I furrow my brow.  But those ones have really set in deep this year.  No amount of anti-wrinkle cream can tackle them.  At least they can be covered by bangs!

The stretch marks... oh, the stretch marks.  From my sweet boy.

My weak knees are from long jogs on cold mornings.  Which, surprisingly, I learned to love.

My backaches - well that must be from carrying around all this love.  {Not to mention a 24 pound baby.}  Can't really complain about that.

And of course my hands.  They display my wedding ring.  They take a million photos.  And although they are constantly chipped, my nails are polished & colorful.

Do you know how hard it was not to edit the crap outta these pics??

I have a full life.  I love many things about it.  There are things I wish were different, but not many.  If the next 33 years are anything like the first, I'll be in good shape.  And really, they will probably be better because I'm a wiser person now and I think I value the things that are truly important in life.  And I will continue to be grateful every single day for those truly important things.  And all the fun little filler things too.

Cheers to THIRTY! (Three)

Pin It

13 Months

I wasn't going to do a 13 Month update and just wait for 18 Months, but so much has happened just since he turned 1!  He learned to sit himself up about a week after his birthday.  It was so cute and he literally mastered it overnight, like it was the easiest thing in the world.  We sometimes laugh when we find him sitting up in his crib refusing to take a nap.  He looks right into the video monitor as if he knows we are watching - but he eventually loses that battle every time.  He has 9 teeth now, including his 1-year molar.  That one was a bitch coming in though, I tell you what!  Huge black and blue blister for over a month.  Oh, it looked awful.  I touched it once and it gave me the willies.  He understands when we ask him "What does the kitty say?" in English and Armenian.  He doesn't know how to say "MEOW", but he makes this high pitched squeak every time we ask.  We are working on dog (shoonig) and cow (gov) and monkey (gabig) too.  He's showing a lot more interest in toys.  They don't keep him occupied for very long, but at least he's grabbing things and showing signs of curiosity now.  He will go out of his way to reach the iPhone or remote control though.  He learned to wave "hi" and it's just about the cutest thing on the planet.  And the biggest news came just about a week ago when he finally crawled!  I'm not gonna lie, I teared up as he made his way across the living room.  I was so proud of him! He's been working so hard at it for months and months and months, and then it just happened.  A relief for sure, but now I know I'm in for it with him being able to get around!  Look at this little guy go!

Cute wave!

Exciting times, my friends!  I didn't know my voice could go that high.

25 Ways To Know You're Such a Mom

Someone shared this link with me pointing out that I'm totally #20 & #3.  What they didn't realize is I relate to a lot more of these than they thought!  I'm sure most moms can.  So I wanted to share the ones I totally get,  plus add a couple of my own...

1. When you're kid throws up, you hold out your hands to catch it. Gross.
2. You pick someone else's boogers and it's no big deal.  Also gross.  {And not only is it no big deal to me, but I see it as a huge accomplishment.  As if I performed surgery or something.  Very satisfying to clear out booger town.)
3. "What kind of poop was it?" counts as stimulating conversation.
4. Your pets that you love so much all of a sudden drive you crazy.
5. You clench your nether regions before you sneeze, so you don't pee.
6. You eat rogue food from the floor and don't even bother to see if anyone's looking.
7. The last thing you do on vacation is relax.
8. When you check on the baby, you crawl into the room army style so they don't see you and want to be picked up.
9. You literally cry over spilled breast milk.
10. If you happen to cry over said milk, you dry your tears with the nearest dirty burp cloth.  Ew.
11. You will drive around the neighborhood for an hour, just so you don't have to wake the baby up.
12. You find poop under your fingernail (or yogurt in your hair) and wonder how long it's been there.
13. Sometimes just getting ready for the day feels like a huge accomplishment.
14. When you hear a baby crying three aisles down at the store, you start swaying as if you're rocking them.
15. You catch yourself singing Sesame Street songs even when the kid isn't around.
16. When you squeeze your boobs in public to see how full they are.
17. When you tell others they should feel your boobs too because it's unbelievable how huge they are!
18. You'll be kissing your husband and have to finish it with a silly noise or raspberry.
19. The fact that you forgot to bring the binky to the grocery store with you sends you into a horrible panic.
20. When you make up the most ridiculous songs for every occasion.  Bathtime, diaper change, eating, etc.
21. You are desperate for the baby to take a nap, and when he finally does, you get bored and want him to get up soon. (This has only happened to me once or twice.  I love naptime.  But it has happened.)
22. Surprisingly, you can pick up a lot of things with your feet!
23. You sniff the baby's butt to see if the diaper is dirty.
24. Your car is no longer your car.  It has been taken over by toys, extra clothes & diapers, food, etc.
25. You can update your blog or edit a few photos, navigating the mouse and keyboard with only your left hand so you can hold the munchkin.

I'm not saying all of these are good qualities, or that I'm excited about doing all these things - but sometimes you do what you gotta do.  And these are just things I've done in the first year.  So I'm guessing this list is a work in progress...