Newest addition to the family

Seth, along with most kids in America, loves LOVES LOVES Handy Manny from Playhouse Disney.  Consequently, while Brandon was in Florida for the week, he was not there to stop my ridicules  purchase of a Handy Manny toy.  Seth was so excited to see it in the store that I couldn't help it.  (I swear this is not a common practice :).  Once home I felt the lameness of my decision and kept it in the box.  Seth would look at it in the box and press the buttons.  Later that evening I saw him sitting on the steps of the living room.  He looked around to see if I was watching then he gave Manny a big hug.  I saw this, and he gave me a bashful smile and ran away once he realized he had been had:)  I had to open it after that...right?  He carries Manny's tools around in his pocket!

A random side note.  Seth and Paige do the funniest things.  They usually play in the family room, but from time to time they run out giggling.  I know exactly where they are heading.  They climb on the console table in the front room and wiggle themselves between the table and the wall and just sit there with smug smiles.  They can't get themselves out and usually end up frustrated.  Once I help them out, they climb right back there.  This happens more times than I can count.  

Peek into my world...

So my son is incredibly shy and doesn't really show off for people.  When strangers say hi he tends just to give a "deer in the headlights" stare.  No matter how sweet the person is he does the  classic, hide behind my legs and will stick out his bottom lip.  

This being said, he is a very active and jovial kid.  Not many get to see this side of him.  He does  so many hilarious things and is BURSTING with personality, yet only a select few get to witness it.  For all of you who have not yet gotten to witness Seth at his best, here is a peek into what I see daily.  For that reason here are 25 RANDOM THINGS ABOUT SETH:

1. Seth can say about 50+ words at only 15 mo.  Some words include:  pip (chip)  uk pees (up please)  awk (sock), two  two tee (one two three), mo (more), ray ray (raisen), keeks (cheeks...watch out he pinches them hard), Peege (Paige), Nitney ( Brittany), tons of animal sounds,  the list goes on and on.  There are new ones that pop up every day!

2. I hide the remote in the couch cushions because Seth loves to push the buttons.  Sometimes I find him scouring the cushions and when he finds the it he will will bring me the remote and say "mammy, mammy" so I will turn on Handy Manny. 

3.  He will fake type on the computer desk while I type.

4. He dances to every noise resembling music.  He LOVES LOVES LOVES music.  While in the grocery store he will invariably dance to the Ralphs' jingle that playes on the TV screen.  His dance consists of raising up and down his hand as if he is conducting or karate chopping.  Brandon and I often mimic him.    

5.  When I put on "Silly Songs" in the car he will stop mid-scream to listen.  It has saved my sanity in the car countless times.

6.  His mind is so constructive.  He carefully stacks blocks and hardly every wrecks block towers.   He will stack just about anything.  Last month he stacked mini paint cans in our garage while we were doing yard work.  Every morning while I was getting ready he would stack our picture frames  that were lying on the ground (before they were hung).

7.  He loves soosh (shoes) although when we are in the car he will pull off his shoes and socks.  It is pointless to put them on until after we have arrived at our destination.

8.  He is fearless when it comes to slides.  He will go down on his own...no prodding necessary.

9.  He LOVES water.  He will scream WAH WAH whenever he sees even a drop of it.  He is not afraid of the ocean or waves at all (this keeps me on my toes at the beach).

10. When I am putting a shirt on him and it is stuck going over his head he screams "EYES, EYES" until his eyes are uncovered.

11.  He mixes up HOT and HAT.  When I blow on his food he will pat his head (doing the sign for hat) and say "Hot."  

12.  If he has food in his mouth and sees something more appealing on his plate or in my hand he will take out the food from his mouth, give it to me or place it on the table, and then eat the other thing.

13.  He says "bye bye" when I put him down for a nap or for the night.

14. He calls his pacifier his beebee.  

15.  He calls me by name when he wakes up in the morning.  I hear him shouting down the hall "mommy mommy."  If that doesn't work he will move onto "Dada, dada"

16. Brushing his teeth is a two person job.  One to hold him down while he flails and the other to quickly brush his pearly whites.  

17.  He loves to put food in his mouth and then put his beebee in and just let the food sit.  It is a real fight to stop him from doing this.  I am afraid of cavities, plus it is just gross.

18.  He has to sleep with his stuffed lamb and bear.  If I forget to put them in his crib he will call out endlessly:  beao beao lamby lamby.

19.  He babbles all day long.  He will sometimes grab my face to make sure I am looking him straight in the eye, then he will babble something while sporting a serious expression and nodding his head.  I'm sure he is telling me something important but I have no idea what he is saying.  It cracks me up.

20.  When toys or silverware go missing it is usually hidden in a vase, or thrown in our bathtub.

21.  When Seth knows he did something wrong, and I am getting ready to scold him, he will grab my face and give me a kiss.  Similarly, when he wants something and I say no, he will also grab my face and give me a kiss and then ask again.  Man...he has already learned the art of kissing up!

22. Putting him down for naps and for the night is usually very easy.  Wrap him up in a blanket, give him lamby and bear, sing one song and put him down.

23.  He pays attention to where we are driving. When we turn on the street to the park he will say park.  When we turn onto the Erickson's street he will say "Peege."  

24.  He kisses the phone when someone is talking to him.  I don't know why, but if you give him the phone to talk he will give you a big kiss and hand it back.  He also uses anything as a phone:  a wii controller, a remote, a pad of paper.  

25.  He used to cry when the dumbo ride or the carousel ended at Disneyland.  He has gotten much better at this.

You know that you live in LA when...

Yesterday I came home to find a notice posted on our door (along with all others who live on our street).  It read NOTICE OF FILMING!.  Yep!  They will be filming Medium right around the corner of our street.  They informed us that there will be full load gunfire effects!   Not that I watch the show, but I just thought it was fun to be able to walk down to the end of the street to see filming.  As I came back from the gym today I saw them moving furniture and props to set up the interior and exterior of the house.  Maybe Seth will walk down there tomorrow when they are actually filming!  Just a perk of living in LA I guess.  

It is pouring..

It is pouring outside right now.  We are getting some much needed rain; however, this has highlighted the lack of books I have around right now that I haven't already read.  Any suggestions???  I am looking for a page turner since reading takes place in short stints.  Back when I could allot long stretches to reading I enjoyed the slower, more descriptive   books, but now a plot line that moves is a must.   Secondly, I am looking for a parenting book.  No major issues to hammer out, but just looking for something educational.  

BTW Seth is on my lap right now and pretending to type on the desk:)  Cute huh!

Here is Seth being bored and staring at the rain.  He would look outside and say wawa and just stare while he smashed his face to the window.

I just though these were too cute to not add.  Just a T and slippers.  Prepping to watch the football game!

What to do on a wet day?

It's kind of sad that the first two days of rain we received left Seth and I stir crazy.  That's how you know you take the sun for granted.  What to do...no park, back yard, beach, walks.  A quick fix was found in a trip to Toys R Us/Babies R Us.  I had to go pick up some things there and found out that our trip was more than just an errand.  Just going to play with all the toys was so worth the trip and filled our afternoon with fun.  Brittany and Paige went with us.  Paige and Seth had a blast playing with all the trikes and especially the powerwheels.  They climbed in an out and we pushed them all over the place.  They also loved playing with the balls out of the ball bin!  Moral of the post: when at a loss for things to do on a raining day...go to Toys R Us and play with their toys.

To sum it up...

I have very little pictures to show for what has gone down in the past few weeks, but here are some snip-its from our happenings!!!

**January in SoCal is freaking awesome.  We have already been to the beach, gone swimming and worn shorts.  Crazy huh!  Bust out the sunscreen.  In honor of our January summer we are making a trip to Santa Barbara tomorrow!

**Brandon and I are counting down the days until the LOST season premier.  Seriously...it is one of the best directed shows on TV.  Love love love.  

**We bought a desk about two months ago and have avoided setting it up because of the zillion pieces it takes to assemble it.  I set it up 80% alone (B had to write a talk).  I am impressed, not that it is hard, but that I had the patience to finish it!!  Brandon's pearl of wisdom that night was:  "You know that you are rich when you no longer have to assemble your own furniture."  That made me laugh.

**We joined the YMCA gym and the child care staff sure know Seth.  The first week we went he had a blast and played.  They commented how good he was.  The second week has been a different story.  He has cried pretty hard (I sneak out) after he realizes  that I have gone.  The staff has had to come get me twice.  I am at a crossroads.  I want Seth to acclimate to being away from me and being confident, however I don't want to drive the staff insane and have Seth be miserable.  I'll let you know when I have figured out what I am going to do.  Ug!

**Still tons to do on the house, along with maintenance.  I did, however, plant my first flowers in a raised planter box in front of our house.  Per, Lori's suggestion I planted snapdragons.  We'll see how long they last under my care.  I am not confident in the color of my thumb!  This is a skill that I want to pick up though.  Wish me luck!

Fin

Home sweet home!!

Christmas was spent at my mom's house in Dixon.  Home is always so comforting.  I especially enjoyed the gloomy cold weather.  Weather makes a huge effect on my mood, and to feel like Christmas I need cold (not too extreme though).  While at home we went to feed the ducks at the UCD arboretum, as we have done for the past few years.  Yes...we know there is a don't feed the ducks sign, but for the sake of a one year old (and his mother) we conveniently disregarded it this time.   Seth pointed at every duck and made the duck noise.

Ducks don't like to be pet!

Seth has no fear of water.  He had every intention of following the ducks in.

Seth and Daddy.  They really do look alike to me!

He has the cutest smile in this pic.

 

Seth was really upset when we made him get back in and be pushed.