Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!!!

It's nuts!

My baby is almost 17 months old!!! It's getting to a point where I have to think for moment each time someone asks me his age. Each day he walks a little faster, which, of course, means he falls just as much, if not more. Is it weird if I put a helmet on the kid? He talks with more assertion(bossy, is more like it) and his range of emotion grows each day. In fact, he doesn't shut up. Boy, does he have a lot to say!! LOL!! His sense of humor is awesome, too. He giggles so much now, I call him the laughing idiot. He walks up to strangers, points at them, and starts cracking up. Any other age, this would be considered extremely rude, right? But luckily, everyone plays along and does whatever they can to keep the laughs coming.

I used to be the one doing all the entertaining. Not anymore! He dances, he plays peekaboo, and he LOVES being chased. His favorite thing is to stick his foot in my face and say "ah. ah." See, I used to bite his stinky feet. They're like marshmallows with little sausage toes! How can I not! And now he taunts me with it. Go ahead, mom. Try and bite me now. So cute. He even tries to play with Bug, but that dog doesn't have a clue. Sigh.

Of course, along with the laughs come the tantrums. Well, he hasn't had a tantrum yet. He just makes a really loud yelp and kicks his legs a couple of times. Then he just stares at me to see what I'm going to do. I'm not really sure how to deal with this (yes, I've ordered books) and I'm trying really hard not to be the kind of parent my dad was. Instead of rushing to anger and assuming threats are the way to go, I'd much rather just be patient and let my son know that I get it. Life sucks right now and I just feel like flaying my limbs about. Got it. I totally know how that feels. In fact, P has footage of me doing this very thing in college. Yeah, you heard me. College. You're never to old to throw a tantrum...in private.

For the most part, W is growing up to be such a little stud. He's my charmer and I'm so proud of him everyday. I get how my mom has been able to be my mom for the past 34 years. I'm not easy. I know this. But she has always handled it with a smile. Literally smiling. Because I'm HER baby. And no matter what I do, she's proud of me and she can't NOT love me enough. It's a pretty powerful feeling and it's something I pray will stay with me until the day I die.

He's such a trooper, too. Our little household decided to take turns getting sick. REAL sick. We all got that stomach bug that's been going around. Yuck. Diarrhea would've been great. But add some projectile vomiting and you get a front row seat to our house a couple of weeks ago. OMG. Poor guy slept fine, and we found him just sitting in his own poop in his crib the next morning. He had no appetite, which is like.....unprecedented for him. Scare the shit out of me. And then he popped a cheerio in his mouth, decided it was nasty, and let the projectile vomiting begin. It was soooo sad to see. I didn't have it as bad. Small mercies. I would not have been able to survive that day if P didn't stay home that morning. My hero!

A couple of days later, all is well except W is still not hungry and is now addicted to Pedialyte. Damn you! orange-flavored Pedialyte! Oh. And it was now P's turn to pay homage to the porcelain gods. After a couple of days of hell, he decided to suffer from a cold as well. Which is what my body decided to catch a few days after that. AHHHHH!!!! And I'm pretty sure W has a mild cold right now, although, it's hard to tell because he acts like his jolly self. How do I know he's sick then?? Because I suction a booger from his nose that's about a mile long. That's not normal, is it?

We're all better now, thanks for asking. I'm glad we got sick, though. Hopefully, we've built just enough immunity to carry us through our upcoming trip. While most people get away to warmer climates during the winter, we've decided that wet, dreary Seattle would be better. LOL!! Actually, we love it there and I'm so excited to take W on his first trip! I'm pretty sure I'll lose a ton of sleep and the rainy forecast will challenge me like no other. But it's small price to pay for our first family getaway! Now if I can just convince P that our son needs galoshes.

Some of my friends are thinking about #2. Some of them are already carrying them! Where do we stand on this issue. No comment. I've heard how much harder it is with two children. I try not to imagine but it's hard not to. After a little hyperventilating, I convince myself, I only have one right now. My biggest fear isn't the challenge of having two children. My fear is having a horrible pregnancy like before and having to change one of W's doodoo diapers!! Most parents have to stick their noses in their kids butts to see if they pooed. I can smell his poo from another room! How awful would it be to throw up on him while he's lying there! Shooting stars. Birthday candles. Wishbones. I only ask that this next pregnancy be an easy one. PLEASE!

What the heck is this stuff? And why are these kids so happy to be covered in it? Yuck!

This sand stuff, it's not coming off. Quick. Do something mommy!