Thanks for the award from The Sparacino Chronicles:A Writing Adventure . You are supposed to list 7 random things about yourself and pass it on. Enjoy!

1. I ALWAYS eat any chocolate candy "deconstructivly". This means that I will eat a Kit Kat by eating all the chocolate off the outside first and then eat the wafers from top to bottom, one at a time. This applies to all other candy bars. (Snickers are tricky!)


2. I cannot stand eating bananas because they give me "fuzzy teeth". Laugh if you want, that is what I have always called it and no, I cannot describe it-if you have to ask, you wouldn't understand!


3. I am compulsive about how the bath towels are folded and have finally succeeded in getting Cody trained properly. Now on to Max...
   
4. I would prefer an early, quiet morning to sleeping in late every time.


5. I love to cook with fresh garlic but I can't stand to have the smell on my hands for days and days. Enter: Kitchen gloves-for garlic and jalapenos only-I am not some weird sissy who won't touch raw meat-ie-Cody+raw chicken!


6. I really have no interest in ever owning a dog-they always want to be my friend-yet they lick their own butts...hmmm...pretty much gross.


7. I have never ridden a roller coaster of any kind. Open to it-just never had the opportunity.

I am passing this along to:

Better Than We Could Pray For

Joy, with a side of chaos

Our Ordinary Life

Snot

(Note: gross out factor-pretty high)

Yep-snot. Its that time of year. I like to think I am girlie but tough. I think Cody likes to think he is manly and tough but I would like to set the record straight...manly: yes. tough: still undecided.
He has his father's DNA all the way. Mark (my FIL) is a great man and a wonderful father/grandfather but his most obvious fault (other than his penchant for making me insane by somehow cornering me with words which is infuriating-lol) is that he has an EXTREMELY weak stomach. Dirty diaper=RUN. Spit up=RUN. Snot=RUN. Vomit=Don't even mention it! I can count on one hand the number of times Cody has voluntarily changed a dirty diaper. (he is great with just wet) You would have thought that our trip down Pyloric Stenosis Lane would have gotten him over the yuck-but alas. (Back story: When Max was newborn he would projectile vomit EVERYTHING out of his stomach quite often, getting progressively more often until he was diagnosed at 7 weeks. It was an easy fix-simple surgery and 2 nights in a children's hospital, but the weeks leading up to this were FILLED with copious amounts of slimy, stinky spit-up. Cody handled it fine)
Fast forward to today.
Enter: Cold Season, aka-Snot Season
Max has been dealing with a bout of gross. No other real problems, just lots of snot.
This morning Cody took Max outside so I could finish getting things ready for the day unassisted. So sweet. As I am finishing up and I have both hands full of 2 lunch boxes, 2 sippy cups of milk, a diaper bag, my phone, keys and trying to shut the front door I hear... "EEEEWWWWW-Mommy, this is tooo gross! Clean up on isle Max! Grab a tissue now! EEEWWWWW!!!" And yes, that was Cody. My poor little boy (max) was standing in the middle of the driveway looking quite confused with both hands full of snot and more just dripping from his raw little nose. I did rescue the little guy but I just had to share. I have a wonderful husband and Max has a father that couldn't love him more but...Come on! Man up Cody! lol *sigh*

That is all.

Be glad there aren't pictures!

Bits and Pieces

I have learned that I am not going to be able to keep a cohesive blog, it will always be just bits and pieces. But I guess pieces are good too, I mean, I love Reece's Pieces and York Patty pieces. So...here are some "pieces" of us.








Last night Max climbed into this basket. (after unfolding and scattering 14 baby blankets that I can't bring myself to store away) He then proceeded to read his current fave book, Who but a Father.

And bath time is once again fun-thanks in large part to bubbles...although all he really wants to do is eat them in scary amounts.

He sacked out, like really sacked out one day. It makes me sad to see how full my arms are in this pic in comparison to...

We went to the parish wide rummage sale (something I really NEVER do...I DO NOT go to second hand yard/garage/rummage/ sales. No prejudice just never liked it.) But we went this year and one of the parishioners saw Max climb on this cow and ride. She bought it for him. He loves it. Thus it is in my house. Thank you. Did I mention that it moos? No? It moos.

All 4 of us girls got to go out for a night of bowling and dinner. (with our dudes) Thanks mom and dad for watching Max, sorry he was such a pill. :-/

He loves tractors-just so we have that covered...

Here he is trying on his new fall jeans and shirt...and hamming it up all the way!

I call this his Waldo shirt-for some reason he really likes the whole stripy look-he was sitting there just rubbing his hand on the stripes like they were bumpy or something. Dunno-but it was cute.

And although there are no pic to illustrate, he has begun to improve his communication skills. My youngest sister has tried to teach him a few signs. So far the only one he has stuck with is "more" and he uses it ALLLLL THHHHEEEE TIIIIIMMMMEEE! Other than that, he also says please, tractor, key, dad, mom, out, deer, baby, Paul (an older gentleman with a red tractor), P, Nananan for Nana and Nonnie, Ieya for Yaya along with variations of all my sister's names. So we are getting there.

Summer Fun

I seem to ALWAYS be playing "catch up on the blog". But I guess that is kinda the point of a blog-or at least mine-to remember and record what happened yesterday. (Or in most cases, 2-300 weeks ago!)

I feel like I am doing pretty good at this point. Most of this stuff is from the last month or so.

Last week Max and I decided to take (or rather join in) a last minute trip to the DFW area to visit the Thias side of the family. My dads mom (Grandma Thias) had never met her one and only Great grandchild and it was also the 2nd anniversary of my Poppa dieing. So-at 7:30am on the day that my dad and Gracie were leaving I called them to see if they had room for 2 more...and a lotta luggage! So we tagged along, even though I was certain I would regret my decision to drag Max along on a 7+ hr car ride. He surprised us all. On the way there we only stopped 3 times, he did sleep about 3 of the 7 hrs and only whimpered for about 40 min on the last 2 hours of the trip. (At this point I was ready to start whining-my butt was numb and the car was stuffy) The stay was brief. (but 2 nights and 3 days without daddy was quite long enough-THANK YOU AUNT GRACIE-I would not have survived without you!) We were all sure that Max knew what was coming on the way home and we were going to be in for it....but......nope! As good as gold! Not a single tear and very little discontent of any kind. He only slept about an hour and a half of about 8hrs on the road. (including breaks) Folks, this means that my 19 month old child was content in his car seat for approximately 6.5 hours! AWAKE! Without any TV or other form of "artificial" entertainment! I sincerely believe he has an AMAZING guardian angel (or maybe I do!) that was helping him bear the trial. Plus-the whole trip is lined with road construction and where there is construction there are tractors and large road implements! Thank you GOD for the obsessions of small children! "Oh, look Max a tractor!" "Oooooh!!! Shreeeeeek!!!! Tackta" (he doesn't say "r" sounds) We are very pleased with his travel patience-for this trip anyway!

Now enjoy the pictorial review of the last month or so.

Hi! I am officially 18 months old!

He didn't want to wait for me at bedtime-decided I was taking to long to get to the good stuff-reading!

He and Pops get along pretty good!

Happy 20th birthday Grace!
"Tackta"

He truly did help plant these!

The boy loves his dirt.

Starting to get the hang of this "park" thing.

See?! Cool!

Hi, Uncle Al!

Happy 22nd Birthday Liz!!!

Is it in the DNA?

OK-forewarning-NO pictures in this post. Trust me, it is not a picture topic.

Ever since I had Max I have become more and more aware that boys are born with an internal love for all things mechanical. He never had to be taught that Hot Wheels were for boys or that a lawn mower is something that guys get to fiddle with during the summer. He just knew. He has always love books about trucks, mud, loud noises etc, more than stories with a good plot and pretty colors. (I am sad about that one-John Deere just doesn't have the best in the way of intrigue.) I have come to the conclusion that it is just something that all males have in their DNA. Which brings me to this dilemma.

Why are butts funny?

Really! Why?

I am sure all parents out there agree that in the first few years of life (for your child) privacy for both parents and child) goes out the window. When Max was small I would take him in the bathroom with me and lay him on a towel while I showered or used the "facilities". Our house is also set up so that there is NO delineation in our bedroom situation-we all share the downstairs of the apartment. Sooo-we are usually all around each other while getting dressed. One day we hope to regain SOME of our privacy...I cant imagine Max wants to remember too much about seeing his mom or dad getting dressed as he grows up. lol... sigh... and so we return to my question...Why are butts funny?

As I get dressed Max will usually be doing his own thing-cars, books, destruction...you get the picture. But AS SOON AS-and I mean IMMEDIATELY-when I pull off my pj bottoms and reach for my jeans he starts laughing and pointing. At. My. Butt. (this goes for Cody also) I assure you that we both wear appropriate skivvies. But where did my child acquire this appalling idea that butts are funny? To add to that, he has now decided to start trying to smack me on the bottom while laughing! Results-I have to stand on my bed or hide in the laundry room to put on pants. I solemnly swear that this is NOT behavior that he is modeling from his father or I. The only other people he is around on any regular basis are my parents (I THINK NOT!!) and Cody's grandparents (I don't want to even imagine!)
So....Is this just in his DNA?

Nature vs Nurture?

We always correct him and tell him that it isn't nice or funny to do what he is doing (not in so many words-remember he is 19 months). But I am beginning to wonder...this just isn't normal.

Thoughts? Advice?

Help?!