All by himself.

I was in the kitchen trying to put a meatloaf together, when I peeked in Theo's room to see what he was up to. He was pulling his stacking/nesting blocks out of the box to play with. When I came back, he had stacked three. All by himself. And Mama weeps.

Well, so much for that!

It would appear we have a little snow. Sigh.

Theo seemed to like it.

Well, maybe not as much as it seemed.

I can't move, lady!

Face plant. And like any good Mama would, I took a picture before I helped him up.

The best part was watching the dogs run around like hooligans in the snow. Good times.

NoSnow Day.

Remember when you were a kid and there was snow in the forecast? Well, I guess if you were a kid in the south. In other parts of the country, it probably didn't even register. Anyway. As a kid raised in the south, a snow storm was a monumentous event. Your parents raced to the grocery store to stock up on milk, eggs and bread (Incidentally, why? Were we all going to exist on french toast for days?), you inventoried your snow gear and sat close to the TV for the first uttering of a school closing. Everyone was excited. You could taste it just as much as you could taste the hot chocolate you would have after sledding all day.

Well, here some of us are, twenty some year later. NC is bracing for a snow storm that for my cousins in Maine would be a "dusting" but will cripple our fair state here in ye ol' south. I'm not rushing to the store (I did go because Theo needed snacks, but I didn't buy snow storm staples and I only rushed because it was freakin' freezing cold) for french toast supplies, I decided plastic bags over Theo's shoes will be just fine in lieu of snow boots and as he is not yet in school, I don't need to care about closings until Monday morning so I know if I need to pick up Sydney. Instead, I'm hoping beyond hope that it doesn't snow. Theo gets cabin fever as bad as I do, so being stuck in the house with him will just not be a fun time. I can't sit around by the fire and leisurely sip cocoa and read one of the 15 books I have bought, but not read, in the last 14.5 months. I used to be able to, but now, you know - I'm a mama. Playing in it will undoubtedly be more trouble than it's worth with a cold, wet baby and I don't even think we have any hot chocolate. And the worst part is, Susan will be working a 24 hour shift at the hospital to minimize her driving in time since the "administrator on call" has her panties in a bunch at the mere thought of, you know, having to work in the ED if Susan can't make the 40 mile drive. Ugh.

So, yeah. Call me old, call me a buzz kill, just don't call me hoping for snow!

Mexican lasagna recipe.

By request, here is the recipe for mexican lasagna. I can't take the credit, though. This recipe is compliments of my dear friend, Jenny, who is great in the kitchen and a wonderful mom. Not to mention the kind of friend who stays up very late with you helping you decorate your kid's birthday cake after working all day and driving 4 hours to your house. Yeah, she's great. So - here's the recipe, though I have adapted it just a little to suit our taste buds.

Package of chicken breasts

2 cans of Mexican Rotel tomatoes

1/3 cup cilantro (get fresh, not dried - it makes the recipe)

1 can cream of chicken soup

2 cups shredded mexican cheese blend

1 can black beans, rinsed and drained

1 package 10 inch tortillas

1 tsp. cumin

1. Boil the chicken breasts until cooked through. Shred with a fork.

2. Chop cilantro.

3. Drain almost all the liquid off both cans of Rotel, otherwise it's soggy.

4. Mix together all the ingredients except the tortillas and cheese.

5. Spray a glass baking dish* with Pam. Layer tortillas, then a 1/3 of the filling, then sprinkle with cheese. After three layers, end with tortillas, kinda smoosh it down and sprinkle cheese.

6. Bake at 350 for 45 minutes. (Our oven sucks, if yours doesn't, check it after 30 minutes, it might be ready.)

7. Serve with sour cream and more fresh cilantro.

*I don't think this recipe makes for particularly great leftovers, as it tends to get a little soggy on the bottom. What I usually do is use 8x8 pans, make two and put one in our deep freeze. This way, there aren't leftovers that sit in the fridge uneaten and some night when I am too busy lazy to cook, we have something at the ready. Keep in mind, there are only 2.5 of us to feed. If your family is bigger, you probably just want to make one.

Enjoy!

Baby, you can drive my car.

Theo's grandparents got him his very first car for Christmas. Sadly, it's been in the garage since apparently, we relocated to the Frozen Tundra when I wasn't looking. It was finally warm enough today to take it for it's first spin. He loved it.

A note to the Richmond grandparents - you guys definitely need one of these for the driveway car collection. Fun for all the grandkids!

Didn't your Mama teach you that it's not polite to point?

Baby T is pointing - not such a big deal. BUT. Today, he started identifying pictures when asked. He loves the book "Brown Bear, Brown Bear, what do you see?", given to him by my lovely friend, Darien, when he was born. At the end, I always ask him things like "where is the red bird?" and then I point it out. Today I asked, and he pointed to it! I was shocked, because he's never done anything of the sort. Then he pointed out the teacher when I asked him to. He even did it later for Susan. Genius, that kid.

Also, can we implore you to cross your fingers for Theo? We made the decision awhile ago to start him in a preschool next September, two mornings a week from 9-12. We found one we like and the lottery is February 3rd. We went and met with the director a couple months ago to see the place and discuss our hesitancy as it is a church based program. We were very impressed and liked the staff a lot. We would feel comfortable with Theo there and feel like he would get a really good head start for school and would get some good socialization. So, keep your fingers crossed that he gets in! It's extremely popular due to their great reputation and there are only 8 kids in the class for his age, so not a lot of slots. Feels like we are waiting on college acceptance letters!

Connect the dots, la, la, la, la. (and thank you!)

Theo at nearly 14 months old, is really starting to make some neat cognitive connections. It's so fun to watch! He's learning that some things fit in other things and will sit and work so hard on this little toy he has where you have to fit a stick into a hollow opening (the stick is attached with a string, so it only fits a certain way). It's amazing to watch him concentrate for so long. He knows where to put the balls in his Busy Ball Popper and has known for awhile how to turn it on. He's a vacuuming pro, going back and forth and under feet. The other day I asked if he was ready to take a night-night (nap) and he walked back to the bedroom.

But. This one is the best.

Mama or Mom: "Theo, what does a monkey say?"
Theo: "Ooh, ooh, ooh, ee, ee, ee!"

Makes us laugh every time.

And, I wanted to say thanks for the comments in the bullying post. I know we all worry about our kids, because that's what good parents do. We appreciated reading your kind words about our parenting and our son and for the stories you shared about your own bullying. We can only hope that every parent and child Theo encounters in his life beyond our four walls will be as accepting and compassionate as all of you.

Bullying.

I met with the neatest kid at work today. 13 years old, cute, dressed in "cool" clothes, polite, funny and a rockstar soccer player. At first glance, I'd assume he definitely ate at the right lunch table at school. The reason I was paged for a consult; however, is that this kid is being teased and bullied at school to the point that he has considered self-harming. Why? Well, he's short. Yep, short. He has an endocrine issue that has caused delayed onset puberty and short stature. So, he just looks a little smaller than his peers and gets made fun of all the time. In my short interaction with him, I basically wanted to go with him to school and kick his classmates' asses.

After I returned to my office, I looked at the pictures of Theo on my desk. Big round eyes, huge smile, big, squishy cheeks. I looked at my son and felt how much love I have for him and nearly began to cry at the thought of someone making him feel like my young patient felt. And, it's entirely possible, given that he has two moms. Of course, we talked about this before we decided to try for him. We talked about how we would raise a confident child that would be able to shirk off any teasing comments without a second thought. How we'd be the "cool" parents that all the kids wanted to hang with as a way to keep our son safe. But really, how can any parent ensure they will raise such a child? My young patient had a great mom, an excellent advocate who had done everything right. And her child wanted to harm himself. The thought of Theo wanting to do that to himself is more than I can bear.

Have we done our son a disservice? We wanted so badly to be parents, but did we want it at any cost? I hope not. I hope that by the time our dimpled little babe is in middle school, he'll be one of many kids with same sex parents. I hope he will still be as he is now, happy as a clam, without any worry who cares only that he has two parents who would go to the end of the world just to make him happy. Who love him more than words could ever say. I hope, I hope. I hope that will be enough.

Solace.

Undecked halls.

Happy New Year!

We celebrated New Year's with Theo's Gramma and Papa yesterday. They came down for one last Christmas celebration and brought Theo his dream come true - a Dyson vacuum that is just his size. Anyone who knows our boy knows that there is nothing he loves more (except maybe the oven) than the vacuum cleaner. It's his most favorite thing. So, when Gramma asked for a suggestion, I mentioned they might try to find a toy vacuum. Boy, did they deliver! Theo didn't wait for a cue from us, he just picked that thing up and started pushing it back and forth, even getting under Papa's feet. It was pretty hilarious and of course, Susan and I are convinced our child is a genius because he is already demonstrating pretend play at a mere 13.5 months old. I'm sure the fact that living with two dogs and a cat which necessitates daily use of our vacuum cleaner (which he has witnessed since birth) has nothing to do with it.

Thanks for coming down, Gramma and Papa, it was fun!

And, with every new year comes new resolve. I don't really make firm resolutions, but the start of anything new is a good chance to reflect and make changes. I think the theme for me this year will be financial health. It's already off to a good start, but we really want to get in great financial shape in the next year so that we can start thinking about a move. So, I've made a budget and resolve to stick to it this year. Otherwise, I just want to be a better mama to Theo and a better wife to Susan. If those things can be accomplished, I'll be feeling good.

We've already started this year in a much better place than we started 2009, and we are looking forward to a prosperous, healthy year. Our hope is the same for all of you!