More Food Pictures

I bet you're all sick of seeing Rudy eating, but he's just so cute doing it, I can't stop myself from taking pictures! My apologies for the overkill. :)

A couple fun videos

Rudy doing the after breakfast dance. I usually need a little time to get things put together after our breakfast blizzard, and popping some music on for Rudy to boogie to makes things go smoother. Plus, it's just a great way to start the day in love with my little man. :)

I mostly like this video because of it's ending: Rudy backing up into my lap. He's the funniest when he wants to sit down anywhere, but particularly on a lap. Ever so slowly, he shimmies his way in. Hilarious to see, hope you can get the idea from the camera's view.

Bear Attack!

Momma bear, that is. On Sunday, after a no more than 3 1/2 hour long sleep the night before, a hectic pre-church morning, a nice, but a bit wild single parent church experience which included me teaching a lesson with my child wrapped around my legs (though only briefly, thanks to my loving and wonderful visiting teacher, Summer), Rudy was down for a nap. My miserably sick husband was down for a nap. I was preparing dinner. Our smoke detector didn't like what was on the menu, and began protesting loudly. This is what happened:

In what seemed like one fluid motion (though that may have just been the sleep deprivation settling in), I lept out of the kitchen, into the air, and swatted the entire contraption off the hallway ceiling. The episode did wake Jason (perhaps because after swatting the detector down, I picked it up and threw it in his general direction. That, for sure, was the sleep deprivation. He had begun to stir, and I think I was trying to tell him it was all taken care of, but who knows-maybe I was secretly bitter about him being in bed and not me.) :) Rudy, one the other hand slept blissfully on. Whew. The crazy things we do to protect our loved ones. :)

The First Day of Spring!

Friday marked the official first day of Spring, and what a day it was! Highs in the 70's, blue skies, twitterpated birds, the works. We even found our first dandelions of the season, blooming cheerily for us.

Rudy is intrigued. It's been a long time since he's seen one of these. (It's a dandelion-you can't really see it in the picture)

Of course, my manly man promptly beheads the poor thing (explosion sound effects and all)...

And then spends about 5 minutes trying to re-attach the thing. Rudy's innocent optimism about always being able to fix things was sweet to see. He eventually settled for popping the bloom in his mouth and running down the sidewalk after a big truck that passed by. That's my boy, alright. :)

Showing off his mad skills on the baby jungle gym. He felt so cool that he figured out how to get into that second little section. Until that day, he'd only been able to step in and out of the first section. Yeehaw!

Going after the ball.

Ready for take off. Rudy's starting to really like the slides. I still have to hold at least an arm to keep him from skidding across the sand on his rump (or face planting) at the end of the ride, but he's getting a hang of it. :)

Pruning

Last Saturday, the whole clan gathered together at Grandpa Wayne's house for the annual pruning of his fruit trees. I think some find it a tedious chore, but Jason and I (especially I) look forward to it each spring. It's a fun time to chat and get some yard work in after a long winter of pining for gardening. Kind of a cerimonious welcome to the summer and gardening season. Hip Hip Hooray!

Jason working on the apricot tree.

Brody showing how many sticks he can carry to the truck at a time.

Paisley catching a ride with Mom.

Rudy's self made pruning task of picking all the buds off each stick he got his hands on. I squelched that enterprise after realizing the buds were going into this mouth. :)

Probably Rudy's favorite part of the day-chill time with family.

Grasshoppers to the Rescue (Prepare for a Rant)

Guess what I'm doing right now? I'm sucking steaming hot cocoa through grasshopper cookies and popping the deliciously melting cookies into my mouth just before they disintegrate into the cocoa. I know I've posted about how I am convinced that emotional eating never helps my mood, and maybe later this evening I will do a little meditative yoga, but right now, these cookies are just what I want.
I took Rudy in for his 15 month well check this morning. Bleh. I'm not a fan of his doctor. I've been trying to stick with him, 'cause he's within walking distance from my house (a plus since the car is busy getting Jason around town most of the time), but I think I'm gonna have to jump ship and find myself some greener seaweed.
Rudy's doctor is old, old school, an uninterested. Remember how Rudy fractured his skull? Well, when I mentioned it to his dr., and asked how he thought the healing was going, the dr. was all surprised and asked how did that happen? I briefly explained and told him that we'd been in on one of his off days. Oh, he said, and that was all. Didn't even ask me when it happened. Brushed his hand over Rudy's head, and moved on to the next step of the well check. Unimpressive.
He's been insinuating that I should have Rudy weaned from nursing since his nine month check. (I think he might actually still believe that formula is the cure all to infant woes and I'm cheating my son out of the great benefits of a scientifically formulated diet!) Grrr. It almost makes me want to join Le Leche League. Almost.
If ever Rudy is an "outlier" on the growth charts, this guy makes statements about impending death or disability, while at the same time doing nothing and telling me we'll just keep an eye on things. Last time it was his head size. The dude's had me eyeing my little man's noggin' for 3 months, wondering if everything is ok. In our check today, he didn't even follow up about his head size concern from last time. I had to bring it up. "Oh- looks fine" is all he said. Now he's "watching" for autism or hearing disability 'cause Rudy's only word so far is 'wawa' for water. Never mind that he communicates with signs, follows directions, and is a social butterfly at any playgroup. Arrrgh!
But here's the salty lemon juice on the papercut that drove me to grasshoppers today: Rudy isn't growing. At his 12 month appointment, he wieghed 23.1 lbs. Today he weighed in at 22.84 lbs. In 3 months, he's actually lost a few ounces. He's exactly the same height as three months ago-30.5 inches. Maybe the dr. is just needlessly freaking me out again, but that sounds a bit concerning to me. The dr. says I need to nurse less (big surprise) and give more cow's milk. My WIC nutritionist said last week that I need to cut back on dairy and give more meat. Le Leche League says screw the world and nurse your five year old topless on the subway. I wish there was a toddler nutrition section in the Doctrine and Covenants! ;)
I think what's bothering me so much about this news is that nutrition is such a fundamental need. If I can't properly provide for my child's nutrition, even after reading toddler nutrition books, being enrolled in a government sponsored child nutrition program, and following my own good sense, I must be a lost cause! It strikes at the core of my parental competence. Ugh! I've been feverishly trying not to get freaked out about Rudy's eating the rest of the day, but I kept finding myself trying to sneak a few extra calories into him. I even bought him a brand new insulated straw sippy cup with construction trucks on it to be his special milk cup. I drank milk (and served it to Rudy) with lunch and dinner, making a big deal out of how tasty milk is and how lucky we are to get to drink it. Ridiculous. Maybe someday my parental self esteem will be made of steel and I'll be able to get through these kind of minor issues without grasshoppers, but today I am very glad we bought some for a treat last week. I even served a few to Rudy, telling myself, "Apparently his nutrition can't get any worse, so what the heck, I'll serve chocolate covered cookies to the kid I normally don't even serve juice to because it's sugar content is so high." Bleh. I gotta get a grip. Maybe that yoga session will help me find my center again. In the mean time, there are only 9 cookies left. I think I'll save them for later. :)

My poor little malnurished child, filling his cheeks with empty calories. Doesn't he look miserable? :)

Blueberries!

Rudy has recently developed a deep love for blueberries. We have (or should I say, had, a five pound bag of frozen blueberries from Costco in our freezer), so I thought I'd try him on one of my very favorite dishes, blueberry pancakes. Now I can hardly serve a meal without at least a few blueberry "appetizers" to prime the pump. (This kid can be hard to convince that it's ok to take time out of his busy day for a bite to eat.)
It's made for, ahem, interesting diapers. (Note to all the cloth diapering moms out there-if you wish your diapers to remain unspotted, do NOT serve blueberries to your child!) Otherwise, though, it's been fun to see the various designs left upon Rudy's face and hands after each blueberry encounter. Kinda like looking at ink blot flash cards. :) Here's just a couple I thought were cute.

Mean Bluebeard and Sweet Papa Smurf

"Hold still!"

"This is the life!"