Ready. . .set. . .go!

January 8, 2013
A week until 14 months

We have a walker! 

My little man took his first steps on New Years Day.  With Grandma and Grandpa.  In Durango.  It was perfect. I was so hoping he would wait until he saw his grandparents:  In fact, I even told him a few nights before that if he was saving the first steps for some big event that I knew just the perfect time. 

Since day 1 that boy has had good timing. Waited for Grandma's Thanksgiving Break before making his big appearance.  Crawled for the first time with Grandma.  Took his first steps with Grandma.  Someone knows who to brownnose ;-)

I've seen Colter take about 10-12 steps on his own before tumbling to the ground (gracefully as all toddlers do).  But his most favorite thing is grabbing hold of my pointer finger and walking alongside his Mama.  I don't know what it is but when his little hand wraps around my finger I just about die and go to heaven.  And then he looks up at me with those big blue eyes and smiles.  Sigh.

Today I needed to go next door for some sesame seeds (which she didn't have either....the downfall of living at one of the Seven Wonders of the World:  no sesame seeds).  I decided to let Colter walk there.  Ten minutes and about 30 rocks/snow piles/sticks later we got there.  It was a beautiful, warm winter afternoon and I didn't mind one bit.  Colter thoroughly enjoyed himself.  One of those kind of walks that I will remember forever.


What I've learned from Week One with a walker:
1. Slow down. Slow WAY down. Relish the moments my 13 month old wants to hold my finger and walk down the driveway. Priceless.

2. Embrace the moment when things just "pop" up. Just because I'm headed somewhere doesn't mean I can't enjoy a distraction. Stop and smell the snow.

We also enjoyed a few days down in Sedona.  Ventured out along Wet Beaver about 4 miles in to a place called The Crack.  I cringe thinking who came up with these names.  Either way, a beautiful place to spend a lovely January day.  It was -15 up at the Canyon but down in Sedona it was in the 40s. 



Exploring The Crack with Papa

 

Our wonder dog, Owen, who will go swimming in 40 degree water when it's 40 degrees outside.  Crazy cat.

 

A quiet moment

You Know You're a Mom When...

January 1, 2013
13.5 months

Me and my sweet baby boy...12 months ago...

You Know You're A Mom When....

 

1.  It's a good day when you're showered and dressed, baby's dressed and fed and you're out the door by 9.

 

2. "My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean" is your go-to song (skipping, jumping or bouncing involved, naturally).

 

3. You find a cheerio in your snowboot.  And a car in your blender (I do NOT want to know how that happened...).

 

4. Cross-country skiing will never be the same.  "Gliding" takes on a whole new meaning with a 20 pound baby on your back.

 

5. You pat yourself on the back (and maybe even do a little dance) when your child eats your food.  Twice.

 

6. You run into a toy in the hallway on your way to bed.  Not just any toy:  that annoying toy that lights up, makes noises and moves.  You don't move or breath for a few minutes praying your child doesn't wake up.

 

7. The Lord of the Rings series takes at least 3 weeks to get through. 

 

8. The hours between 1pm and 3pm are "sacred".  Peace and quiet.  Alternating days of productivity and Mom-gets-to-do-what-she-wants-to-do time.

 

9. The vacuum cleaner consumes a corner of the blanket.  Life is just not fair sometimes. 

 

10. You sneak into the baby's room at night - just to watch your beautiful baby boy sleep.  All is forgiven: all troubles forgotten, all victories remembered.  For a moment you think you just might be able to do it all over again.   But not quite yet.  For now it's just you and your sweet baby boy.

Snow Day

December 22, 2012
13 months and a few days

I suppose I have to keep counting in months until his 2nd birthday...it seems that every mother or father I run into know some secret that I don't.  You can't say "He's 1."  It's not the cool thing to say.  So, instead, we run around claiming how many months our child is.  You can always tell a non-parent.  They look at you all weird and are clearly processing what that many months means.  I suppose that is why we do it.  It's a "Parent-Thing".

Snow finally came to the Canyon!  And brought a whole new set of challenges with it....Do you have any idea how long it takes to get myself, the dog and the baby ready to go out when it is snowing and 10 degrees?  My goodness.  I swear we have beaten ALL of the longest records.  The inital few days were the worst.  I clearly had no idea what I was doing.  What I learned?  NEVER put Colter in his snow gear first.  He'll just start screaming.  No, instead, the dog gets his coat and collar on first.  Owen can deal.  Then I get all geared up while the boy crawls around the mudroom pulling shoes off the shelves.  Then the real fun begins. 

So deceivingly cute...

Somehow Colter always knows when it is almost his turn.  He looks at me, smiles his sly little grin and sets off for some corner of the house.  I am really glad that my legs are twice his height.  We have a few moments of "Catch Me If You Can" (all the while I am sweating away in my gazillion layers....).  I finally snatch him up.  Owen is beginning to whine by this point.  I set to layering him up:  sweater, jacket, snowsuit, booties (it is just that easy...or something like that).  Into the carrier he goes.  Then the hat and the mittens go on.  Phew.  I am bloody exhausted and dripping sweat by this point.  Poor Owen is beside himself.  Kelty backpack gets heaved onto my back.  Colter squeals with joy. This is when I realize I forgot to change the boy's diaper.  Screw it.


The very first time in snow.

The first time I put Colter in the snow, he just sat there for probably 3 minutes.  Not moving an inch.  Not that I blame him - I couldn't imagine moving around in his bulky snowsuit.  He finally dared a move...and headed straight for the door.  Smart man.

He ate his first icicle.  To watch his face was priceless.  Inquisitive, excited, confused.  But he just couldn't pass up sharing whatever Mom was eating.  I laughed when he was done being outside after 5 minutes.  It takes us longer to dress and undress than it does to be out playing.  We came inside and spent the afternoon playing with his "soft" ornaments on the Christmas Tree.  Then he pushed around his wooden walker toy.  I made chili and cornbread.  He ate it.  It was a good day. 



On another note, I am so very excited for Christmas this year.  I can't wait to see what Santa brings Colter.  If I had to bet, I'm pretty sure there is something coming to aid in snow fun...

Am I supposed to chew on sticks too?

Merry Christmas!

Pure cuteness...

O Christmas Tree

December 7, 2012
Over 12.5 months....

Christmas Tree 2012:  Big Girl

We cut down our Christmas tree this year.  For a second year in a row.  As we were driving to the National Forest out by Desert View, I turned to CJ and said, "Wouldn't it be great if all Colter ever knew was cutting down a Christmas tree?!"  He smiled and said, "Hell yeah." 


It's funny that we are no longer in the year of "firsts".  We've already done the Christmas tree cutting thing.  But it is oh so much different this year.  This year it is FUN and INTERACTIVE.  Most likely, my less than a month old slept through the whole thing last year.  In fact, I can almost guarantee he did.  This year he sat and watched as CJ and I took turns cutting it down.  He probably had some dirt in his mouth too.  Such a boy.


We had every intention of finding a tree within a 1/2 mile of the truck.  But we're the Malcolms.  That would be too easy.  Instead, our fearless leader Owen led us deep into the forest.  I kept waiting for the "HALLELUJAH!" moment where our tree was lit up with a bolt of sunlight from heaven.  It didn't happen - this year.  Hehe. 

 

After 30 plus minutes of wandering we finally got down to business and found our tree.  She's a beauty.  She's big.  REAL big.  Bordering on illegal big (it has to be less than 10 feet).  It's a pinon pine tree and smells amazing.  We done good.

Timber!

Poor CJ ended up carrying the tree by himself toward the end of our hike back.  In defense, I was carrying Colter and he was getting annoyed that the tree was taking my attention away from him.  Silly boy.  I love my husband.  He's strong. 

We were planning on stuffing the ol' tree into the back of our poptop.  That wasn't going to happen.  We hucked her up on the roof instead and tied her down.  It was only then that we realized just how big our beautiful Christmas Tree 2012 was.  It's not like we could go put her back in the ground now.  She was ours for the next month.  Or perhaps longer.  We've been known to keep Christmas trees up until Easter...

Once home, we began the arduous task of getting the big girl inside.  We only had to cut about 8 inches off the trunk and 5 inches off the top to make her fit.  And, boy oh boy, is she a show stopper!  Thanks to my grandma, we have some soft, Colter-friendly ornaments around the base.  He loves taking them off and bringing them to me so that I can put them back on.  So cute.

 

I feel in the "Christmas Spirit".  Today I decided to make a lasagna.  Just because I felt like it.  And I don't often feel like slaving in the kitchen for several hours.  Colter was well entertained with the salad spinner and I poured myself a glass of wine.  Christmas music played in the background.  It was a fine afternoon.  Even if the boy spilled cumin all over the kitchen.  C'est la vie, as they say.

How could I forget? It was Owen's bday.  He's 3!

Merry merry!

Happy Birthday, little buddy!

Sunset at Del Mar

November 19, 2012

12 months!

12 months and teething!

 Phew!  We made it!  One whole year... looking back it is hard to fathom all that we have been through over the past 365 days.  If I had learned as much as I believe Colter did, I would be exhausted.  Yet, somehow, he manages to gather energy from who knows where.  I suppose this is what I have to  look forward to for the next 17 years.  Bring it!

Colter is my crawling fiend.  He is just so efficient at crawling I don't believe he has any need to start walking just yet.  Which is fine by me.  He has multiple speeds while crawling: the slow, "I'm-just-checking-things-out" crawl, the "I'm-on-a-mission crawl", the super speedy, "you-can't-catch-me crawl", and, my personal favorite, the Bear Crawl (which is has been using more and more in the past week).  I attempted to follow him around while he bear crawled the other day and boy oh boy were my shoulders sore. 

I suppose all the movin' and groovin' has caused him to become quite the thin, cut munchkin.  At his 12 month check-up he measured in at 30 inches - 50th percentile- and a whoopin' 18 lb 5 oz - below 1%.  Long and lean!  Maybe he'll break 20 pounds by the time he is 2....though I am not getting my hopes up...

long, lean and happy

He has discovered a new found "pride".  After he does something really neat (like holding his own cup while drinking or pushing a drawer shut), he looks up at me with this super big grin.  I can see his eyes saying, "Look what I did, Mama!  Aren't you proud of me?"  It is the cutest thing.  With this pride, comes his increasing sense of independence.  No longer does he allow me to spoon feed him as much as I could, say, two weeks ago.  He waves his arms around and tosses his head.  "I can feed myself thank you very much."  Sigh.  I must say he is quite proficient at eating.  He loves his peas and blueberries. 

Exploring at San Diego Safari Park

Coupled with his independence, he has finally ventured into the world of separation anxiety.  I thought perhaps we might skip over that one.  But, sure enough, one week before his birthday he started waking up several times a night and screaming bloody murder.  I thought it was teething at first but slowly began to realize (as he would scream during the day whenever I would leave him as well) that he needs his Mama.  He needs me but he also doesn't want to need me.  I suppose this is the struggle that we all must go through in life! 


Love my Mama!

Colter celebrated his first in style....grandma, grandpa, Poppy, Uncle Dave, Uncle Rich and Aunt Julie, cousins Marea, Kailea and our next door neighbors were all there.  He stayed up late, ate ice cream and slept like a champ that night. 

A train birthday cake by grandma...

Here's to another fantastic year....


Bath time is the best!

Baby Nostalgia

October 19, 2012

11 months!

11 months to the day


For some reason 11 months is hitting me hard.  A gut wrenching, "my baby is almost not a baby anymore" hard.  I look at him, Mr.  Busy Bee, and can't help but be amazed.  I mean, geez, look at all he has learned in less than a year.  I pray that his beautiful smile will never stop melting my heart. 

My grandma sent Colter his first birthday card a month early.  Just in the knick of time to do some snowsuit shopping before winter.  I opened the card and started crying.  For a split second I wanted to scream, "No!!!  He can't have a birthday.....he can't grow up.....he has to stay a baby FOREVER!!!".  But I know that is just not possible.  Nor do I really want that for my dear Colter.  

I have these moments this week - they happen randomly, perhaps while I am rocking him and giving him a bottle or when he has knocked over the dog bowl yet again or while he is sitting in the kitchen picking apart my tupperware cabinet - when it feels like time just stops for a moment.  I relish in it.  A few glorious seconds where it is just me and my baby.  Somehow, he always happens to look up at me during this brief interlude to life.  His beautiful blue eyes seeking.  You came from me.  My beautiful baby boy.  I love you.

Being a mother has its moments.  I wouldn't say they are getting fewer, but they seem to be quickly morphing.  Changing from silent, quiet, peaceful moments of bonding between mother and son to moments of laughter, singing, dancing, frantically following him around the house....speedy, quick, challenging.  My baby boy is turning into a toddler right before my very eyes. 

I watched as Colter picked apart his clean diaper basket.  Fascinated with his dedication and determination, I couldn't peel myself away.  He was so serious- working hard, focused on the task at hand.  I must have made a noise (perhaps a sniffle) because he stopped and turned his face toward mine.  He plopped over, crawled toward, climbed up  my legs.  I picked him up.  He nuzzled into my face.  He smiled.  You came from me. My beautiful baby boy. I love you. 

I am so unbelievably blessed.

Down in the Canyon...Upper Ribbon Falls

A Day in the Aspens

October 2, 2012: A Day in the Aspens

October 3, 2012
10 months & 3 weeks

Yesterday my little family and I had one of those days.  A family day.  A happy day.  A I-never-want-this-day-to-end day.  Just me and my boys.  Yesterday life was grand.

We FINALLY recovered from what I have deemed our "Month of Sickness".  We were all itching to get out of Dodge and enjoy the wonderful fall weather.  What better place to do that than in the aspens??  The stars must have been aligned because we made it out of the house before 9 (with mom showered and baby fed).  Colter quickly fell asleep in the car, allowing my sweet hubby and I to have a great conversation all the way down to Mt. Humphreys.



We took the scenic route along Rte 151 - a dirt road that winds along the side of the mountain and the perfect fall drive with lots of aspens.  We had plenty of "Ooo's" and "Aaah's" before we eventually reached our trail head.  Even Owen was talking away in the backseat, willing us to get there already!

 

The hike was splendid.  The aspens were a golden yellow and fell from the trees like tear drops when the wind blew.  More than once, we stopped hiking and stood completely still.  Listening to the sound of Fall.  Smelling the fallen leaves.  It was a bit of heaven.

Owen ran wild!  Chasing squirrels, catching whiffs of deer, searching for new scents - he didn't stop running for two and a half hours.  Today he lies at my feet utterly spent.  Perhaps dreaming away of running through aspen groves and green fields.  I'd like to think so.

We stopped for some photos.  Why is it so darn cute to have a baby sit in fallen leaves?  We dropped leaves on his head, buried his legs... He tasted his first aspen leaf.  He seemed fascinated by all the new colors and sounds.  Mildly confused when CJ placed some leaves on his head.   He sat in the kelty backpack and quietly observed the world.  A few shrieks of joy sent chills down my spine.

Today my husband hikes into the Inner Canyon for a few days and Owen, Colter and I hold down the fort.  Owen has put up with Colter crawling all over him today - tugging at his ears, playing with his gums.  The pup is so exhausted he appears not to notice.  When he sneaks a peak through a sleepy eyelid, I swear I see a smile in those golden eyes. 

Colter has currently wrapped himself in a sarong and looks a bit like Mother Mary.  I look down at him and he smiles up at me with the light that only a child can show.  I am madly in love.