The weather in South Florida is finally cooling down- it’s been in the 70’s for the past week.  I love taking Thomas outside to play.  We are lucky to have a nice playground in our neighborhood.  We have a fairly small backyard, and there was absolutely nothing back there to play with.  Thomas’ babysitter has a nice swingset and a Step 2 play house.  He likes them both, but we really don’t have room (or money) for a swingset.  We spent the last month looking for a play house on Craigslist.  We were finally successful last weekend.  We found this little play house for $60.  It is small, but in good shape.  It even has a working doorbell (see the Halloween story).  We’ve been able to go out in our backyard and play every day when we get home.  It’s nice to be out there with him.

Last year, Thomas was just a little peanut at Halloween.  He slept through most of it, and I took him out to visit a few friends in his monkey costume.  This year, he was fighting a virus, but he rallied long enough for a quick round of trick-or-treating.  I think his favorite part was ringing our next-door neighbor’s doorbell.  Fifteen times.  It was cute. 

My local mom’s group had our Halloween party today.  It was really fun. I wanted to take Thomas, so I arranged for a substitute to cover my class.  We had a few costume options, depending on the weather.  It was really hot and humid this morning, so we opted for the short-sleeved Superman costume.  

The party was fun.  There were at least 20 moms and they all had 1 or 2 kids. Everyone brought something to share- juice, cookies, sandwiches, napkins, etc.  There was quite a spread.  We had the party at a local park.  There was a really nice playground, and Thomas spent most of the time on the slides.  

He has recently mastered going down the slide by himself.  He will scootch himself to the top of the slide, and push off.  He will climb up the stairs, and go again and again.   

Halloween isn’t until Saturday, but I have a feeling that the weather will not cool down much.  We’ll have to wait and see which costume he wears for trick-or-treating.

 Here is a video of Thomas going down the slide.  See the look of pure joy on his face!

The weather was absolutely gorgeous today, for the first time since last winter. We took Thomas to a local pumpkin patch, and he had so much fun walking up and down the rows. We picked out one big one and two little ones.  Here is a video of him walking around, and  a photo of his cuteness.

This kid’s hair grows like a weed!  We’ve been desperate for a haircut for a while, but have been too busy to do anything about it.  We were finally determined enough to go in for family haircuts today.  All three of us are now a few ounces lighter, thanks to our wonderful hairdresser.  I’m sure there are cheaper haircuts for toddlers elsewhere, but my girl does a great job, and $20 isn’t TOO bad.  

Here is the before:

Sorry about the messy hair- Daddy was going for the effect.

Here is the after:

He is now quite the ham.  Every time he sees the camera, he gives his cheesy grin.  His eyes are all squinted- not his best look.  Bonus- this is also a picture of the new Eddie Bauer stroller.  I walked around with him while Daddy got his haircut.  He was quite happy with his raisins & cheerios in the snack tray. I also grabbed a blueberry muffin from the snack bar at the salon.  He really liked that.   

This was kind of a crazy week. Our babysitter’s daughter tested positive for H1N1.  I had to figure out a way to care for Thomas.  I stayed home on Monday and Tuesday, but I really had to get back to work.  I was giving a big test on Wednesday, and had a parent conference scheduled.  So, my husband stayed home that day.  He managed to find a stroller with a 5-point harness  on Craigslist for $25.  It even has a snack tray!  It’s an older Eddie Bauer stroller. It’s pretty chunky, but Thomas seems to like it.

I was preparing to stay home again on Thursday, but a friend with a 10 month old was kind enough to take Thomas for the day.  They ended up having a great time, and even napped at the same time!  I’m home with him again today, enjoying every snuggly minute.  The only trouble I ran into this week was nap time. He would not nap!!!  He went down between 1 and 2 pm every time I stayed home with him.  On Tuesday, I had a dentist appointment at 3pm, and he still hadn’t napped at 2pm.  My neighbor was coming to watch him while I was gone.  I let him sleep on the couch, because he would not fall asleep in his bed.  He woke up about 5 minutes before I got home, and my neighbor told me he just rolled over and smiled at her.  Of course, he screamed bloody murder when I left him with my friend on Thursday, but he stopped crying a few minutes later.  We’ll be back to our normal routine on Monday, thank goodness.

We have had several strollers since Thomas was born.  When he was a newborn, we just used his car-seat/ carrier in a Snap N Go type stroller frame.  That was perfect.  When he outgrew the infant seat, we looked for a small, light-weight stroller.  I found a highly rated, not too expensive, umbrella stroller.  In the past 10 months, we really haven’t used it too much.  We start out with him in the stroller, but after a few minutes he struggles and cries, and we pick him up.  We’ve learned that he does not do well with a 3-point harness, which this stroller has.  I picked up a well-used jog stroller through Craigslist for $30.  It is a 5-point harness, and he never has any trouble with it.  It’s not a great stroller- the front wheel doesn’t pivet, and it is just really old.  I definitely got my money’s worth out of that one.  Now that the weather is cooling down, I’ve started walking with him after dinner.  

However, we are still on the hunt for a good, light-weight, not-too-expensive stroller with 5-point harness and a snack tray.  We spent ALL DAY today searching for one. We went to Target, Toys R US and Babies R US.  There are plenty of 3-point harness strollers.  Lots of 5-point strollers withOUT the snack tray.  The ones that look like what we want only seem to come in a travel system for $250.  We don’t need that- the travel system comes with an infant carrier.  We think we’ve found the right one.  It is the Graco Metrolite.  It had all of our prerequisites, except BRU didn’t have any in stock.  We’ve researched online, and it gets great reviews.  I will post again if we buy one.  Wish us luck! 

Hubby and I have been having a difficult time lately trying to find together time.  We both work, and I also work a night job two nights a week, as well as tutoring 3 days a week after night.  I am exhausted at night, and we still don’t have any extra money to actually go out and do something fun.  So, this week we decided that I would cut down to just one shift at my night job.  We also found extra time to spend together while Thomas is napping on the weekends.  He is a great sleeper, and currently sleeps 2 or 2 1/2 hours right in the middle of the day.  Yesterday, we watched  a rented movie.  It was cute- Adventureland.  There were no interruptions, no snack breaks, bottle breaks, diaper breaks, crying etc.  We really enjoyed ourselves.  Our new plan is to just spend that time together.  No chores, no grocery shopping, no email.  Just the two of us.  Even if we’re not doing anything.  We realized that before Thomas was born, we spent a lot of time together.  No matter how busy we were, we still spent all of the rest of the time with just the two of us. We really do like each other’s company.  we were best friends for ten years before Thomas was even born.  He just takes so much attention and energy, that we had to refocus and dedicate a specific time to just us.  We always heard that you should continue to have a regular “date night” after your children are born. That might not be possible, but we’ve managed to make time for us.

I am pretty sure that Thomas naps like a champ for his babysitter.  She has him on a great routine, and he sleeps 1 1/2  or 2 hours every day.  

On the weekends, however, we still run into trouble.  It doesn’t help any that we tend to be a lazy bunch on the weekends.  We might not leave the house until late in the afternoon. Also, this weekend Thomas has had a little cold.  Friday night was Rosh Hashana, and we were at my brother in law’s house.  We put Thomas down around 7:45 in his pack and play.  He was quiet for a while, then cried and wouldn’t go to sleep.  So, we packed up and drove home.  He fell asleep in the car, and stayed asleep when I put him in his crib.  He probably lost about an hour of sleep.

On Saturday morning, he slept in until 7:00!  That was fantastic.  He went down at 11:00 for a nap, and slept for 2 1/2 hours.  Even more fantastic!  I even took a nap.  That night, though, he wouldn’t go to sleep.  I have to blame the cold for part of it, but I also think it’s the weekend/ non-routine.  He finally went to sleep around 8:30 or 9:00, and slept until 7am again.  

I’m writing this on Sunday evening.  Today has been a bit rough.  Thomas would not go down for a nap this morning. I tried, really.  He cried and cried and wouldn’t go to sleep.  We even had the humidifier on.  I gave up and fed him lunch at 12:30.  Around 1pm he finally went down for his nap.  He took another 2 1/2 hour nap!  I am hoping that he’ll go to sleep like a good boy tonight.  Momma has to get ready for the work week.

I am SO proud of my little guy.  We have been trying for many months to teach him how to feed himself.  I really thought it would never happen, that it was a lost cause, and I would be feeding him for the rest of his life.  First time mom, I have no clue about such things.  For a while he has been trying to get the food on the spoon.  He would usually give up, and I would put it on the spoon, then hand it to him.  He could get the spoon in his mouth with no problem.  He just couldn’t scoop it on, then get it in his mouth without it spilling all over.  In this video, he’s scooping up the applesauce, and getting it into his mouth!  Go Thomas!!