Tricks!

OMG! Where did the time go? It feels like just yesterday I had a baby!  When I look back at the last year, I cannot believe how quickly it went.  Porter grew from a little baby to a little boy.  He learned to hold his head up, to use his voice, to eat his hands and then his feet.  He learned to sit up, to stand up and to scream to get his way.  He discovered his doggie brothers and how to play peek-a-boo.  He learned to sleep through the night and to take off his own socks.  All of this happened right before my very eyes.  I am amazed at the amount he has changed in a year and cannot imagine what the next year will bring us!

In just the past few weeks he has learned a ton of new "big boy" tricks, as I call them. He can now communicate with us and is able to understand what we are telling him.  It's amazing how he has morphed from baby to little boy.  His new tricks in no particular order:

#1- His first word is "hi."   He says it every time anyone walks in to the room and always does with a huge smile on his face.

#2- Waving hi and bye.  Daniel taught him to do this in a mirror and now all we have to do is say, "wave hi" or "wave bye bye" and he flaps his little arm in the air.

#3- "Go and get your ball."  I asked him to do this the other day and he crawled right over to his ball and threw it at me.  Daniel asked him to get his water today and the same thing, crawled right over and took a swig.

#4- Pointing- He just started this while we were in Texas and pointed to a lake full of ducks. Tonight I asked him where the doggies were and he pointed to Ralphie.  Too cute.

#5- When we ask him, "what does a cow say" he oooooo's back.  The "m" doesn't make the moo, but it's so darn cute, I hope he always leaves it out. :) (The only videos I have of the actual "ooo" are all on my camera and are too big to load onto this page.  I promise to have my phone on and ask him 100 times tomorrow!)

#6- He can play peek-a-boo by himself.  We throw a blanket over his head and he will pull it down and cover himself back up over and over and over (and over) again!

#7- Playing with ball toys.  We sat with him for just a few days showing him how to put balls in this super annoying chicken toy.  One morning, I looked up when I heard the ball drop into the slot and was shocked that he had done it all himself. It's amazing how quick he picks up on new things.  On the airplane I showed him how to put the window shade up and down and it he did it over and over and over again.  Just tonight I showed him how to move the light switch up and down and he did it all by himself (over and over and over again).  :)

#8- He's just starting to copy noises I make and one day they will sound like words: doggie,  uh-oh, bye bye, mmmm and duckie.

#9- We're pretty sure he has our names figured out. He cries for Mama when he's sad and says, "Hi, dada" all the time.

#10- Using a spoon- He can't load it with food just yet but my days of spoon feeding him are over.  He can take it from my hand, shovel it into his mouth and happily  hands it back to me for more food.  He also loves to brush his teeth.  I brush first and then hand it over to him.  Who needs toys when you have a $1.25 stick with bristles on the end!  He gums that thing for 10 minutes after I hand it over.

Rock and Roll!!

It's been two weeks since the Rock and Roll half marathon and I'm so very proud with myself that I did something so amazing. 10 months and 2 days after having a baby, no less!!  I went on my first run yesterday since the race and although my hips are still a little painful, it was great to get out there and enjoy some "me" time again!

Twelve weeks ago I signed up with a Fit-For-Mom's running group and pledged to stick to a running schedule, to run with my fellow mama's on Saturday mornings at 8 AM and enjoy every second of it- right?!  98% of the time, I did enjoy every single second.  I ran with friends, gave Porter plenty of fresh air, got Eazy a lot of time out of the house and saw some beautiful new running trails during the time.  

The training was great and I started my first run by taking a picture of P and me.  I then decided to take a picture after every run and document my 12 weeks of training. 

I remember this week being so difficult- I had to run 3 miles and did not know how I would ever survive!  I also remember thinking that 4 days a week was A LOT of running.  It's amazing how quickly 3 miles felt like a drop in the bucket and how 4 days a week was nothing when something becomes a habit. 

That bottom one's for you, KVV! xx

I can't help but notice how little hair P has at the start of these pictures.  Three months is a long time in baby time- he started crawling and pulling up all during this time. He became an amazing eater and a good sleeper during this time.  He had a five week breastfeeding sabbatical, I started back to school, he started with his first nanny.  He began to love books and started to dance to music.  He figured out how to play in his crib and let Mama and Dada sleep in a bit longer.  He began to notice kids and be entertained by them.  He mastered sitting in a restaurant high chair and sprouted three new teeth during this time.  It's amazing how fast he changed from a little baby into a little boy.  

Here's a group shot of our running group before the race. Some of us have one kid, some have two. Some girls stay home, others work full time.  Some had run half-marathons in the past, others, this was their first race. Regardless, we all made a pact to run together and did it- what an amazingly hard thing for any mom to do!

There I am! So fast they could only get me
after I wizzed by!

My cheerleaders!

Finished at 2:17:25! (10:28 miles)

4482/8129 overall

473/949 in my age category

2457/5266 for all female racers