Living Like the Kings — Living Like the Kings

As you read this, I’m packing up/driving/partying it up (I have no idea what time you’re reading this over there…) for my bff Laura’s Bridal shower and Bachelorette party. I absolutely cannot wait to give you all the details but since Laura reads my blog and everything is a surprise, I don’t want to give any of it away just yet. Check back next week for tons of posts and party details! If you want to see the events as they unfold, follow me on Instagram or Twitter, where I have no doubt I’ll be posting pictures.

In the meantime, here’s a quick recap of our week by iPhone.

1. Let’s talk about the sense of humor that my kid already has at the ripe age of 15 months. Her new favorite thing is to point out all her body parts, like her nose. Here she is with a card of a nose…does it look a little big for her face? 2. Breakfast on the weekends is a blast – since Peanut eats breakfast at daycare most days, it’s a treat. 3. Especially since she gets to eat it in her pajamas. I love this kid. 4. Sunday Jon and I did some yard work (and need to do a ridiculous amount more). Peanut actually helped – I’m not even kidding. She watched for a couple of minutes while I pulled weeds out and put them in the wheel barrel. Minutes later she was right by my side, pulling little pieces of grass out and then throwing them in the barrel. It was so stinking cute and surprisingly helpful, I had to stand around for a couple of minutes and stare. Then get back to work. After a few minutes, Peanut and I got hungry and had a snack out on the porch while daddy mowed the lawn. 5. Lunch that day – Peanut is using a toddler fork! 6. Since she didn’t have a lot of yogurt at breakfast, we gave her some at lunch. She gobbled it up. Then smeared it all over her face. 7. Sunday mornings are laid back in our household – all the “kids” climb into bed. Travis loves snuggling in bed. 8. Peanut does too, especially when we get to read her favorite book – Wheels on the bus. 9. I misplaced this photo – this is Peanut after the yogurt incident. Guess what I looked like after I picker her up and let her nuzzle me?

10. Weekday morning – a little Peanut in our bed. Doesn’t she look so tiny in there? Seriously, she is too cute. She snuggles in our bed, has her bottle, reads some books while we get ready for the day. 11. Wheels on the bus. 25 times. I think I lost my voice that morning. 12. My ruffle shirt (check out the Life Well Lived post I did earlier this week about dressing for your size and shape). 13. This has been my breakfast lately – fruit, Greek yogurt, and some granola. It’s delicious, nutritious, and keeps me full until lunch. 14. After work one day, P playing in the basement while mommy gets some stuff together. 15. It didn’t last long, she wanted to go outside – but it was cold and raining. 16. Part of our morning routine (after we get dressed while P has a bottle, get P dressed, and play or read a book) Peanut gives Travis a treat and lets him go in his crate. Then we play catch-the-baby-and-get-a-coat-on-her (seriously, why is it still so cold here?) and head out the door. The end. 17. I wasn’t kidding when I said I need new shoes. This is one of my last pairs and they’re super scuffed. I have no idea why. 18. Thursday morning – our little Peanut drinking her bottle in our bed.

19. Daddy feeding his little baby before bed. A couple of comments here (a) this is actually a sippy cup top on a sippy that looks like a bottle. It’s our mini victory and (b) until this week Peanut was only all about mommy. It seems the tide has changed. I’m very happy because I love watching these two cuddle up together or the way she runs up and gives him a kiss, but a part of me is selfishly wondering why I’m not the favorite. 20. Peanut trying on mom’s shoes – daddy is nervous already. 21. Friday morning, photobombed while trying to get a cute photo of the kid and I. 22. We let Jon take a picture with us – I love these two.

I’m linking up with Amy at A Good Life Blog.

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Peanut is pretty much a full blown toddler these days and I have a few things that I want to talk to you guys about.

A few weeks back Jon and I spent almost a day trying to teach Peanut where her nose is. We were so proud of ourselves when she touched her nose. The next day, after picking Peanut up from daycare, we asked her to touch her nose, which she did. We then asked her to touch her ear, which she did. And her hair, which she did. And her eye, which she did. And her belly, which she did. Le sigh. What are the chances that we actually thought her the nose trick? I’m going with slim to none since there is almost no way that she picked up the rest in one day.

On the one hand I am so proud and so excited to know that our daycare is teaching Peanut all sorts of awesome tricks. It really solidifies our choice in daycare and I’m excited to watch her grow.

On the other hand, I’m so sad to know that there are going to be many things that we will not teach her. These aren’t a big deal and I know that there are way wore things for me to consider, like her not learning things at daycare. But let me just sob in the corner for a minute here as I deal with the fact that someone else taught my kid almost all of her body parts.

(and also how to give a high five…that one I may actually be bitter about)

This actually goes to a few other points that I want to make that all lead to one and the same conclusion – I really need to learn how to let things go.

We decided to stop bringing lunch to day care and let them feed Peanut the same thing that the other kids eat. I must preface this by saying that I actually reviewed every single meal they have planned within the rotation and spent a lot of time talking to the director at the daycare about making sure that Peanut doesn’t have too much sugar or sodium. The decision was mostly driven by the fact that Peanut was really dipping in her growth weight scale and the fact that we noticed that she eats better when she has what everyone around her is eating (never underestimate the power of peer pressure). Let me tell you the teeth grinding that I am doing when I pick up P and she is having a vanilla wafer with the other kids around a table. It’s a struggle between knowing that this isn’t going to kill her but will indeed help her put on a couple of pounds and my control freak nature.

Hence, I need to learn how to let go.

On the same note, I’m also having a hard time keeping up with the level of home cleanliness within my comfort level. I’ve gone from vacuuming the house once a day to once or twice a week. I know that a dirty house isn’t going to be the thing that I remember looking back, but seeing the dust pile up in the corner of the baby gate gives me anxiety.

Another thing I have to just let go.

Don’t even get me started on the bottle to sippy transition. I’ve let that one go.

I guess I’m just finally facing the fact that working 40+ hours a week, having a toddler, and still keeping up with all my hobbies that I refuse to let go of will mean letting some things fall off the list.

Our toddler is starting to sprout little teeth – that’s new around here. I can’t tell you how excited we are to see them (and relieved that we don’t have to wonder if something is wrong) and how much we are looking forward to not cutting all her food into pea-sized squares. What I am not a huge fan of is all the whining the accompanies growing teeth.

This is where the positives of daycare come in. It’s actually rather awesome that the daycare has to deal with all the whining during the day and we get to pick up our toddler at the end of the day. She is usually so excited to see us that there is limited to no whining going on back home.

Another positive that I’ve recently learned about is the fact that daycare will actually teach your kid how to use the potty. As in, we don’t have to (although it’s encouraged to keep up with it at home as well, which we intend to). Anyone else think that this is pretty cool?

And that completes my ~~rant~~ deep thoughts for this Friday.

Submitting this one for Favorite photo in April.