Winter Wonderland

Last night, as promised, it continued to snow. Mike, Rooney and I had just left Seattle and stopped by our local grocery store when the snow started. We didn't really think much about it. What was falling wasn't big, fat flakes but seemed like little chunks of ice. We were supposed to leave the house again later, but when the road was covered in white we decided against it. Turns out we got out of Seattle and home just in time. Not too much later last night the roads turned into absolute chaos with cars slipping and sliding all over. Some areas people slept in their cars, and some even abandoned them on the roadside. When we got up this morning the streets were still covered in ice.


Thankfully Mike did not attempt to go to work today (and worked from home) but with all the streets remaining icy during the day Roonster and I were stuck to the house. With Rooney getting older, even more mobile and inquisitive, it is getting more cramped in this house. He can now reach countertops, climbs tables and when bored throws toys.

We had to get out of the house. When Dad was done working we decided to take a walk up to Fry's and purchase a new external CD-R for Mom (a whole different story). Rooney seemed pretty thrilled to be getting out of the house and was absolutely wonderful on the walk. I snapped a few pictures of him in his winter gear. We used his Bundle Me from last winter in his stroller. He only 1/2 fit into it now but I think it kept his tootsies pretty warm.

Cabin Fever

Yesterday Mike and I took Rooney to the Children's Museum. I believe earlier we had accepted that we were just going to bum around the house but it turns out Rooney had other ideas.


If there were toe holes he probably would have literally climbed the walls. After a morning of climbing the furniture and tormenting the dogs, we decided to get him out of the house. Rooney seemed to have a good time at the museum, but was very interested in climbing a slide they have there, the wrong way, while kids were trying to slide down. So it seems we had to keep him distracted with something else at the place that was supposed to be distracting him from climbing the furniture.

On the way home it started to snow! It's the first snow of winter. Thankfully it didn't stick around much but we are due for some more and colder weather. That means ice, so I think we'll be sticking close to home a bit more this week.


I think that will be just fine with Rooney...


poor Courage and Rocco.

Hide boys!

Short and Sassy

This year we had Thanksgiving at our house. I would never had done this if 1: my whole family was here this year and 2: if my sister did not agree to cook the turkey (in retrospect, she even confirmed, she had the cheapest and easiest job). Rooney's Aunt Annie, Uncle Jim, Cousin Cuyler, Aunt Kim and Uncle Dan all came over. Unfortunately, due to the tinyness of our house everyone had to sit in the livingroom, plates on lap, to eat. We had a lot of food and thankfully everyone went home with at least a few containers. Thanksgiving really isn't my holiday but I generally enjoy the day after quite a bit...Black Friday!

This year just my sister and I went shopping. I am kind of upset because alot of the stores just had "Doorbuster" sales which started at 5am. I love shopping, but I do not love it that much. So by the time we got out to shop a good portion of the sales were already over and the stores were cleaned out. It was a pretty disappointing shopping experience. Seems I will be doing most of my shopping on the internet this year.

While we were gone Mike kept himself busy and gave Rooney his 1st haircut...all by himself! Oh Rooney looks so cute. I think Mike thought I would be mad, but I didn't love the long hair, I just did not want to attempt to cut it myself. Rooney cries when I turn on the vacuum or blender, so I did not think he would enjoy a buzzer near his ear. Mike said Roon really didn't care for it but he was a good boy and Mike was able to get the job done. As you can see there was quite a bit of hair on the floor, maybe enough for a ponytail! I'm am also glad to report that Mike did have the foresight to save some of the baby curls. Also notice the cracker Rooney has in the 1st picture with his haircut. Mike was trying to use these crackers to bribe Roonster while he was cutting his hair. This plan only half worked. Rooney held onto the same cracker the whole time Mike was cutting.

Finally here's Rooney showing off his new doo. I loved when his hair would stick out all crazy behind his ears but I think short and sassy fits him pretty well. Rooney seems pretty happy with the results.

Typical Wednesday Morning

I'll admit...I love shopping for Rooney. Shopping for Rooney is more fun than shopping for myself. I don't know if it's because any clothes I purchase will look cute on him or if it's because I know he will be a sponge with any toy, book or musical instrument I buy. Thankfully I'm cheap too, so consignment shops and sales racks is where you'll find me.

Here's Rooney modeling his new winter hat. I bought him a different hat about a month ago but seemed to have lost it. I don't know if it's gone gone but I was pretty heartbroken when I could not find it. Plus, we are in the middle of the rainiest month...EVER so I thought it was a good idea to get him another one. Unfortunately I could not find the same hat (probably because it was on clearance) but I found this sweet little number. It's not exactly a "rain" hat, but who cares it has poof balls!

I also found a little musical instrument set for Rooney recently. I was very jazzed to have found this little set and Rooney seems to enjoy it. It has a tambourine, cymbals, guiro, egg shaker and triangle. I'm not sure of how safe the cymbals are but this is how we learn, right? Here's a pic of Rooney getting down on his guiro.

Who knows he might end up a percussion man, just like his old man.

Hammin' It Up

This post is really an extention of yesterday's post. I did not write about it but the Roon and I went to a Web Committee meeting over at Krista and Parker's house. The Web Committee meeting is for Moms Club and we should have been talking business, but of course, we all have kids so they ham it up for our time quite a bit. Yesterday Rooney and Parker were playing all over Krista's lounge chair (sometimes falling off) when I snapped this pic. Krista and I both thought it was such a cute picture and is possibly on both of our blogs. Oh well, I thought it was so cute I would risk it being posted twice:

Do Re Me & Roon

It's been awhile since I've posted. It's not that things haven't been going on, it's just that I haven't taken any pictures. And I really feel like I should post pictures.

I took these pictures this morning of Rooney playing with his Leapfrog Magnetic Frig Farm. I don't really know if that's the name but it's something along those lines. Rooney really loves this toy. When you push the button it plays little songs which Rooney kind of dances too. He hasn't quite figured out how to match the animals on the toy, which is the real point of the toy, but that doesn't seem to matter. He loves it just for the music.

I have also been building up Roonster's instrument collection. He likes music so much I thought it would be nice if he could play with the instruments and learn how to make music. So far he stands in his tambourine but he really likes to hit the triangle and he bangs out rhythm on the TV with his drumstick (Courage's head too I think!).

Speaking of toys! I decided to throw a Discovery/Do Re Me & You Toys party. What was I thinking? I hate throwing parties, they are too stressful. I hate when people whom I have selectively invited say they can't come. Plus my house is too small. How am I going to fit a handful of people in here plus toys? Anyway I am hoping to get some Christmas shopping done for some little kids I know (maybe a new baby gift for others).

Frank and the PB Pie

What do you do with your antiquated computer equipment...



give it to your kids as a toy, they were going to play with it anyway.





Talk about antiquated, Mike and I went (with Dana & Renae) to a Frank Black concert Monday night. Halfway through the opening act Mike was looking for somewhere to sit because his back hurt (to be fair he did just help Dan move his storage locker stuff around). He left me with Dana & Renae in front of the stage. A very enviable position. Thank god for technology though. Mike was able to text message me that he found a stool, in the back of the venue, with very limited visibility and I hot footed it over to him. Going to a General Admission concert with a hurt foot was not the brightest idea. I was starting to get toeaphobia when the crowd kept moving in closer and closer. I was protecting my foot like a newborn baby.

Tuesday afternoon Roonster and I went to a Thanksgiving Potluck at another moms house. It was a great turn out; kids everywhere! I made a point of bringing somewhat healthy food so I would have something I did not feel guilty about eating. I think I was doing really well until I saw it. There is was with a spotlight on it and angels singing in the background...the Peanut Butter pie! I could not resist it's temptation and had a small sliver of a piece. It was absolutely delicious but afterwards I felt like I had eaten the whole thing. It was so rich and peanut buttery. How do people eat like this all the time? Oh who am I kidding I could get used to eating Peanut Butter Pie real quick.

Come back to me Peanut Butter Pie!!!!

Rubber Chicken Lunches

Even though I'm still licking my soccer wounds I thought it was time to get out of the house and go to the Regional Luncheon for MOMS Club. MOMS Club members from CA, HI, OR and WA all converged on Bellevue, WA. Children in 4 states were running amok. You may have seen the news reports.

We had a good time, met some new friends and as you can see came home with some prizes! MOMS Club of Renton seemed to be big winners and came home with 4 gift baskets. One of our members won 2! I happened to win the gift basket made by the Renton chapter. There seemed to be alot of alcohol in our basket. The theme was Date Night...makes me wonder how alot of our moms met their husbands and/or became moms.

If MOMS Club wasn't enough I have finally joined a Renton Moms Meetup. A few of my friends have already joined and really enjoy it. After attending a Discovery Toys party at one friends house (who quit MOMS Club and exclusively does Meetup's), Sherry and I (my partner in crime in the red jacket) decided to enlist Krista and all join together. We haven't done anything yet but keep checking back to keep posted.

Don't worry I have not given up on MOMS Club and I have even agreed to take over as Newsletter Editor. I don't believe I can post the newsletter here so everyone can see my handiwork (confidentiality issues) but there maybe a blog post about it every once in awhile.

Lucky You!

Urgent Care Blues

Will somebody get this kid a haircut?

This week has been kind of different for Rooney. Monday Roonster went with his mom (me) to an Urgent Care. Sunday while playing soccer my left hand and right foot were injured. My hand got hit very hard by a soccer ball. The ball kept going after it hit me, and since it was kicked by one of my team mates, I was saddened when my body didn't at least deflect it into the goal. I have no clue what happened to my toe but I'll attribute any injury to getting older or from being pregnant with Rooney. I haven't found a link with being pregnant and my feet yet so it must be attributed to age. (Yikes! I can't believe I can start saying that) Good news is nothing appears to be broken. Bad news is we still lost the game.

So Roonster and I have been hanging around the house the last couple of days. Mike was home 1-1/2 days to take care of us. The week before I bought Rooney castanets (to build his band) and they became very useful while Mike was home. Since he didn't want me up on my foot, he had me use the castanets to call him when I needed something. I felt really silly using them but they worked and Mike didn't get mad at me for getting up.

I think the Urgent Care may have made Rooney sick though. While we were waiting forever in the waiting room, I let Rooney run around and play with the toys they have out. God knows the last time, if ever, those toys were washed and how many little snotty hands have played with them. Plus I'm sure any clinic is just cess pool of germs. Rooney has since become a snot factory. There is more than one type of flooding going on in Western WA!

The Pea Soup Incident

He looks so sweet and innocent in this picture but you can tell...there is something lurking behind that smile.

Lately, Rooney has been trying to exert his independence when I'm feeding him. He will start grabbing at the bowl and spoon but when he can't get them he will throw a little fit in his chair. So I started to give him his own spoon. This worked great and he would play with it, dip it into the bowl I was holding or pretend to feed himself. This worked well and we were both happy...at least I thought we were.

Who would have thought that the sweet little boy in this picture would turn into a little demon a few hours later when he dumped pea soup all over his Momma? One minute he was eating the soup and loving it and the next I was wearing it. I wouldn't have believe it if I didn't see it with my own eyes and have to change my pants.

Of course he does have his lovey moments and there have actually been more of them. He will now just run up, give me hugs and then be off again. I love it. Now anytime I am on the floor means it's time to wrestle. He will jump on my back and start laughing. I'm assuming he learned wrestling from Dad and I'll play along. The wrestling is really cute and Rooney really likes to do it but secretly I really just use it as an opportunity to get even more cuddles.

Halloweenies

Halloween 2005

The Cutest Little Chicken
Originally uploaded by Q.

It's really been Halloween week around here. Rooney's had so many costume parties to go to and getting pumpkins, cleaning pumpkins and finally carving pumpkins became a very long affair. I love Halloween though and I love Rooney in this costume! I wonder if it would be too much to put him in it everyday?

Last night we did not take the little chicken trick-or-treating. Mike and I are trying to avoid candy, and Rooney doesn't eat it yet, so it seemed a little pointless to us. He was fascinated by everyone coming to the door though. He even flirted with a few. Thankfully where we live there are alot of kids and we had a pretty good turnout . We actually had more kids than teenagers, dressed as teenagers, ringing our doorbell.

We do have leftover candy though. However, we devised a foolproof way for us not to get into it...we decided to store it in Mike's car. If you saw the inside of Mike's car , believe me, you wouldn't want to eat anything that came out it.

Chicken's Coming To Get You

I'm coming to get you
Chicken Costume Pictures

Originally uploaded by Q.

We kind of had a running joke this weekend...you have a kid and you become a social butterfly. Saturday Mike, Rooney and I were invited to 3 events. We could only stretch ourselves so thin though, and only committed to two.

This weekend Rooney's bud Parker celebrated his 1st birthday! Welcome to the Big Boy Club Parker. All the kids were dressed in their Halloween costumes. Oh man they were so cute! What was kind of funny is that none of them seemed to fight the costumes either. I've decided Halloween and the custom of dressing in costume has become instinctual. Possible "Survival of the Fittest"- whomever has the weakest costume gets the least amount of candy. As we all know, when you're a kid, whomever has the most candy runs the schoolyard.

The second event we went to was a Costume Party at Mike's friends' house. Everyone that was invited seemed to have kids. So many little kids and so many costumes. Yikes they were adorable. To our embarrassment their was another little blond boy in a chicken costume though. What were the chances?

The pictures will tell the story

Sybil

When Rooney was a baby I found it very difficult to get out the door to start our day. Working around his sleep schedule to get ready proved to be difficult at times and then trying to get him dressed, changed and packed to go always threw me off time wise. I had the hardest time working his "getting ready time" into my time management. It's been a year now and for the most part we've got our rhythm worked out although I am still running short on time every once in awhile. Generally it's just when I have to be anywhere before 10am.

Now that Rooney is getting older I've noticed it's a lot harder to get out the door for new reasons. The window is getting so much smaller these days between happy Rooney and Not-So-Happy Rooney. Some days I would believe it is non-existent. I did not want to be one of those moms that was chained to their houses for hours while their kids napped but I find myself doing just that. And once Rooney wakes up the clock starts it's countdown. However, before we can go anywhere he's got to eat and be changed. Ahhhhh! He can take 45min. to eat and sorry to be crude but it's all gone to hell if he has a load in his diaper. That window is half closed now.

I used to believe that having Rooney nap in his carseat was unfair. I believed it wasn't a "real nap" but as our window closes quicker now, and being as Rooney can turn on a dime these days, I'm starting to understand that maybe any nap is a "real nap". I finally had to make the decision that if I wanted us to go anywhere these days Rooney better be prepared and start bringing his little dog blankie along for the ride.

Quacker!

How do you know when someone is your good friend? When their first name becomes one of your first words.

This weekend Mike, Rooney and I went to a dinner party at our friends Krista, Tim & Parker's. We had a very good time and were joined by our other friends Sherry, Rick and Alex. The boys all got to play and we dined on some delicious fried halibut (freshly caught by Tim). While I was standing talking to Krista, who was holding Parker, Rooney said Parker! Here's the really weird part...Mike heard it and acknowledged it. Now you know it's legit because Mike doesn't think Rooney is saying anything.

Of course when Rooney said Parker, it wasn't clear as a bell and I thought he said "quacker" or something like that. But then he said it again, and I heard it, and I was amazed! Parker is a big word for a 1 year old. I have noted Rooney saying "dog", "duck", "hi" and "uh oh" (and of course Momma and Dada). Comparatively Parker is a big word. I'm pretty amazed by my kid. I honestly didn't think he would be very verbal so young. He is an action man and I figured he was putting all his energy into moving. Now that I know he is talking I've been trying to get him to say everything. Nothing new...but it's coming.

However, just because there aren't any other new words doesn't mean there isn't something else new. Mike taught Rooney to do something pretty cool. While all those other babies are busy learning signs, to feed themselves and chess Mike taught Rooney something he can really use in the future.

Click here to watch the video.

Quick Like A Cat

Now that Rooney is doing more things for himself, he is also getting into more things. Ah this kid is going to keep me on my toes.

Our livingroom/kitchen is pretty well baby proofed (or so I thought) and occasionally if I have to walk out of the room I feel OK leaving Rooney for a minute or two. Well this morning I had to leave the room and when I walked back into the kitchen I saw Rooney standing on a cardboard box at the kitchen sink! We had an empty cardboard box at the end of the kitchen. Rooney turned this box over on it's side and pushed it in front the sink. He was so proud of himself.

Unfortunately for us, not only is Rooney getting smarter about how to get what he wants, he is also getting quicker. As soon as you have a baby gate or the fridge open Rooney is there. You turn to close the gate and he's already going through it. I find it pretty funny that he would beeline for the fridge when he so rarely wants anything that's in it. However, there is something he wants. Everytime he can grab something he grabs the same things. We're still baffled by his selection, but it is always his selection...Szechwan Sauce!

I don't remember eating alot of Chinese food when I was pregnant.

The World's An Oyster

Now that Rooney is older he has started to do more things for himself. I have recently caught him starting to climb his toys to get to other toys and books. Instead of climbing on his toys I put a little step stool out for him. He started using it right away. Probably felt alot better on his feet than the blocks he was tromping all over.

Rooney loves books. He will sometimes bring books to me to read to him (his 2 personal favorites are Snuggle Puppy and Hand, Hand, Fingers, Thumb) but many times I find him on the floor looking through the books all by himself. He's no bookworm though. Rooney has many interests and most recently Roon-ham has really become interested in our Nerf soccerball. He will chase this thing all over the house. I don't want to make any big predictions on Rooney's future profession but I do see some potential soccer skills. He's already kicking the ball. Maybe he picked up a few things watching Mom play...or maybe he's trying to give me some pointers. I'll have to pay closer attention to his moves next time.

Rooney seems to want to be a well rounded kid. He loves literature, athletics and he also enjoys music and dance very much. Besides being in Kindermusik classes, Rooney has always listened to music before going to sleep and owns many little musical instruments. It was only recently that he started getting down though. He's already got head banging down and he is currently working on the butt shaking. Even if he is unable to get his dance moves coordinated he can always carry an instrument around and no one will notice.

We've recently starting playing along to CD's (Mom and Rooney's Little Bug Jam Band), sometimes trying to woo new members (Rooney's cousin Felix). The They Might Be Giants "No" CD, that Aunt Kristi and Uncle Andy gave him for his birthday, is great to play along to. Rooney seems to really like their CD's and we have alot of fun playing along.

We really need to be a trio though. Maybe once Rooney's little brother or sister is born we'll start looking for an old school bus to take the band on the road.

Lean Back Fat Joe

Rooney kicking back on the swings
Originally uploaded by Q.

Life's rough for Rooney. He has parents devoted to him, friends to play with, we try to get him to eat food and he can throw his clothes all over the floor.

Oh man is he going to get a wake up call!

I love this picture of Rooney and Parker. Reminds me of being a kid. I can imagine exactly how he is feeling at this moment. As of Friday, I officially became one year closer to old, and had a birthday. It was a good birthday. My friends took me to lunch, Mike and I went out for a great dinner and there were gifts. I was warned as you get older the birthdays become less important. I believe that to be true now. I easily put my birthday out of my head when I was focused on Rooney's birthday.

Last night we had a get together with all the usual suspects and a few of our new good friends. Rooney even had a little playgroup! Our house is small and people sat on the floor but I had a good time and was so glad to see everyone.

As you get older, birthdays are kind of like funerals in that they generally draw a large crowd. And as in the case of mine...no one took a picture.

3rd Rock From The Gums

With all the excitement of Rooney's birthday and Mike's new program I totally forgot to write about Rooney's new teeth.

A couple months ago one of the moms in my playgroup noticed that Rooney had bruises on his upper gums. She said she heard sometimes that happens when molars are coming in. Well I think this mom is a little crazy so I didn't think much about it. Then, not too long ago at Kindermusik Rooney was laughing really hard when I noticed a navy blue spot on his right upper gums. This spot was dark. It was like chewing-on-an-ink-pen dark blue spot! Oh my god the crazy lady was right and Rooney was getting in his molars.

The week of Rooney's birthday our little prince also had a cold. He was a bit cranky and not sleeping very well. All the signs were there, but his cold masked the symptoms and it wasn't until about a week later that we saw he had molars coming in on both sides! Wow that kid is a trooper. Then this week I saw it...his 3rd molar (right side lower). I want to say this kid is a genius but I guess he can't control tooth growth...or can he?

More cute bath pics could be found here

Can't Get Enough Rooney

You may have noticed recently the links on this blog pointing to some of our Flickr photosets. Now, it is possible to enjoy those photos without even having to go through the effort of getting on the internet!

Introducing Flickr Wallpapr, a program I wrote which will cycle through photos from Flickr and set them as your desktop background.

Now, I suppose you don't have to use our photosets, but if you want to, use wade0016 as the username. Honestly, why would you want to use any other photos?

How About A Little Pumpkin?

How about a little pumpkin
Originally uploaded by Q.

Yesterday Roonster and I went to Carpinito Brothers Pumpkin Patch (click link to see pics) with the Moms Club. Going to a pumpkin patch really kicks off Fall and gets me into the Halloween spirit. Next to Christmas, Halloween is my favorite holiday. I feel like Mike isn't as into Halloween as I am, but maybe having a kid now, will change that.

The pumpkin patch had alot of nice pumpkins, although we did not get any yesterday. I thought it would be fun if Mike and I went back and we could spend some time with Rooney picking out the perfect pumpkins to carve for our Jack-O-Lantern pictures. Rooney seemed to have a good time with all the other kids running around in the pumpkins, but the real hit, seemed to be the bark covering the ground. I think all the "babies" tried to eat a piece at some point.

After most of the other moms left, my friend Sherry and I, decided to take our boys through a corn maze. It was 1.8 miles of walking through corn. We tried to use bent or fallen corn stalks as our breadcrumbs through the maze until we realized all the corn looked the same. We did do a few circles but managed to find our way out...eventually.

I think Sherry was worried there for awhile.