Life Lately

My coffee is super strong and good this morning so I decided I had enough energy to write a post. It's been a while (I say that every single time), but I'm here!

My last post was Easter so I'll kind of recap what's been going on since then.

Elliot.

Elliot is almost two and a half! Finally and slowly coming out of the terrible twos. Thank God. He still has the occasional tantrum and the strong mindedness will never go away I don't think, but Jack and I think that the worst has passed. Since he is talking more now, so much more, he can tell us what he wants, what he doesn't want (and makes it very clear), what he needs, etc. It's the best to finally be able to fully understand your child! It makes life probably a million times easier. Don't you agree? Before it was a contest between Jack and I to see who could figure out what Elliot was trying to say and it seemed like it was Elliot's challenge to make it more difficult for us. :)

It's amazing how now I can tell him why he can't have something like "Elliot you can't have hot sauce in your food, that's mama's and it's really hot" and he will answer, "Mama's? Elliot no?" The sweetest thing. Or he will say "mama I want candy" (M&M's are his absolute favorite and the only candy he's allowed to eat) at seven thirty in the morning and I'll say "You have to eat food first" and all he says now is "okay" in the sweetest little voice. Like I said, of course there's still the occasional tantrum that will have Jack and I wanting to pull our hair out but it has definitely been so much better.

The messes are still the same and his name is still Elliot "The Tornado" but he now cleans up while singing the clean up song. Most of the time.

We haven't potty trained yet. I really wanted to do this when Elliot was a few months younger but it didn't happen and I'm not going to be hard on myself about it. Such is life and it's not the end of the world. We had it planned for this past weekend but Elliot had what seemed like a mild stomach bug and that would've been a shit fest. Not pretty on carpet. We know he is definitely ready though! He has his own potty and his potty seat, we still don't know which one he prefers but I hope it's the seat because who wants to have to dump the contents of his potty in the toilet?

Jack and I.

If you follow me in Instagram, you know that I have been doing Crossfit for about three months now. I'm going to tell you right now, it is LIFE CHANGING. I wish I would have discovered it sooner. I invited my friend (and mama of Elliot's daycare friend) and her husband over to our house for Elliot's second birthday party and they were talking about their gym. She told me I should try it and let me attend a few classes to see if I liked it. I almost puked on the first class and the first thing her and her husband told me was that it doesn't get any easier, you just get better. I was hooked. I love it. I truly do. Out of everything I have ever done (and said I loved) this is the first time I feel stronger, healthier, better. I love the workouts and although I'm always the last one to finish, I get so much encouragement from the rest of the team to get me to finish. It is the best. I get a little better everyday! I did hurt my knee and I'm taking this week off to let it heal but there's no way I'm giving up. My friend is also always texting me to make sure I'm not going to miss a class and will ask me why I missed it if I do. I need that!

Jack has been so awesome with me on all of this. I usually get home at almost five and he gets home at about four thirty. My class is at five thirty. By the time I get home he already has dinner underway and all I have to do is change into my workout clothes and be on my way. He takes care of the cooking, cleaning AND Elliot. I feel so guilty but he's doing this for me because he knows I need this. I love that he's willing to take on that role while I get in that hour to work out. He doesn't get to work out until late and he doesn't mind and is usually exhausted by the time he's in bed. He's a great man!

We are eating a lot healthier. We always eat healthy but we started a round of Whole30. He is doing this with me in support and I love him for that! It's so incredible to see how even if you think you're eating healthy, all the sugars and carbs that we consume are ridiculous. It's something we are changing even without doing Whole30. It's teaching us to cut unnecessary foods from our diets.

That's what we've been up to so far along with work and a thousand other things. Life is good right now. So good.

I'll leave you with this silly boy.

Have a great Thursday!

Elliot is TWO!

Gosh I'm so embarrassed to admit that this year's birthday party was so poorly planned! I did the invitations and never got them printed, I told Jack I would start buying party supplies way in advance and there I was last minute ha!

I was happy with the way it turned out regardless! Elliot loved it! We had originally planned to invite a lot of friends but since I never sent out invitations, I texted it to a few friends last minute. It ended up being family and a couple of friends only which was actually really nice. We had a really good time.

I can't believe my boy is a toddler and going into his twos in full force. He is one strong minded boy but he is so loving. He tells us "I lah you mama" "I lah you dada" and our hearts are in puddles instantly.

He can count from one to ten in English and Spanish and knows all of the ABC's. Books are definitely his thing over anything else. He loves for us to read to him and learns what the pages say and recites some of the words back. His favorite characters are Mickey and Goofy but he loves watching Sofia the First and Doc McStuffins too. ;)

He sings Twinkle Twinkle, Itsy Bitsy Spider and the Hot Dog song and it's the sweetest thing I've ever seen. He also talks in some sentences and says words I didn't know he knew! I spilled water on his sock a couple of days ago and he tells me "mama, sock wet". Or he tells me "mama, I don't want that", "mama, I wanna play". I love it.

He plays "chucky" with us and chases us around and bites us ha! Thanks to Jack for that one! I love that he plays with his cars and planes and makes the sounds and motions they make. He loves to play "gotchu" and wants us to chase him around while he hides behind the curtains then calls his own name for us to find him. It's so funny.

He still loves bananas and milk, bread and peanut butter, chicken and he can eat edamame like no one's business. He's become a bit of a picky eater but he still eats.

On his actual birthday we gave him a slice of cake and candle. That could have been his party and he would have been happy. He also got calls from family and a video from his cousins singing to him that he still goes back and watches several times a day and now he sings Happy Birthday to himself, including "Happy Birthday dear Elliot". ;)

Let the picture flood begin. Of course, Mickey Mouse was the theme! ;)

His cake was made by my sister in law just like his first birthday cake and it turned out exactly as planned! It tasted so good!

We had burgers and hot dogs of course because hot dog!

Girlfriend needed a manicure but there was no time for that! I got some Mickey Mouse tape at Hobby Lobby and wrapped little flags around the straws.

I made these super simple number twos with a chocolate mold and some free printables I got from Pinterest. I had originally planned on having mickey mouse cookies but that didn't work out so this was plan B!

He was exhausted and fell asleep super early. He had a great time. 

The most important thing for me was that Elliot had fun and he did. He loved having all of his cousins and his friend from daycare there. I'm excited for this year and what's to come!

Elliot Lately.

I haven't done a post on this little monkey lately so I thought I would sum up the last couple of months in one post.

So much has been going on with this boy as far as how much he is developing and what a little clown he's been! He seriously lights up our days and also makes us pull our hair out. ;)

He's officially twenty-two months! He will be two in January and of course I have already started the planning for his party. 

He is so full of energy that my brain can't quite comprehend how he's still going at eight at night when he's had his bath and is ready for bed. One minute he's drinking his milk and the next he's up jumping on the bed. It can be exhausting but the way he makes us laugh makes up for it. 

We have been implementing time-outs and we have had quite a few. Sometimes I cannot help but go and hug him because he will be sitting there, sometimes crying, and he will look at me and tell me "sowwy" in the sweetest voice. Ugh this kid! He knows exactly what he's doing to his mama's heart. It works really well with Jack too. ;)

He's so feisty and knows exactly what he wants. That can be a problem and it goes back to our being able to be at a store for fifteen minutes max. I tried just letting him be and when we need to go to another aisle or part of the store (or wherever we are) we tell him to say bye bye to whatever he's doing and go with us. Most of the time it works, sometimes it doesn't.

Silliness is in his blood. We are such dorks and are joking with each other half of the time and Elliot is the same. We scold him and he will bust out some moves to make us laugh, say something funny, or just look us straight in the eye and smile, giggle, touch our faces, whatever he thinks will work. He makes everyone laugh and when he doesn't make it to daycare, the girls miss him so much! They tell us he's the one who makes them laugh and keeps their day interesting. No doubt there!

I know I say he's very opinionated and feisty but he's also the most loving kid! Every single place we go he makes an impression. We get told that he's a very special kid, and he is! He will go up to a complete stranger and stand there until they turn around to say hi to him. He shakes hands, gives fist bumps, high fives and in some instances (cashier at Home Goods) kisses! I know, he's my kid, I have to brag about him a little! Or a lot. :)

He will point at us and say mama, dada then point at himself and say Elliot. Heart melted.

He can tell you the ABC's, numbers in Spanish and English, with help of course, and working on that has been so much fun! It's something he loves to do. When he wants to do it. Colors on the other hand have been harder! He will say something is blue twice in a row then when he picks it up again he says it's green. He will get there. 

He's still eating pretty good but sometimes goes on eating strikes. I have to tell him I'm going to eat his food or actually eat a spoonful and say "yummy" a million times so that he can then eat it. He can still eat a thousand bananas in one sitting and drink gallons of milk.

Now he says "I love you" and I will never get tired of asking him to say it. It sounds more like "I lah yuuuu" and I love it and him. He sees Jack and I hugging and immediately says "hug" arms wide open waiting for hugs from each of us. We also love when he goes up to us to hug our legs. He's the sweetest!

I will give him a pen and paper (doodling is one of his favorite activities with a pen, just like Jack, go figure) he sits down and yells "guys, guys!!" Once he has our attention, he swears he's writing his name as he says "Eeeelliooot". If that's not the cutest thing ever, I don't know what is.

There's so much more to my boy but I won't bore you with a book! So more in another post. :)

I'll bore you with some pics instead. ;)

Happy Friday!

New Tod's Faves.

Maybe I shouldn't put Elliot in the toddler category just yet right? After all, he is still in the pre-toddler stage according to my resources ;) Therefore, that gives me plenty of time to prepare, or try to, for the times to come.

With that said, here are some of my favorite items, toys, books, etc so far for Button.

1 // 2 // 3 // 4 // 5 // 6 // 7

1/ This Fisher Price play table has been a hit ever since he was able to stand. We use it so much that Jack and I sing along. Lame. Elliot loves it which is what matters!

2/ That set of toys is well, sold as a set. It would've been nice to know that. We bought everything separately and probably spent more that way. Oh well. The stackable rings are sort of a toy from the past. Elliot moved on from it as soon as he figured out how to stack them in record time. The shape box is so cute but serves no purpose to him as of yet, he takes the lid off and throws the shapes in there. Who has time to put them in one by one? Not him apparently. Now the xylophone on the other hand, he loves. He's starting to play some notes and laughs about it. We love it too, when we are playing with Elliot, Jack and I have competitions to see who can get Twinkle Little Star done without making any mistakes. Then we bet on things like changing Elliot's diaper (if you smelled them you would do this too), folding the laundry, throwing out the trash you know, everyday routines. Pretty normal right?

3/ I bought this sippy years ago. Okay totally exaggerating but I love this brand and I got it on clearance a long time ago hoping Button would quickly learn to drink from it. He just got the hang of it not too long ago and drinks from it all the time now. I love that you can twist the lid to keep the straw inside of it to keep it clean when I toss it in the diaper bag.

4/ I know it's early for him to eat with a spoon but I really want him to learn this soon. I give it to him to practice and while he holds it with one hand and eats with the other I'm sure he will get it. Someday.

5/ This Dr. Seuss book along with "Oh Baby, The Places You'll Go" are his two favorites hands down. He always goes to this one in particular and sits there looking at the pictures. Jack and I read it to him and we take turns with each line because we know it by memory. As soon as he hears the words, he knows exactly what we are doing he smiles and immediately goes to whoever has the book and sits there touching all the soft parts of it. So so cute.

6/ These little sneakers are perfect for him to stand and hopefully take his first steps. They are sturdy and so cute! A friend of mine told me she got those for her daughter and they have lasted her a long time. We will see with this little babe. We call them Weekend Shoes. He smiles when he sees that it's time to wear them and as soon as I put them on he sits down to touch them, then takes one off. 

7/ These suction bowls are not the exact ones I got but they are similar. They have a suction tab that adheres to the high chair although sometimes they don't work as well and Elliot ends up dumping his meal on him or the floor. They are good to teach him to start using a plate/bowl because as soon as he sees anything that remotely resembles one it goes darting across the kitchen, food and all.

I am so ready for this three-day weekend ahead and I'm ready to have our own little celebration with Button this Monday! It's his birthday and while I'm still in shock, I'm ready for him to have his very first taste of sweet goodness. Whichever shape that comes in, I haven't decided yet.

Have a great weekend!