Gee Mom, is She Really For Me?

Holden has many girlfriends. We joke all the time with our friends that our kids are going "out" with each other. But we actually are kind of serious about matching up Holds with Liesel, our friends' Paul and Lara's new bebe. Holden met his betrothed a few weeks ago. And I think they're in love.

He was so intrigued by her. It's like he was saying, "gee mom, is she really for me?"

Well maybe Liesel is too young to know what true love is, but I'm sure Holden isn't. She is beautiful! He especially loved holding her foot. He already worships at her feet!


I think they're destined for each other. Holden agrees.

Don't Sell Your Soul to Buy Peanuts for the Monkeys

We went to the allergist yesterday to see what we were allergic to. I thought she'd test him for all kinds of allergies, but luckily she just tested for nuts. When we got there Holden was super happy, he played with the toys and talked on his Lego cell phone.


The doctor was fantastic. She answered a lot of questions and gave us a lot of material to read. She said to make our house peanut and cashew free, entirely (sad for mommy and daddy since we love peanut butter sandwiches), and to be staunch about not letting anybody give us any candy with peanut butter, etc. (ie no more Reeses peanut butter eggs, grammy Pammy!). Plus she said we shouldn't even be around it - so nobody should be eating peanut butter or peanuts in his presence. It's like a poison to him.


The nurse came in an gave him scratch tests on his back for Almonds, Peanuts and Cashews. He's HIGHLY allergic to cashews. And very allergic to peanuts. But showed no reaction to almonds. She said in kids Holden's age, they show their reaction to these allergens more in anaphylaxis - where it shows up all over his body, especially on the skin. They blow up, throw up, etc. And then they get older, they tend to more have the wheezing, asthma-type reaction to it.

Not only did the peanut and cashews make the parts of his back swell, but it also flared up his exzema. (sp?). So she gave us a prescription for that as well. And I was armed with two expensive epi-pens. Epinenephrine is somehow a cure-all. It's just your body's way of fixing things and that's what the epi-pen will do if Holden is ever not responding to Benadryl or seems faint, etc. after a reaction.


He wasn't so happy during and after the scratch tests, but words cannot describe how upset he was when the lab did blood tests. They took blood out of his arm vein like he was an adult! It was so sad. I had to hold him tight and he was so strong and fighting so hard that they couldn't get any blood - he wouldn't relax enough. So they had to do it all over on the other arm! It was so sad. He was so upset.

It's sad to me that he'll never enjoy the simple pleasure of a peanut butter and jam sandwich. It's also sad to me that I won't be enjoying them either. Did I tell you? I ate one last week and washed my hands so carefully - but like an idiot I kiss him on his cheek later, and he totally ballooned right there. So sad.

He'll be the boy sitting at the nut-free table, hopefully not alone. He'll be the boy with the mom who yells at NWA and Delta (via email) for introducing peanuts back into their snack selection. And the mom who scrubs down the seats of the airplane with hot soap and water and yells at the flight attendants for giving peanuts to the guy next to us. Ah nuts!

He's Back - With Jazz Hands

Students of some of the finer forms of international dance will instantly recognize some of the regional influences Holden incorporates into this particular interpretive dance piece. Marrying roaring 40's dixieland dancefloor moves, indigenous Central African tribal war ceremonies, and Bible-belt, mega-church holy-rollers, Holden expresses with a fluidity of motion a richly emotional message that, although words fail it in every regard, can be best interpreted as, "Mom! I need a nap and I got poops in my pants!"

He's a Maniac, Maniac on the Kitchen Floor

New Favorite Things about my Boy

New favorite things about Holden:

• He's starting to say "yea!" when I ask him questions. Like, "Holden, do you want to have some yummy dinner?" "yea!" But then he doesn't come follow me to the table. He just keeps playing. "Holden, do you want to go on a walk with mom?" "yea!" and then turns back to his toys. At least his first reaction isn't "no!"

• He eats oatmeal. I always wanted the kid who would eat oatmeal and Cream o' Wheat instead of the kid who eats sugar cereals (me, btw).

• When it's bedtime, he runs to his crib like he can't wait to get in. Seriously, he's been doing this for a week now. I'll say "Holden, do you know what time it is? It's night-night times!" He grins, runs to his room and starts pulling on the bars to his crib. Needless to say, we love this one.
  

Anniversary Getaway

Wes and I celebrated our 3rd wedding anniversary by ditching Holds and having 24 hours to ourselves. It was actually really fun! We missed him but he was so happy playing with his Grammy Pammy that he barely noticed we were gone.

The first thing we did was drive to Heber to the Avon theater and see Taken (which was freaking awesome). I cannot even remember the last movie we went to with each other. It's always him going with his friend or me with my friends. We never go to movies because Holden can't sit still and hates TV. And I can't really blame him for not wanting to sit through "He's Just Not That Into You," you know?

And then checked into this divine Bed and Breakfast in Midway called Invited Inn. I wish we had brought our cameras. The B&B was so comfortable, pretty and homey we absolutely loved it. They won my heart because they served Afternoon Tea and they won Wes's because of the private sauna in our bathroom! The bathroom was bigger than our kitchen at home. They had a jetted tub (as displayed below) AND a sauna AND a steam room in our own bathroom. It was amazing.

We went to dinner at the Blue Boar. Seriously, I would die happy if I had my last meal at the Blue Boar. We had shrimp, duck confit (don't look that up), Filet Mignon & Boar Ribs. It was amazing. Our breakfast the next morning at the Invited Inn was fantastic. We ate enough German pancakes to last us until dinner, all to the peaceful sound of trinkling water. Ahhhhh. It was wonderful.

My Little Anti-Vegetarian

My son is a meat eater. A carnivore through and through. He used to eat vegetables - broccoli, sweet potatoes, green beans, asparagus were his favorites - but now he looks at me like I'm nuts when I offer them. I try to sneak them into his mouth behind chicken so he can't see them, but as soon as he tastes it, he pulls out the offending greenery and, disgusted, drops it off the side of his high chair.
I think all this meat eating is changing his personality. He's more aggressive and demanding now. He's still sweet though - loves giving kisses and all that - but I'm a little worried he's going to turn into a caveman. Me love meat!
Maybe this is a boy thing. Maybe his body is craving what his body needs . . . does that sound right? I'm not sure. It sure is making him strong, though. He pulled and pushed this huge industrial cart all around Honeyville Grain. And try putting him down for a nap when he's not in the mood; he's so strong he can leave bruises. LOL I'm making him sound like a monster. But seriously. He's amazing. He's now walking up AND down stairs, not crawling. He holds onto rails and insists on going up and down like a big kid. He's such a big kid. My big, wonderful, loving, barbarian viking.

New Things About Holden

I haven't posted for a while about all that my little guy is doing. So here are some new things about Holden:

Poor Holds is teething: And this time, it's not just one tooth. It's like all his lower teeth all at once. I don't know if he's getting his uppers yet because he won't let me see. All I know is that he's in a lot of pain.

He loves going outside: The only thing that makes him happy is going outside. Good thing it's good weather right now. He can say about 15 words: He says Mama, Daddy, Dedee (Holden's name for himself), Popcorn (sounds like tkl tkl), Ball, Dog, Nana (for Nana Lois), one, two, three, and on. Just cute little words.

He loves the daycare at the gym: He can't wiggle out of my arms fast enough now. We get to the gym in the morning and he takes off like a speeding bullet towards the slide. It's so funny. Guilt-free work out for me.

We have to go, go, go: Right now since eating holds no pleasure for him (teething), we just have to get out. He loves running errands, playing outside and just going.

Holden loves to read: For someone who has no attention span with toys, it's interesting that he likes to read so much. But really, he can't stand listening to the whole book. You have to speed read to satisfy him.

TV is a no go: I didn't let Holden watch TV for the first year or so of his life. But now, when it would be nice to have a little peace while I'm trying to make dinner every night, he doesn't like it. Seriously, he can't hold still long enough to care about it. It was the same thing with binkies. I didn't let the hospital give him one and then when I figure out it would be nice to cork him, it was a no go. Oh well. Probably a good thing.

Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Pool

I wish I had a picture of Holden yesterday at the Lehi Legacy Center Pool. On the spur of the moment, we decided to go swimming with Papa Ted and Nana Lois down in Lehi. We hustled down there, bought a $7 swim diaper, because Holden's baby one was too small, and a $5 pass and thought we were going to have the time of our lives watching Holden splash and play in the water.
Have you ever been to the Legacy Center? They have this huge bucket of water that fills up and then dumps all over the kids area. It's totally cool to watch. Totally not cool to get dunked by it. That was the second mistake I made. I sat with Holden near the kids area with our backs to the big bucket and we got dumped on by the bucket.


The first mistake was letting Holden walk on the sidewalk by the pool, he totally slipped on the floor and fell on his bum. That really ticked him off. And then getting dumped on basically ruined his life. After that, he was terrified of the Legacy Center. He had both arms wrapped tightly around my back. Everytime I tried to remove them and switch positions, he'd start this lip quivering thing that broke my heart - and then started bawling. Not even Papa Ted could make him happy.

The only thing that slightly amused him was watching the babies go down this water slide mountain. He never let go of me, but he would crack a grin if the babies jostled and bonked a little down the slide. He must have my sick sense of humor.

PS - I haven't updated this blog in forever. I am focusing my attention on my personal/work blog http://alicesworld.wordpress.com. Catch you later!

Holdens' Bday Bash Recap (Finally)

These have been a long time in coming, I know. Here are the pictures from Holden's First Birthday party. The theme, if you can remember back that far, was Wizard of Oz.



















Holden LOVED his cake. He's like me; he loves anything sweet. He carefully and delicately picked off one of the tiny frosting apples off the cake, decided he liked that, then picked up the whole piece and shoved it in his face. He had it so far up his nose we were worried he couldn't breathe!




It was a fun day. He got loads of attention, fun presents and toys, and we all got to visit with our family and friends.

Go Diego!

I turned on Cartoons last night for Holden in a desperate effort to finish dinner. Holden gets inexplicably cranky around 6:00 PM. He's not hungry, he's not poopy, he's not ready for bed, ???? Anyway, I feel quite pleased with myself that I have gone 13 months without relying on TV as an entertainment source for my kid. And I realized last night that even if I had, it wouldn't have worked. Holden could not have been less interested in Go Diego. He looked at it for five seconds and then moved right out of the living room to come stumble around underneath my feet in the kitchen.

I guess I should feel pleased he likes me so much. But I sure wish something would capture his attention for more than 5 seconds. We go through toys and rooms like you wouldn't believe. We probably need to get out more; but when you're working from home it seems overwhelming to leave the house. I feel thrilled when we make it to the gym twice a week.

Anyway, my munchkin is calling....

Holden's Kissing Cousin

Holden is now walking. I would show a video of this but Wes is the technologically-advanced one in the family (next to Holden) and hasn't taught me yet how to post these things. It will be coming soon though. But you'll see who Holden is walking towards below. This is kind of like a video....

This is Olivia, Holden's cousin once removed. He's totally obsessed with her. And she plays so nicely with him.

But if you know Holden, you know he only wants one thing: to bite you. He was appropriately dressed up for Halloween as a vampire bat. He loves to come in like he's looking to kiss you and then lock his 8 teeth into you and bite. It's terribly painful and terribly funny.

And he's got the Warren persistence in him. He'll just keep at you until he's got you right where he wants you - and then "kiss and chomp!"

Holden's First Birthday Party

The hunt of the Holden monster

I wonder how old Holden will be when he's embarrassed about me showing nakker pictures of him. Probably about the same time when he's embarrassed that his mom kissed him in front of his friends. "Geez, mom what if they see!?," he'll say. Or "stay in the car mom" because he's ashamed of my clothes or my hat - which I'm sure will be fantastic. "You're so lame, mom" he'll say exasperatingly - or whatever synonym is considered en vogue then. But I'll not care. I'll think about the times he used to cling to me when I dropped him off at school, the open-mouth kisses he used to plant on me when he was a baby, the way he used to stretch his arms out to me the way he never does to anyone else, or the days like these where he wanted nothing more than to chase us around the house and "get us." And then I'll stop crying and think of the nekker pictures and videos I can blackmail him with if he ever gives me any lip in front of his friends.

Ah, the glories of being a mom.

Why I Love My Man

I have been Man-Tagged by Becca so here it goes:

What is your husbands name? Wesley (Wessie for everyday, Wes for when I'm all business, Weeeehhhhs for when I'm whiny, and Wesley for when I'm getting after him)

How long have you been married? 2 1/2 years

How long did you date? We dated for a record-breaking 8 months before we got married! I never thought I'd be that girl. But we were so that couple. When you know it, you just know it.

How old is he? I think he's 27. I robbed the cradle all right? Back off! I couldn't help myself.

Who eats more sweets? We're both sugar babies but I think that would have to be me. Or Holden.

Who said I love you first? I did - over a tea pot.

Who is taller? Hello! If I married younger I had to at least marry taller. He's a perfect height - 6'3" but he pretends he's 6'4".

Who can sing the best? Is it really best when there's only two? I think it's better. Anyway, we both like to sing but I do it more often. He loves music and knows way more about it than I do.

Who is smarter? Wes graduated high school with honors without even lifting a finger. I did but only because I studied my guts out. College was the exact same. He's naturally smarter than anyone I've ever met. He knows how to do everything.

Who does the laundry? We share that responsibility - as with most chores. Wes is amazing at being a true equal partner. He's the best dad in the world and the best husband.

Who pays the bills? I do. That way I get to yell at him for spending $10.00 for lunch when I spend $60.00 on my hair. I like this arrangement.

Who mows the lawn? Wes does. I love the perfect grass lines he creates. Everything he spends time doing, he does perfectly!

Who cooks dinner? I do mostly - but he always cleans up!

Who drives? Wes thinks I'm the worst driver ever. And I have to confess that my driving record would support that theory, so when we're together he drives :)

Who is the first to admit when they are wrong? I would say that's me - I'm very matter of fact about when I screw up. It takes Wes a little longer to come around when he's at fault (which is rare) but he always does.

Who kissed who first? Ummm, I think it went something like this - Amber: "Are you going to kiss me?" Wes: "Um, uh, well yea! I was getting around to that!" Amber: "Well I have to work in the morning so I can't sit around all night waiting for it!"

Who asked who out first? Wes asked me out and was hilarious about it. I loved talking to him on the phone. I said no, since I was seeing someone else, but he was undeterred. He kept calling me and I was so impressed with his persistence that I finally agreed to go out with him! The first night we went out I knew that I loved him.

Who wears the pants? Wes lets me take the lead but his stubborn, oppositional defiant side keeps me in check from being too bossy.

:)

I am tagging Heather, Jaime and Trisha

The rules for this tag: answer questions about your spouse, list names of people you are tagging in your post, then leave a comment on their blog letting them know they've been tagged.

How to Host a Murder

Last week my family did a "How to Host a Murder," set France in the 40's. I was a haughty, tempestuous French princess and Wes was an American black market runner/hit man. We thought he looked just like Rhett Butler!

I had a french accent the whole time and it turns out I was the murderer. So that was cool.

I like seeing people "act" as someone they are not. I think it's fun to see people in different shoes. Wes had a good time too. I think that's why we get into Halloween. We love dressing up.

This year, Holden is going to be a bat. But we haven't decided what we should be yet. What accompanies a bat? I could pretend Holden is a vampire bat and go as a "bitten" woman. Haha, that would be funny. The first year I met Wes he was a vampire and I was a woman he bit. And Holden really does like to bite me. He hasn't yet drawn blood but that's not for lack of trying. :)

Anyway, do you have any ideas for what I should be? What are you going as?

Greatest Post-Season Comeback Team Ever Does It Again

I was "stuck" at the Fleet Foxes concert last night and was only able to watch the Red Sox v. Rays game 5 of the ALCS into the 5th inning. With the Sox trailing 7-0 in the game, and 3-1 in the series, it looked like the Rays would be moving on to the World Series for sure. But for the last 2 innings I was glued to the glow of my phone, refreshing the at-bats every 20 seconds. Papi (finally) came through for a huge 3-run homerun, and J.D. Drew woke up for a 2-run HR (both delivering in the post season like they did last year). Coco Crisp singled in the tying run (after an 11-pitch at-bat!), and when Youk managed to get on 2B after a Longoria throwing error, J.D. Drew, again, came through with a ground-rule double to score Youk for the win.
I guess there were a ton of Sox fans who left at the end of the 7th inning when the Sox were down 7-0. They should know better. Reminds me of when Payne and I were at Game 2 of the Jazz v. Warriors series when the Jazz battled back with under a minute to go (with D. Fish entering the arena in dramatic fashion) to force the game into OT where we eventually won. Sooooo many fans left when the Jazz were down 5 with under a minute. Jonathan and I scoffed at them all from our seats in a luxory suite - both because they were giving up on the Jazz, and because we were obviously better than them because of our VIP seats.
This was the greatest one-game comeback in post-season history, and what better team to do it than the Sox! I don't particularly expect the Sox to win the next two games (the Rays are absolutely for real), but this game sure felt good.

Seriously? Delilah?!

I mean, come on!
Does anyone with a shred of intelligence listen to her? I may be ruffling some feathers here (hopefully - I do love controversy!), but I can't imagine anyone with any kind of intelligent thoughts in their head turning on Delilah in the evenings and thinking, "Man, there's no better way to end my day than with lame, sappy, pathetic, smarmy love stories, partnered with history's crappiest soft rock! And the deep profundity of the insights offered by the radio callers is inspiration in its purest form. Wisdom and romantic perception, thy name is is 'Delilah.'"

And by all indications, this is really how Delilah is in real life. Check out her fluffy autobio on her website:


If you had the constitution to make it through that entire snippet without offering up your lunch to the porcelain god, I salute you.
I have the same overriding gripe about the schlock on her show that I do about the horrific indie/emo music that's polluting our airwaves: if you have to contort and manipulate your voice in an effort to emote, then what you have to say/sing is worthless. If your message itself isn't compelling or powerful enough to cause a genuine emotional reaction, it's criminal to try and force that emotional reaction by enfusing your own voice with faked theatrics.

Despite the fact that some of my best friends listen to Delilah religously (on Sundays I can't get Kevin Leggat to shut up about how "awesome" the previous night's Delilah segment was), I defy anyone to convince me how Delilah's show is in anyway defensible.

(If you're not familiar with the show, consider yourself lucky. If you're curious as to why the huge stink about a radio show, tune into COSY 106.5 any week night to find out. Don't get me wrong - I listen to COSY because I loves me some Phil Collins, Hall & Oates, Lionel Richie, and Christopher Cross. But when Delilah comes on, I stop my car wherever I'm at, get out, throw my keys into the night sky, and walk the rest of the way. Kevin will usually drive my car home for me at that point because he's always jonesing for a chance to listen to Delilah.)

My good little eater

I just wanted you all the share in our fun breakfast this morning. Wes and I just laughed and laughed - which, of course, makes Holden laugh and try to be even funnier. Holden ate loads of mush and toast this morning and loved it. He seriously ate more than I did. I love that he'll eat whatever I cook. He has a wider palette than most adults I know. And before you tell me that this will change as he becomes a toddler - save your breath to cool your own porridge! I know this may change but I'm going to revel in it while I can. It's so nice not having to cook two different meals every time we eat. I love it.

I don't know if this has anything to do with our food philosophy or whether it's just him. I guess we'll see in time. We never feed him baby food. The food in jars at the store just look homogenized and creepy to me. Roast beef that has the same liquidy texture as peaches grosses me out. So I actually never bought any baby food from the store. Right out of the gates at 6 mo he was eating table food just mashed up. I did blend up and freeze (in ice cube trays) a variety of foods to try out my own hand in making baby food but even that has texture that more closely resembles the actual food than the stuff you can buy at the stores. And this only lasted a few weeks because as soon as he got teeth, he wanted more to bite into. He loves all fruit, especially peaches and berries; all vegetables, particularly spinach and broccoli; he'll eat lasagna, falafal, shwarmas, musaka, hamburgers, any variety of pasta and any kind of Mexican food.

He doesn't seem to like yogurt. He loves tomatoes and anything salty or really sweet. He gets sick of chicken pretty quickly. And plain wheat bread bores him - he likes it toasted with butter.

Alas, I may be feeding him only PB&J's when he's a toddler but for now, I am truly grateful that he's so adventurous with food.

Midnight Snack

One of my favorite memories of childhood was getting midnight snacks. We actually never ate our midnight snacks at Midnight per se, but it might as well have been. To my young childhood sensibilities, eating after dark, right before bedtime felt as exciting and scandalous as staying up until Midnight. I loved those times - sitting at the table with my sister and sharing ice cream and cake with our mother or chocolate milk and toast with our dad. Food always tasted better at night. I think I might have passed this excitement down to Holden genetically - which would explain why he was so excited about eating a cracker at 10:00 PM the other night. We put him down for bed and he just kept crying for some reason. We thought he might have a tummy ache so we fed him a cracker and hung out with him the in the kitchen for a bit. He couldn't have been more pleased. Afterwards he went down easily and slept . . . like a baby.