Wednesday, February 27, 2013

Whoa.

Banner's word of the week is "Whoa."  It is his favorite phrase when he does anything from picking up a feather off the floor to opening a door to standing on top of the furniture to playing with the water in the dog bowl.

(Which?  Ew.  Why is he drawn to THAT?)

He has also started stripping at school.  His teachers can't keep clothes on him.  They put his shirt on, turn around and his pants are off.  Put his pants on, and his shirt is suddenly over in the corner.  My baby is destined for the pole.

Or he is just really excited that his old flame from the infant room is moving up to his class this week, and - as Trevor puts it - "Banner wants to impress her with his gun show".

Whoa.

It is dental week at school...

The smile turned upside-down makes me nervous.

Saturday, February 23, 2013

A day in the life of Banner (a photo blog with some words)...

Woke up early.  Snuggled with mommy.  Played with daddy.  Ate waffle.  Played peek-a-boo.  Ate banana.  Smushed banana.  Wiped smushed banana on mommy's jammies.  And couch.  Pooped.


Got dressed.  Made mess in room.  Considered taking nap.  Decided against it.  Scared Haskell.


Ran around front yard.  Picked one of mommy's pansies.  Ran around back yard.  Ran around front yard again.  Almost ate dirt. Ate banana cookie instead.  Got in car.  Feel asleep.  Went to lunch.  Met cousin Dani for first time.  Pooped at restaurant.


Ate too much.  Got in car.  Went to Bernie's house.  Passed out (briefly) in chair with butt in air.  Woke up.  Tried to destroy things.


Got back in car.  Refused to nap.  Ate five banana cookies.  Grammy Pammy said, "No more cookies".  Got hands on banana cookie box.  Figured out how to open baby proof packaging.  Ate two more banana cookies.  Went to Grammy Pammy's house.  Stole dog leash.  Wreaked general havoc because on banana cookie high.  Learned to unlock dog crate.  Opened and closed office door at least thirty times.  Spun in circles.  Closed office door again.  Tried to drink out of dog bowl.  Opened and closed most of the cabinets in the kitchen.  Stole plastic juicer.



Ate all of the blueberries out of fruit salad.  Chased the dogs.  Threw a raspberry at Zeus.  Went outside.  Watched chickens.


And bunnies.


Played with wind chimes.  Tooted loudly on camera.


Insisted on climbing stairs 15,000 times.  Watched sunset.  


(Sort of.)


Ate dinner.  Pooped.  


Took bath in sink.  Put on PJs.  Decided too tired to sleep.  Got angry. Passed out.  Woke up.  Confused because not at home in own bed.  Threw hysterical fit.  Got in car.  Cried until mom merged onto highway.  Fell asleep.  Woke up.  Home.  Sleep sack.  Paci.  Bed.  Night, night.

It was a good day.


The end.

Friday, February 22, 2013

Feeding the ducks!


On Monday afternoon, we took Banner to White Rock Lake to feed the ducks.  He was completely fascinated.  We tried to get him to throw some bread, but he was more content to just hold on tight to his mama and watch me toss crumbs to our ravenously hungry new feathered friends.


And then on Tuesday, Banner drew this picture at school:

Coincidence? I think not.

Actually, I had no idea that it was animal week at school.  But it worked out nicely.  Almost as if I was reinforcing his education in the classroom with real life experiences on purpose.

Thursday, February 21, 2013

The return of Mondays with Mommy...


The last two Mondays I've stayed home with Banner because I'm finally (knock on wood) healthy, and wanted to catch up with my favorite little man.

This week, we started the day with a playdate with Tessa and Grant at our house, followed by lunch and a two hour nap.  Which was amazing and totally unexpected since I had to wake his little butt up at 9 AM.  I sort of assumed the late wake up call would result in a naplessness afternoon, but I guess the combination of his trip to the Arboretum on Sunday followed by dinner at the club with The Fabulous Auntie Mimi and Uncle Bud really wore him out! 

Which, by the way, did you know that Banner can say "Hi" and "Uh-oh"?  Neither did we, but on Sunday night, after he finished eating, the little dude was on a roll.  He'd wander off in to the ball room, get bored, turn around, walk back on to the porch and announce his presence to all of the other diners with a giant, "HI!".  Luckily, everyone there either had youngsters themselves or seemed to enjoy Banner's antics.  Several even yelled "Hi!" back, and got up to greet him.

Ah, the kindness of strangers.

Banner also says "Uh-oh!" every time he falls down, throws his sippy cup on the floor, does something he knows is wrong or drops food or a toy on the ground.  No idea where he picked this little gem up...

("Uh-oh, Gypsy Kitty!  Uh-oh!")

Tessa also commented during our playdate that Banner consistently signs "more" when he...well, wants more of something (i.e. Grant's gram crackers).  I had never noticed (mother of the year, OMG).  This prompted me to make some inquiries at day care, and - sure enough - he has quite the little sign vocabulary.  Who knew?

(Whoops.)

But, I digress.  Back to Monday:

Around three, Auntie Amy and Uncle Adam came over and we fed the ducks at White Rock and burned off some of our extra energy running around the Arboretum like a maniac.

Because we always have extra energy these days!

(See?  I told you to expect many more mentions and photos of the Arboretum!)

When the Arboretum closed at 5 PM, the group of us returned home to our house.  I thought the B-Man would be winding down for the day, but NO.  He was still raring to go.  So, I took him into the backyard to burn off some steam.  The dogs were in the dog run, and it was hysterical to watch Banner interact with them.  He LOVES being able toddle up to the fence and pet them without being knocked over or licked to death.  It never gets old.  Over and over again, he would run up to the chain link gate, scream "DA!", reach through the gaps for puppy dog kisses before walking away (only to return 15 seconds later to do it all over again).

It was possibly the cutest thing ever.


Haskell is Banner's special buddy.

Trying to show the dogs the squirrel in the tree.
None of the resident canines noticed, which answers the age-old question:
Who is smarter; a dog or one year old?

I love that he is such a big animal lover.  The only thing that worries me is that he had no fear, and thinks that all dogs are just as sweet and patient as his own. 

In other news, I was rearended on Saturday.  Dealing with insurance companies is about as much fun as snorting wasabi.  Especially when you find yourself trying to explain to the guy-who-hit-me's insurance company (who has assumed liabilty for my damages) that it is going to take several days to a week to repair my vehicle and I need a rental car in the interim.  But not just any rental.  A rental that has four doors and a back seat.  Don't get me wrong:  Mini Coopers are adorable, but the insurance company said that it would pay for me to let a comparable sized vehicle while mine was in the shop.  And, well, the last time I checked my GMC Envoy is considerably larger than that tiny two door compact with nonexistant legroom.  I'm not saying I need an Escalade here.  I'm just 5'10 with a child who still rides in a rear facing car seat.  Both of us need to fit, and - call me crazy - I would also like to be able to access said car seat without moving seats and contorting my very not flexible body in order to get my son in and out of the vehicle.

I know, I know:  I'm super high maintenance.

But all my b*tching worked out in the end (and by "end" I mean "two hours later"), because I'm now sporting around town in a slightly funky smelling Nissan Altima.  Not that I'm complaining, mind you.  Because the mental image of me trying to get Banner's carseat in the two door Mini is still painfully fresh in my mind.

Sunday, February 17, 2013

Our new happy place...

For Valentine's Day, Trevor got me something that I've wanted ever since Banner was born:  A family membership to the Dallas Arboretum.  I've decided that it is the perfect present for those with small children.  When Banner wasn't mobile, I'd go and just walk around the gardens with his stroller and be outside.  But now that he is, it is the most wonderful way to let him toddle around and wear his little tush out.

I didn't get a membership in 2012 because a former coworker of mine now works at the Arboretum, and gave me several free passes last year.  It enabled us to go the 2-3 times that we did without having to pay the entrance fee.  But this year I wanted more.  Don't get me wrong, free passes are great, but I found myself hoarding them a bit (pictures of my baby in the flowers!  pictures of my baby in the pumpkins!  OMG!).  

Now that Banner is a toddler, I wanted to be able to have the option of going whenever I feel like it; not just because I was saving tickets for some milestone photo op in three months.  Plus, it is so wonderful to simply go just because...well, why not?  Especially when the weather is as beautiful as it has been around here lately.  Another perk?  The arboretum is - literally - a mile from our house. 

In other words, expect more photo posts of my little bald man chilling next to flowers in perfectly manicured gardens in the near future.  And by "in the future" really mean "starting with the following 863 pictures of the Ban Man from this afternoon".  Because when the weather in February is this kind of beautiful, you don't need an excuse to get out and enjoy the sunshine (and flowers...and little wood houses...and each other).

We just might have a new favorite place...



Daffodils always remind me of Moo.











Talking about man stuff.








Chillaxin' in the Dragon Wagon...



Stealing a golf cart...

Family photo in which my son demonstrates
his love for me by head butting me in the ear.