Forward facing

After 15 months, we finally turned Nick's car seat forward facing.  I know the recommendation is now to wait until 2 years old to turn the car seat around, but Nick was starting to get super cranky every time we got in the car.  Not to mention every other toddler we knew in Nick's age range were already forward-facing and loving it.  And who are we to not keep up with the Jones'?  Throw in the fact that we've got a couple of really long vacation road trips coming up this summer, and this mama was not keen on the idea of having to keep unbuckling her seat belt and hoisting herself over the middle console into the back seat, every time Nick dropped his cup, needed a snack, wanted his pacifier, threw his book on the floor, needed some reassurance that mom and dad were in fact still in the car...etc. etc. All of which led us to the ultimate decision to turn him around.

And let me just say, little man is much happier.  Granted he still does his fair share of fussing in the car.  But I'm chalking that up to the fact that it's currently 90+ degrees in VA and every time we get in the car it's hot...combined with the fact that he's a curious and extremely mobile toddler who wants absolutely nothing to do with being confined and strapped into a seat when he could be off exploring.

But our biggest concern of all was that turning his car seat around would give him so much to look at that it would completely void out all possibilities of the great "car nap".  You know the one -- when your toddler has been running around like a chicken with its head cut off all day, fussed his way through lunch because he was so overtired that eating chicken nuggets was just TOO tasking, and powered through his nap time so hard that all he wants to do is smack you in the face if you even try to give him any "it's ok, you're just tired, lay your head on mommy's shoulder" type of encouragement.  And then you get in the car to go somewhere and 5.3 seconds later, kid is passed out cold.  THAT kind of nap.

But no sooner had we turned his seat around, and strapped him in for his maiden forward-facing voyage, than homeboy passed out. 

And ever since, he's been making sure to get in plenty of car naps every time he's in there for more than 10 minutes at a time.

His neck can't possibly be comfortable like that...can it?

Here's hoping he spends the majority of our long summer road trips passed out like this.  It would certainly make a long car ride easier than a toddler screaming for more goldfish and having mommy read "Ding Dong, Elmo's Here" for the 9 millionth time.  Because come on, reading in the car makes me carsick.  And that's not fun for anyone.

iPhone photos

Lately it seems like I only pull out my iPhone to take pics when Nick is watering the plants.  Seriously.  He LOVES to water the plants.  Mostly he's just hopeful that he's going to end up getting sprayed with the water hose, but he also enjoys watering the plants with the watering can, and aside from the fact that he is a little rough (read: shoves the whole can into the plant, often resulting in dirt getting everywhere), he seems to understand what he's doing.  He also really enjoys ripping off pieces of basil and handing them to me.  I think he's seen me go out and cut basil for dinner far too many times.  What can I say, I love me some fresh herbs!

T-shirt from Grandpa K in GA (a big time Packers fan).

Needing a little help from daddy...

...because the watering can weighs about as much as me!

Is anybody even watching me?

Oh, you are mom?!  Then I'll smile!

I also seem to take a lot of pics of Nick wearing his new Michigan hat, or going for rides in our jogging stroller.  Here's a cute one of him mid-morning on Saturday as we geared up for a very long, and VERY hot, walk/jog.  We probably only went about 2-2.5 miles, but I jogged as much as I possibly could, he napped for about 70% of it, and we both were sweaty messes when we got home.

Nick's other latest interest is bringing mommy & daddy our shoes (which we leave a couple pairs of by the front door).  After our run on Saturday, Todd ran outside barefoot quickly to fill the bird feeders.  Nick was apparently distraught that Daddy wasn't wearing shoes, so he tried to offer up a pair.

But Mommy had to politely ask him to stop banging on the door with Daddy's shoe.  Surprisingly, Nick listened and stopped!

This past Sunday was a rough day.  Nick didn't feel well all day, so he spent most of the day napping.  And anytime we attempted to put him down, he cried.  It was sad. 

He even spent most of the evening crying out for us as well.  While you can't see the tears, I have photographic evidence that he was anti-sleep on Sunday evening.  Poor guy.

Turns out, he's in a "Daddy Phase" and was crying out partially because he didn't feel well, and partially because he missed Daddy.  Looks like Mommy's off the hook for bedtime routine for a while, because last night was Daddy's first time putting Nick to bed, and Nick went down without so much as a peep, for the first time in about 3 or 4 nights.  Daddy to the rescue! What would we do without him?!

Current State of The Toddler

I feel like I have so much I want to blog about and yet no way to express it all in words all at the same time.  So many wonderful things have been happening -- and many of them I will blog about, when the time is right.  (NO, I'm not pregnant!)  I'm overwhelmed and excited about all the things this summer has in store for us.  And I love the pure excitement that is every single day with a toddler.  Everything is a new discovery.  Every second that ticks by is one we can't get back, so we're doing our best to soak in every moment.  But as blissful as life with a toddler can be, sometimes it can be just plain old exhausting. 

As we exit the baby stage and enter the "I'm determined to do it myself" phase, the giggles and smiles are on par with the tantrums and tears.  Nick can go from zero to pissed in about .5 seconds.  Put him down for a minute to do anything necessary (hell, just to go to the bathroom), and he's ticked.  Homeboy wants to be held ALL.THE.TIME. these days.  Last night Todd and I came to the conclusion that he wants to be held so he can see all the "exciting" things we're doing up high, on the counters or table.  You know, like cooking dinner.  Or cloroxing the latest mess.  But try and hold him on your own accord, when he's not interested, and he squirms and writhes his way out of your arms faster than a snake. 

Nick has perfected the "spaghetti arms" where he practically makes his arms pop out of socket and his whole body goes limp so that you are unable to pick him up.  My favorite is when he does this in the morning.  When we're already running late.  And I have to get him out of the crib, diaper changed, dressed, face washed, teeth brushed, shoes on, and into the car without him noticing the dogs leash hanging by the front door, or lord-have-mercy we're gonna have another meltdown about the fact that we're not currently walking the dog.

Speaking of (was I?) changing his diaper, that is an activity all in itself.  Not only does he think it's OH SO hilarious to kick his legs like a mule - nearly popping me in the face every time - but he also has found his penis.  YUP.  I said it.  Can someone please explain to me how boys are just born with "hmmm, you should touch this body part!" ingrained in their brains?  No sooner than his arms started working, he was able to grab his main man-part.  At first it was sort of funny.  Now?  We spend most of our time trying to deflect the penis grab mid-diaper change, because we've become uber germ-a-phobic when it comes to things like pee-pee on the hands, or heaven for bid, pink-eye caused by rogue poo particles.

And oh the pee-pee.  I'm pretty sure Nick is bordering on ready to potty train (ha, who am I kidding) because he is infatuated with the toilet.  He loves to open the bathroom door, surprise me as I'm peeing (he's actually kissed my knee while sitting on the toilet once...that was both sweet and weird at the same time), peer into the toilet, listen as it's flushed, and watch Daddy pee.  Like the time Todd was peeing and Nick pulled open the door (which was not fully shut), and literally stuck his hand into the pee stream.  Pee went everywhere.  It was gross.  And freaking hilarious.

But heaven forbid we laugh at anything Nick does, because he currently takes any laughter by mommy and daddy as a sign that he should continue to do whatever naughty thing he is doing.  Like rubbing food all over his head and face.  Or grabbing hold of Whinnie to "go for a ride".  Or sticking the broom in the dog's water bowl.  Or pretending to go in for a kiss and then biting me out of excitement.  The first time, it's all funny.  But then it's not funny.  And we don't want him to do it again.  And by that point, we've already blown it by cracking up at the first instance and now he thinks it's vital to repeat said bad behavior as often as possible.

Good gracious, it's tough to be little.  Poor little man just wants to help most of the time, but can't quite figure out what that entails exactly.  The other night he had a complete and total meltdown while Todd was swiffering the bathroom floor.  Nick wanted to push around the swiffer, but couldn't grasp the concept that the swiffer was not for use on the carpet.  And as soon as I took him out of the room, away from the swiffer situation, he started crying...like huge tears, full red-faced, angry sobbing.  Just pitiful.  It took a lot of hugs, sips of water, and a bubble bath to forget about the swiffer incident.  And that's just for me.  But replace the word "water" with "wine".

But just as quickly as our defiant toddler can turn into The Hulk, he can also turn on the charm and melt us into a puddle of mush with one quick, dimpled, toothy, smile.  Just last night, after being scolded for biting my knee unprompted, as he climbed the stairs at an alarmingly rapid rate (with daddy hot on his heels), he stopped mid-stairway, stuck his little face through the banister rails, and planted a kiss right on my lips.  My heart ached, it was so cute.

He's independent, loud, naughty, sneaky, loving, adorable, charming, sweet-as-pie, and all around hilarious.  At 16 months old, he's already giving us a run for our money.  I'm just hopeful that the Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde act slows down a bit, because if not, Lord help us with the terrible twos.  Regardless, I wouldn't trade a single, perfect second of our toddler.  Tantrums and all. ;)

Whatcha gonna do with all that junk

Stolen from Mrs. Gish, I thought it would be fun to reveal what's in MY purse at this exact moment:

1. Almost empty water bottle.  Ever since my last dermatologist appointment, where the nurse told me I should always carry a water bottle with me at all times (because hydration is the #1 key to beautiful skin), I've tried to follow her advice.

2. Sunglasses.

3. iPod shuffle.  I mostly carry this to have headphones with me in case of emergency.

4. Wallet.

5. Cosmetics bag.  The only thing in this is tampons.

6. Lady bug mirror.  This fell out of the cosmetics bag.

7. Pink & Green pen from Race For The Cure.

8. Copy of Nick's vaccination record.  Meant to give this to the babysitter.  A month ago.

9.  My beloved Erin Condren planner.  I big time heart this thing.

10.  Chapstick.  Which is hard to tell from the aerial shot, because I had it standing up.

11.  Green costume jewelry necklace that belonged to my Gramma.

12.  RMA Limo driver business card.  You know, for those times when I need a limo ASAP.  Kidding - it's from work.

13.  Ticket stub from when we saw The Avengers in IMAX 3D (amazing).

14.  Work keys & car keys.

15.  Expired Chick-fil-a and McDonald's coupons.  Fatty.

16. Info pamphlet from Massage Envy, acquired at my last massage.

Not pictured: The ridiculous amount of crumpled receipts and papers that I've jotted quick work notes or phone numbers on.  They're not pictured because they have all gone straight into the trash.  (As have the expired coupons since taking this picture).

Thanks for the idea, Sarah -- this helped me clean out my purse!

Jogger

So I'm on week 3 of couch to 5k, and feeling totally inspired.  While I still hate (as in LOATHE) running, I do enjoy a good power walk.  And couch to 5k - dare I say it - has made me feel motivated to jog on my own free will.  NOT RUN.  Please do not get running and jogging confused.  Because in my world, they are totally separate things.  I jog (I believe the 'j' is silent) at my own pace...which is slightly that above a fast walk.  Seriously, the old ladies that walk our entire neighborhood every day at 7:00am could out-walk my jog.  Regardless, this new found motivation has inspired me to go on more outdoor walks, when I have more free time.  (Otherwise my old, decrepit, highly overpriced Craig's List treadmill must suffice for nightly walk-jogs). 

So it's no surprise - seeing as once I get an idea in my head, I must pursue it THAT EXACT MINUTE - that as soon as I was bit by the exercise bug, that I had to (like HAAAAD TO) have a jogging stroller ASAP.  And considering this past Saturday was Race For the Cure, I had to have said jogging stroller before the race.  I mean, I couldn't be the only four-wheeled stroller on the Mall.  So, back to Craig's List I went.  And this time, I hit the mommy jackpot. 

I came across a nearly perfect condition little jogger listed for $60.  Being sold by a cute stay-at-home mommy who was looking to get a double jogger, and had to unload her single jogger ASAP.  Much to Todd's embarrassment, I emailed her and asked if she'd take $40 for it.  Todd about crapped his pants and told me that was super insulting to offer so low. But she came back and said "I could go $50" - so that night we headed to Woodbridge, and came home with my newest prize possession.

And let me tell you, even better than me being in love with it; better than the fact that it rolls on any terrain; better than it's spectacular shocks; better than the front locking wheel that can be fixed or swivel; EVEN better than the fact that the tires still have the little rubber nubbies on them - as if they were never rolled on concrete...is the fact that Nick loves it.  He can sit up in it, lay back and nap, store all of his drinks and snacks, and pull down the great big sun-shade to block out the light when needed.  And there's a huge storage basket underneath that held the diaper bag, cooler tote, every one's jackets, Nick's blanket, and several water bottles (we won't get into that one, family!!) during the race on Saturday.

Last night Nick and I went out for a quick walk-jog through the neighborhood before dinner, and it was still just as awesome as the first use.  I can't believe how obsessed I am with a stroller, but this jogger might just be my favorite piece of baby equipment to date.  I'm looking forward to it's Burke Lake initiation - hopefully this week.  Who knows...maybe this will even inspire me to actually sign up for a real 5k!  Ha, just kidding.  One can dream, though.

For anyone curious - the stroller is an InStep Safari.  And while it does fold in half, it manages to take up the better part of our trunk space.  Guess we'll all be naked in Myrtle because if it comes down to the jogger or clothes, I'm choosing the jogger.  I love it that much.

Ugh. Formatting.

Sorry if my posts are a little wonky.  I'm still trying to figure out formatting on the new blogger.  I don't adjust to technological change well...I should have been born in the 20's, when everything was written down with pen and paper, and women were more concerned with their flapper dresses.  I think I would've made an excellent flapper.  Although I don't think they had calculators yet back then...and I would've been terrible with an abacus.  Not that I'm that great with a calculator either.  And now I've gotten off track.  Long story short - I am pretty defunct with the blog formatting.  All I've been able to figure out thus far with the new blogger is how to tell who's visiting my page.  But that, I can definitely figure out...and boy is that interesting!  Now I know who visits and read my blog every day.  So that's been fun!

Memorial Day

We had a wonderful Memorial Day weekend!  It was one of those weekends spent doing nothing in particular with a bunch of people we love -- it's those relaxing weekends that remind me just how great life is, and how wonderful the people in my life truly are.  How blessed of a Nation we are to have men and women willing to sacrifice their lives so that the rest of us back here at home can spend these kinds of holidays with our families, celebrating our freedom.  We should all take time to remind ourselves that freedom is not free.  God bless our men and women in uniform!


Our fun-filled weekend started off on Friday afternoon when Todd introduced Nick to watering the plants with the garden hose.  Nick found this incredibly entertaining and hilarious - and wound up soaked from head to toe. 

After we dried him off and changed his clothes, we headed out for the evening to have a little family dinner at Chili's - just the three of us - where I had their new sparkling pomegranate margarita.  Which was delicious.  And also $10.  Whoops.  Won't be partaking in that all too often.  But it was worth it ;).


Saturday morning was kicked off with my 90 minute massage at Massage Envy.  Heavenly.  Not to mention the whole thing was free due to a scheduling snafu on their part the weekend prior!  After my massage I met Todd and Nick in Fair Lakes, we grabbed a quick lunch, and then Todd headed off to get his haircut while Nick and I did a little grocery shopping so I could pull together a pasta salad for our evening BBQ at my parents house.  Late that afternoon we headed over to mom & dad's where we joined the DesRoches family for a BBQ and Nick's first official "play date" with Jackson.  My dad had bought and set up a 7 ft. baby pool and the little boys were so excited to "swim".  It was truly the cutest thing ever, and it's official that Nick is a little water bug. Nick and Jackson didn't do a whole lot of interacting with each other, as they're still at that stage where they don't play together, but more play next to each other.  But they both seemed to have a blast!  Not to mention they both ate enough guacamole to feed an army.  And yes, I ended up with half of Nick's guacamole on my white shirt.  Regardless, it was a wonderful evening, with wonderful food, and even more wonderful people!

Sunday was spent running errands - which Nick slept through half of because he was so exhausted from the evening before.  Later that afternoon, Todd blew up the little baby pool that we purchased for Nick at the end of last summer (on clearance! way to think ahead, Kalinosky fam!) and filled it up on our back patio.  Nick once again had a blast splashing in the pool, but was even more intrigued with watching Todd cut the grass in the backyard.  And of course no sooner had Todd cut the grass, than Whinnie went nuts running around and rolling in the fresh cut grass.  She wound up looking like we had dyed her hair green.  So as soon as Nick was finished playing in the pool, whinnie hopped in and got an outdoor bath.  Then Todd fired up the grill and we had a yummy dinner with fresh grilled corn (one of my summer faves!).  Nick went to bed a bit early because he was so worn out from all the pool time, and Todd and I ended the night watching our first RedBox rental - Mission Impossible.  A bit cheesy on the acting side and dumb one-liners, but all-in-all pretty decent.

Monday morning Mom scooped Nick and me up around 9am and we headed over to my grandparents house for a visit.  I had plans for us to stay there visiting them all day, but apparently they had a big Memorial Day picnic to attend, so around noon, we were "kicked out" ;).  So mom, Nick and I headed to Red Robin for lunch - where we had terrible service, and the food was all screwed up.  But the managers were extremely caring and took care of our whole bill, which was unexpected and very nice of them.  After that, we headed to the mall to find Nick some new summer PJ's, and some new shoes.  He ended up with a new pair of baby Saucony's (which are ADORABLE), and a pair of sandals he can wear in and around the pool when we head to the beach in July. 


When we got home from the mall, Todd was outside working in the yard.  He worked his butt off in the yard all day and our front yard looks fantastic!  I'm so grateful and very proud of him!  When he finished, we ate dinner, tucked Nick into bed a bit early again, I did my week 2 of couch to 5k, and we finished the evening by looking at all of the pictures off of Todd's camera from Nick's first birthday up until this weekend.  SO many amazing pictures -- particularly of our little guy -- that I can't wait to get copies of. 

All in all, it was a fabulous weekend and the perfect way to kick off summer.  I have so much to be thankful for in my life - especially my incredible husband, my sweet baby boy, my loving parents, and my kind and supportive best friend of a brother.  And watching Nick splashing in the pool and absolutely loving the water made me even more excited for our beach vacation with these exact people!  Countdown is on...only about 6 more weeks until we head back to Myrtle!  I'm looking forward to this years trip even more than last years...I know it's going to be even better!