Leon is TWENTY Months old; Number 2 is 17 Weeks

I can't believe that Leon is already 20 months old. Running around (he refuses just to walk), saying over 30 words (mostly in Spanish), and he knows what he wants and where he wants it. Here is a photo of Leon from a birthday party last weekend. Meanwhile Leon's sibling "number two" is growing too. He/she is 17 weeks old and the size of a turnip. Pregnancy is going ok except for random headaches, lack of desire to eat what's available (and strong desire to eat what's not) and the urge to gag every time I brush my teeth. Oh, and I'm still tired but maybe not as exhausted as the last entry.

Excues Might Be Tools of the Incompetant...

But I have a great excuse for my absenteeism.

First, Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, Happy Holidays all around.

I'm four months pregnant with the child we affectionately call "number 2."

I have been EXHAUSTED. When I said EXHAUSTED I mean it feels like I have been running marathons, doing the last week of preps for a big fitness show, pulling together my EER around April 5 etc etc. My last pregnancy every day when I came home from work, I quickly walked the dog and then plopped myself on the coach for about 3-4 hours eating my "pre-dinner" and watching Grey's Anatomy re-runs (I caught up on several seasons those months). But now when I drag myself in from work, I walk Posa and then play with Leon for 2-3 hours. Last pregnancy I also woke up with Jeff and ate breakfast while he ran with Posa kissed him good by and then went back to bed (prepregancy I worked out in the gym for an hour before work). Now I get up around 5:30/6:00 am and spend time with Leon before I go to work.

Soon I'm hoping the second wind comes around and that I can arrange for more sleep.

ps

Sorry no pictures...some cute red head destroyed the camera Christmas morning.

A very strange relationship

Leon and Choco-P have a very strange relationship. Most cats would run away from a toddler. But for some reason, Choco-P likes to hang around Leon.* And he even goes as far as to lie down in front of Leon and allow Leon to lay on top of him. Seriously! I have the pictures here to prove it. Of course, I always say no and pull Leon off of Choco-P. I'm afraid one day he'll (the cat) strike Leon. Or one day soon (the child is over 20 pounds) he'll be heavy enough to cause damage. But if would help if Choco-P just ran away!

* Leon does give Choco-P cat treats from time to time. In fact Leon gets mad if someone else gives Choco-P a treat or if he sees the treat bag but I won't allow him to open it.

Santa Claus is Coming to Town

Leon met Santa today! It went well. I tried to prep him by showing him some YouTube videos of Santa this morning. He was a little hesitant but was happy to get a gift from Santa. In this picture he is about to give Santa a high five. Afterwards he wanted to return to Santa to get more toys (each parent was able to give a toy in advance). This truly is Leon's first Christmas. Last year he saw tree and smiled and gifts were opened for him. But now is really his first Christmas. Now he can't stop messing with the tree (I actually rarely turn on the lights because then he remembers it's there and tries to yank of ornaments). He also tore all the wrapping paper of his gift and opened the box. The best present of all arrives tomorrow.... GRANDMA!!!!!

I hope your pre-holiday season is going well too!

TV Drama

The American Association of Pediatrics says children should not watch tv until age 2. I said I'd never be one of those moms that lets my child watch tv so I can get stuff done. But the truth is, you can get stuff done. I can make breakfast, plate it, clean up and get Leon all while he watches 10 mins of Nemo or Baby Einstein. We do less than 20 minutes a day. I hide all the DVDs and the actual DVD player so he has to think about it first. When he asks for it I usually get him to focus on something else, a puzzle, going to the park, stacking things up and knocking them down. But there are times when we let him watch a little bit of TV.

Here's a video of him watching TV. It's pretty scary to see how intense it is. But I guess it must be mind blowing to see fish swimming and talking on a screen.

Time to Eat!

Here's a video of Leon eating lunch with me. I didn't cook the brocolli as long as he likes. So you'll see what he does with that. He knows the sign language for "eat," "ya (all done)," and "mas" (more). But recently he has been talking more than signing. I'll do a video soon with him talking. He knows so many words!!!

ps this video is from the last week in Oct. Things have been pretty busy around here. I'll post new videos soon.

The Unthinkable

This morning Leon woke up way too early. It was before 4 am. He refused to go back to bed. He nursed and then wanted to play. I handed him my iPad (that I just on Sunday had downloaded an episode of Sesame Street) to watch Big Bird and the others. I laid back down beside him and he watched the iPad in amazement. That is a big "no no." The American Pediatric Society says no "tv" until two years old. The authors of "Simple Life" (a book I would recommend though I'm not following as closely as I would love) say to remove all things with screens (tvs, computers etc) from your house all together until children are over five (or was it seven?). But the concept that TV, videos, and computers are bad for babies and toddlers is not an American concept. When I visit other families with children Leon's age and sometimes younger they almost always have the TV on to some child friendly program. Leon received two Baby Einstein DVDs when he was just a few months old and they are for three months and up! (I did put one on for him when he was younger but he didn't seem to like it or care).

So what's a parent to do? In a perfect world Leon would sleep until 7 am and we would have interactive and engaging play with non-commercial products. But in my world, Leon has been waking up before 5 am fully ready to play. I'd like to call this morning an exception to the rule. I usually read books with him and play in his room when he wakes up early. My intention is never to have a relapse but I can't promise that Elmo and friends or Blues Clues won't save me in the future.