You have my child in a Grocery Cart...on the Street?

The Easter Bounty

Egg Hunting

Well folks, April showers brought many things to the Azer household:  fresh Spring flowers, mosquito's, allergies and GrandNana and Pawpaw.  Yes, my parents came for an Easter visit and we had so much fun.  They decided to keep Teddy home for 2 days (brave folks) and I decided to laugh while they did it.  But in reality, they had so much fun and I am pretty sure that my Mom has not done that much laundry in quite a while (in fact, I think she was wishing that Deb and Bev had come up with them to help clean up after Teddy).  So in true GrandNan fashion, she brought so many fun Easter things for Teddy that we had to space it all out so he was not overwhelmed.  We had 3 Easter egg hunts, 4 Easter egg baskets and so much candy that Teddy almost became the Tasmanian Devil several times.  (GrandNan and Pappaw were both so worn out from the first day with Teddy that they both went to sleep right after Teddy did...at 8:30.  I tried to warn them, but you know, you have let people learn for themselves.)

On Good Friday, I took a holiday and stayed home as well, which of course meant that it would rain and ruin our plans to go back and visit the Zoo.  So we had an indoor Easter egg hunt, then we got outside to play, picked up some of the basement, organized the closets and made Pawpaw babysit (seriously, he was a good babysitter).  For some reason, we thought it would be fun to go to Old Town (which was pretty much underwater at this point from all the rain) for a seafood dinner.  And we somehow got the time wrong for the opening of the restaurant, so we stood, in the rain, for 30 minutes waiting on them to open.  (The food is good, not wait in the rain for 30 minutes good, but good.  Not sure what we were thinking except that the $1 Oyster Happy Hour sucks us in every time.)  How could I forget our run-in with the Easter Bunny?  You see, in theory, Teddy likes the Easter Bunny and Santa Clause but when its time for me to leave him with these people for a photo....well, you have seen the results.  (We had to keep him from running to the Easter Bunny while we were in line but the minute I walked away for him to take the picture...disaster.  Not even sitting there with him was good enough.  Maybe next year.)

Saturday was another fun day, with Adrian and Daddy planning to go golfing, except, yes, you guessed it, rain in the morning.  I was running some errands and my parents called me to see if I could pick them up from Mt. Vernon Ave, our little neighborhood main street.  I was right there so of course I did.  And you will not guess what I found when I did, okay, I see that the title of the post gave it away.  That is right.  They had found an abandoned grocery cart that someone had taken and, yes, they were pushing it down Mt. Vernon Ave. with Teddy as if it was a normal buggy.  I seriously almost died on the spot.  Then I was laughing so hard at them I could not stop laughing.  Only my parents would think that is normal and do that in a city.  (I was also thinking Thank God none of my neighbors are here to see this spectacle.)  I did not have a camera but what a picture that would have been.  Oh Teddy, if you only knew son, if you only knew.



THE LAWN MOWER



That night we had an Easter celebration at Uncle Rida's, which is where Teddy met his new best friend....the Lawn Mower.  I am not sure how man and machines build such strong bonds but Teddy and Jesse decided to argue over the Lawn Mower all night long.  Teddy was no longer interested in egg hunts with his cousins, eating a gorgeous meal prepared by Auntie Val or even playing with his Mama and Dada.  Nope, that boy wanted to mow grass all night long....seriously.  You would have thought that I was beating him the way he cried when I had to take the mower away--big, cries, screams and hitting, biting and kicking.  So Teddy will have fun later when I assign him the chore of mowing our lawn and I will refer back to this day to point out that he owes me this one.



Adrian as the Boat



We finished up Easter with church, where I told the poor woman in the nursery that she can page me and I will come deal with him, she told me that she had a 15 year old boy and not to worry.  I doubted her but decided they could page me...well, no pages, but when it came time for pickup, Teddy was screaming (as in so loud, I knew it was him from down the hall).  She said he started when other kids were leaving (which I believe because that Teddy does not like to be left-seriously, is he already trying the abandonment guilt because I thought this would wait several years) and that he was "all over the place" the entire time.  Shocker!  Then we went to Baka and PopPop's, where guess what, Uncle Nigel bought Teddy his very own lawn mower.  And guess what, he has barely let go of it since then, in which case he has only replaced it with "bahbubles" because, yes, he is also obsessed with bubbles.  (We must play bubbles in the bath every night for several minutes and then we must pop all the bubbles in the bath.  You can imagine how long this takes and why I have considered the elimination of BUBBLE BATH but I think I enjoy his laughter too much to do that...yet.)

Teddy also has a new couple of friends in the neighborhood.  That's right, he is besties with all the dogs near our house.  Once we pull into our driveway, he starts yelling for Chase, the next door neighbor's dog, who obliges us every time and brings Chase over to play with Teddy.  And across the street we have Chance, who loves Teddy as much as Teddy loves him.  His owner, Pam, told me that Chance makes her stop in front of our house to see if Teddy will come out.  They are true buddies and its so fun to watch Teddy (but not fun enough to make me want to buy a dog for him...).  We also use Chase and Chance as bribery materials..."eat one more bite then we can go outside and look for Chase,"  "stop screaming and we can go out front to look for Chance," and my favorite "Chase would not like it that you are acting this way."  Ahh yes, bribery, the tool of parents for generations. 

We had a fabulous Easter and we are now the proud owners of a new lawn mower for Teddy. 

I am not sure what the next adventure is but I am excited to see it (or hear it). 

My way or the highway

Teddy in Time Out...he looks very affected.

Regular readers know that our little Teddy has a penchant for climbing and being in Time Out.  He has mastered these skills, along with spotting "woof woofs" and "bahbeez".  I had a conversation with his preschool teacher about Teddy and these were her exact words "he is a strong willed child; if he does not get what he wants, you will hear about it."  Hmm....I resemble that remark!  So I have to say he comes by it honestly, I mean, he has 2 parents who are both so "strong willed" that everything becomes a debate--everything, I mean to the point where often because neither side will give on a restaurant location we end up eating canned soup "to prove a point" to the other one.  "Strong willed" is such an interesting choice of words too because that is supposed to be a nice way of saying headstrong or spoiled (or perhaps, something worse?), which hey, those are probably true, but I guess "strong willed" is a nicer way to put that to parents.  Teddy is definitely going to let you know when he is not happy with your plan.  He has also mastered crying on demand, with tears I might add, so you can just go ahead and expect that right after the word "No" comes out of your mouth, in fact, expect it with with the first part of "nnh" that comes out of your mouth.  But then it's so funny when he knows he has done something wrong, and he you can say "do you need a timeout" and this little shy guy emphatically shakes his head "no, no, no" and tries to smile sweetly.  This is how they get you I think--lull you in with their sweet, deceptive ways just to get their way.  MY WAY OR THE HIGHWAY for sure.  I definitely walked into preschool to pick him up and caught him climbing up the radiator to the window again...seriously, this kid is determined.  He will even wait until he thinks you are not looking to try it again.  He also tries this cute new thing of doing something wrong but stopping or putting the no-no back before I can get to him.   Apparently in his world, that means no punishment.....

Hugging Alexander

Which brings me to the other greatest thing to happen lately--our basement is finally finished.  After a couple months of work and some "strong willed" parties negotiating about the carpet, it is all finally ready. (Carpet is such a mystery to me and I was shocked at how expensive carpet can be, but here is one area where I refuse to spend money and Adrian is all about doing it "right"--give me my Gucci any day over nice carpet, who is really going to notice?)   It is a kid heaven--toys, more toys, toys, closets, rooms to explore, toys and a train table.  Teddy loves it and will "demand" to go to the basement, and he has figured out how to turn the doorknob but not that you have to turn and pull simultaneously, thank goodness.  (He has also figured out how to break the child-proof locks on the cabinets, and I read the package to see what it says about this and note that the package says that these are not child proof but that they are merely a deterrent...touche.)  We have had a few playdates with friends to break in the basement and it has been a real hit.  Our neighbor loved it so much, he declared he would just stay with us but his parents thought he should maybe come home.  (In fact, his Mother told me that he talks bout it constantly and every time we see him he asks to come over--too cute!)

Hugging Baby Enoch

I am glad to report that we have (knock on wood) made some progress in the hitting and sharing departments.  He now wants to give everyone hugs, even if they don't want one, he gives them one.  He is also becoming a little bit better about sharing, but only with toys he is no longer interested in playing with, because you best believe that if you are playing with something he wants, he will stalk you and throw a tantrum until he gets that toy.

"Hiding" in the Basement Closet

We are still working on the reflux/allergy issues.  It looks like an endoscopy will be necessary to figure this all out.  I have a new respect and admiration for parents of children with serious medical issues-beyond the emotionally draining aspects of having a sick baby, it is physically and mentally exhausting.  We should all donate to St. Jude's more often, because I am here to tell you, there is nothing worse than having a sick baby that you cannot help.  (I think its the feeling of helplessness that leads to the feeling of failure that is also such an exhausting part of the journey.  Some days I am so consumed by worrying about him, reading Pediatric GI journals and other Internet research that I am not sure how I can focus on anything else.  I imagine other parents feel that same way and just wear themselves out.)

 We are looking forward to Easter and to GrandNan and PopPop coming to visit.  It will be a celebration visit for GrandNan, as we toast her completing the requirements to obtain her Ed.D and officially become Dr. Wandaleen Adams.  We are so proud and cannot wait to celebrate!

Mommy is 32 today

Well, what can I say, today is my birthday.  I am 32 years old.  I am the wife to a wonderful husband and the mother of a beautiful boy.  I am not sure I could really ask for much more at this point. 

I am not sure if I knew what 32 would be about but it began early this morning with Teddy not feeling great and accidentally head butting me (luckily, no fat lip for me).  But all that snuggling and cuddling made up for that.  My day was full of flowers, Facebook birthday wishes, emails, calls and cupcakes. 

I used to think that being in my 30's would be this crazy time of nothing but work and I have to say that I am truly glad it is more about family and less about work (which is not to say that sometimes work does not win, sadly, but I have bills to pay right?). My 10 year college reunion is this year and I am shocked at (a) how fast 10 years have gone by and (b) that only 10 years have gone by.  Some days I feel like just yesterday I was at the Biltmore and Coupe's with the Chi O's having drinks, and then other days, I cannot fathom that I was getting ready for Xanadu and FoxField and all the other fun Spring UVA activities.  Life is crazy that way, kind of like when you have a newborn, you cannot see the end of the tunnel to know how quickly sleep is coming and then you cannot even recall how bad it was when they are 6 months old. 

I am so lucky to be a momma to Teddy, wife to Adrian, daughter of Roger and Wandaleen, niece and cousin to many.  I am grateful and blessed by all my friendships and humbled by their love. 

Thanks to everyone for a perfect day!  And to Teddy, please know that you are the joy of my life and the light in my eyes!  I love you so and every birthday I have shared with you has been the better than the rest. Love you Teddy Roo! 

Spring is in the Air

The first 2011 Cherry Blossoms

I would be lying if I did not say that Spring is one of my favorite times of the year, especially here in DC (actually, Charlottesville probably beats out DC in my mind (and memory) but the Cherry Blossoms definitely gives DC a boost).  Besides it being my birthday season (and I LOVE my birthday, your birthday, any birthday, because let's face it, I ain't a girl who turns down cake), it's a season of color, blooming flowers, fresh smells, warm weather--I mean it has it all in my book.  As I have written about before, Teddy loves being outdoors, and I am not exaggerating.  He will put his coat on (and his snow hat oddly enough) and beg you to take him outside, going as far as grabbing the keys and trying to unlock the door for us to get outside.  (I am not kidding--he apparently does it all day at school as well and they go out 2x a day, so he is just dying to get outside and look for puppies.  Seriously, he is obsessed with puppies and, no, we are not getting one any time soon.  He knows which neighbors have dogs and will go looking for them and their puppies.  Our neighbor Pam and has this beautiful Brittany Spaniel that he will walk over and knock on her door to beg her to bring that puppy out.  I swear, people are just so nice to him and it's spoiling him!)

Teddy taking his big boy steps at the Jefferson Memorial

We are also blessed to live in a city and area that believes in playgrounds and there are a ton of them all around.  We tend to frequent those close to us and Teddy LOVES the swings.  He cried today because we had to leave and he had to stop swinging.  (We would buy one for our house but no good trees; GrandNan already thought of that one.)  He is also into climbing.  Now I am not sure I can blame Gymboree for this, given that I signed him up for it and I encourage the behavior there, but he is trying to climb EVERYWHERE.  I came to pre-school to pick him up the other day and heard the Miss Shirley telling him to go to time-out (which, even funnier now, is that I can ask him if he needs and time out and he will respond "yes" because he knows he has been bad).  When I asked her what he did, she told me he tried to climb up the radiator to get on the window ledge.  I mean really?  Is this what I have created with Gymboree?  I had no idea that signing him up for Gymboree would lead to his future as a the Time-Out King, but I think everyone has a talent.....(if you turn your head for a moment, he is climbing and now trying to jump--he jumped off of our bed the other day, thankfully onto a pillow on the floor, but he has No Fear and a twinkle in his eye when he does it....SCARY).  I would be remiss if I did not report his biggest milestone, which is taking "big boy" steps all by himself.

Teddy and his cousin Faith

Those of you who have spent any amount of time with Teddy know that we will warn you about his Exorcist qualities.  He is known to just puke out of no-where and then go on about his business.  Well, Mommy finally reached her breaking point with The Exorcist (especially when he was losing weight and not eating, I mean, you all know me, I am not a girl who orders a salad on a date, so having a child that does not eat just baffles me, especially when he weighed 10lbs at birth) and I took matters into my own hands.  Yes folks, I called a specialist without a referral (I know, so bold and brazen).  I just decided to follow my mother's intuition and call a Peds Gastroenterologist after talking with an adult Gastroenterologist who is a friend (actually it was his wife, but I also count her as a GI specialist).  Anyway, long story short is that Teddy does have a more serious issue (not too serious, but not a "he will eventually grow out of it just wait it out" type of thing).  It turns out The Exorcist may be allergic to DAIRY, which again, also baffles me.  This is a kid who LOVES Cheese (brie, in fact) and loves his milk, so having to switch him to the amino acid $50 a can formula was painful, but so far, we are seeing a huge difference (as in actually eating a lot of food, multiple times a day).  Still some Exorcist episodes but those appear to be reflux associated, which we also need to get under control.  Bottom line is that my boy had gained some weight at his 18 month checkup, which was great news.  (24lbs (and change), 31" to be exact).  Now get this, his head is huge at 19", which apparently puts him in a very high percentile for head circumference.  Too funny that we have a little pumpkin head!

Not to be outdone by the ladies, Teddy is also talking up a storm.  Words like "butter" and "mustard" randomly come out but we love it.  He sings a lot too which is also funny.  And you better clap for him when he sings and dances because my boy thinks that this world revolves around his actions (no jokes here please).

Teddy and "The Tourist"

Aunt Linda also visited us and Teddy had a great time visiting with her, pulling her all around the restaurant to ask every other diner if he could sit with them.  (Today at the Jefferson Memorial he randomly walked up to a tourist and asked for him to pick him up.  (Dude was speaking another language before switching to broken English which is why I am calling him a tourist.)  The gentleman obliged and loved it.  So funny to have such a social little man and not totally unsurprising.  Then this other woman wanted him to blow her a kiss and he was not into her.  He just waved and said "bye bye".)  We were at Alexander Mahmood's first birthday party and Teddy was the oldest little man there, loving every second of his younger sycophants.  He is obsessed with baby's and wanted to hug Baby Lyla constantly, which both scared her mother and me.  He then gave little Miss Sophia her first kiss, which gave her Father his first heart attack.

The joys of parenthood are just an embarrassment of riches.  I revel in it everyday and love the whole process.  Adrian and I are truly blessed.

The Importance of Being Earnest(ine)

I have written before about the many wonderful people who helped raise me growing up in Lee County and how grateful I am to them for where I sit today.  I think now that I am older (and wiser?), I can appreciate more how fortunate I really was to be embraced and raised by an entire community--and trust me, Jonesville is one of those places where everybody knows everybody and everybody is in your business.  I can remember running across the street when I was a young child and by the time I got back to my Dad's office, someone had already called my Mother to report me running out without looking (and if you know me today, you know that I still do this, purposefully, unless Teddy is with me, because I just believe people will stop and let me cross).  One person that has been instrumental in that role for me is my Godmother, Ernestine Wright.  It's hard to describe all the things that Ernestine is but here is a brief summary--initially, she was my Mother's student at Flatwoods, became my Mother's best friend, then my Godmother.  She imparted her love of life, her jubilant laughter and her abhorrence for bad table manners and loud chewing to me.  (Along with growing up with Monica, playing with Miranda like she was our doll and babying Warren was also just part of the fun!)  Her strength and determination to fight breast cancer has inspired me and countless others.  I have learned so much by being part of her life and I am so grateful for all the gifts she has given me over the years. 

I can only hope to give Teddy the same kind of circle of people to raise him.  It's so true that it take a village to raise a child and I am still trying to piece together that village.  I am so grateful to my village--they truly made me, for better or worse, the person I am today.  Ernestine was instrumental in all of and I truly appreciate her, both as my Godmother, second mother and, now, friend. Uncle Bobby, Ernestine, and countless others in Jonesville, Alexandria, Dallas and New York City are part of that fabric. 

With love and gratitude to all.....

Housekeeping, Blocks and Library

but not Science.   If any of you are Sandra Boynton fans, then the first line of this post is familiar, except it is "But not the Rhinoceros" and one of Teddy's favorite books.  Since switching to Creative Play School, Teddy's reports give us a snapshot of his day and activities.  Consistently, his daily independent activities have said "housekeeping, blocks and library" and, well folks, that just about sums up Teddy's interests in 3 short words.  If you give him a book, then you might as well be ready to sit down and read him the 10 favorites he has until he spies his blocks, which he must build and throw, build and throw, then he finds the spoons, cups and plates irresistible and must play with those.  So the lack of "science" on his sheets did not surprise me; his parents are both attorneys--about as far away from science as you could get.  We did ask his teacher about it the other day and she said he goes there some, but likes to stay near his friends Leo and Sarah....ahh, yes, now I understand the housekeeping part.  Sarah is a gorgeous little girl that Teddy also had swim class with a year ago and now I think he is in love.  And Leo is his best bud, they get very excited when they see each other and always run and give each other a hug hello (unless Teddy is being moody and decides to push Leo down instead of giving him a hug).  (Apparently, if Teddy wakes up from nap and Leo is not up, then he goes over and wakes him up, because, you know, he has to have someone to play with him if he is up.) In music class, a young lady wanted a hug...well, she got one all right, along with a headlock.....(see evidence above).

This bring me to Teddy's newest favorite activity in addition to those named above-CLIMBING.  Yes, folks, it has happened.  If you turn around for anything more than 3 seconds, you will turn back around to a toddler standing on top of the kitchen table thinking about jumping or a toddler who is on the swivel stool trying to climb even higher.  The little monkey has learned from Gymboree how to climb and is in full investigative effect.  You cannot persuade him that sitting in your lap is nearly as good as him climbing on top of the table to get whatever he wants. 

Which brings me to the newest bane of my existence and one of the many mistakes I have (and will) make as a parent--the HIGHLIGHTER.  Being attorneys, we use lots of highlighters (and flags, but I digress) so they are around our house.  One day, I let Teddy play with one because the yellow highlighters tend not to make marks on furniture that are visible and, well, he was screaming about the crayons I had just taken away because he was eating them all.  MISTAKE.  Now he wants every highlighter he sees to draw on the papers (a brief that Daddy was editing or mark on Mommy's SPA's ) because that is fun, not to mention drawing on the carpet, the walls and the blinds (our brand new fancy white blinds).  WHAT WAS I THINKING?  Every time we go into the home-office, he screams and demands the highlighter.  And all his clothes bear that unmistakable yellow hue that only a highlighter can achieve.  

Teddy is learning to play well with others and we recently had a super fun playdate with Mason.  Mason's daddy and Adrian were friends from 3rd grade on and I can now see what this must have been like because both boys are just like their Daddy's:  Teddy would not stop talking and running after Mason and Mason thought Teddy was probably just a little too loud.  It's so fun how age differences begin to erase at a certain point--they are about 6 months apart and what once seemed an impossible gulf is now just a fine line.  

GrandNan also came for a visit--ask her how tired she was after all that weekend.  Actually go ahead and ask Adrian too because I was on a too long stretch of too much work and not enough Teddy.  After her first full day of babysitting Teddy, ol' GrandNan hit the bed right after he did.  When they tell us his mood is Active, I don't even have to think too hard to imagine what is behind that description.   

Teddy is also babbling--constantly.  He gets it honest and he is picking up words right and left and sometimes out of no where (I am pausing because so far, no curse words and those of you who took the over/under on Adrian's proposal might want to take this bet as well).  He is also using his sign language more, which makes me wish I knew more, and we are trying to reinforce it all with him. 

Until next time, housekeeping, blocks and library, but not science!

Dancing Fool

Teddy really loves music and we have no idea where it comes from (really, neither Adrian nor I have a musical bone in our bodies).  Teddy will dance on cue to his favorite tunes (country/bluegrass is his current favorite) and he has started this babble that my Mother and I think is him trying to sing.  I am serious, no other explanation for this babble makes sense except that he is singing his favorite tunes (he starts clapping and bobbing the head just like Hitch would tell him to do).

Over the holidays, my Mother got this cute singing reindeer (playing "Grandma got run over by a Reindeer") that Teddy just LOVED and would dance on cue and play it on repeat all day.  Here is a little taste of Teddy with his Uncle Bobby (his godfather and supreme spoiler rottener):


I am going to go ahead and encourage this because if Teddy is not going to be in the NFL, maybe he can be the next Justin Bieber.......I am okay with either one.

Funny story today, we went to the indoor soft playroom and they have this ball pit with a small slide that Teddy loves.  He waited his turn and slid down but this older little girl did not let him move before she tried to bound over him to go back up the slide and he accidentally raised up and hit her in the nose.  She began to cry and her mother ran over...note that her mother had to RUN over.  She then asked me what happened and I told her that Teddy accidentally hit her in the nose as she was climbing up the slide.  She then gave me "THE LOOK" and I know you know this look if you are a parent of a child like Teddy.  "THE LOOK" means (roughly) "your child is a menace and you should control him better and make sure he does not do anything that even remotely bothers my child."  Hmm, well that is all well and good, except you see, I was actually there supervising my child, not over with my girlfriend gossiping about how the mall in Chevy Chase is soooo much better than Tysons.  Here was my look back to her as I said "sorry, I think they bumped into each other on accident".."Lady, you better not shoot me that look because as wild as my child is your child ran over top of him and you better just be lucky he did not draw blood.  Stop bitching and moaning about your life of terrible malls and supervise your child in a room with 25 other children running wild. Thanks!"  Ahh yes, I said it, can't take it back.  She sat in the corner with her friend while their children ran wild in a room with 25 toddlers and parents, so excuse me if my child bumped your daughter, PAY ATTENTION TO HER and maybe she would have waited her turn.  My other issue is that kids hit Teddy, etc in the course of them playing and I just kind of let it go but this lady was seriously pissed about this as if Teddy had some vendetta against her daughter.  Dunno...he is my angel but he is a wild one.  (Another Mom did say she thought he was wild and pitied me running after him and she has 2 boys so she knows.)  LOVE LOVE LOVE Him, super crazy and wild as he is!  (Side note, he pulled this small chest on top of him right before we went and I gave him a popsicle to calm him down...can you say SUGAR HIGH???)