Day in the Life - 2 Year Old Part 2

Just when I think we've hit a stable time, a regular, I realize over the past month Emmett has once again changed quite a bit. When will I stop being surprised by that? This month feels unique in that I'm not sure what the cause is - maybe a growth spurt? And emotional/intelligence spurt? Or maybe it's the two back-to-back colds he's had that's consumed January. Either way, he's sleeping lots (like 12 hours each night and 2+ hour naps every day). I'm sure this will end soon, so I'm not stressing and am enjoying it while it lasts. [EDIT - it didn't last. The next day was the worst with a 4:45 a.m. wake up and nap strike. Oh joy... Foot in mouth :) ].

And the HUGS. Can we talk about the hugs? Like, enthusiastic, run at you grinning, full body hugs. All. The. Time. It's GLORIOUS. I've been filling my lifetime hug bank, and it overflows. I wish I could bottle this and send to friends who need a hug. So happy.

And the sentences. They're real. The new favorite is "I want _______ please" - not always with the please, but sometimes! I think it's funny when he says "I want hungry" ha. But seriously, I'm thrilled he's beginning to grasp pronouns.

As I already mentioned, E has been sick most of the month. Mostly runny nose and cough stuff - typical winter grossness. But despite the symptoms and extra sleep (and reduced appetite), he's not one to sit on the couch all day and rest. I wish. So hiking we still go! But maybe not quite as exuberantly or far.

Oh, and he's starting to have opinions about his clothes (beyond just demanding his fire truck jammies everynight). He FREAKED OUT on Tuesday for picture day at school because I wanted him to wear anything other than his fire truck jammy shirt with yogurt stains from breakfast on it. Geez louise....

We did luck out having a healthy weekend so we could go to Houston so Luke and E could meet my sister's baby! We took a trip to the Houston Zoo while we were there, and E loved it.

 

 

 

This time I'm mixing it up, and sharing more of a weekend in the life, because why not?

Friday
Luke's mom is here for the weekend, which is fun! It's always nice to have company during the day and extra hands. We head down to Mayfield Park for a Hike It Baby hike. E does a great job hiking on foot for the first 3/4 mile and we find some cool shells in the near empty lake. We get to a fun stair step area that leads to a mini "cave" that the other kids all climb and explore, but he holds back until everyone is down and ready to go and is ready to go up himself (he did this at the carousel at the Houston Zoo). They were good sports and didn't begrudge us a quick jaunt up the stairs. Then he got REAL huggy and I ended up carrying him a bit and even wearing him in the Onya (the first time he's gone up on my back all month, I was thrilled he let me carry him!). We ended with some fun in the gardens with the peacocks that roam there, always a thrill.

That evening, Jennifer offered to watch Emmett and we pounced on the date night opportunity. We stopped first at Pinthouse Pizza for a happy hour with some of Luke's work friends. We meet up with them there maybe once a month, but always with Emmett in tow. It's super family friendly (they even have arcade games - he likes to sit at them or watch big kids play), but gets old taking turns walking him around and missing out on chatting with friends. It was so nice to both get to stay at the table and visit! We had drinks and split a pretzel so we wouldn't be starving for dinner. We went to Titaya's - the best Thai in Austin. We hadn't been in a couple years since they don't take reservations and are always hopping - a total no-go with a toddler. It's next to a Half Price Books, so we perused the aisles which was a total luxury! (Oops, I didn't take any pictures all night - too busy having fun!)

Saturday
I wake up SO excited for breakfast. Jennifer, Emmett and I had stopped at Central Market to grab a few things and I got this baller loaf of "breakfast bread" that was wheat with apples, pecans and dates in it and a little sugar dusted on top. We come down to scramble some eggs, crisp some bacon and toast up the bread, only to discover that BENJI ATE IT ALL last night. AHHHH. I was crushed. Kind of embarrassingly so. Plan B - I run to the donut shop and get a half dozen for us to nibble with our eggs and bacon. It works!

We're ready to go hiking! I almost beg off because historically this is always my worst week for allergies, but I can't resist (and I figure two extra hours won't REALLY make a difference compared to the 4-5 hours E and I spent outside every day). We head to St. Edward's Trail - I haven't been since the summer! We go to the more challenging hillside and E impresses us by managing the first 3/4 miles on foot despite some tricky hills. He's ready for a snack and we convince him it's a good idea to go up on Luke's back for it.

When we get back home, I run over to my friend Karen's house one street over for her son's first birthday party! Since E is sick I didn't want him to descend on their house, and it was full of babies so definitely the right call. I meant to only stay for 30 minutes, but it turned into an hour and a half. So fun to catch up with friends! I get home in time to participate in "outside milk" time before nap. Luke is cashing in on my being out by getting lots of E hugs - he's loving it alllllmost as much as I do! Current book favorite is the Construction Alphabet - E can name all the trucks A - Y (I haven't gotten him to say Zipper truck, but he can say knuckleboom loader and quad-axel lowbed - go figure!).

E goes down at 2:15 and Jennifer heads back home. Luke and I do some house projects and I cut his hair. E wakes up at 4:45 and we watch some Daniel Tiger. We ask him if he wants to go on a walk after (which we do every afternoon), but he surprisingly says no. He's hungry, so we decide to eat a little earlier than usual. We've got the Love and Lemons Miso Maple Sweet Potato Tacos on the menu - one of my favorites that I hadn't made in months! I accidentally didn't put a lot of thought into E's meal (since he's not eating much this month, I haven't gone out of my way... oops). He pounds a tortilla and dunks it in yogurt. We convince him to try a sweet potato, but after chewing he spits it out (not surprising, he hasn't liked them before, but we figured it was worth trying). He eats some apple and orange too and we say good enough.

We have fun playing around the house, front yard, back yard and garage, then it's 7 p.m. and tubby time! He has fun "swimming" in the tub. Book time is a blast and usually involves him climbing all over dad. Oh, and 10,000 momma snuggles - yesssssss. We say goodnight at 7:50 and after hearing him continue to say goodnight for another minute, he's out like a light. Luke has a video game date with his friend Mike, and I pour a glass of wine and watch the first Scandal episode of the season, followed by Portlandia, while I work on this post.

Sunday
Ah, another 7:45 a.m. morning. I actually woke up at 7:15, so I laid in bed and caught up on some news. E and I slip downstairs to let Luke sleep in a bit. He asks to watch Daniel Tiger and since it's the weekend and we're not starving, I acquiesce and make some coffee and prep a simple breakfast, then curl up next to him with a cup of coffee and a quarter of a leftover donut. Ahhhh. Luke comes down just in time to sit down to our regular breakfast of mixed cereals (Quaker oat squares and Life in my bowl), berries, and walnuts (pumpkin/Greek yogurt for E with 3 cereals - he's Luke's kid for sure! - and some milk splashed on top).

We take it slow and plan to meet up with some friends at the Mueller Farmer's Market which we haven't been to in months. It's gorgeous outside! Sunny and clear, but cool. E enjoys listening to the live music at the market, then we mosey around and buy some vegetables and bread for the week. The stroop waffle stand is there, so I nab an original for us to share while Luke grabs a cup of coffee. I have fun catching up with my friend who's there with her hubby and son who's Emmett's age and their newborn daughter! E wants to go to the playground so we say goodbye and frolick for a bit before he says he's ready to go home.

Lunch is delicious leftover quiche that I made for Jennifer to enjoy when she babysat E on Friday. It's the first slice I try and it's awesome! Leftover Christmas ham that I'd frozen that I flash brown in a pan (otherwise it waters down quiche, in my experience) with mushrooms, onions, kale and cheddar. Homemade crust FTW. A simple side arugula salad dressed with honey, red wine vinegar and olive oil to balance things out. E is still rocking a beef and barley stew I made earlier in the week. This has been our go-to stew this season that I've made 3 or 4 times now - a LOT for me. We all love it! I'm thrilled to see he's getting his appetite back.

 

It's only 12:30 and not nearly nap time, so we all head out front to do a little yard work. Luke trims the bushes while E and I sweep up the clippings and bag them - he's surprisingly helpful! We finally convince him to take a nap at 2:15. I immediately go neti pot (uggggh allergies) and relax with a bubble bath, while Luke continues to be productive around the house like the saint that he is. I catch up on my Hike It Baby log for the January challenge (only 52 miles, but Emmett hiked 36 of them himself!).

Pretty typical afternoon of play, walk, dinner, play, sleep!

See you next month!