Nine years

No, my friends. 'Nine Years' doesn't refer to the amount of time it's been since I wrote an interesting post on here. It's our dating-versary tomorrow. Let's reminisce, shall we? Because seriously, these old posts I linked are hilarious and I used to post a LOT about random stuff. Miss it.

The time we 'first met' and then later became boyfriend/girlfriend on 7/26/02 (more later). We were seriously just 21 years old (ahem, well okay---I had just turned 21 and Nate still had a few months to go. And thus, he was only 20. GASP! Robbing the cradle, wasn't I?)

Then there was the infamous dropping of the L-bomb, also in 2002. In Spain. In a thick fog of Spanish cigarettes and unidentified alcohol.

Oh, and how about that time when Nate popped the question in 2006? That was a fun one. I still remember the sweaty upper lip I had. And Henry's big dooce on the floor to celebrate.

We got married in 2007, and after that is when the fun REALLY began. You know, transitions and such. Moves. Blogs. Grad school. Marathons. Pregnancies. Baby. Etc Etc.

But mostly I want to talk about how nine years ago, on July 26, 2002 Nate and I decided to put a title on our relationship. This was us, nine years ago. Such babies: To say that 'we've been through a lot' is truly the biggest understatement of the year. I'm not going to get all mushy about my hubs tonight because there just aren't words. But I will say that when he just saw me typing on my blog the following conversation occurred:

N: 'What are you blogging about?'

J: 'Nothing. Do you even know what tomorrow is?' (said with the classic 'I'm testing you, dear husband' look on my face. I've had 9 years to perfect it, you know.)

N: (silence. Scared look on face. Quick search on his laptop for tomororw's date) 'Our 10 year???'

J: 'Not quite, nine. But good try'.

N: 'Baby, you know I can't keep track of so many anniversaries.'

J: (thinking to self at first, then out loud) 'Wait, how many do you think we celebrate?'

N: 'Two. It's a lot'.

Ah, my dear husband. I wouldn't trade you for the world. And yes, I really do love you more today than I did back in 2002. You silly frat boy, you. :)

The Fourth

Something about holidays make me get all nostalgic and thoughtful. There's just something about repeating the same celebrations year after year that force us to reflect on the past and imagine the future. Fourth of July was like that for me this year.

The big Fourth that always comes to mind was in 2009. I had taken a pregnancy test that Friday after work and it was negative, and I was sort of bummed but okay with it because that meant I could have yummy beers downtown during the fireworks. Of course, little did I know that 3 days later I'd take another test and get a totally different result----mister Truman made his presence known. But that night of the fireworks downtown (with the yummy beers) I had fun with my new tripod. And Nate and I snapped pictures of each other, too. Fond memories...
works

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pondering


And then last year in 2010---we had a chubby, four month old baby boy to celebrate. My parents were in town for the Fourth and I remember going downtown for the same fireworks while my father-in-law stayed home with Truman. I think I remember having to pump right when we got home because I was totally engorged from being gone so long. Again, ahhh----the memories.
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And now this year in 2011: we have a long and lean 16 month old toddler to celebrate. We are still healing from our loss of baby #2, remembering my recent pregnancy test and 'final' drink before that test, just like the memories from the Fourth in 2009. But overall, this Fourth was a happy one filled with friends and festivities and not too much grief. Just a twinge of sadness mixed in with lots of contentedness.

We went to the Farmer's Market in Madison on Saturday with Dizzy, Andy and Charlotte and met Kelly and Jon there as well. Charlotte and Truman were born on the same day and I absolutely adore seeing them interact. Mostly they couldn't care less about each other's presence but sometimes they like to take things away from each other in true toddler fashion. Aren't they the cutest?
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And the weekend of the Fourth we also pulled out our brand new blow-up pool. Truman wasn't too thrilled at first but by our second attempt, he was all over that bad boy. And can we please discuss his amazing swimming suit??
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Whoops. Got a little mad at Daddy here.
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But Dad redeemed himself by playing 'water the gut' with Truman. Works every time!
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On the actual holiday I had to work for a few hours, so Nate and Truman and Tony all went to the local parade. Truman desperately needed a nap but he was a total trooper and hung in there for a bit. They busted out the back-carrier and it was a hit! Nate took these pictures for me, in my honor, and I am pretty impressed!
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After T's nap and when I was home from work, we all walked to lunch and then over to this little local kid's party. There was a petting zoo and Truman LOVED the animals!! There was even a llama, just like his favorite book Llama Llama Red Pajama, and some of the sheep were 'baaaaa'-ing like mad. Overall, hilarious experience.
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So that was this Fourth of July weekend. We did go to the big downtown fireworks again, like we have every year, but this time I didn't bring my tripod and I didn't have to pump afterward. And maybe it's just my old age (dirty thirty) this year but dang, those fireworks were so loud and long and there were just so many people everywhere. When did I become an old hag, I wonder? :)

Sixteen Months

Maybe I should start off every monthly post with this title: 'This is SUCH a fun age!!!' I feel like such an annoying mom by uttering this cliche statement but it's honestly true. I love 'this' stage---no matter when you ask me. And sixteen months is my favorite phase right now:)

June was a fast month for us and it seems like Truman doesn't have any major changes to report but then again, he did sprout 3 more teeth including those blasted upper canines, to bring his grand total to 14 teeth. Another fact that is even more telling about the nights we've had lately: in the past 6 weeks T has popped 7 teeth. Yikes, guys. It just hurts to look at all of those baby nubbin teeth in his little mouth because we all suffered greatly to get them.

(with his buddies Eli and Henry)
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(loved Henry's swing)
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Truman has always been a kid that feels teething and vaccines, although I know there are children out there who aren't affected by either. After his 15 month shots he had a low grade fever and was super fussy, and then he had a little bug of some sorts at the end of June, too, with another low grade fever and even more fussiness. I think we've gone through about 2 bottles of Ibuprofen in attempts to keep our sanity. Also, his wonderful sleeping patterns went out the window this month (remember the 7 teeth in 6 weeks thing) and he now likes to wake for the day by 5:30 at the latest. There were nights when he would also wake up screaming every 2-3 hours and although starting our days in the 5:00 hour isn't really 'fun', I can assure you that waking up around the clock was much, much worse. I seriously have no idea how we survived those newborn days and I thank God that the night-waking was just a short phase this time around. And we're still letting him use the pacifier for sleep but still feeling guilty for it. This was just not the month to take away his comfort-sucking....maybe next month though. Or maybe not:)
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(loves his DaDa)
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Mister man is still incredibly vocal and strikes up nonsense conversations with us all the time. He's forming more 'real' words somewhere in there, too, like 'ma' for 'more' and 'dow' for 'down' and 'ba-ba' for Bob. As in, his BOB stroller that he loves and requests often. Did I mention that was one of the best purchases we ever made for our family? He's also really into shaking his head 'YES' and saying 'yeah' now, which is a pretty amazing feat considering that NO was his favorite word and gesture for a majority of his life. I was beginning to worry he'd be a negative nancy and wouldn't learn the word 'yes' but now he'll answer every question with the affirmative. And boy oh boy, does this child have opinions.

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One big motor milestone for this month was learning to climb up stairs. He does it in such a cute way, crawling up on his knees and then standing on his feet in between each step. Hasn't quite figured out going down stairs yet, since he basically flings himself down and expects us to control his fall. Isn't it amazing how trusting and innocent kids are? I can't get over it.
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T's personality emerges more each day and I think the biggest defining factor for our little man is his social-nature. I am not joking when I say that Truman LOVES people. Going to the grocery store, or Target, or a restaurant is his nirvana because there are so many strangers that he can befriend. He will wave at anyone and everyone and when they look his way, he flashes his killer grin and they immediately become putty in his little hands. It was almost embarrassing the other day at lunch, when he worked the entire room of people and forced them all to fall under his spell. Every table around us commented that he was SO cute, and 'oh my goodness---he loves to wave, doesn't he?' and 'Can I take him home with me?'. Truman is the biggest flirt I know and I can just picture him as a three year old jumping into strangers cars because 'MOM-there is a person who hasn't seen me wave at them yet and they MUST see me wave!!'. I'm picturing a kid-leash in the near future...
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Another obsession for our big boy, besides strangers, is the great outdoors. Now that it's finally summer in Wisconsin my child wants to breathe fresh air around the clock. Major meltdowns occur when I force him to come inside for any reason. When he's outside, though, he is in the best mood and loves to walk all around the block on a stick hunt. Yes, any small stick on the sidewalk is fair game and he will pick them up, hand them to me, and continue on his way. We now have a large bucket full of his stick collection and we like to dump them out and inspect them regularly. He used to hate walking in the grass but has recently conquered that fear in the name of finding more sticks. Maybe he will be a lumberjack someday, huh?
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Other outdoor activities that make Truman a happy baby: pretending to smell flowers (complete with an adorable scrunch face and sniff), pretending to water flowers with a 'shhhhhh' sound and an empty watering can, and pointing to every leaf on a tree. The options are endless, really.

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Besides strangers and the outdoors, his other favorite hobby has to be music. This child has a minor obsession with Raffi songs and demands to go downstairs to grandma's nearly every day to listen to her Raffi tapes. He'll dance up a storm and even head-bang when 'Brush your teeth' comes on and will even gesture like he's brushing his own teeth, while saying 'shhhhhh'. It's pretty amazing, actually. Raffi is number one but a close second has to be any of mom's techno music. The boy just loves Daft Punk, what can I say? :)

So that is sixteen months---loads of fun and tiresome all at once. And definitely my favorite age.
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