Happy Halloween!

How many pumpkins does it take to make a patch?

In the last week, we made it to a pumpkin patch 3 different times. I know...a little overboard. Maybe I was making up for lost time, maybe it was fine time to enjoy some fall-like weather, or maybe Tate is doomed to have a mother obsessed with any and every holiday or season. The truth is probably all of the above.

The ironic part is that despite being surrounded by hundreds of pumpkins for sale, I still don't have any fall pumpkins to decorate our front porch. I just can't fork out the $13-$14 these places charge per pumpkin. So I'm headed to the grocery store tomorrow for the $5 ones...a little more like it!

Pumpkin Patch outing #1 with some good friends from Vista Ridge.

Pumpkin Patch outing #2 with our good friends Mike, Laura, and Jackson. Jackson was born just three months before Tate.

Pumpkin Patch outing #3 with just Mommy & Daddy (not near as fun I'm sure).

**DISCLAIMER: I did buy the little $3 pumpkin from the pumpkin patch with free admission. That's from my all-consuming guilt of needing to support their efforts somehow...just not with a $14 pumpkin. By the way, I don't think I've typed the word pumpkin this many times ever in my life!

Things I Love Right Now

This week's forecast!

61° 46°P/Sunny

66° 50°M/Sunny

69° 56°M/Sunny

72° 55°P/Sunny

73° 53°Sunny

75° 53°M/Sunny

72° 54°Sunny

73° 54°Sunny


These feet!





This book!





This essay!

These pumpkins!

Watch Out Ladies

Scary sight today. Tate was clapping along to the Beastie Boys' Brass Monkey while wearing a shirt that says Ladies Man. Yikes...what have I started?

Maybe we'll go back to Itsy Bitsy Spider and Jesus Loves Me.

Although..........he sure looked cute, and for some strange reason, I still like that song!

ABBA Rocks

I don't have much energy to write much of anything tonight. So in the world of mindless TV... I saw what I think is one of the funniest, most clever scenes on TV in a long time. Andy from The Office singing (in harmony) Take a Chance on Me. Oh. My. Goodness. Wade and I laughed SO hard and watched it over and over. The way he discreetly walked up and put the phones on speaker...hilarious! I loved it!

Proof that ABBA rocks!

Happy 10 Months Baby Tate!

I’m realizing that my Baby Tate is growing out of the baby stage slowly but surely…it’s already making me tear up! But, so many people have said that this stage is one of the best, and it really has been a lot of fun.

We are getting to hear more and more of his “words.” He’s got the da, la, ya, and ma sounds down and likes to say them together really fast and REALLY loud. And when he’s tired and ready for a nap, he can say “night, night.” So sweet! He is also understanding more phrases. He gets very excited…squeals and legs kicking…when we say, ”Do you want to read a book?” or “It’s time for a bath!”

The boy loves his books. I’ve been pleasantly surprised with how much he enjoys being read to and how long his attention span is for books. His favorites are Barnyard Dance, B is for Bear, Brown Bear, Brown Bear, and Goodnight Moon. And even more than books, he LOVES his bath (as long as Mr. Duck is in his hand). Bath time is prime Daddy/Tate bonding time every single night.

Probably the most mind-boggling change this month has been food. For the past two months or so, he’s eaten just about any baby food that I gave him…jarred, puréed, homemade, veggies, fruits…whatever it was, he ate it all.

Well that changed almost overnight it seems. Now when I try to feed most baby food to him, I get an emphatic fuss, closed mouth, and head turn. He is still crazy about yogurt (seriously…he goes nuts when he sees it), but seems to want to feed himself everything else. So far, some fruits, bread, cheddar cheese, Cheerios, and (strangely enough) grilled chicken are what he’ll eat. I guess it’s back to drawing board.

One big event of the month was his first hair cut at home. I wimped out at the last minute, so Wade took over and trimmed up some of the shag. I’m thinking his first “real” hair cut may need to be pretty soon.

Right now he loves playing with his toy cell phone, activity table, talking puppy, bead maze toy, and Mommy’s watch. He is quite the pro at the sippy cup, but also likes to throw it on the floor when he’s done with it. Not sure how to fix that one. We’ve also seem glimpses into his temper. If he doesn’t like the food, a toy gets away from him or he is bored, he will let you know.

This month has also been the beginning of physical therapy to work on his weight bearing and muscle tone. I really hope the weekly 30-minute sessions will help Tate, but I also hope they will help me figure out how to help him. Although I’m so glad we’re addressing it and getting help, it does make kind of sad. I guess it’s that maternal instinct of not wanting your child to struggle. But, the physical therapist is very optimistic there are some things we can do to help him out.

So another month has passed, and my gratitude and love for Tate feel stronger and stronger. I love every piece of him from head to toe and already can’t imagine life without this little boy.

Seriously??!!

It's October, yes October, 8 at 2:30 p.m. Weather.com says our nice little neighborhood temperature is a toasty 89 degrees. And to top it off, the heat index is 94 degrees! Seriously??!!

How do we go from having one of the "coolest" summers in quite some time to it almost feeling like 100 degrees in October? Fall is usually my favorite time of year, but this really stinks and is making me very unmotivated to pull out the pumpkins.

Bring on the cold front!

Misc. Catching Up

Wow, what a week it has been. This was Tate’s first time to really get sick. So he decided to go all out and share it with us as well. I'll spare the gory details of 3 people with a stomach bug, but we were all pretty pathetic at some point in time this week with 101-102 degree fevers. At least it wasn’t all at the same time. Poor Tate…his began in the middle of the night Saturday. When I went to his room and found him crying and covered in yuckiness, it just about broke my heart. That must be so confusing to babies. He’s been a trooper, though.

The most amusing part of the sickfest was unfortunately when Wade was throwing up. Tate and I were in the next room, and every time Wade made that horrible noise, Tate would just crack up laughing. It was sad and hysterical at the same time. But we are all far down the road to recovery, so you can now come near us again.

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In other Tate news, we’re headed to physical therapy. For those that have seen Tate’s extreme love of kicking his legs, you may be surprised that the boy has still not stood up or even put weight on his legs much at all. We had a follow-up appt. with the pediatrician today, and she wants him to get a little more help. Our hope is that it’s just a motivation issue. He seems to have full range of motion and use of his legs, but he just doesn’t seem to want to use them to do anything but kick or suck on his toes.

Probably a few months ago, I would’ve broken down in tears thinking I had failed him as a mother somehow, but at this point, I’m ready to figure it out and help him learn a few tricks to get him going. Should be interesting.

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And to finish out the week with some good TV talk, I have a new favorite TV show…Ugly Betty. I saw some re-runs over the summer and started watching the new season. I love it! It’s such a great combo of quirkiness, smart writing, genuine diversity, and a really endearing main character that you just have to root for and love.

Wade and I have also LOVED the first two episodes of The Office. Hilarious! You would think they wouldn’t be able to keep coming up with good ideas or story lines, but they are still just as funny, if not funnier, as the early episodes. Love it!

A Family That Pukes Together, Stays Together

Sorry if that's a little graphic, but I have to find some silver lining. Despite my crazed cleaning, disinfecting, and sanitizing, the infamous stomach bug has now made its rounds through all of us. Thank goodness Wade is now feeling a little better, so he can help me and Tate. Poor little Tate, he is still having a tough time.

Needless to say, the temporary blog interruption will continue for a little longer. Yuck!

Interrupted

We temporarily interrupt the regular posting on this blog. Two-thirds of the Strzinek household (humans that is, not counting the dog) have been down for the count from a gross stomach bug. The remaining, healthy one-third of the household (me!) is trying to keep the others happy, clean, and hydrated, while at the same time, keeping her own sanity.

We will resume posting shortly.