My new dance buddy

Ashton has 3 dance steps, named by his father. There is the "boogie shuffle", which in my head is called "The Maniac" because it reminds me of a certain scene in "Flashdance". There is the "boogie wiggle" and the "boogie dance" as well. He does them on demand, but is usually more willing to do them in the bathtub (when my child baths, he does not sit. He splashes and dances pretty much the entire time except for when we do the cleaning part). Anyone who enters the bathroom at this time is not dry when they exit.
Ashton doesn't watch TV. We have kept him away from it for the most part, more when he was a baby. We PVR most things because we can relax more and watch our shows undistracted and skip commercials after he goes to sleep. If it's on during the day, he will periodically glance at it but will not engage in watching it. I am happy with that. I was raised without TV for the most part and I don't think it's necessary. I don't think it's evil for a child either. I just think moderation is key. I think that some parents may use it for the convenience of it being a babysitter for young children for hours on end, which is extreme. I once babysat 2 children who asked me once when their parents' would be home but rather than "at 5-O-clock" or "In 2 hours", they only understood it as "In 4 TV shows". Anyway, I watched the last 1/2 hour of last nights' episode of "So You Think You Can Dance" today. Ashton sat beside me on the couch and played with maracas and semi-circular stacking balls while paying no attention to the TV. Then the dancing started. As the music came on, the maracas fell to the couch. Ashton stared. Then he started squealing and bouncing, screaming and clapping his hands. The dancing stopped and the judging began. Ashton looked back down to his toys and the TV was forgotten...until the next dance. So when he's older, will he come to watch musicals with me at the theatre? Will he come to the ballet performance of "The Nutcracker" at Christmas? Or is this just a case of an almost-2-year-old perking up to music and movement and a hopeful mother who is hoping that at least one of the males in the house will want to watch musicals with her one day? Time will tell.

Neglect

I have been neglecting this blog. I can't believe it's been over a year! Between the death of macbook (a temporary death...but thankfully we have a new computer now), going back to work, getting pregnant, chasing a toddler...I really have no excuse so I will stop making them.
I am already 30 weeks pregnant with our little girl. I have been off work since May due to some back and pelvic problems. The time off with Ashton has been amazing but I wish I could do a lot of things with him that I can't do. I would love to put him in a backpack and go hiking and lots of other things like that. But life is about sacrifices. I felt guilty about not being able to do a lot of the things we did last summer but Jesse has reminded me that we still do a lot and I feel better now. I have so much support and help from him and I really consider myself lucky.
Right now it's late and I am tired. I will return to this :)

Summertime...and the livin' is easy

I haven't posted in forever! A and I have been filling our days with tons of activities. We do movies (they have a special day/time where you can bring the babes), playdates (he has a much busier social life than moi), swimming lessons, baby groups, coffee with friends (my friends this time) and stroller workouts. I am in a summer dance class so get out for ballet once a week, which is nice.
The green beans I posted about earlier ended up being an allergy. He was subsequently tested for major allergens and the tests were negative (yay!)
Ashton is 9 months old now. Where did the time go? Some summer pics (more to come)

Picnic!

It's picnic season! I have never been a big picnic person but the weather is gorgeous for it. Ashton is sitting completely by himself and is capable of doing this for an unlimited amount of time so I can slap on the sunscreen, give him some toys and picnic! I came along to the ball field when Jesse had practice, parked a blanket in the shade and laid out a variety of toys. All Ashton wanted was my cell phone (I have New York Times crosswords on it and am somewhat addicted). You give a kid a huge supply of toys and they want the phone!

We also have a backpack for him so we are able to do some hiking. Mom and I went to the falls for a bit of a walk. I also decided that the backpack would be easier to haul up the big hill by my house the other day (as opposed to pushing the stroller). I was totally wrong but it was a good workout!

Ashton is eating more and more solid food. He loves his cereals (oatmeal and rice) but is now eating squash and banana. The banana is new and he's not quite there yet. He's become a pro at holding banana in his mouth and then spitting it out 5 mins later when he's cleaned out. The first time I gave him oatmeal, he blew it in my face. Thankfully he loves his oatmeal now...and hopefully he'll love his banana too! The green beans were temporarily discontinued because of his excema but I have been told to reintroduce them in a few weeks. The excema is gone now so I will reintroduce the beans in a few days. The boy is somewhat of an allergy risk, I've been told but thankfully public health seems to make recommendations based on the assumption that all babies can be at risk of developing food allergies.

I have been busy too! Solids, picnics and workouts! And dance! We had our dance recital this past weekend so lots of practice! I'm stoked on doing dance through the summer too but not until July. Being active has given me such a high. I do a stroller class once a week and afterwards, I go home and clean! It's amazing...the energy I get from that kind of thing.

Last week, I had Ashton down at my parent's because we had a doctor's checkup for him. It was really hot that day and he was cranky so we set up a pool. Ashton's mommy got to go in and cool off too!

Food for thought

Ashton is six months now so we're introducing solids.  We started the week before he turned six months, which was my birthday so we figured that was a day to remember.  We started him on rice cereal.  At first he was kind of indifferent to it and then after a few days he got really excited about it and would start kicking his feet in his high chair and the little hands would get going and he would open his mouth wide.  This is him on day one:

When he got the hang of it, we started giving it to him twice a day.  I am using commercial rice cereal because it's iron fortified but I am making my own other food.  We're leaving several days between new foods and keeping a food journal.  I bought some green beans the other day.  Today I brought them with me to my parents and made them there as I went there to help with some stuff and I wanted to use the beans when they were fresh.  So I steamed the beans and after they were steamed I tried some.  They were delicious.  Then I food-processed them and strained them.  Mom has an applesauce strainer thing that is the best thing ever.  I tasted them after they were strained and it was nasty, which was weird because they were tasty before they were processed...I think it was just the consistency.  So mom took a video when I was feeding him and there are some pics of it below.  He seemed to really love the beans and wanted more.  It was pretty cool!

Skating picture

We went skating again yesterday. This photo is from last weekend. He's funny because he cries when he is in the stroller and then stops as soon as we get on the ice. I think I am lucky to have a child that I can pretty much take anywhere.

Ashton's first hockey practice?

I have so much more energy now that I've been more active.  I try to walk every single day whether Ashton likes it or not.  I have dance class once a week and now skating once a week.  I feel awesome.  Running up and down the stairs to do laundry 8000 times a week is getting easier too ;)

Jesse and I went skating on Sunday with a friend of ours and Ashton.  Ashton has to wear a helmet when he's in his stroller, which makes sense but the helmet perches on his shoulders because it is so huge and then it falls over his face and he gets really mad.  Jesse and I took turns with the stroller.  I wore hockey skates for the first time ever and I am used to using figure skates so it was tough for me.  I still did okay though, despite using rental skates which had short laces.  I couldn't do them up all the way so my ankle was smarting when I was done.  We are going to go every Sunday to public skating.  I love to skate and Jesse is planning on going back to play ice hockey.  We're trying to buy him skates and it's crazy because nowhere has them right now despite the fact that there is ice year round here.  There are pictures of him but they were taken with someone else's phone so I will try to post them when I can.

After skating on Sunday, we went to my parents.  It was my Oma's birthday (and Easter too) so my parents made an awesome feast with turkey and the works.  Ashton got all dressed up in his little man clothes.  At one point, he was helping me play the piano.