Whit's Award!!

So, guess what!? Whitney just got an award!! He was the 4th Floor Doctor of the Month!! Apparently, it was awarded on the basis of his "Team Work, Communication Skills, Receptiveness to Nursing, Patient Care and Wonderful Bedside Manner..."

He DOES have a wonderful bedside manner!! ;) Hehehe

I am so proud!

Bridget

SELF

So, there is a story that has almost become a legend at my house (Stuckey house) that when I was a child, my mom would have to get us ready for church or wherever else we were going at least half an hour early to deal with my propensity to say, "Self" and want to do (or try to do) everything myself before I would let her do it. Apparently, even before I could tie my shoes, I would insist on trying to do it myself for a while before I would say "you" and let my mom do it for me.

Now, although I still insist such contrary behavior must be the worst kind of falsehood (I have always been delightful, and I am sure that shone through in my easy-going personality as a child)... Nevertheless, my mom cursed me to have a child who already exhibits such personality traits as she claims I manifested. It began a while ago, when Eli decided walks in the stroller were NOT acceptable and insisted on walking around wherever his royal highness decided he should go. He will NOT hold your hand, and he throws a non-cute little fit if you try to redirect his path. (He does make a concession for going down steep slopes, or climbing up and down things--he will regally extend his hand for you to hold it in order to help him do these things, and then promptly dismiss your hand once the task is done.)

Well, I think our biggest problem is that he doesn't yet know the word "self". I have begun to see similar behavior in other areas, lately, such as putting on his shoes (luckily velcro) and his jacket. He is actually pretty good at that.

I found a new one this morning, the event that prompted this post. Eli lives cereal. We eat it a lot and he loves to do what mom and dad do. So a week ago, when he began to refuse to eat it, I thought it was odd. I had switched to other things (like yogurt, etc.) but he kept pointing at our cereal...and whining. Then when we tried to feed it to him he would throw a fit and act upset. It had occurred to me before that he wanted our actual bowl and spoon. (Several days ago I discovered that he eats GREAT if I give him a fork and let him feed himself lunch and dinner. He eats EVERYTHING on a fork, even bites of sandwich. I know, it's strange!) Anyhow, this morning I tried something I knew would be a disaster...I gave him his own bowl of cereal and spoon.

He is a child that loves to dump things out. I had a cartoon-esque premonition that he would hurl the whole bowl accross my recently mopped (last night) floor. I gave him Rice Chex, thinking there wouldn't be any sugary residue... But, no! I was wrong. He ate the whole bowl with his spoon, holding his free hand under the spoon to catch any drips of milk!! And to top it all off, when he finished, he lifted the bowl in both hands to his mouth and drank the milk, just like mommy does. IT WAS AMAZING! Then I gave him another small bowl and he did the same thing again! (Even to the "drinking the milk" part!)

Yeah, so I guess I just had to understand that he needs to do things himSELF.

One other thing I thought I would throw in to satiate my mom's undying desire for photos--he loves to plink on the keyboard and play with the mouse. To keep him from messing things up, like putting 27 calendars on our desktop, which he did the other day, or opening Media player 48 times... we put a fake keyboard and mouse on the roll out desk part... which fooled him for about 20 minutes... but he still plays with them while we work on the computer. I thought I would sneak a photo this morning of him on dad's lap with the two sets of computer things. You will notice there are animal magnets on the computer desk, too. Those (of course) came from Grandma Stuckey, but he carries them around all over the house and makes the noises or more often, wants you to make the noises for each one. It's pretty funnny. The second photo is just in there to make my mom happy.

Crafts!! and such...

So yesterday was "Super Saturday" for Enrichment. I am the first to confess-- I never go to Enrichment. It's sad, really. I can count on one hand the number of Enrichment/Homemaking activities I have ever been to... in the last 10 years I have been eligible. No wonder I get stuck teaching gospel doctrine instead of getting a fun Relief Society calling!! I think I started out skipping initially because I thought it was for old women (sorry!) and then I just got into the habit of not going!

I have been trying to do better. I went to one a few months ago, and another one yesterday; the one yesterday is called Super Saturday and I think they do it once a year. It's about 4 hours of crafts (if you get there on time.) I have always considered myself a "craftsy" person. I scrapbook the real way (aka, not on a computer!), make cards by hand, quilt, crochet and have done embroidery before. I don't really sew, but I figure the quilting gets me past that.

I realized on Saturday that while I have a lot of hobbies, I am NOT a craftsy person. There were craftsy people in spades and I had not done much of the types of things they had there... I grossly miscalculated how long most of the things would take, so I signed up for 5 things, and only completed 3 at the activity. I am proud of all of the things I did yesterday, but most proud of the wreath. I have NEVER done anything with fake flowers and wreaths scare me. I had some help from one of those craftsy people (thanks Suzette), and actually the sign in the wreath took the longest, but isn't it all pretty!? Also those blocks are cute, and that Fall needlework took a long time to sew/embroider. Here are the three I completed there:

I didn't want to lose my momentum, so I went and bought a hot glue gun last night after Whitney and Emma went to work. It took almost three hours, but I made my second to last of the projects (I just took the materials and blueprint for these puppets home...) They are nativity puppets made from felt. Aren't they cute!? They take much longer to make than you would think!! Emma made a set, too. Anyhow, I have to make 4 Christmas tree ornaments, still, but otherwise I am all done with my projects from yesterday.

Two other things. Whit has been working like a dog lately. (Pity for Whit) Yesterday I snapped a shot of him in his scrubs. He thinks they look lame, but I think he looked HOT! I love seeing him with his coat and stethoscope... HOT! He could be on a TV show.

Also, doesn't Eli look cute in these jammies? They are from Grandma Stuckey, OF COURSE, but I liked the "I'm no Bully" with the frog and dog!! She also got him a superman set and a really cute one with a shark and little fish that says, "Best chums" or something. hahah.

Rockabye Baby

Okay so, I have no self control. Eli wakes up in the middle of the night, usually about once a night. When we went in for his 15 month check up a few weeks ago, the pediatrician told me how to break him of that--she said he does not need the calories from the bottle he takes, and that it's just a habit. So, she said to just ignore it for three nights in a row. He will stop waking up and I can get more sleep. Obviously with less than three months until the new baby, those are wise words. I tried it for two nights in a row. Last night, the third night, he sounded really, really forlorn and I went in and fed and changed him!

I know that makes me weak. I am aware the doctor (and Whitney and everyone else) are right when they say I have to break him of the habit. It's hard for me to get back to sleep and it's not a good routine. BUT...

I almost started crying this morning. He is getting so big. He has never been the kind of baby who wanted to be held, or cuddled or really rocked much. I have sung to him since he was tiny, and sometimes it has really helped calm him (like on planes and at night.) But, he is getting so big! His stats from 15 months:
28 pounds (80%)
34 inches long (greater than 97% length)
77% head size (can't recall the length).
Last night I realized something. One part of me likes to get up with him at night and hold and rock him until he goes back to sleep. He hugs me and loves to have me there--that is so unlike the rest of the time I am with him, when he's so squirmy and active. And it's only going to get worse. He is growing up!!! My baby won't be my baby much longer. Soon I will have a new baby, but that doesn't make me less sad that he will be too big to rock and hug and hold very soon!

So I know it makes me kind of batty (this is the kind of thing my Mom would say or do!) but it is true nonetheless. I like to rock my little boy.

Pampers v. Huggies

Okay so no photos, I promise!! My last blog took care of all that. But something recently happened (in the last 5 minutes!) that reminded me of a debate I finally won a few months ago. Over the past 15 months of Eli's life, until August anyway, Whitney and I had not agreed on something MAJOR... (haha). Whitney wanted to buy Huggies at Sam's because they cost a LOT less and you get more diapers. (They are like $10 less per case here.) I liked the Pampers much better. So, basically whoever was at Sam's when they were purchased controlled what was bought--we almost always bought Pampers!

In August we went to Houston for my 10 year HS reunion and to visit family. While on that trip, Whitney and I traded off a fussy Eli. Now, I give him a lot of bottles when travelling--it's just easier to deal with than trying to feed him real food. Also, it keeps his ears from hurting. So, he had a lot to drink. Whit had changed his most recent diaper--and it hadn't been too long. I had been holding him for an hour or so, so as we began to land in Houston, I passed him to Whitney. It was JUST in time.

Eli peed. Now, normally, that wouldn't matter. But his diaper was already full, apparently. It went all over Whitney. And I mean, all over!! He had a dinner plate sized pee spot. While cleaning that up, Whitney shifted him to his other side. Eli threw up on him! Whoops. (Not the diaper's fault). Then Eli peed again while we were cleaning up the vomit. That covered Whit's other side. HAHAHAHAHA! I had no idea what kind of diaper he was in--because I thought I had only packed Pampers. Whitney apparently had some huggies in his bag... He looked at me and said, "Okay, you win. No more huggies. We only buy Pampers now." I looked perplexed. He said, "He's in Huggies now." They have less of the "filling" in the back side so they hold less pee--and they don't have that plasticky coating to keep it from soaking through!

It was a hard fought battle--but I win! Pampers, it is! (And poor Whitney!)

Vacuums! And Two Generations...

Okay so, when Eli was just learning to crawl, the vacuum scared him. I would try to vacuum while he was sleeping because I couldn't really hold him and vacuum at the same time. I suppose that became a habit because it was only recently it occurred to me to vacuum while he was awake--there are some things, like loading and unloading the dishwasher that are still best done while he snoozes, but with naps fewer and much further between I am trying to narrow down that list! He thinks the vacuum is fascinating and funny! I tried vacuuming his toes and apparently that is a little over the line, but he followed me from one end of the house to the other, chasing the vacuum.

Here you can see him with his Mater truck in the background, too. Grandma Stuckey got that for him while she was here, and he loves it. It makes lots of noise, but you can also store balls and stuff in the seat and push it around. What fun!

He also likes to "help" daddy with any little projects around the house. When he sees Daddy using something, he wants to play with it. Hence the screwdriver (with the end removed) has become a favored toy.

I just thought this photo was funny, with him peeking out from around the corner. I had just vacuumed his toes and he was scared! I thought he might laugh--whoops. Also, you can see I dyed my hair brown for the Fall. I do that periodically to keep from looking too washed out and processed. If you love it blonde, never fear. I will go back in with chunky highlights the next time I get my hair done! I like the red streaks, though.

Also, the other night we had Emma's friend (a med student here) over to watch a movie. I made italian sodas, which are awesome... and Emma pointed out they looked cute in the matching Hershey glasses, so I snapped a photo. I don't think poor Bryan was ready, but don't the Italian sodas look fun!? Mormons are somewhat limited on fun drinks, so I was delighted when Cassidy introduced me to them in March.

I realize this post is getting pretty long. I am probably losing some of you readers... not that I have many anyway... but I just scanned in some photos of Whitney as a youngster. I am going to include the first just because it was my favorite. He's pretty old, but doesn't he look DANG cute!? (Poor little cow!) Whitney remembers that as being his favorite jacket when he was a kid--isn't it funny what we remember?!

The next one is of Whitney and his older brother Haven. I think he looks a LOT like Eli did!!

Here's one of Eli to compare from our family cruise back in March.

And then here is another one where he looks a lot like Eli, I think. Thoughts? Opinions? Isn't he a cute kid? (I mean both of them!)

Caving in to Peer Pressure

So a few (very few!) people noticed that I sneakily made up a blog a few months ago. I had not checked it since posting... shame on me. Anyhow, I finally did recheck it, because I found a link to it on another family member's blog!! We have two family websites, and I end up posting the same thing to each of them!! Apparently that technology is under review so that soon the websites will be able to link to a blog or something, so I guess I should learn to do this blog thing, too.

Whitney went rock climbing on Saturday, so I thought I would include a photo from his adventure. He did really well, which is no surprise. He runs five miles a few times a week and is strong enough he ripped the counter RIGHT OFF the cabinets when we remodeled our bathroom so I had no doubts. Anyhow, here he is looking hot on a rockwall.

Also last week, our son Eli was a clown for the first Halloween he has a shot of remembering! I doubt he will remember much, but he looked cute. His face makeup would have been cuter, but he was really squirmy so it was hard to put on!

We also took him to a Halloween party for church the week before with a Barnyard Theme. He looked pretty cute in his hat and overalls... The horse is his playpal, whose mom watches Eli for me when I have to go into the office periodically.

Well, I think this will be my formal first attempt at a blog!! I now need to learn how to put those little sidebar things that track how long until our baby girl is born!! Hahaha--another day, another task.