My (Son's) Strange Addiction.

Have any of you ever watched the T.V show "My Strange Addiction" on TLC?


If you have, I probably think less of you. I haven't watched it but I have been exposed to some horrifying trailers that make me think less of man-kind. Now however,  I might be forced to watch... when someone comes to interview me for the show.

"So Emma, Where do you think you went wrong as a Mother?"

Sobbing... "I just don't understand. He started out as a normal baby.  I did bathe him every day. I had read not to do it every night because their skin could dry out but ... hiccup...he just liked it so much. I followed all the precautions! I even bought all natural soaps and lotions from health food stores for his sensitive skin.

"So, what you're saying is, you deliberately exposed your son to exotic and expensive soaps at an early age?"

"It wasn't like that!"

"I see... well how else would attribute William's sick obsession to ingest soap?!!"

Sobbing.

Okay so that is an over exaggeration but it is concerning none the less. They say the first step in overcoming a problem is to admit it. My son eats soap. WHY?!!

More importantly what am I going to wash his mouth out with as a threat?



Not that any sane person would ever do that these days.

Fact: William will play with any and all soap containers. He prefers pump bottles which I didn't see any harm in (he doesn't push them down) until I saw him sucking the soap up like a straw.

One day while I was getting ready, William followed me into the bathroom. The bathroom is usually a strict baby-free zone with the exception of bath-time or brushing teeth. He stood up at the tub, grabbed his baby soap, and started playing with it. Because it didn't have a pump and I thought he wasn't strong enough to unscrew the top, I left the bathroom. I had one minute left of getting ready- apply some mascara and leave... he would be okay. I returned to find the lid off and two thirds of the bottles contents on the floor, bath mat, and ALL OVER William. Most alarming? He was eating it. My son who cried when I gave him a home made french fry was eating soap. Where is the reason??!!

Because I don't have any pictures of William eating soap (I'm usually correcting this behavior and not taking the time to grab the camera) You'll have to settle on some tub time photos

Any other soap lovers out there? Support groups? Imitation soap supplements that are high in nutritional value?

Bad Manners!

You know those moments where you let yourself down. When you say something that you instantly regret. You wish you could take it back but it's already out there. Floating in the air right in front of you. Mocking you. 

Vocabulary:  "Bahaha Dufas"

Your pride:   "Crap"

Understand?

As a Canadian living in America I can tell you that overall Canadians and Americans look similar. Sure shapes, sizes and styles vary but I'm sure I pass as an american on a daily basis.  With the exception of Sunday, when I was asked if I was European- I took it as a fashion complement. Thank you. 

Growing up in a tourist town we got pretty good at picking out the Americans. The ones wearing eagle shirts with strips were a dead give away and almost too easy to be fun. Then there were the also obvious however less patriotically dressed Americans. These were those who could be heard complaining about the expensive prices, small portion sizes or laughing at the Toonie and trying to decipher between the one and two dollar coins . 

 The point of this post is not to make fun of Americans... All though I really enjoy it. I can say that because I have a green card. The point is to publicly display my verbal blunder. You see the sure fire way to spot out an American in Canada is the phrase, "huh?" Canadians use phrases like, "Pardon me?" "Excuse me?" "I'm sorry?" "What was that?" NEVER would you hear a Canadian utter "HUH?!" in a rude/hick way.

Unless you're me. I'm embarrassed and shamed to admit. I said it. Please someone take me back to Canada so I can remember my manners before I start saying crazy things like y'all. Gross. 

To all of my Canadians, please forgive me.  

Eleven

My son is eleven months old.

and I just want to snuggle him all day. 

If I had the ability to freeze time, I would do it now. 

I love you, Little. 

10 Months

William is ten months old,or was, Aug 29th... And he's ginormous!

At 10 months he was 20 pounds and 29 3/4 inches tall. Okay so compared to other babies his only in the 25th percentile for weight- not that ginormous, but he is a tall one and I swear he feels about 50 pounds heavier when I carry him.

Taking pictures of this little guy has now taken on new challenges- he wants to run away.

or steal the camera

But, he never disappoints when it comes to ridiculous faces

Some things you're just born with I guess...

And with the gene pool he was selected from...

Are you really surprised? 

 didn't think so.

I think it's fair to say that William is in my favorite stage (so far) and is showing enormous amounts of personality. However, like any stage, it's not without difficulty- He has cut six teeth in a matter of weeks. Ouch! Thank you baby advil. Up until 9 months, William was edentulous. The first to pop through were his laterals, creating quite the baby vampire vibe. Thankfully his centrals are through now and I wont have to entertain the idea of play dates with Renesmee... 

From 9 to 10 months there were a lot of changes. William has now mastered the correct posture of crawling, leaving army crawling behind. He isn't very quick and tends to mosey to places. It's just been within the last week he's picked up speed. I have now witness if-by-crawling-I-could-run. It's hilarious! and is accompanied with some serious sound effects of joy for whatever he is after.

He can pull himself up on furniture and grab everything. Even things you could have sworn were out of reach. Like say, a tissue box.

William also follows me around the apartment. Everywhere. All the time. When Matt is home and we are in separate rooms, William will crawl from one of us to the next. Once he sees I'm still in the same spot he's off to check on Matt.

While Will was learning all these new tricks, we discovered he only liked to practice them in private. We purchased a video monitor months ago and I really liked being able to check on him visually without opening his door. You might as well yell in that boys ears when you open his bedroom door. He will wake up the instant you try! Anyway, the monitor became extra useful when he started to sit up and couldn't get back down. During this learning period, sleep was put on the back burner and his crib became training ground. He would spend upwards of half an hour rolling, army crawling into sitting and standing. Outside of his crib however, he didn't lead on to any of skills. Once he felt comfortable in his abilities he was ready to share, I guess. We might have a perfectionist on our hands...

William still loves to read. In fact, he has put toys on hold and plays with books most of the day. Books and random objects that is. He will sit, open, turn the pages and then toss the book to the side and grab another. He has even started "reading" to himself. I could watch him do this for ever.

Will also enjoys his new stroller. I am a complete amateur runner, but have been committed for a while, so we bought something a little more conducive to the trails, here in Eugene. Will loves it so much that he squeals with excitement when I run fast. Since I never run fast (a speed walker could kick my butt.... Okay, the 70 year old woman running this morning kicked my butt) it's usually when we are going down a hill and I have both gravity and momentum on my side. Anyway, he is my best running buddy and I love being outside with him.

His favorite game is still, peek-a-boo. He will play it by himself or with whoever is watching. He takes his blanket and pulls it over his head and laughs until you say, "Wait a minute, where did Will go?" Then he will pull it of and get so excited he throws the blanket right back over his head. This usually goes on for a while.

Mimicking is a pretty fun game too. He hasn't quite mastered the repeating of words, but he will repeat sounds and will start laughing when others are.

I feel so lucky to be William's mother. I am grateful he is apart of our family and can't wait to see what the following months bring.