A Belated Happy Fat Tuesday

Last Saturday the Petco in Cape hosted a Mardi Gras costume parade for local pets, and because Arlo harbors wild affection for all things dog-related, I couldn't let him miss this little canine fete. The Humane Society of Southeast Missouri was also there fundraising and boasting a trio of tempting, adorable black lab mix puppies, with whom, of course, Arlo promptly fell in puppy love. At home it's a one giant doggie diss-fest of a day for Arlo; Jordan, our Westie, has never warmed to him. Jordan has never been hostile, but he has nipped in Arlo's direction when Arlo's affection has been a little too potent for his tastes. On a good day he tolerates Arlo; other days he mostly naps safely under our table, out of Arlo's loving grasp. I wonder if Arlo's infatuation with dogs would be less so if his love for Jordan weren't so unrequited.

Anyway, the Mardi Gras parade brought out an interesting mix of people. Let's just say that I'm not sure who is weirder--the people who dress their pets up for public display, or the people who pointedly visit Petco with the express purpose of watching said parade.

There were also two mini horses (or were they ponies? I don't know!) in Petco. Yes, IN Petco. It looked like a local young equestrian group was fundraising as well. I tried to introduce Arlo to the mini horses/ponies, since he's enjoyed his visits with the neighboring horses at Grandma and Grandpa Watkins' house before, but he was frightened by the ponies this time. They were perfectly docile, batting their gorgeously dark, long lashes at us, but Arlo didn't buy it. Maybe next time!

One of the humane society's volunteers snapped this picture and posted to their Facebook page. I took a peek at some of the pups for adoption through the humane society, which was such a heart-string-tugger. I am certain there is another dog in our family's future, when the time is right for us.

Happy Valentine's Day!

These are pictures I used to make a handmade paper Valentine for Nick. I tucked into his lunch for a little Valentine's Day surprise.

Arlo will be 14 months old this week. Can you believe that? I can think of nothing sweeter. :)

Arlo Meets a Big Fish

As winter trudges on, keeping us indoors, I am continuously on the prowl for indoor (and preferably free) activities around town to engage Arlo and his ever-burgeoning store of energy. I took him to the Cape Girardeau Conservation Nature Center on a whim this rainy Friday afternoon, and it was delightful. Arlo is a big fan of the animal kingdom right now, and he had a brilliant time observing birds, exploring displays about swamps, petting taxidermied animals, and meeting some really big fish.

My small fry greets a very big fry:

An Evolution of Eating

Recently I found a bunch of old videos of Arlo, some of them from the early days of my maternity leave, when Arlo was just a wee babe. He has changed so much over the course of this last year. Like, he looks like a completely different child altogether. I watched several of the videos with Arlo this morning, and he was rivited by the baby on the laptop screen. I was, too. It is so hard to believe that he was ever that tiny. And, um, so stationary. I can hardly remember what that feels like, the small weight of newborn Arlo folded against my chest. I am so glad we have these videos to help us reminisce. I hope that as technology evolves, so too will ways for us to continue watching these for decades to come. I imagine myself as an 80 year old woman tearfully watching these videos and then squeezing my eyes tightly and trying to summon the sensation of my swaddled, sweet boy in my new mama arms.
Sigh.

ANYWAY.

Speaking of differences over time, here's a cute contrast of Arlo's eating. This first video is of Arlo's first ever solid food--mashed banana. He wasn't particularly enthusiastic about it, and he ultimately never was very interested in purees. This prompted us to explore baby-led weaning for solid introduction, and it has been a pretty awesome experience. I wholeheartedly think baby-led weaning has made Arlo a more adventurous eater, and I think it has made our mealtimes what they should be: fun. (Can I get a holla for those deliciously chunky baby thighs?)



And this is what happens when Daddy works evenings. Mama teaches you how to blow raspberries with food in your mouth. (This video is from December 2011.)

Long Time, No See

Boy, have I been slacking over here. What can I say? Life with a buzzing toddler provides very few moments of stillness, and in those moments of stillness I prefer to spend them completing precious tasks such as, oh, I don't know, peeing in solitude.

Arlo and I flew to Richmond week before last to attend my sister's baby shower. We had a great 5 days in Virginia, and we were also able to catch up with Grandma Dee and Grandpa James, Nana and Poppa Mathias, my childhood bestie Jenn, and the awesome Pryor-Kolster fam during our stay. The weather was AAHmazing while we were there, and I took Arlo for long walks in the sunshine several times.What a tonic for the soul, y'all. I have missed our long walks. After his afternoon nap one day, I took Arlo out for some frozen yogurt, and we shared spoonfuls of tart yogurt and fresh fruit under a warm sun. And afterwards we took another walk, and with his sticky hand in my sticky hand, the afternoon felt pretty darn perfect.

And it was that sharing of spoons that landed us in some sad, sad shape in the days to follow. Airports and airplanes are some funky, germy places, and Arlo slurped up a mean virus during our travel to Virginia, I'm guessing. A few days later he began to show symptoms in earnest, but it was too late. He'd already gifted that virus to me, that sweetheart. We were highly-productive snot-factories, the two of us, coughing and aching the whole way home. It was a miserable trip home, and it even included a cancelled flight. Boo! Traveling solo with a toddler is a demanding exercise, and it's made even more rigorous and cumbersome when you're running at about 50%. If you ever wanted to know what supermom looks like, she is the one with a coughing toddler in the Ergo, carrying a Britax Boulevard in one hand, two pieces of hulking luggage in the other, and no free hands with which to wipe the copious strands of snot dangling from her nose at the airport. Oh, and also the one who momentarily zonks out on the plane while her baby is nursing, and when she wakes up said baby is no longer nursing and her breast is just hanging out for all the folks in row 15 to see. I was more embarrassed about the snot than the brief Girls Gone Wild moment, if I may say so.

Once we were settled at home I took Arlo to the pediatrician, and she prescribed him a nebulizer. He had breathing treatments for the rest of the week, tolerating it decently. I would queue up a few Sesame Street clips on the laptop, and he'd sit in my lap and we'd watch them together while the neb did its thing. I forgot how badass Sesame Street was. (And it'd be even more badass if they began including nursing images like they did in days of yore.) We're both feeling much better, thank goodness. It was not a fun time. I repeat: Not. A. Fun. Time.

Also, Arlo has sprouted his seventh tooth while we were away, his third on the bottom. I feel like it changes his whole smile, ramping up the adorableness exponentially.

And, now, what you really clicked over here to see, pictures of that rambunctious, cool kid of ours, taken a couple of weeks ago at one of the playgrounds here in Cape: