Grandma, get the baby off the oven.

Teeny and I spent Thanksgiving up north, with my family. S couldn't join us because he had to work (which is depressing on so many levels). Teeny managed to have a blast, despite missing his dad. There were several memorable experiences this weekend, the first of which is referenced in the subject line. Teeny's four year old cousin, G, was doing an excellent job watching him as my mom was preparing Thanksgiving dinner in the kitchen. At one point, Teeny climbed onto a step stool while hanging onto the oven for support. G was quick to report the situation to Grandma, who was equally quick to react. The oven wasn't on at the time, which is probably the only reason I see the humor her "get the baby off the oven" comment!

Teeny cracked us up more times than I can count this weekend. First, he spent much of the time playing with a singing turkey, compliments of my mom. Every time he got that turkey going, Teeny would rock his head back and forth, swing his hips and stamp his feet - all in rhythm! He, his grandparents and I never laughed so hard. Thankfully, I have some video clips of his dancing - few babies have such complex moves!

Among his many other talents, Teeny is an accomplished Baby Signer. He has a large signing vocabulary, and decided to use it at church this morning. As I was holding him, he did the sign for sleep (his hands forming a pillow, and his cheek laid upon them) accompanied by snoring sounds (an adaptation of the sign taught to him by his dad). He made this sign in reference to the man a few rows back who was sound asleep. The people around us all started giggling, and I just about choked it was so difficult for me to not burst out laughing.

All in all, Thanksgiving was wonderful. I loved having four days to spend with my family, as I don't get to see them nearly often enough. I also loved seeing my parents and brothers having such a wonderful time with my little guy. He's so lucky to be loved by so many wonderful people. I am blessed beyond belief, and am so very thankful for each and every one of those blessings this Thanksgiving.

Hair today, gone tomorrow

Teeny had the second "real" haircut of his life yesterday. The first one was months ago, just before his first birthday. That time, he didn't love the experience but he endured it without tears. Yesterday, we took him to a brand new hair salon designed for kids. They have lots of toys all around, videos playing, music playing, and yesterday anyway, kids everywhere! Because it was their grand opening in our area, they were offering the haircuts for just $9.99 (a good deal for a baby cut) which I'm sure contributed to the craziness yesterday.

Our little guy was having a great time while he waited for his name to be called. He climbed on some of the life-sized plastic characters, played with cars and trucks on the floor, and bounced around with a few other kids. Then it came time for him to get strapped into the chair. He kept reaching for S, crying, "Daddy, Daddy, Daddy." We kind of had to hold him down to get him strapped in. Fortunately, he quickly settled down. Our very smart stylist had a container of animal crackers at her station. That's all she needed to bring a smile to Teeny's face - they are his most favorite of foods!


In the end, he got a great haircut, and we had an interesting little family outing. I'm sad that his curls are gone, but it's nice to be able to see his eyes and ears again. He was starting to look like a tiny Beatle, so it was time.

Episode 1 of Life with Teeny

It's only taken me 16 months to start documenting and sharing what has been the single most awesome experience of my life. I am the proud mommy of a sixteen month old, twinkly-eyed bundle of energy named Teeny. Well, that's not his actual name, rather the name my niece, G, bestowed on him the day he was born. Though he's far from the teeny newborn he once was, the name stuck and I think it's pretty darn cute.

I'm entering the blogosphere at this point in my life because my entertaining little guy does something nearly every day that I want to remember and share with the people that love him. It dawned on me a couple of weeks ago as Teeny and I walked to the park, he gleefully kicking up leaves, me looking on with amazement that someone who's only been walking for a couple of months already figured out how much fun it is to kick up leaves. I realized then that I need to start writing these experiences down, to keep the memories vivid in my mind. So - welcome to my attempt at documenting my life with Teeny.