Lazy

Wow. My activity level has dropped to an all-time low this week. I told Tim that I don't think I've gone this long without doing anything (running, walking, elliptical at gym, P90X video, or lifting weights) since Will was born. I do have a few "excuses", although none big enough that I couldn't have overcome them to get out and do something. It was Christmas, we've had two waves of house guests (Tim's mom and then Tim's dad and step mom) with only 1 day between them, and I've been sick. I STILL have this horrible cold and I randomly got some kind of stomach thing on Christmas Day that lingered for a few days after. (Don't even get me started on how pissed I am that my whole Christmas was pretty much ruined this year. Lovely.) Anyway, the workout log since my last update would go something like this:

Monday - rest
Tuesday - 3 mile treadmill run at gym
Wednesday - rest (I fully intended to get to the gym that day. Brought my gym bag to work and everything. But got stuck late at work and didn't have time.)
Thursday - 30 minutes at Lunken
Friday - rest
Saturday - busy feeling like I was going to die
Sunday - rest/ran around like a crazy person try to get get the house ready for a 2nd set of house guests
Monday - sat on my butt being lazy
Tuesday - worked hard on gaining weight by eating ridiculous amounts of food and sitting on my butt
Wednesday - continued the quest to get fat and unhealthy

I am determined to do something today. It is, however, 10am and the likelihood of this materializing tonight (after Tim gets home from work and, therefore, my only real opportunity) is slim to none. I have a running date with my running girls tomorrow, though, so I WILL GET OFF MY ASS!

More New Words

Well, now I have the cold and it's miserable. Just in time for Christmas. Yay!

Will's been trying to say lots of new things lately. There's a few big ones that I've been working with him on for a long time that he finally did this week so I was excited.

More - He told me at lunch yesterday that he wanted more applesauce. I've been trying to get him to say this for months.
Ernie - As in Bert and Ernie from Sesame Street. He was really excited about this one.
Night Night - He doesn't really say this at nap time or bedtime. It's more of a game. He'll lay down on the ground and say, "Nigh Nigh" several times like he's pretending to go to sleep. Then he pops back up and laughs.
Moooo - When he sees a picture of a cow he moo's. And periodically I can get him to respond by mooing when I ask him what a cow says. I was particularly excited about this one because this is the first animal sound like this he's mimicked and I've been trying to get him to do it for a long time.

Sick Baby :-(

My poor little man has a cold and an ear infection. I suspect this will be the first in a series of lovely illnesses contracted at daycare. He started with a cough on Wednesday. It was dry at first, but got progressively deeper and more phlegm-y over the next few days. It was really bad on Friday. So much so that he was up LOTS Friday night coughing and crying. Then up at 5am for good. Not a fun night for mommy and daddy either. Then he woke up yesterday with a horrible runny nose and congestion. Since he also had an intermittent fever (low - never above 101) from Wednesday afternoon on I went ahead and took him to the doctor. It's a good thing because his right ear was fairly badly infected. So now he's on antibiotics and today he's doing much better. He also had a much better night last night. Hopefully we continue to be on the upswing and are back to 100% by Christmas. I'm also crossing my fingers that Tim and I do not get the cold...

Grandma Gee is here to visit right now and Will is loving it! He's really taken to her. They spend lots of time play and cuddling. It's very nice for him because he has someone to play with while I'm getting things done around the house (when he usually has to play by himself).

Here he is reading with GG














Yesterday, Tim and I took her to see the Nutcracker for Christmas. It was the first time I'd been since I was a kid. It was very nice. I just love the music!

This week's workout log:
Monday - Rest
Tuesday - 30 minutes on the elliptical
Wednesday - Legs and abs at gym
Thursday - Rest (imposed by ridiculous amounts of snow)
Friday - 2 mile run (very slow in the snow)
Saturday - Rest
Sunday - 3 mile run

Apparently Pushing is Funny

We had a playdate at our house last Friday with the moms and little boys from our stroller aerobics class. Unfortunately, Jacob (who's mom Chrissy watched Will before he went to daycare) was sick so we didn't get to see him. I was bummed because I know Will really would have liked to have seen Jacob. Ben and his mom, Christy, and Jackson and his mom, Kerrie, came, though.

We ordered pizza and the boys played. It was a lot of fun... until Will started shoving Ben. He did it twice and tried to do it a third time, but I got to him before he managed it again. He was almost taking a running start and just pushing him in the chest with both hands. Poor Ben got completely knocked over and started crying both times. And what did Will do? He laughed. WTF?

I don't know where he got this. It's a little concerning. I'm worried he picked it up at daycare. He's never tried it with me. This weekend he kept pushing Tim and laughing, though, so I'm wondering if something Tim is doing with him he is interpreting as shoving and thinks it's a game. Tim roughhouses with him all the time and maybe he's taking some of that as shoving? Who knows. Hopefully it stops.

Accountability

I'm having a really hard time staying motivated when it comes to working out so I'm going to see if keeping track on here helps me feel more accountable and, therefore, more likely to get off my butt. So here's this week's results

Sat - Jingle Bell Run 5k
Sun - Rest (This is a nice term for "sitting on your butt and doing nothing active" and, in this case, also included gorging myself on french toast and mimosas at brunch.)
Mon - Arms and Shoulders at the gym + P90X Ab Ripper video
Tues - 30 minutes on the elliptical
Wed - Rest
Thurs - 3 mile run
Fri - Rest
Sat - P90X Core Synergistics video
Sun - 3 mile run

At this point my goal is 5 days a week of working out (3 days of running + 1 core or yoga video day + 1 day of lifting at the gym). If I can get an extra gym day in then great.

My Love/Hate Relationship with this Book

Will is OBSESSED with this book. We read it when he gets up in the morning. We read it at naptime. We read it at bedtime. We read it at any other point during the day when we happen to go into his room. He has to flip through it and "read" it to himself while he's getting his diaper changed. It's getting to the point where I could recite the thing in my sleep. And it's getting kind of old.

It is really fun to see how he incorporates other things he's learning and doing into reading the book. For instance, he started saying the word "duck" this week. There are a couple of pictures in the book of Ernie with his rubber duckie, and every time we read the book Will points right at rubber duckie and says, "duck". He also has to point at everyone's eyes and say, "eye". Believe me, you never realize how many eyes are are in a children's book until you have to sit there for several minutes while your toddler points at each and every one of them and explains to you that it is an eye.

One section has Cookie Monster in it, and I try to do his voice when I read that part. Then there's a picture of him eating cookies all crazy and I make this "num num num" noise like he does. Will finds this very amusing and then tries to make the noise himself. Of course, he's doing it in his little high pitched voice so it sounds nothing like Cookie Monster, but it's so cute! Or at least it was cute the first 50 times...

Don't get me wrong. I love that he loves books. And it's so wonderful to see something that makes him so happy and that he can get so excited about. But oh my god if I have to read this book one more time it's going to push me over the edge!

This Week's New Words

barn
duck
button (although this really just sounds like "but")

Winter Fun

We got our first real snowfall of the year this past weekend. I got Will all bundled up and took him out to play in it. He was not a fan.

First time "playing" in the snow:

















The three of us went downtown to see the Christmas decorations and the train display. Really, he was more excited about the free cookie they gave him at the train display than the trains themselves. I'm a little bit worried that. (I'm creating a bit of a cookie monster, but that's a story for another day.)

Looking at the Westin Christmas tree with Daddy:

















Trains!

New Words

After a period of several weeks where Will's vocabulary didn't really seem to be growing, he added three new words all at once this week:

Eye - Which he really enjoys saying as he pokes his finger into one of mine. I've been the victim of several eye-poking sneak attacks the last couple of days.

Nana (as in a shortened version of banana)

Uck - He has picked this up from me as I use it frequently in my attempts to dissuade him from eating non-edible items such as dead bugs.

So I've been pretty damn lazy in terms of working out the last month or so. Once the Cincy Half was over I pretty much just let the laziness take over and have not gone to the gym, only done one or two P90X videos, and have only run once or twice a week (rather than my typical three). So this week I decided to kick it back into gear and I've done a pretty good job of it, if I do say so myself.

Monday - Nothing. This was Will's first day of daycare so I opted to stay home with him all afternoon/evening.
Tuesday - Ran 3 miles in cold, dark, and wet conditions. By myself. That's right, I'm a badass. Just kidding, believe me, that took some motivation. I enjoyed myself once I was out there, though.
Wednesday - Went to the gym and lifted (chest, back, and abs) between leaving work and picking Will up. (I leave work at 1:30 and can't get him until 3:00 because of naptime so plan to use this as some much-needed "me" time.)
Thursday - More running in the dark by myself. Except this time it was way colder. And snowing. And most of my running girls were at a champagne tasting without me. Pity party. sniff sniff. Again, kidding. I had a good run. Running in the dark is daunting, but once you get into the swing of it it's actually very peaceful. A good time to clear my head. My route is fairly well lit and I wear plenty of ridiculous looking neon clothes and blinking lights so it's not an issue. Also, I just dress appropriately and the cold isn't so bad. I'd much rather run in cold than hot. At least you can control the cold. You can always layer clothes.
Friday - P90X yoga video

And tomorrow I'm going to be doing the Jingle Bell Run 5k with Julie and Katie. Five days in a row of getting out there and being active. Yeah! I think I'll reward myself with a big, fattening brunch at Otto's on Sunday with my girlfriends...

seriously??

really, Thanksgiving Day Race photographer? this is the best picture you could get of me finishing? really? ok, then, i guess we now know that taking pictures is not your strong suit. ironic then, isn't it, that it is YOUR PROFESSION?

Nicknames: My Son the Chicken

Since the day he was born (yes, literally) I have referred to Will by a wide array of nicknames, the ridiculous number of which is surpassed only by the absurdity of the names themselves. I don't really intentionally make these things up and use them. It's just what comes out of my mouth when I talk to him or about him. However odd they may seem, they are terms of endearment. I actually have a long history of this kind of behavior as evidenced by the monikers used for the cats throughout my life. (Molly spent the first several years of her life referred to as Boodle. And then there was my cat growing up, Elliot, a.k.a. Puddin. I also called my mother Nin for some unknown reason during my teenage years.) And I do come by it honestly (let's suffice it to say that my sister was referred to as "Rachel Bob n' Weaver" for some time as a child and, no, I was not the one to coin that).

It's always been in the back of my mind that this is going to do some kind of long term damage to the kid, especially in terms of him understanding that his name is actually Will and not Bug or Mr. Bear. The reality is, though, that I just can't help myself.

As soon as Will was born and I saw that itty bitty little swaddled bundle of cuteness laying in the bassinet at the hospital I had the uncontrollable urge to call him Bug (or Mr. Bug if I was feeling particularly fancy), and it has just snowballed from there. So the vast majority of his nicknames have been some derivation of the word bug.

So I know what you are all thinking at this point: "How can I, too, come up with ridiculous names for my child/pet/loved one/favorite plant??" Well don't worry, dear reader, I'm about to tell you how.

Step 1: Choose a noun that has absolutely nothing to do with the person or thing you are naming. I, personally, chose Bug, but there are plenty of other options out there. (Of course, if you're Gwenyth Paltrow you can just stop here and actually make that the legal name of your child: Apple. But where's the fun in that? Talk about long-term damage...)
Step 2: Transform that word into various other nicknames, depending on your mood or the feeling you want to convey. Here's some ideas:

Add a "y" for emphasis: Buggy
Maybe you want to demonstrate how cute and tiny that little baby is: Bug-let
Feeling a little formal today?: Mr. Bug
Mix it up a bit: Mr. Buggins or Mr. Bugglesworth
Maybe you want your baby to feel like he or she is in a 19th century mystery play: Bugleson
Or just adding an "oo" sound to the end can always be fun: Bugaroo

So what happens when you've exhausted all possibilities with that noun? Well you start all over with another one, of course!

Bear
Mr. Bear
Baby Bear
Itty Bitty Bear

How about Nugget?
Nug
Nuggaroo
Nuggleson

Yes, these are all names that I have used to refer to my poor son.

I have to give Tim credit because he's always turned a blind eye (or ear, I suppose) to the ridiculous nicknames. He's even partaken in a few of them himself. But he's finally put his foot down on the most recent addition to the nomenclature. You see, somehow in the last few weeks Nugget has transformed itself into Chicken McNugget (think Golden Arches). I started to get some raised eyebrows from him on this one, but continued on my merry way. Well, let's face it, Chicken McNugget is a mouthful. It was only a matter of time until it got shortened. I tried out McNugget, but it just wasn't working for me. So now I have arrived on Chicken. And Tim is having none of it. "It's ridiculous," he says. "Chickens aren't even cute." I do have to give him that. While I'm sure there are some farmers, etc. out there that find chickens to be adorable, I've never really gone in for birds that much myself, especially ones who's parts end up on my dinner table. But I have to say that chickens are quite a bit more lovable than bugs, a name which Tim seemed to have no issue with for the better part of six months and which he, himself, still uses to this day. And when I grab that little pudgy toddler up and give him a hug I just want to call him Chicken. Or Chickadee. Or Mr. Chicken...

So now I'm on the hunt for a new nickname. But Tim is just going to have to suck it up and deal with Chicken until inspiration strikes me again and I'm onto some other inappropriate and odd name, most likely having something to do with wildlife.

My Little Chicken wearing his monkey slippers and playing with his new favorite toy