18 Months: Leaps and Bounds

Tommy turned 18 months old on Sunday.  I think back to just a few months ago and he has really grown and changed so much in just a short time.  He's talking so much.  He knows so many words.  He knows so many body parts and animal sounds.  He knows what he likes and what he doesn't.  He is truly developing a fascinating sense of humor.  He laughs at all kinds of little secret jokes that we don't understand.  He likes to entertain us and strangers too.  He obeys pretty well on good days.  He still cries when we use the word Time Out.  He is so very smart and loving and fun and hilarious.  Every day is a new adventure.

One point five years old.  It's just crazy.

 I am proud to say this might just be genetically from me.  This is always how I sit in kitchen chairs for some reason.  Foot or knee up in the air.  It's super comfy! I understand why he does it!

 Tommy, a guy who knows what he wants, well he wanted to trade shades with Mama.  We are looking GOOD.

He is such a good little guy.  Look at him playing in his ducky tub, entertaining himself while mama got a shower.

 His diet is still really interesting.  Still no dairy/eggs/peanuts or soy.  He's had some digestive issues so we started giving him lots of beans and BOY OH BOY does that boy love BEANS.  Black beans, baked beans, pinto beans, lima beans, the list goes on and on.  He's beaneriffic. Beans, cauliflower and broccoli diet?? Needless to say, we're learning about toots right now.  It's hard to explain the difference between toots and poops to a toddler but he's picking up quickly. :)

 I'm still taking pictures of him asleep.  Cookie was holding down the fort and cushioning his head.

 It has been so hot out this summer so you know what that means? Popsicles! Grape berry popsicles!  You should have seen his face when tasting the coldness.  Then he kept going back for more.  Yum!

Pre-bedtime picture in his new Sesame Street pajamas.

Parenting Win/Fail
Andrew had a man-date on Sunday so it was just Tommy and me hanging out.  I decided to take Tommy to TJ Maxx.  Tommy was a pretty darn good kid if I do say so myself.  He put up with my maxxinista (is that how they spell that?) shopping.  My husband doesn't even do that. :)  As I was about to get in line to check out, a grandmotherly figure walked up to us and said, "You have a very well behaved son. I was watching.  He was doing everything you were saying and obeying so well. You are doing a good job."  My heart swelled with pride as she walked away.  That kind of compliment from a stranger really does wonders for the anxieties and fears you have about parenting.  I was smiling so big when I looked down at Tommy to show him how I proud I was.  He proceeded to swing back and smack me square in the face because he wanted more cheerios.   Fail.  I also didn't want to scold him because that dang lady was still in earshot.  Double fail.  :)  Tommy for the win.

Learning New Words
Every time we pull in the garage, I say to Tommy, "We're home!" So he started using the word too.  Only we might need to go over the definition with him again.  We pulled into a parking spot at Target and shut off the car. All the sudden we hear a little voice from the back seat, "HOOOOMMMMEEEE!!!"
HAHA! Now Tommy, Home is where we live, not where we spend all our money. :)

Health: The Trifecta is Complete?
Tommy recently acquired a cold of some sort and began to wheeze.  I called the doctor. He checked him out and his diagnosis was asthma.  This was not a surprise to us.  We have been told since he was couple months old that eczema, allergies and asthma usually come as a package deal.  I hadn't done any research into asthma yet (because I'm still a little in denial) so I really didn't know what to expect.  The more I read, the less scary it becomes.  He will most likely grow out of this too.  Hopefully soon.  These sicknesses are annoying for him and for us.  But as always, there are much worse things we could be dealing with.  This is really minor in the scheme of things.
So at 6 months he was diagnosed with eczema.  At 12 months he was diagnosed with food allergies.  At 18 months he was diagnosed with asthma.  Things can only go up from here!

18 Month Checkup: UPDATE
Tommy Hawk had his 18 month appointment with a NEW doctor this morning.

 They were so cool. I was about to put him down on the floor and they put down a blanket for him.  (Germs? I don't know why?)

 So Tommy had his own little picnic right in the doctor's office.  He had his cereal, cup, books, and toys all spread out around him.

We decided to finally switch pediatricians after not getting what we wanted from our doctor.
(As in, the last time I took him in when he diagnosed him with asthma, the doctor was having trouble reading through the chart -because he couldn't read the handwritten notes- and says, "Oh he has food allergies?"  Um YES.  I would think he would remember that after seeing him once a month for the past 9 months. This is not the only reason we are switching but it was the straw that broke the camel's back.) 
So our new doctor is a strapping young lad (haha) who was very thorough and took the time to discuss each of Tommy's issues.  He and his three year old daughter both have allergies and asthma so he had a lot to bring to the table.  He also said that Thomasaurus was probably diagnosed with asthma a little too soon.  He said it's fairly common for children to have a bout of wheezing before age 2.  It doesn't necessarily mean he has asthma.  He still has a chance but at this point he's not actually an asthmatic.  So that was encouraging.
After we discussed the trifecta, the doctor goes, "So what is going WELL for Tommy?"  He's got a sense of humor! I like it!
You know what else is cool? He's in the IU Health system so I can now access Tommy's medical records online! No more calling the office for his immunizations and then driving to pick them up (haven't they ever heard of a fax machine?? *eye roll*).  Hooray!  Also, I can email our doctor through the same system and he said he would get back to me in a couple hours (during business days).  That's super exciting! Technology (and people who embrace it) are AWESOME! Ha!

What a cutie little patient! 

Well Tommy, you're quite the big boy these days.  I can't believe how fast you're growing. Happy 18 Months!

A Bathtub of Many Colors

My mom got Tommy a basket full of bath time funzies at an auction for my brother's kids' school.  (I never thought I'd be putting that sentence on the internet.) But she thought maybe he could use some of the stuff if it didn't affect his skin.  Well.... it didn't so we've been using it! 

 So the funzies were Crayola Bath Tub Color Drops. You drop them in the tub and it turns into a crazy color tornado, especially when you put two primaries in to make a secondary! (Elementary Art lesson, right there!)

 Red and blue make purple!

Orange you glad he's having fun!

It ain't easy being green water in a tub.

A Weekend for the Ladies

This past weekend was my final weekend in a row away from Tommy.  I had plans to be away from him FOUR weekends in a row.  It was rough but it was just how everything was planned (Vegas, Indy 500, Christina's Wedding, Girl's Weekend).  So now it's all over but it ended with an epic weekend in Chicago with my college friends.  Yay!

 We started by drinking in the park! We were going to go to Oak Street beach but two very friendly police officers shut us down because we had a cooler of beer.  Better to be rejected than to have to pay for a drinking ticket, I guess. :)

 Holly's friend Sally left the beach and met us at the park because she knew where the REAL party was!

 Krissi was very happy to be back in her Sweet Home Chicago.

 After we had enough of the park, we got a cab back to Holly's place.

 This picture cracks me up because Maria was SO confused as to why she couldn't turn her head.  Turns out, Krissi was hungry.

 Holly was relegated to the front seat with the cab driver.

 You can see how she felt about it.

 When we got back, the girls showed me videos of their night karaoking the night before.  I missed out because I wanted to stay home with my boys instead.

After we did some maxing and relaxing, Maria and I made our way to the liquor store.  We decided NOT to go in because this man in the picture above, was screaming at the cashier.  The cashier called the police and they had a "talk" with him and sent him on his way.  What's funny about this is that Maria knew exactly who this guy was.  This man had just scammed her for money for a parking spot the night before.  He had a suitcase and a bag because, as he had told Maria the prior night, his wife had kicked him out of the house.  So the next time you're in Chicago and a homeless man named Ishmael tries to make you pay for a parking spot, you should probably realize that this is a scam. :)

 There goes Ishmael, looking for the next innocent person to scam... or maybe a new wife.

 We went to dinner at an amazing Mexican restaurant.  After dinner we came back to Holly's place to play games and drink.  We played the infamous party game that Adam and Steph taught me.  ALWAYS a crowd pleaser and it kept us from getting tired.  Sweet.

 There was also plenty of dancing to keep us awake too.

 There are so many pictures that just crack me up when I see them.  This is one of them.

 This is another.  That's a colander and the party game bowl.

 Here is another.  Holly decided to put on her cat ears, her cut off canadian tuxedo jacket and her David Bowie skirt and have an impromptu fashion show.  This is what 30 year old girls do when they drink.

 Then Krissi threw on the jacket and posed for her senior picture.

 The dance party continued until very late into the night.

 Holly's roommate was kind enough to go to the grocery and buy us the largest bottle of Jack Daniels I had ever seen.  She became the coolest girl EVER at this point.  Holly was the second coolest for attempting this feat in the picture.

 There's Joanne on the right! Yay for Joanne, Holly's awesome roommate and our new party pal.

 Once it got to be the wee hours of the morning, we decided to go out.  Because that's what you do when you turn 30... you go out when everyone else is already done partying.  We went to Sluggers.  Yeesh. We were much older than that crowd.  But we have fun where ever we go!

 After Sluggers, we went to the Dugout.  Yay for Angela coming out after she got her homework done.  It was so great to see her too.

 Here's another random ass picture from the evening.  Mandy is imitating the guy in the picture I believe.  Makes sense.

 Here's our first (partial) group picture of the weekend.  It took that long to get a group shot.

 Then we finally were able to drag Holly from her Hannah Montana dance party to come get in the group shot.

 Then when Joanne joined the picture, Holly decided that pictures were over and it was time to get back to drinking...

 Which completely cracked me and Joanne right up.  So maybe that's why it was so impossible to get a group shot.

Mandy found some confetti from a 50 year old's birthday party.  I believe this made her sad.

All in all, it was an awesome night.

The next morning, we went to Ann Sathers for breakfast.  I had the French Toast Fantasy.  It was incredible. Thanks Ang for taking us there.  What a perfect ending to an insanely awesome weekend.

I had such a wonderful time with you gals.  Here are a few things that I keep thinking about and laughing.
1.) Was it really a pirate or did you screw that up?
2.) You can say WORDS. This is not the acting out round.
3.) Huey Lewis... AND THE NEWS! and the WEATHER!
4.) Corky's girlfriend
5.) Bye Bye Bye
6.) She gave birth to you.... Krissi's mom? Someone really put Krissi's mom?
7.) I don't know who this is. Wilford Brimley?
8.) It's something that I always have on my face... A mustache??
9.) Sunny side up
10.) TUPAC!!!

Yardwork

Tommy has always enjoyed helping dada in the yard.

 Yes he is wearing shoes over his footed pajamas.  Yes they match his PJs EXACTLY.  Boy knows how to dress!

Recently we did some work to our horribly overgrown landscaping.  I didn't take a 'before' picture so you'll just have to glean what you can from this picture.  The overgrowth is on the right.  Yikes.  As for what Tommy is doing in this picture, I believe he is leaning forward trying to get the attention of some stranger who had just run by.  It didn't work.  Boo.

The overgrowth was embarrassing so we asked to borrow my dad's rototiller and we cleaned that crap up! Thanks to my awesome dad for pretty much doing ALL the rototilling.  He's the greatest.  (Pre-Father's Day Shout Out!)  Doesn't it kind of look like a Japanese Garden now? We took almost everything out and we're going to start over.  It looks loads better right now.  We are so happy.  Thanks again, Dad!

 So anyway, since Tommy loves yard work, we got him his very own set of gardening tools.  Randomly I got the set at TJ Maxx (hellz yeah) for $15.  It came with a lawn mower, a wheel barrow, a rake, a hoe, and a shovel.  It is awesome.



He spent the entire afternoon and evening running around with his lawn mower.  The kid couldn't be happier.

Checking the oil on his mower, I think.  Looks good!

 He mowed the concrete...

 and the grass!

 He even mowed all the way down to Uncle Adam's car and back.

 The next day he even got to mow with dada! How cool!

 Um, dada? You're doing it wrong.

 Like father, like son!

 Hopefully he'll still like to mow in 10-12 years! :)