This picture is for Uncle Gordon ... This is Jamie in his "cool dude" pose (and shirt)!! What a cutie!!
On another note, we've finally convinced Sgt. Major to do his share of the chores around here ... he prefers cleaning up after meals!
Life around here is one big adventure! More posts to come chronicling our week of "sick with the ick!" and our visit to the pumpkin patch!
So lately Monkey has been exploring with a variety of new food, which we are happy to help him do, however his recent streak of independence while do so has left us doing a lot of cleaning! So with a little creative thinking ... and a little taste-testing from the lil guy we came up with ...
Monkey Mix(designed for toddlers who are starting to chew on crunchy foods ... feel free alter according to child's abilities!)
The numbers don’t lie … according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevents there were 3,443 fatal unintentional drowning in the United States in 2007. Another 496 people died from boat-related drowning and other causes. The CDC states that more than one in five fatal drowning victims are children 14 and younger. Do the math.
No parent should have to say goodbye to their child in such a finite manner, but to have the cause be preventable is unbearable.
As new parents prepare to safeguard their curious off spring, the list can get overwhelming. From baby gates to cabinet locks, from toilet guards to cushioned furniture corners, parents attempt to safely usher their little tyke from infancy, to toddlerhood, to teen years. Regular doctor visits, dental trips, countless Band-Aids, and antibiotics and pain relievers become the center of which the world revolves. Despite the best intentions, early childhood awareness of water is not often at the forefront of parents minds.
Many put it off for a variety of reasons- too expensive, not enough time, don’t have a pool, or the thought they’ll be near their kids at those crucial times. Many think it is a safety measure that can be dealt with when a child is older, more independent such as Preschool age or older.
But water safety is essential to saving their lives. A child can drown in as little as one-inch of water and for the parents who face this tragedy find little comfort in knowing it was on the to do list.
According to the CDC, here are the alarming facts:
• 1 in 4 fatal drowning accidents involve children 14 and under.
• For every child that dies, another 4 are treated in the emergency room for submersion-related accidents, some of which cause permanent brain damage.
• From 2005 to 2007, there were an average of 283 fatal drowning for children 5 and under per year. An additional 2,100 were treated in the emergency room for submersion related injuries.
At what point do parents get the message. It’s never too early to introduce your child to water survival. One organization that is getting the word out to parents is Infant Swimming Resource
. For more than 40 years this nationwide organization has dedicated itself to the purpose of “Not One More Child Drowns.” 
Jamie started their 5-day a week program this week. On the first day I was apprehensive, nervous as I handed my child to the instructor, Harvey Barnett. No parent wants to place the life of their child into someone else’s hands, but the reality is that we do it every day. When we take a sick child to the doctor, put them on a school bus or send them to a friend’s house we essentially place the safety of our child into someone else’s care, many times without a second thought.
My fears were relieved as I sat beside the pool, silently encouraging Jamie to trust the instructor as another sat beside me explaining each step of the process. I’m sure if I needed it she would have held my hand, but I’m an Army wife, I take it one breathe at a time.
One breathe at a time is how Jamie did it too and by the end of the 10-minute, one-on-one lesson, he was floating on his back for 10, even 15 seconds. The next day he was swimming in short spurts. Though each child progresses differently, it showed me how much of a “fish” our Little Monkey is!
Now, as our first week concludes I am certain that this “baby” step that we took in enrolling him in swim lessons is a good one. At the end of the program I am sure that I will be just as proud of his “graduating” and I will be when he completes kindergarten, high school and college … and in my mind, I’m convinced that this graduation will help ensure the other ones will take place.
Until our next cup of tea ...
So, I'd come up with this idea a few months ago to make a scrapbook small enough for our little guy to hold, durable for him to tote around and easy enough to make without me losing my mind if he messes it up ...Behold the Binder Books!
O.k. so some of those who know me IRL, know that this is just a variation of my Army Life organizational binder, but what can I say, I'm addicted to those little 8.5 x 5.5 inch binders!
So while I am (not-so-patiently) waiting for family members to send in pictures and a little note for Monkey's "My Family" binder, I decided to make him a "Me and Mickey" one ... mainly because I was early to meet my trainer at the gym and there is a JoAnn's next door who had Disney scrapbook stuff on sale and I already had the pictures printed ...
We decorated Monkey's room in Vintage Mickey Sports and from the start (o.k. maybe 6 mos) he's really loved The Mouse Clubhouse (I think its the bright colors and the voices ... anyway ...) Since we've been here in Miami we've been to Dinsey twice, he got a Mickey Mouse firetruck from his godparents for Christmas and his 1st birthday party was Mickey Mouse ... so as you can see, we've got some stuff to work with.
So here is what the binder looks like:
It's kind of hard to see, but it is a grey and red cover with Mickey and says "Me and". Jamie really liked the puffy stars I had on his 4th of July page in his big scrapbook, so I put a few on there for him.
The inside pages were easy. I just got some 8.5 x 5.5 inch page protectors from Staples (they carry the binders and accessories in the stores now so I don't have to order online!)
I cut 12 x 12 inch scrapbook paper down to (2) 8.5 x 5.5 inch pages for the background, then built pages like usual. Its hard to order pictures in odd or small sizes so I created a 8 x 10 collage on Walgreens.com and then put between 4 and 6 pictures in each depending on what I wanted larger or smaller, then I just cut them out!
So here are some of the pages ... these are all from our first Disney trip because I used leftover page protectors from another project and didn't have enough ...
Whew! What an absolutely stressful day/week! Hubby had been gone for the week at a conference and it's been just me and Baby George. This child is running me ragged!!
Today he was in timeout 35 times for removing the cupholders from the recliners and throwing toys in the holes, he dumped the dog's water bowl on himself and played in it 3 times, he blew his nose on his peanut butter sandwhich, fed the dog (who had food allergies) his cherrios, and threw his bowl of macarroni on the floor. I have picked up the livingroom toys 3 times and the bedroom toys twice. He threw a toy in the toilet and unpacked a garbage bag of clothes going to charity. The boy is a whirlwind! And so darn stubborn! He gave himself a black eye opening a drawer because he wants to play with the koozies from his godparent's wedding (which reminds me, I should see if they have extras!) but he keeps opening the drawers ... and I've got maybe and in before he can reach inside them!
Somehow I managed to get 2 load of laundry washed and folded (which was when he scooted away to play in the dog's water), another 2 that had been sitting in the laundry room got folded, and caught up on cleaning the kitchen.
Now that the office is organized, he likes that he can pull entire boxes off the bookshelf (I found some really great containers on sale and did it one night after he went to bed.) I packed away a lot of the books, especially on the 3 lower shelves, because he is into destroying books now.
Whew! If he's doing all this at 13 months, I don't even want to know what the "terrible twos" are like, do I? Hmm ... I wonder how soon we can send him to boarding school!?!
I'd like to get my big bin of fabric sorted and organized so I can work on a project or two here and there, but I don't know how that will work because he just keeps getting into the stuff on the sewing desk ... Maybe if I move the center piece of the sectional out of the office I can put that second desk in there and then I can just shut the door ... Hmm ...
This house has way too many doorways, that's for sure. The kitchen, breakfast area and dining room all have two doorways. Plus the livingroom and bottom and top of the stairs ... that is way to many doorways to be fighting baby gates.
Well, I'm tired, so I think I'll just eat the rest of his macarroni (the stuff that didn't go on the floor) and be done with houseowrk for the night ... Oh, wait! I still have the sheets in the washer and the bibs and kitchen towels in the dryer ... I need a clone!
Until our next cup of tea ...
So my dear, sweet 10 month old is really becoming a lil monkey. I'm not sure if its a good sign that he is doing this before he's even walking!
