Don't Bite Back

 My beloved nephew, I adore him with all my heart.  Really, I do.  But lately he's kinda a dangerous person to be around.  You see, when his teeth first started coming in he would nibble (read: bite)  whoever was carrying him, this left bruises on some and red marks on most (i really wish i was kidding about this). So I was pretty relieved when he kicked the habit.  Except that he didn't.  Lately he has decided to relive his infancy (13 months is technically a toddler, people).  

Case in point: today he repetitively ran to me, hugged my leg and then ran away, while I was sitting down trying to do a take home final.  Cute, I know. He just melts your heart like that.  So after hug 37 he transitioned from just plain old hugging to playing a game I'd like to call "hug-&-bite."  Yep, a hug followed by a fast, unpredictable, hearty BITE.  On the thigh, no less.  This game happened oh, I don't know, a few dozen times.  Luckily for me I was wearing loose fitting pants, so my leg was (mostly) spared.  Unfortunately I did not go uninjured.  While on one of his rampages I tried to predict the bite and literally slammed my elbow into the back of the wood chair I was sitting on.  Since I  don't normally flail my arms about, I blame him for the bruise.

So next time you're around a sweet little toddler, do not be fooled.  They smile, throw balls, babble, giggle, hug, and bite.  You have been warned.    

The feeling, not the brand

A splendid thing happened today.

You know how people ask if you could eat one food forever and ever and ever what would it be? Well for me it'd be Starbuck's Christmas Blend coffee.  I know for all you 'technical' people that coffee is something you drink, but i stand by my decision.  So today  I bought a 1lb bag of the 2011 Starbucks Christmas Blend coffee.  Now I can connect the IV  brew it's beans at home. 

 behold:

   

off topic, but for those of you who don't know, I have the most rad nephew EVER:

yep those are baby Toms!

he loves dog watching

Jack's Best Friend is in the Making

I'm not a bee

My dears, I have not forgotten about you.  The semester is zipping to a finish and I've been quite busy lately with Mr. Van der Rohe (an entirely fictional character I made up for class, yes we play make-believe...which is a nice change of pace) along with finishing a paper I still haven't properly footnoted.   Not to mention a few take-home finals I have yet to begin.

I promise, when I'm done with the bulk of my work I'll grace you with more of my presence unless of course something worth sharing happens before then. 

Ps. Christie speaks the truth, I have love for Herman Miller and all that emanates from them, in particular the Eames designs

TMI. What Goes in Must Come Out

Disclaimer. if you are easily grossed out or just don't have a sense of humor, then you might be offended by this post.  Don't say I didn't warn you.

That said, if anyone is familiar with the show (which is extinct now) John and Kate Plus 8 there was an episode where Kate finds Leah in her crib covered in poop.  Well we had a little recreation of our own today.  I woke up to my mom yelling "he did it! he did it!" and before I could even pour myself my first cup of coffee I found myself bent over (that's what she said) his playpen picking up his solid leftovers which were pretty evenly distributed throughout the play mat.  As for the diaper you ask? it was still in its normal bucket shape, hypothesis: he slid it off.  No one actually saw him do it (pun intended).

I sent a picture of him to his Momma (who had to hold back from hysterically laughing at work) but unfortunately for you, I'm not posting it.  

On the upside, Jack got an early bath and I learned how to sanitize an entire playpen.  Which might come in handy when I have a wee-one.      

it's amazing how someone so small could do something so nasty

Sleepyhead

Last night my baby boy thought it would be fun to wake up at 1:30 in the morning, followed by 3:00am, then 4:15am, then 5:00am and finally at 6:30am, when my alarm finally went off!

*Note: I was up until about 12:30 last night catching up on emails and work that I missed the night before after lots of trick-or-treating. Well it felt more like a lot of tricking rather than treating. You can read all about that in my next post.

Maybe Jack would have slept better last night, if he would have had one of these super cool sheet sets?! Check out this awesome company here. I'm adding this one to my Christmas list for my not-so Sleepyhead.

Jack is One!

Thunder, tornados, and leaky roofs.  These are the things we were facing on the morning of Jack's first birthday party (which was practically two weeks ago,  but I've been working on a life-consuming paper).  You see, the party was originally supposed to be held near our house at a lovely park on the bay in a historic coral shelter.  The only problem was, the weather.

Just one of the leaks

The picture makes the rain look better than what it was,
the entire area was a humid, muddy, watery schlop

 With no other choice, the party HAD to happen one way or another, we relocated the festivities to our house.  The challenge was the space since we had not anticipated the move (and were in slight denial about the forecasted rain).  We had a mere 3 hours to prepare everything + get ourselves ready, to say we hustled is an understatement.  With Christie's quick thinking (& some yelling) she laid out the new floor plan and assigned everyone a task (being the oldest sibling, she's been preparing for this role her whole life...love you C (=  )  

Cake table

Cake by Ana Paz Cakes

Vertical whale banners by Christie
The blue streamers were originally going to be wrapped
around poles in the shelter, but we used it as a backdrop instead

Whale sugar cookies by Ali's Sweet Treats

Caramel popcorn

Picture frames were favors
Katrine Citrine has a secret, often forgotten, talent of making paper boats 

Jack, through the months

Food was delish! Yellow rice with chicken,
sweet plantains, and bread
all from Havana Spice Cafe

Christie in a Missoni for Target dress
Me in a Zara lace top & Zara shorts with Missoni for Target tights

KatrineCitrine in a Forever 21 dress

(For you weirdos, we were wearing shoes, I'm just tired of prolonging this post)

If you've read this far, I congratulate you.

 

 












 

suspense

Our absence is debilitating, I know.

Truth is, I've been working on a life-consuming paper (wish i was kidding), but don't fret, I have a draft of Jack's first birthday festivities saved for ya'll and once I polish it up and make it all sparkly and pretty it'll be worthy of your presence.

for now i leave you with the one and only...

 

Jack is almost one!!!

Bonjour!

This week I may be limited in the posts I share (heck this may be the only one I write for the week). Jack will be turning 1 tomorrow, yikes! I can't believe how quickly time has gone by...I have been very frantic and a little crazy getting everything prepared for his nautical/whale themed birthday party coming up this Saturday.

Be sure to be on the lookout next week as I will be back to posting regularly. Also, make sure to check out Jack's party photos sometime next week!

This is where I'd like to be after the celebrations are over...

image via the fancy

Zara - Fall/Winter 2011 Moodboard

Zara is one of my go-to stores whenever I am shopping for Jack (or myself). They have great staple pieces that you can mix and match with higher end items for a really great look.

I put together 2 mood boards of my current favorites from their Fall/Winter 2011 Collection for Boys and Girls 3 to 36 months. If you feel like taking a trip to Aventura Mall, it is currently the only Zara location in the South Florida area that sells infant and children's clothing.

Sole Baby

Happy Wednesday to all!  

It seems as though my fascination obsession with shoes has now extended into an obsession for mini shoe shopping. I absolutely love dressing Jack up, but the icing on the cake is definitely pairing a cute pair of shoes to complete his outfit.

Here is his current shoe collection:

Actually when I come to think of it, I think he may be in need of more moccasins.  :)

Here are my current favorite shoes:

Top Row: Native; Toms; H&M

Bottom Row: Baby Piolito; Elephantito

goal

Oh the importance of letting a baby make decisions! read closely or you could be scaring the hee-bee-gee-bees out of your baby (or nephew, in my case).

A few weeks back we took baby J to Toys R Us. In the stuffed animal isle we decided to show him a few fluffs to get a feel for what he likes and dislikes. If you're wondering, yes, at 9 months babies do have preferences and make decisions, if you don't believe me, go have a baby.

case in point:

yes please

no thank you
caused by a purple bear with a cupcakes and hearts motif

scared


get-me-out-of-here

clearly, the boy has preferences. knowing this, on a recent trip to ikea we wandered through the children's department and decided that baby J should have his choice of fluff (since toys r us was highly unsuccessful and maybe traumatic). I was unable to document the decision making process but I did catch a few photos of his fine selection, his very own soccer ball.

look at those cheeks, yum.

expression of the month

he eventually threw the ball and decided it was time to play with the camera

tired

moral of the story: next time you're out with baby let them choose their fluff to avoid putting the fear of god in their tiny souls (which purple bears can do)


until later....

(go gators!)