Tiny Tate

A week from today Tate will be two years old. T-W-O. I'd be in disbelief if my boy wasn't already doing, saying and BEING so much to remind me of the fact that he's getting older with each day. I was looking back this morning at some old videos and came across this one, filmed when Tate was just 3 months old. Oh, it made me smile! I'm so glad I have some proof that my larger-than-life son was once this small and defenseless; I swear I blinked and he was a toddler! A really freaking amazing one, at that. :o)

Tate's Morning Routine from Amy B on Vimeo.

Patty Tate

"And mark it with a 'T'...and put it in the oven for TATER AND ME!" He had fun singing this to family during a visit to Indiana. He's a a ham. No doubt!


Patty Cake Tate
from Amy B on Vimeo.

Wild Animal

This kiddo slays me! "It's Tate Burton!" Poor guy has water-table messed hair and is sucking on his fingers - and making some strange, never-heard-before blowing sound? - due to the beastly second-year molars coming in, and yet I still think he's cute (and smart) as can be. :o)

Wild Animal from Amy B on Vimeo.

21 month catch-up

It's been a long, long while! I often feel bad about not keeping this blog up, since I like to have it for posterity. Yet every day I spend with my amazing little man, I realize that the memories are collecting in my mind and heart, and that's enough for now.

It's very busy having a toddler to run after; I give a lot of credit to people like my sister who stay home with multiple kids and don't get a break. Being a stay-at-home-mom is by far the best, yet hardest, job I've ever done but I love it even more than I thought I would. I mean, who wouldn't want to spend their days with this little cutie?

 

At 21 months old, Tate is so bright - he talks a mile a minute, occasionally using sentences including conjunctions and (proper) pronouns. When you ask "What's your name?" he responds "Tate Burrr-ton!" with a cute little British accent. He counts to 10 all by himself and can identify quite a few letters and colors. He's a champ with silverware and can eat a whole thing of yogurt (his favorite along with peanut butter toast, broccoli and strawberries) without making a mess. He has so much energy and never stops moving. Never.

 

His favorite thing is baseball; he likes to play it, watch it and talk about it nonstop - even in his sleep! He has quite the arm and swing, and never goes anywhere without his baseball and glove. While watching the Tigers a couple weeks ago, he pointed to the TV and said excitedly, "Dey hit the ball...dey run the bases!" Yes, Tate, yes they do.

Swiiiiing, batter batter! from Amy B on Vimeo.

 

He doesn't need a lot of sleep to be awesome (tired mama alert!) and is very funny, making us laugh all day long at the things he says and does. Like, when he has a messy diaper, he comes to me and says "I poop, mama!" and while I'm changing it, he waves his hand in front of his nose and says "Shew-weee!" And then when we go take his (cloth) diaper to the the toilet to spray it out, he watches me patiently and then flushes the toilet, waving and yelling "BYE BYE, POOP!"  This kid is a trip.

He gives hugs -complete with pats on the back- and kisses freely, says "please, thank you, bless you and excuse me" without being prompted, and will say "I love you, mama!" out of the blue, which always leaves me gobsmacked and feeling so proud.

When he wakes up in the morning, he often asks "Where dada go?" with his hands raised in a question, and when he hears the garage door open at the end of the work day, he runs to the door and yells "Yaaaay, dada home!" I love watching Mark and Tate play together - they have such an awesome bond that warms my heart and makes me so excited for what the future holds.

It amazes me how wonderful and all-around great our kiddo is and I feel so beyond lucky that I get to be his mama. I know it's a mother's job to think their child is the sweetest, smartest and best thing ever, but really? MINE SO IS. On that note, I'm off to play with my boy - he's singing "Happy birthday to mama" right now and I don't want to miss a thing.  

You can't HANDLE the cute!

Does anyone have any Lemon Pledge?

*clears cobwebs*

It's been awhile, huh? I know, I know...I hate going this long between posts! But I have lots of things in draft form that I'll be posting retrospectively very soon (once I can get time to edit pictures). Turns out having a walking, talking ONE-YEAR-OLD keeps a girl plenty busy. Who knew? ;o)

Stay tuned - I miss you all!

Amy

Wait...what?

Um. I'm confused. It seems I have a baby boy who is about to turn one in a week, who is on the verge of walking and driving and dating and going away to college OH MY GAH.

 *deep breath*

OK, I'm better now - had to get that out. It's just that, really, did he not enter this crazy world only a month ago? Wasn't it mere weeks ago that he came wailing into my life and amazed me with his loads of awesome? Because I could have sworn that was the case.

Clearly time flies when you have the best little companion EVER. Also? Tate just woke up from his nap. Didn't I just put him down, like, a minute and a half ago?... There goes that freaking time-flying thing again!

*Joey Lawrence WHOA*

Busy Boy

We have baby signing ("ball" - he whispers the word, too), standing and trying to climb into the toy bin...AGAIN. Oh, what fun!


Busy boy from Amy B on Vimeo.

(filmed 8/13/11 - 11 months old)

Whoa

If I hadn't carried him in my belly for 39 weeks, I might wonder if Tate shared my genes at all!

Baby Mark

Baby Tate

I love my handsome boys!

My Boob-Man

Since it's World Breastfeeding Week, I thought now would be a great time to talk about something I do many times a day, something that keeps my boy alive, healthy and thriving. I've mentioned here that I nurse Tate, but I've never taken the time to really talk about how much I love and appreciate being able to do so. Aside from being blessed with a healthy baby, the only thing I wished for when I was pregnant was that I would be able to breastfeed without too many complications. There were the obvious reasons of it being cheaper and more beneficial for baby's health, but for me it was mostly about being able to bond with my baby in such an amazing way*.

On the night Tate was born, my biggest desire was that I would be able to cuddle and put him to the breast as soon as possible. I was very lucky that he responded beautifully the second I pulled him to me; he latched on like a champ! It was such an incredible feeling to know we were off to a great start. The next day, my body responded quickly and began making the golden milk my boy needed. Given that our birth experience turned out to be quite different than I had hoped for, this felt like such a wonderful gift and triumph.

It was the third night in the hospital that I discovered the nurses in the nursery had given Tate a pacifier, even though I'd been pretty clear that it was against our wishes. I quickly wrote in bold letters on his bassinet tag: NO PACIFIERS, PLEASE! It was also that night that they brought him back 5 minutes after we sent him (the night before, he'd stayed in there for almost 5 hours while I got some much-needed rest) saying he seemed hungry and was fussing for the first time since he was born. It became quickly clear he wasn't hungry at all...he just wanted to be comforted & pacified, and it was my boob that was the magic ticket.

Ten and a half months later, not much has changed. My boy is a TOTAL Boob-Man. Some might find this tiresome at times, but I love being just what he needs. I love that my body knows what it needs to do to make sure my son has enough nutritious milk to eat. It honestly makes me feel like Superwoman, which is completely unfair since I find it so comforting and don't have much to do with it at all!

When I nurse Tate, he instantly melts into me and stares up at me with such love in his amazing blue eyes (unless he's tired; then they roll back into his head on the way to dreamland). He will gently play with my necklace or his feet, or snaps my bra-strap while chugging away (something he did - kid you not - starting the second day of his life; we will likely get lots of calls from the principal's office someday!). He's so busy and full of energy all day long, but when it's time to eat, it's suddenly our quiet time to bond and slow it down for a while. I stroke his hair and whisper how much we love him and what a good boy he is. Many times I'll make a sound or smile down at him, causing him to let out muffled giggles that touch my soul in a way I can't describe. This time spent together is my most favorite thing about being a mom besides actually BEING Tate's mom, and I'm grateful to my body for giving me the ability to experience such joy.

*Let me be clear: for those who can't breastfeed or didn't feel comfortable doing so, I'm not here to judge. My heart goes out to those who tried hard and weren't successful, and while I can't understand why someone would choose not to nurse, I'm also in the live-and-let-live camp when it comes to parenting. You do what you need to do - be it nursing, co-sleeping, etc. - and please let me do the same. :o)