Happy New Year! 2012

I feel as though I have been spoiled as a mom. Porter took fairly easily to his sleep schedule from day one, had very little eating or pooping problems, has had a mild temperament, and been amazingly undemanding in his short 15 months of life. Don't get me wrong, he has his days, especially since his first birthday. In fact, I was pretty convinced I had ruined my child by leaving him for 2 weeks, because he morphed into a little demon while I was gone. He would follow me around whining and crying and being angry all the time for no reason at all. We have made some changes and slowly but surely my even-tempered little boy is making an appearance that I hope is here to stay. Unfortunately, the poor kid has been “blessed” with my quick-to-anger-temper with his daddy's stubbornness, so I doubt I'll ever see the baby that would sit for hours playing with a diaper wipe wrapper being completely entertained, happy, and (best of all) quiet! But I'll take what I can get :)

With all the changes and phases Porter has been going though, I have had to change my thought process a tad. He has become more curious, and is quite a bit more capable of getting into/making messes anywhere and everywhere.

For example: My instinctive reaction when I discover my baby has carried in a pile of dog poop and put it on the kitchen floor, but not before rubbing it all over himself and probably having a taste or two, would be to: FREAK OUT, gag a little, slap his hand, wash his mouth out with peroxide (if it was safe or legal for that matter) and toss him in the chlorinated pool (if he could swim).... however, since most of my options would result in me no longer having a child, I have had to re-think my process. (No worries, in that last scenario I definitely freaked out, gagged, and slapped his hand, but everything that followed was totally safe and legal and in the end I was probably more upset about the whole thing than he was). It was after this lovely afternoon that I decided for the safety of porter and my own sanity, I need to take a chill pill... OR, just take more pictures :) So here is how Porter has spent his first week of 2012

1. Ringing in the new year a little fussy.... until we pull out a cape and some chop sticks and suddenly we are super hero rocker boy for the rest of the night! He used those sticks on the fridge, trash can, tile floor, dishwasher, and my face (momentarily) and had a blast until bed time. Who needs toys when you have wooden sticks!?
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
2. I let Porter play in the back yard unsupervised for a few minutes at a time (of course, AFTER I scoop the poop these days), and he has become quite independent. I walked out of the house the other day to find that he had relocated the car, AND climbed inside it all by himself! What a big boy :)
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
3. After a bath and pajamas I took Porter over to Britt's house to play with the kids for a while before bed. It helps kill the last ½ hr or so before bedtime. Anyway, We hadn't been there 5 minutes when Andi starts screaming in the bathroom. Britt, Thad, and I all run in to see what she's going crazy about and we find this.... He really loves his baths, with or without pajamas! Luckily britt only lives 4 houses down from my parents, so... porter got to enjoy his bath while I again, calmly, walked back home, picked up a new diaper and pajamas, and walked back to change him.
   
   
   
4. Sunday afternoon, Porter managed to find the one and only mud puddle in my parents back yard. I walked around the corner of the house to find him sitting IN the puddle, completely covering the lower half of his body in mud. Instead of swooping him up and tearing off his clothes like I would originally have done, I calmly walked back inside the house, found my camera, and took some pictures. It was much more enjoyable for both of us!
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
5. Of course after the mud we had to get him cleaned up. So... to the bath he goes AGAIN. If I didn't know any better, I would think he makes all these messes JUST so he can get in the bath tub!
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   Here are some other cute pictures of Porter lately. Because of the air quality in bakersfield, he has had to have a breathing treatment or two a while back. Well, when uncle bobby came to visit, he needed one as well, and apparently Porter thought it was a family activity.  
   Thats right. my kids all about the steroids... ugh. gosh.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   Playing ball with the dogs. Pretty much he just holds both the thrower and the ball and then turns in a circle to try to get away from kc's over-eager attempt to swipe it from him
   
   
   15 months and driving! WOOHOO
   
   
   
   Taken with the cell phone... Happy New Years! Here's to a year full of picture taking to keep my sanity in tact. :)