Soon, he'll be driving that car!

OK, so it won't be THAT soon, but this little guy is making good progress growing up!

I don't want to compare my two sons, BUT....

Tater is making such great progress in the speech development department!  He's far ahead of his brother who was evaluated for speech therapy around this age (1 & 1/2) which caused me to write this little diddy feeling like a failed mama back in mid 2011. 

Don't get me wrong...  Tater can't jump for shit and still drinks from a bottle (both of which were milestones Diego easily made at his 1 year mark).  So it just goes to show that everyone is different.

I just wish I would have been able to have something to compare when I was going through Diego's speech therapy drama two years ago.  It may have been an easier pill to swallow when advised that Diego needed speech therapy back then.

Here is the latest in Tater-Talk:

1. Caca  (just like his brother before, he really loves this word)
2. More
3. Duck
4. No
5. Da (Yes)
6. Pop-up (balloon)
7. Yeah
8. Baba (bottle)
9. Mama
10. Dada
11. Brother
12. Mac
13. Book
14. Banana
15. Milk
16. More
17. Wow-wow (dog)
18. Turtle
19. Bubble
20. Ball
21. Papa (Food)
22. Baca (Tablet)
23. Hello
24. Fish
25. Sock
26. Shoe 
27. Snake
28. Co-Co, Co-Co (for Coca-Cola: meanwhile he brother calls it "Cola-Cola!")

At this rate, he'll be joining the ranks of his brother saying things like,

"Mama don't bother me" 

or 

"Mama, you're messing it up!"  in no time....

-Looking forward to it...  ;)     Shirley (Mama-Ruff)

1.5 yr/old!

Tater, you're 1 & 1/2 today!
 
The other day we had a late dinner at the Outback Steakhouse and our waitress asked me if she could get you anything to drink.  At first I said no since I brought your bottle filled with water, but after realizing the tantrum that might ensue after you saw that your brother got a kid-sized Coke and you didn't - well I changed my mind!

The waitress smiled and flirted with you a bit, and then she said, "I'm not there yet, my guy is still little."

I asked her how old her "guy" was and she said, "21 months."

I furrowed my brows and said, "Oh, then your little guy is older than mine!"  I pointed to you and said, "This guy's almost 18 months!"

She was caught off guard and said very slowly (as if she was still thinking if what she was about to say was rude or not), "Oh!  He's....... a............... really.............................big boy?"

I just laughed, and said, "Yes, he's huge!" Just like his older brother, he scores in the 90th percentile for just about everything that the doctors measure. 

At 1 & 1/2, you're a big man on campus, Tater!

Other Tater Tidbits

• You say over 20 words and use them consistently
• My favorite word that you say is "Turtle".  I bought you a Turtle cup with a swirly straw.  Whenever you see the cup you point to it and say, "Tuh-tul!  Tuh-tul!," and you don't stop until I pour you something to drink in it.
• You get cranky around 9-9:30pm.  That's when I tell you it's time to sleep and to kiss everyone good night AND YOU ACTUALLY DO IT with no complaints.  I never thought I'd have a kid who goes to bed willingly, but you do!
• You also have a favorite blankie and walk around holding on to it, like kids on TV do!  Once again, I never thought I'd have THAT kid!
• There was a brief moment where you started crying during bathtime like your brother, but then I started bathing you two separately and now you're back to being a fish!
• Although you don't wear me out the same as you did last year, you still seem to have a goal of getting me off the couch at 5 minute intervals, max.  
• You still love Qori so much but lately you've gotten into a hitting phase and sometimes you pull his fur.  I yell, "Don't mess with my Qori!" a lot these days.
• I joke that you're a rock-star and I can see you trashing your hotel room when your older.  When you get mad, you grab things and throw them like an angry rock-star.
• You pretend that you don't understand when I say one word - "No".  But you immediately stop what you're doing when I say six words:  "I'm going to take it away!"
• You have a deep, raspy voice.  Perfect for imitating horse sounds, as I've come to find out.  Spot on, Tater!
• You still have a very healthy appetite and you are willing to taste-test anything, it seems
• Sometimes, you can set your brother off by just staring at him or getting too close to him.  Some people might wonder what's wrong with your brother, but we KNOW YOU Tater: you sneaky devil!  The deeper the dimples, the sneakier the Tater!

-Shirley (Mama-Ruff)

I'm not a 3yr old!

I don't know what it is, but lately my nails have been breaking easier and my hair.... oh my hair..... I mean I never had GREAT hair, but it never gave me big problems growing up.  But now, I'm an old lady and things are going downhill!

So I started taking Biotin supplements right around the time I started my 80% clean eating diet.  It still hasn't been very long, but I feel like my nails are at least a little stronger.  And last week, I couldn't wait for my nails to grow before I bedazzled them.  I had a craving to bedazzle them NOW.  So I picked up some nail stickers from my local store.  I tried to find the most bedazzled, yet work-appropriate ones I could find.  (Does that even exist?  LOL).

My manager and a couple other ladies at work commented on my nails.  According to them, they liked them.  Or did they?  hmmmmm.  It's possible they were just being nice, but I don't care either way.

I've been "wearing" these nails for over a week now.  They're holding up well and I'm quite enjoying them.   They're the Kiss brand.

So I was working 1:1 with my manager today and she mentioned that she stopped by her local store and took a look at the nail sticker options.  She said she found some cool, textured nails that almost feel like fur.  I'm not sure what she was talking about but I thought it was something I would get on board with (what can I say, I'm more daring when it comes to nail fashion).  She said she thought about it for a second, but then decided she wasn't three years old, but it would be something great for me. 

Ouch!  Sounded like a diss, huh?  I don't care though.  I run with my pack of ruffians, the wannabe leader of which is 3 yrs old.

-So if I can't beat 'em, I join them - Shirley (3 yr old Mama Ruff)

Family Benefit Concert

Over the weekend, my company threw its yearly benefit concert with surprise acts at AT&T Park (home of the SF Giants).  The lineup was great with Demi Lovato, Train, Pitbull, and Nickelback.

With two kids now, I couldn't really be all up in the crowd trying to get pics of the stars like I used to, so we stayed in a very nice grassy area and I focused my camera on the family instead.

It was a beautiful day in San Francisco...

PS.  My pic of the litter is the pic of Tater sitting on making it to third base ;)

Karma

Remember when Tater beat the shit out of my eyebrow, and I threatened him with Karma?

Well, let me tell you folks: that shit's real!

I mean it's practically on his eyebrow too! 

Only this was a little different.  Tater had an existing small scratch right on that spot.  On the way home from daycare my dad's house, my dad gave Tater a little green balloon to play with in the car.  On the way home, the balloon popped in the car and scared the shit out of me!  Then there was complete silence.  A few minutes later, DD told me that his brother's face was hurt.  I freaked out for a second, remembering I hadn't heard him stir after the balloon popped.

Oh my god!  Was he unconscious!!!!!?

I called to Tater at a red light to give me some sign of life!  He moved his hand.  I couldn't see his face since he's still rear-facing, but knowing he was responsive made me feel so much better.  When I got home, I was confronted with that big ass bloody spot!

No crying, screaming, or curling into the fetal position like his wimpy Mama did the other night.  No depression.  He was still happy go lucky Tater!

I could learn a few things from this little Tater Tot! - Shirley (Mama Ruff)

May 2013 Recap: Instagram Style

It started off by me getting my ass beat to a pulp by my youngest son, which he made up to me on Mother's day by swinging on the big boy swing by himself.  Lots of smoothies and clean eating this month, and it all ended with my dad's birthday shebang. 

Whew! 

Hope you had a great May! - Shirley

Let's Party!

My daycare provider dad turned 64 last weekend, and to show some appreciation of all he does for us, we threw him a party!

Here are my top photo pics of his big shindig:

Family & Entertainment

Backyard Lamb (which I did not eat)

Qori - self appointed guardian of the lamb for the ENTIRE day!

Tater gets festive!

Diego realizes that the best obstacle course to run through is:  dancing people!

Dad gives his b-day speech with a joke that I SHOULD NOT have heard as his daughter.  LOL.

This cake seriously weighed 20 lbs and was stuffed with delicious strawberries.

My favorite picture of the day:  Tater, Dad, Aunt, Grandma  (the "Asian" side of the family - minus me!)

Apparently the party was where the lamb was.

Pisco: Peruvian liquor, infused with coca (as in cocaine) leaves.

Ravenous party guests.... (aka. my uncle)