We are officially down to our final month here in Georgia! I am actually pretty glad to be getting out of here. I love to be outdoors, but the Georgia heat in the summer was too much for me. It makes it really hard to stay on track for outdoor running when you step outside and it feels like a sauna. It's not me so much that I'm worried about, rather having my little one out there in the suffocating mugginess. This past week has been cloudy and rainy, but not a fresh rain. The air is still thick, so under the dark clouds, I feel like I'm living in a giant swamp. I can't tell if I'm hot or cold because the sun is gone and there's a breeze, but the humidity is making my leggings and tees clench to my body. I just want some nice, fresh air! Alaska may have been cold, but the air was always clear and fresh and I appreciated that.

We had a 5K this weekend. Ryan just running around pre-race

Another week of madness down. This boy has me on my toes nonstop. He is such a little stinker! He gets sillier and more mischievous by the day. My new thing has been Pintrest-ing toddler activities to do. Let me tell you-this kid could care less about arts & crafts. I gave him jumbo crayons and he only wanted to eat them. I made edible finger paints and he didn't really care at all about the colors or making a mess. I found a homemade recipe for something called Moon Sand or whatever it was-basically flour and oil- and brought some cups over to feel and pour and make sand castles. He didn't really care too much about that either. He just wanted to play with the cups. Well, that is until I tried to clean up and put it all away. Then he was ready to empty the container and spill the "sand" everywhere. Today, I am going to color spaghetti noodles and make a sensory activity. We'll see how that goes.

Finger painting turned out to be me finger painting and him playing with his little person. 

I've been trying to get him out to parks, but this rainy weather has kept us cooped up inside. We've been out to the mall a couple times to use their indoor playground. He has fun there, but then he realizes that when he leaves, I chase him to bring him back. He has more fun leaving the playground than actually playing in there. That's when I get tired, pull my back out and decide it's time to shop for a while.

Ry is starting to talk! Not consistently. Last week, he didn't say just his first word, but his first sentence! I get him from his crib, we walk into the living room. I go, "say, 'Hi Dada'" and he says, "Hi Dada," clear as day. He doesn't use his words consistently. Sometimes G will come home and Ry will smile and just say, "Dada". I've had him say, "Bye bye" and "Hi" as well-more or less. He uses his words only when he wants to, but it's reassuring to know that he knows them.

On one of those quarter rides at the mall. Hanging in the school bus with Arthur. 

I mentioned a few posts ago that I didn't realize playing Peek-A-Boo was supposed to be a milestone at our checkup. We started playing it and he'll join in and play with me. He's becoming so much smarter, I can't handle it. He'll walk up to me, throw a book at me and expect me to read to him. I don't appreciate the "Bitch, read to me" attitude, but I can't expect much from a one-year old at this point.

He definitely went through a growth spurt. This kid eats like none other. I keep reading about toddlers being picky eaters and ways to trick them into eating healthy, etc. etc. etc. I know one day (especially when he learns the word, "No") he's going to do a 180 and just not want to eat and make mealtime miserable, but for now, I can't picture him ever being picky. Sometimes he doesn't eat green beans, I'll give him that, but he mostly tries anything I give him. I gave him cucumber for the first time yesterday. He put it in his mouth, made a weird face and took it out to look at it. He maybe did that process 4 times.. in, then out-in, then out, before he finally ate it. I gave him another piece and before I knew it, he and I were chowing down half the cucumber.

His new things has been pulling his blanket from his crib and walking around with it everywhere. I think we may have an attachment item. 

When he doesn't like something, it ends up on the floor. And when he's full, food ends up on the floor. I'm thinking I should start a rental service where I lend my dogs out to mothers with toddlers. Every toddler should come with a dog. It's the best clean up EVER. Every little crumb of food disappears. Voila!

We've been keeping up with Tuesdays at the library. Last week, there were two little boys, and they left the carpet area to go look out and bang on the window. Ry went over there with them and joined them with the biggest smile on his face. He was so happy to be part of the group. It was the most precious thing ever. It seems like he's the only one, however, that wants to sit by me and sing and listen to stories. He's always the first to run in the middle and play and he'll join other families and try to sit in other mommy's laps. Great. He's already trying to run away from home. But he enjoys it, I think, and it's great to get out of the house.

I found another running group for moms which I may try out this Wednesday. We'll see how it is, although I only have a few weeks to meet up with them. If only I'd found it sooner.

That's all for now. Nothing too exciting on this end. Just counting down the days and prepping to move cross-country AGAIN this year. I think I'm going to be done with traveling for a long while after this move. So people, get your buns to me because I am just sick of cars, planes and any other mode of transportation. We've put in more miles in a year than some people do in their lifetime. So stop asking me to come visit. I'm done. No mas. Time to be stationary for a little while. xoxo. M