Tickle Tickle Giggle Giggle

Brighton's new thing is tickling...everyone. Not even the dogs are safe anymore. And you are obligated to laugh because Daddy and Mommy have spent hours giggling for him when he "tickles" you. An no place is safe either, I might mention. He's tickled our noses, our hair, our feet, our legs, our bellies, our armpits, you name it he's tickled it. It really is the cutest thing ever, well, next to his giggling fits that he now has. I think it's somehow connected to the tickling and the fake laughing that mommy and daddy do, but I'm not sure. He will look at something and giggle. The cat cracks him up, the dog (when she's not puking in the middle of the night) gets tickled then he giggles when she moves her head. It's pretty cute.

Brighton had his 16 month birthday and still is not walking. I am told that this is still normal for this age. Sometimes it just takes a bit longer, and they usually don't look into any physical problems until after 18 months. We went to the orchard on Wednesday and while we were in the gourd patch, unbenounced to him, he stood all on his own. For like 15 seconds. Twice. The trick is not letting him know it. It's like he doesn't want to do it because he's afraid he will fall. He'll do it if he knows he won't fall. But until then, he's still cruising and crawling and of course, climbing. But right now, he's napping, which is why I have a second to blog :)

Toddlers revert back to our cromagnon ancestery

Who needs to discover ancient bones and buried fossils to figure out we were once uncivilized and beastly? Just eat a bowl of spagettios with a 15 month old. DUH! Mom's for thousands of years could have told you we came from a priomordial being and their genes are still alive and well in our mini-mes. We started out well enough with a nice clean spoon and a piece of buttered bread. Eventually, the bread became a mangle of yeast and flour and the butter somehow had reached the top of my head. But we were still holding strong to the spoon. Until, that is, the said toddler decided that he MUST hold the spoon and feed himself. He was not backing down, so mom gave in with a shudder. I'm not sure how (or if) I avoided airborne spagettios in tomato sauce but he finally released the spoon and dug in with his fingers. That's where the fun began. I, being of unsound mind, decided to sit on my hands and observe this odd behavior. He began to eat the spagettios one by one...I thought to myself "Good Lord, how can he live like that?!" As his color reddened (or more like oranged) on his face, hands, bib, hair, he started to get creative. He'd gently adjust the O's on his plate until the image suited him. Then he'd move the bowl they were in to the other side of his tray. Then to the opposite side. Then back again. Then he'd take out a few more, eat one here or there, and repeat. It wasn't until after about 1/2 hour it dawned on me that he may want to do this with other foods. I heard the door open and daddy walked in. I finished my lunch and ran away leaving dad to clean up the mess. DON'T JUDGE ME! This was fun for baby but I needed a break...I do have to add one more thing. I may get frustrated by the dogs being underfoot and insisting on licking the baby, but this was one day I was very happy they were around.

Mother Nature

Or maybe it's survival of the fittest....either way, mother nature sure knows what she's doing. She can be cruel, but she can also be terribly kind. Though she doesn't allow for children never to get sick, she allows for child to get sick, then become well while mommy is sick. (Yes, Bright had some kind of crud last week and now I've got the same kind of crud but he is well and handled his illness much better than I.) It's still not easy chasing around a toddler when you're not feeling up to par, but it's a whole lot easier than trying to appease a sick toddler when you are sick. Mother nature is also kind in that she at the same time allows for a tennis ball obsessed dog and a toddler who learns to toss the ball all at once. No more picking up slimey tennis balls. Hey, the kid is slimey anyway, so what the heck.

Brighton has not only learned the art of making the dog chase after a tennis ball, he has also learned to answer "yes" by nodding his head when we ask him questions. "Do you need your diaper changed?" "yes." "Are you hungry?" "yes." "Are you sleepy?" "yes." Now, he hasn't learned "No" very well just yet, but we get the idea that he is no longer hungry when he starts spitting his food out of his mouth or throwing the fork with noodles still attached directly at your head.

AaaaaaaCHOOOO!

It's been so long since I've posted, I almost forgot my password and username! SHEESH! We're all suffering today (this whole week) with allergies. Though the Linn County Air Quality website says the ragweed and pollen count are moderate to low, this is the first time this season I've experienced such horrible symptoms. And I'm not alone! Andrew and Brighton have also been miserable. Even the dog is miserable. At first I thought it was just Brighton teething, but now I think it's a combination of both teething and this rotten pollen. And to make matters worse, we have all of our windows open so even if we closed them up, the spores are in our house...ugh. As you can see by the time of this post (2:51 AM) I can't sleep because I can't breathe. Thank goodness Brighton learned last week how to blow his nose and wipe his nose. Now we just have to master actually using a tissue. But hey, it's a start!

Brighton's four teeth still haven't come through yet. Poor kid. He can't just get one or two at a time he has to get them all at the same time. So now he's got a double snotty nose from allergies and from teeth.

Bright started a new Day Care a few weeks ago and things seem to be going good so far. I get the feeling they really work with him and he seems to have caught on to a few things since being there. He now gives me kisses with his mouth puckered and his nose all squished up and makes that "mmmmmmuoah" sound. It is the cutest thing ever. He's still not keen on performing for people but we still try. He has also just discovered ears. Mine, Daddy's, his, puppy's, yours if you give him the chance :)

Just a quick house update, no we haven't heard anything from our realtor regarding the last showing, two weeks ago. You know, the one we spent two days cleaning for? It's so discouraging. I was hoping we'd be able to hand out candy this year at our own house. We're thinking of dropping the price a bit too. I don't know that much is moving right now anyway. There are some houses here in Mc Ville that have been sitting for over a year. That doesn't make me feel any better...

Well, I better be off. My tissue (a strip of toilet paper) is getting pretty slimey, so I better go change and take some more sudafed...

Have a good week everyone!

Labor Day Weekend Indeed!

This was one crazy weekend for the Oberbrecklings. We planned for Saturday to be busy, but not the rest of the weekend! While the boys (Andrew and my Uncle Tom) were working hard putting tile down on their front patio, the girls (my Aunt Sally and I) and BRighton went to the last farmer's market downtown, then to Sam's. We had a nice day of shopping. While on our excursion, I got a phone call from our realtor. "Someone wants to see the house on Tuesday at 3:00, make everything perfect!" He continued to tell me that the buyer is from Southern Iowa and is sending someone to "preview" it. And from what he could tell, it would be a cash sale. How do you argue with that? So for the last two days, literally, we have been cleaning this house. Not just cleaning but decluttering. Something we should have done months ago. I should also say that since we got back from Cali, we haven't TOUCHED this house, less vaccuuming, cleaning the bathroom and dusting occasionally. We were so disappointed that the last sale didn't go through that we had given up. Well, we're not holding our breath for this one either but we are holding out a little hope...Now lets see if we can keep our house this clean and nice!

Enough about Brighton's family life. Here's some new things he's doing! Tom and Sally got him a new Radio Flyer trike that has a nice little handle for mom or dad to steer. I believe its' referred to as a "co-pilot" feature. It's REALLY cool! And naturally, he loves it! We took a stroll at Tom and Sal's house a couple of times, then when we got home, daddy took him around the yard while I made supper.

He's teething again. Getting four more we thing that are causing him a lot of grief. Snotty nose, sore gums, sometimes a bad attitude (but that's probably just his mom's genes coming out). He's not very good about performing for people. I ask him where his nose is and he just looks at me like "nose? What nose?" But I suppose I'd better get used to that huh? This morning, he decided to getup at 4:55. Mom was up stressing, Dad had just gotten up and so he must have been cold lying in bed all by himself. But he woke up in a good mood, so that's a good start. Well, I better go get some coffee in me before I fall asleep on the keyboard. We have a big day ahead!

Have a great short week!