How has 18 months gone by?

-Friday, my baby turned 18 months old. 18 months! How? Where has the time gone? It seems to move so slowly in the moment but in looking back on those moments, it has flown by!

I was hoping to celebrate Killian's half-birthday with a post of his 18 month pictures, but we had a bit of drama occur while at Portrait Innovations yesterday. Let me preface the remarks to come with the comment that in the past we have had great success with Portrait Innovations. We are usually in and out in about an hour and get to pick up our pictures in 30 minutes to an hour after we pay, same day! Typically, the shots are wonderful and aside from the bobble we had with his 6 months picture photographer (she smelled heavily of smoke, was clearly "late" for her job, and took the oddest photos of Killian while he rolled around on the floor, not changing her angle to compensate for the fact that he all but had his back to her). We have always gone on Saturdays before noon and are often greeted with a fairly good number of people also trying to capture those winning shots. Still, typically in and out in an hour or so.

Yesterday was a different story altogether though. In retrospect, the phone call to set up the appointment should have tipped me off. The girl on the phone was a bit clueless. I asked her which appointment times she had available and her response was, "Well we have a lot." Ok dear, when are they? "When do you want to come in? That would make it easier for me." Oh-kayyyyyy. How about some time between 9 and 11. "Our earliest appointment today is at 11:30." You could have said that much earlier, couldn't you? Book it!

We arrived approximately 15 minutes before our appointment. The lady told me it would be closer to 11:30 that they'd take us back. No problem! We are early. The waiting room was pretty packed with families, but no more so than any other Saturday we've gone. I'd prepared carefully. I'd had Killian take a nap and pulled the binkie out while we drove in the car to make sure he wasn't bawling when he arrived. I'd packed some water and snacks and toys to occupy him. He was having a blast, running all over the place, greeting people, pointing at things, and building with their Legos. My goal was simply to let him enjoy himself while we waited, so I chased after him to make sure he stayed out of trouble, but generally let him run around.

11:30 - appointment time. All rooms busy, so we'll have to wait a bit longer. No worries yet. Killian's in a good mood.

11:45 - still waiting. Killian becoming a bit restless and disenchanted with his surroundings. Mood: waning, starting to get grumpy, but able to be distracted by shiny objects.

12:00 - STILL waiting. Killian is no longer enjoying the studio. Mood: bitter, hungry, grumpy, and a bit angry with the world. Mother mood: concerned; it's nearly lunch time and if we don't get in soon, things are going to go south in a hurry.  Time to deploy magic yogurt drops. Father mood: a bit miffed and trying hard to have patience.

12:10 - FINALLY called back to have photos taken. Killian munching on yogurt drops, but not really in the mood to stay in one place. Once he realizes that the yogurt drops have to go away...

meltdown in 3...2...1...

BOOM! In terms of the way toddlers view the world, Mommy taking away delicious yogurt drops is the equivalent of being told your brand new puppy has been run over by a car. Commence maddening hair pulling, head banging, tear fit!

Now, ordinarily I can calm Killian down if I am calm. However, the photographer had the balls to state that they were just soooooooooooo busy and that we basically should have anticipated waiting as long as we did. She even went so far as to say that we really should try to book appointments during the week since they aren't as busy. Well sweetie, I don't have the luxury of taking a day off of work JUST to taken my son's pictures. Perhaps that makes me a terrible or "absentee" parent because I a) enjoy my job and b) need to earn money, but that's just how my life works. Also, during the week they are only open until 6:00pm, which is right at Killian's supper time. I can barely get home by 4:30 most days, then I have to shower and pick Killian up from daycare and about the time all of that is accomplished, it's now rush-hour, meaning that I'll be lucky to get from one side of Des Moines to the other by the time you're closing up shop for the day.

I was obviously too bitter/angry/upset to calm my child down. Killian wasn't having it and neither way Mommy (Daddy wasn't feeling it either and felt compelled to share this information with our photographer, who was not in the least apologetic).

I get it. I truly do. You can't always predict how children are going to behave. Perhaps all of the families in front of us had crappy sessions with uncooperative kiddos, leading to a build-up of people in the waiting room and a delay in appointments. However, when you are in the business of taking photos, specifically those of smaller children, perhaps YOU (the business) should put a bit more space between your sessions to ensure that you don't stack up so much, which leads to crabby children and grouchy/angry parents.

What have I learned? I'm going to give Portrait Innovations another shot, however when I schedule the appointment, I'm going to ask: 1) how many photographers will be working, 2) how many appointments are scheduled around us, and 3) how large are the other parties having the pictures taken? If I feel as though the amount of people will be overwhelming and difficult to keep on schedule, I'll be looking for a different time/date.


Enough complaining, right? Let's talk about some good things related to Killian being 18 months.

• He no longer uses a crib at daycare. He sleeps in a cot. One young lady in his room tries to cuddle up with him daily at naptime.
• His vocabulary continues to grow. We've had Mommy, Daddy (or Papa), kitty, puppy, Nana (grandma), and Bapa (grandpa) for a while. Now we also have: tree, moo (what a cow says), huhuhuh (panting like a dog), meow, mine, milk, NO, yeah, snow, sit (sounds alarmingly like "shit"), nose, ear, eye, mouth, yellow, blue, more, light, Jake Jake (his phrase for Jake and the Neverland Pirates), sock, shoe, STINKY (feet), boo, wee, and was-at (what's that?).
• Just this morning, he said his first officially discernible 2-word phrase: "Mommy sit."
• He has tried peanut butter, and enjoys it.
• He no longer uses his high chair.
• He can do somersaults (somewhat unassisted).
• He dances, constantly. This may be as simple as moving his head and arms, or as complicated as bobbing his body up and down and spinning.
• He does Patty Cake and Itsy-Bitsy Spider finger plays.
• He has a total of 12 teeth (four molars).
• He will hold your hand and walk from the car to whatever building/store we are visiting.
• He tries to brush his teeth.
• He helps "clean-up" by grabbing the dust buster, putting cups and plates in the sink, and throwing things away.
• He loves to sit and read.
• He has progressed from turning Mommy's phone on and locking it due to failed attempts at the passcode, to taking pictures. My photo album is filling up with amateur photographs of feet or general blur. He also knows how to turn on the slideshow on the iPad.
• He tries to put on his socks and shoes.
• He refers to all feet as "stinky."
• He no longer has a diaper bag, but uses a backpack named Foxy for daycare that he likes to carry himself. It's adorable when he wears it, like he's going to school.
• He can climb the stairs in the garage, all two of them.
• He cuddles and gives sweet kisses, usually with a "mwah" sound.
• He goes to bed all on his own, usually without fussing.

I'm shocked by his constant changes. Due to the influx of infants at daycare, he has a lot of little kiddos in his room (many older children, including his buddy Jake, have moved up to the next room to make space). As a result of the younger angels in his room (there is an ADORABLE little black girl named Dreya I could smother with kisses), he has returned to crawling a bit, since he is now one of the few walkers in his room. It's sweet, really, and makes me look back fondly on when he couldn't even do that. It is ridiculous how incredible this little man is. Seriously. Nothing about him fails to amaze me. I can't imagine my life without him, fathom what I did before him, and both love and hate his continued growth and development.

Several personal notes:

I haven't been on here as much lately due to some disappointing developments with work. Our school board has voted to close our school at the end of the 13-14 school year. This saddens me on many levels. First, we are a high-performing program; no one can point to a deficit or failure for the catalyst to close. Second, our student body is smaller and allows students who may not perform well in larger school settings to have a safe place with more personalized attention. Third, a lot of time, effort, energy, and sacrifices have gone into making our school all that it is today (countless hours of staff development, time away from family, several near brain hemorrhages due to deep, thought-provoking discussions, and...I stopped breast feeding in order to make sure I didn't have to contend with the myriad of issues that would have arisen from my need to pump while training in Denver and/or at work). Finally, from an extremely egocentric point of view, I will bidding farewell to my first foray into administration. I have enjoyed being the IB coordinator for my school and lament that I didn't get to fully realize that role and all that it includes. I was definitely looking forward to working with teachers in a coaching way and dearly love helping my immediate supervisor in any way possible (though I carry little ACTUAL authority).

That being said, I'd like to recognize three personal achievements: 1) I have officially received my 9-12 Spanish endorsement, 2) I am now considered a "Master" educator, and 3) I am officially no longer taking my Zoloft for PPD. I have set a goal for myself to get back to being healthy and in shape by stopping all soda consumption and working out regularly (hopefully daily for a minimum of 15 minutes). I feel it is important to recognize these achievements and goals, most especially given my professional uncertainty at this time. Yay me!

Had enough? I think I need to be done typing. Killian has just gotten up from his nap and is in a great mood. Snow is falling beautifully outside. I got to hang out (all too briefly) with my Lego Buddy overnight and spoil him (shhhhhhh, don't tell his mom).

If you are looking for something to read and laugh crazily at while waiting for me to update my blog again (hopefully with pictures next), take a look at The Honest Toddler. It's HILARIOUS thehonesttoddler.com and/or https://twitter.com/HonestToddler

Peace out and much love from the Robinson Family!