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originally uploaded by Kelly Dwyer.

Before I headed out of town last week, Patrick, Kieran and I went over to see Flogging Molly play at the Minnesota Irish Festival on Harriet Island. The night was warm and stifling and the crowd (drawn by the smell of underage hormones and no cover charge) was restless. But the music was invigorating - I can highly recommend the song Float from their new album. It was really a performance to see live - they ARE the Celtic Punk genre. They know how to throw a good show and tell a good joke and drink like there’s no tomorrow.

I wandered around the shops before the show with Kieran, who, long the fan of the irish cap, wondered if Pat would wear one. I was unsure - truly, I needed to see him in one to know. So the boys went off their merry way together and came back sporting an O’Dwyer family crest pin and an irish cap for Pat. I think he looks like a terrorist (in a very sexy way). Straight out of Patriot Games or Boondock Saints.

Sean’s become a bit of a loudmouth since we returned from visiting the cousins in DC. During the visit, Sean was even more quiet and observant than normal. He’s a watcher - taking it all in, processing it, considering the options. But upon returning home, he’s started yeowling, giggling, howling, shrieking, yelling, yodeling, and the like. I never need a 5 minute rule with him - I can hear him wherever he is in the house. This running monologue that accompanies everything he does.

He’s having quite a bit more trouble sleeping at night. At first we attributed it to the change in pattern from traveling so much. But his naps are solid 1.5-2 hour naps, twice a day. He goes down wonderfully without any fuss and is in such high spirits during the day. We were scratching our heads…until I looked closer in his mouth today (attempting to dig out a button that he had found under the sofa cushions). And what did my eyes perceive? TEETH! Two more are just about to erupt, and the other matching two not far behind. Amazing kid - doesn’t show any discomfort during the day. Just has a bit of a hard time sleeping and wakes up in a bit of pain. Rock on little man.

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originally uploaded by Kelly Dwyer.

I surprised my parents with a trip to Virginia to celebrate their 60th birthdays. Sean and I spent a whole week on the east coast bouncing around town between family members and houses. I didn’t even have a chance to pull out my camera after Tuesday, so enjoy some fun pictures of the beginning of the week. Please excuse me if you don’t hear from us for a while. I plan on sleeping for an entire week to recover from the insanity.

Sean and I have been practicing words recently. Or, more specifically, I’ll repeat a word a million times and Sean will give me a look as if to say, “Mom, quit it. You’re really starting to piss me off.” We’ve been focusing on baby, mama, dada, milk, more, poop and uh-oh. For instance, when Sean drops a Cheerio off the side of his high chair, I’ll say uh-oh, and he’ll look over the edge, like “Oh. Crap. Sorry about that. Would you mind picking it up, Ma?” He hasn’t really shown any interest in assigning concepts with sounds, but he does babble like a monkey on crack. The only consistent word that he’s interested in saying is “HI!” which he’ll coo at all the pretty ladies.

Today in Target, after determining Sean loves Odwalla strawberry banana shakes, I gave Sean the little juice bottle to play with while I wheeled him around in his stroller. In an moment where I was otherwise occupied, I heard a thud of the bottle hitting the floor and a little boy voice go, “Uh-oh.” Being the good mother I am, I grabbed my cell phone to call Pat. By that time, we’ve repeated the drop-”uhoh”-pickup-repeat pattern several times and Sean has no interest in doing it again for Dad because he wants to chew on the cell phone. We walked around the store for another 20 minutes: drop-”uhoh”-pickup-repeat. It was really quite cool.

“My, he certainly is an active fellow” our pediatrician remarked at Sean’s one year checkup. He said it with a twinkle in his eye as he navigated the detritus of books, chairs, clothing and various other things that Sean had gotten his hands on and strewn around the room. Sean is officially the size of a 2 year old. He weighs 24 lbs, 7 oz (72%), is 31.75″ tall (94%), and has a head circumference of 48.1 cm (91%). He’s a long lean breastmilk eating machine. 94% of height!! Amazing. The doc was pleased with everything that he observed.

I was a little disappointed that he mentioned that he usually encourages mothers to start weaning around 8 months and to be off the breast by 12 months, because he’s seen so many Moms nursing two years olds who can’t get them to wean. Pat and I did a double take, and looked at eachother incredulously. It was startling to hear a medical professional mention early weaning, just to avoid problems with later weaning. I very clearly and firmly mentioned that all of the medical research that I’d done indicates the benefits of extended breastfeeding, and that I was planning on breastfeeding for as long as 3 years, if Sean was amenable. We’ll tackle weaning when it comes to that point. It was our parenting decision and we felt strongly about our choice. He immediately was supportive and congratulatory and helpful with nutritional strategies to support extended breastfeeding. We wondered in the car driving home whether he’s used to extended breastfeeders. It’s such a rarity, especially out here in the midwest. We came to the conclusion that we really really do like and respect him as a doctor. His MEDICAL advice has been spot on, his support unwavering, and his temperament, respect and humor has been so wonderful. Pat and I need to just take his non-medical advice (sleeping, eating, etc) with a grain of salt.

So, we’ve got one happy, healthy and still HUGE little munchkin on our hands. This morning he stood up on his own, balancing without holding onto anything for the first time. As with all developmental leaps, he’s taking his own time making it to walking. Which is just FINE for us.

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originally uploaded by Kelly Dwyer.

My amazingly tolerant and infinitely brilliant husband and I have been married for five years today. Usually, we take a little time to talk about our life for the past year, formulate a plan for the next, reflect on life, love, toast with champagne, have a quiet dinner. This year, we had a lovely day washing crusted bananas out of my hair, bleaching blood (from Sean’s busted lip) out of Patrick’s t-shirt, playing peek-a-boo, reading nursery rhymes, taking baths, going for walks and giggling and laughing more than we could have every imagined as parents. It was one of our best anniversary’s yet.

Here’s to many more years of long walks, smushed fruit, and gales of laughter, my love.

I took a little time to myself today and ran a quick trip down to Target for luxury items such as underwear, sandals, face wash and bread. Pat and Sean were having a bit of boys time together and it felt strange to be in the car without the kiddo. As I was opening my door in the parking lot, I caught the edge of a bit of shouting and thought to myself “Stupid teenagers.” But I stood up and locked the car and noticed several people standing around looking over at another row of cars. I started walking towards the store entrance and saw a man in a car with its windows open yelling at the top of his lungs. He was turned around in his seat, presumably facing a child in the back. I heard the man yell several things incoherently and caught the end of a very very angry sentence, “…because you’re acting like an IMBECILE!!” I walked a little closer to the car, my hackles raised, and as I did, he raised his hand and smacked something in the back. No, I didn’t see him hit a kid. It could have been a vynil seatback that made that characteristic SMACKing sound. Right, sure. I walked straight into the store and asked for Security. As I was giving my statement to a manager, two store security personnel were walking up to the car, and two other Target managers were walking up to the other people standing watching the car to ask what was going on.

I didn’t realize it until I was perusing the Kleenex aisle blankly for the third time that I felt sick to my stomach and my hands were shaking. All I wanted to do was go home and hug Sean. So hug your kids today everyone. Tell them you love them. Do the right thing and keep them safe and loved.

Sean has an internal alarm clock that goes off around 6:00 am every single morning, no matter when he went to sleep, how often he woke up, how recently he woke up or how his naps were for the last 2 weeks. It’s uncanny. It’s downright pissing me off. Pat has graciously started getting up with Sean and getting him out of the house (with it’s paper thin walls) so that I can get another hour of sleep or so in the morning. This unfortunately means that Pat misses his chance to workout before work. Upon reflection, we decided to investigate jogging strollers. Our first thoughts were to buy a convertible bike trailer/jogging stroller. However, with price tags of over $500, our eyes twitched a little and we turned to the one and only Craigslist. Sean christened our 2nd hand humongo $40 jogging stroller this morning by promptly falling asleep for part of the 6 mile run that Patrick took him on. It was glorious. I swore when I got pregnant we’d never be the family with the enormous strollers hogging the aisles in museums and stores. Thankfully, it’s a one purpose only stroller - running. Now if we could only figure out how to shrink it down to fit in a tiny apartment hallway closet…