17 months

Shepherd,

I sit here typing this as you sit beside me, eating your breakfast and chatting away. Some of what you say makes sense, and other words are just groups of syllables strung together that sound convincingly like a foreign language. At times, you talk about the man in the picture hanging on our dining room wall, the one of the old man with a beard praying. You used to point to him and make your sign for beard, and smile proudly. Lately, however, you've been pointing to him and signing "bear", which is comical, since I'm sure if the old man were real, he'd be quite burly and bear-like.


The other day, I bought you a pair of knock-off crocs (yes, mommy is cheap and refused to pay $25 for a pair of shoes you'll outgrow in no time). You absolutely adore these shoes, and each morning, you wake up chanting "sue! sue! sue!" By the time I reach your room, and get you out of bed, you're begging to put them on. You love all shoes, quickly pointing out our shoes, and always trying to put our discarded shoes back on our feet. There is one problem, however. Your feet can get quite smelly during the course of the day. This has led to a fun game at diaper time, where I take your shoes off, smell them, and proclaim "stinky!!" You love this game, and you try so hard to put the two words together. Last week, you succeeded as you removed your shoe, smelled it, and proclaimed "stinky sue!!"


Your climbing skills have accelerated so fast, that I can't keep up with you anymore. I've found you standing atop the coffee table, dancing on the kitchen table, and most recently, scaling the brick wall in our sunroom, only to perch yourself precariously on the window ledge. I beyond terrified to find you there, and it prompted numerous neurotic google searches on "when to transition from crib to bed". I'm terrified you'll climb out of your crib and fall and hurt yourself, however, you've shown no interest in climbing out of your crib, and are usually content to be in there. However, those google searches did show me that you are growing up so incredibly fast. You're one month away from being 18 months... exactly one and a half years... and I'm amazed at all that has changed.


I'm so excited to be a part of this journey with you. I'm blessed to be with you daily, to watch you grow, learn, and explore the world around you. I could not have asked for anything more fulfilling than this... being your mommy. I love you little man.

Happy 17 months!

-"Nonny"

Prayers

Please be praying for Sam and baby Thomas. For an update on both of them, click over to Debi's site.

Monday News

Because I'm lazy... we're doing bullets today:

-Click over to It's a Wonderful Life!! for some awesomely awesome news from Sam at Sunday School Rebel.

-Shepherd has chickenpox. Yes... he was vaccinated. No... I don't know where he go it. Yes... it's a mild case. Thankfully it doesn't seem to be bothering him too much.

-My 32 week checkup was today. I'm measuring 33 weeks, and my cervix is "soft". Perhaps my hunch that this lil' one will be a tad early is correct. We'll see. Everything checked out fine, and I've been instructed by the OB to find a pool and swim 3 days a week to relieve the pelvic pain I've been having. You don't have to tell me twice!! :)

-Our house is immaculatly clean. Forrest and I spent all day Saturday cleaning. The only thing that's out of place is the two piles of laundry to be folded that are on my couch. Once they're gone... my house will be perfect. Let's see how long this'll last.

-Hearty congratulations to Chris and Beth who sold their house.

-Shepherd is still down for a nap, so I'm going to go catch a few zz's before he wakes up. Hope you all are having a wonderful Monday!!

Wide Open

Excited
Originally uploaded by meandscreech.

This past week has been a crazy week. Crazy-good, not crazy-bad. Shepherd is more and more mobile (if it's possible) and runs until he is worn slap out. I mentioned the climbing yesterday, which is still going on, and then there's the running. Lord have mercy, the running. I watched him this morning as he ran around the playground, and it honestly looked as though his feet never touched the ground. He is so fast, and wide open. Yes, there are moments I gripe and complain about how active he is, but for the most part, I am so grateful for his energy. He keeps me busy (which I so desperately need) in addition to keeping me in shape. I had a co-worker of my mother's tell me today that I was one of the few pregnant women she'd seen actually get skinnier while I was pregnant. Granted, she didn't mean I was fat before, what she meant was that I'm all belly, and every other part of me seems to have either shrunk due to weight loss, or shrunk in comparison with the monstrous belly that I have. It's true... I feel huge, even though I have 57 more days to go (roughly 8 weeks). The only downside to getting huge is that it is harder and harder to keep up with the little man. I'm wanting to chase him around the house, to crawl around with him, and play, but more and more, it's difficult to get down on the ground and then get back up. Not only so, but by late evening, I'm so sore around my pelvic girdle, it's all I can do to get undressed. Have any of you gone through this with a very active toddler while pregnant? Any suggestions on things to do (bearing in mind the TV does nothing for him, and neither does quiet sit-down activities such as drawing or puzzles)? I try to get out and do something every day, mostly for my own sanity. If we do decide to stay home, I usually find my house in complete disarray by days end, books strewn everywhere, toys littered throughout the house, making pick-up a not so pleasant task (remember? the pelvic pain?). My options right now mostly involve the play area at the mall that's fenced in. I'm debating having Forrest and my Dad fence off the backyard (which wouldn't take TOO much to do, as one side is already fenced in). I'd love to go to the park, but Shepherd's way faster than I am, and I cannot keep up with him. Maybe one of these days, we'll get a jungle gym type thing for the backyard, get the yard fenced in, and I can just watch him run and run and run from the comfort of my own backyard, while sipping virgin daquari's and enjoying my huge, pregnant belly.

T-R-O-U-B-L-E

He Did this All by Himself...
Originally uploaded by meandscreech.

Shepherd has totally figured out how to climb onto the coffee table in the living room. Not only does he do this, but he'll get up there, spin in circles getting dizzy, completely unaware of the dangers of being dizzy at such heights. Oh yeah, and this morning I caught him on the kitchen table, after turning my back for 10 seconds to stir the oatmeal on the stove. Am I screwed or what?

Weekend Recap

This past weekend, we traveled to the mountains of NC for a little getaway with my parents. We took Shepherd along not really knowing what to expect. He was wonderful. I am constantly amazed at my son and his ability to engage people. We had so much fun playing with him, and just resting in the little cabin on the side of the mountain. It didn't matter that Shepherd had a nasty cold, I had bronchitis, and Forrest was getting the same cold Shepherd had... we were on the side of a mountain, with a beautiful view of the valley below. We spent time reading, hanging out, watching reruns of LOST (we officially got my parents hooked), and taught Forrest how to play Rook. How anyone goes through life not knowing how to play Rook is beyond me, but nonetheless, he picked up fast, and we had a fun time playing a few hands (although, we still need to play a "real" game, cut-throat and all).

This morning, after Shepherd slept in until 8:40am (I KNOW!!! He actually slept in!), we headed to the pediatric opthomologist. We'd noticed that one of his eyes seemed to be wandering and at times, he appeared cross-eyed. My mother, my father, and my mother-in-law had all noticed too, so I knew it wasn't just my own paranoia. We took him in, and got his wee little eyes checked. Turns out he has Pseudostrabismus, a condition where it only appears he has crossed eyes, but in reality, he doesn't. Everything checked out wonderfully, including his eye exam to check for other problems. Poor thing had to have his eyes dialated. The nurse had me fill out paperwork, while Forrest took Shepherd in with the nurse for the eyedrops. I don't know what was worse, being in the room holding Shepherd while he screamed, or hearing his screams through the closed door as I filled out paperwork. I'm sure they were both equally horrific. But in the end, everything was fine, and we were relieved to find out my son has no vision troubles. :)

Well, little man is waking up from his nap... hopefully, his eyes have started to go back to normal and we can go outside! :)