An Update!

Danny is 17 months old now.

He is a big fan of walking. He has begun to run a little. He loves to play with his two dogs. He thinks Dr. Seuss books are the best and asks to read them daily. He likes to dance to music. He is not a big talker, but that's ok. He has ten teeth now. He hates green beans but loves chicken. He loves to stack his blocks and Legos, but if someone else stacks them, it is fair game to knock them over. He is probably 3 feet tall now (we go to the doctor Sept 11th) and weights roughly 25lbs. He loves to "talk" on the phone. He has learned how to turn on the TV and somehow get a DVD to play (even though his parents aren't even sure how to do it...). He absolutely loves bath time, mostly because he gets to splash.

Last but not least...


He is going to be a big brother!!

15 Months

Dearest Danny,
You are growing up so quickly that I decided to write a post to capture who you are right now at 15 months old.

In public, you are an observer. You sit and watch people until you feel comfortable enough to go to them. You hate for people to pick you up before you are ready and you are seriously not afraid to tell them! Once you do feel comfortable, you love to show off. You will show them your walkin' skills or scream out 'Bye' in your little country accent. Your eyes twinkle with excitement when they praise you!

At home, you are an adventurer. Unless you are sick, you don't sit still! The house is always a mess about ten minutes after you come to play. Sometimes you will help me clean though. You love to dump your Legos on the floor. You like to try to stack them, but you love to watch your dad or me stack them...only so you can knock them back over! The DVDs are fun to look at but they usually end up on the floor as well. You've finally stopped knocking all the books down. Thank you for that!

You are a big fan of being upside down! With Daddy you are rough and tumbly. You have so much fun too. You can never get enough of the rough play.

You recently started taking steps on your own. You've been cruising since you were about nine months old. Your first step without holding on were at 13 months old. Now at 15 months, you can take off. It is both very exciting and very terrifying! On the one hand, I'm glad you are walking. You love to explore and take every opportunity to do so. However, it is scary! You are still at the wobble stage. You have already had your first skinned knee! I know there will be many more to come, and believe me, I will panic at every single one!

You love love love all dogs. You aren't afraid. No matter how big, if you see a doggie, you want to pet it. You love both Sky and Brandie. Sky tolerates you, but mostly stays away. Brandie lets you do whatever you want because she loves you too. I watched you SIT on her the other day! You also hit her-although I have to remind you to give her 'nice pets' and then you do. You like to give her things. Yesterday, you brought her food bowl over and put it in her kennel. You also gave her a DVD and one of your shirts.

You really are a wonderful little boy. You are sweet, caring, cuddly, adventurous, daring, and silly. You are perfect.

Love always,
Mommy

Time Flies

I cannot believe how fast time zooms by!! Danny is almost 15 months old now. It is absolutely crazy to think about. Some times I miss the days when I could just lay him on the couch and go to the bathroom knowing he was safe. Now, if I slip out of the room, I can hear little pounding footstomps and moments later he peeks around the wall and smiles at me. Danny loves his Lego's. We gave him some for his first birthday. At the time, we only pulled maybe ten out for him to play with. Now he plays with all of them and many times throughout the day. He doesn't stack them yet (not on purpose anyways!) but he loves pouring them out of the container and scattering them around the living room. He always puts them back though, which is great. He is upstairs now for his morning nap. I can hear him talking to himself. He loves saying 'Bye' and has a great country accent when saying it! He also loves pointing to the dogs and letting me know what they are. He can say 'Anna' although it turns into 'Nana' often. I was trying to get him to say his cousin's name a few weekends ago. I kept telling him to 'Say Asa' and finally he said 'Bob'! Close enough! He calls the Fish 'dog' too, but if I ask him where are the fish, he will point to them. If he gets his hands on a paper towel, he will wipe his mouth. He loves chicken, but isn't a big fan of beef yet. I think some of the best moments are when I pick him up after a nap and he immediately lays his head on my shoulder. It's the perfect snuggle. Sometimes, if he is having a hard day, he will come lay his head on my lap. He also always gets so excited when his Dada comes home. I try to get outside before Dada arrives so that we can wave as he is coming down the driveway. Sometimes Danny's little legs won't go fast enough, but Danny stands on tippy toes to look out the window as Dada walks across the yard. Recently we started playing a game where Danny will be in the kitchen with me and I'll sneak out. I quickly run through the dining room and living room til I'm standing behind him in the hall. He peers into the kitchen, then turns around and spots me. He comes running towards me, I squeal and run back around to the kitchen. After awhile, he starts to catch on and runs to the other side as fast as he can go. Then I spice things up and either don't go anywhere. It keeps him entertained for awhile (until I get tired of running!). Danny surprises me daily. He is amazing and so smart. On other news, at the end of May marked my ten years since I graduated from high school. I feel old! This October will be Daniel and my ten years together (six years of marriage). Like I said, time flies!

I am the lucky one

Pale yellow glimpses of sky can be seen through the naked trees on this chilly morning. The hum of the washing machine reminds me that I've already been awake for almost two hours and it's barely 8am. I try to console my sweet baby as he once again stumbles and takes a dive head first into the floor. Oh the joys of a toddling babe.

A doodie diaper. Some baby tylenol to help with the teething. I can see the gentle head pat Danny does when he is ready for sleep. A kiss on the forehead and then I lay him down into the pack n play for his morning nap. Suddenly, he is alert. He quickly stands up and smiles at me from behind that blue and white pirate pacifier.

I pull down the shades to block out the bright sun that I'm not ready for in hopes that Danny will be tricked. He quietly roams the pack n play probably looking for his escape. He sits down and scrubs his fingers against the mesh side. I transfer the laundry to the dryer. I can hear Danny's soft hum luring him to sleep. I sip my coffee in peace.

Some days I feel like I do everything wrong. I feel like I can't get myself alert and ready enough in the morning before my "job" begins. I drag myself out of bed at his first wail, stumble up the stairs longing for a cup of coffee. I feel like I can't complain about my job because this is the career path I chose. Plus there are so many moms out there with a "second" job. I definitely can't complain to them about my frustrations. At least my boss naps during the day-no matter how infrequent those naps occur.

Some days I get extremely bummed like my life is just passing me by all too quickly. I don't get to go out with friends...not that I did that before Danny arrived either. I've always been a homebody and probably always will be. People keep telling me that I need a hobby and I would agree with them. But how do you find time to start a hobby when your boss won't allow for that? The only time I can relax is when he is napping but usually I'm trying to straighten up the house again for the next hurricane season, which will come once bossman wakes up.

I'm not complaining. I love this job. I really and truly do. When I think about where I was a year ago...counting down til the day I was about to quit, I am so thankful. I know we are struggling, but we are happy. I don't regret not returning to work at all. This is where I've always wanted to be and it's the perfect job for me.

So yes, those early mornings come way too fast, but when you look on the bright side, it's ok. Most people don't get to hang out in comfy clothes all day or gives kisses to their boss's chunky cheeks. Or listen to him talk about the most interesting stories. Or snuggle on the couch with their boss as he shares his cold, slobber covered teething ring by shoving it into their face.

I'm the lucky one.

The Silent Babbles

Sometime during the end of summer or beginning of fall Danny finally started babbling. It seemed to take him a while longer than other babes. Maybe not, but I felt like it did. Once the babbling had begun, he talked all the time. If I was talking, he would talk over me. If I got louder, he made sure his little babbles were heard. Finally I would stop talking just to listen; he had something he wanted to say and it was important.

I think around the time Danny's cousin, Asa, was born, he stopped babbling. He had started crawling around then and that seemed more important to focus on. I kept babbling at him, but he wasn't interested in that anymore. Besides crying, laughter, and squeals, he was quiet.

Of course, that caused a lot of panic in my worry-wart self. I know all babies are different and develop differently. I was told by other parents, my sister, online searches and books that he will talk when he is ready and not to worry or push him. However, I also read in those books, online searches, heard from other parents and my sister about babies his age (or younger!) who were already or still babbling up a storm...had maybe even said a few recognizable words. Don't worry? Yea right.

On Thursday, we set up the webcam so that Grandma could talk to Danny. He smiled when he saw her. Clapped his hands. Showed off how he can cruise the furniture and pull up on the couch. Even showed her how he could pick up his dropped book. He knows and loves his Grandmommy. Later, Aunt Anna got her webcam up and running as well. Danny was taking a bath but Daniel brought his laptop into the bathroom so Danny could see Aunt Anna. Danny smiled big at her and showed her how he could splash. Aunt Anna's voice didn't match up with her lip movements though. It bothered Daniel and me (me because it was annoying but Daniel because he wanted to fix it) but Danny didn't seem to mind a bit. Suddenly, Danny started "talking" back to Aunt Anna. Surprisingly, audible words weren't being heard from his mouth either.

Now Danny has started babbling again. Most of the time there aren't any sounds behind his babbles. But he is moving those lips just like everyone else. :)

It's crazy how I worry so much when Danny isn't doing what the book says he should be doing. When in reality, he can't read. He doesn't know (or care!) that he should be babbling right now. He doesn't know that other babies are babbling. It's not like he is falling far behind. I shouldn't measure him to other babies. He IS perfect just the way he is!

Cheerios Everywhere

I do believe Danny has my sense of humor. Which is absolutely wonderful!

Yesterday he started “cleaning” his highchair tray. He just runs his hand back and forth across the top. I thank him kindly for cleaning up. :) Well today, I poured a handful of cheerios on the tray. I bet you know where this is going… With a few swipes of his hand, all the cheerios hit the floor. I picked up 19 cheerios.

I can’t complain. I love watching him learn. Watching him grow. It’s amazing how he learns something so quickly. It is scary to think of him venturing out though, becoming his own little independent person. Started with him crawling a few months ago. He just started exploring. I had to fight the urge not to put him back on his blankets. Now he has started cruising on the furniture. He can go from one end of the couch all the way around (we have a large sectional) to the coffee table and slowly making his way to the fish tank.

He has also realized how much fun it is to toss toys over the side of his crib or to knock book off the couch. I could stop him. I could tell him not to do that anymore...but why? When he is older I will teach him how to clean it back up but for right now, I want to let him explore. Sometimes he does pick up his books (not all of them of course) but then just knocks them back down.

I love being a mom.

On a side note, we now only have two dogs. We officially gave Cassie up to a loving home (Daniel's parents). She didn't like Danny. She never tried to harm him or anything, but she just stayed far away from him. Our main problem with her was the barking. At everything. The wind blew and she would bark. A leaf fell off the tree and she would bark. I kept her outside most of the day, but she always knew when Danny was napping because that's when she barked the most. She's happier now. And so am I!

Almost three years later...

It's been awhile. Many things have changed since my last post.

Daniel and I have been married for over five years now. This coming May/June will be our ten year reunion from high school. That's hard to believe! It certainly makes me feel old.

Daniel now works at Point University doing IT stuff. He has been working there since August. It has certainly been a blessing! He works 8:30-4:30 Mon-Friday. My husband works normal hours!! :)

It's been eleven months since I worked outside the house. At the end of February last year, I left with no intention of returning to that place. It has been wonderful. What do I do all day you ask?

My new job is being a MOMMY!! :) :) Our little Danny blessed us with his presence on March 11, 2011. Seriously it's the best. I cannot believe that he is almost 10 months old now! It seems he changes daily. He is so wonderful. I love just watching him as he figures things out. He has been scooting/army crawling around for almost a month now. At the end of last year (sounds weird to say...), he started cruising the furniture. He loves to dance to music-which is not something we taught him (neither one of us can dance...and he just picked it up on his own!). He started clapping to music this morning. He loves to point. Hehe. He is simply amazing.

We still live in Palmetto with our three pups so in some ways things have stayed the same. Last year honestly was one of the best years of my life. I wouldn't change anything for the world.