He's got personality!

My son cracks me up! He has so much personality! He is so funny! Yesterday we went to the supermarket. My son decided he did not want to sit in the cart, so my husband carried him throughout the store (no easy task, mind you, he is 30 lbs!) I was walking doing the shopping and they were walking along behind me, looking at various items. We got to the baby food isle and I was examining certain things I was interested in. They must have been standing behind me because all of a sudden I feel someone tugging and batting at my hair, and hear my son giggle. He does this a few times, each time his giggling is escalating. He is trying to get me to turn around! How smart is he! 14-months old and he engages in this teasing sort of play, and completely gets it! He never ceases to amaze me! See, this is the stuff that I hold dear to my heart, and when I feel bad for all the losses in my life, I think of my son (and husband, sister, etc) and everything is in balance again.

Don't Want to Miss a Thing!

My son won't sleep. He is boycotting it. He must have decided he doesn't want to do it anymore. He goes to bed around 8/8:30 p.m. and lays in bed talking, singing, and making all sorts of noises. He fights sleep more than any 14 month old I have ever seen! Everyone keeps telling me is afraid of missing something. I wanna know, what possibly can a 14-month old miss? I know to him, his life is pretty full and stimulating. I am glad, I take credit for this. But doesn't he realize that all the same toys, the attention, the love, the stimulation will be there waiting for him, when he gets up? Doesn't he realize that right now, the world revolves around him? He is so funny. Listening to him jabber on in his baby language, screeching and talking away. It really is very sweet, and I could listen to it all night, but my boy needs to sleep. So, I go in. He won't sleep if he has a poopy diaper. I check it, and there is no poop. He smiles at me as soon as I walk in, as if he is saying "Yippee, you came to play!" He kicks his legs, waves his hands up and down, and practically sings with delight. I pick him up and put him in the rocker, lay him back and rock him while I sing to him. He smiles and reaches for just about everything in the room. I spend time with him, trying to calm him down and get him relaxed. (Oh, he has me wrapped around his little finger, all right!) I put him back in bed, tuck him in, and say goodnight. As I am walking out, he watches me through the bars of the crib, and starts to cry as I close the door. Then I come back into the den and listen through the monitor. The crying has turned once again to singing. Finally, at 10:15 p.m. he falls asleep. He has to be at an appointment at 8 a.m. and he will be good and mad when I wake him up in the morning. If only he would go to sleep earlier, he would feel much better in the morning. 14-months old and already not listening to mom! I see what I am in store for! Truthfully, I love that he has his own personality. I wouldn't change a thing!

Three posts in three days!

I am trying to get in the habit of blogging more frequently. The problem is, I don't always know what to write. But today, instead of using that as my reason to not blog, I will blog anyway and sort of free-associate. So, bear with me.

We had a nice Memorial Day weekend. Yesterday, especially, was nice. The weather here in Michigan was rainy all weekend. But yesterday was picture-perfect. It was in the high 70's and sunny. We went to the club that my in-laws belong to and had an out-door lunch and spent some time in the pool with my little guy. He loved it! The pool was heated, and it was really nice. So, my husband and myself took turns holding our son Zack, and entertaining him. He really liked it (except when he was splashed by the bigger kids). It was so nice. We went on a cruise a couple of months ago and he did not go in the pools then, the water was salt water and it was way too cold. So, this was very nice. I love to see him so happy.

Last night I was feeling motivated. I worked on the journal I keep for my son, and had gotten very far behind on. I even got on the treadmill (once I discovered how much fat the two all-beef kosher hot-dogs I ate for dinner had - no bun. I was amazed!) So I got on the treadmill for the first time in months, it was not as hard as I had thought. (I guess lugging around my 30 lb. son and stooping and bending while holding him has helped). So, I felt good about my exercise, and vowed to be motivated to get things done today, like paperwork, exercise, and house-work, which I am always behind on. I do feel better about things and actually feel less anxious when I do these things I am behind on. But, today is another day and I do not feel motivated. I feel tired and have a slight headache. So, I don't anticipate being especially productive today. I think I will play with my son and maybe take him for a walk later. I chose to see that as productive in a different way.

So, not the most exciting post, but a post none-the-less! I will write more soon!

A Boy and His Balloon

My son loves helium balloons. I mean, he REALLY loves helium balloons. It all started at his first birthday party, on March 25, 2007. We had bought some balloons to have at his party, which, as we all know, is not uncommon. So, after the party, we came home with some balloons. Well, he decided he really liked the red one, and became pretty attached to it. This I mean figuratively and literally. He held that balloon by its string and would not let it go. He held it while sitting and playing with toys, he held it while sitting in his high chair and eating, he held it while getting a diaper change, he even wanted to take it to bed with him. And he would get really mad if we tried to get him to let go of it, for things like taking a bath, going to sleep, or even when we just tried to get him to switch hands, when we were dressing him. It really was pretty cute, though. EVERYWHERE he went, so did his balloon. The problem is, helium balloons don't stay up forever. So, that balloon lost its umph pretty quickly and my son lost his beloved toy. But, two days later, his daddy, the sweet man that he is, went out and bought a helium balloon with added magic to make it stay afloat longer, and came home with this gem for my son. He got a new balloon on his actual birthday! My son loved it, and enjoyed this balloon for a whole week! I am not kidding, the balloon stayed up even as it became smaller from losing air. Now, fast forward several weeks, and my son has not had any more balloons since that one faded. We went to a birthday party this weekend and guess what his favorite party favor is? You guessed it! A helium balloon. Only this one is yellow, not red. I think he still prefers red, but is happy to have the yellow. It really is very sweet.

Laughter

Last night I spent the evening with my sister. The evening was a typical Saturday evening for us. We got together - myself, my son, my step-dad, my husband and my sister. We had pizza at her house and helped her do some organizing. Eventually, everyone left but myself, I was to stay and help her. We first finished watching a movie we had started, on her new BIG screen t.v., which she totally surprised us with, I had no idea. She had the t.v. since Wednesday night, and this is my sister who CANNOT keep a secret from me. Wow, I really was surprised! It is really nice too. So, we finished watching the movie, Happy Feet (not at all what I expected). Then we organized a little, talked a lot, and I did sudoko. Well, she convinced me to stay the night and have a sleep-over. (My hesitation was due to me knowing I would miss my son if I was away from him overnight). We stayed up way too late, and talked and laughed. We laughed the way we used to, over the silliest things, so hard that we cried. It felt really good. That sort of laughter that my sister and I share reminds me of my mother. She used to witness us laughing like that, and she would say how happy she is that we are so close. She never had a sister, so she was also envious, but she was not jealous. While we knew she was envious, we also knew it made her happy. She would laugh too, even though she did not get the joke, not like we did. She laughed out of her own happiness, for the closeness my sister and I shared. While this makes me think of my mother, and I am aware of how I miss her, as always, I am really glad for last night with my sister, it was long over-due, and I had forgotten how good it felt. Thanks Sis.

Baby of Mine

Baby Mine, don't you cry.

Baby Mine, dry your eyes,

Rest your head close to my heart,

Never to part,

Baby of Mine.

Baby Mine, go to sleep,

Baby Mine, have sweet dreams,

Rest your head close to my heart,

Never to part,

Baby of Mine.

Little one, when you play,

Never mind what they say,

Let your eyes sparkle and shine,

Never a tear,

Baby of Mine.

Baby Mine, I love you so,

Baby Mine, you'll never know,

How much I love you so,

Baby of Mine.

*Zachary's special lullaby, with love from Mommy.

**Original "Baby of Mine" by Bette Midler.