Eleven like Heaven

Hooray!  It's November.  Another month and this little boy will be a solid year.  Is that even possible?!

This month has been so much fun!  We got over the "getting back down" hurdle early on, so this little boy is constantly standing up and down against pretty much any surface he can find.  His favorite, of course, are the legs of any unsuspecting person he can get his little hands on.

Yay!  He also started crawling on his knees earlier this month.  Hooray!  He just keeps getting faster.  It is so fun to see his personality (and mood!) come out in the ways he crawls.  When he gets a look of determination on his face, I could swear he's goose stepping over to me ("Don't you walk away from me when I'm talking to you!")  He also has his playful crawl, usually accompanied by grins over his shoulder as he tries to run away.  There is, of course, his sad or fussy crawl accompanied by a generous dose of whimpering.  Then, another favorite, is his tired crawl where he slowly makes his way in random patterns, making screechy noises ("I'm having so much fun and oh, no, I'm not at all tired) and rests his head every so often.

Now that November has made its appearance, so has colder weather!  I guess we couldn't avoid it forever.  Atticus is loving the fallen leaves, but we have to be careful or else every leaf in sight goes in his mouth (Hence the binkie!) 

Boo!  An unfortunate milestone took place early this month when I was walking with a friend.  I had not buckled him in to the stroller (I know- terrible decision!- I gave in to "baby pressure"!)  Atticus arched his way out and went right onto the road.  His poor little chin was bleeding, and one of his teeth looked loose.  Oh, how I worried.  Thank goodness these little guys are so tough.  He had a couple other bruises, but, thank goodness, they healed very quickly.  Still, it was a good lesson for this new momma.  No more giving in to baby pressure!   

 We're still lovin' bath time with this sweet, handsome little man.  He has had a rash on his tummy, though, which has had us a little worried.  Probably just the changing season...

 We also celebrated Atticus's very first Halloween!  We had big plans to take him out and about, but ended up sticking around at Grandma Toni's, instead.

 Here's our lame attempt to dress up as Jurassic World.  Atticus is a Dinosaur Expedition Team member (compliments of Grandma Toni- the day he was born, I might add!), Dane dressed as Owen Grady and I'm a bangless Claire Dearing. :)  Ah, well.  We tried!

 Though we didn't go out on Halloween, we did ventured out with Atticus a few days before for some tame trick or treating at the Traverse Outlets.  He LOVED watching all of the kids passing him by.

 Before all of that excitement, however, we've spent plenty of time at Grandma Toni's,

 And we've spent plenty of time with Grandma Marti and Grandpa Bob.  Bob loves to have Atticus "play" the piano.  He's quite the prodigy!

They both have October birthdays, so Atticus had a great time helping them open presents.

We've also been able to make it over to Farm Country a few more times.  Thankfully, he's now starting to take more interest in the animals (especially the ducks.) Our first visit he seemed to only care about putting his mouth on the fences and bars.  Did I mention that these fences are pretty much all covered in savory farm animal substances?... Bleh!  

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But my favorite development of all has got to be his new smile.  Just on Sunday (Nov. 1) he started smiling with squinty eyes.  It is the most adorable thing.  Hopefully we'll catch him at it one of these days.

Reflections on the last year

It comes at no surprise that the last 12 months have included a great deal of prayer and soul searching.  Of course I felt exhausted.  That was to be expected.  But there were many days I felt so much anger, loneliness and confusion.  I had heard of the baby blues, but for some reason had expected them to feel, well, different from this.  Why wasn't I enjoying every moment like I had promised myself I would?!  

I began writing the poem that follows six months ago, which happened to coincide with my decision to stop coaching and all outside work for the time being.  I wrote a couple stanzas and then angrily closed the file for a few months.  When I decided to take a look again, in October, I realized my feelings were very different and I was able to finish.  What healing time can bring!

Now, I know I shouldn’t whine

But if I received a dime

I’d be rich for every time

That someone has said to me,

“Tell me, why did you resign?”

Like the choice had not been mine

Or as though it was a crime

Against all humanity.

Now, I don’t mean to malign

Any working mom—that’s fine!

The truth is, there was a time

When I thought it was for me.

Though a teacher’s daily grind—

Always working overtime—

Can be draining, I had shined.

It seemed, clearly, meant to be.

I had thought, for sure, I’d find

Many ways to work part time.

It had never crossed my mind

That fulltime Moms can be happy!

So when, by divine design,

Came the chance of a lifetime

I was pregnant!—Reassigned

To a new identity.

I learned, even when I tried

Working somewhere on the side

It soon couldn’t be denied  

That work wasn’t right for me.

So, although it may seem trite,

I have found, to my delight,

Being home with him feels right.

So, for now, that’s where I’ll be.

For too long I had been blind.

If you truly want to find

The greatest joy and peace of mind

It’s found in maternity

I still have days when I cry

Thinking life has passed me by.

But the truth is, that’s a lie

Told us by society!

Sure, it’s hard to be resigned

When you see the bags and lines,

And the other aging signs

That are there for all to see.

But, though I’m dog-tired sometimes—

Since I still work overtime!—

I’m so happy that he’s mine

And it’s for eternity.

Ten months?!

Welcome, October and all things pumpkin!

I have to admit, though, I'm a little sad to see September go.  The weather has been pretty darn awesome, which means there's been plenty of time for swinging...

 And exploring...

And looking really, really, ridiculously goodlooking....

A huge development this month is all the standing up and climbing that's going on.  Now, if only we could get the sitting back down part...  

This month has been full of fun.  He still inch worms all around, despite our best efforts to get him to crawl on his knees.  He likes to scream like a velociraptor and breathe like Darth Vader (it's caused me no small amount of anxiety!)  He likes to do little riverdances when he's in his jumper and loves it when we sing Edelweiss to him after bath time.  Pretty sure bath time is my favorite time of the day.

Always the perfect gentleman at meal times... 

 Some days definitely go faster than others.  When Marti put those shoes on his feet and that little hat on his head, he looked like a little boy.  Slow down, little man!

Nine is Just Fine!

So.  August happened...  And oh, the changes!

This little boy is MOBILE!  He was pretty lazy when he first learned to crawl (never really put forth the effort unless an object or person was just a couple scoots away) but now he is inch-worming all over the place!  While he loves to chase after a ball or a toy that evades him (i.e. waterbottles and other round objects) his other haunts include the vents, the piano pedals and, of course, our DVD tower.  The DVDs fell on him early on, so we've taken to laying the tower on its side and letting him play with the DVDs.  I call it his "work station."

We love this laugh!

Another favorite for him are door stops.  The kid figured out early on how to remove them and now, a day rarely goes by during which he doesn't pull off at least one!

Not surprisingly, all this mobility has had a pretty slimming effect on our little hunk.  He's still a chunk, but not nearly as thick as he was a month ago!

He has also gotten pretty handy with a sippy cup!  He just guzzles water.  :)

Another development is his hair.  It's gotten pretty thick in some areas.  It's hilarious- when the wind catches it just right, it looks just like a toupee!

Atticus couldn't get enough of his cousin Ashton when we had a chance to hang out.

His third and fourth teeth came in!  #3 came near the beginning of the month and #4 on around Aug. 15.  It's funny, because a lot of his little friends who are older still don't have teeth or only have 1-2.

He's been blowing a lot of raspberries lately.  It's so adorable.  I'm not entirely sure why he's taken so to the sound, but it just might have something to do with all of the little girls he meets at the pool.  It certainly makes an impression!  ;)

He also ran his first race with me, and he even placed!  Ha ha, not hard to do when so few were involved.  :)  Here he is, drinking some victory milk.
Ooh!  He rode his first pony this month!  He did great!

He's also becoming Mommy's little helper.  He loves to sit on the counter with me and "help" me wash dishes or prepare food.

Can you tell?  Daddy just got home!  

A less positive milestone this month was his second cold.  Sick babies are so sad!!!

 

Thankfully, it didn't last long.

At the end of the month we celebrated Dane's 29th birthday with a trip to Tucano's and some gifts at home.  Atticus LOVED the wrapping paper.

One of our newest favorite things to do is go to the park so we can swing.  There are little baby swings there and Atticus LOVES them.  I also enjoy swinging with him on the big kid swings.  It's a great way to end the day, as swinging seems to soothe him- he's kinda dreamy once we're done.

It was funny.  The other day we were swinging and I saw that Atticus was staring to his left.  He was watching his shadow.  As I watched the shadow, I started to realize just how much I needed to enjoy the moment.  One day, all of these beautiful days will become shadows!