…at other people’s houses!!
11 months old
A few days ago my little boy baby boy turned 11-months old (I’m kind of struggling with the idea that he’s rapidly moving out of babyhood). I intended to write a post that day, and then the day after that, and then the day after that, but I’m just now sneaking in the time to write (until, that is, Jack figures out that I’m in the room and demands that I pick him up. NOW.). So here’s what’s new with my little fella:
Jack is going to be walking. Soon. He took 8 steps yesterday, and at church on Saturday night I didn’t even count how many steps he took because I was so flabbergasted! He still crawls most of the time, but he does love to practice walking.
The boy loves to dump everything, and I mean everything. Some of his favorite items to dump include baskets of laundry, shelves of books, stacks of CDs, our collection of DVDs, kitchen cabinets, and his sock drawer. He needs his own personal picker-upper. Oh wait, he does. That would be me.
He loves to be held. All-the-time. He could be cheerily playing by himself or with Amélie or with Matt, but the second he sees me he throws his chubby little arms up in the air so fast that if he’s standing up he just about topples over. This gesture, which apparently is the universal baby symbol for pick me up right this second, happens to me countless times throughout the day. I love to hold him, of course–he’s so soft and squishy and sweet–but sometimes I need to do stuff like sort laundry or cook dinner or pick up one of the multiple piles that he has dumped. And I do those things…with a 22-lb baby in tow. If you’d like to know what it’s like to spend the day lugging around 22 lbs of baby, go to the store, buy a 20-lb bag of dog food (except get one that offers you 10% more free since he weighs 22 lbs, and technically you should also tape a 12-oz can of Coke to the bag since he actually weighs 22 lbs, 12 oz), strap this bag of dog chow to your hip, and go about your day. Just try it sometime. It’s not easy!
He still doesn’t take the greatest of naps. His older sister spent her babyhood taking two 30-minute naps a day, and Jack doesn’t like to take long naps either. <sigh> I really need him to take some better naps! I actually just bought a book called The No-Cry Sleep Solution, and I’m hoping for some answers! Do any of you have napping/sleeping advice? He isn’t really sleeping through the night, either. I know some of you follow the babywise napping philosophies, and while I’d welcome any advice, let me give an up-front warning that, while it may “work,” I really don’t like it.
He hasn’t really added any new words to his repertoire this month, but he has started imitating intonations a lot. Although he can’t really copy words yet, he’s really good at imitating sound. It’s so funny to make him repeat silly sounds. He is quite good at making us laugh!
I can’t believe he is going to be one-year-old in less than a month. I know I’m getting all sappy here, but I really am not quite ready for him to graduate from babyhood yet. Really, though, I’ll take him any way I can get him. I love him. I love him. I love him.
friends….
Update: It’s almost 2:00 in the morning, and I just finished nursing Jack and obsessing about all the friends that I didn’t mention in my post. I mean, I had this incredibly meaningful e-mail exchange with my favorite cousin in the whole wide world, Julie, this past week. And then there was the e-mail from Kelly with pregnancy updates (oh, and when you read this, Kelly, I will actually send a personal response soon, but I’ll be able to get together with you sometime from the 17th to the 27th. I can’t wait to see you!). And there are other friends, too, that I could sit here and type about, but it’s 2:00 AM, and I really need to stop obsessing and go back to sleep.
This past week my heart has been full of my friends.
Thursday was my soulmate Megan’s birthday.
I love her dearly. As I wrote on a previous post,
She knows my heart.
She quenches my soul’s thirst.
She is Home.
On Thursday Rachel came to visit me. What joy to have her visit! We are like two puzzle pieces that fit so comfortably together. We both love to talk about birth, books, baking/cooking, and all things green. She and her two kids, Ellie and Jonathan, stayed with us until Saturday, and we all had such a good time. Unfortunately, we managed to spend 3 days together without taking ONE picture.
On Thursday Rachel and I also met a mutual friend, Michele, for lunch. (Thursday was a big day!) Michele is one of the most refreshing and real people I know. I absolutely love to spend time with her.
Last week was happy…and this week is sad. This week, Ashley and Carley move back to Louisiana.
I have grown to love both Ashley and Carley in the past few months. Amélie more than adores Carley.
The preschool queue is going to be awfully lonely for both Amélie and me after they leave. It’s been a long time since I connected with someone so quickly and comfortably. We have such fun when we’re together, and I just don’t even want to think about life here without them. Amélie informed me tonight that she wants her daddy to get a job in Louisiana. I’m pretty sure my family would disown me if we moved that far away, but I swear it’s tempting.
This morning I heard the song “Brave” by Nichole Nordeman, and I couldn’t help but think of my friends and how they inspire and encourage and challenge me. (I tried to find a more interesting video of the song….)
