Eat dessert first (and quickly) - you never know what might happen.
Labradors know and exploit the meaning of "like taking candy from a baby" (except, in this case, it's "like taking an Oreo from a baby")
Mommy might take pictures of your love and loss, but she will also give you a consolation Oreo to make up for it (and put the spoiled Labradors outside so that you can enjoy said consolation Oreo in peace).
Weighs 23 pounds and is 30.5 inches long - he grew an inch and a half in one month!
Wears Size 12 months and 12 - 18 months
Wears a size 4 shoe
Is only taking one bottle per day, and everything else is table foods (favorites include vienna sausages - a new discovery for Jones and he loves them ... can't get enough; also chicken, spaghetti, tuna casserole, broccoli, pinto beans, ranch beans, Mexican food in any form (he loves the rice especially), turnip greens and spinach, corn, peanut butter and jelly, and Saltines). We nixed the morning bottle starting this month, and it hasn't been bad at all. I hurry up and change him and then hurry up and get him into the chair and eating his breakfast, and he's fine. My plan is to go the whole month with just a bottle at night, and then for month 14, eliminate the night bottle, so that he will be weaned at 15 months, per the pediatrician's instructions.
Walks everywhere, all of the time - he's a toddler! He rarely crawls anymore ... I would put the ratio at 90% walking, 10% crawling, and that may be a little generous for the crawling. He is also starting to want to climb - he is constantly walking over to stuff, bracing his hands on it, and he'll kind of hike his leg up like he wants to crawl up onto whatever piece of furniture it is (or, out of the bathtub or crib). Lord help us when he puts it all together and masters that new skill.
Favorite toys include the push-walker (he always goes over to the baskets with his toys in them and that's the one he is always trying to pull out), maracas of any kind (he loves to shake them), his talking dogs (the FP one and "Scout" the Leapfrog dog), the Fisher Price Poppin' Fun Elephant and the Fisher Price Poppin' Fun Dinosaur (he loves balls, and is learning to throw and roll them back and forth), and his shape-sorter elephant - he walks everywhere holding the shapes and waving them around and showing them to you. He loves to play peek-a-boo - he'll go hide behind a piece of furniture or a doorway and peek his little head around and then grin at you when you see him and say, "Peek a boo!". It's so cute, you could almost die.
Loves to be outside - he turns his face to the breeze whenever we're outside, and he always stays awake in the stroller now, because he loves seeing the great outdoors.
Will say words, but not with any regularity. He will say "dog" every now and then, and if you ask him, "Where are the dogs?", he'll look around and out the back door into the backyard. He says "ma, ma, ma" and "da, da, da" with a certain amount of discrimination, but it's not all the way there yet. He will sometimes say "Bye bye" and he is really good with "uh-oh" (must hear that a lot at day care :o)). He will occasionally amaze you by repeating things - he repeated "the dogs are outside" for me and my mother the other day (I mean, it was garbled, but he was definitely repeating me), and I asked him the other day if he wanted this ("this" being an Oreo, which I held up for him to see), and he nodded at me and said, very clearly, "this." And, funny story: I was at my parents' place the other weekend and we were fooling with my dad's lancet device for pricking his finger for taking his blood sugar, and we couldn't get it to work. Either I or my mother, while messing with the thing, said, "Oh, right, you have to cock it back in order to get it to work." And right after that, clear as a bell, Jones says, "Cock!" Of course that's the word he picked out of that sentence.
Knows and understands simple commands - "Give that to me." "Come here." "No." On the subject of "no" - he has thrown a couple of ring-tailed fits in response to being told "no" over something (usually "no, don't play with the wood blinds", "no, don't get into that cabinet with the chemicals", "no, don't try to get into the trash can"), but currently these only amuse me (although I hide my amusement from him and try to look stern). You can ask him, "Jones, where are the dogs?" and he'll look to wherever they are in the room (or outside, or wherever).
All of this talk about dogs, you should've known: Jones loves the spoiled labradors and they love him back. It is so sweet, and they are so good with him. Love:
Has eight teeth, and more on the way!
Is accident prone! Poor kid is just getting beat up left and right - he fell pretty hard the other day on the concrete floor and had a big goose egg on his forehead; then, shortly after that, he fell into some cabinets at school and cut his chin. Then, some time after that, he fell again at school and bruised his cheekbone up high - gave himself a little bit of a black eye. I took him to the pediatrician the other day for a high fever he had been running for two days and we had to see the on-call doctor, who is close to my age and has a little boy a couple of months older than Jones (and another on the way), and she looked at all of his bumps and bruises and said, "You look like my little boy." We had a good laugh about the dangers of having a mobile toddler.
Goes to bed around 9:00 or 9:30 (I think I'm going to try to get him going to bed earlier, for the better of everyone) and sleeps until I wake him up to eat breakfast and get ready for school, which is usually around 7:00. He takes about an hour and a half nap at school, late in the morning, and then takes another nap late in the day, from about 5:30 to 6:30.
Is into everything - cabinets, drawers, under the couch, under the entertainment center, under the table, in the bathroom unwinding the toilet paper, all over the house pulling stuff off of every surface, pulling on every electrical cord known to mankind, banging on every surface, especially doors - life with a toddler means you are on high-alert at all times :o).
Still enjoys bath time, but he's wearing Mommy out because all he wants to do is stand up in the bath, and it's getting old.
Hates having his diaper changed - he rolls over about 5 times throughout the process and we are all usually fed up with the whole ordeal by the time it's over.
I took a few months off from blogging (accidentally), and during that time Jones had his first haircut! He was looking really shaggy, hair covering his ears, a parental negligence mullet in place, so we finally got it together long enough to go up to see my grandparents and let my grandfather, Papa, give his great grandson his first haircut. Papa owned and operated a barber shop in North Little Rock for years, and he's the best you'll ever see, and he did such a good job with Jones. It was a really special thing, Papa getting to give him his first haircut (he also did my first haircut, although I was considerably older than Jones, since I was a girl and therefore my hair got to grow out for a while).Our first obstacle was finding something for Jones to sit in - he's obviously too short for just a regular chair (the backs of all of the chairs, including his high chair, which we originally thought we'd use, come up over his head, making it impossible to cut his hair in one). So, we improvised and put a portable high chair on top of some pillows and a stool (more stable than it sounds) and then belted him into place with a belt (donated by Grammy :o)).
Papa started out by showing him all of the tools he would be using: the scissors, the clippers, the comb, etc. He let Jones touch them and feel them. Then he got busy chopping - I've never seen scissors fly so fast and so skillfully! Periodically, Jones would turn his head and try to get a good look at Papa - as if to say, "Hey, what are you doing back there?" Papa would always say something along the lines of "Hey there baby, it's just your Papa back here, it's just me, just cutting some hair." He used a really calm, soothing voice, and it settled Jones down every time and he would turn back in the chair and look forward again (I was standing in front of him, providing a focal point/distraction to the business going on around his head).
This is about the point on the whole affair that Jones was starting to be over the whole experience. He was starting to get fussy, so I started singing "Old MacDonald" while holding his hands. Jones loves that song, and it will almost always work to distract him and get him to laughing and cause him to forget what he was so upset about.
The finished product! He's not as upset as he would have you believe, he was just tired of being held captive while so much was going on around him and he was sleepy (we headed home right after this and he was asleep by the time we got down my grandparents' driveway). He looked so handsome!
We've had one other haircut since the first one (also administered by Papa) and it went well too. His hair grows so fast! I was hoping that it would turn thick and wavy (Alan had the cutest thick, wavy hair when he was a baby), but I think he may get stuck with my hair (fine and straight), but at least he has good natural highlights - he's almost turning blond!
Walking and birthdays and haircuts ... he's a big boy now!
In case you have burning questions about the minutae of my life ...
1. What time did you get up this morning? 6:30
2. Diamonds or pearls? Diamonds are a girl's best friend
3. What was the last film you saw at the cinema? True Grit ... we never go to the movies, and I don't know why, because we always enjoy ourselves ... and the Russellville Picwood Theatre is like, the place to be in Russellville on the weekend.
4. What is your favorite TV show? Murder She Wrote ... I love old-school TV: The Cosby Show, Designing Women, The Golden Girls, Bewitched (don't you love how they're always having cocktails in that show? Seriously, watch it and see how many times in the episode Samantha and Darren are mixing up a toddy ... oftentimes in the middle of the day) ... whatever happened to quality TV like that? When I was growing up, my favorite channel was Nick at Nite, and my favorite show was the Dick Van Dyke Show, which I still love, but which you cannot find on TV anywhere. Lately, we don't watch that much TV and when we do, it seems like we are watching Nick Jr - I can handle/tolerate The Backyardigans and The Fresh Beat Band, and Olivia, but I am not a huge fan of Dora or Diego ... I guess we'll see if my tolerance gets heightened or lessened as the months go by and Jones gets more interested in cartoons (he doesn't really care about them or watch them right now, especially since they got rid of the moose that used to host that channel - that was his favorite part).
5. What do you usually have for breakfast? Oatmeal or one of those Jimmy Dean smart-breakfast-sandwich things, the ones that are under 300 calories (they are so good). And almost always milk to drink (I love milk. Love it). I like to mix it up every now and then and have Lucky Charms. And if I'm in a hurry and can't eat at the house, I take Pop-Tarts to work and eat them there. Now that Jones is off the morning bottle, I usually eat whatever he's having - like, he'll eat part of the oatmeal, I'll eat what he doesn't finish, I'll eat the remainder of the biscuit he doesn't eat, stuff like that. I usually don't have to eat his leftovers on the days when we have Nutrigrain bars for breakfast (he loves those things - eats every last bite) and on days when we have pancakes (although those are rare and are usually on the weekend).
6. What is your middle name? Michelle
7. What food do you dislike? Cauliflower
8. What is your favorite CD at the moment? Weezer, The Blue Album - always a classic.
9. What kind of car do you drive? 2008 BMW 328i - I love my car, consider this a PSA for BMW: I got in a wreck a while ago that was totally my fault (I pulled right out in front of a guy (didn't see him, truthfully) and he nailed my passenger side rear quarter panel - it was pretty bad from a damage standpoint, but it's been fixed up by our expert body shop and you can't tell there was ever a thing wrong with it), wherein a Ford F-250 Super Duty pickup truck with a brush guard whammo'd me (through no fault of his own), and my car did so well, I actually had a moment where I was like, "Did he hit me?" because the car absorbed the impact and everything. I already loved my car, but I love it more now. It's also a great car for tooling around town with Jones - I feel safe in it, it's just the right size for the two of us, I can get in and out of parking spots quickly, and get him in and out of the car quickly. So, all around: love my car.
11. What characteristic do you despise? know-it-all-ishness ... I'm trying to put into words that attitude some people have that is just so patronizing and condescending, like they know how to do everything, you know nothing, and the kind of person that always has something to say on every topic, and they're always right, etc - you know what I'm talking about?
12. What is your favorite item of clothing? Green Patagonia pullover
13. If you could go anywhere in the world on vacation, where would you go? Back to Jamaica.
14. Favorite brand of clothing? Banana Republic
15. Where would you retire to? Grammy & Papa’s house in Scotland, AR
16. What was your most memorable birthday? 16th, I guess ... my parents hired a limo to take me and my friends to dinner in Little Rock, so that was pretty cool. My 23rd birthday was good too - Alan bought us a cruise as my birthday present :o).
17. Favorite sport to watch? College football - Razorbacks first, SEC after that.
18. When is your birthday? August 6
19. Are you a morning person or a night person? Night
20. What is your shoe size? 8
21. Pets? 2 Spoiled Labradors - Augie (black) and Layla (yellow) and Clyde, The Bad Cat, a domesticated short hair tabby.
22. Any new and exciting news you 'd like to share with us? Not at the moment. It's business as usual around the Ward household.
23. What did you want to be when you were little? Ballerina
24. How are you today? Fine. My neck hurts, so I'm contemplating whether I should scoot over to USA drug and look for some sort of back/neck pain reliever. I am also wearing a very comfortable dress, and I feel pretty cute, so that always makes a day go better.
25. What is your favorite candy? Cadbury mini eggs ... I've been hoarding them since they came out for Easter, since that's the only time of year they're available.
26. What is your favorite flower? Daffodils
27. What is a day on the calendar you are looking forward to? An as-yet-to-be-determined day in September, which will be the first day of whatever week we decide to go to Florida for a vacation.
28. What's your full name? Jill Michelle Ward
29. What are you listening to now? Air conditioner running, traffic noise, general office sounds.
30. What was the last thing you ate? Reuben Sandwich
31. Do you wish on stars? Sometimes…
32. If you were a crayon, what color would you be? Yellow
33. How is the weather right now? Hot ... too hot for May.
34. The first person you spoke to on the phone today? Jessica - had to call my doctor-friend to inquire after the symptoms and treatment for hand-foot-and mouth disease. This is because I'm pretty sure Jones has contracted it. It's been going around Russellville (per the pediatrician on our last visit) and when Alan got to daycare this morning, there was a sign on Jones' classroom that said there had been a confirmed case of hand-foot-and mouth disease in his class. Now, you have to know that yesterday, when Jones got home from school, I changed his diaper and noticed that there were little red bumps/spots on his bottom. I assumed it was heat rash. You should also know that this morning, while I was putting his socks and shoes on, I noticed two blister-type bumps on his left foot, and one blister-type bump on his toe on his right foot. I puzzled over these, and so did Alan, and so did my mother, but we all just decided it was just something from running around barefoot at school. Now, fast forward to Alan arriving at daycare and seeing the note. So, yeah, I called up my BFF to confirm that he probably does have it and ask her what to do about it. (answer: not much. Tylenol and wait it out. I feel like that's the answer to pretty much everything that a baby catches during the first few years of his life.)
35. Favorite soft drink? Classic Coca Cola
36. Favorite restaurant? Hugo's
37. Real hair color? Dark Brown
38. What was your favorite toy as a child? My Little Ponies
39. Summer or winter? I'll cheat and say Fall ... Fall and Spring are my favorite seasons, to be precise.
40. Hugs or kisses: Hugs
41. Chocolate or Vanilla? Chocolate
42. Coffee or tea? Iced tea, hot coffee (with lots of cream and sugar - right now I am really loving that Almond Joy flavored creamer - it smells like summer to me (that's weird, but that's what I think of whenever I smell it))
43. When was the last time you cried? When Lt. George Kirk saved the lives of 800+ people including his son, James T. Kirk, on the USS Kelvin by sacrificing his own (so, the last time I watched the 2009 Star Trek movie). I would cry everytime I see that very, very sad ASPCA commercial, or the one about the polar bears and the melting ice caps, but we are all trained in our household to immediately change the channel when either one of those commercials come on. Too sad.
44. What is under your bed? Dog hair and empty water bottles.
45. What did you do last night? Went for a walk/stroll, ate dinner, played with the J-Man, bathtime, bedtime, then bedtime for me.
46. What are you afraid of? Not having the courage or ability to overcome adversity, conflict, confrontation, or some other difficult situation when it arises. Also: frogs.
47. Salty or sweet? Salty (despite my admitted love for Cadbury Mini Eggs).
48. How many keys on your key ring? 4
49. How many years at your current job? 5 ... feels like 500 ...
50. Favorite day of the week? Friday - it's so full of the promise of good things to come!
51. How many towns have you lived in? 4
52. Do you make friends easily? I think I get along well with people, but it takes me a while to really accept someone as a friend, like a real friend. But I'm a friendly person :o).
53. Favorite all-time movie? I can't pick just one, sorry: The Philadelphia Story, Out of Africa, Star Trek (2009), You've Got Mail, and When Harry Met Sally immediately pop to mind ...
54. Favorite all-time song? You Can't Always Get What You Want by the Rolling Stones
55. Favorite holiday? Christmas ... I really like the anticipation and lead-up to Christmas. There's just so much excitement and hope and joy around (most of the time ... as long as you're not at Walmart), it's wonderful.
And now, just as reward in case you made it all the way through that long, random, pretty much pointless post, some videos of Jones walking:
First Birthday Madness! We had Jones' first birthday party on Saturday, April 7, 2012. We had a cookout and invited all of our close friends and family. The weather was perfect, the food was excellent, and the house and yard were in tip-top condition (thanks to Alan and I toiling like Hebrews for the week prior to the party). The birthday boy, however, woke up with a fever and was just not feeling that hot during the party. He was so sweet, though, quite the trooper. You could tell he knew he was supposed to be having a good time, and that he wanted to be enjoying himself, and he gave a good effort, but he definitely was not well, and actually continued to run the fever on Sunday so he missed out on Easter as well.
So, he didn't feel that well, but he looked precious, of course. I had his little birthday shirt made by somebody on Etsy, and I love it. And, of course, I love his Toms, even though they didn't last very long (Jones loves to be barefoot). Alan always teases me that I dress the Jones the way I would like to dress Alan (and, Alan, just FYI - after all of these years, I've pretty much got you trained to dress the way that I want you to, and you look good :o)), so of course he had to tease me about Jones' outfit for the day (while simultaneously telling me (and Jones) that he looked great) since I prep-i-fied him with the cute plaid button down with the sleeves rolled up, topped by the birthday shirt, khaki shorts, and Toms. Whatever: precious, all the way! Grammy (my grandmother, Jones' great-grandmother) bought him a birthday boy button to wear, and it was too cute.
Here is the invitation:
I was happy with the way it turned out except that (as you can probably tell), the writing on the bottom part was very tiny and very light. But nobody showed up on the wrong day or at the wrong time, so I guess it was legible enough. A lot of people told me it was really cute and that they were stealing the idea for their child's next birthday party, so I take that as a compliment :o).
The cake table
We had cupcakes, cookies, and that is Jones' cake in the center. Alan was appalled by the size of the smash cake (I had ordered it from the bakery and he went ot pick it up on the day without knowing a thing about what he was picking up). He was like, "This is the cake that he's going to tear into?! It's huge! Babies can't have that much cake or sugar!" I told him to chill out, that my vision of the smash cake was something tiered and kind of outlandish (Alan: "That's not what most people do! Most people have small cakes or cupcakes for them!" Me: "Well, I'm not most people." Alan: "You got that right."), so that's what I got. He was still appalled, but he didn't say anything else. He was a big fan of the cookies, which I thought turned out really cute - they had Jones' monogram on them (y'all know how I love a monogram). We also had hamburgers, chicken wings, chips, dip, veggies and dip, but I, being bad at taking pictures, did not get a picture of the other food table or our main course. Suffice it to say that the table was just a bigger version of the dessert table, and looked good, and everything was delicious.
There were lots of presents to open! Jones was not feeling well, which is why he is sitting so placidly in my lap during most of these, and why I had to help open them more than I thought I would. Based on his performance at Christmas, I figured he woudl tear up the birthday gifts, but the poor baby was just not feeling well, so I did most of the work and he was content to just kidn of wave the pieces of paper/ribbon/tissue paper around once I got them started. We also had help in the form of Mattie May (Jones' cousin/my niece - she's the cutie in orange), Reynolds (in pink, grabbing for the ribbons excitedly), and Molly Mac (in blue, trying to decide whether she sould rather help open presents or play with the musical table).
I think he was totally freaked out by the whole cake experience. I think it was because everybody was looking at him - all of that attention focused on him weirded him out. Combined with the fact that he didn't feel well, I'm just glad that he didn't start crying or throwing a fit.
Look at his face! He is totally weirded out: "You want me to do what?"
He didn't really do anything to the cake except poke at it, so I took it away and gave him a cupcake. He did better with that:
All worn out after the festivities, he was ready for a nap and some snuggle time (and some Tylenol).
Jones is such the ladies man (say it in the SNL voice: "ladieth man"). His boy buddies, Jett and Charlie and Grant, were all unable to make it due to the holiday (and Charlie was also ill and running a fever, so apparently there was something going around on that particular weekend). This is Jones and Molly Mac:
"So, Molly ... you thinkin' Prom 2028?
Think maybe your grandpa will loan us one of his cool cars so we can go in style?"
And this is Jones and Reynolds and Molly Mac:
For my own memory's sake, I'm putting it in writing all of the people that attended, so I can remember years from now: Grammy and Papa, Nana and PePaw, Grandma and Grandad, Uncle Patrick and Aunt Sarah, Mattie May, T (Sydney, my aunt and Jones' great aunt, who got him one of his favorite presents - the Fisher Price Elephant), The Stracks (Jonathan, Jessica, and little Jackson, Jones' future roomie/bestie who, at 5 months old, slept through the festivities but was still supercute in his seersucker pants), Uncle BA and Aunt Steph (who also deserve a shout-out for all of their help in pulling everything together on the day of the party - you guys are awesome, we love y'all!), Cody and Leslie, The Hogan Family (Jessie, Aaron, and Carter - I didn't get any pictures of sweet Carter - Jessie had coached him on saying "Happy Birthday Jones!" but he got shy when he got to our house so I never heard it - he and Cy had a big time feeding the spoiled labradors potato chips outside), Jackie Davis and Cy Davis (he was a riot - a glimpse into the future, that's what he and Carter were for me), Emily Mac, Molly Mac (Jonathan Mac gets a shout out for sending a sweet birthday message to Jones via text since he couldn't attend the party because, as he stated in said message, he "had to sell some furniture" :o)), and the Sprotts, and The Whitts (Brandon, Julie, and Reynolds).
So, I'm re-reading The Hunger Games trilogy. This is solely based on this preview for the movie:
I read them back last November (I think ... I did a post on it, but I'm too lazy to look it up and link to it) and I think my overall review went something like: okay, good, not great. I think the pregnancy hormones must have been getting to me because I'm kind of obsessed with these books now. I'm reading and re-reading them. They are dark, and my Pollyanna side wishes that there was more happiness in the end, or more light-heartedness, or something, but they are so good. The first one, The Hunger Games, is the best, if you ask me. Suzanne Collins is a phenomonal writer. These books deserve all of the hype they're getting, and I will probably make a point of going to see the movie in the theatre (although I said I would do that for Harry Potter, and I didn't, so ... who knows?). I mean, honestly ... such a good read.
I paid off my debt to the library and am in good standing with them again ... for the moment ... I read The Dovekeepers by Alice Hoffman - excellent, highly recommend it. It's historical fiction, about Israel and the time of the Roman Empire. I read We Need To Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver, and while it's well-written, it's a total bummer and depressing and gave me an all-over creeped out feeling (it's the story of a ficitonal school-shooting/mass murder told from the perspective of the killer's mother ... so, you know, obviously an upbeat story). Since becoming a mom, I have trouble reading certain things now - like the aforementioned novel, I honestly almost quit reading halfway through because it's all about this poor woman's relationship with her son, how it's always been difficult, how he exhibited all of these signs of being a sociopath from infancy, and then he turns out to be a mass murderer ... so, like I said, total downer. Exhausting to read. But my point was that I probably could have read it prior to Jones and not have been as profoundly disturbed, but now, reading it while my sweet baby is snoozing in his crib, thinking about his sweet smiles and his giggles and the joy he brings to me ... it's just hard to read something that is so the opposite of those feelings and thoughts. Reading Harry Potter has changed for me too - I feel more maternal towards all of the characters now, especially orphaned Harry. Speaking of Harry Potter, bet you thought I had forgotten about my Harry Potter project (when, in reality, it's just that I am so slow about blogging). Well, wait no more: the final installment of my Harry Potter project is here!
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows:
"Dumbledore would have believed him, he knew it. Dumbledore would have known how and why Harry's wand had acted independently, because Dumbledore always had the answers; he had known about wands, had explained to Harry the strange connection that existed between his wand and Voldemort's ... but Dumbledore, like Mad Eye, like Sirius, like his parents, like his poor owl, all were gone where Harry could never talk to them again. He felt a burning in his throat that had nothing to do with firewhiskey ..."
"Harry sat down, took the square parcel she had indicated, and unwrapped it. Inside was a watch very like the one Mr. and Mrs. Weasley had given Ron for his seventeenth; it was gold, with stars circling around the face instead of hands.
'It's traditional to give a wizard a watch when he comes of age,' said Mrs. Weasley, watching him anxiously from beside the cooker. 'I'm afraid that one isn't new like Ron's, it wasw actually my brother Fabian's and he wasn't terribly careful with his possessions, it's a bit dented on the back, but - '
The rest of her speech was lost; Harry had got up and hugged her. He tried to put a lot of unssaid things into the hug and perhaps she understood them, because she pattted his cheek clumsily when he released her, then waved her wand in a slightly random way, causing half a pack of bacon to flop out of the frying pan ont o the floor."
"Ginny looked up into Harry's face, took a deep breath, and said, 'Happy seventeenth.'
'Yeah, thanks.'
She was looking at him steadily; he, however, found it difficult to look back at her; it was like gazing into a brilliant light.
'Nice view,' he said feebly, pointing toward the window.
She ignored this. He could not blame her.
'I couldn't think what to get you,' she said.
'You didn't have to get me anything.'
She disregarded this too.
'I didn't know what would be useful. Nothing too big, because you wouldn't be able to take it with you.'
He chanced a glance at her. She was not tearful; that was one of the many wonderful things about Ginny, she was rarely weepy. He had sometimes that that having six brothers must have toughened her up.
She took a step closer to him.
'So then I thought, I'd like you to have something to rememer me by, you know, if you meet some veela when you're off doing whatever you're doing.'
'I think dating opportunities are going to be pretty thin on the ground, to be honest.'
'There's the silver lining I've been looking for,' she whispered and then she was kissing him as she had never kissed him before, and Harry was kissing her back, and it was blissful oblivion, better than firewhiskey; she was the only real thing in the world, Ginny, the feel of her, one hand at her back and one in her long, sweet-smelling hair - "
"But they were not living, thought Harry: They were gone. The empty words could not disguise the fact that his parents' moldering remains lay beneath snow and stone, indifferent, unknowing. And tears came before he could stop them, boiling hot then instantly freezing on his face, and what was the point in wiping them off or pretending? He let them fall, his lips pressed hard together, looking down at the thick snow hiding from his eyes the place where the last of Lily and James lay, bones now, surely, or dust, not knowing or caring that their living son stood so near, his heart still beating, alive because of their sacrifice and close to wishing, at this moment, that he was sleeping under the snow with them. ... He put his arm around Hermione's shoulders, and she put hers around his waist, and they turned in silence and walked away through the snow ..."
"'I dunno,' said Ron. 'Sometimes I've thought, when I've been a bit hacked off, he was having a laugh or - or he just wanted to make it more difficult. But I don't think so, not anymore. He knew what he was doing when he gave me the Deluminator, didn't he? He - well,' Ron's ears turned bright red and he became engrossed in a tuft of grass at his feet, which he prodded with his toe, 'he must've known I'd run out on you.'
'No,' Harry corrected him. 'He must've known you'd always want to come back.'"
"Harry placed the elf into the grave, arranged his tiny limbs so that he might have been resting, then climbed out and gazed for the last time upon the little body. He forced himself not to break down as he remembered Dumbledore's funeral, and the rows and rows of golden chairs, and the Minister of Magic in the front row, the recitation of Dumbeldore's achievements, the stateliness of the white marble tomb. He felt that Dobby deserved just as grand a funeral, and yet here th elef lay between bushes in a roughly dug hole."
"'If she means so much to you,' said Dumbledore, 'surely Lord Voldemort will spare her? Could you not ask for mercy for the mother in exchange for the son?'
'I have - I have asked him -'
'You disgust me,' said Dumbledore, and Harry had never heard so much contempt in his voice. Snape seemed to shrink a little. 'You do not care, then, about the deaths of her husband and child? They can die, as long as you have what you want?'
Snape said nothing, but merely looked up at Dumbledore.
'Hide them all, then,' he croaked. 'Keep her - them - safe. Please.'
'And what will you give me in return, Severus?'
'In - in return?' Snape gaped at Dumbledore and Harry expected him to protest, but after a long moment he said, 'Anything.'"
"'You have kept him alive so that he can die at the right moment?'
'Don't be shocked, Severus. How many men and women have you watched die?'
'Lately, only those whom I could not save,' said Snape. He stood up. 'You have used me.'
'Meaning?'
'I have spied for you and liked for you, put myself in mortal danger for you. Everything was supposed to be to keep Lily Potter's son safe. Now you tell me you have been raising him like a pig for slaughter - '
'But this is touching, Severus,' said Dumbledore seriously. 'Have you grown to care for the boy after all?'
'For him?' shouted Snape. 'Expecto Patronum!''
From the tip of his wand burst the silver doe: She landed on the office floor, bounded once across his office, and soared out of the window. Dumbledore watched her fly away, and as her silvery glow faded he turned back to Snape, and his eyes were full of tears.
'After all this time?'
'Always,' said Snape."
"And again Harry understood without having to think. It did not matter about bringing them back, for he was about to join them. He was not really fetching them: They were fetching him. ...
'You've been so brave.'
He could not speak. His eyes feasted on her, and he thought that he would like to stand and look at her forever, and that would be enough.
Harry looked at his mother.
'Stay close to me,' he said quietly."
"'Harry Potter,' he said very softly. His voice might have been part of the spitting fire. 'The Boy Who Lived.'
None of the Death Eaters moved. They were waiting: Everything was waiting. Hagrid was struggling, and Bellatrix was panting, and Harry thought inexplicably of Ginny and her blazing look, and the feel of her lips on his -
Voldemort raised his wand. His head was still tilted to one side, like a curious child, wondering what would happen if he proceeded. Harry looked back into the red eyes, and wanted it to happen now, quickly, while he could still stand, before he lost control, before h betrayed fear -
He saw the mouth move and a flash of green light, and everything was gone."
"'And his knowledge remained woefully incomplete, Harry! That which Voldemort does not value, he takes no trouble to comprehend. Of house-elves and children's tales, of love, loyalty, and innocence, Voldemort knows and understands nothing. Nothing. That they all have a power beyond his own, a power beyond the reach of any magic, is a truth he has never grasped.'"
"'Do not pity the dead, Harry. Pity the living, and, above all, those who live without love.'"
"'Oh, he dreamed of it,' said Harry, ' but he knew more than you, knew enough not to do what you've done.'
'You mean he was weak!' screamed Voldemort. 'Too weak to dare, too weak to take what might have been his, what will be mine!'
'No, he was cleverer than you,' said Harry, 'a better wizard, a better man.'"
"The bang was like a cannon blast, and the golden flames that erupted between them, at the dead center of the circle they had been treading, marked the point where the spells collided. Harry saw Voldemort's green jet meet his own spell, saw the Elder Wand fly high, dark against the sunrise, spinning across the enchanted ceiling like the head of Nagini, spinning through the air toward the master it would not kill, who had come to take full possession of it at last. And Harry, with the unerring skill of the Seeker, caught the wand in his free hand as Voldemort fell backward, arms splayed, the slit in his pupils of the scarlet eyes rolling upward. ... and Harry could not hear a word that anyone was shouting, nor tell whose hands were seizing him, pulling him, trying to hug some part of him, hundreds of them pressing in, all of them determined to touch the Boy Who Lived, the reason it was over at last."
So wonderful, so very intense, though. I can't wait til Jones is old enough to read and understand the story. In about a month, we're going to wean him off of the nightly bottle, and I plan on doing this by introducing a story time with his sippy cup in order to distract him from the fact that he's not getting a bottle. I plan on reading a book on his level while he drinks milk from a sippy, and then either singing or reading to him while I rock him after he's done with the sippy, and I'll probably read Harry Potter to him, or maybe some Roald Dahl books. I love to read, and I want Jones to love it to, so I want to instill memories in him of being read to from a very early age.
Hopefully, all of the reading will result in this:
Way back in February, I read on a couple of friends' facebook pages (actually, more than a couple) about how they hate Valentine's Day, and how commercial it is, and how overrated it is, and how it's a manufactured holiday ... and I totally get that opinion, and I don't think you should set aside just one day to tell someone that they are special to you and let them know you love them (you should be doing that every day, you know?), but I will say that Valentine's Day holds a special place in mine and Alan's lives since he proposed to me on Valentine's Day 6 years ago. So, you know, to us it's not commercial or overrated or manufactured. Alan told me once that he proposed on Valentine's Day so that the day wouldactually have some meaning, and not just be about Hallmark and the florist. I also see lots of opinions on facebook and wherever about how "flowers are a waste of money - they die", etc, etc, and, again, while I can understand how people feel that way (and, of course, everybody is always entitled to his or her own opinion), I will admit that I do love getting flowers. Alan is very good about flowers. When Alan and I first started dating, he brought me flowers all of the time - that's not to say he spent a fortune having the florist deliver me flowers, but he would buy me a rose from the grocery store, or pick some daffodils at the park (back when we exercised and went running at the park in Fayetteville), or something like that. And now that we're married, he never fails to send me flowers on our wedding anniversary (usually white roses, since those were a prominent flower at our wedding), and on Valentine's Day and my birthday (usually some mixed bouquet of yellow flowers, yellow being my favorite color), and then he'll usually do it a few more times throughout the year, whenever he thinks I need a pick-me-up. I love flowers, and I love getting them, like I said. Makes me feel special, and I love fresh flowers in general - I buy them at Kroger a lot and put them out in bowls around our house - it really adds a fresh feeling to our house, and makes me feel all HGTV-y and Pottery Barn-esque. Flowers make me smile, and I love the smell of a fresh bouquet. So, you know, it's not about me feeling like I must get flowers on Valentine's Day just because it's Valentine's Day, or the great debate over the money or the commercialism or the fact that flowers die eventually - it's about making someone that is special to you feel special. And if flowers do that, then by all means, send flowers. If cards or chocolate or a book or some iTunes or a dinner out or a dinner cooked at home do that, then do it: do it every day, every chance you get. Always take every opportunity to make someone special to you feel special, by whatever method and means you have available.
Here are this year's Valentine's Day flowers that make me feel special:
Here are my sweet Valentines that make Valentine's Day and every day special for me.
On a similar note, I will say that I think New Year's Eve is a completely overrated holiday - the last time I really remember going out on New Year's Eve and, like, partying it up, I think it was one of the times that the Razorbacks went to the Cotton Bowl and we went to Dallas for that ... back when I was in undergrad ... so we're talking about, you know, 8 - 10 years? We usually just go out to dinner with friends, like at a friends' house, and we rarely actually make it to midnight. The one tradition we do keep with is making ham and black-eyed peas on New Year's Day, but that's only because we like ham and black-eyed peas, and a little good fortune/good luck can't hurt. Alan and I don't really do resolutions, but we do talk about goals we would like to accomplish in the coming year. This year, two things that we really wanted to do were to get up early and have a leisurely breakfast, coffee, read the paper, all of that ... and I will say that so far we are not doing so hot with that one :o). Alan is doing a lot better than me, but I am just not a morning person, and I'm incredibly slow, and I also am a deep sleeper - the alarm will wake me up momentarily, but I can fall back asleep, and hard asleep, in moments, so that doesn't really work for me. We won't give up, though ... it's only the first quarter, after all. Our other goal was to eat dinner at the kitchen table and have conversations about our days (or whatever - we just wanted to stop eating dinner at the coffee table in front of the TV like we were still in college - back when we first moved to Russellville, we delayed getting cable for like 4 months (I forget why), and during that 4 months, we came home from work and ate a meal at the kitchen table and talked about what we had done that day or about interesting things we had heard about or whatever, and it was just really enjoyable). This is going a lot better, and my next step to accomplish is to set the table and kind of make it "fancy" every day - by "fancy", I mean have placemats out, and little place settings with our everyday china (we have a ton of everyday china - like three different complete sets - I could host a dinner party for 36 people with all of our everyday china, if I were ever so inclined), maybe a centerpiece (like the aforementioned fresh flowers) so we'll feel like we're right out of a Crate & Barrel commercial :o). Can you tell I like home improvement/home furnishing stores?
Mine and Alan's best friend, BA, (we say that Alan and BA are "hetero-lifemates" and I am BA's "hetero-lifemate-in-law" ... so his wife, Stephanie (who is awesome: good job, BA) is also my hetero-lifemate-in-law, and we like to trade stories about all of Alan's and BA's antics... but that's other stories for other days) told Alan that he doesn't really read my blog because the posts are too long - ha! I am a very wordy person (see the preceding fabulous overlong, run-on sentence). So, BA, beware: this is a long, wordy post coming up to make up for the months I have taken off from blogging (in my defense, as you will see, we've had A LOT going on around here)
A LOT going on around here, # 1:
Jones turned 10 months old!
At 10 months, Jones:
Weighed between 21 and 22 pounds
Wore size 9 months ( a little tight, and definitely a little short, especially pajamas), 9 - 12 months, and 12 months clothes. I love dressing him up. I recently acquired a pair of Toms for him (they were, truly, the only shoes I could squeeze onto his fat little foot) and they are so cute it's bananas.
Wears a size 3 diaper (PSA: I bought some of those Huggies slip-on diapers (because I had a good coupon ... love me some coupons), which are advertised to be just the thing for changing wiggly babies, and I can say without hesitation that Alan and I both hate them, and they do not make changing any easier. If anything: harder. It might be easier if we changed him standing up, but we don't do it that way (yet, anyway). I will say that, on the plus side, they do have excellent leak-controlling qualities - no blowouts to report, and they really keep him very dry all night long. Still: changing him using these is generally a nightmare, and way more difficult than it needs to be).
Is getting his two front teeth! You can see them pushing their way out, little white spots on the tops of his gums.
Has parted ways with the jumperoo - now that he's mobile (very, very mobile), he does not like to be confined to the jumperoo. We can only get him to do it for about 10 - 15 minutes before he's hollering to get out of it so, alas, we will be putting it up in the attic this weekend, I think (along with the bouncer, and maybe possibly the swing ... sniff, sniff, tear: he's turning from a baby into a toddler!). He does like his walker, and he likes all of his toys in general, particularly his Sing and Play puppies and his musical table.
Loves daycare, and loves people in general - he smiles at everyone, and still has no stranger anxiety or hesitation about meeting new people at all - what a relief!
Is eating finger foods now and, thankfully, this has really gotten a lot better. In fact, now it's hard to get him to eat baby food because he prefers to put the food in his mouth himself and chew on it. We still do baby food though (I sneak it in between him taking bites of finger food), and he still prefers vegetables over fruit, especially green beans, and blueberry yogurt is still a favorite. As far as finger foods are concerned, he loves sweet potato puffs, Cheerios, turkey, and the green bean/corn/carrot veggie mixture. He still takes bottles, and still likes them a lot ... he's definitely not a fan of the sippy cup, although he does okay with the one with handles, and he does okay with the straw. Still, he prefers the bottle, and that's fine by me, I think we can handle having him be a baby for a little bit longer, you know? ... I would say he takes 3-4 bottles a day. The finger food thing has sparked an even deeper bond between Jones and the spoiled labradors, particularly Augie. They get really excited when they see Jones get in the high chair, because they know they are going to get some food - food that falls down on the floor, little swipes off of the tray, and then they clean up the seat after we get him out of it (and, do not despair, I go back and clean and disinfect everything between meals ... I mean, I love my labs, but it's not like I think a labrador tongue-cleaning is an acceptable method for cleaning the high chair).
Is a crawling machine - he really gets going, and it's so funny! He heads right for electrical cords - he likes to wave them around if he can get a-hold of them (don't call Child Services yet - we've removed all of them, don't worry ... that's just his preference, and what he did in the beginning before we moved such items out of his reach). He loves to pull up and stand, and he will frequently take his hands off of whatever he is bracing himself on and just stand there for a minute before sitting down. His favorite place to try this trick is the tub.
Loves bathtime! Still the cutest thing ever ...
Needs a haircut, but I just haven't been able to bring myself to do it. So he's sporting the beginnings of a parental negligence mullet.
Babbles and talks - ma, ma, ma and da, da, da, and all of that, and has developed the unsettling habit of high-pitched screeching/squealing - I think he just likes to hear himself make that noise? I don't know ...
Can best be described as happy. A simple word, but really, this is the word that encompasses everything that Jones is: he is just, really, the happiest baby you'll ever meet.
Then Jones turned 11 months old!
Jones is 11 months old!
At 11 months, Jones:
Weighed between 21 and 25 pounds, I would guess. We'll be having our 1 year well visit soon and will get all of the official stats at that time. I think I will take him to weigh-in here pretty soon, though, so I can get a weight for the swing. We still put Jones in the swing when he's sleepy and fighting it, but I'm pretty sure the weight limit is 25 pounds, and we're fast approaching that, if not there already. It creaks when it swings side to side with him in it, and the little feet kind of come off of the floor a little bit when it reaches the farthest point of its trajectory. Part of me is having trouble letting go of the swing because, in my mind, that really will mark the transition from baby to toddler, when he can't go in the swing anymore.
Wears a size 3 diaper, but I think we're going to go ahead and switch to size 4, even though he's still technically in the size 3 weight class - he's close enough, and since we buy diapers in bulk, I don't want to have too many that are too small.
Wears size 12 months clothes, and some 12 - 18 months. He wears a size 4 shoe, but only because his little feet are SO FAT. It's really difficult to shove them into shoes, but I've been putting him in shoes more frequently because they go out on the playground at daycare, and I figure shoes would be a good thing for that kind of adventure.
Is still on formula, but less and less these days - I would say we are lucky if we manage to get him to eat 24 ounces of formula a day. For a baby that struggled with eating solid food, you would never guess it now - this kid eats like a machine! We have started just cutting up whatever we are having into really small bites and he eats that. I usually add a vegetable or something, depending on what we are having. This has kind of helped Alan and I to eat a lot healthier. Some of his favorites: broccoli; corn/carrots/green beans/peas mixture (I know! This is the baby that Would. Not. Eat. Pureed. Peas. And now he can't get enough!); rice, especially Spanish rice; mandarin oranges; he's a big fan of protein: he always eats all of whatever we have for him, chicken, pork, etc.; Cheerios (a classic); applesauce and yogurt are about the only "baby foods" that he'll still eat, and I don't know if you count those. He won't eat the pureed baby food, so we've given up on it. He loves toast and saltine crackers as well.
Is doing really well with a sippy cup, as long as it has handles. I have taken the valves out of all of them, because he gets so frustrated if he has to work very hard for it. He drinks a lot of water, and prefers water to juice, really, which I think is a positive thing.
Still likes bathtime, but it's become more difficult because of the earplugs. We have tried all kinds, and all kinds will fall out at least once, probably closer to three times while we are bathing. Frustrating. He is really good-natured, but he gets put out with me for continually shoving stuff in his ear, and I don't blame him for it. Anyway, bathtime is still fun time, for the most part, and the tubes have really been a blessing - he hasn't been sick since he got them, which is nice. We've made it almost two months without having to go to the doctor, knock on wood.
Crawls like a demon - he is so fast! He is crawling and pulling up and cruising and he's just everywhere all of the time. He doesn't like to be by himself, so he crawls to wherever you are, which is sweet. He likes to stand on his own too. He's pretty good at it, and he's taken a step or two here or there, so I'm sure he'll be walking soon.
Has four teeth, and 2 or 3 more coming in. I think it's bothering him more this time than previous times, bless his heart.
Still likes his musical table, his maracas (they count and do colors and stuff, and it can do everything in Spanish), his FP Sing and Play Puppies, and his walker. He also enjoys his Dinosaur Ball Popper, but mostly he just likes to take the balls out and play with them on his own - I think the fascination with rolling and throwing and all of that is set to begin. With his birthday coming up, I'm sure there will be new stuff to add to this. His most favorite toy is the spoiled labradors' water bowl, or their food dishes.
Puts everything in his mouth. This means we are all on high alert a lot of the time. He ate a "very small pebble" the other day at daycare (that's what the incident report that I had to sign referred to it as ... when I read it, I turned to Jones and said, "Did you eat a rock, buddy?" and he just grinned and grinned, like it was the funniest thing ever). I think the daycare thought I would be upset, but I just had to laugh because under Alan's and my watchful eyes, he has managed to eat another Post-It note (you would think I would have learned my lesson), part of a newspaper, and he has made several credible attempts to eat his earplugs when they fall out of his ears during the bath, and he very nearly ate a dried piece of caulk off the floor in the living room. And, there's this: my confession: we've already had to call Poison Control (very helpful people, very nice) because we believe he ate Layla's thyroid medicine out of her bowl - there's no proof that he ate it, but it was in there all by its lonesome in her large food bowl, and then it was not, and I doubt that Layla strolled over there and finished it off, having previously managed to eat everything around that tiny pill. Never fear, the Poison Control fella told me that he would've had to eat like an entire bottle of the stuff to have any ill effects, and there were no ill effects to speak of on that particular evening or, indeed, ever. There's no telling what he has managed to eat when I wasn't looking. You would be surprised by all of the things around your house that you don't think about that spell t-r-o-u-b-l-e as far as an 11-month old is concerned.
Is best friends with Augie. They are so sweet together. Augie has taken to sleeping in Jones' room all of the time - whether Jones is in there or not. He lays in the bathroom or just outside of the bathroom door while Jones is getting bathed. He sits right beside him while he eats (this is more of a cupboard love thing, though ... if it's one thing Augie loves, it's people food, even if it's people food that he would normally turn his nose up at - I guess it's special because it's Jones'). He brings his toys over to Jones and the two of them trade them back and forth. It really is very sweet. Layla, bless her, is protective of Jones, but she doesn't really want him to play with her. She's not a fan of his grabbing and pinching and wallering (is that a word? Should probably be "wallowing"). So she watches from afar, but sometimes she just can't stand it and rushes in to play with them (usually to steal whatever toy it is that they are playing with). We bathed the dogs recently so their coats are very soft, and Jones loves to hug on them, and Layla actually lets him do it now.
Is going through something with his sleep schedule - we are having trouble making it through the night (I blame the time change). Since he doesn't need to eat in the middle of the night anymore, this has resulted in us going into his room (the first time he wakes up), rocking him, giving him a drink of water, and then putting him back down. Sometimes he goes back to sleep. Sometimes he really starts to scream and we have to go in for the second time, but right now, we're trying to just let him scream himself to sleep. This is a lot harder than you might think, but I think it's working. He's almost back to normal now, with his bedtime around 9:00 or 9:30, and up around 6:30 or 7:00.
Babbles a lot - I think he thinks he is really having a conversation with you, so I repeat a lot of his babbles back to him. This seems to please him - there's no telling what he thinks I'm saying.
Likes to be around people. He gets really upset if you put him in his crib or his walker or whatever and walk out of the room or out of his line of sight. I don't really think it's separation anxiety, because he doesn't cry when I leave him with other people (like grandparents or the church nursery or daycare), I really think he gets upset because he doesn't like being by himself and just wants to be around people. He's very social :o).
Is still, overall, very smiley and happy and easygoing. He's such a joy :o).
And then, Jones turned a whole year old - one!
At 12 months, Jones:
Weighs 23 pounds and is 29 inches long.
Wears size 12 months and size 12-18 months clothes.
Wears a size 4 diaper (but can still fit into size 3s).
Wears a size 4 shoe (still has fat feet, but it's getting easier to put shoes on him because he has learned how to help you ... that is, he quit curling up his toes so that you could never get his foot completely down into the shoe).
Eats table food pretty much exclusively, with a morning bottle and a night bottle. Dr. H said he needed to be weaned from the bottle by 15 months. The morning bottle won't be too hard, but the night bottle is going to be a struggle, at least I think it will, because it's part of our routine and a signal that it's time to go to sleep, so once we lose that, I predict some tough times at our household for everyone. His favorite foods are Spanish rice, macaroni and cheese, chicken, green vegetables (he will consistently pick out the green peas, green beans, asparagus, turnip greens, or whatever if presented with a mixed vegetable plate), and Saltines. He drinks whole milk (cow's milk) from the sippy during the day - he's gotten more accepting of other kinds of sippy cups, but he's pretty brand specific: NUK, soft spout, with handles, if you want him to drink the whole cup. So I put water in the others to try and train him to accept all kinds. The straw thing is not going well - he gets so frustrated and, I admit, I can't stand to watch him struggle right now so I don't force the issue. I just routinely let him have water in a cup with a straw and hope that eventually it'll all come together.
WALKS! He's a champ!
He started walking for big stretches about 2 weeks before his first birthday - he'd walk 4 or 5 feet at a clip. Then, one weekend, he just started walking everywhere and now he won't quit - he toddles all over the place, and it's precious. This has resulted in a newfound interest in our cabinetry, so on our to-do list is to child-proof all of the cabinets in the kitchen and his bathroom. The fact that he is constantly upright now means he has a new vantage point on everything which also means he likes to pull things off of tables, so a lot of the tchotchkes (Alan refers to them as booby-traps) around our house are going to have to go lest they be pulled down on little heads and/or broken.
Has 6 teeth - the bottom middle 4, the two front teeth, and one coming in on the right side of the two front teeth.
Still puts everything in his mouth. It's exhausting keeping tabs on him, because even though I make an effort to make sure there's not stuff lying around that he could eat that he shouldn't eat, there always is. Or, it's just something you wouldn't think about anyone trying to put in their mouth, but I promise you that's the first thing a 12-month-old thinks to do with any unidentified object.
Plays with the spoiled labradors all of the time now, and they love it. They are so patient with him, it's sweet, especially when they give you a look that would be them rolling their eyes or wincing if they were people - this is usually when Jones is really grabbing their fur and pulling, or pulling their tails, or stepping on them like they are pillows. But they just sit quietly and patiently. So sweet.
Favorite toys of the moment: drums and maracas, FP Elephant that the balls fly out of his nose, empty water bottles and milk jugs.
Sleeps around 10 hours a night and has gotten really good at self-soothing. I'll hear him wake up sometimes in the night and cry or whimper, but at this point it only last for a minute or two and then: silence. He's back asleep. It's awesome.
Babbles a lot, but no real words yet. We've taken to identifying anything and everything in an effort to get him talking - we identify eachother, the dogs, his cup, his food, his milk, toys, etc. It's kind of exhausting. He did say "dog" the other day, I'm positive of it, and he says, "ma, ma, ma, ma" and "da, da, da, da". But the little toot won't repeat stuff, I think because he knows that's what you want him to do and he thinks it's funny to watch you dance around trying to coax words out of him. I'm sure some day we'll long for the days when he was so taciturn :o).
Knows and understands the word "no" and actually does pretty well with obeying it ... sometimes. He will also screw up his face and wail sometimes (most common example: when we tell him "no" in regards to playing with the wood blinds), but this is usually short-lived. Most of the time if you say "no", he'll look at you and you can really see the wheels turning. He generally stops what he's doing, looks at you, determines whether or not you are serious, then decides whether or not to stop it. Honestly, he usually stops, even if that results in his wailing, he has stopped what he's doing, he's just upset about it.
Loves to be outside in the beautiful spring weather - we have been to the playground and he has slid down the slides, but that's all. I haven't found any of the bucket-type swings that he could go in at any of our parks, so we're still waiting on that, which I think he would really enjoy. We've also been taking more walks with the stroller and where he used to go to sleep pretty quickly, now he stays awake the whole time and loves looking around and checking out the great outdoors.
Loves people - still such a happy baby with a genuinely good nature.
A LOT going on around here # 2:
So, back around Thanksgiving, we got a torrential rain that resulted in water creeping into our house from the patio. Thankfully, Alan and I were both awake, so we were able to pull up carpet and lay towels down around the hardwood and keep the water from ruining the wood, but the carpet ... well, we had planned on replacing it with something else anyway, so the flood incident just really kicked that into gear.
Before getting the floors done, we also had some stuff fixed in the yard: we added a row of chain link so that the drainage easement that runs through the back would have better flow, and we are really happy with it, believe it or not - I think we're going to get better use of our yard now, since the spoiled labradors can be kept out of the mud when necessary and, if we have people over (you know, you may find it hard to believe, but some people do not love giant dogs jumping all over them when they come over to visit. True story.), we can banish the spoiled labradors to the other side of the fence and spend time with people on the patio. And since we kept the privacy fence up, people can't peer into our yard and house either (Alan is going to rig some sort of system that allows the parts of the fence that cross the drainage easement to be lifted up for rain, and put down during the dry summer so the dogs have access to the whole yard ... it's going to involve hinges or some such something or other ... stay tuned). So: win/win. We also installed some new gutters and down-spouts (oh the joys of home ownership).
With the completion of the floors, all of the major work is done as far as cleaning up after the flood. We decided to go with stained concrete because hardwood was just too pricey (we would have had to have done the whole kitchen too, since we wouldn't have been able to match the old wood to the new wood, and, frankly, some day we'll probably replace the wood in the kitchen with tile - wood floors in kitchens look pretty, but are not functional at all if you use your kitchen), and because stained concrete looks nice and is durable for people and pets alike. The stain color is "Walnut" and I am really happy with the way it turned out. Also, let me put in a plug for the people that did it for us, the Taylor Brothers. You will never meet two nicer people in the whole word, I don't think, and they did such a fabulous job and, again, they were so nice. In the "A LOT Going on Around Here" vein, let me also point out that while the floors were being done, that meant that we couldn't access that part of our house ... so we lived in our master bedroom (all of us: me, Alan, Jones, and the spoiled labradors) for 10 days. It was totally discombobulating ... but worth it. I am a person who prefers order and tidiness, as is Alan, so you can imagine what living in this:
for 10 days did to us. Again, though: worth it. It is still a work in progress, as we are taking care of the baseboard and trim (have to be built up because carpet, obviously, goes up higher on the wall. Alan is doing a fabulous job, as you can see by the picture, but when you're both working full time and have an infant, and have lives, and it's spring and you're starting to have lots of stuff to do on the weekends, it's slow going). I really do like it though: totally pleased.
The new floors also mean that the Bad Cat gets to come home! So, expect a homecoming post in a couple of weeks (he's been living at my in-laws since May ... the Bad Cat developed the very Bad Habit of going outside of the litter box. Our dining room was his favorite improvised litter box, and if you have ever smelled cat pee, you can imagine how awesome that was, especially with a new baby around. So, my in-laws very sweetly and graciously took him in while we got settled back in as a family of 3, until we could do something about the floors that would keep him from marking everywhere, and now he'll get to come back ... although he might not be all that happy about it: he's been living the Life of Riley up in NLR).
A LOT going on around here # 3:
Alan has a new job!
While it was a little sad (he had been with his former employer for several years, and he liked everybody there), it was the right thing to do for our family, and a good move for Alan. Everyone has been very congratulatory, and told him that he would really like his new place of work and all of the people there, and that he will really do well working there, so we're very happy with the decision. And I cannot even begin to tell you how nice it is to have all of us located in the same town everyday - Alan and I are especially enjoying getting to eat lunch together!
A LOT going on around here # 4:
Jones got tubes put in both ears. Back toward the end of January, I found myself in Dr. H's office for the 3rd time that month, with the 3rd ear infection of the month, and Dr. H was like, "Look, he's in here every 10 days to 2 weeks with an ear infection. I think it's time to have a serious discussion about tubes." I was actually not surprised at all; if anything, I had been expecting it. I mean, the little guy was nine months old and this was his 6th or 7th ear infection. So, we got the referral to Dr. K, an ENT specialist, and after meeting with him, we set the appointment to have tubes put in. Everybody I talked to about this made me feel a lot better about it: everybody told me how wonderful it would be afterward, how he wouldn't be sick, we wouldn't always be at the doctor's office, he would be able to hear better therefore he will be talking more (although he talks and babbles plenty right now) and would walk sooner (because his balance will be better - all of that inner ear stuff), etc, etc.
The actual surgery itself was nothing, believe it or not. We arrived bright and early at St. Mary's, and all of the nurses were so sweet to Jones (he's such a flirt - he smiled and laughed and held out his arms to them, so he got a visit from every nurse on the floor once word got around that there was a sweet, happy baby hanging around - they brought him a teddy bear, too, it was so sweet). He got a little hospital gown to wear, and I wish I had gotten a picture, but I didn't take my camera to the hospital because I really didn't think we would want/need pictures of this momentous occasion, but I wish I had because it was really pretty cute, the tiny little hospital gown. He was cheerful right up to them coming to get him and taking him away for the surgery - he grinned and hugged on the nurses who came and got him. It was seriously only about 15 minutes from the time they came and got him to the time Dr. K poked his head in the door and said everything went great and he was in recovery. 10 minutes after that he was back in the room with us and sucking down some apple juice like there was no tomorrow (he couldn't have anything to eat or drink after midnight before the surgery ... I really thought he would be a wailing banshee because he was hungry, but he didn't have any trouble with that part of it, thank goodness), and he was pretty fussy for a bit, until he got his fill of apple juice (he seriously drank like 10 ounces). And then, just like that, we were discharged and on our way. So, I am very hopeful that this surgery makes his quality of life better - only time will tell. I can say that we have had our post-op appointment and got the thumbs up, which is awesome, and no problems thus far. Our main adjustment has been bathing, because he has to have earplugs now, and let me tell you, you cannot imagine how difficult it is to put ear plugs in a wiggly baby (or, maybe you can ... if you can and you have tips on how to get them in so that they stay in, please share). Still: no ear infections are a good thing, but that doesn't exempt us from things like:
A LOT going on around here # 5:
The Stomach Virus Fairy visited Noah's Ark and, sadly, chose our little Jones to bestow her gift upon. And Jones bestowed it upon me. And I bestowed it upon Alan. So, you know, fun times. I won't go into the details, but suffice to say it has not been the best of times for our family as far as feeling great goes. Lucky for us, this happened before and around the Jimmy Buffet Concert.
A LOT going on around here # 6:
We went to the Jimmy Buffett concert!
I have been to another concert, in Cincinnati, but Alan had never been, and we had a really good time. Jimmy Buffett concerts are a lot of fun, I can highly recommend them. I've been a Buffett fan since I was very young, since both of my parents are fans. I even danced the father/daughter dance at my wedding to a Buffett song ("Little Miss Magic" if you are dying to know). Anyway, lots of fun was had by all, and it was a nice respite for everybody, especiallly considering how much we've been up to, and the stomach virus that came and got us that same week.
So, like I said: A LOT going on, right?! Wouldn't have it any other way ...
