Sunday, August 29, 2010
hand holding
Six months ago I never thought I would be able to write this, but Eddie is a total hand holder now. He used to want to go everywhere independently and would take off in ferocious intesity to explore new territory. Now, he is more reluctant, even more tentative and really likes to hold our hands. The other day we walked over to a friend's house and he held my hand the whole way. He will actually stop before we cross the street and reach up for my hand. I love it.
Thursday, August 26, 2010
birthday bash
We are still in recovery mode from Eddie's 2nd birthday held on Saturday. 17 kids ranging in ages from 5 months to 8 years old, and 20-some adults were here to celebrate with our guy. I spent most of the time in the kitchen, as usual, so I didn't get to witness all the craziness, but I heard that Eddie was profusely drinking water out of his new water table, fighting over various balls and trying to steal other kids' juice boxes. Nice. At one point he was in the house and had a full-on breakdown because he wanted his friend Gabriel's toy motorcycle. I pulled him away and took him into the living room where his presents where stacked, and said, Eddie, look, all these gifts are for you. And he replied with an "oooh." It is one of his new sort of words, and he was "oooh"ing and "wow"ing all day and over the course of the next four days as we opened all the gifts slowly. He definitely had fun playing with the mix of neighborhood friends and friends of mom and dad; of course cousin Noah was present and in full playing force too. But he did seem overwhelmed. At one point he was just sitting on his Uncle Mike's lap, watching. When it came to cake time he didn't have much interest in blowing out the candle or really even eating the cake, as he was taken with mom's homemade cookies. The day ended with our annual balloon release. And alas, two mornings later Eddie woke up with the sniffles and now has a cold. Too much partying, I guess!
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
two
It's 2:34 as I start to type. Two years ago at this time I was climbing out of the supersized, 98 degree whirlpool tub in the hospital room at Prentice and getting into the bed to push...an exciting yet awkward feeling that was accompanied with some nausea, anxiety and simultaneous gratitude for all the amazing support I had in the room. Today I still have some of those emotions when I reflect upon the last year of E4's life. Nausea I suppose the least, but sort of appropriate because we are still battling with sleep deprivation from our continued night waking...but it has gotten way better in the last two weeks. Ever since our travels have ceased and our routines are back on track, Eddie has been either sleeping through the night or only waking up once. Praise the Lord. Another huge sleep achievement, in my opinion, is that he is finally waking up and not crying or whining, but rather now when he wakes up he will start to talk and play...this is music to my ears.
Anxiety is still an emotion I naturally feel as a mother because there is always something to be concerned about when it comes to your child/ren. Although I am the most stable and at ease right now in my life than ever before...and I attribute most of that to my happy son (and of course his loving father), there is still much I worry about regarding Eddie's development, namely his verbal skills. Although he has progressed, he is probably more akin with an 18 month old's level of speech. Words like "shoe," "baby," "hot," and "stuck" are now part of his vocabulary, and he makes noises for some words like "ooo-ooo-ooo" for a monkey (namely Curious George) and "choo-choo" for a train, but he does not pronounce many consonants so words like "ball" are still absent of any "ll"s and much of his talk is unrecognizable babble. Many kids his age are now talking in simple sentences and combining nouns, adjectives and verbs. So I inevitably feel like he is behind...and that he will forever be my baby. He still seems like a baby to me in so many ways - he still nurses a ton, he still sleeps in a crib and he still wears diapers. These are things that I know some kids have grown out of already before the age of two, so I just feel like we have a long way to go yet and that this next year is going to be a busy one!
Eddie has made huge strides this year in his gross motor and athletic skills, and I guess these are the traits that most people recognize in him to be advanced. He can swing a real golf club, he can swing a bat and hit a ball consistently off a tee, he can kick and dribble a soccer ball, he can shoot hoops, both slam dunk and jump shot and he throws a mean, lefty, fast ball, complete with a leg pump. These are things that my husband is extremely proud of, of course. We have a genuine athlete on our hands. Other than sports, Eddie is also "in"to playing with cars and trucks, playing with and pointing out all trains, riding his bike (although he hasn't gotten the hang of pedaling quite yet), watching Sesame Street, particularly Elmo, going for walks in the neighborhood (which rarely consists of a stroller these days since he just wants to walk and run freely) and playing with other kids. You should see the excited look on his face when he runs out to the front of our house and hears or sees other kids playing in the neighborhood. Some of the most pure joy I have witnessed in him has been during moments of playing with his friends and cousins. He still loves to eat and has mastered eating with a spoon and a fork and sits at our table on a grown-up chair. He is quite well mannered. He wipes his mouth with a napkin when complete. His favorite foods at this point seem to be corn, blueberries, peaches, salmon, anything growing in our garden and any meat off the bone - he loves lamb chops and chicken legs. He is genuinely a decisive, seasonal eater with a discerning palate (yes, I am so proud!). For example, although normally he loves corn on the cobb (he even eats it raw as we shuck it), one time we had a bad batch from the store and he would not finish his. It was too funny. He hardly eats tomatoes in the winter; now that they are in-season, he pops them in his mouth like candy.
Gratitude. I am grateful for my husband, most of all. He is my rock, my sounding board and dedicated life partner. He always makes me feel like I am the best mother and wife in the world, and this is important, especially when you are a stay-home mom with nothing else to shift your focus to. I am grateful for my Bomby, my Totty, my Cuddlebug. Happy is the way we start every morning and end every day. He is an experienced, seasoned soul, someone who has walked this Earth before and proceeds with slight caution and decisive,captivated focus. His intensity burns from the inside out. His humor is like a seed still germinating. He will bring joy to so many. He will work hard and with great focus. I am certain that amazing things are yet to come from my son.
Anxiety is still an emotion I naturally feel as a mother because there is always something to be concerned about when it comes to your child/ren. Although I am the most stable and at ease right now in my life than ever before...and I attribute most of that to my happy son (and of course his loving father), there is still much I worry about regarding Eddie's development, namely his verbal skills. Although he has progressed, he is probably more akin with an 18 month old's level of speech. Words like "shoe," "baby," "hot," and "stuck" are now part of his vocabulary, and he makes noises for some words like "ooo-ooo-ooo" for a monkey (namely Curious George) and "choo-choo" for a train, but he does not pronounce many consonants so words like "ball" are still absent of any "ll"s and much of his talk is unrecognizable babble. Many kids his age are now talking in simple sentences and combining nouns, adjectives and verbs. So I inevitably feel like he is behind...and that he will forever be my baby. He still seems like a baby to me in so many ways - he still nurses a ton, he still sleeps in a crib and he still wears diapers. These are things that I know some kids have grown out of already before the age of two, so I just feel like we have a long way to go yet and that this next year is going to be a busy one!
Eddie has made huge strides this year in his gross motor and athletic skills, and I guess these are the traits that most people recognize in him to be advanced. He can swing a real golf club, he can swing a bat and hit a ball consistently off a tee, he can kick and dribble a soccer ball, he can shoot hoops, both slam dunk and jump shot and he throws a mean, lefty, fast ball, complete with a leg pump. These are things that my husband is extremely proud of, of course. We have a genuine athlete on our hands. Other than sports, Eddie is also "in"to playing with cars and trucks, playing with and pointing out all trains, riding his bike (although he hasn't gotten the hang of pedaling quite yet), watching Sesame Street, particularly Elmo, going for walks in the neighborhood (which rarely consists of a stroller these days since he just wants to walk and run freely) and playing with other kids. You should see the excited look on his face when he runs out to the front of our house and hears or sees other kids playing in the neighborhood. Some of the most pure joy I have witnessed in him has been during moments of playing with his friends and cousins. He still loves to eat and has mastered eating with a spoon and a fork and sits at our table on a grown-up chair. He is quite well mannered. He wipes his mouth with a napkin when complete. His favorite foods at this point seem to be corn, blueberries, peaches, salmon, anything growing in our garden and any meat off the bone - he loves lamb chops and chicken legs. He is genuinely a decisive, seasonal eater with a discerning palate (yes, I am so proud!). For example, although normally he loves corn on the cobb (he even eats it raw as we shuck it), one time we had a bad batch from the store and he would not finish his. It was too funny. He hardly eats tomatoes in the winter; now that they are in-season, he pops them in his mouth like candy.
Gratitude. I am grateful for my husband, most of all. He is my rock, my sounding board and dedicated life partner. He always makes me feel like I am the best mother and wife in the world, and this is important, especially when you are a stay-home mom with nothing else to shift your focus to. I am grateful for my Bomby, my Totty, my Cuddlebug. Happy is the way we start every morning and end every day. He is an experienced, seasoned soul, someone who has walked this Earth before and proceeds with slight caution and decisive,captivated focus. His intensity burns from the inside out. His humor is like a seed still germinating. He will bring joy to so many. He will work hard and with great focus. I am certain that amazing things are yet to come from my son.
Friday, August 13, 2010
summertime
Summertime means spending more time outdoors...hence no blogging. We have been busy with trips, first to LA, then to Maine and most recently to Appleton and Milwaukee, WI. We have swam in oceans, lakes and pools. We have devoured corn on the cob, steamer clams, lobster and fruit galore. We have gone for boat rides, rode a jet ski and took a ferry. We have danced at weddings, played with old friends and reunited with family and extended family. We have been to Old Orchard Beach where we rode a carousel, the Milwaukee Zoo where we saw hippos and elephants and giraffe, and the State Fair where we went down the big slide and ate a cream puff. Ahhh, too much fun and not enough time to capture it all in writing. Here are some highlights:
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
