It's hard to write this because I'm realizing that my "baby" is almost 1! You may think I'm kidding, but we're in the 2 digits now and I'm NOT ready for this yet. I think I may have mentioned that I measure milestones every Monday, but this month we've started a Monday and Friday tradition. It's just hard to keep track of all the little things this man is doing in just one day a week. I've got to be honest, I thought I'd be telling y'all he took his first steps this month, but I think he's focusing his energy on how FAST he can get places crawling. On that note, I think I've found my "mommy invention"... wait for it.. wait for it... A CRAWLING RADAR GUN! Genius eh? I'll let you know how it pans out for me ;)
Zane is moving and grooving, he's crawling and jabbering about everything and he's into EVERYTHING! People, this isn't a joke. The kid is busy ALL THE TIME! He's started mimicking us when we talk or make faces at him and he thinks it hilarious to play hide n seek. He has really started interacting with other kids and seems to enjoy spending time around other babies his age (I'll be referring to him as a baby for a while yet, just FYI) which is quite fun. I have been taking him a music class on Friday mornings and we've discovered he's IN LOVE with the guitar. It's quite a hoot to be honest because he chases the teacher around trying to pull up on her leg and whenever she moves away he cries. Luckily she's nice and lets him get an extra stroke or two in before she puts the guitar away. We're still enjoying our playgroup on Mondays (here in our neighborhood) which is giving us lots of opportunities to learn how to share and "be gentle" which is nice. Zane is learning ALL about gravity right now. Everything that is in his hands MUST be thrown at some point! It's funny to watch him remove his blankets, monkey and glow worm from his bed during nap time. He'll methodically drop each item over the railing and then stand there and stare at them as if he's hoping they will magically hop back in bed. I try not to cave all the time, but sometimes I just can't help but go return them to his bed only for the process to begin again. Lady is enjoying this when he's in his highchair as she's finally getting fed! I swear if my sweet Dog didn't bark when she was hungry it's possible she would starve. Please don't turn us into "doggy protective services" we do love her dearly!!
David and I celebrated our 7 year wedding anniversary this past weekend. It's just strange that it's already been 7 years. Seems like that was yesterday too! Dave keep promising me that we can have another wedding at 10 years and I'm going to hold him to his word ;) We spent the weekend in downtown Austin and lovely 'Gram Nichols' kept little man from Friday - Sunday. I'm not sure which one of them was more tired when we picked him up! Zane is so lucky and we are so blessed to have grandparents, family and friends who love on him and help us raise him. Thank you all SO much for everything you do to help encourage and support us being good parents. We greatly appreciate you and Zane is just plain spoiled to have such fun people in his life! All weekend Dave and I kept asking each other "is this where we thought we'd be in 7 years?" and honestly neither of us said "yes" to that question. We both kept saying how much richer, happier, stronger and more incredible our lives are than anything we could have dreamed or imagined. What a reminder of God's love in our life and the reality that "My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts," says the LORD. "And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine." Isaiah 55:8. God has been gracious to us. He's given us much more then we deserve and He's shown mercy in our lives continuously. I'm thankful that God picked Dave for me. He's my hero, my rock, my supporter, my encourager, my confidant, my partner and my best friend. My prayer is that we can mirror a strong marriage to our son, that he will see how much we love each other and love the Lord together and that he will be encouraged to see that marriage really is one of God's greatest gifts to us. I'm looking forward to the next 7 years!!
Oh.. We also had a wonderful Easter with our family and friends. We had company in from Michigan, Colorado and Houston. Papa Ed turned 70 and it was my first Mother's day! We've had a lot of fun times with friends and it has been great to spend time with the people we love so much. We're looking forward to taking Zane on trips to see more family and friends soon!!
Well, that's about all! I lowered Zane's crib to the bottom notch today, packed up his 6-12mo clothes and put away his baby jumper. I'm looking forward to the next stages and steps, but I'm a tad bit sad that this portion of our journey is coming to a close. Our pastor recently made the comment "Good parenting is when you work your self out of a job" and I have to say I'm starting to see that. It's hard to help your children be independent and self sufficient when you enjoy taking care of them so much. I'm sure by the time Zane is a teenager I'll have a different feeling about this, but today, when he's pushing my hand away and pulling the spoon into his own hand I'm realizing that you have to enjoy EVERY second!
I hope your all well, enjoying the beautiful weather Spring brings and getting ready to live in the pool over the next 3 months!
