Overdue

Along with overdue library books (shameful!), being late everywhere we go (and if you knew me before I was a mom, this would shock you), I am way past overdue on updating this blog.  I was just looking at Heather’s blog and noticed that her blog-roll indicates the date of the last post for each blog.  Guess who was at the bottom of the blog-roll?  That’d be me.

So, what have we been up to in the last three months?  Dagim has become a full-fledged toddler, looking and acting more like a little boy every day.  Last week marked 6 months together as a family.  It feels so much longer (in a good way).  He is learning new words nearly every day.  His favorites are apple and baby (he’s crazy about babies).  This week he also started saying “Oh shit.”  Oh dear.  I wish I could say that I have NO idea where he picked up that phrase.  But I can’t.  The time to watch my mouth has come (you could say it is overdue).  He sleeps like a champ (napping for 2-3 hours and sleeping through the night for 12 hours).  He is now a picky eater, making the craziest faces if some offensive food finds it’s way to his lips.  He’ll often make a pile of food next to his plate before even trying it.  If the offending food is not quickly removed, he’ll proceed to throw it.  We’ve finally made the transition to sippy cups (in true Shasta-style, he picked the most expensive kind).

We’re taking “mommy & me” gymnastics lessons (I use the word gymnastics loosely here) and I think the highlight of his week is running on the trampoline.  The instructor says he has good placement for his hands and feet when he does somersaults so I’m hoping we’ve got an Olympian.  He loves cars and trucks and balls.  Yesterday it was warm enough to take a walk around the block and he brought his little soccer ball and kicked it the whole way.  He’s super affectionate, giving out hugs and kisses to me and Chris all the time.  He’s also quick to cry and throw himself on the floor in a toddler-style tantrum, arms and legs flailing.  Sometimes it’s totally fake and he’ll look up to see if we’re watching.

He goes to a “Mother’s Day Out” program on Thursday mornings for three hours.  He usually whimpers and clings to me when I drop him off but he’s doing super there and loves playing with the kids.  When I pick him up, he runs into my arms and it’s the best feeling in the world.  Except last week he ran towards me and then got distracted by a ball and then didn’t want to leave.  I use the three hours of “free” time at a coffee shop around the corner to grade papers for an online class I’m teaching.

He can hop, both feet leaving the floor.  He can open doors (the day he figured this out was a sad, sad day in our house) and follows me everywhere, including into the bathroom.  He’s got some crazy dance moves that he will not allow to be videotaped (sorry!).  Oh, and for those of you who are curious, yes we stuck with the cloth diapers.  We chose BumGenius and really love them!

Clearly I’ve turned into one of “those” moms that talks incessantly about her child.  But, let’s be honest, what you really want are photographs, so here you go.

The boy loves his toothbrush:

At the Children’s Museum:

A word of advice: don’t let him see the Radio Flyer if you don’t plan on letting him ride it:

A boy and his daddy:

Not sure what is going on here:

Does he think that he’s posing for Tiger Beat?

Yesterday he learned to put his hands in his pockets:

I’m going to try and update this blog more regularly.  We’ll see how that goes.  For those families still waiting for referrals or court dates or court approvals, I think of you all the time.  I know how hard it is but I promise that the pain of waiting will be difficult to remember once your child is with you.  That may be little consolation right now but just remember that there is hope, and your children will come home to you.  There were many days when I didn’t believe I would ever be a mother.  And now my son is babbling in his crib, having just woken up from his nap…