The stink eye....

My Dearest Andrew,

I know that this might be jumping the gun, but there is a little fire burning behind those eyes of yours. You seem sweet, cuddly, and agreeable....but deep down I know there is a part of you that likes to live on the edge. Just yesterday, when I went to get you from the car seat I was surprised to see that you had pulled out the piping from your car seat.



Being the responsible mother that I aspire to be, I quickly pulled the piping from your hands and re-threaded it. Two seconds later you broke into a whine and then it happened...the stink eye.



It pretty much burned right through me. It was so hard to believe that my precious little angel could give me such a look, but on the other hand I knew it was something I needed to get used to. I have a feeling I will be on the receiving end of many stink eyes in the future.

Hugs and Kisses,
The Enforcer

Cousins...

Dear Nugget (this is our nickname for you),

One thing you are lucky to have in your life right now is cousins. I never grew up surrounded by cousins but always heard stories from my mother and uncle about the joys of a large extended family. Growing up, my family moved from the state they had called home their entire lives (Michigan) when I was only a year old. We landed in Oklahoma and when I was 5 made the trek out further west to Arizona. My only cousins were younger and a state away in New Mexico, so needless to say we didn't see them very often.

You, my dear boy, have 2 cousins, Emma and Caleb. Both live in the same state, merely miles away, and even better you are only 6 months older than one. This means as you and Caleb grow older you will have an instant playmate. Someone to play on summer soccer leagues with, someone to rough house with, someone to build Lego space stations with, and Daddy's big dream- trips to Legoland.

Right now the age difference may seem like a lot, but it so exciting to see the both of you grow up together already.

Hugs and kisses,

Your Mother

Milestones...

My Dearest Andrew,

I cannot lie to you, I do not know where I placed your baby book. I was proactive before you came and wrote all about how your father and I met, how we found out we were having you, etc. Now that you are here, that bad boy has not seen the light of day. I hope that this summer I can redeem myself and finally put your story on paper, until then electronic form will have to do.

You are now 7 months old and you are nothing like the little 8lb 15oz bundle of baby we brought home. So far the theme has been more. You eat more, you laugh more, you babble more, you smile more, you weigh more, you entertain more, and most importantly we love you more.

At 7 months you are now 20+lbs (we get an official weigh in at 9 months) and over 27 inches long. Tonight we put you to bed in "big boy" pajamas that happened to be size 12 months. I sat up last night and purged your clothes of anything smaller than 9 months to send to your new cousin Caleb and I am crossing my fingers that you will get a chance to wear all of the cool t-shirts I just bought before you hit another growth spurt. Just 3 weeks ago I could not sit you down on the ground without a spotter, today you sat and played all by yourself at Grandma's and even caught yourself and straightened yourself out. Pretty much the pillows I put behind you were just and insult, you are a big boy now. Today you chased your cousin Emma around in a walker, softly petted Joon- Grandma's little dog, ate rice puffs all by yourself grasping each little bit between your thumb and pointer finger. You wash your own face with a wash cloth and you wipe your face with your own bib when you eat solids.

Speaking of eating, you looooove to eat. Pretty much the only time you ever get fussy is when we cannot get food quick enough to your face. Even with 2 teeth pushing through you still have an even, happy temper. You also love to bounce. You have a rain forest jumper and boy do you jump. You crack me up with your enthusiasm for the simple joys in life and I only hope to one day have an ounce of that excitement to share.

Love Always,

The old lady

Why?

My Dearest Andrew,


I have tried to start blogs in the past and like many of my "bright ideas" they have fallen flat. This time I promise to put effort behind it and chronicle our life together as a family. Since you are already 7 months I have a lot to catch you up on...

I will first start off with why I decided that today was the day that I would get my mom act together and start keeping better track of our life together. Today was Easter, and you will soon find out that we celebrate the commercial end of holidays verses the religious side, but most importantly we always celebrate family. The problem with today is that we were missing one very important element to our family. It was the first holiday dinner without your Grandpa Milks and I must admit it was really hard for me. It has only been 2 months since your Grandpa passed away and only 4 months since we found out he was really sick. My father was one of the first people to hold you after you were born and the look on his face when he first saw you will forever be in my heart. He was so proud to hold his grandson and was excited to grow old and watch you become the amazing person you are on your way to becoming. Unfortunately, his body has other plans, but every moment he spent with you in those first 5 months of your life were filled with so much love. I want you to know that. There may not be a ton of pictures of you and Grandpa for you to look back at, but know he loved you and instantly it seemed you loved him.

Although I am sad that you will not get to spend time with my dad, I am more sad that I cannot share how much you amaze me each day with him. Every day you are one more degree of awesome, and honestly I never knew having a child would be this rewarding. I hope this blog can relay how much my life has changed, for the better, now that you are in it.

Love Always,

Momma