Things I thought I'd never say as a parent...

Daddy to little boy J: "No, you don't have to eat the banana bread if you don't like it. But you cannot run over it with your tricycle."

My baby isn't anymore.

A few weeks ago, baby J made the connection that he is identified in a particular manner. He has called others by their names for awhile now. He knows his meemaw and peepaw. He knows his mommie and papa. He even knows his uncles and uncles by friendship. But when we would ask his name, he would reply with a confident "baby". I'm not sure how he adopted this name for himself, as he is never called baby. I call him "bugs" (not sure why) and papa calls him "little man". Other people call him by the shortened version of his name. I began to pay more attention to how other people identified him. Nope. Nobody calls him baby. I was fine with this reference for himself, because he is my baby and the nickname won't be fitting for much longer.

And he has already begun to outgrow it.

 A few days ago, while playing the "who's that?" name game, he called himself by his name.

In fact, I overheard he and his papa having a conversation yesterday. Papa reprimanded him for having his tongue out while climbing on the bed (he was getting the duvet wet) and asked if he was a little doggie. He replied, "I no doggie. I boy."

My baby J is redefining himself as a boy now. He is almost 2. He is a boy. And too rapidly in my opinion.

Snow Days Are Fun!

For toddlers, snow days aren't nearly as exciting as for older kids. All they know is that they're housebound. Since papa had a job in Mount Prospect, he offered to let us tag along. This may not sound like much fun to most, but we knew what he intended. So, we headed in the general direction of the job and stopped at the big blue and yellow building along the way. Ikea on a snow day is a perfect solution for mommies and babies. We ate lunch; then papa headed to work. Baby J and I went to Smaland to play in the blueberry ball basket. What fun! Before long, it was time to head out. I fed him his snack, packed him up in the truck, and shortly afterwards, the tuckered out tot was asleep.

Hope eveyone else is enjoying their snow day!

PS- My hubby says hola to all!

A tribute to the most wonderful husband and father.

It isn't nearly often enough that I gloat about my husband. So, let me take a moment to do so.

When I'm feeling faint of heart
With little energy left,
He's the one who lifts me up
And gives me needed rest.

When baby J is fussing
As he has been all day long,
He's the one who assures me
That I've done nothing wrong.

When dinner is cold and chewy
But we've nothing else to eat,
He's the one who challenges me
To not concede defeat.

So while I'm a lot of effort
And sometimes not much fun,
He's reassuring me that
I'm his only one.

While it may seem trivial
To feel so deeply wanted,
He has always done so
And never needed to flaunt it.

To him I am grateful
For the life we three share.
And so I dedicate my heart
To my husband dear.