My Son, My Sweetheart

This picture was taken by my father on Thanksgiving day. One of my favorites!!

Today my precious baby turned 13 months old. I can't believe that he is already one month into his second year of life. Like I said before, the change that has taken place between his first birthday and now is absolutely amazing. Besides talking all day long, he is also WALKING!! Not exclusively walking, but he has been walking more and more lately. Tonight he spent the evening walking across his entire bedroom to my arms and giving me a hug, over and over and over again. It's absolutely precious. The look of joy on his face when he reaches my arms and gives me a huge hug is the best feeling in the world. On Saturday he mastered standing up on his own in the middle of a room, without having to grab onto something. I believe he will be walking exclusively by next week. He is also starting (and I mean starting) to obey me when I tell him not to touch something. I can kind of see him thinking about what he is doing when I tell him "don't touch that." I praise him for making wise choices, and for the first time he isn't taking this positive reinforcement as permission to go back to doing exactly what he was doing. YAY!

Jeremiah is becoming extremely affectionate. He will be playing by himself, and then make his way over to me at breakneck speed, give me a hug and make all these love noises. He also is starting to enjoy a half an hour of cuddling and rocking when he wakes up from his naps. Speaking of naps, I hate to admit it but I think the days of him taking two naps are extremely numbered. He took a great two hour nap this morning but then refused to take his afternoon nap, playing, whining and eventually screaming in his crib for an hour (but not screaming for an hour). This isn't the first time this has happened. Oh well....

Tomorrow my parents are taking Jeremiah overnight so that Louis and I can have a date. I don't think we have had one since... September? I honestly don't even remember the last time we went out, just the two of us. I'm so looking forward to a night of great food and a great husband!!

Jeremiah's new TMX Elmo came in the mail today, a mere four days after I placed my call to Fisher Price. This one works like a charm, although Jeremiah doesn't seem all that interested in it yet. I posted the old one for free on Craigslist and gave it away to a woman whose foster daughter is in love with Elmo. The thank-you email I got from the mother after she gave the toy to her daughter was so touching. I love doing nice things for people!