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!

Toys from HELL

I find it quite ironic that two of Jeremiah's Christmas presents that I was looking forward to him receiving and playing with the most have given me the most trouble.

First offender: TMX EmoI purchased Elmo from Toys r Us in August, on clearance for $15 when pre-orders for the Elmo LIVE were coming out. I didn't feel that Jeremiah would quite appreciate a toy that told stories and jokes at his age, and would have more fun with this (budget friendly) Elmo. I couldn't wait to take him out and see him roll, laugh, stand up, sit down. However, I was good and kept him in our closet til Christmas morning. Immediately upon Jeremiah opening him, we put in new batteries and waited for the magic to happen. You push his tummy, he does his thing. Or, in the case of THIS Elmo, every four or five PUNCHES he would roll and laugh, or maybe move an arm or a leg. I was PISSED. Even if I still HAD my receipt for Toys r Us, I would not be able to return him because the receipt would have breached the return date, broken or not. On top of it, they don't even carry this particular model any more because of the new Elmo Live. So, I called up Fisher Price today (ironically enough my second call of the day... but more on that later!) and without having to argue a single bit, the very kind operator put in an order for a replacement Elmo to head my way. She told me I could keep the busted one and turn him into a dust mop if I wish. Praise God! (Anyone want a dust mop that's red, fluffy and cute?)

Second Offender: Fisher Price Crawl and Cruise Musical Jungle

Jeremiah has had lots of fun playing with this toy at Braden's house, especially now that he is obsessed with balls. He goes nuts over them. When my grandmother mentioned that she still needed a present for Jeremiah for Christmas, I ordered this off of Amazon.com for her. Ever since it arrived last month I have been counting down until I could play with this with Jeremiah. I didn't start assembling it until last night because I wanted our Christmas tree out of the house first. Lets just say that the Toys r Us review for this being an "easy" toy to assemble is a LIE! A big fat lie. I kid you not, it took me an hour last night and another hour today (plus a phone call into Fisher Price) to figure it out. This thing is bulky. It has so many bumps, ledges, poky things, things to twist (in an odd fashion), screws to screw (that don't screw in easily), you name it. However, now it is assembled, minus one screw that refuses to go in. I don't care. For the 15 minutes that Jeremiah was able to play with it before bed tonight, he loves it. Lets just hope that he remains interested in it for a while!