Happy Almost Halloween Jim!!

Can I just tell you all that we are totally lucky parents so far? Our boy is smiley and happy so very much of the time. He is adorable. He loves people. He loves to be out in a crowd and make eyes at the ladies. He's great in restaurants. He can entertain himself or he can be the center of the party - either way, he's happy. Everyone loves our boy. Strangers comment on how amazing his smile is - it is infectious. He lights up our world. Sometimes, I get scared, I feel that I will jinx our good fortune by speaking of it... that the fates will come down on our heads and rob us of our joy.

However, I realized tonight that if I don't write about it then I just might loose the record of my boy's amazing effect on people. If, Heaven forbid, something terrible should happen to my boy, it would be sad to have never celebrated his beauty and charm. You see that's all there is - today. That's it. Today is done so far as it goes and tomorrow is not gauranteed. So, while I'm tempting fate by saying so - I want to shout from the treetops - My boy is a wonder, a joy, and a light and happy place in my otherwise dull world - everytime I look at him he lights up and that makes me light up too. Thank you, Jim for being so wonderful.

From the cuteness below you can't tell that my boy was sick, sick, sick on the day of this photo shoot. We have no doubt that Jim would have preferred to be home, cuddled up with one of us, instead of being put under bright lights and made to smile. However, he is darned cute, and we are so glad to have such great photos of him.

Jim is now sitting up on his own, eating level 2 and 3 foods - over the last week I've started introducing some table foods in tiny, tiny bites. Tiny as in I cut one piece of macaroni and cheese into 3rds so I could give it to him to try. It isn't really a fear of choking that I was dealing with, just a fear of ruining an outfit since he wasn't wearing a bib and I was too lazy to go get one, but he wanted to try my food sooooo badly. :)

Jim is now saying several words - Momma, Dada, Nana, MMMmmm (for hungry), and he is trying to add the word Kitty.

It is really great playing with Jim - he is so amazing. A couple of weeks ago he learned to pass a ball by rolling it back and forth with you. He's learning about gravity by dropping things from his highchair or my lap - he loves this game as it is parent-interactive. :) He's beginning to get his knees under him and rock back and forth, so all he needs to do is add some extra arm stregnth and he's going to be off his tummy! Yesterday he started standing while holding onto a chair, and while he can't pull up yet he's working on it!

I think we need to lower his crib tomorrow night... He is now able to peek over the side by pushing up on his arms - luckly he can't pull up or I think he could go over the side!

Our boy has moved on to size 4 diapers! For anyone that doesn't know, once your baby starts having blowouts and leakages from his once-perfectly-sized diapers it is time to shift up to the next size, most likely. Our daycare, who should certainly understand this phenomenon was slow on the uptake. They tried really hard to ruin about 14 outfits by refusing to use the larger size diapers we provided for 2 weeks. I finally explained that they would be getting a bill for replacing his clothing if he came home one more time in a size 3 diaper.

What we finally figured out was that they were borrowing from another kid's stash instead of using the diapers in Jim's bin. While this is cool in the "money saved by not using my diapers" way, it is also a little bit frustrating to know they could also be "borrowing" from Jim's stash to diaper others. So, even though we'd provided the right size, it wasn't making it to his bottom.Grrrrrrr...

This past weekend we were away from home when Jim needed a diaper change - badly. Turns out there were NO diapers in his bag. Uh-oh. Let me say a GREAT BIG FLASHING NEON THANK YOU! to the kind lady that gave us her last size 5 diaper (her twins were now wearing 6's). Now, you could say that we were forgetful, and we deserved the embarrasment and trouble, but you would be mistaken. My hubby is the diaper-bag nazi and replenishs the bag ANYTIME we use something AS SOON as we get home.

I'll give you 1 guess what happened to his diapers. Yep, the daycare people. Turns out they have been taking his diapers from his bag instead of getting them out of the bin marked "Jim" in the closet. Grrrrrrrr.... Guess what else. This isn't the 1st time that has happened, I just hadn't heard about it.

I'm thinking the daycare people are going to get a talking to on Monday. Go get'em hubby!

On to happier new... My cousin D and her hubby T of 25 years visited with us this weekend. They decided that they would like a trip to Nascar to celebrate 25 years. Congrats guys on being so happily married for so long - that is a rarity in today's fast-paced world.

Let's see... What else... Oh yeah!

Stacie, over at Here Storkey Storkey had some pretty darned good news from her babies' neuro visit this past week. At least, I will term it good news. Overall, both of her boys had really good results on their expected outlook neurologically. Her son Jason has received what could be considered "highest marks" and may not even qualify for future intervention because he may not need it!! Wooo Hoo!

There has been some arm nerve damage done to her son Shawn's arm, most likely from the craptastic job that was done fixing his shunt this summer, but all-in-all his current prognosis is a certified miracle - given that he had 8 brain surgeries in 8 weeks. Go Shawn!!! Keep working hard on the rehab of your arm, I know it is tough, and I know you hate it, but it will be worth it when you are able to give that neuro-nut the finger! :) Ha!

The biggest milestone of them all is their 1 year birthdays, coming up soon, and want to give big kudos to Stacie and Issac for being so amazing in the face of such adversity. I think your biggest accomplishment was to keep your family intact during such an amazingly rough year.