like a switch has been flipped...

LO had a pretty good birthday yesterday (and a nice time at his party the day before). But more on that in another post.

I just wanted to take a moment to mention that overnight, and coincidentally on his second birthday, LO stopped saying the proper and cute "Yes" in favor of "Yeah." He has NEVER answered us with a cursory "Yeah" before. And that is if he cares to bother himself with answering us anyway (another thing that seemed to manifest itself on his birthday) - for example, this morning I asked him if he was finished with breakfast. No answer.

"Are you finished?" Silence. "Are you ready to get out of your high chair?" Silence.

The most aggravating thing about this is that even though he is not making eye contact, I can tell the wheels are in motion up there: "OK, hold out. Don't say A WORD. Keep her wondering. Let's see if she will get me out of the high chair anyway. Yes. YES! She's doing it! I have the power!!!!!" (Of course, he still says "Yes" in his head....)

the post in which i confess i don't know what i'm doing

I'd mentioned before, briefly, that I had other art projects I've been working on. What I didn't mention is that I'm kinda struggling. BUT, I wanted the person to know that I am indeed trying! Exhibit A:

Thanks to P for your patience!

In other news, this is how the past few days have gone:

LO had his 2nd 4th of July in which he had his first ice cream cone (but not ice cream - he has had that before!) and his first swim in the big pool. He was not a huge fan of the latter, though I was able to snap a smiling face with the camera:

Monday I caught a caterpillar, and LO and I put it in his little plastic bucket which was especially made for collecting bugs (however, its design is a little flawed in my opinion, so I don't recommend this over, say, a jelly jar with holes poked in the lid) so that LO and I could look at it closely. Unfortunately, the "caterpillar" turned out to be a cutworm (read: PEST), so as far as LO knows, I let it go to roam free in the grasses (but we all know what fate that cutworm met!). Look at its crazy Storm Trooper face!

We also went to the park later that afternoon. We stopped on the trail to look at the geese, but quickly had to flee once they realized they were being watched. Among other things, we played around in the sand by the swing sets, and while I was snapping pictures of LO squeezing the life out of handfuls of sand:

Look at his expression... GRR!

a bunch (flock, gaggle?) of ducks sneaked up *thisclose* behind me. The waterfowl around here, they are not shy!!

And lastly, it is worth mentioning, my baby boy is turning TWO this weekend. There has been nothing more joyful and bittersweet in life than to watch my baby grow up. Talk about not knowing what I'm doing! First-time parenthood has been the best ride of my life!

thoughts

I have a friend who is hurting right now. She is a woman I have gotten to know through an online moms' board - though some might find those types of friendships superficial, I'm here to tell you, some of those women have been with me through the good times and the bad, sending me good wishes when I was celebrating, and (((hugs))) and prayers when I was struggling. I've even had the privilege of meeting three of them in person! :-)

In one of her replies to the thread she started, asking for prayer, she posted a link to a particular post from this blog. I've seen this blog before - so heartwrenching, the blog of a family who has had to deal with the unthinkable. As I neared the end of this blog post, tears literally sprung from my eyes - and it startled me a little. And I was so grateful that my friend was able to find comfort from those words. I hope you do, too.

two-year pic

I still reserve the right to keep on a-snappin' - I'd like to take him to the same location his one-year pics were done and see if we can't get some good ones of him on his tricycle - but this is the one I've decided on so far:

7.02.09

Hope everyone has a safe and happy 4th!

things i have recently learned from my son

Just wanting to start a list of these little gems:

1) Scissors are for "scissing"
2) Foods are "tasty"; therefore, beverages are "drinky"

More to come, I'm sure...

elephant ;-)

C'mon, Ms. K... surely you can see the elephant NOW, right? ;-)

"prehistoric creatures" watercolor duo

I've been wanting to replace the prints in LO's room for a while now with my own artwork. Recently, we had to take a larger print off the wall by his crib because it was within his reach when he stood up in the crib, and the void it left was bothering me. I recently got a frame that was a near-perfect match for the frame above his crib (and that also hung out of LO's reach), but it needed artwork. Instead of trying to match what was hanging above his crib, I decided to just replace that artwork, too. It needed to be simple, colorful without being too loud, and boyish, yet something that could grow with him. And because I have other art projects I'm working on, it needed to be quickly executed. Over the weekend, I came up with these:

The painting on the left was sketched out on watercolor block before I began painting; the one on the right, which I painted first, was painted freehand.

The prehistoric creatures in the above paintings are based on the illustrations in this dinosaur sticker book by Allan Eitzen. And when I say "based on", I totally mean I tried my hardest to sketch them out on the watercolor block just like they are in the book, though I decided to go with emotionless faces and toothless mouths in place of angry faces and flesh-ripping teeth. ;-)

;-) And, quite frankly, I think they complement the collaborate effort of LO and me, which hangs on an opposite wall, above his dresser:

This was painted landscape-wise, but hung portrait-wise because my husband totally saw an elephant. Now I do too! :-)

To follow up from the last post, LO's eyes were checked out yesterday by the pediatric ophthalmologist, and thank God it turned out to be nothing. It was one of things I just couldn't in my good conscience ignore, and my husband agreed.

More prayers are needed, though, for little 4-month-old T, who this week has been diagnosed with cancer - acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). Upon being diagnosed, he was immediately admitted to the hospital to prepare for treatment. He has undergone surgery to start his chemo and test his bone marrow. Such a nightmare for any family. I just saw some photos of him several hours post-op, and he looks so good, it's hard to believe that poor little guy's body is going through all that. Stay strong, little T!!

On a much lighter note, today's temps once again hit triple digits, so after his nap and a snack, I slathered some sunscreen on LO and took him to a local park's so-called "spray park" (I keep wanting to call it "splash pad"). It was his first time there, and he completely loved it!

Stay cool, y'all!

a praying parent

I don't normally express my religious or political views on this blog, but something touched me this evening and I had to share it, even if it was here with my audience of three. :-)

When my husband goes out of town, I take a picture of LO at some point each day and send it to him via cell phone or email. Today after I took our daily picture with the cell, I grabbed the regular camera and took several more. In one of the flash pictures, there was something about his right eye that has me concerned.

I don't want to jump to conclusions about it because it could be absolutely nothing, but I also want to have this looked at by his pediatrician and / or a pediatric ophthalmologist as soon as possible. I remembered that an old school friend I'd reconnected with on Facebook was a pediatric nurse, and so I asked her if she knew of any good pediatric ophthalmologists in this area. Her reply was that she had a friend, also a nurse, whose child(ren) had been seen by a doctor that she absolutely loved. She also mentioned that he was a Christian. How wonderful that she even knew this about him, not to mention that she felt this was important to note about a medical provider she was recommending to me.

When LO was born, a friend gave me a book called The Power of a Praying Parent. Admittedly, though I'd gotten several chapters into it, it has been months since I've picked it up. But if ever there was a time I needed to work through my struggles with prayer (and believe me, I have struggles), it is now as I pray for my little boy's health.

This evening, I cracked the book open at the place where the bookmark was wedged, and there it was: "Chapter Twelve: Enjoying a Life of Health and Healing." The chapter begins, "When my daughter was four years old she was diagnosed with an eye problem...." The issue the author's daughter had is different, but you can bet that caught my attention.

I love the Lord and am so grateful that He knows to communicate with me in a very in-your-face way when warranted: "Hey - I'm talking to YOU!"

And as for finding out about LO's eye - if you have any prayers and positive thoughts to spare, we'd appreciate some!

no rest for the weary (or is it "wicked"?)

... at any rate, no rest for me. Or LO, who after a MAJOR freakout session at bedtime is still awake and now in front of the TV watching "Classical Baby" while I pound out my frustrations on the laptop keyboard. Here's hoping that he gets enough sleep tonight so that he's on his best behavior for our lunch date with a friend tomorrow...