Mark Henry is 2!

I'm obviously a terrible blogger because I haven't posted in almost a year, but I did want to come on here and say MARK HENRY IS TWO! Our big boy is a toddler. tear. We celebrated at Brook Run Park with friends and family. He is very busy and loves running around and playing on the playground. Tad and his dad also made him a car ramp to race cars and that was a big hit. It was a fun morning even though it rained us out after an hour or so. :)

So what is MH up to as a two year old?
- He's very busy, running around and jabbering non-stop. I can't even count how many words he has in his vocab, but he'll copy anything you say.
- He's obsessed with all mode of transportation... trains, cars, airplanes. You will typically find him with a matchbox car in each hand at all times.
- He loves to read, especially his new Thomas the Train book that he got from the Fields for his birthday. We probably read him 10 books/day. I hope this continues as he gets older and he's a lover of books like his mama!
- He really doesn't have a sense of danger yet, which means he's constantly running on the couch and our bed. Even after falling off, he doesn't care. He now hates getting in the stroller when we leave GP for Kids. Since we take the train, I'm not ready to have him on the Marta platform without being restrained but we'll see how long that lasts. Every time I go to put him in there, he says "walk, walk". There have been times where I've let him be free, but it just leads to a breakdown outside of Peachtree Center when I finally have to put him in there before we get down stairs.
- All of his teeth are in except the molars. I wouldn't say he's a "biter" but he has bit me a couple of times. Ouch.
- His favorite meal is breakfast (he eats more than Tad most mornings) and his favorite foods are [anything] sweet, corn on the cob (it's cute to watch him eat it) and french fries. He'll also eat broccoli, peas, beans though. We try to keep things balanced as best we can, but some days he just doesn't want to eat.

A cause to celebrate

Mark Henry started wearing a helmet back in May to round out a flat spot on the back of his noggin. We went to CHOA every 3-4 weeks to get a scan and we received good news a couple of weeks ago - no more helmet! And I think his head has shaped out nicely. :)

Here's a picture of the stud about a month ago:

Here we are at CHOA for the final scan:

The scanner is behind us. We lay him down and he has to be still for about 2 seconds - it's pretty quick.

We had breakfast at Einsteins to celebrate:

He's becoming more vocal and will scream and bang on the table now so we have to make sure we go to busy, loud places these days!

The Last Time

The Atlanta Birth Center facebook page shared this. Love!

The Last Time by Devon Corneal

Tonight, Little Dude asked for a snuggle before bed. It was well past his bedtime and I was tired, cranky and had a stack of laundry to fold, a memo to write and a blog post to finish. I told him I'd snuggle for two minutes.

He crawled under his blanket, squirmed until he was comfortable and pushed me to the edge of the mattress. He offered me his favorite blankie to keep me warm. I put my arm around him and he was sound asleep before I had finished cataloguing the list of things I had to do before I could crawl into my own bed. I considered making a stealthy escape but stopped when he threw his arm around my neck while mumbling unintelligibly. A sleeping 4-year old's arm has as much strength as a soggy piece of toast, but I didn't move.
Despite my earlier desire to leave, I stayed and pulled him toward me.

I had one of those rare blissful parenting moments when everything else fades away and you appreciate the simple physical presence of your child. I marveled at the amount of heat a small boy produces when he sleeps and the ease with which he leaves the world behind. I smelled his hair. The laundry could wait.
It hit me in the darkness of his cluttered room that these days are numbered. Some night in the future, Little Dude will ask me to snuggle with him before he falls asleep, and I will have no idea that it will be the last time. I won't know to pay attention or to try to commit every minute to memory. Days or weeks or months later, I will try to recall when that last snuggle happened. I won't be able to. I know I will ache to slide next to him on his narrow bed, listen to him breathe and wait for the moment when he surrenders to his dreams. All of the irritations, the inconveniences and the wishing for time alone will seem insignificant in comparison to the warmth and peace of his nighttime routine. I will regret the times I hurried through bedtime and left his room even though he asked me to stay "Just one more minute, Mommy."

It will be too late.

I just now understand that in anticipating my son's "firsts," I've forgotten to appreciate what he's left behind. The firsts are monumental, celebrated and captured on film. I reveled in Little Dude's first steps, jotted down his first words and am prepared to save lost teeth. There isn't a first I haven't recorded in some way. I've paid less attention to his "lasts." I've ignored the finality that comes with moving from one stage to another.
I don't remember the last day that Little Dude's eyes were blue before they turned green. I can't recall the last time his hair was baby soft and curly, or the last time he crawled or took a real nap. I can't pinpoint the last time we shared the peaceful quiet of a 3 a.m. feeding, or he squealed with joy to be riding his wooden rocking horse. There will be a hundred last times to come. And I won't know they've passed until there is no hope of recapturing them. I know this because I don't remember the last day he used a pacifier or waited for us to get him from his bed rather than clomping into our bedroom at some ungodly pre-dawn hour exuberant and ready to face the day as we struggle to open our eyes. I've forgotten when he stopped liking sweet potatoes or saying "Pick mine up!"

Not that there aren't stages I'm happy are gone. I don't miss teething, two-hour feedings, biting or needing to be carried everywhere. I'm neither Pollyanna nor a masochist. Babies are darling; I'm also glad I don't have one anymore. Raising children isn't all warm snuggles and charming memories. Parenting can be a long, hard slog.

But for today I'm focusing on the last times still to come, even though I won't know that they're the last chapters until long after they've gone. The last snuggle. The last time Little Dude asks me to bring him chocolate milk. The last time we play fire trucks. The last time he falls down and comes crying to me with his entire body shaking, tears streaming down his face, believing with childish certainty that a kiss from me will make his skinned knee better. The last time he asks to marry me. The last time he believes in my omniscience. The last time we color together at the kitchen table. I'm not naïve enough to believe that this moment of reflection will stop me from becoming irritated, impatient, frustrated, bored or upset tomorrow when my son whines, spills spaghetti sauce on the rug or throws a fit because I won't let him stay up late. Maybe, though, I'll temper my response if I can remember how fleeting this all is. That for every moment I've prayed would end, there is something I miss.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/devon-corneal/parenting-lasts_b_1874086.html

Happy birthday, Mark Henry!

Today Mark Henry turned one! Our lives definitely changed a year ago, and only for the better. Tad had to work today, but Tad's parents are in town so they came up to GP for lunch. We walked a couple of blocks over to Ted's Montana Grill. It was a beautiful day - high around 81, nice breeze... a perfect day for a birthday!

Here is Mark Henry at lunch.

... and spending the day with Nana and Papaw (excuse the blurry phone pics).

Our little squirt is ONE!

We had MH's birthday party on Saturday at Starr Park in Forest Park. Mark Henry had a great time and so did we! Thanks to all of our family and friends who came to help him celebrate. I think the best part was watching him devour the cake! 

Some of these pictures aren't the best quality, but I'll upload more soon! 

Big boy

Mark Henry is almost 7 months and I'm officially a blog slacker. :) He's so much fun these days... lots of babbling, eating peas, sweet potatoes and cereal, being lovey and cuddly, reaching for my face (and pulling my hair - ah!), sleeping well through the night (yep, I count that as fun. It's been so nice to get some good sleep!), and keeping himself occupied in his exersaucer and play mat (so we can actually get things done). He goes to bed between 6-7 in the afternoon (keep him up longer and he's miserable) and when I go to check on him before bedtime, I realize how much I miss him. Silly, but true.

Here are some pics of his cute self lately...

Waumba Land

Tad is working today so Mark Henry and I had big plans to go to church. I picked out a red plaid collared shirt for him to wear since it's Christmas week. I made fun of myself because I ironed it, thinking, "Geez, I'm ironing my 3 month old's clothes. How OCD. This is too much." Hey, it was wrinkled, okay? (And I'll admit, I wanted a crease in the sleeve. Don't hate.) Well, I guess MH thought it was too much too because as I was changing his diaper right before we left, he proceeded to pee ALL OVER THE SHIRT. In shock, I said "Ahhhhh!" and he started laughing. I couldn't believe it. Little stinker. Oh, well. For a split second I thought about leaving the darn thing on him since I had worked so hard to get it ready. I mean, I don't iron. lol. In the end, he sported an "I love Mommy" onesie with jeans and a Christmas bib. We'll try the Christmas outfit again next week. :)

Today was his first real time in Waumba Land, the church nursery. He went a couple of weeks ago for about 20 minutes while we went to the baby dedication orientation, but I'm not really counting that. I knew it was time to put him in there because Tad and I were both having a hard time focusing on the service when we sat in the baby section with him. I think we both would hold our breath hoping he wouldn't cry, and almost every time one of us would have to walk out with him because he'd wake up and start crying or cooing. The last time I went by myself, he started jabbering loudly and one of the staff members was about to kick me out. Haha. But I was already on my way to go out into the foyer. Yep, time to take the kid to the nursery! Of course, he did great. Someone rocked him for a bit and then he napped. I love Waumba Land and can't wait for him to get a little older and start learning about Jesus. Their goal is to teach them: "God made me, God loves me, and Jesus wants to be my friend forever." How sweet is that? Tad sings him "Jesus Loves Me" several times a day and Mark Henry just stares at him. I have to keep the tears from coming every time.