Breaking Bread

Today Hank started his first class in the second round of his feeding group. I am hopeful that during the course of the next 10 weeks, Hank will make a miraculous recovery and start eating table food like other toddlers his age. Today, Hank made a big step towards that goal: he ate bread for the very first time! (just a small bite, but he did chew and swallow it) While this may not seem like a major accomplishment, I was so proud of him and excited for this breakthough that I had to hold back tears. It would make me undescribably happy to see Hank eat a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Maybe soon...

Sweet Reward

I NEEDED Max to give me a smile. I think that babies must sense when their mommies are getting sleep deprived and weary and, as a survival measure, select such a time to practice their smiles. It is such a sweet reward to a long days work to see Max smile. I could tell that Max was on the verge of smiling, so I decided to take my chances and see if I could capture a precious smile on camera. Remarkably, Max found the flash on the camera to be funny and gave me some of his very first smiles!

I think the word "obsession" would be an understatement to describe Hank's fascination with tractors. Whenever we are driving in the car, Hank points out every tractor we pass along the road and can name them according to category: digger, dump truck, pump, cement mixer, back hoe, etc. So, it is no surprise that Hank was quite excited to take a ride on Papa Z's tractor during our visit to my parent's house this weekend. About every 15 minutes, Hank would ask to go out to the garage to see the tractor. In fact, he even wanted to say goodnight to the tractor before going to bed. If you ask Hank about the tractor, he says, "Hank drive Papa Z's tractor. It be loud!"

Stack 'em Up

Last week Hank and I pulled out the blocks and built towers together. We haven't played with the blocks in awhile so I was amazed that Hank was able to build towers even taller than himself! He had just as much fun destructing the towers as he had constructing them.

Guilt Trip

With the many adjustments taking place in our house these days, I find myself losing my patience a little more quickly. The other day I had sent Hank to timeout for misbehaving and had returned to discuss with him what he had done wrong and why I was upset. After our little discussion, I asked Hank if he understood. He responded by tapping his temples with his index finger and saying "[t]hink, [t]hink, [t]hink!" I honestly do not recall ever making that gesture or telling Hank to "think, think, think" but I asked him where he had heard that and he replied, "mama said it." Seriously, my heart just about broke. I know I get irritated with my cyclone of a 2-year-old sometimes, but I can't believe that I would have ever been so mean as to tell him to "think, think, think." Having my own words repeated to me definately made me more aware and cautious of the words I use. I never thought I would turn into a parent that would say things like that to their children. Half the time I swear my child is deaf because he doesn't respond to a single word I say, and then he goes and proves me wrong by repeating things that I never meant to say at all. I love my sweet Hanky and will try to remember this little episode next time I feel like I'm losing my temper.

Safety First

Hank loves to play with his tools and takes his repairs very seriously. Whenever he plays with his tool bench, he says he is "workin."

2 Weeks Old -- Already!

Who is the cutest baby on earth? "I am" says Max.

Everyday I notice something different about Max: is his hair beginning to curl? Turn red? Are his eyes going to be blue like Hank's? Does he have an out-y? Is he getting heavier? So, although the pictures may all look alike, I see something different in each of the millions of pictures that I take of him....and I just can't help snapping millions of pictures--he's too cute!