Why yes, yes I have, thank you for noticing. Now, I'm no fitness expert. I don't go to the gym, I don't work out, I don't lift weights. But I do lug around a 32lb one-year old everywhere I go, and I've got the biceps to prove it! Check out these mommy muscles:
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| For comparison, this is my non-baby carrying right arm--nothing special, right? |
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| Boom! How 'bout them guns!? |
Perhaps one of the things about summertime that I look forward to the most is taking long walks, enjoying the beauty of the great outdoors....so therapeutic, so invigorating. The other day, I happened to get home from therapy in time to join Hank, Max, and Nana Grover on a fabulous walk along the trail to our bridge, where the boys entertained themselves throwing rocks into the river below.
Who else can cause a riot every single day simply by opening the front door and arriving home? Who else has a small entourage following two steps behind during even the most ordinary of tasks? Who is the strongest/tallest person on earth? Who else can fix anything? Knows everything? Can do anything? Our Dad. Aaron, thank you for being our Super Hero. We love you. I hope you enjoy the homemade motivational posters the boys and I made for you:)
After work on Friday, Aaron raced home, packed up the gear, and took Hank and Max on the first of many Father/Son Camp-outs. The boys were so excited to spend some special time with Daddy, and I won't lie, I was pretty excited to have a little "me" time. As the boys arrived at the campsite, set up camp, sat around the campfire, and bundled down for bed, Aaron would text me a quick note with a picture, telling me how much fun they were having together.
Wow! Hank is 5! Five means that Hank is old enough to go to kindergarten in the fall, old enough to buckle his own seat belt, old enough to dress himself and brush his own teeth, old enough to count to 200 (and count to 10 in spanish), old enough to know his address and phone number, old enough to ride a scooter, old enough to pee standing up (we held off teaching him this for purposes of cleanliness), old enough to skip taking a nap, old enough to offers his own prayers without being told, old enough to stay up until 8:30 on a good night, old enough to climb the monkey bars, old enough to write my grocery list for me, old enough to return the cart at the grocery store, but.....never, ever, too old to be my sweet Hanky boy. Our family was blessed five years ago when Hank was born--Hank, you are one in a million! Happy Birthday, Hanky boy!
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| My favorite little bowling ball. |
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| As usual, Hank was very spoiled and received many fun gifts: transformers (we're still trying to figure out how to put them together), a tow truck and police car, nerf sets, and a slip and slide. |
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| At his request, I made Hank a giant cookie instead of a cake. Non-traditional maybe, but boy was it tasty! |
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| The party ended with Aaron treating Hank and his friends to a special surprise. |
Yesterday was a day for the record books! It seems that Ben's development just exploded! All at once!
#1: Our day started early with a visit from our home educator (birth-to-three), Sara. As Sara was trying to entice Ben with various toys, Ben became very fixated on the dangling straps attached to his walker. Sara placed Ben on the floor on his tummy, with those straps teasing him just out of reach. Now Ben doesn't usually tolerate tummy time at all, so consequently we don't really put him on his tummy all that much. So I was very surprised when, instead of fussing and complaining, Ben began to extrend his arms and really reach for those straps in earnest! Poor Ben was determined to grab the straps; he was grunting with effort. Finally Ben figured out how to do a "semi-army crawl" and inch himself close enough to get ahold of the straps. Huge!!! Ben didn't actually do a cross-pattern coordinated army crawl, but he did do kind of a concerted stretching of his arms and legs that did produce some forward motion. Its a start--a miraculous start!
#2: Since Ben seemed so enthralled with the walker, I decided to put him in it and let him hang out in the kitchen. The boys had messed up the alignment on the wheels and set the brakes, so I had to tinker with it to adjust the wheels. Somehow I was able to loosen the wheels so that they were super reactive to motion--and Ben just pedaled around! He would reach for a kitchen chair, shift his weight in that direction, and the walker would wheel him closer. So exciting to see the wheels (the ones upstairs and the ones on the walker) turning and watching Ben be able to explore cause and effect.
#3: After an eventful morning, I laid Ben down for his nap after lunchtime. Ben was still awake, but he usually drifts to sleep within a few minutes of being placed in his bed. A short time later, I went upstairs to check on Ben, and I found him knocked out cold--sitting up! As uncomfortable as he looked sleeping in the sitting up position, it was also a celebration of his learning how to go from his back to sitting up all by himself! I had laid him down in his bed, but he had apparently decided that he wasn't ready to go to sleep, so he sat up! Just like that!
#4: Ben has a few consonant sounds in his vocabulary, mostly Fs, Vs, Ws, and the occasional Bs. Several months ago, Ben began making the M sound, and saying Mama, but usually only when he is distressed, never in imitation. What a special treat it was yesterday when I was playing with Ben in his exersaucer and he let out a huge string of "ma-ma-ma-ma-ma"s! And it wasn't a one-time thing. I would say "ma-ma" and then he would imitate me and repeat it right back. I was sure to capture this first on video (and I will admit that I may have played it to myself, oh about a million times). Ah! What sweet music to my soul!
#5: Ben has been working on water therapy for many months now, but yesterday he went in the pool with a different therapist for the first time. The new therapist had a bit of a different routine, and set Ben alongside the edge of the pool, with his favorite toys outside the pool on either side of Ben. Without the effect of gravity, Ben just cruised along the side of the pool, as though he's done it a million times before, and grabbed one toy after the other! Ben? Cruising? Who knew?!
In all the world, I can't conceive of anything more precious, more inspiring, more faith-promoting, than to witness the small (but Huge!) developmental steps taken by my special son. After a day of FIVE miracles, all I can say is God is good.
