A Year in the Life...

My son is almost 1 year old. He turns 1 on April 1st, which now seems like a fitting birthday for him, because I think he's already a bit if a jokester. He likes to test limits, yell loudly, and grin from ear to ear even when he knows he's about to get in trouble for whatever sneaky thing he just did in plain view. It's ridiculously cute, and also quite manipulative. Ha. You have to watch him like a hawk, and be prepared to adminster consequences, even to the sweetest face!

In the last month, Wyatt has learned how to walk. He was a cruiser for so long, I almost couldn't believe it when at 11 months old, he decided to take 15 steps in a row, solo. It's been a couple weeks, and he's already moved on to something that resembles a speed-walking/running hybrid. It's so cute, I can barely do it justice. He just goes until his head gets too far ahead of his feet and he falls over. He especially enjoys these little jaunts when Sadie is with him. Standing, he is still taller than Sadie. When he was crawling, she towered over him; I think it made her less appealing. But now, he's the Master. All alpha-male at 1 year old. Look out world. And yesterday, he stood at the door watching Sadie and said, (albeit with some prompting), "Dadie". Loved that.

Basically, my baby is doing what babies do: escaping babyhood in favor of toddlerdome. It's a fun process to witness. Kind of mind-blowing. Finger foods. Sippy cups. Whole milk. Finding treasures all over the house from the rollercoaster of fascination and disinterest associated with toys and papers and boxes and spoons. It's awesome, pure and simple.

In grown-up news, Ryan and I get to go to Hawaii right after Wyatt's 1st birthday party! Ryan's parents blessed us with the use of their timeshare and flight miles. An unreal and generous gift to be sure. We're sooooo excited. Especially because they'll be watching Wyatt. Yep, we get to go munchkin-less. It'll be like a 2nd honeymoon! (Only I won't be wearing a bikini, and we probably will actually have contact with the outside world.) :) Then, at the end of May, I'm taking a whirlwind trip to St. Maarten for Gina's wedding! Dude, somebody is gonna start the summer off with a TAN. Don't think I've had one of those since my honeymoon, either.

Life feels charmed. I feel amazingly blessed right now, and not just because of travel, although that certainly sweetens the deal. It's funny, because I know the world is in a pessimistic place these days. And yet, at the same time, I have an ever-increasing appreciation for things that endure beyond economics. My family. My friends. My faith. Priorities change a lot when you realize you're not in control of the big picture. You start to assess, instead, the character of people. The bonds of parenthood. The nature of belief. And in those things, I think my life will be charmed, even if everything crumbles to the ground. Ryan always teases me about the future when we'll be living in a trailer, farming the ground for our own sustenance, after the economy has finally completely tanked and the government can't find anyone else to borrow from or tax. And while he gets me all riled up, when I really think about it, I feel secure in the important things, no matter how the future unfolds. So, maybe economic systems are really just frosting, anyway. :)

How funny that my blog went from light-hearted to serious in the span of a paragraph. :) Oh, well. Life does that to us all the time, eh? I'm just writing about it. Hey look, I'm writing about it at my finally clean desk... You can't see me? Stinkin' invisibility cloak...

Fast and Furious

Dude. Seriously. This kid is in milestone overdrive. Last night, Wyatt crawled for the first time! He's been taking a few "steps" before losing his focus, but he's done it several times, so we know he has the mechanics down. He ought to be a speeding bullet of a rug rat in no time. As I mentioned in my last post, he's also learning to climb. We finally lowered his crib in order to prevent him from taking a dive over the top. Last night he also attempted to pull himself up to a standing position on the couch. He couldn't quite get there, but he looked determined, which seems to garner quick results in Wyatt land. I'm also trying to teach him how to crawl down backwards from the couch. I got a picture of him on my cell phone standing steady after a crawl-down lesson, and I expect we'll see more of this pose as he figures out how to pull all the way to standing. And since every time he's in a standing position, he tries to take steps, I foresee an early walker... I keep having to remind myself that my milestone-ramming, super tall little boy is really only 7 months old. Sometimes he looks so much older than that. Oh, but those chubby cheeks give him away... :)

I'm also happy to report that yesterday I slipped into the jeans I wore for my engagement pictures two years ago. I wore them comfortably for most of the day until Wyatt managed to get carrots on them. Fun with laundry! But it felt great. I'm not quite to my goal weight yet, but getting into some of my skinnier clothes is definitely incentive to keep fighting the good fight. It'll probably take a "mom job" after we're done having kids to get me back into my favorite bikini, but I sure do have a lot of great jeans I'll be thrilled to wear all winter. :)

More about me, me, me: I've been wrestling with an old manuscript lately. (Yes, reading Twilight inspired me.) I love my characters and the premise, but something was eating at me as I tried to move the story forward. Well, I figured it out! Now I can move forward, and potentially finish this thing! I realize this is kind of cryptic, since I'm not going to reveal my secret ingredient... or even the kind of recipe for that matter, ha ha, but I just had to share. I made a breakthrough. And for a writer, that kicks ass. :)

Here's the happy mama with her munchkin. I so rarely have pictures of myself posted anywhere, so I figured I'd drop in and say hello: