tractors rule.

John took us to a tractor show today. Jack was loving it. He started his tractor show experience with ice cream from Grandma Mavis, so you knew it was going to be a good day.

The website for this tractor show proclaims, "you won't believe your eyes watching some of things we demonstrate at our show." I'm now sure if anything show-related blew my mind, but much of the people watching at the show sure did. Like this dog that rides a four-wheeler? Yeah. That was cool.

Jack loved our friend Mike's tractor. Mike really wanted Jack to buy it. Apparently, Mike thinks Jack has money, or really cool parents. Turns out, he has neither. But he still had a blast sitting on it and pretending to drive. I have no idea how kids just know what do do with steering wheels, but it seems to be some reptilian brain skill because it's not something we've ever taught him. He just knows. Steering wheels and iPhones. Instinctual.

We did a lot of exploring. There was so much to look at, and most of the time we just let Jack lead the way. It was so fun to watch him lead his Daddy around the tractors. He's got the cutest little arm-swinging walk that he does when he gets excited (Jack, not Daddy), and he had that going full force most of the day. He also pointed at everything saying, "that?" or "this?" It wasn't all fun and games. There were several teachable moments as well. We learned new words like blacksmith, sawmill, mullet, and beer belly.

Random mushy aside: Seeing those two together just melts my heart. I had absolutely no reason to doubt John's capacity as a father before we had a child, but I was not fully prepared for the depths of his Daddy-awesomeness. He loves that Boy to the moon and back -- and there's no doubt he'll soon be teaching Jack exactly how far that is, and how long it would take to get there. Watching John with our son makes me so excited to bring this new person into our lives.

Plus, it's a girl which may mean fewer tractor shows and more pedicures. Just sayin'.

Seventeen Months

No, that's not how long it's been since my last post (although it has been a mighty long time).

Our Boy is seventeen months today.

As I was watching him play with his cars this morning, I was overcome by this strong urge to freeze time. Since, as far as I know, that's an impossibility, I figured that a nice photographic record along with some notes on what we're up to nowadays would be a close second.

In no particular order, here are some of the things we're noticing lately:

• The Boy is (still) learning how to use a fork and a spoon. He does demonstrate some sweet forking skills; however, his spoon technique leaves much to be desired. The spoon is best practiced directly prior to bathtime, or when a complete post-meal hosedown is practical.
• He is talking all the time now. He talks with his hands. He talks with his eyebrows. He talks with his body language. With his words? Not so much. He's definitely getting close, but currently the only things I can consistently recognize are mama, dada, this, that, and lights.

• The Boy loves his sleep. He goes to bed like a little angel every night by 7:30. No whining, no crying, no complaints. I feel the need to document this as I'm sure there will come a point where I will absolutely dread bedtime. At seventeen months, I love bedtime.
• He wakes up sometime between 7:30 and 8:00 in the morning, although he doesn't make any fuss, and we often don't get out of bed until 8:30. He loves waking up slowly, talking to his blankies, reading a book, and doing a few yoga stretches in his crib. If you try to get him out of his crib too early, he will totally let you know he's not cool with it.

• He's really enjoying random bouts of independent playtime throughout the day. There was a period where he wouldn't play unless he was sitting on me or near me. It made getting anything else done impossible. Now, he'll entertain himself for up to 30 minutes at a time. Pure bliss.
• He is also in a phase where he may or may not cry when I leave him -- even if it's just with Daddy. Apparently, this is normal, but it's still tough to watch him cry in his Daddy's arms. I know that this will change and someday soon he'll be all about Daddy. I'm guessing that change may coincide with the new baby's arrival when there's a good chance he'll be upset with me about bringing this other person into our circle.

• He's quite interested in my belly. Every morning, when I get him out of the crib, he points at my belly and says, "dat?" I then have to lift my shirt and show him my belly button. He pokes around in there, laughs his head off, and then we're free to carry about our morning. I'm thinking that at this point it may just be confusing to mention that there's a baby in there. Maybe we'll bring that up with the next one?
• The Boy has become quite the little fish. We took swimming lessons in June, and he barely tolerated them. This surprised me as he's always loved the bathtub. But, it turns out that he loves the lake at Grammy and Grandpa's house. A nice sandy beach and the ability to touch the bottom, and this guy never wants to leave the water. It's very cute, and slightly panic attack-inducing as he seems to have little to no fear of the water. 

• He's a little mountain goat. He loves to climb. The higher and more precarious, the better.
• He's learned how to give hugs and kisses, although the former is sometimes more of a head-butt and the latter is more of an "I'll lean towards you and allow you to kiss me" type of motion. Both are adorable.
• The Boy knows his body parts. He knows and points to: ears, eyes, mouth, nose, chin, cheeks (sometimes), head, arm, hands, belly, knee, feet. We're working on butt. I guess that's a tricky one.
• He loves his blankey and his mimi (pacifier). 
• He is a dancing machine. If there is music, there is dancing. More precisely, there is epic booty shaking. This Boy has the music down deep in his soul. And he's got some sweet moves.
• He's a techno-weenie, already. He knows how to unlock our iPhones. He can also find his folder on my phone and pick which app he wants to play. He knows how to switch apps, turn the iPod on, change the volume. He also knows how to work the TiVo remote and the computer mouse. Smarty pants.

I'm sure I'm missing a million things. This boy is changing daily. So, this is where I recommit to blogging regularly about him. It truly is necessary. I'm only getting older, and more pregnant, and my memory is terrible. If I don't blog about this stuff, I'll never remember it, and that would be terrible. I don't want to feel terrible, so I am back to blogging.

See you around!