Good weekend

I have to say, this weekend went pretty well. We went and visited my sister up in northern VA on Saturday. He did good considering it's about 90 minutes each way. Of course it's easier when my Mom is in the back seat playing with him.

Other than that, we spent most of the weekend at home just chilling out. I fully expect any day now he will just start running around instead of crawling. Even in my dreams he is walking already. He really is getting close. He can stand now for a minute or two at a time, and his balance is getting better. I was thinking this morning that I can't wait until he is ready to go outside and run around. I can picture him all dressed warm in his winter clothes, trying to catch the leaves as they fall, or chasing after the cats (well, he already does that, but so far they can outrun him being as he is still on all fours).

And of course...he wore his jersey this weekend again, and you can see that the Steelers had another great victory. They play the Patriots next week, so I'd better start having him wear it maybe Wednesday or so. I have faith...but it doesn't hurt, right!

This morning I let him play with my sunglasses on the ride to daycare. I flipped the rear view mirror down for a second to see what he was up to, and he was trying to put them on the way he's seen us do it. It was so funny! Then he put them on top of his head the way I do. I just started laughing, and he always gets a kick out of that. He has a real sense of when he's being funny already. If you genuinely laugh at him, he will just kick his head back and join in. He loves to entertain!

Little milestones...every day I see them. It's 90% being proud that your child is growing and learning, and 10% sadness at seeing them leave their old ways behind. Well...some days it's more like 50/50, but if you look at things that way you'd go crazy. It's fascinating to see his personality develop and wonder at the kind of person he will become. It's like you get a few more puzzle pieces every day.

Of course, with all progress there is a little back-stepping. He's back to waking up twice a night again. And when I say "wake up", I mean he immediately stands up, holds the crib bars and screams at the top of his lungs. I have become the expert at doing things in the middle of the night now. I think I log more time in now than I did months ago. Sometimes he just wants to play, other times he is hungry or wet. I guess the experts would scold me for not letting him cry it out yet. I will, sometimes, if it turns out that nothing is to his liking. And then I do the dishes or something and try not to think about the shrieks and wails coming from the other room, and hoping he's not waking Andy, too. I have to wait, you see...or I can't turn the monitor back on in the bedroom. Sometimes he quiets down, and I go curl up in the warm bed again, get comfortable and try to wind down, finally feel like I'm slipping off to sleep...and WHAM! ..he gets a fresh burst of energy and finds it in his heart to yell for another 10 minutes.

I have to admit, for the first few months, I just looked at these night time 'visits' as a few additional minutes I get to spend with him each day. It was my way of coping, I guess. But now we're going on a year, and sometimes it becomes hard to find my 'happy thoughts'. And just when I get to the breaking point, he'll have a few days in a row where he makes it all night, and I forget all about it.

I guess that's what it all boils down to - the good times outweigh the bad. Even on the days when that may be a 1:10 ratio, I'm still to the good. He's kinda special that way. All it takes is a pair of sunglasses, and I'm right back on track...