Milestones Met, and a Return of Spirit

This past weekend, Sydney reached two milestones - the first is very exciting for Steve and me. We've been using some sign language around Sydney in the hopes that he would pick up on basic signs to let us know what he wanted. He watches intently as we sign, kicks his feet, then goes back to eating puffs (glorious invention, those things!!). He started last week with finally moving his hands in deliberate motions, which we could not figure out. But I was excited, nonetheless, that he was using his hands for more than just exploring and eating.

Sunday night, though, I was trying to feed Sydney his dinner and he rotated his hand for the sign "All done." I got so excited I nearly spilled his chicken and rice on the floor. I repeated the sign, said what it meant, and tried to give him another bite. He made the sign again. Yay! I put down the chicken and picked up his applesauce. He ate about 2/3 of that jar before making the sign again.

We're working on several others - "more," "please," "Mommy," "Daddy," "milk," "banana," "drink," and "kitty." As he grasps these, we'll add others in, but for now, he at least can tell us when he's full.

Second, Sydney has begun to walk, holding on to things; i.e., the couch, his high chair (which has wheels that lock), etc. He will definitely be mobile by his first birthday. I am excited about this, but also feeling a great deal of trepidation. My baby growing so quickly, which means he'll be a toddler soon and I'll never have my baby boy again; but on the flip side to that, he'll be able to go outside and play in the grass (if it ever gets green again...) and walk in the stores. He'll be hard to keep track of, but he won't have to be carried everywhere. Bitter sweet.

In other news, I am so pleased to announce to the world that my husband is back. Oiy. This is a major part of my earlier cryptic entries, for which I apologize profusely. Steve has been under tremendous pressure at work the past year and a half / two years. The environment was completely toxic to his spirit. Yesterday was his official last day, and he starts at a much healthier place with many opportunities on Monday. Yay! The change in him has been quite drastic. I don't think either of us quite recognized how much A) he had changed and was feeling down, defeated, etc. and B) how much I was tiptoeing around trying to be a help of some sort but feeling completely like my hands were tied. The way he's walking around now, though, Atlas, himself, would be jealous. And because he's been on 2nd shift this past month, he naturally had Monday through yesterday off, so we got another week together before he goes back to work. It has been very nice, and very therapeutic for us all.