Reminiscing & Pics

My son just turned 10 months, and he is going to be a handful. He will rise to a stand without holding on to anything, and has already begun to climb even though he can't walk. I know this isn't anything really special, and I've heard countless mothers "top" me (amazing how this so easily becomes the norm - comparing progress of your children...and I'm referring to the competition regarding progress, not the checks and balances all of us [especially first time mothers] do to ensure we understand where our children "should" be - when you have to top my son's progress with your son's, daughter's, grandkids', neice's, nephew's, etc., it is out of hand) but the fact remains that, as an individual, he will keep us on our toes.

All that being said, my Mom and I were talking about how he's changed in the week since she saw him. She came over specifically to put him down for the night, since he's way too accustomed to Mommy. Oh, and Mommy left for a few hours because she knew this would be painful for her...

Anyway, we were talking about his progress, and it reminded me of a few things I used to do when I was a child. I remember taking distinct pleasure in these two activities, though I cannot fully fathom why, now. I think I was a strange child...

• When my mother took me grocery shopping, I would beg to sit in the basket (not the baby seat, the actual basket) and I would be in charge of arranging the groceries. Yes, arranging. Not tossing them in willy-nilly, but stacking neatly so as to fit enough food for 4 kids in one basket. Heaven knows, this was only foreshadowing the person I would become (you'd have to know me. I love organizing...). There were a few times, specifically, where I remember sitting down after the 'base' level of arranging was complete and packing myself in. When it got to the point where my arms were under all the food, I verbally instructed my mom where to put the food. Yes, I was, and is, that particular. I still stack my food carefully in the basket, and since I shop where most of my students work, I do not hesitate to instruct them in packing my bags. They love me there. :-)
• Another memory I have is for stores other than the grocery store, though I probably did this there, too. I would deliberately (when I wasn't dictating the arrangement of the basket) hide in the middle of the clothing racks until Mom got distracted and moved on. OR, I would dart away, and zig-zag through the store to deliberately get lost, then see how long it took to find my way back to her. I remember only two times where she actually had to get the manager of the store to announce over the p.a. system that she was looking for me. Of course, this was 25+ years ago, and things were different then.

My point is, that knowing this about myself, and knowing how fearless he is, and how strong he is (you'll see a pic of this further down), I am already trying to plan for what surprises he may have in store for me as he grows. He is already mischievous, so I can imagine I'll have a few panic attacks in my future...

So, here's the updated pics: Up first is Daddy's Father's Day picture. I hadn't gotten this downloaded as of the Father's Day blog entry, so here it is. I love their matching outfits - from the matching shirts to the identical shorts...My boys are beautiful.

Sydney's new best friend, Zane. They are 6 months apart, which may be huge now (you should have seen Syd try to keep up with Zane: the crawler vs. the walker/runner), but in a few months won't make much of a difference. They 'played' together so nicely, too, as much as a 9 month old and a 15 month old can and will.

Sydney's 10 month picture. He went through a phase where he couldn't stand his bouncy seat, but recently rediscovered it. I think it was because we used to strap him in to it, and now that he's big enough to crawl in and out without really tumbling and hurting himself, he likes to lounge in it and kick to make it bounce.

My pride and joy loves his Daddy so much. Steve has been working 2nd shift this week, and in his attempt to get some family time at the same time that he gets a workout in before going in to work, Sydney is now cognizant of what Daddy is doing. He tried to lift the metal weight and Mommy freaked out (what if it slipped and hurt him?), so we got a little 2 pound weight. And he lifts it. He's a strong little dude...

Last, my apologies to Dawn and Steve - you got this t-shirt for us and it was hanging in the closet until he grew in to it. What happened? I completely forgot it was there and just got it out today. He likes the Snoopy!! Thank you, Aunt Dawn and Uncle Steve! Go Buckeyes!! :-)