Much

Much for which to be thankful. Much for which to be hopeful. Much to which to look forward. And a quick summary of the past few weeks:

• Syd's 18 mos appointment was this past Monday. He's smart, healthy, happy, unbelievably strong, and, in the words of our wondermous doctor, "petite." He's fair to middlin' in some areas, and below the charts in others, but I have a feeling he'll catch up. He eats. Heavens does he eat. And I'm still nursing. So, ultimately, I'm not worried.
• We finished our first benchmark testing at school and then struggled to keep our heads above water as we completed our research papers. Ugh.
• Between balancing home and baby, 3 preps at school, a ST, 4 classrooms, benchmark testing, VASS and mock exams, several instances of the 'creeping crud,' and the end of the grading period, I've been a little...stressed. But things are better now. Just look at this face below and tell me how I could NOT be better!
• Regardless of what life has been like the past few weeks, I've been able to come home to the little guy each day and feel better just by getting a hug. So, here's a hug passed on to you. See what Sydney's been up to!

Syd was a little excited about something. I don't remember what, but I think this was taken during 'after dinner play.' We like to dance, play 'chase,' and jump on Daddy's back.

I had laundry that needed to be folded, and Syd decided to make a hat out of his pajama top.

Syd and Daddy read a magazine together.

One 'Daddy Night,' (where Daddy gets to put Sydney down for bed), Mommy went grocery shopping, and these nifty tyke chairs were for display. We surprised him with his own froggie (loves frogs! And monkeys, elephants, and lions!) chair the next morning. He went right over and gave the froggie a kiss on the nose!

Daddy has the most comfortable shoes!

Daddy pushes Sydney on his bike. He's got some growing to do, but he'll get there! Thank you, Aunt Dawn and Uncle Steve!

One of the first purchases Daddy made for Sydney was the blue bird bean bag chair. He's always been a display item in the baby's bedroom, until recently, when Sydney decided Blue Bird needed to be a regular play item.

Syd knocks down a tower of blocks Daddy set up for him. New nickname...Tasmanian Devil?

And the coup de grace...Sydney's newest hobby is to play with the broom. So much so, that he was tripping everyone with it! So, Daddy went out and found two kiddie brooms - the one he's holding and the little alligator one with a matching dust pan. He simply doesn't have enough hands to play with all three at the same time. What to do??