Busy-ness and Laughter

It’s been way too long since my last post and I’ve been feeling like updating for a few MONTHS now, but haven’t found the time.  Life sure is busy (who’da thunk??)

I have really been wanting to write a super “fact-filled” entry here, but with things as busy as they are, it just isn’t going to happen the way I want it. LOL  Instead, I’m just gonna start writing so I can get it recorded like I want!

First of all, Bart and I continue to be jaw-droppingly (it’s a word) amazed at how quickly Amelia picks up on things.  She does something new every single day and it is seriously a JOY to watch.  I am constantly overwhelmed with love and gratitude for life, for Bart and for how hard we have worked to be where we are.  I’m grateful that I get to be with her every day.  Yes, even on days when I have to close myself in the bathroom for a few minutes to take deep breaths.  You didn’t think I did that?  Oh yes, I do.  This toddlerhood is not for the faint of heart or short tempered.  LOL  I am SO, so, so, ….SO grateful that I have been blessed in life with extreme patience.  Sometimes I don’t even know how I have the amount of patience that I do (and I 100% credit my Mother for that one… seriously, she’s an amazing woman for not eating me as a child) but I am a damn good Mom.  For realsies.  And I have NO problem saying that and feeling proud.  You know what makes me really proud?  When Amelia waves to people in the store and says “bye” (she says “bye” as a greeting AND as a farewell, FYI), or when she blows kisses to children at the park that she’s never met before.  When she hugs and kisses her toys, or when she randomly backs her little butt up to sit down on my lap (even if she only stays there for 1.5 seconds before she zooms off to her next task).  I love when she gets sleepy, she starts to go up the stairs, blowing kisses as she goes, saying “bed”.  She likes her bed and never fights laying down.  She doesn’t always sleep (really, she’ll sit in her bed for MORE than an hour just babbling and chillin’ until I’m sure she is not actually gonna fall asleep 😛 )  I love that she does that.  She loves purses, things in her hair, shoes (although she doesn’t like wearing shoes in the car… I have no idea why), cars, tools, electronics, water – holy cow, she likes water – drinking it, playing in it, throwing it, squirting it; you name it.  She “talks” NON-stop and 90% of the time, we really have no clue what she’s saying, but she looks you straight in the eye and babbles whole paragraphs as if she’s completely serious.  She gets very upset when you say “I don’t understand”, so for the most part, I just do not say that to her.  I’ll just pretend that I understand.  Most of the time a simple “Yeah!”, “Oh really??” or “Woah, that’s cool!” will suffice.  Sometimes it does not.  It’s clear when she’s just telling you something and when she needs a response or is asking you something, because she’ll repeat herself over and over (we’ll just keep guessing what she’s trying to say) until you get it.  When you finally understand what she’s saying, she makes it clear when she’s satisfied.  It’s just…. amazing.  It’s amazing to witness a person’s brain develop.  I’ve been very close to all of my nieces and nephews growing up and even had a HUGE part in their development, but it is SO different on a day to day, minute by minute basis.

So… for some “stats”:  Amelia has gone through a MASSIVE growth spurt over the past few months.  She had a checkup at 15 months old (which I’m finding is not very common, because most people that I tell are like “15 month?  HUH??”) but at 15 months old, she was 30″ tall and weighed 24 lbs.  Just three months later at her 18 month checkup, she was 33″ tall and weighed 26 lbs.  HA!  So suddenly she’s tall (I believe it’s like the 90th percentile).  In general I really don’t pay too much attention to “Percentiles”, but it’s just amazing the jump she made. LOL I often find myself looking at her and feel overwhelmed with how big she’s gotten.  I really SO clearly remember her being this tiny little girl that fit right on my chest and I got to cuddle and kiss her ALL day with very few bathroom breaks. LOL  (Man, I’m so glad that I did that!)  Now, that little girl barely holds still for more than 2-3 seconds at a time.  She loves being outside, running, spinning (“Spin spin spin!”) and throwing food on the floor.  She’s definitely started some small tantrums that usually involve covering her face with her hands (I have to FIGHT the urge  to laugh when she does that… it really is so adorable, but I don’t want her to now that :P), or flopping onto the floor and is usually over things like me saying “Amelia, please do not eat the garbage can” or “Amelia, please don’t stand on the table”….. “Amelia, please don’t wash your hands in the toilet” “Amelia, please don’t climb up the oven(and/or dishwasher)”.  She rebels sometimes by doing things she knows (and yes, I’m confident in saying “things she KNOWS”) she isn’t supposed to do… For example, if I say “please don’t eat the garbage can”, she may scream and run over to the blinds and start pulling on them while looking straight at me.  Sometimes she’ll even make the “AH!” sound that I make when she’s doing something she shouldn’t be.  Or she’ll run over to the china cabinet and pull on the drawer that she’s constantly being told she shouldn’t open.  It’s funny to see her testing her boundaries, but I won’t lie… it can be frustrating.  I figure I need to keep my frustration at bay though, because I feel like this is NOTHIN’ compared to the years to come.  I often think about how I rebelled as a teenager and think “if my worst concern right now is broken blinds… lets hold onto that.”  Man, she likes to climb and rarely wants help.  It’s only a matter of time before she climbs (and most likely FALLS) out of her crib, forcing us to convert her out of the last bit of babyhood and into a “toddler bed”.  Sigh.  I am not ready for that.  I’m not ready for her to get out of bed by herself and come get ME, rather than me go get her.  I’m 100% positive that I’ll cry when that time comes.  She’s growing so fast.  I used to think that I knew the definiton of “bittersweet”, but alas, I did not until this girl entered my life.  It’s the closest word I can come up with in my mind that defines our current status of growth.  Bittersweet.  Letting go of amazing things is always hard.  Letting go of a little baby and letting her run around to fall and hurt herself, to climb and break things, to dancing and crash… it’s hard.  It’s bitter… but oooh so sweet to witness.  Oh so sweet.  She is so sweet and loving (very loving!) and silly.  She will do anything she can think of to make you laugh… and when she finds something that makes you laugh, she’ll remember it for next time and do it again.  She’s going through a phase right now of doing EEEEVERYTHING that Daddy does.  Everything.  Last night at dinner he was brushing something off of his shirt sleeve and she watched him, then did the same to her shirt.  He sneezed at one point and she “sneezed”, too.  She picked up her cup to drink when he did.  She took a forkful of broccoli when he did.  He started howling like a wolf with his head thrown back… so she did.  I watch the two of them together so often and have to fight back tears.  There are almost no words for how I feel.  He’s amazing.  She is amazing… and they’re both “mine”.  Amazing.

For as long as we’ve lived in this house, we’ve had a picture magnet on our fridge of Dustin.  Every once in a while I’ll point out to Amelia who it is.  Well, the last few days, she points to it and asks to hold it, so of course I let her.  She has now started saying “Dustin” (sounds like: duh-diss).  This morning she sat on the couch holding that picture the entire time I was preparing breakfast.  I was able to stop what I was doing a few times to take a couple pictures, but she basically didn’t move from the spot and kept pointing to the picture saying his name, sometimes kissing the picture and once I turned around and she was hugging it saying “Aaaww Duhdiss!”  Yes, I may have had tears in my eyes, but it really was awesome.  I love that she will know who he is and that he’ll know who she is (which reminds me, I have been meaning to send him an updated picture and want to do that by at least Christmas).  Time flies so fast.  Dustin will be 13 years old this coming January.  THIRTEEN!  Wow.

Ok, I will confess that what has been typed so far in this post has happened over a period of about a week.  LOL  So I’m just going to post it as is.  I left out a lot of stuff I had wanted to add, but Amelia just laid down for a nap and if I don’t take a shower now, I may not get a chance today!

I really, really love my life.  <3