I LOVE Being His Mom!!

It has been a LONG time since I've posted, and what can I say? Life as a Mommy gets pretty hectic!

But I just wanted to tell everyone what a WONDERFUL little boy I have! He is so cute, so smart, so funny, so social, so perfect!

We discovered elbows today. We were playing our game where he points to Mommy's eyes, then Jeremiah's eyes; Mommy's ears, Jeremiah's ears; Mommy's toes, Jeremiah's toes. I was trying to think of something he didn't know yet, so I asked him to find his elbows. He looked really confused, and started looking around on his body, pointing to his leg, then his belly. I asked him again to find his elbow, and he thought some more and then got really excited and started rocking back and forth, like the boat (the boat goes "rock, rock" on the water). Apparently "boat" and "elbow" sound a lot alike! So I finally showed him my elbows, and then he tried and tried to look at his own elbows, which was SO cute! Since he couldn't see them too good, we went on a hunt for all the elbows we could find. We saw the dog's elbows, and Nana's elbows, and Mommy's elbows, and Jeremiah's elbows... Oh my goodness, SO MUCH FUN!!

I never knew being a mom would be this great. Tiring, yes. Frustrating, you bet! But worth it? So, so, so, so, SO worth it! Beyond worth it! The worst day with him is a hundred thousand times better than the best day without him, and I mean that from the bottom of my heart!

We were at Walmart a few days ago, and Nana was having Jeremiah try on shoes. She pulled these silly-looking plastic batman shoes off of the shelf, and I said flat out, "I'm not spending eight dollars on those stupid things." Well, wouldn't you know, Jeremiah tried them on and loved them. He looked up at me with these eyes that just melted my heart - I've never spent eight dollars so happily in my entire life. Oh, what I wouldn't do for that kid! Suddenly I saw my life savings flash before my eyes, an endless string of batman shoes and balls and bubbles and annoying singing Elmo's... Okay, that may be a little extreme - but if you could've seen his eyes! :-)

Yes, Mommy is smitten. Mommy's IN LOVE! For the first time in my life, I'm head over heels. Boy oh boy, they never told me that motherhood was so intoxicatingly, wonderfully, frustratingly, amazingly WONDERFUL!

This summer it's my goal to take him somewhere special every single week. We went to the zoo a few weeks ago, and it was the cutest thing ever. His favorite animal was the Gorilla, I think. They were right in front of the glass, and he was just amazed. He kept looking around and seeing all the other people standing there, and would catch their attention and then point to the Gorillas. Like he was the tour guide, and had to point out the huge animals sitting right in front of the glass. And of course everyone made such a huge deal about it - no one can pass up a chance to pay attention to him.

I just can't believe he's almost a year and a half old! Where has the time gone? I look at him and just want to laugh and cry all at once. I want to hold him like a baby and never let go; I want to encourage his Independence and enjoy the little boy he's becoming. I guess that's the trick to parenting: for each stage that the child is going through, the mom is right there along for the ride. Toddlerhood isn't just rough on him, with all the changing from a baby to a child - it's rough on me, too! I'm all a mess, wanting to hold on and let go, all at the same time - just like he's not sure if he wants me to carry him or let him walk all by himself. But at the end of the day, when he's sleeping so hard, arms and legs sprawled out and taking up most of the king-sized bed, I have to lean down close and whisper to him how much I love him, how grateful I am for him, and how much fun I've had that day, just being his mom!