What a weekend...what a month!

Wow...what a weekend...and what a month!!!!

It never ceases to amaze me how much my little man is changing. I reflected on that this morning on my way into work. It has been 3 weeks since Parker's surgery to put tubes in his ears. In that three weeks we've had the following changes happen in our house:

1) P's begun speaking new words and carrying on conversations (where only he knows what's being said, mind you). It's amazing all the new sounds he's coming up with.

2) His balance has improved exponentially and he's now walking without the "frankenstein" pose. Oh...and here's a video from only a week and a half ago...where he had a full on grasp of the "frankenstein" pose. Now he's walking in what I like to call the "Charlie Chaplin" stage. Hands down and feet pointed out and kinda shuffling along. :-)

3) He's started eating table food. This may not sound like anything major to you folks....but to a Mom who's not made a grocery trip without buying baby food in over 8 months...we're ecstatic!! We were at a trip with my company this weekend and Parker ate nothing but table food all weekend and was awesome! He would eat eggs and cheese and grits and waffles for breakfast and then has squash, pork loin, and potatoes for lunch and have mac n cheese and chicken fingers for dinner. Yesterday he even had mexican for lunch! Some chicken, pork, black beans, rice and masa from my tamales! He's such a champ!! Bonus for Mom and Dad - it feels like we've had a raise!!! :-)

4) He's now taking a sippy cup!! This is momentous for us! We tried for many weeks before his surgery to get him to take a sippy...I tried so many different kinds that I was about to throw my hands up in discouragement. Then I was finally able to get him to take a bottle like sippy that is a trainer for kids 4M old! Argh! Well, last week I bought a Born Free sippy similar to what another kiddo in his daycare class has. Of course Mom forgot the valves at home so we couldn't try them this weekend, but I gave it to him last night and he went to drinking like he'd been using that cup for months. All I can say is H-A-L-L-E-L-U-J-A-H!!!!!!

5) He's now completely off of formula and taking whole milk. Another bonus for Mom and Dad - a double raise now that he's off of formula and baby food!!! Yippee!!!!!!

6) He decided this weekend that he likes juice and water. Thank God!!! After many attempts to get him to drink something other than milk, he just decided that he'd drink some water. Then the next time we presented him with juice, he just drank it without protest. I'm beginning to think my kiddo was swapped out for another in the middle of the night. :-)

7) He's now going down to bed all by himself. It only took us a few nights after our 12-month checkup to get this down. It's a HUGE difference for Mom and Dad. We now have about two hours to ourselves to get some work done and watch TV before bedtime. AND he's sleeping all the way until it's time to go to school in the morning. It's awesome!!!

I just look at all that he's doing now and it makes me so proud....but also kinda sad. My baby boy is growing up on me and the days are flying by. We're not sure yet if we're going to have a second....so I cherish each and every day like we may not have another. I look at Parker with such awe and wonderment. He's such an amazing gift that God gave us. Honestly...I don't remember much about what my days were like before he came along. I do remember they were less hectic...and I got to sleep past 7:30am on weekends.....and it didn't matter if I had popcorn for dinner....but somehow those things seem so insignificant. :-)