12 Months Old

We visited Primary Pediatrics today for Warner's 12 month check-up. He weighs 24 pounds 4 ounces (75th percentile) and is 31 inches long (85th percentile). I write this partly because some of you might care, but mainly because I'm bad at updating Warner's baby book and I plan on referring back to my posts for this information some day.

I also wanted to post some pictures from our second farm outing last week. We went to Daniels Farm on Friday with Moms Club and Kevin and my Mom joined us. Here Kevin and Warner are looking at the baby goat (doesn't Kevin look cute in his cowboy hat):
Warner got to sit on Betsy the cow (we learned all about milking cows).
And we each got to pick our own pumpkin.
Tomorrow we have a Moms Club meeting and the kids get to wear their Halloween costumes and "trick-or-treat". I can't wait to put Warner in his turtle costume. Next week there's a special story time at the library where the kids get dressed up, and of course October 31st is next Friday. So Warner gets to go through the torture of being a turtle three times this year. At least we'll be getting our money's worth for the costume.

Birthday Bash

The festivities began yesterday at 4pm to accommodate for the birthday boy's nap schedule. Guests included family-only so as not to overwhelm Warner, although in hindsight this was probably silly since our family is both large and loud, which equals overwhelming. But Warner did surprisingly well!We did a monkey theme, so here is my sad attempt at a monkey cake. Notice the piece of paper on the counter - we used a picture of Curious George as our inspiration, but sadly still ended up with this. It's the thought that counts, right?

Warner enjoyed opening presents but was quickly distracted ...
... and needed a juice break. The real fun was watching him devour his birthday cake. He began quite slowly, enjoying the icing. Then he realized there was cake beneath the icing - a pleasant surprise! He eventually went in for the kill with two hands:
... and then got pretty into it near the end.
A sugar-coma quickly followed.The cake was certainly worth the price of admission. I think Warner was pretty surprised that this world of sugar existed and believe he's anxious to enjoy it again.
Happy birthday, little man.

Birthday letter from Dad

Dear Warner (aka Bruno),

I love you!

You arrived in my life at the right time. You arrived so fast, I didn't have time to be scared although I should have been scared. We almost lost you.
Son, you amaze me every day. Whether it is the uninitiated about face you made the other day at the top of the steps in order that you might go down the steps on your belly, whether it is when you remain asleep through turbulent time in our lives, or when you smile with no provocation at me or your mother. I consistently find myself hoping, wanting, and wishing to impress you. Yes, even now. I hope, want, and wish to provide for you and even dress like you! I could name thousands.
The following are only some of the things I love about you:

I love that you call me "Da" and it was one of the first sounds you regularly made.
I love when you hug me.
I love that when you are in a crowd, you cling to me.
I love your trust.
I love when you take my glasses off and try to put them back on my face.
I love when you laugh.
I love when you stick your fingers in my nostrils, my eyes, my ears, and my mouth.
I love that you know what I'm saying almost naturally without the ability to know words.
I love you all the time.
I love that you love me.
I read or heard a story about a man posed this question, "What do you feel you will leave behind after you leave this world?" The man responded, "Ask the persons around me."
I have asked God for one thing on a regular basis since you were born. That He keeps you breathing. To this day, that has not changed nor do I feel that request will ever cease.
Happy 1st Birthday! I love you!

Your Dad

Birthday Letter

Dear Warner,
It’s nearly 10pm at night. Kevin is working, and you’re upstairs in your green dinasaur jammies, fast asleep in your crib. Like every other night for the past year, I will go into your room tonight to watch you sleep before I go to bed. I’ll watch your tiny chest rise and fall as you make the sweetest breathing sounds I’ve ever heard. I’ll study your face and small body, trying to memorize all of your features because I know they’ll change all too soon. In the dim light produced by your frog night-light, I’ll watch you for a few moments while thanking God that He allowed me to be your mother.

I can’t believe you are going to be one year old in a few days. This year has gone by too quickly, which probably means each subsequent year will be no different. It’s funny, because although your first year of life has flashed by, I can hardly remember life without you. I read this quote in a book recently – a mother is talking about her two year-old daughter: “I have only known her for two years. But if you took every memory, every moment, if you stretched them end to end – they’d reach forever”. That’s exactly how I feel about you.

You were born at a very difficult time in my life, as your Aunt Meredith was sick with cancer and her battle was deeply affecting all of our family. I still believe you were born over 5 weeks early because I was carrying so much stress – emotionally and physically – and it therefore put you in distress. In any event, God’s timing for your arrival couldn’t have been more perfect. I’ll never forget driving to the hospital on Thursday, October 18th, to be monitored after you failed a fetal stress test. I had no idea you’d be born the following day. At the hospital, each time your heart rate dropped I’d say (aloud) “come on, buddy (we hadn’t officially decided that Warner would be your name yet), come on, stay with me”. I was so scared that we’d lose you before we even met you. A few days after you were born, I sat in a rocking chair in the back of the NICU in the middle of the night, holding you against my chest, and I wept. I wept with thanksgiving to God for you, I wept at the thought of losing you, and I wept knowing my sister was going to die soon and she’d never get the chance to do what I was doing at that moment with her own child.

You were slow to give us your first smile. Being the neurotic mother that I am, I was convinced you were Autistic, since you didn’t hit the “smile milestone” right on time. Looking back it’s funny that you held out on us for so long, because now it seems that all you do is smile. I pray this continues for the rest of your life, and that your smile is deep and genuine like it is today.

It’s amazing to me that you have already begun to develop a personality at such a young age, too. You are happy, have a sense of humor (you think I’m hillarious by the way, which I’m assuming I should enjoy while it lasts), are very particular about how you play with your toys, and very serious when you’re trying to do something. You are also quite persistent and hard-headed, which I know comes from both your father and me. You still don’t sleep consistently through the night, and when you do wake up to cry you can last forever, or so it seems. You also understand the word “no”, but rarely obey it. I know this is more a function of your age rather than your personality, or at least I hope it is. I can’t wait to watch as your personality and character continue to unfold.

I love you so much, Warner. I think until you have children of your own you won’t fully understand the depth of my love for you – at least that’s how it was for me. You are a precious gift from God and I pray for the day you come to know Him as your Lord and savior. Thanks for being such a good little boy. I can’t wait for all that lies ahead.

Love,
Mom

Kinman Farm

I'm having a hard time finding any negative aspects of fall. It's by far my favorite season, with colorful foliage, clear blue skies (most days), crisp mornings and evenings, pumpkins, cider, and of course the anticipation of the Christmas season approaching.

I get nostalgic this time of year, remembering first days of school, Halloween costumes and candy trading after trick-or-treating with Mere, and trips to Rouster's Apple Farm with my family (they have the best cider pops ever). So, you can imagine how anxious I am to share new memories with Kevin and Warner during this season. Warner and I took a trip to Kinman Farm today with our MOPS group, and although he won't remember this particular trip, I'm hoping it will become a tradition for years to come - even without cider pops.
Warner got to pet the animals in the barn once we arrived. He especially liked the donkey/mule (this city girl doesn't know if there's a difference and/or which of the two we saw) and disliked the goats. But his favorite was this friendly dog:
Warner plopped down right in front of this poor old dog and began sticking his fingers on its nose, eyes, ears, etc. Seeing as the dog didn't move once during the torture, I'm assuming he's been through this routine a few times before.
After visiting the animals, we took a hayride to the back of the farm where there was a corn maze and a picnic area.
Warner loved the hay and spent most of his time picking individual pieces of hay off each bale. When I changed his diaper this afternoon I found about 10 pieces that had made the trip home with us. He also walked a lot, and was quite impressive on the uneven grass - he's improving every day.

We have another farm outing (to a different farm) this Friday, with MOMS club. I hope Warner enjoys that trip as much as this one!

Why Dad is cooler than Mom

He feeds me yogurt and cookies (my absolute favorite) for a snack - outside of my highchair.
He lets me take a break from eating to climb on the couch and play with the light switch.
Then he lets me walk around to play and gives me bites only when it's convenient for me.
Dad is so much cooler than mom.

Gatlinburg

Warner and I headed to Gatlinburg Thursday morning with Aunt Leslie, Abby, Ashley, and Nanny. Kevin, Uncle Billy, and Granddaddy met us the following day. It was a hilarious trip down with a total of three potty stops between Lexington and Gatlinburg (a 3 hour trip normally). We laughed and decided it was a good thing the guys weren't with us because they would not have had any patience with that!

We shopped at the outlet mall, ate at the Apple Barn, walked downtown Gatlinburg, swam at the hotel pool, played putt-putt, and took the kids to an kiddie amusement park, among other things. I was a bit bummed that we didn't get to hike - we borrowed my friend's hiking pack for Warner and everything, but just ran out of time.
Here Warner is "playing" putt-putt with us. He was in heaven between being able to walk himself, play in the dirt, and chase Abby and Ashley's golf balls around.
Kevin's parents and the grandkids after dinner at the Chop House. Warner spent about 5 minutes total in the restaurant, and then decided he'd use his crying abilities to score him some time outside the restaurant playing in the landscaping while mom and dad took turns scarfing down their meals.
Warner and me on the train at the amusement park (and Abby, she didn't look in time for the camera).
Kevin and Warner on the merry-go-round.

Funcie

Warner and I traveled to Muncie (aka Funcie) earlier this week to visit my grandpa Warner. As previously mentioned, he recently suffered a mild stroke. Although he has lost his peripheral vision, it looks as though they have his blood pressure under control and he is recovering quite well.

My mom was in town too, making a pit-stop on her journey from Chicago (to pack up their house) to Dallas. We stayed with Aunt Debbie, who lives next door to my grandparents - quite convenient! - and saw MaNell, Emme, Aunt Kathy, Uncle Tim, and Timothy too.

We were very excited to visit an apple orchard, seeing as we're all in the fall spirit. I've had my first PSL (pumpkin spice latte) from Starbucks and my fall decorations have been up since Labor Day, so a trip to the orchard seemed to fit. We drove to a farm outside of Muncie but they were closed. So, the next best thing was the Farmer's Market. We got apples, pears, and a pumpkin, but Warner enjoyed the Radio Flyer wagons the best.
Warner is walking more each day, but still falling a ton and crawling once he's down. He'll get there soon enough. Until then, I'm enjoying his dependence on me while it lasts.

It's official ...

He's walking!

Sick Boy

Warner woke up at 5am this morning with a fever of 102.9. Yikes! He's never had a fever that high. I immediately went into panic mode. Funny how difficult it is to be rational at 5am. I called the Doctor on call at the pediatrician's office and she basically told me to calm down (in a very polite way).

He threw up twice and then settled down after a cool bath and some snuggle time with mom & dad. Since then his fever has gone down with Tylenol but spikes back up 3-4 hours after I give him a dose. Poor little guy.

This is random, but I hate adding posts without pictures so here's a funny one from the other day. Warner's holding a back massager that has found it's way to his toy box.
We were supposed to go to Cancer Sucks in Indianapolis tomorrow and visit my Grandpa Warner since he's been in the hospital after a minor stroke last weekend. Now we're not sure of our plans but hopefully our little guy will be feeling better soon!

Evening Stroll

Warner decided he needed some fresh air after dinner, so we took his car outside for a walk.
A few steps in, he stopped to put some grass clippings on his car. Not sure why, but he decided they should be put there.
Okay, now that the grass clippings are taken care of, he's off again ...
... wait a minute, he sees some flowers. Definitely going to need to touch those.
Quick stop for a picture, but the flowers were more interesting than posing for a picture.
Enough of the flowers.
And finally, eating some leaves. I guess he needed some food after having spent so much energy on the walk.
I think we'll be doing this again tomorrow night. Definitely a hit!

Raise the Roof

The things we do to keep Warner happy in the car ...

Girlfriends

I spent last Thursday through Sunday at the lake with two of my girlfriends from college - Erin (left) and Katie (center). Erin traveled from North Carolina and Katie from Texas for the weekend. We met through our sorority (yay Chi Omega!) but looking back that seems an unlikely place to have met such sincere friends who love the Lord as much as these women. The three of us hadn't been together since my wedding nearly six years ago, so I was a bit apprehensive that the time would have distanced us and made our weekend awkward. Thankfully, I was completely wrong. We picked up right where we left off and had the best time together.
We spent the weekend talking, eating, resting, watching movies, painting our toenails, and laughing. As we prayed together Saturday night, Katie thanked God for our friendship and for being known and loved by Erin and me. I was struck by her words - and thankful myself for being known and loved by these women.

As I struggle through the pain of losing my sister, I'm humbled by God's provision for me and awed at how he maintains my spirit through friendships such as these. Thanks for such a lovely and memorable weekend, girls!

Multi-Tasking

Warner has discovered the art of multi-tasking. Instead of solely focusing on the object he has put in his mouth, he has learned to continue playing while chewing on something. Exhibit A: helping me load the dishwasher.Exhibit B: fun in the tub.

Momzillas

I love story time at the library. I feel like it's a great educational and social activity for both Warner and me. However, Momzillas often turn up at places like this, and we met one today.

She used a sign for nearly every word she spoke to her daughter. And I'm not talking about simple signs such as "more" - this mom was signing colors and everything. I didn't know we were supposed to include color signs in our sign language repitoire. Then during playtime at the end, the mom would say "Suzy, can you get the red ball for mommy? The red ball. Get the red ball for mommy". I half expected her to continue with "the object that is a red sphere. It has no corners. It's called a ball. In French it's called a boule and in Spanish it's called a balon".

I take mothering very seriously. It's my full-time job and I'm humbled every day that God has entrusted me with Warner's care during his formative years. However, people like this make me feel agitated and somewhat guilty, like I'm not doing enough for my child. I'm so thankful for God's grace and that although I am responsible for Warner's care, it's not all up to me.

The pastor at our church said this a few weeks ago: "God does not have any grandchildren". It took me a few seconds to get it, but once I did, I smiled. It's not all up to me. What a relief.