Weekends

Man, I live for weekends!!! Don't get me wrong. I've always enjoyed weekends. Not having to go to work, getting to sleep in, watch TV all day or lay out by the pool. It's always been pretty great. But lately, I really LIVE for weekends. And not because I get to sleep in, lol! That doesn't happen anymore. But because I get to spend the entire day, all day with my sweet baby boy. It's the best thing ever! Especially because the older he gets, the more he interacts and I'm starting to feel like I might be missing too much. I was fortunate enough to be around for when he first started crawling and I got lucky that he took his first steps one afternoon after I got home. But I missed his first word! I'm pretty sure it's his first word. He's been babbling and saying "mamamamama" and "dadadada" for a couple of months. Sometimes I think he directs them at Brent and me and at other times I'm pretty sure it's just meaningless babble. But this was his first word! He said "light". Although when he says it, it sounds like "laaaaaaaaa". But he'll actually point right at the light and say it. Melts. My. Heart. Brent took him outside at night this past week and upon seeing Venus bright in the sky, he promptly pointed and and said "laaaaaaaaaaaa"! Yes, my kid is a genius!!! :D
At least his first word took place in the presence of his father. That's pretty cool. Brent works later than I do, so by the time he gets home, it's almost bathtime and bedtime. But he does get to spend part of the morning with him, so he got to witness the "laaaaaaaaaaa" incident. Pretty awesome!

One of the things Nate most loves is playing outside. Just being in the driveway, walking down to the sidewalk, plopping his little tush on the grass and pulling out clump-fulls. He could spend hours out there giggling and exploring, so that takes up a large part of our weekends. And he's just so darn cute doing it!!!

Back to Work :(

So the first week of being back at work is winding down and I must admit--it wasn't too, too bad. Although it's been more difficult being away from Nate and I've been missing him like crazy! I got so used to spending all day long with him, it just makes me sad to say goodbye in the mornings. Although there is NOTHING better than seeing him in afternoon and watching that goofy, beautiful grin spread across his face when he catches a glimpse of "muh-muh" as I walk through the door and call his name! :)

We decided to head to the Palm Beach Zoo on our last day of Christmas vacation and it was a blast. Brent decided that we're going to make it a tradition to always do something or go somewhere fun on the last day of every vacation. I like it! Instead of spending the day dreading the next morning, we'll instead be hanging out as a family and enjoying our last day of the break. We took Nate to the zoo back in May when Grandma was down from New York visiting. Although it was fun then, Nate wasn't much of a participant, given the fact that he was still in a somewhat "lumpish" stage of his development, LOL. This time we could really tell that Nate had a blast! He was engaged, giggling and checking everything out as Brent pushed him along in his new buggy (he LOVES that thing!!!). His favorite part for sure, was the fountain! The Palm Beach Zoo has a giant fountain right in the center where water rises out of the ground and dances while kids run through it and get soaked. Nate was fascinated and so excited! Before we left for the day, I decided to strip him down to his shorts and let him have a go. He was too funny! So excited to "grab" the jets of water shooting up out of the ground, but he'd turn and run as soon as it really splashed him! I'm posting a few pics of our last day of FUN!

Oooooh, big fountain!


Can I touch it, Daddy???


Riding the caroussel with Mommy is fun!


Ah, I get to touch it now!

A New Year

Another year. Our New Years was pretty uneventful, but that's definitely not something that bothers me. Ten years ago I would've been hitting all the clubs and partying until dawn, but now I'm actually content to stay in with my boys, watch a good movie and drink some good wine. I got a little nostalgic putting Nate to bed last night as I realized it was soon to be 2009 and not 2008. Brent and I have joked that 2208 was Nate's year because of the way it sounds when you say it. Two thousand and Nate, LOL! Silly, I know...but it must all be connected to the little twinge of sadness every mother feels at watching their babies grow up so fast. And Nate is growing--FAST! It seems like the past year went by in the blink of an eye and another year has come along too soon. Man, I remember thinking time DRAGGED when I was a kid! Now it just keeps speeding up. Regardless, 2008 was a great year for the most part. We're looking forward to an even better 2009 and great things to come!