One-Twelfth

Here I sit, the evening of February 1, 2012... 1/12 of the way through the new year... roughly 3.5 months away from meeting our little lady, and 6 months from celebrating our 4th wedding anniversary and our sweet boy's 2nd birthday!  Where, oh where, does time go?

It's amazing to me how the older you get, the quicker time seems to travel.  I can remember the 8 minutes of time-out when I was 8 years old seeming to last FOREVER.  Now it seems like every time I blink, days, weeks, months, and even years go by.  It just makes me realize how precious time is and that I need to enjoy the seemingly "little" things.

On the days when Reagan wants to be held for the entire grocery shopping trip, I need to remember to take a deep breath and smile because one day he will be too big to carry anymore and may even think he's too "cool" to be seen with me in public.  Those times I get impatient because he repeats the words "car" (cah) and "airplane" (dah-dah) 15-20 times until I acknowledge him, I need to, instead, remember to enjoy the enthusiasm he has and be thankful he can communicate with me.  Life is short and I want to be sure that time's quick passage does not rob me of enjoying it.

I feel so blessed to live the life that I have with Richard, who has the strange ability to make me laugh even when I'm annoyed with him.  He is the most patient, forgiving, and loving person.  He's everything that I'm not and more.  We are a good match because we balance each other and strengthen one another in areas of weakness.  I still feel like we compromise on everything so beautifully.  Arguments never happen and disagreements are dealt with so quickly that it almost seems like they never were there to begin with.  We are a team, as husband and wife, and as parents.  I am blessed.  God brought me to a man who makes me a better woman.

Yet another blessing I can thank God for is healthy children... one running around the house and another doing gymnastics in my belly.  Reagan's been the picture of ideal health from my pregnancy with him up to this very day.  He's growing like a weed--half an inch away from being 3 feet tall and he's only 18 months old!  My grocery bill is growing as fast as he is!  By the time he's in Kindergarten, we may have to take out a loan in order to feed him!  Little "Maybe" is growing just as beautifully.  She is measuring right on target for my projected due date, has a steady heart rate in the 150s, and moves around constantly now.  I loved my pregnancy with Reagan and have been blessed to have another healthy, enjoyable pregnancy with this little girl so far.  We're prayerful that everything continues this way until she arrives sometime in May.  God is good!

Now for a quick update on Reagan's latest developments:

Physical:
• SUPER tall, SUPER big head circumference, average weight.
• Fine/large motor skills right on target for his age... putting small things in containers and taking them back out again, walking backwards, squatting to pick things up,  scribbling with crayons, removing clothing items (found him with no pants on when I got him out of bed yesterday morning), etc.

Speech:
• Growing vocabulary, attempting to repeat words he hears, continuing to build on his ASL vocabulary as well.
• Putting phrases together such as "night night ________" or "bye bye ________" (to whatever toy, person, or room he's leaving behind).

Interests:
We haven't really pushed or encouraged him in any one direction, but have been interested in seeing what things he's been naturally drawn to... which happen to be:
• Methods of transportation (cars, airplanes, and trains specifically)
• Animals (all shapes and sizes, but he's particularly fond of squirrels right now)
• Shoes (wonder where he got that from... maybe my husband who has about 3 times as many shoes as I do?!)  He'll go into our closet, and come out with a shoe on his foot, hobbling around, excitedly shouting "shoe" over and over.
• FOOD (the boy repeatedly requests fruit, cheese, and cookies throughout the day)
• Books (but typically only when he's interested in reading... otherwise, he's constantly in motion)
• Curious George (the TV show)
• Richard's iPad ('nuff said)
• Clocks

Things he does that I love:
• Often puts his finger up to his lip and says, "Hmmmmmm..." when looking for something.
• Hides things and says, "Eee-uh-eee?" while holding his hands up in a questioning way as if to say, "Where is it?"

• Gets into large containers around the house and signs "bath" while looking at me with a huge grin on his face.
• "Argues" with me (through ASL) that a particular star he sees from the church parking lot is an airplane and that my parents' smallest dog is a cat.

And that... is all for now.