Crawling? That's for babies.

Landon loves to stand. He will hold out his little hands, grab on to your fingers, and pull with all his might to get himself into a standing position. Once there, a grin the size of Texas spreads across his face and he promptly lets go of one finger. It's like the baby version of bull riding. One hand up in the air, one hand firmly gripping my hand, or his daddy's, or the table, or whatever will hold still long enough for him to hang on. Then he wobbles around a bit in the standing position. He's started to add some additional brave feats including: bouncing to music, and for a brief moment or two he will even let go of the other hand. It's all fun and games for all of us now, but Jeff and I have no idea what we are getting ourselves into once he is walking.
On one hand I love watching all the new things he is learning. For instance, a few weeks ago, let's say Landon is playing with a ball that drops and rolls behind him. In his head it was like that ball just fell into a bottomless pit never to return again. He'd simply turn and pick up another toy that was close by. Now, the clever little thing will turn and look to see where the ball went. There is a fancy name for this new-found talent, and while I know every baby eventually learns this, I can't help but be so proud. And the cheerios that he has started to eat...well, he now gets about 3 out of 5 actually in his mouth and swallows them. Just last week his CIM (cheerio in mouth) average was way worse....about 1 in 20 to be exact.
While I'm so excited about all the new things he is accomplishing, I can't help but miss that tiny little baby I brought home from the hospital just a little bit. I can hardly get him to sit still long enought to get a snuggle in. But I don't have time to miss that tiny baby, we've got standing to practice and for now, Landon still needs at least one of my hands for that.

Put your hands together for Friends Thanksgiving!

Tonight we had our annual "Friends Thanksgiving". I've been living in the Charlotte area for over seven years, and every year since I have been here, we have had Thanksgiving dinner at my friend Sherry's house. It's potluck, and we drink wine and say a blessing and enjoy each other's company. It's one of my favorite "friend" events of the whole year.



Friend Thanksgiving has changed quite a bit since its innaugural year. Initially, there were only 10-15 of us, most of us single, definitely no kids, and we generally did more drinking than eating. As the years have gone by, many friends have moved away, but many new friends and husbands/wives have joined our core group...as well as babies of those friends. It's an event that leaves my tummy and heart full every year.



This year was Landon's first year at Friends Thanksgiving (well, on the outside of the belly, that is). He was passed around quite a bit, but our little boy was quite the socialite and seemed to enjoy all of the attention. In fact, he might just turn out to be a little bit of a ham. Today Landon learned how to clap, and he made sure that he let everyone see tonight. What started out as mimicking his daddy this afternoon turned into a pefected and favorite pastime by this evening. His tiny little right hand stays steady while he swings his little left hand to make the tiniest little clapping noise. But that tiny little noise is a big accomplishment for our little guy, and I find myself saying to him, "You are so cool!"



So, I have a lot to be thankful for this year. I'm thankful for all those friends at Friends Thanksgiving. I'm thankful for my husband because he is an amazing daddy, and I didn't know I could love him more until I saw him hold our son in his arms earlier this year, and I'm thankful for our healthy baby boy, who, with every little clap of his hands makes me realize just how blessed I am.