Eighteen Months Old

My sweet baby is 18 months old today.

He's using a spoon now, and he prefers to feed himself though he does like for me to fill up his spoon with food for him to shovel into his mouth. Then it's Daddy's turn to load up his spoon with food. And back and forth we go during meals.

Hamilton knows some sounds that things make, and he usually answers correctly when you ask him questions. He has a distinct sound for dinosaurs, cows, dogs, and trains. He'll always give an answer to the question "What does _____ say?"; however, if it's not one of the four mentioned above, there's no telling what noise he'll attribute.

He's still loving his Christmas presents, playing with them every day. He's not into my reading books to him right now, but I hope after a few weeks he'll go back to loving my reading to him. He received many books for Christmas, so I'm looking forward to enjoying those with him soon. He reads them to himself usually during "quiet time," but he won't sit still through my reading anything to him right now.

Hamilton continues to talk a lot and learn new words. He's added "a car" and "a robe" to his vocabulary, though neither word has much of an ending consonant sound when he says it. He quickly learned robe when he was given one. He wears it every night on his way to and from the bathroom; I plan to get a picture soon to share, for he's somehow even cuter than normal in his miniature robe.

I'm fighting hard right now against his tendency to point and "unh, unh, unh" for something he wants instead of his using signs or words that he knows. It's a daily battle, but my refusals to entertain his "unhs" are slowly making him use his communication skills. I probably utter, "What do we say to get mama's attention?" at least a dozen times a day. Eventually and sometimes quickly, he quits his "unhs" and obliges me with "mama, mama," which always garners my full attention.

He still laughs a lot, especially when he hears other people laughing. He's ticklish like Mr. Morgan, so I frequently give him "tickle attacks." (Mr. Morgan doesn't take kindly to such attacks, however.) I love to hear Hamilton's laugh because it's so contagious, making me smile and laugh just at hearing it.

Though Hamilton has many toys, he enjoys pushing my bowling-ball bag or dragging it around by the handle. Lately he's started lying on top of it, and sometimes he looks like he's stuck there because his hands and feet aren't touching the ground. But he's not stuck; he'll eventually squirm his way off and then laugh at his antics.

Best Compliment

Part of January Reflections '11

"You're like a 55-year-old man in a young, feminine body.”

My pastor and former boss gave me that compliment as we discussed hiring someone to take over the job of office manager that I had held for a year. It truly was a compliment, and I took it as such. He appreciated my logical approach in the workplace, since many times women can create a drama-filled, emotionally charged atmosphere. He wanted to hire someone like me, and that compliment was his best description of what it was like to work with me.

Reflections

I discovered January Reflections ’11 at Aubrey’s blog, and I figured it would be a great event to help keep me blogging and writing more. I’m making progress today, at least, on two of my three resolutions—and there’s still time in the day for a bit of housecleaning.

My writing prompt for today is a favorite moment from 2010. I know there are many good moments from 2010, but there were times during the past year when I thought, this has been such a hard year for us. My heart was dismayed and disappointed over many issues within our family, our church, and our friendships. So many times I didn’t respond to my children the way I know I should or the way I want to. So many times I was faced with the harsh, ugly reality of man’s sin, manifested in the divisive selfishness and pettiness of believers within the church. So many times my heart broke at disagreements and misunderstandings between friends, my lazy attitude toward reaching out to new neighbors, and inevitable goodbyes and moving days that have come too soon.

Yet I know God is good and faithful through all things. Though I am weak and ineffectual, He is strong and powerful. His sanctifying Spirit has not finished with me, my family, or my church. And, He is faithful to complete the good work that He has started.

Looking at the thousands of pictures we’ve taken over the last year, I’m reminded vividly of special moments, good times, and precious people. One moment I clearly remember is from July 2010 when our family went on vacation with the Taylors to Cades Cove. We spent a day at Dollywood, for we knew Claire would love it. I remember as a child that amusement parks were literally the most fun thing I could imagine doing, and I loved seeing Claire have the same reaction. We enjoyed beautiful weather, small crowds for summer, and a contented one-year-old who even napped in the stroller. Claire was beside herself with enjoyment the whole day and so grateful for our having taken her.

It was a fun day to be a parent. Not all days can be amusement-park fun, but those days remind me that my cup truly does runneth over.

Resolutions

I don't always make resolutions for each new year, but I have a few this year. I wanted to share them because it'll help hold me accountable.

Houseclean for 30 minutes each day. Must include cleaning products or devices. Laundry does not count. My lackluster housecleaning habits have been discussed here before, and I really want to be better in the new year.

Blog every day. I want to spend more time blogging and reading good blogs, so my blog style can develop and deepen.

Write more. Not just blog posts and picture captions but writing that exercises my brain and stretches me.

New Year

We celebrated this coming new year in a low-key way that's acceptable to most in our household. Mr. Morgan does not tolerate crowds, so we rarely venture out on New Year's Eve. And, we'd been with family and celebrating Christmas for nearly 10 days straight, so we welcomed the respite. We spent time doing family things that we don't often get to do during the week, like playing games, eating dessert, and watching movies. We enjoyed the beautiful weather yesterday and today, with Claire's taking the opportunity to paint outside both days and Hamilton's running around the backyard for most of both afternoons.

Claire and I spent the morning shopping and running errands, and it was some good, girlie time together. One of our first stops was Target where the Christmas decor had been replaced with Valentine's stuff. We passed the greeting cards, which were all red hearts and roses, and Claire said sarcastically and a little exasperatedly, "What, Valentine's Day already? Really?" I guess some traits of mine have rubbed off.