I Never Called Her A Wart. I Never Called Her Anything. I Never Even Think About Her!

Ugh, I'm depressed. How could I possibly be depressed when I get to be the Mommy to The Cutest Baby In The World, you ask? Because I'm a sack of trash. And also stupid.

Here's how it went down. The day started with pancakes with my darlings Husband and Baby. Baby napped, then we tooled around downtown Decatur and feasted on fish and chips at The Brickstore, one of our favorite places. Not done with our fun, we headed out to Lenox mall where I purchased an expensive dress from Ann Taylor. (Emily, I thought of you, and I really should have courted the dress properly as you taught me ... taken it out for coffee, brought it flowers, written it thoughtful notes on scented paper ... but I was weak and paid full price. Try not to think less of me.) Got home from all our festivities to a very sweet message from Brea.

I WAS SUPPOSED TO BABYSIT BABY SKEEZIX TONIGHT!!!!!

(OK, Em, now you can think less of me.)

I totally stood them up. I feel dreadful. I keep envisioning John and Brea standing by the door, Brea fabulously dressed and clutching her purse ready to go, John adjusting his tie and looking at his watch, Skeezix looking up hopefully from his caterpillar tube waiting for Aunt Christy to come play. I stink.

By the time I realized my error, it was too late to remedy. I put The Precious to bed and slumped onto the couch in my guilt. It seemed wrong to say, "Oh well!" then laugh and eat cookies and enjoy myself, so in penance I just sat there and watched Shiloh lick his feet for 45 minutes. Foot, actually. He licked his back left paw for 45 minutes like he'd just walked through a big pile of bacon.

Thankfully, Brea is a kind and gracious individual and will most likely forgive me. And I probably won't be able to stay down for long with TCBITW giving me big, almost toothy grins. Below is him working on his first art project, a lovely picture drawn in honor of his First-Cousin-Once-Removed Brent for his 18th birthday. Happy birthday, Bean!

I Felt Safe, As Safe As Only Can Be When You Are Falling Off A Hill With A Bicycle And A Father

ice cream time!

We're missing Daddy this week as he's off gallivanting in California on a "work retreat." The Precious and I had planned to join him, but decided at the last minute that some time at home might be a wiser choice. Plus, with the time change and the tight hotel quarters, I envisioned myself squeezed under a bed trying to read with a flashlight at 3pm.

The Precious is a fan of hot fudge

OK, I have to pause here to express my horror at the program "Honey, We're Killing The Kids." This episode is featuring a little girl who regularly eats so much junk that she ends up throwing up. And in case the viewers aren't clear on what that means, they show video footage of the blessed event. GAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!

Back to the cuteness that is My Precious. We have teeth!!! On Monday I discovered not one, but two gleaming white specks bursting through his sweet pink gums. Upper left and lower right. I kind of hope he ends up getting more.

I was putting something away in his closet yesterday and noticed several pairs of shoes sitting on the shelf. Andrew has only worn shoes once in the past 6 months (for Aunt Sallie's wedding) and I realized I had no idea what size he is now. After trying on a few pairs, I've determined that he's a 3. I think. Is it supposed to be easy to get one-year-old feet in shoes?

Here he is wearing some adorable size 3's I was afraid might never see the light of day. He was fascinated by the contraptions eating his feet.

I Thought The Whole Apricot In Honey Thing Was The Real Low Point

Andrew soaking up the rays with Nannie

Well, we've done the lake and we've done the beach, so if we can work the mountains and outer space into our schedule I think we'll about have it. I love family adventures. We have a blast and get exhausted, and then we can truly appreciate the mundanity of days spent playing in the living room and taking regular naps and such.

Our time at Edisto Beach with Phil's family was wonderful. For some reason our Sweet Scooter wasn't as into the ocean as he was in Myrtle Beach (strange, since the water at Edisto was amazingly calm), but he was just as thrilled with the taste of the sand and the feel of grit all over his person.



Nannie and Papa rented a nifty bicycle that had an infant seat attached, and The Precious loved going for rides, even in the mosquito-infested 105 degree heat. He isn't really all that big for his age, but for some reason he looks really tall and old in the picture below. I must be delusional about how much he's growing up as I constantly find myself surprised by how big he looks in photos.

More big boy updates. We've got steps!!! Four steps, to be exact. He enjoys walking between Phil and me as a game, but still quite prefers crawling as his mode of transportation. "Daddy" and "Mama" have become regular words (ah, be still my heart), and I've also heard him say "cheese" and attempt to mimick a handful of other words (he's getting pretty close to saying "Jack" - Shiloh's doggie friend that we've got visiting). I guess we'll have to cut down on all the swearing.

I used to morn, often to the point of tears, each outfit that he'd outgrow, each stage of babiness as it came to a close. And though I still get a lump in my throat at how quickly this delicious time is passing, these new stages are so much fun! Phil and I keep looking at each other in wonder and saying, "He's a little person!"

One final bit of news - Nannie and Papa have officially moved to New Mexico. This could be a problem as Andrew is over the moon for his grandmothers, his affection for them getting stronger with each visit. Nannie was here on Friday and he became completely unglued when he saw her, kicking his feet and laughing hysterically (the biggest reaction to anyone I've seen yet, including me. Sigh.) Fortunately they're only expecting to stay for two years, and Nannie plans to make regular trips back to see us. Nana may need to bump up her visits in the meantime. :-)

And here's a little video clip of TCBITW enjoying Lake Murray on his birthday weekend. Splash, splash, splash!