Gideon is 8 Months Old

Baby Boy turned 8-months last week! SO hard to believe. He's a big dude, already wearing 12-month clothes, and looking like 18-month clothes will be in his very near future! Regardless of size, he's still totally toothless! This is fine by me since it allows me to hold onto his early babyhood even longer. And, the gummy grin is to die for of course. Agreed?

What else is new with him you ask? Well, he babbles all sorts of things and I love to hear the mama's and dada's among so many other sounds. He claps and will even respond by clapping when we say "clap, clap, clap." He can sit unassisted but seems to lose focus easily and fall over if he reaches for something, so we can't just sit him up and walk away. He started army crawling (just like Caleb used to do) within the past few weeks. He's already fast and furious on the hardwood floors. His newest thing is waving. It's a very floppy-handed wave, but it's so cute! Just yesterday morning as I was awakened by his happy shrieks and babbling, I peeked next to me and he waved. It was too early, in my book, to be awake but that was a pretty awesome morning greeting!

One of my favorite things is to observe Gideon and Caleb during dinner. They're on opposite sides of the table and oftentimes, Gideon will start babbling something and then Caleb will imitate the noise, then they go back and forth like that. Caleb starts giggling, then Gideon follows suit. Matt and I just sit back and laugh. It's really neat to see the boys have fun together.

While it's a tad bittersweet to watch Gideon grow and change so quickly, I look forward to seeing what he learns and how he matures on a daily basis. After witnessing how fast Caleb's first 2 years went, I try really hard to cherish each little milestone and stage, knowing that it will all be a memory in the blink of an eye.

My "little" guy at 8-months old!

For nostalgia's sake, Caleb at 8-months old!

You Know You're a Tired Mama when...

...it takes you three bites to realize you're using your toddler's spoon.

Perspective

I'm a brat! There, I said it. This isn't exactly news to me but sometimes my brattiness is super-glaring like it was today. I was on my way to a friend's house (sidenote: She's pretty much a Supermom, she has 4 kids, and you should probably read her blog). I, of course was behind schedule even though I've been up since 5:30am and didn't need to leave my house until 9:30am. But, with two kids, things come up. A diaper-change here, a trip to the potty there (I'll blog about potty-training when I'm through the thick of it), a half-naked toddler running through the house refusing to put his shorts back on. You get the point.

So, because I was behind schedule, I was feeling impatient on the road. I get to the interstate, about 3 miles from my exit and traffic is BACKED up, a WHOLE lot. I was not happy to say the least. I'm huffing and puffing to myself since the kids wouldn't know what I was complaining about even if I did share my thoughts aloud. I'm feeling my blood pressure rise as I'm hoping all this clears up so I can get to where I need to be, sooner rather than later! The reel in my head is playing a movie where Gideon starts screaming and crying, Caleb wets his pants, Caleb wants a snack which I don't have to offer, and I'm completely stuck on the road, helpless and annoyed. This only serves to make me more frustrated. Thankfully, the stars align and traffic starts moving more quickly. FINALLY! That several minutes of back-up certainly got me perturbed.

Then, as I approach what was delaying things, perspective comes up and smacks me REALLY hard in the face. There's a big rig on its side, lying across the median, the cab is completely mangled, almost unrecognizable. I'm not certain about the outcome of those involved and I can't find anything on the internet yet. But judging by the screen set up to block drivers' views and the number of people on-scene, I'm guessing that there might be a wife who no longer has a husband and a child or children who no longer have a Daddy.

Can you see the glaring brattiness? It's almost too bright to look at!

I took a deep breath, said a silent prayer, swallowed the lump in my throat, and realized how quickly I get sidetracked by meaningless stressors. Too often I forget the ridiculous number of completely undeserved, unearned blessings I have and that I continuously receive. So what if I'm late to a play-date? So what if Caleb pees his pants? So what if I'm stuck on the side of the road with two little ones? Seriously? If I have time to freak myself out about such pointless stuff, I must have it REALLY REALLY good!

Big shout out to G-O-D for serving up a healthy dose of perspective! Now, lets hope I can keep this at the front of my brain on a daily basis. I clearly seem to struggle with that.