Junior: Growing at Breakneck Speed

The past couple of months have been some of the most wonderful, albeit most exhausting of my life. Getting moved into our new home was only the beginning. I have now painted 3 rooms in our house (they all desperately need it--had help from my Dad on our bedroom). I had to take a break from painting because it was putting me somewhere in the realm where a nervous breakdown was a possibility--ha! I am not a painter, don't enjoy it, and I usually approach it with guns blazing, just wanting to get it over with. The interesting thing I've found is that, looney-tunes as the previous owner may have been, her interior paint colors were pretty much what I'm choosing as well. The exterior is an entirely different story, and we'll tackle that next summer by letting the professionals do it. So now that I'm finished with the living room, I stand back and see that although she'd done a faux finish on the living room walls that involved several different colors, the overall effect from a distance looked very much the same, color-wise, as what I've done. However, the main reason for painting is that the paint in every room looks as though it were just slapped up on the walls. Can't stand it!

So much has changed with Junior I hardly know how to process it sometimes. He sits up, he crawls, he stands on his hands and feet and he's getting his first tooth. He now has an outdoor swing:

And a swimming pool, which he will get to use for the first time tomorrow. He also has had his first illness, this past week. That was an experience I'm not anxious to repeat again any time soon. He had a lowgrade fever and a horribly painful sore throat--pharyngitis, the doctor said. He was miserable, poor guy, and like his mother when she's under the weather, had no qualms about letting everyone know how miserable he was.

Junior can also now feed himself--crackers, cheerios, etc.

And no more do I have to make minimal little shopping trips because I have to stuff everything in the bottom of his stroller. Junior sits up in shopping carts now, happily kicking me as I stroll through the grocery store or these days, my second home--Home Depot. 

We've just purchased a "Friends of the Zoo" membership, a family premium pass for the year. We were so late in getting to the zoo the day we bought it that we were only able to spend about an hour (there was a torrential downpour anyway) but Junior did get a kick out of watching the flamingoes with Mr. Wonderful.

Lastly, I've been pretty excited for Junior to meet someone that meant an awful lot to me when I was a child (although much older than Junior is now). They certainly hit it off, and a fast friendship has been formed. Every day now these two get together and roll around in the floor, alternately wrestling and snuggling.

It isn't exactly the best picture of Junior's new friend, but it's Barney, a huge stuffed bear (much larger than Junior) my Gran had made for me when I was a kid. My own little one has completely claimed Barney as his own, and it makes me pleased as punch to see it. So far his only complaint with Barney is that when he chews his nose (hard plastic) it doesn't have any "give" to it. 

It was necessary that this post focus largely on Junior, as so much about him has changed developmentally in a short amount of time that it's mind-boggling. My next post, which should be very soon, will include home improvement pictures as well as our current backyard/deck makeover.

I have to conclude with this: God is blessing us more every day, it seems like. I had occasion to hit my knees in the kitchen this morning (avoiding discarded Cheerios as I did so) and thank Him all over again for His tremendous blessings. They are flowing like water. 

Next Week: I begin teaching 4-year old Sunday School at church--may I not only survive the 13-week class but may I also help these little ones develop a further understanding of Jesus!