A Letter to My Boy

Dear Davis,
     It's beginning to look like this blog is about the closest thing to a scrapbook that you're ever going to have.  Don't worry, you'll have plenty of photos and mementos from your childhood; it's just that mommy isn't a "scrapbook" kind of gal.  Hopefully one day you will be able to read this blog and discover some things we haven't told you about your life...
     First off, I would like you to know how happy I am with our decision to put my career on hold for a few years so that I can be your number one care provider and teacher during your early years.  We have developed an awesome bond and have shared so many wonderful experiences together already.  You may not remember everything about these first years of your life, but hopefully we are providing you with the very best foundation possible and we are setting the stage for you to have a happy and successful future.
     I thought that in this first letter to you I would tell you about a typical day in your life at twenty months of age...
     You wake up between 6:00 and 7:00 each morning, and you hit the ground running...literally.  You normally roll out of bed (a floor bed in your room now--you never really used your crib much) and start heading for the kitchen.  You eat almost constantly from the time you get up until the time Daddy gets up, and then you eat half of his breakfast, too.  (Just this morning you were imitating your dad, dipping a granola bar into his coffee cup...like father, like son!)  In the mornings we hang out around the house (watching some morning cartoons, playing in your playroom, drawing/painting/play dough at the dining room table, etc.).  A lot of times, you and Daddy will play outside or go run an errand or two while I cook lunch and get some housework done.
     We eat lunch together around noon each day, and after that Daddy takes you to your room for your nap.  He snuggles with you until you fall asleep.  You are usually very tired by this time and Daddy is out of your room within ten or fifteen minutes.  When you wake up, you have a snack and then we normally try to do something fun like go to the park or to the museum.  We are fortunate to have so many great places to go that aren't too far from our house.  We also sometimes go shopping at Target or the grocery store, and occasionally we will go out for dinner somewhere you like--right now Moe's and Chick-fil-A are our favorites because they're so close to home and are very child-friendly.  When they are available, we try to get together with your buddy Cooper or your cousin Sawyer as often as we can.
     You and I have an easy supper together in the evenings, and then you take a bath and have some more play time before bed.  Right now you enjoy doing art activities, "cooking", dressing up, and playing with your tools.  We watch "Blue's Clues" at 7:30 and then we head into your room at around 8:00.  We read several books and then we lie there and sing, talk out our day, and cuddle until you fall asleep.  You aren't as easy to get to sleep at nighttime and you will wiggle your body, talk, kiss me repeatedly and get very silly (all the while yawning and rubbing your eyes) to avoid going "nigh-nigh".
     Our daily routine can change on any particular day based on how we're feeling, having family or friends come to visit, or other types of unexpected events.  There is one thing, however, that happens every single day without fail.  I say this prayer each night after you fall asleep...Thank you, God, for this precious baby boy.  Thank you for his health and for his happiness and for all that he is able to do.  Thank you for choosing me to be his mother and Derek to be his father and please help us to be the parents he deserves.  Please protect him and keep him safe and happy and healthy always.  Please help him to always know how much he is loved.  You have surely turned our lives upside down in the best possible way, Davis, and your dad and I look forward to helping you grow and learn and achieve all of your goals in this life.  Thank you for teaching us about unconditional love, and thank you for all of the many joys you bring into our lives.

Davis and Tequila

Davis got his first professional haircut today.  His stylist's name was Tequila (pronounced "tah-kwee-lah"), and she was great!  We took him all the way to Durham, as we had heard about this great kids' place near Southpoint Mall, and it was a really good experience.  Davis got to sit in a cool car and watch "Dora the Explorer" while he got a trim and he didn't even seem to notice that he was getting his hair cut.

Davis Before:

Davis During:

Davis After:

 

Happy Valentine's Day!

I'm spoiled rotten, y'all.  I'm not normally one to brag about how sweet my husband is, but I'll make an exception today.  This is what I woke up to this morning...

...Not one, but two gorgeous bouquets of flowers and two new charms for my bracelet.  He also gave me a cool lens for my phone that will allow me to take some really good and different photos when I don't have my "real" camera around.  We already got an awesome shot of Davis' eyeball with the macro lens, but it's saved on my phone so I will upload that later.  The best part of my Valentine's Day, though, was the very sweet card Derek gave me and the fact that I got to spend the morning with my two Valentines. I'm a lucky girl...just think, next year I'll have THREE Valentines to celebrate with!

Side note--Here's a sign that you're getting old:  After exchanging gifts, Derek and I had a conversation about how expensive store-bought cards are and how we had both put back several cards because they were close to 5 bucks!  Maybe we will start sticking exclusively to hand-made cards from now on?

Final Score...

Norovirus:  3, Fox Family:  0

Yep, I came down with the funk very early Sunday morning.  Davis and I were at Carolina Beach with my dad and brother and thankfully, they were both very helpful with Davis so that I could lie down and feel miserable in relative peace.  This virus is no joke!  As a parent it is always interesting when you finally catch whatever bug your child just had because then you can say, "Wow, he felt THIS BAD?!?"  And yet, with the way Davis handled it, you would never have known the severity of the symptoms (stomach pains, weakness, fatigue, body aches, etc.) in addition to the obvious ones.  Children are tough!

Fortunately I am feeling much better today, and hopefully I will be almost back to normal by tomorrow.  We did have a great time at the beach before I got sick, though.  We got to play in the sand some, went and saw Uncle Morgan's boat (Davis is still saying "MooMoo bow"), and had a good time just hanging out.

Barf

Apparently most of Wake County has been hit hard with the throw-up virus.  We were not spared.  Davis went to sleep easily around 8:30 Saturday night and woke up barfing an hour later.  There is nothing in this world more pitiful than seeing your baby get sick, especially when they have no idea what's going on or why this is happening.  He was so tired that he quickly went back to sleep, but that wasn't the last of it.  We were up and down all night, and we finally ended up all together in our bed watching movies until we fell asleep for the longest stretch, about four hours.

Keeping up with the laundry, making sure everyone is clean, and keeping clean sheets on the beds is a job in itself when you have a sick little one, so we spent most of the day Sunday getting the house back in order and trying to keep Davis well.  Oh, and we watched the Super Bowl, or at least the first half and half-time show.  Davis didn't get sick again after around 8 o'clock Sunday morning, but he did a lot of sleeping that day and we could tell that he just wasn't himself.  Thank the Lord, by Monday he seemed to be back to normal again and Derek and I were feeling fine.  Unfortunately, Derek did come down with that fast and furious bug Monday night after work and actually called in sick for Tuesday, which almost never happens.  He spent most of yesterday feeling very fatigued and weak.  Thankfully, though, today we are mostly well and I haven't been hit...yet.  

I know you're disappointed I don't have any pictures of the previously mentioned events to share with you, but I will add a few from our trip to Marbles Saturday (before the stomach virus) and from the park yesterday (after the stomach virus).

My little fire fighter

Someone has been watching too much "Chopped" with his mommy

Scoping out the scene before having a blast at the water area

Who says white boys can't dunk?

Announcing a Hurricanes game.  He said that the big kids can have the ice rink as long as he can have the microphones.